Announcing armies in Fog of War

[Ethitts]

I am currently playing a Fog Of War game in which I announced in the game chat the position and amount of another players armies. They got all angry about it, but I have done so in another game before and it was completely acceptable. What are your views on this?

Personally I think you have every right to announce those details. Take for example, 3 players 'A' 'B' and 'C'. if 'A' and 'B' are fighting it out, then suddenly 'B' attacks 1 of 'C's' territories and finds a huge stack of armies, should it be kept quiet? 'A' could keep attacking 'B' oblivious to the fact that with those armies 'C' could win the game. It should be your responsibility to hide your army stack, and if discovered, that's your fault. In a real war if your army number get's informed to all other enemies, are you going to say "well that's not fair, those guys can't see my mass of troops, you shouldn't have told them that".

Hopefully you understood my rant. Let me know your opinions on this subject.

[LB Ninja]

yes i think this is totally not right.... the point of fog of war is so the other players dont know where you are and how many armies you have.... if you give all of that away the other players know what to expect and it changes the game a lot

[MeDeFe]

Of course it's ok, I don't see FoW as meaning you should only know about what's next to your own armies, it's as much an addition to the manipulative and negotiating part of the game as anything else. Spread lies, truths and hints however you want in the gamechat, if it benefits you you did something right.

[TeeGee]

I havent seen anywhere in the rules where this is not allowed, so as far as I can see it is completely legal.

Rule #1: No multiple accounts

Multiple accounts are discovered by routine scans and community cheating reports. They are strictly forbidden whether or not they play in the same games. If you suspect certain accounts belong to the same person, please report it following the instructions at the top of the Cheating & Abuse Reports forum.
Rule #2: No secret diplomacy

Any form of diplomatic discussion between opponents must be posted in the game chat in a language that all opponents understand. Diplomacy includes, but is not limited to: proposing truces, negotiating alliances, and coordinating attacks. Secret diplomacy can be hard to prove, but if you suspect it you should leave the players in question appropriate ratings. If you feel certain about players engaging in secret diplomacy consider reporting them in the Cheating & Abuse Reports forum by posting a new topic.
Unwritten Rules

Obviously any gross abuse of the game is forbidden. This includes but is not limited to: throwing games, intentional deadbeating, serial teammate killing, hijacking accounts.

Still can't see it there, so if it's a strategy that works for you then go for it.

[max is gr8]

I agree. I love making people fight to get past a pile of units I know don't make a continent but they think does. I suggest going to callouts to find players that don't mind otherwise you may get a low fair play rating but I say its fair game

[hulmey]

FoW is all about deception. once i was truthfully claiming that player a had over 50 stacked armies somewhere and he was countering that saying that aint true lol.....Part of the beautiful game of deception

[quackaddict]

Other than pointing out numbers of territories held (which should be evident from armies earned), or asking for help breaking up an area I do think this is wrong. Everyone seems to have different levels of information they believe it is ok to expose, but nobody wants it done on them.

I think the best policy is if they can't find it out for themselves by doing the math, it probably isn't safe. Like I said, I can see asking for help breaking up a continent, but I don't think it is correct to tell what the army strength is.

[Ethitts]

I don't want to sound like a complete asshole here. But I've noticed high ranked players agree that announcing armies is strategy, lower ranked players disagree. Could that be explaining something?

[Sentinel XIV]

Of course it's ok, I don't see FoW as meaning you should only know about what's next to your own armies, it's as much an addition to the manipulative and negotiating part of the game as anything else. Spread lies, truths and hints however you want in the gamechat, if it benefits you you did something right.

QFT.

[_42]

Of course it's ok, I don't see FoW as meaning you should only know about what's next to your own armies, it's as much an addition to the manipulative and negotiating part of the game as anything else. Spread lies, truths and hints however you want in the gamechat, if it benefits you you did something right.

my opinion also
talk talk talk
lie lie beg bully
lie laugh
that is the point of FOW

[hulmey]

yep and its fun

[Draconian_Intel]

I'm not going to pretend to be a FoW expert (I played one or two, sucked at them, and resolved to avoid fogged games since), but I don't think I would want to play with someone that says all the army positions every turn. That being said, I think it is a great idea if there is a strategical reason to it. I guess what I'm saying is, if you are saying it just to spread information, why are you even playing FoW, but if its a strategical move, go for it.

[max is gr8]

I once got a player to eliminate a player for me in assassin I said, "crap, Orange has Asia," And they believed it and tried to break the 12 units he place there because I took all but 1 territ off him, I won that game

[serata]

I'm also of the opinion that anything said in the game chat any time is fair game... and it's true, your opponent would have to take into account possible lies. It's all diplomacy, and Fog of War doesn't change that. If you can figure out your opponents move, and it's your boon to get your other opponent to help, then you announce the treaty, nothing illegal there.

Also, I can't help but notice the overwhelming number of noes on the vote, and the overwhelming number of yes responses. Come on, let's hear a counter arguement!

[mccallan25]

If the view is: it is not incorrect to call out other positions in a Fog Game then why have FOG as an option. I usually only see it after someone has taken out someone else so they get mad and tell everyone how many armies are out there because they have just been beaten and this is the only thing they can do. It has always been retalitory for a bad beating in all the games I have created. So then I now ask, why would it have even be created as an option? If you wanted to know where everyone else is you would have not joined a FOG game in the first place. Now if someone "falsley calls out fake numbers" for you and the others then get manipulated into attacking you, I feel they are skirting a formal truce or declared treaty as is suppose to be stated, since the others will now attack who they think has the high numbers helping out the person that lied to begin with.

I only create FOG games. I do not like knowing where my opponent is except by deduction when looking at the log on how armies were rewarded and then making an educated guess as to where they are. I "Foe" everyone that calls out a position in any of my games. There's a good 40+ players that join my game and this core group, I can tell you does not think it's ok. Hence we "foe" those that call out. This group plays very fairly and with integrity. I am glad that our core group has this integrity and does not lie, nor manipulate other opponents into attacking someone with out a formal declaration.

I absolutely think it should be a option for those of us that love to play the FOG option. Fog games with no rules or Fog games as it was ment to be played could always be another option in creating a game.

I will state if I ever get the chance to purchase this site, it will become a rule.

[max is gr8]

Of course you could just make 2 options. Fog with chat. Fog no chat.

[TotoroHat]

This is late and may be a repeat but If you're still alive and ticking then I'd say go for it, but if you've died... move on and tell no one!

[Draconian_Intel]

I "Foe" everyone that calls out a position in any of my games. There's a good 40+ players that join my game and this core group, I can tell you does not think it's ok. Hence we "foe" those that call out.

I understand your argument, and I am not trying to invalidate it. I just wanted to point this out. If you foe all the people that call out positions, then of course the only people that join your games consistently will be people that don't.

[T7]

Game chat is part of the game, it's like the fake messages the British sent to the Germans during second world war - and it probably has happened in every war in history. For me, manipulating my opponents is a great part of my enjoyment of FoW. I wish I was better at it!

I like the suggestion earlier of turning chat on or off as an option in FoW games - has this been officially suggested?

[THE ARMY]

Aer a long thought about it, i do not think announcing armies is suitable for a fog of war game. Part of the strategy is to mask the other players position. I feel if someone were to give away positions (which is very tempting) i fell the integrity of the game will be compromised.

[PL]

If you have a good reason to. <-- your opinion here
I mean, if you start a game, and you tell everyone where everyone else is, and everything.. a summary doesn't really contribute..