So - I´m really not sure what I should think about this topic!

Of course - pre game alliances are "evil" and not fair to the rest of the players...

But what should I do, if I meet some friends on my table? If I made good experiences with them? Of course I will ally with them! Of course I don´t attack them, if there are still other choices - and there are other possibilities in most cases!

And there are some special friends, I´m also looking forward to play with them. And if we´re see us in some tables, we will made a date to the next table.

But this won´t mean, that we will win these games...

So - I don´t make strategic pre-game-alliances,
but I´ve got friends I´m looking forward to play with and enjoy it!

... and it´s transparent. Look into the profiles, to see what they write down into the guestbooks! :)

here are two more:
pillow
peko

kk those two.. they were allied from be4 the game started... on top of that... pillow made a truce with me midgame (when i could have easily taken him out - which i accepted since it was at my best interest to do so) only for him to fill up and instead of attacking my enemy, to attack me and offcourse cut me since i had a bad position against him (i didnt expect him to go that low and brake an alliance).. offcourse his justification was that he was allied with the other chap (peko) from be4 the game... so he had two alliances (a fake one just to survive, and a second one obviously to acquire points)..

just letting u guys know...

ryan: is there a way to add a tag to known such players so that ppl are aware of who they are in the actual game (since most ppl dont read the forums)... for it to work properly.. maybe 10 reports from diff ppl would trigger the tag or smt like that

even better.. make it so that ppl can vote for or against u depending on how respectufully u played (this will eliminate the issues with ppl grouping up and tagging a player since it will subtract one on a negative vote and add 1 on a positive one.. so the resulting number will be an indication of the players respectfullness)

First off I'm all for alliances, pre-game no. Now to address the friend issue. Just because you are friends with someone does not mean you need to have an alliance with him/her every game. The way I decide on an alliance is based on the individual game. I've never been allied with the same person twice. From a strategy view point alliances should only be made after round 5, sometimes later. Sometimes I don't even bother with an alliance, it all depends on how the game is going. I think in the long run pre-game alliances would actually not be beneficial because the beginning is so random. Anyways, that's just my take. If I ran across a noticeable alliance in the early rounds I would make sure everyone else is aware of it and encourage everyone else to gang up on the two involved. After a couple of games going bad these people may reconsider their pre-game alliance strategy.

You amke a decent pint, AA_11. But what about siblings? Much, much closer than friends, how is one to deal with that if they play together? With friends, it's easier to protect against allying, because I 'd rather own my friends in this game than ally with them, unless they plead me. With, say, my brother, It is harder to do that since this is a multiplayer game and not one vs. one. Seriously, I will ally with my brother, but not to screw others over and laugh at their peril. it is only in play, and not in "evil" harm. So, in reality, it's down to the users of this tactic. Friendly, pre-game alliances that are only for the allied party's enjoyment, seem fine. Going around to each table they can get their hands on and ganging up on others is different, even though very little. So, pre-ally responsibly :)

*You make a decent point*

me and point six

Hey JDizzle - you´re right!

Of course it depends on the situation... But if I have the choice I make an ally with a friend, not with an unknown...

But this is not a pre-game-alliance, with go strategic from one table to the other in order to fight aggressive... THESE pre-game-alliances are EVIL and BAD! I´ll damn them also!