Whats the proper etiquette on whether to ask your opponent if he wants to surrender? I have been playing a ton of auto games recently and when i feel like their is no possibility for them to win i ask them to surrender and likewise when im losing i surrender. Recently two games arose (http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1313892 and another i cant find) where i asked the opponent to surrender. In the game i linked my income was 25 to his 5 and i was routing him and the other was in a similar position. In both games my opponent said i was being disrespectful and i replied something along the lines of im not trying to be disrespectful the games over and i just feel like we're wasting both of our times finishing this game off. Then in both games the reply was something along the lines of i shouldnt ask them to surrender even though its a position they should surrender. The linked game then said "its not you, its me" and the other guy said "im just having a bad day dw about it". in other games ppl surrender and wish me a gg and in other games people say no thanks and finish it to the end.

am i wrong to ask people to surrender in 5 minute boot games where they have no possibility of winning?

If they knew how dire their situation was, they would have already surrendered. Asking someone to surrender when they still think they have a chance is a little bit rude imo. It may be nicer just to tell them what your income is and tell them that you think the game is over. Let them make the call on whether or not they want to surrender.

The only exception is for ultra-newbies, who may not know that the surrender feature exists, or for no-fog games where they already know the situation. If there's fog, don't assume they know what you have.

In my opinion, getting your opponent to BELIEVE you have the upper hand (while actually the game is still pretty even) is part of the psychological warfare, isn't it?
So, as long as you don't insult anyone you can ask them to surrender all day long - it still is their decision to make, so if they don't want to surrender they can just ignore you.
All is fair in love an war ;-)

I'm with Diab on this.. Asking them to surrender is a part of diplomacy in that you may or may not be attempting to convince them that you have an advantage.
Personally, I never ask anyone to surrender.. I play the game til it is made clear to -them- that they need to surrender, and still my tongue as best I can until afterwards.. I feel it's disheartening in 1v1's to do it

I don't ask people to surrender, but I have no qualms about saying something like "I have 65 income now -- just FYI, not sure if you want to play this one out to completion." If they want to drag it out, so be it, but I like to avoid that if it isn't necessary.

"wasting both of our times finishing this game off"

Really?!? You're talking about playing an online game, the whole point of which is to provide entertainment while wasting free time. Suggesting your opponent surrender before they are ready is pure gloating, nothing else.

Outside of the exceptions Fizzer laid down, asking for a surrender before it is offered is a classless move designed to humiliate an opponent who is already defeated.

Personally, if someone asks me to surrender I tend to draw that game out and make them work to finish me off entirely.

Now if they do it in a non-blatent way or if they're in a hurry to get out I'll probably throw it up. But if it's deliberate in the sense that you are just stating what I already know...I'll make you earn the win the long way.

The natural response people have when asked to surrender is to do exactly what Ruthless suggested. I know if someone is like "this is over, just surrender" and I still think I have a shot, I'm going to drag it out as long as I have any possibility whatsoever because I don't want to validate their statement and I want to prove them wrong. I think Fizzer's suggestion of saying "I'm making 40 per turn right now" is a good way to handle it. It basically tells your opponent what you want them to know...that the game is over...without creating as much of a negative response from them.

I mean these games are against people anywhere from complete newb to okay (10% chance at beating me), no vets in these 5 min auto games

you can add me "to the ask me to surrender and i will drag this game out crowd"

If I clearly know that I have lost, I will surrender, no need to drag the game out longer.

I have mixed feelings about the troop count way of trying to get someone to surrender. I would say, maybe half the time I believe or dont believe what my opponent is claiming.

If someone asks or tells me to surrender, I often times will drag the game out, only because I find it somewhat rude. I will admit, early on in my WL days, I would also ask people to surrender. Most of the time people would drag out the game.

I too will draw games out if people ask me to surrender. Oftentimes they make the mistake of asking for it on the very turn where I was about to decide to do it of my own initiative. Ooops! :)

|>Really?!? You're talking about playing an online game, the whole point of which is to provide entertainment while wasting free time. Suggesting your opponent surrender before they are ready is pure gloating, nothing else.

The entertainment value in warlight comes from playing a game, making tough decisions and hopefully coming out on top. Winning is also part of this entertainment. Attacking and destroying the enemy and pushing him back so consistently that any risk, and therefore and form of serious thinking, isn't required isn't fun. It's monotonous and boring.

I'm not really taking a position, I'm just saying there is no comparison between playing a game with absolutely no threat of failure, and one where your opponent or yourself is very evenly matched or may just claw a comeback.

I think that dragging out games in spite of someone asking you to surrender is uncool because it's being upset that they did it and sinking down to their level at the same time. personally I will ask someone to surrender if I know that I have won for sure, but I try to be polite about it. for example I would use the "I have this much income" statement and then ask if they would like to surrender, and not pester them about it. One difference though is that I do not play RT games so there is a slightly different dynamic to it because someone holding up a Multi-day game isn't preventing me from moving on to a new game like it would with a RT.