When does 'aid' become 'enable'?

Aid can be an enabler, it can enable small players to grow quicker, without causing complacency, it all depends on the type of person recieving the aid and not the act of giving aid (imo).  I was also a member of a training alliance when I began playing, I was offered various forms of help including res, advice and protection of being part of a large alliance.  Would you say these types of alliances are a breeding ground for complacency or a way of giving new players the best start they can get.

Prometheuz wrote: My view on aid is closer to that of EF and TLR.  My view on player growth is closer to that of Belargyle of Dlord who generally does not use prestige as such. (The High King has his own way of obtaining growth and towns ). However since Illyriad is a sandbox game, the way in which a player goes about expanding their towns or building their alliance is not some thing that can be imposed or set in stone except by force of arms; skilful networking or deft diplomacy. In the past, aid and the use of care-o-vans ( I believe the practice was first established by Lorre when he set up PA) has been the subject of much debate. There are those who argued that the game itself should provide incomers with more res for the benefit of the popularity of the game; whilst others said that they wanted to demonstrate that Illy was different to the "raze a newbe" culture of Travian and other similar games. I personally think it is fair and good to provide Newbes with a one off van and advice but I don't do it for any lofty purpose or for the benefit of the game. I do it because I want to find out if that player has a playing style with which I agree (ie self reliant, sensible, tactical and capable of defending themselves) but I do not provide after that. for me every good player must make thier own way ie survive or fall by their own efforts (although there will always be some exceptions to that rule). I actually think that to continually provide aid to players outside you alliance has a bad effect on playing style and on the game , in general, because it encourages dependence on others rather than self reliance.  The " "dependent players" always seem to acquiesce to the providers and start to rely on them for res and advice. I can think of more than a few "providers" who , I think , exploit this deliberately. Indeed some alliances have been founded on that culture. So if someone were to ask me at what point does " aid" stop being beneficial I would say; a) after the first van to a newbe and ; b) aid to alliances members should only be specifically provided where that player towns have to fulfil a specific role to suit the alliances needs. prometheusx (personal capacity)

New players are people too.  By which I mean, they have minds of their own and ideas of their own.  The play style that they adopt and the degree to which they depend on others, seek interdependence in an alliance or try to forge a completely independent path will mostly depend on them.

If I'm correct Lorre suffered from extended thievery during his beginning days and as a response he decided to upgrade his resource production so that eventually no matter what was stolen, he would have some more for regular builds. Then came a time where his alliance members would need some resources and since he had his resource production high and probably cap'ing frequently, he decided to help out his fellow members in need by sending them the desired resources. 

I'm reminded of that saying or whatever it is: 

Edited by Cerex Flikex - 23 Jun 2012 at 02:11