That's why I love playing large trench games - it's all about diplomacy. You literally can't win without it.
We've been chatting up a storm in this game:
Game 11923179 (I think it's okay to post since it's fog so no one can see what's actually going on - if not please delete it [or tell me to delete it]).
The map is so big that you have to make alliances, because there are just too many borders to defend otherwise. I guess I can't speak for all the other players, but I'm having a blast trying to manage alliances and also trying to expand at the same time.
And I feel like it's necessary too. The players who aren't talking and making truces and alliances are the ones who are getting wiped out right now; for example pink didn't say a single word until he was down to like 2-3 territories and ended up being the first eliminated.