Becoming an SEP
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:43 amIn your typical CC Game, there is nothing more deadly and insidious than an SEP. They are capable of racking up large bonuses without getting attacked by other players. In fact, the only time the other players seem to notice their existence is when it's already too late.
An player who is an SEP is a player who is Somebody Else's Problem. This is the best thing to be. If you can convince everyone on the board that you are Somebody Else's Problem, nobody will do anything to stop you because they will be assuming that someone else will do that for them.
So how does one go about becoming an SEP? The first thing to do is to lay low. Limit your chat to GLs and GGs. The second thing to do is to is to use very basic shallow deception to look like less of a threat to others than you really are. Having important territories with three troops in them is a good way to do this. People seem to have associated the number 3 with standard starting territories, and thus usually disregard it as boring and nonthreatening. The final thing is border management. Keep at least one border wide open, to easily allow other players to break your bonus. If you do it right, more than one player will be in a position to break your border, and so everyone will wait for someone else to do it. Border management also means spreading out your troops so that you never look like the biggest threat on the board. Just making sure your stacks aren't the biggest should be good enough.
Anyone have any other tips on how to be ignored up until right before the world is yours?
An player who is an SEP is a player who is Somebody Else's Problem. This is the best thing to be. If you can convince everyone on the board that you are Somebody Else's Problem, nobody will do anything to stop you because they will be assuming that someone else will do that for them.
So how does one go about becoming an SEP? The first thing to do is to lay low. Limit your chat to GLs and GGs. The second thing to do is to is to use very basic shallow deception to look like less of a threat to others than you really are. Having important territories with three troops in them is a good way to do this. People seem to have associated the number 3 with standard starting territories, and thus usually disregard it as boring and nonthreatening. The final thing is border management. Keep at least one border wide open, to easily allow other players to break your bonus. If you do it right, more than one player will be in a position to break your border, and so everyone will wait for someone else to do it. Border management also means spreading out your troops so that you never look like the biggest threat on the board. Just making sure your stacks aren't the biggest should be good enough.
Anyone have any other tips on how to be ignored up until right before the world is yours?
