[no players] CiVI Lurking Part II: Sophomore Slump

[Mardoc]

Well, that's unexpected.  Alhambram yet again reads the game and his opportunities and strikes opportunistically instead of waiting on opponents' plans.  

I'm looking forward to seeing how OleDavy reacts.  He's now guaranteed to have pretty much any option he wants: either side of the 2v1, or staying out and aiming for Germany.  All the maneuvering around trying to bluff Alhambram into not realizing there was a 2v1 brewing had the side effect of leaving OleDavy's options completely open .  I could make a case for any of the three options, from what I know.  
a) Continue the current plan.  Can't afford to let Woden die until he gets his own religion + inquisitors, can keep his investment smaller than the other two, most likely way to get a stalemate or a near-stalemate plus a (small) profit for Greece
b) Switch targets to Woden while racing for a religion of his own.  Woden could actually die here if things break wrong, since he's off-guard and behind in tech.  If OleDavy gets half of Woden and averts the religious victory, then he'll be the definite leader, and could contain both foes by playing defense until his tech lead lets him absorb Singaboy in peace
c) Go for full-bore consolidation.  Maybe Woden will lose some territory but then be able to get a stalemate (and a grudge), leaving him and Alhambram investing in units to die, while OleDavy invests in profitable things and prepares to absorb Germany.  Woden needs to go down a peg for OleDavy to catch him, after all.  Can always swap to either plan a or b later on, once the situation clarifies.

[Bacchus]

The game is really fascinating. However, I just read up on the fact that district pillaging does not kill the adjacency bonus. What the fuck.

[Esteon]

At that time I would have need to be clearvoyant or a lurker to know that Singaboy had the fun of a 3rd turn horseman. 
(...)
If you took the time to sit back and actually think how one feels on the receiving end in a game, you might not shoot so quickly.
Bacchus has been rather precise in criticism, I have yet to see where I turned his advice or criticism down.

That's precisely my point: you didn't know how bad Singaboy's start was, so you shouldn't have 'accused' him of having a better start. But you are free to make any comments about perceived errors/weedy moves of other players - in your thread.
We do not know how it felt for you to play this game, so we should not 'accuse' you of playing poorly (and I don't see where we did so - if I did then I apologize). But we may comment on perceived mistakes (even if they're impossible to spot from players perspective) - in our (lurkers) thread.

For clarity I'll say this again - I'm a big fun of your reporting and of your game. (I will not comment on this issue again.)

[Ichabod]

This turn also featured some opening confusion. You'll notice Woden has an angry face towards me in the top right corner. However, I didn't get a notification that I had been denounced? I messaged him to inquire. He said he did denounce me - although the tone made me believe it was a mistake. In any event, it was definitely at odds with the deal he offered me. 

This is clearly against the rules of a no-diplo game.

[Esteon]

Just as TheArchDuke said "...so much for no diplomacy."

There's clearly a need for some specific diplo rules, because the idea of "only AI diplo" should not include things like '6 gold for 6 gold' (by the reasoning of: AI will not understand this, will it?)

[Mardoc]

This turn also featured some opening confusion. You'll notice Woden has an angry face towards me in the top right corner. However, I didn't get a notification that I had been denounced? I messaged him to inquire. He said he did denounce me - although the tone made me believe it was a mistake. In any event, it was definitely at odds with the deal he offered me. 

This is clearly against the rules of a no-diplo game.

Checking for bugs is legit, responding in a way that conveys additional information isn't.  So I'd be inclined to blame Woden here, although I don't see any remedy.  Especially when it's tone-reading rather than anything explicit, and doesn't appear to have changed OleDavy's mind on anything.

Just as TheArchDuke said "...so much for no diplomacy."

There's clearly a need for some specific diplo rules, because the idea of "only AI diplo" should not include things like '6 gold for 6 gold' (by the reasoning of: AI will not understand this, will it?)

Definitions are tricky, but we've mostly settled on 'no words'.  That said, people often go so far as to ban numbers too.

[Ichabod]

This turn also featured some opening confusion. You'll notice Woden has an angry face towards me in the top right corner. However, I didn't get a notification that I had been denounced? I messaged him to inquire. He said he did denounce me - although the tone made me believe it was a mistake. In any event, it was definitely at odds with the deal he offered me. 

This is clearly against the rules of a no-diplo game.

Checking for bugs is legit, responding in a way that conveys additional information isn't.  So I'd be inclined to blame Woden here, although I don't see any remedy.  Especially when it's tone-reading rather than anything explicit, and doesn't appear to have changed OleDavy's mind on anything.

There was no evidence pointing to that being a bug. I don't think it was done with ill intent, nor do I think it's worth some sort of punishment (better course of action for the game is just letting it go). I just pointed it out so that other players can take it into account, going forward (in the case they agree it should be avoided, I'm definetely not the final authority on the subject, even though my comment sounded pretty decisive).

[Mardoc]

There was no evidence pointing to that being a bug.

I disagree (er, speaking as someone who doesn't own the game). It appears that every other diplomatic system, especially the symmetrical declaration of friendship, prompts a diplomatic pop-up message, but these only produce a little frowny face in the corner.

[Ichabod]

There was no evidence pointing to that being a bug.

I disagree (er, speaking as someone who doesn't own the game).  It appears that every other diplomatic system, especially the symmetrical declaration of friendship, prompts a diplomatic pop-up message, but these only produce a little frowny face in the corner.

Point taken. The thing is that denouncement is not a diplomatic offer you send through the "make a offer" window, like DoF is. Denouncement is similar to send a delegation, it's done through a different option in the diplo window, which may explain why it doesn't have a prompt in MP (though I think a delegation has to be accepted, while denouncing doesn't need acceptance, it just happens). Then again, even if you have evidence of a bug in a no diplo game, better to consult the lurkers, rather than the other player directly.

[TheArchduke]

Well, does not sending fake gold coins around count as circumventing the diplomacy rules a bit. You can not do that with the AI.

Not suggesting bad faith or that I do not see the excellent play there but still, do we want this in future games?
If yes, everyone should be aware of it.