Winter 07

[drrnwrstlr]

Wow, talk about a heated debate/discussion....

[attitudes]

This will be my last comment on this discussion. Feel free to have the last word. You always do anyway.

I don't believe there is a single word in anything I have written, public or private, in which I make ANY claim to have influenced ANY moves of D'Hara.

Probably true. Point being, you didn't have to. From the time he bid the max on D'Hara, his decision as to how to play the game was made. It's actually borderline against the rules. Not your fault of course. That pre-decision alone has thrown this whole game into question in my mind because it set the stage for the entire game.

I said I was his ally - for a loooong time.

Only because we could not come to agreement during Fall 04 negotiations when you wanted to dump your loooooooong alliance partner. Unless of course, you're now claiming that those series of talks was just a waste of time for both of us.

And I said that he benefitted from that alliance. Both clearly verifiable facts. It was only because of that alliance that hew was able to pursue his grand scheme.

Benefitted? I suppose. He's at eight centers currently six of which must be used for defense against you because, you know, if he leaves even the slightest crack you will be required to take advantage of that and rip him a new one. So tell me, where is his next area of growth coming from that doesn't leave his backside wide open to your counter attack?

I am having a blast! Sorry if you're not.

No need to be sorry. I'm having a blast as well.

As I see it, every single one of us played a little game of rock-paper-scissors:

D'Hara did not play R-P-S. D'Hara read a book; put his blinders on; started the game.

D'Hara and Midlands both went "rock" and deadlocked.

Truth be told, I didn't choose rock either. I was forced into rock.

Sorry if you are perturbed by a perception of reality that is shared by at least one other player who also has a real chance at gaining the lead.

Not perturbed at all. You have a repeated history of trying to label my emotions and thoughts and fail miserably each and every time. You are free to stick to the facts but please refrain in the future from trying to say how I am feeling.

I have no doubt that Borderlands is calculating whether or not to maintain the status quo or take a chance at gaining the lead. I will go on record as to say that if Borderlands decides to grow at the expense of either Aiel or D'Hara, he will create an unstable map which will most likely lead to an exponential increase in the likelihood of a Winterfell solo. My opinion of course. I'm sure your mileage will vary.

As I noted in an earlier post, I absolutely WILL help an ally to gain centers... I just won't gift-wrap a center that I have already fought for. I was more than willing to do the former for you, but you would hear nothing but the latter.

Here was the current map at the time of our discussion. Please tell the world exactly how you planned to help me gain centers.

If memory serves me correct, the gift-wrap center you are referring to is Sn Coast Mtns which was neutral at the time and you had not fought for at all. I asked if you would be willing to save it for me. Seeing how you encourage your allies to have a safe defensive zone, it seemed reasonable at the time that Sn Coast Mtns would be critical for me in my defense against you. Also, seeing how it would not require you to give up a currently owned center and would provide a chance for me to close the gap between our size, given that you had other growth opportunities in Stormy Island and WHM, and given that presumably you would be pressuring D'Hara from the Bridge of Hope, I didn't at the time, and I still don't now, think it was an absurd request. Your response, on the other hand, was quite absurd. "D'Hara and I have already decided the outcome of Sn Coast Mtns."

I can only imagine how sour the grapes may be by then...

Grapes aren't sour where I come from. Grapes are sweet around here and make the best w(h)ine in the world.

[attitudes]

Wow, talk about a heated debate/discussion....

Just spicing the game up a bit. Honestly, the private discussions in this game have been lacking for a variety of reasons. So, I decided to take my dirty laundry public. It is certainly not a strategy I utilize for every game. But I felt this game needed a little kick in the pants.

[WarSmith]

Sorry for leaving this alone... Have been sick, abroad. Not fun.
Anyway, to cut to the chase - no pre-arranged metagaming - what I wrote in private message was tongue in cheek.
It happened to correspond nicely to the strategy I plotted with my Ally AA - me sweeping the north and him the south. That was the strategy I developed early after long dialog with many parties in the game. AA seemed to have the edge when it came to comms.
We planned our north/south stabs together. The fact that his worked while mine got bogged down thanks to excellent defense from Att is what set the tone. Somehow we managed to fudge a short-term 3 way alliance to try to stop the south-eastern aggressor, but eventually I was going to stab (and did) - no way I would stay penned in the corner forever.
I'm incredibly sorry for leaving the game, sometimes shit happens in RL which really messes with things like this.

[Pedros]

I've never been in a game before where the AARs came before the end!

Actually WarSmith, as an outsider I'm not sure you should be revealing insider information.

[WarSmith]

Apologies - just responding to the earlier claims which were directed at me. Hadnt even noticed that the game was still continuing. Sorry.