Learning Diplomacy and Strategy from Travian, Postscript

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It’s the sixth day since the debut of the revived Alliance X. I still can’t believe that just because two players have used similar quotes in their profiles, the stronger player—belonging to the top ten out of thousands of Travian players—ordered the attack on a fledgling village such as mine. At least during the Trojan Wars, Helen was the cause. World War II was triggered by the assassination of someone named Ferdinand in Sarajevo. USA entered World War II in the Pacific because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Someone might argue that Travian is a virtual world; engaged in a virtual war, thus virtual rules should apply? But, Travian players are also human beings, or at least that’s what I want to believe. Travian players are human beings in the the Real World, or in the Internet parlance, Real Life [RL], as opposed to Virtual or Online Life [OL]. The player acts like a grand omnipotent designer: building infrastructures; training troops; raiding and attacking villages; or declaring war in the virtual world of Travian. These players are not really or actually doing the raiding or attacking themselves, but rather only through their creative extensions, i.e., Travian troops.

With its great facility to interact with other players through its in-game messaging, a simple message could be sent to other online players and one could get immediate reply. Thus, communication lines are open to all, although some players might ignore this Travian facility because they do not know how to use it, or they might lack the rudiments of writing to other players, as seen from various messages received from other players to this writer.

Moreover, by writing someone online, the true nature of a person, the sender, can be discerned. If a message is profused with glaring disagreements between subject and verb, splitting of infinitives, or obvious colloquialisms; there is a greater chance that the writer might not be a native English speaker or writer, or simply does not know the basic rules of correct grammar; or most likely a child still learning the rudiments of communication. On the other hand, if the message is simple yet easily understood; concise but straight to the point; or elaborate but still coherent; then there is a probability that the writer is either a reporter, a journalist, a diarist or someone who have graduated from school grades’ theme to collegiate essay writing.

Apparently, some gamers develop an entirely different personality brought by the anonymity of the Internet. Even though anonymous or they adopted a different personality, these players are still the same persons off-line. Several studies pointed out that online personality could be a mixture of the real persona plus a trait the person might have wanted in real life but could not or does not have. Thus, an introvert person offline might adopt a more extrovert persona online, either to hide his introvertness in real life, as if it were a communicable disease, or to protect their fragility. Similarly, those passive in real life might make it appear as they are aggressive online. Some might even take a 180-degree turn believing that in the internet, nobody knows you are a dog, as the famous 05 July 1993 New Yorker cartoon by Peter Steiner illustrates.

In the second part of this series, it can be surmised from the events that the trigger was the similarity of a quoted line in the players profile, as the aggressor said that it was the main reason. Did George W. Bush attacked Iraq JUST because Saddam Hussein used a similar famous phrase quoted by George W. Bush in the latter’s Facebook profile? What followed was far worst than what happened in Iraq. A legion of confederates of Alliance C helped perpetuate the attacks which is still raging to this day. Every day became a rebuild-and-attack day.

But I believe, my mistake of writing a proposal of a Non-Aggression Pact [NAP] to the second in command was far worst than that! But I am not totally blameless: Would I rather have asked each one of the ten or so officers who was the real boss of the Alliance? Was it deliberate on their part to mislead the other players who really was who in the first place then declare a mother of all wars to anyone making that mistake? A famous Chinese adage once said: “In war, there can never be too much deception.” Maybe, in this Travian war this line is also true?

What I suspected all along in Part III rings true. An intelligent adult would have accepted a series of apologies for what was perceived as a mistaken identity; but a child or teenager, irrespective of the consequences of his action but rather looking only on the fame or glory of a win, more often than not, might not heed the counsel of forgiveness. But he wrote that he was the leader of one of the champions of international Travian, so apologies are not accepted? Or to rephrase his own grammar: “i dont care to [sic] other people’s feelings.”

I never thought an all-out-war—real or virtual—would be declared either for similar quotes or for mistaken identity. But, there is always the first time, so they said!

As to his legions of confederates, they might be the realization of the prediction that the future civilization will be led by a child! I just wish that what these followers shown with this kind of drive and tenacity to relentlessly attack a defenseless virtual village be instead re-channeled to turn this country of ours, the Philippines, into a better nation; then that would be the day.

Yet, if they are showing aggressiveness only for the sake of being included in the Halls of Champions of Travian somewhere in the virtual world, and to hide their own timidity, passiveness or introvertness in Real Life; then all is lost. Or if they become working professionals, would they highlight in their Curriculum Vitae or Resume that one of their greatest achievement in their lives is being a Travian Champion?

In an earlier post, 19 Innovation Insights from GIO 2.0, Part I, it highlights:

“Success will depend on how well you play the game—literally. … Massively multiplayer online games enable thousands of players to interact, compete and collaborate with one another in real time. Players must make rapid-fire decisions based on multiple and constantly shifting inputs. Invariably, certain individuals emerge to set direction and shape the success of others.”

“This also raises an intriguing possibility fir a better approach to increased productivity: fun. Imagine if employees were as addicted to their work as they are to these games. There may be a vast well of energy, effort and creativity that remains largely untapped if employers continue to make strict divisions between work and play.”

Thus, maybe in the near future, being a Travian Champion would be an added plus. Or is the game Travian psychologically flawed, in a sense that it honors the big attackers more than the defenders, or the great raiders instead of the great builders?

Victors analyze only when they need to, or when their lucky streak turns sour. Those vanquished always do because they want to win, retaliation is only secondary.

Oh, well… Maybe, I should have stuck with blogging! Or played FarmVille with my nephew instead?

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Updates:

31 October: On or about 2000H, Travian Speed Server announced the Artifacts were released, and that the Natars were coming. At 2200H, my Village was visited by the Natars. According to legend, the Natars enslaved Gauls and Teutons long before the Romans invaded Travian. The Natars planned to enslave the free tribes—Romans, Gauls and Teutons—themselves by constructing a Wonder of the World. In international servers, where I have an account since August 2009, there have been rumors that once Natars visit your village, it definitely means that you are doing something right. In my international Travian account, Natars also visited my village there. Probably, it means that my strategy is right and Natars are suspicious about it. I wonder whether my war-freak attackers’ villages were also visited by Natars?

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Notes:

IBM (2006). Global Innovation Outlook 2.0. New York: International Business Machines Corporation, 2006. pp. 20—21. back to text

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