What win? 
Anyhow, I think the Barbarian badge is a smashing good idea. It’s a way for some people to warn others without being really negative. I think anyone who gets this badge would take it as a heartfelt compliment to their ability to be a royal pain in the a** when the chips are down.
More to the point, on quitting or going out with style…
I think @xtrafresh is right: what will keep you in the game is interest and nothing generates more interest than either winning or spite.
I’ll drop out of games – or go AFK if dropping out would screw my allies – if the writing’s on the wall and the amount of effort needed to manage my declining empire outweighs the fun involved. So a more-or-less trusted player stabs me at just my most vulnerable point, but I really can’t blame him because we didn’t have a NAP, after all, and stabbing me was the logical thing to do… Hell, in that sort of situation, I’ll drop out and let him fight bots, sure. Before I go, I’ll do everything I can to screw him over: transfer out tech, make a few runs at key planets he owns, whatever. But the bot does a fine job of just digging in and holding on. I don’t need to be around for that.
But say you have a player who did something you really hate and thinks he’s going to profit from it. Well, you can’t win now, but you CAN make that player’s life just miserable.
Here’s the strategic secret to any game like this, which some people apparently have a hard time grasping. It’s the key to finding fun in a losing situation:
This is a game, folks. That’s all it is. There are no prizes here. Seriously.
You don’t get anything other than fun from Triton. No one cares if you win. In fact, if you are a premium player, you LOSE playing it. Not winning and winning are exactly one and the same thing in this game in real wolrd terms.
So once it becomes clear you WON’T win, the question you need to ask yourself is: “Is there another goal I can shoot for that will be just as satisfying in terms of gameplay?”
Here are some that work for me:
Guaranteeing another player’s win, particularly if you can get something out of it in the “metagame” (i.e. a good rep, some badges, renown, favors in future games) or if aiding her would piss off people you hate or please people you like.
Fighting no holds barred against someone you really dislike. The reason ithinkchaos feels my strategies are “barbaric” is that she just can’t grasp that they weren’t taking their reference as “can I win the game or not?” Their reference was “Can I help Magic win and can I prevent ithinkchaos from expanding any further?” We are down to the wire in that game and, the way things look, I might actually end up at the end holding more of chaos’ planets that she holds of mine. That, to me, is a victory.
Alternatively, guaranteeing another player’s LOSS. Sure, you’ll go down, but you were headed that way anyhow. As your empire collapses around you, you’re going to make DAMN sure that son-of-a-b**** over there will be taken down with you. Or, atr the very least, you will knock them down in the end game’s standings.
Just holding on and surviving while facing overwhelming odds. Call this one the “Finnish Defense” based on what they did during WWII. Sure, you’re going to lose, but you’re going to make damned sure it takes far many more resources to conquer you than what your opponent originally figured.
…and finally…
In other words, if you adopt a “sandbox” attitude to Triton instead of the “Winning is everything!” attitude of the person who had over-achieving tiger parents, you can have a hell of a lot of fun, even in a “losing” situation.
And let me remind everyone once again: the difference between a winner and a loser in Triton, in real world terms, can be measured in precisely how much fun you had.
I had a blast in my recently concluded 64 player game. ithinkchaos not so much, apparently.
…sigh…I realize you are just trying to goat me, @Macunaima and it’s plain to see you get some weird sadistic satisfaction from that.
And at the risk of feeding your ego, I wanted to respond to simply clear up one point here:
I am not complaining about players that refuse to quit, or as @xtrafresh put it, players that have a
“fighting spirit and sustained motivation when faced with doom.”
Re-reading my original post, I can plainly see how I gave that impression, but I thought I had explained myself in my response to @Solrax above. I completely agree that people should fight to the last star - especially if you are in an alliance. And I applaud persistence in the face of impending destruction! (No one likes a quitter.)
My complete disdain for @Macunaima stems solely from his sophomoric behavior and conceited attitude. I won’t digress to insults, but some choice words certainly come to mind to describe your constant shit talking and name calling.
Indeed, at the end of the day, NP is just a game. And one I thoroughly enjoy, especially when playing with challenging and thought provoking players. Good sportsmanship is a thing and can contribute to the enjoyment of playing as well. It’s unfortunate that some people get their kicks from trolling others, but, alas, I suppose that is the nature of the beast that is the internet.
Ithinkchaos, hon, my “conceited attitude” comes wholly, 100% from your ignoring the warnings I gave, which were quite clear, then claiming I didn’t know s*** about strategy or diplomacy when I whupped you at both.
After all, you told all and sundry I deserved to die for NAPping Magic, then you came across the border when I told you, very clearly, that if you did, I’d fight you to the death while handing my empire over to Magic. You then said you were going to overrun me. Then you proceded to get fought to a stand-still by a guy with one fourth your ships and half your tech. And THEN you went ahead and NAPped Magic yourself.
Finally, after all this, you decided to come on the forum and whine about how I am a barbarian because I just didn’t roll over when you farted in my general direction.
Your original complaint was that my strategy didn’t make sense and was stupid. Let me quote your exact words, to save you the trouble of scrolling up. You complained specifically about my “tactical moves - constant taking of stars but not holding them (like an AI’s death rattle desperate moves). And apparently he doesn’t realize how slow moving this game is, because I correctly told him he had already lost but he somehow doesn’t seem to realize it yet (or refused to admit it). Anyways, I was reminded of this scene from Gladiator in which one of the generals says, ‘People should know when they’re conquered.’”
I mean, it’s really quite clear: you didn’t have the slightest idea as to what I was doing, even though I told you before hand what it would be. And you started ranting about my not knowing how to play even as I was racking up 50% more kills than you were and burning your industry, left and right, all the while preventing you from taking my planets.
In spite of what you are saying now, kiddo, you really did indeed mean that you were upset with me because I didn’t let you roll right over me. And what’s more, both on the game and here, several times now, you’ve been attempting to school me on proper tactics and diplomacy – when it was your lack of both that lost the game for your alliance.
And I am supposed to be the one who is conceited here?
Why?
Because I’m ribbing your pretensions of being a great strategist?
Look, chaos, if you don’t want to be teased, don’t act like a sore loser. If you don’t want your pretensions poked at, don’t wear them on your sleeve in public. And if you don’t like “13 year old boy tricks”, then maybe you should stop falling for them every… single… time.
Your definition of good sportsmanship obviously differs from mine. Mine includes not running around telling people they’re playing the game wrong when they hand me my ass on a silver platter. Your mileage obviously varies.
Enough’s enough thanks folks.
Lets move on!