I really don't understand this fixation on breaking NAPs. Of course people will remember who is more likely to break one and factor that in, but the problem is that you quickly run out of people to trust. In this game, haven't 3 people broken NAPs already? Whosit directly did, and gifting units to a 3rd party to attack with is really not that different from attacking.
Of the teams playing honorably, two of them had the goal of quickly expanding and teching to a medieval tech advantage to let them crush their neighbors. How valuable are early NAPs with them?
In particular I'd be much more leery of working with Sulla than anyone else based on this game. Often it seems that his diplomatic requests appear fair on face value but are very one sided. From Jowy's point of view I can see the decision whether to provide metal to Byzantium as a close judgment call at the time. From Sulla's point of view, it's huge - almost handing them the game right there. If I found myself in Jowy's situation in a future game with a close call, I would do the opposite of what Sulla wanted just to be safe.
Of the teams playing honorably, two of them had the goal of quickly expanding and teching to a medieval tech advantage to let them crush their neighbors. How valuable are early NAPs with them?
In particular I'd be much more leery of working with Sulla than anyone else based on this game. Often it seems that his diplomatic requests appear fair on face value but are very one sided. From Jowy's point of view I can see the decision whether to provide metal to Byzantium as a close judgment call at the time. From Sulla's point of view, it's huge - almost handing them the game right there. If I found myself in Jowy's situation in a future game with a close call, I would do the opposite of what Sulla wanted just to be safe.