Diplomacy and friendship. These are concepts that are foreign to many OGame players. Perhaps even offensive to some. Most OGame players know these words, they even use these words. But to them they have a very different meaning. In the vocabulary of the average OGame player "friendship" is when you don't probe another player for awhile often followed by an unspoken agreement that such an action would end the friendship in a dishonorable fashion. Neither party needs to actually use the word "friend" in this instance. The agreement is often unspoken and formed without consent when one party does not probe the other for a period of time. The agreement ends when one party probes the other and (again, this part is often unspoken) in doing so opens the opportunity for the resulting dispute to be settled by means of proper OGame style diplomacy.

Diplomacy also has its own definition in OGame. Though the official OGame boards actually have a clearly defined space set aside for the traditional form of diplomacy, many of the highest ranked and powerful players in OGame do not even take the time to read or consider these forums. For these players "diplomacy" is an action that is always carried out in game, not through words but with action. The most popular and common action for beginning, ending or continuing any diplomatic activity is known as a Fleet Crash. Fleet Crashing is accomplished by taking part or all of your fleet and using it to engage part or all of another players fleet. The victorious party in a fleet crash is not merely determined by the battle alone but also by who manages to recycle the debris field left behind after the battle.

For many OGame players the concept of "Fleet Crashing" has become so all-important that it has evolved into a religion for them. Upon a successful fleet crash the first action the victorious party should take is to erect a shrine, altar or monument to memorialize the crash. This is accomplished by posting a copy of the combat report from the battle in what is known as the "Hall of Fame" and then inviting other high ranked players to offer prayers at the shrine, altar or monument which may congratulate the victor on their successful crash or wish the victim of the crash a speedy rebuild (so that he may presumably be crashed again sooner). Once the shrine, altar or monument has been constructed and the proper prayers have been offered by other high ranked players this is considered to be the end of any diplomatic interaction between the two parties in dispute. Any attempt by either party to continue the diplomatic interaction at this stage is considered an insult and is often responded to by insults from high ranked players and/or warnings, threats or insults from forum moderators (Or GOs, possibly even ones that have no true authority in the matter). If these threats, insults and staff actions do not end the attempts at diplomacy then the diplomacy will most often return to the format of an in-game fleet crash when one or more of the involved parties makes a statement along the lines of "lets talk about this in-game" or "I'm going to let my fleet do the talking for me!"

The erection of the shrine and completion of the diplomatic interaction does not always proceed as smoothly or as quickly as described above. The procedure most often breaks from the usual pattern when one of the involved parties is of a significantly lower rank than the other. In these instances the perceived authority of high ranked players takes precedence in the matter and the lower ranked player is often ridiculed, insulted or ignored. The lower ranked player is often not allowed to protest having been fleet crashed by a higher ranked player, regardless of the reasons for the crash or what manner of diplomacy may have been involved, and the lower ranked player must proceed very carefully out of fear of offending one or more higher ranked players who may attempt to engage him in "diplomacy" if an offense is taken at any of his actions. Sadly for lower ranked players, there are many grievous offenses they may carry out against a higher ranked player without even knowing it, often by merely playing the game to the best of their ability.

One of the most common and terrible offenses that a lower ranked player may carry out against a higher ranked player is the act of probing one of the higher ranked player's planets. Although the higher ranked player will often probe the lower ranked player for days, weeks or even moths on end looking for a chance to take his resources or crash his fleet, it is not considered acceptable for the lower ranked player to probe the higher ranked player even if he has similar reasons for the probe. Probes by lower ranked players on higher ranked players are almost always considered extremely offensive and sometimes even insulting. This is sometimes the result of the previously discussed unspoken bond of "friendship" that the lower player was not aware of. Other times it may be simply because the higher ranked player feels entitled to probe the lower ranked player at will but that the lower ranked player needs to "know his place" and is not entitled to the same rights. A higher ranked player that is attempting to put a lower ranked player "in his place" or is attempting to engage in diplomatic affairs with the lower ranked player may do this several ways. Fleet crashing is always the most popular action but in the event that the lower ranked player is too skilled to easily fleet crash repeated farming attacks or even the launch of interplanetary missiles are seen as acceptable by high ranked players. An all out declaration of war is uncommon but not unheard of, despite the fact that it often backfires on the high ranked player.

Another common offense a lower ranked player may carry out against a higher ranked player is any action that might make it difficult for the higher ranked player to steal resources from the lower ranked player or crash his fleets. Despite the fact that this is often only a case of the lower ranked player playing the game to the best of his ability, it often annoys the higher ranked player who feels he is entitled to everything the lower ranked player owns. These sorts of disputes are often difficult for the higher ranked player to solve with the typical OGame diplomatic act of a fleet crash due to the fact that the entire problem stems from the superior skill of the lower ranked player. It is not uncommon in these instances for actions besides the fleet crash to be taken by the high ranked player including the launching of missiles, the ongoing farming or even the all out declaration of war. Sometimes the higher ranked player will simply threaten these actions on the lower ranked player if the lower ranked player does not cease his skillful playing of the game. The higher ranked player may even demand that the lower ranked player directly GIVE their resources to the higher ranked player so that he does not need to work for them at all. Although this last demand is actually against the rules of OGame, many high ranked players do not consider this and still feel completely entitled to everything owned by any player ranked lower than they are.

Some offenses are considered so appalling and deplorable that they may very well bring down the wrath of large numbers of high ranked players on entire alliances of lower ranked players. Of these offenses the most common is the "mass alliance" which occurs when one low ranked player joins an alliance with one or more other low ranked players. When one low ranked player joins an alliance with a second low ranked player (thus creating an alliance of two low ranked players) this is viewed as relatively inoffensive by higher ranked players. However with each additional low ranked player who joins this alliance the level of perceived offense rises. When the alliance reaches a number of 20 low ranked members or more a small minority of high ranked players will brand them a "Mass alliance" but at this stage it is usually not yet offensive enough to be an excuse for "diplomatic" intervention. However when the alliance reaches 30 members or more the number of high ranked players which will consider it a "mass alliance" increases dramatically and the "mass alliance" is now considered offensive enough to engage in diplomatic affairs. These diplomatic affairs may consist of the typical fleet crashing or it may even become so severe that an all out war is declared.

It is important to note that it is often possible to avoid being labeled a mass alliance by simply splitting into several smaller alliances. It is irrelevant if these alliances are clearly all working together, using the same forum/website or even have nearly identical names. Once split into several smaller alliances, the total number of people working as a group becomes irrelevant to higher ranked players. Even though this manner of splitting up alliances greatly confuses lower ranked players and experienced players from other popular games (and is sometimes even hotly contested among high ranked players that are offended by mass alliances) it is still widely accepted in OGame and high ranked players will go to great lengths to enforce the unwritten rules of forming mass alliances. It should be noted that on occasion the hypocritical nature of high ranked players on the subject of mass alliances will be called into question and the high ranked players themselves may even be accused of forming mass alliances. When this occurs it is not uncommon for High Ranked players to continue to enforce their view of mass alliances and may even go so far as to harm their own alliance by kicking out a large number of members or forcing their lower ranked members to join a "wing" alliance where they will be treated like scum compared to the rest of the group and yet will remain under the protection of the high ranked players in the "main" alliance. It should be noted that one low ranked player attacking another lower ranked player who is under the protection of a higher ranked player is considered to be yet another offense a lower ranked player may commit that enables a higher ranked player to take "diplomatic" action against them.

Another common and extremely heinous act that may offend high ranked players is what is referred to as a player being a Turtle. The exact definition of turtle is quite vague but seems to revolve around the amount of defense a player has. The reason this act is offensive to high ranked players is as unclear as the definition itself but most likely stems from the same offenses mentioned above (namely, the difficulty posed to a high ranked player who wishes to fleet crash or farm a "turtle" player and the entitlement he feels that he should be able do this without challenge) as well as the fact that a player who has adopted a "turtle" play style is doing the exact opposite of a player that has adopted a "fleet crasher" playstyle. The difference in playstyle and the offense given by this act has a lot to do with the religious way in which a fleet crasher views the way that he plays the game. From his point of view a "turtle" isn't doing things the way that the "fleet crasher" religion demands, thus being a turtle is the equivalent of a sacrilegious act.

High ranked players will rarely attempt to engage in "diplomatic" affairs with a turtle unless there is a great profit involved for them or if the turtle is a low ranked player that has committed one of the above mentioned offenses. A "diplomatic" act carried out on a turtle has several differences from a diplomatic act carried out on a regular player. The most prominent of these differences is in the way that the shrine to a successful crash is erected and then prayed to. An attack on a turtle is referred to as "turtle crackin'" and the prayers offered to the resulting shrine are very different in their nature. Rather than congratulating the winner and wishing a rapid rebuild to the loser, the prayers often take the form of a very violent and angry chant which calls for more attacks against all turtles everywhere. Despite the apparent religious crusade often called for by these chants, attacks on turtles are often few and far between with the majority of attacks on supposed turtles consisting of someone with a lot of cruisers attacking a player that spent their extra metal on a few thousand rocket launchers.

Finally there is one great offense which is fairly new the the OGame community and everyone has most likely already heard about. Despite this fact, I feel the need to discuss this offense regardless. This offense of course is the purchase of officers. Great and long debates have already taken place on why the purchase of officers will offend the majority of OGame players so I see no purpose in covering that particular topic of discussion again. Instead, I would prefer to analyze how this offense is likely to be perceived and acted upon by players in the OGame community in the near future. Sadly, I fear that things shall be very unbalanced and that many will be falsely accused while those truly guilty remain undetected and unpunished. But even more disturbing are the fears I have that the occasions on which "punishment" are going to be carried out will be every bit as lopsided and hypocritical as many other reactions to perceived offenses in OGame. I have no doubt that high ranked players will be quick to bring "justice" against lower ranked players that they can easily punish. But in much the same way that high ranked players feel entitled to commit the same offenses against low ranked players that they take offense at themselves, I highly suspect that high ranked players will be much slower the bring the same "justice" against their fellow high ranked players that purchase officers. Players who are quite powerful or are simply part of a very powerful alliance will purchase officers without fear of any response from their peers or superiors simply because of the difficulty, challenge and lack of profit involved in bringing punishment against such a powerful player or group of players.