Trade Wars: How to Lose 2

Never get angry. Never go flying off to “fix” another player. Never ever have “getting” even as your strategy. This is the recipe to lose. Players do things to make you angry. They want you to stop thinking, stop playing your own game and dance to their tune.

Before you race out, think… does this action help my cause? The example I am about to use comes from an actual game in which for EIGHTEEN DAYS I set Dsar’s agenda. I mined the Sectors around my doorway sector, (four sectors led to 876 but 876 led to a dead end (279) where my planets were.

Dsar hit mines in one of those four sectors, lost shields, raced to Star Dock, bought mine disrupters, raced back, disarmed the remaining mines so that he could enter 876. As there were two Volc in 279, and he had the feeling both were at Q cannon level, (he was right) he sent me an in game email.

It was not a pleasant missive. It told me where I was and was not to place mines.

After I read it, I replaced mines in the Sector he had disarmed, added to those in the other sectors, and then in all the Sectors leading to those Sectors.

I put 10 mines per Sector because my intention wasn’t to discourage Dsar from incursion or blow him up, but to provoke him to stop playing, As if I were a puppet master, Dsar did as I desired. He spent his turns buying disrupters and disrupting my mines.

As I played my game, traveling and trading, I’d blow a few of his beacon fighters, put mines around others after paying the toll. If he warped, he hit mines which ate his shields. I did not want to pod him.

My desire was to have him single step.

In a low turn game where every move costs three turns, you can see how 250 turns can evaporate.

For eighteen days; count “em, this is the game dsar played;

“Dsar disrupted some of your mines in 814″

“Dsar disrupted all of your mines in 814″

“Dsar disrupted all of your mines in 96″

“Dsar disrupted some of your mines in 222″

“Dsar disrupted all of your mines in 222″

Dsar spends his turns buying distrupters, going to my sectors, single stepping so he can see what is ahead, sending in the disrupters, then, when the area is clear, entering, to send in more disrupters, so as to reach 876, for what purpose, as he couldn”t invade my Home Sector.

Each day I’d sell goods to my Space Station, Twarp to the Space Dock, buy shields and more mines, Twarp back, replace mines, destroy or booby trap his fighters.

Having Twarped an overpopulated mountainous planet to a new sector far away, I moved colonists from that planet to the new ones, making a few trips to Earth to scrap up whatever colos remained.

As I didn’t want him anywhere near my new Sector, I kept him around my old Home Sector disarming mines.

After 18 days I sent him a message. He responded angrily, attacking my mode of play, so that if we were in the same room he’d probably do me bodily harm. I told him to enjoy disarming my mines. I explained to him how when you want to keep a child busy you give him a colouring book and crayons.

Finally, on day 19, I logged on to see no mine disarmed. On day 20, no mine was disarmed. Oh well.

I collected most of my mines, carried them to my New Sector, parked them in the doorway to my doorway sector and waited. If I hadn’t gotten Dsar angry, he’d of marked the original mined sectors avoid. If he’d even done his first million dollar mine disarming, after seeing the nature of my planets, realising he was unable to invade, he’d go away.

But getting him angry, forcing him to retaliate, I insured a peaceful nearly three weeks of building my new sector. If you get angry, and find yourself responding to another’s strategy, you are no longer playing your own game.