(no subject)
Diplomacy.
I had given it a very wide berth of late, given the last three games. Most especially the very last game where within two turns I was all but wiped from the board - and then because we played in a remote location, was left with nothing to do for near 6 hours while the others played. I understand that this is what the game is about, and having played enough, I expected it - but that last one felt personal, and if they hadn't wanted me to play, why ask in the first place? So I stopped playing - till today.
I suppose what motivated me to play was not the game, not even really how well I got on with the people (one of them I never met till today), but rather it provided a networking opportunity that I hoped to milk for favors later.
When arranging the game, I was asked if another player (that I was bringing along) had played before, and whether or not they would "cry" if back-stabbed. Funny considering my previous experiences - I told him that if anyone were, I was most likely to be upset at being back-stabbed.
This all said, the game was brilliant - the best experience I've had yet!
I didn't win - not by a long shot, but I was in it till the consensus based conclusion, and only just made a a major loss at that point. I did my fare share of stupid things too - overstraining my forces, and back-stabbing someone who had so far, and ever after proved to be a firm ally, not supporting my armies well enough. Luckily no one too advantage early on - and right at the end I came equal third place.
So it seems that the group does make quite the difference - as this was a lot of fun, and hearkening back to olden days of playing with yet another different group. Now I figure I wouldn't mind playing again if such a group can coalesce once more.
I had given it a very wide berth of late, given the last three games. Most especially the very last game where within two turns I was all but wiped from the board - and then because we played in a remote location, was left with nothing to do for near 6 hours while the others played. I understand that this is what the game is about, and having played enough, I expected it - but that last one felt personal, and if they hadn't wanted me to play, why ask in the first place? So I stopped playing - till today.
I suppose what motivated me to play was not the game, not even really how well I got on with the people (one of them I never met till today), but rather it provided a networking opportunity that I hoped to milk for favors later.
When arranging the game, I was asked if another player (that I was bringing along) had played before, and whether or not they would "cry" if back-stabbed. Funny considering my previous experiences - I told him that if anyone were, I was most likely to be upset at being back-stabbed.
This all said, the game was brilliant - the best experience I've had yet!
I didn't win - not by a long shot, but I was in it till the consensus based conclusion, and only just made a a major loss at that point. I did my fare share of stupid things too - overstraining my forces, and back-stabbing someone who had so far, and ever after proved to be a firm ally, not supporting my armies well enough. Luckily no one too advantage early on - and right at the end I came equal third place.
So it seems that the group does make quite the difference - as this was a lot of fun, and hearkening back to olden days of playing with yet another different group. Now I figure I wouldn't mind playing again if such a group can coalesce once more.