PBW ethics, opinions please.

[CNCRaymond]

You want to talk about ethics at PBW huh? Well lets just say that those who know the exploits use them to their advantage. The EB exploit being the most popular. Then the TDB weapon bug, and let us not forget about those who have hacked the game.

I gave up playing PBW games back in September after being told that a player in a game I was in was using the EB exploit. Sure as ****, he was, and that just ruined the game. But instead of making big deal about it, I said nothing. Now that I know how to do it, I feel that if I play, I would be tempted to use it, so I don�t play. I�ll wait for the bug to be fixed.

Ethics, an ethical person would not use a known exploit -or- as I like to refer to them, a cheat. Not that I am accusing any one, it is just that there is no reason to play a game with people who do not have ethics.

[tesco samoa]

Yea the EB is a bad one. Trading planets every 8 turns is not a good one. But it takes two players. Other than that it all depends on the flavour of the game. If your in doubt ask the game admin.

One PBW ethic i do not like is the sneak attack when you attack the planets and declare war the same turn... And by pass mines.

[CNCRaymond]

There is a differance between ethics and tactics. That is a tactic to bypass the mines. I don't like it, but I'd do it if I felt it was needed to gain the upper hand. (Damn, I wish they would install and evil smily face.) :

[Ruatha]

The EB thing seems to to bothersome, trading planets.. I mean, my population wouldn't think fondly of me if I gave them away every now and then! And to keep track of which planet to trade and when. That exploit I consider a bug.

I agree though with Geo that it would be more fun without tech sharing, in a game I use it profoundly as all other partnerships seems to do it aswell. Otherwise I'd be hopelessly left behind.
The Homecoming 2 game that is about to start seems to be fun as it doesn't allow that or science treaties.

Btw, everyone is ethical, no one is without ethics! It's just that the ethics differs, what you might find as bad ethics someone else finds acceptable, that doesn't mean they don't have any ethics.

[ January 10, 2003, 18:21: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Arkcon]

EB

?

???

[CNCRaymond]

EB is an ackernim for an exploit. Many of us have been asked not to spread it around. So I will not go into detail about it. Lets just say that it has been around for a long while, and if used would allow a player an unfair advantage.

Most players do not use it, and when they do, you'll know about it. Trust me.

[gravey101]

I agree with Geo that allowing tech trades is a bore. I wont play in games which allow it any more since they just produce a mad rush to the endgame with everyone having the same techs. The one game I play in also dissallows trading of pop so that you actually have to capture some enemy to get different breathers. I like this too.

The trouble with the ethics proponants is that they dont seem to realize that what may be unethical to them is just a game exploit to others. Then someone gets called a cheat becuase they don't conform to the ethics proponants view of what is wrong and right, then everyone gets mad or upset, then the game is spolied. This has happened to me on numerous occasions. I only now play with a known group of guys. It is intense and cutthroat but there is no name calling and character sluring. I have found that the easiest resolution is for the game host to clearly state which features/expolits/whatever of the game are not allowed, and that everything is fair game.

[Fyron]

This form of "diplomacy" is badly looked upon, and debates morals and ethics of the game, and the players, who engage in such activities.

Some games ban it outright, either by convention, or by banning all tech trading through the use of the ?game options panel.

This needs to be removed/editted ASAP. Only some people look badly upon sharing technologies. Most people I have played with have not been opposed to it.

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

---

This form of "diplomacy" is badly looked upon, and debates morals and ethics of the game, and the players, who engage in such activities.

Some games ban it outright, either by convention, or by banning all tech trading through the use of the ?game options panel.

This needs to be removed/editted ASAP. Only some people look badly upon sharing technologies. Most people I have played with have not been opposed to it.

---

That was written by someone else, Skulky I believe. He called it Tech trading. I wanted the tech trading entry to have more useful information, like how you can't trade tech without the theoretical tech,etc. So I made up the term Tech sharing and copied his text over.

I really have to agree with Geo, all it does is make the inevitable happen sooner.

Yeesh, what a can of worms I opened. And I only mentioned it because it's a topic that comes up on this board from time to time.

Oh, thanks for the EB explanation Rautha, I had heard of it before.

[ January 10, 2003, 20:17: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

[rextorres]

Originally posted by Ruatha:
[QB]I didn't know "turtling" was anything common.
[QB]

Hmm . . . Why is turtling "gamey" - that's the whole point of having warp closers and system shields otherwise spending all those resources in research and building would be pointless.

I think that tactics that are used that aren't taking advantage of bugs are perfectly valid unless there is a rule in the specific game against them.

I've been backstabbed, been turtled against, and had people gang up against me by trading techs, etc. and I may have been pissed off about it, but I never thought it was cheating. It sounds like sour grapes to me when players want rules patched out because they get beat using their pet playing style when playing against humans.

BTW: What's this mysterious EB bug?