Stalemate?

[Lisif Deoral]

I thought that stalemates were virtually impossible in SE4 - at most, a game becomes too long and too boring to be concluded, but a side will eventually get an advantage.
But...
Should someone (in multiplayer, of course) manage to "seal" a system by closing every warp point connecting to it and building a System Gravitational Shield Facility, is there any way to prevent a stalemate?
Intelligence might be used, but only if you can still interact with that empire...

[Bman]

Yep when they changed that facility to block warp-point components they introduced the possibility of stalemate. I suppose the only thing you could do would be to wait and hope some catastrophic event happens (if those are allowed) to destroy his system, though that could take quite a long time I suppose...

[Arak Koba]

Stalemating in chess is a viable tactic, especially when you are in a disadvantageous position, it is employed to create a forced tie.

I can't see how it would be any different in SE4.

Look at the Cold War too- quite the stalemate until [in a sense] a catastrophic event: economic upheaval.

[Quikngruvn]

If an empire sealed itself in a system (or systems) cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and the empire had no colonies outside the sealed zone, and no other empires had colonies inside the sealed zone... then intelligence wouldn't work. For there to be contact between two races, there has to be a known path between any colonies of both empires. In this scenario, no such path exists, thus no intelligence is possible.

But... while no one can get into the sealed zone, the empire in question can't get out either. At least not till they scrap their system shield. 'Course, then there would be at least a small window of opportunity that a player worth his salt could take advantage of... have a warp point-opening ship on standby and open the warp point before the empire can finish a new system shield.

Or, the empire can stay in its little sealed zone, which is probably small compared to the rest of the galaxy. So the rest of the galaxy builds up the larger space and eventually outstrips the limited area of the sealed empire, and then victory conditions (if set up) can kick in.

Quikngruvn

[Fyron]

The facility did not inroduce the possibility of a stalemate; that already existed. Systems are limited to having 10 warp points in them. So, you could take 11 systems and close off all external warp points, and then create a network between them so that all 11 systems have 10 warp points going between each other.

[geoschmo]

I had a game once where I moved all the warp points for my systems onto my most heavily defended planet, and then built system shield generators. Wasn't exactly a stalemate, but it sure was fun watching my enemies try and break into my space through that warp point.

Geo

[Cyrien]

Hehe. I did that with a ring world once. That was the best. Funny.

[Gryphin]

Stalemate?
Philosophically Speaking:
The act of isolating oneself is tantamount to conceding defeat.
In any contest where an opponent has Isolated, themselves, (in whatever way this may manifest itself), it is fair to declare a moral victory. It does not matter what the score is. I would concede a few points for originality and claim victory.
I liken it to a teenager who can’t win an argument with their parents so goes off to sulk.
Oh, did I mention the only college class I recived an “A” in was philosophy?