Yes Renaud that is true - without trying to provoke an argument I'm just going to use Walking and Rabbit as an example, not because I am accusing them of impartiality but because they're a convenient example since they're brothers. But the thing is, they're only going to be in the same game a maximum of two times per regular season (that is just a guess, based on the size of the player pool and the # of games), and everyone can see their preteam coming. But Walking and Rabbit (again, just using them as a convenient example) still require good spawns and a pair of weak opponents to ensure consistent victories during their games together. And then they have 4-5 other games where they're without each other to rely on, probably matched up against people who are unappreciative of their methods of ensuring themselves 1st and 2nd place points - it would arguably then be wise for other players (especially ones they've previously teamed) to make sure that they don't get 1st and 2nd place points in other games - call it an expansion of strategic play that transcends any individual game. Because at the end of the day each player is playing for an accumulation of points.
I really think that allowing everything short of cheating and ghosting (just another form of cheating) would put teaming and chat in their proper perspective and make tier 1 and tier 2 rushes sensible in FFA - would it not become worth it for Dase to rush out Ebo, solo style, when they're close-spawned? It would boost the value of a player's fighting ability and devalue teaming ability - what good is teaming if you're rushed out early? The other players in the game will still benefit more from ignoring it rather than from coming to the rescue - after all there is one less teamer in the game, and more time to creep and expand.
Oh and one more thing. If it's sensible to look beyond the current game you're in and play to the overall accumulation of points, I think it makes feeding a lot more sensible too. I haven't explicitly said it (though it's implied by allowing anything short of cheating), but I think feeding should be a legitimate means of bargaining, as suicide is.
PM chat and regular chat are options for everyone. Also though, I think people overlook the fact that silence and appearances (e.g. base layouts, hero levels/choices, army size/composition) can be just as manipulative and deceptive as blocks of text in reg or PM chat. A lot of the "problem" with chat and preteaming is that it may not, for some, be as entertaining to watch as the strong fighters in the community going on rampages. But for that matter is it not just as boring to watch weak fighters attempt to go on rampages when their true ability is in orchestrating their victories by other means? I for one found Eshan's PM chat in his game with SS and Walking intriguing, because it was effective (and for the record, I'm a big fan of players who rely primarily on their fighting ability to win games). Like most lurkers at ffareplays (or are we so few?), I just like to watch a well-played game, no matter what a player's style is.
I know the great worry is that games will degenerate into vendettas, feuds and 2 vs. 2's , but I think that the best thing that could happen to organized FFA as we know it is to remove the rules against preteaming. Really the only rules should be against cheating and ghosting, and the second one seems easily preventable - I recall watching many solo replays where the hosts used a program that allowed for a delay between what observers were seeing and what was happening in real-time. Anyway, back to preteaming. It should be allowed to run its course in the league. Eventually players will recognize that not all of the consequences of teaming and chat will be to their benefit, in any given game or season (I think it's pretty clear that plenty of FFAers have long memories).
No one would seriously consider a ban on certain hero combos, items, or any mix of these, let alone the curbing of anything that would prevent the community's best fighters from shining in battle. Instead the good fighters have gained reputations that precede them in every game they enter - their abilities are factored into every serious player's game plan. I see no reason to prevent manippers and teamers from freely establishing their own reputations, ones which will become as notorious as those of the fighters, by allowing teaming and chatting of any kind to go unchecked. Let those players who rely on manip and teaming carry their own double-edged swords as the fighters have been allowed to, especially if the alternative is this gray area, open to interpretation, which will do nothing but create additional drama and disputes.
Sorry for the bump and the large reply, but this weekend is the first chance I've had to sit and think about the recent controversies that were M25 and M27. And I think getting rid of any kind of chat or teaming would move FFA in the wrong direction. And then I'd only have TV to watch =/
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