Questions about revenge

[DaveV]

I'm sorry, I can't respond to the poll because you split an infinitive. I'd also prefer not to nail myself down to a particular playstyle because there's an implicit conflict: I want people who are thinking of attacking me to see me as a monomaniacal lunatic who will stop at nothing to wreak revenge. But I want peaceful neighbors to see me as a guy who is a safe trading partner.

[Kuro]

Answering the poll and explaining my answers:

My revenge is at sometimes, around 10% - 25%. I try to never "revenge" if I have a realistic chance of winning a game: If I don't, though, then I take into account the odds of me improving my finish vs. the fun of smacking someone who smacked me earlier.

I chose "Very little" for sacrificing. I try to avoid going for revenge unless I don't have a chance of winning so I usually have either little to sacrifice or will spend little to do so. I don't think it's really worth it to spend much, though maybe a very small amount, to revenge over another, weaker target if one has a shot at winning.

Style when losing I chose both "Play for best possible personal finish" and "Punish whoever has messed with you most this game". I'll usually play for the best possible finish unless I feel there's some level of kicks or fun involved, such as if I could suddenly raze that person's capital to screw them up even if it'll mess me up or something, in which case it is usually worth having more fun for a worse position since I have no shot at first.

Anonymity I chose "no difference". I don't revenge to establish reputation, in addition even in an anonymus game we will find out who played at the end so reputation would ultimately be gained anyway.

(Of course, these are in a broad sense and could change by a case-by-case basis: Maybe somebody just annoyed me so much during a game I can't help but wanna knock some block off!)

[Gavagai]

I don't want to answer the poll and be formal about it but I want to have it on record that I don't give a fuck about "revenge", I'm here to play good games, optimize my civ and solve interesting tactical and strategic problems. And I feel myself pretty awkward in a community which has these priorities upside down. And this is last thing I ever post on this topic as it annoyed me already to no end.

[Ellimist]

Attack when the situation/timing is right for an attack. Don't attack when it's not. If attacking someone can neither gain an advantage nor remove an obstacle, then don't attack.

All other concerns are secondary(at best). I'll make sacrifices and/or risks when it's necessary to improve my position. I don't care about style, I care about putting in an honest effort for the sake of myself and my opponents.

(I didn't vote because I didn't understand the choices.)

If ... in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

...

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:
(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;
(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;
(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;
(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.

When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.

(From Sun Tzu's Art of War)

"Revenge" seems to fall under #1, #3, and #4.

[SevenSpirits]

I play to have fun and to strive for success of my civ. Revenge is an occasional minor factor in having fun, but no more than that. On the other hand, I think success of my civ is helped by tending towards being friendly with players who have shown themselves to be trustworthy, and being hostile to those who are hostile to me. This might look like revenge but it's actually pragmatism, and it factors into decisions along with other pragmatic things.

My style when losing (and when winning, too, I think) is to maximize what I see as my civ's position relative to the other civs in the game, with extra weight given to those civs who are at a similar level to me and less weight given to those who are far ahead of or far behind me.

I don't think I would act any differently in an anonymous game. But I also don't know why I'd be playing the anonymous game - I'm not currently expecting to ever do so. I guess if I were playing in one, there's a good chance that my reason for doing so is related to these things, so maybe I would act differently after all.

[Hashoosh]

If you look at it beyond the pragmatism of your reputation, revenge is still very enticing because of its satisfaction. After winning, getting equal with someone who put one over you or sabotaged you earlier is probably the greatest satisfaction derivable from any game with more than 2 participants. Turning something into a grudge match after you've accepted the certainty of defeat adds motive to continue playing where it may not have been previously.

Obviously it's different for everybody, but when taking actions against an opponent you should always be ready for Newton's third law to come around and bite you in the ass, and make sure you're ready for the 'equal' part to flexible in its definition.

If I'm in some sort of a no holds barred sandcastle building competition and someone constructs some sort of sand-trebuchet contraption and knocks me out of the running, I am definitely going to use the rest of my resources to make sure he doesn't win.

Or you could subscribe to the 'rat on sinking ship' hypothesis, and just go looking for a new game to try to win after you've been gimped.

[SevenSpirits]

To throw another idea out there: "Living well is the best revenge."

[Bacchus]

I could spin myself a story of revenge which would be enjoyable. The most difficult bit would be mustering the original anger at losing some make-believe assets and seeing my plans in a game of fantasy laid in ruin. I kill for that shit, man.

[WilliamLP]

Hey we're living in a time when people are willing to spend millions of dollars building custom hardware to search abstract mathematical spaces for imaginary money with no intrinsic value, and are getting rich doing it.

[Catwalk]

You should add an "Efficacy" Column

EFFICACY

[ ] Eh, it kinda worked
[ ] This poll was never going to work
[ ] Maybe in a less sarcastic community

Works fine, 15 answers so far And yes, I'm including Noble's answers in that.