by Ranior
So a recent situation in a game of Terra Mystica had me considering a strange topic the other day, and I thought I'd share and get some opinions on it.The specific situation is the following: I'm say the Witches who are pretty high up in the Air Cult. The Cultists are in the game and have just offered me leech. But they are fighting me for the Air Cult, although they also have several other cult fights going on. I want that leech, but I don't want them to move on Air. I'm fine if they move on the other cults.
So a strange thought crosses my mind--could I make them an offer? Suppose I say I will accept their leech if they promise not to move up Air. Now obviously they don't have to follow through--there's no binding deals here. But I think many players would typically stay honest in this case. The Cultists player benefits by getting the cult boost to fight on the other cults they are contesting with the other players. I benefit by getting the leech I want. If the situation emerges again I probably can trust them again and we can both benefit from such an arrangement.
I'm sure other similar situations exist--perhaps you're debating where to build a TP. You would rather give the leech to the Swarmlings say as they are further behind and not competing as much with you--but you are concerned they might take a hex you want. On the other hand offering leech to the Darklings probably allows them to take Act2 and build another dwelling which would really cement them in the lead. Once again you could at least reach out and make the offer--perhaps the Swarmlings promises and then still backstabs you, but the same idea exists.
Now on to the point--I didn't actually do it. Because it sort of felt wrong. I've never seen anyone else do it before. I will note this game was online so I don't really know my opponent. I suspect I would have been more willing to do this in real life where I know the players a bit better and believe they would be up for this type of dynamic. But I'm not really sure why I felt it was wrong.
As far as I can tell nothing like this breaks the rules in any way. But it sure does seem to break the norms of how players interact and play with each other online. So I suppose my questions are two fold (although they're really kind of the same):
How would you respond if someone tried this in a game you were in or with you?
Do you think such negotiation belongs in Terra Mystica?