Quote Originally Posted by doorknobdeity
That sort of makes sense, that everyone would be so wary of a rising global threat, and not really care about factions that don't pose any threat. Of course, it would make just as much sense for them to want to suck up to the future emperor of Europe and beat the stuffing out of factions too weak to fight back.
The first part yes, the second no. M2TW is a war game, not a political/reality sim. Winning the game is not even remotely the same as running a successful nation in the real world would be, so things like "suck up to the future emperor" just don't apply - they make no sense in the game. The game is a win or a loss for each faction that plays it. If you don't meet victory conditions, you lose, so consequently planning for the future is irrelevant unless it involves planning to win the game in the future. Planning to be in favor with the game winner is simply planning to lose, which is why it is invalid. Each faction (in theory) should plan to win, and thus must butt heads with all other threatening factions in order to hinder them from winning first if necessary.

It really makes perfect sense if you just realize it's a game you're playing, and not real life. It's still far more akin to Risk than reality... which is as it should be.