This part bothered me a bit.

•Saying gg FOR your opponent when he/she is clearly defeated is NOT good manners. A pre-emptive gg is the equivalent of kicking dirt in the eyes of someone and laughing while they are on the ground, broken and bleeding. Don't be a jerk; gg only when YOU surrender.
Up until “today”; a “good game” was a “good game”, win or lose.

If both players exchange this equal recognition at the end of the game, they leave in appreciation of each other.

It is the same as offering “good luck” as you enter.

Failing to offer either is a slap in the face, and people who do not offer them are in my book, are disrespectful.

To the best of my limited knowledge, these expressions have been a Total War tradition for almost 12 years now.

And they appear in The Code, represented by the following:

* To enter the game with a salute, and leave with a salutation, consistent with good sportsmanship.
What could be better sportsmanship that whishing your opponent “good luck” before battle, and acknowledging their efforts in the match with a “good game” after the battle is finished, no matter who won or lost.

And winning can “not” be the ultimate goal of multiplayer, or you will eventually destroy the player pool and devastate the game.

The superior objective is to build a strong community that appreciates all players, and encourages growth and development.

The motive for this can be purely selfish, as to insure you will always have opponents, or magnanimous, to insure all will be able to enjoy the game as much as you do.

The result is the same…

Now I can change my ways; but I think that it would be a terrible loss to the quality of the game