Taking over a position

[OldBaldGuy]

I just took over a great position. A 10 center England. The 2center Germany wished he could have done that. Why can't he?i

[Kaptain krunch]

He was already in the game

you can't re join a game once you leave.

[OldBaldGuy]

Thanks, I know that is the rule, but the question is why? A current player is at a disadvantage to a new player

[super_dipsy]

Thanks, I know that is the rule, but the question is why? A current player is at a disadvantage to a new player

There are all sorts of reasons. For a start, it makes a mockery of any judge of ability if you can play badly but then benefit from changing to one of the countries that has succeeded. But far more seriously, by taking over a different country you now have two proof points of other players and what they say/don't say. For example, you might join as the second country and realize one of the others has been lying to you (in your old country form) all the time because you are now seeing what they have been saying to someone else. There is also the point that it seems rather grotesque to perform poorly resulting in another nation gaining and then taking over that nation yourself. It would also introduce new opportunities for cheating.

Imagine playing football for a team and they are now losing 10-0. Then a player on the other team goes off injured. Would you think it fine for someone on your team to switch sides so they can be on the winning one?

[Dolph Shtoss]

I just took over a great position. A 10 center England. The 2center Germany wished he could have done that. Why can't he?i

This has gotta be a troll job. PLEASE tell me it’s a troll job.

[OldBaldGuy]

That makes sense dipsy. You could overcome the 'knowledge' issue by wiping the messages available to a current player. Sometimes it is not poor play that results in a weak position. The strongest player in the universe cannot do anything playing Austria when confronted with an attack from Iy/R/T.

Thanks for your response

[OldBaldGuy]

And no, Dolph sht, this is not a troll, whatever that means. We do this all the time in FTF, if somebody has to leave. It is a better game if the stronger position is not abandoned.

[Elric Hazard]

In (non-tournament) FtF it is usually quite acceptable, if it makes a better game. A naive replacement is usu pretty hard to find anyway. It would be too easy to exploit it in the online situation.
As for wiping such messages, I suspect the coding effort would not be worth it, as well, as little as it may be. And make replacements harder to find, maybe. I've joined more than 1 game just to see the messages, curious about what led to the current wacky situation. Another argument not to do that, is to consider the "realism/simulation" aspect, the previous administration staff and records would likely be available to a new head of state. "Simulation" is not always a good perspective, but it could help rationalize why the decision is the way it is, for some people.