What drives us current BD players to play? Win? Most of us start the era swearing we will win, but only 1 achieves it. But how many pull off all of their moves to win? How many just give up mid way, or how many bank on their honor to shy away from a "betrayal", which probably isnt no more than the war 4 the era? I think theres too many alliances that do NAPs, and forget they can break them! Sure, even the biggest scourge should have a lil honor, but always remember honor doesnt win wars! Sometimes you must do tough decisions, maybe "wrong" ones, but youre not here to look good! Thats what a lot of alliances forget... and they also forget this: there is #1... all the rest are loosers. Why do ppl settle for #2? With #3? Sure, its respectable, but it aint a win! I say this as a player who has only won 2 eras, and none in regular BD: G1 and ES worlds, once each. Sure, in my noob days I didnt aim 4 the top right then, but its sad seeing pros who would crush me without breaking a sweat, roll over, close their eyes and just say "I pass" on the only chance they got 2 aim 4 the #1 spot. And even some who think there is no way to take this alliance down. Well, first of all dont let em get up on the first place! Madly attack them, perhaps that will encourage other alliances to join forces with you too! Just demonstrate you actually wanna win, and not just wanna play with the winner's leftovers!

I think you are leaving out a category. People who play for fun.

People log on to BD for many reasons, but it all boils down to one thing. They like to play it. It could be the strategist who uses tactics to take down his enemies, the spammer that gets conquered so he decides to constantly attack his conquer until he is liberated, or even the newbs who have sparked an interest in the game.

Your are right though, it is a very common goal to get first place in a round and win with your alliance. Personally, I love meeting new people and being with my friends. By the end of a round, you can easily point out the person that never stops talking on Skype or the one that always uses annoying text color in chat. Doesn't matter if it is filled up with vets or newbs. The point of this game is to enjoy it with others.

I think people play for many reasons besides winning. I for instance play because I want to learn how to deal with people. I know that not everyone has the same standards, values, or motives as I do. The truth of the matter is that no one gets to the top alone. How does one go about getting the support they need to achieve their goals? How does one deal with someone who wants the same position, resources, etc. as you do? Why not temper your character and fine tune your diplomacy in a setting that's not critical to your life as a whole? If you mess up here its, after all, only a game. Why not explore the approaches available to create peace? The ways to make everyone feel better about themselves? In life one seldom wins by cheating, conniving or breaking trust. In real life you can't change your reputation by just changing your name. Find out here, where you can create a new start, what attitudes work best for the long term realization of your goals. who gets more respect, the one who claws his way to the top using broken promises and the bodies of others as his ladder, or the one who is lifted to the top by the mutual respect of his friends and enemies?

You ask "what motivates people to play?" Well this is what motivates me to play, How many people can I help to the top? How many people can I leave better than I found them? How can I best learn the principals of Honor and Integrity with which I hope to shape my life? In short I play to learn. About others, but mostly about myself.

Sure Polar, I left many cathegories out. I merely showed one, but this post was to discuss the many ways and motives that players have to play. Playing for fun... it may be the best way to play BD xD Well, I think everything needs balance. When I play seriously, I do whatever it takes to win, but ofc I try to avoid dirty tricks and such. When I just play 4 fun, I like to just hang out with my BD pals, and hell if I care bout loosing xD Bladesmith is, ofc, also right. Here no1 can be fundamentally wrong... everyone has different motives and ways to play. And they must all be respected. For instance, I know a friend of mine (real life) that enters every Internet multiplayer game that searches for games just to sya bad words, get banned and make enemies, his motiv is just to have fun while pissing off ppl xD But is he wrong? Ofc not! So post some other motives, lets make this debate interesting!

Well there are people who play to learn neat tactics for the next era ^.^

I once played to scout the era 4 the good players. I was still kinda noobish... thats how BoS on e4 was born. The first era (4 still being a noob) we only got 4th xD and after that... well every1 must know what happened next era xD but ask any1 who kept the #1 alliance spot almost from tick 1

I play BattleDawn now not to win. I've won enough. Sometimes I create a colony, and build units the whole era, and just make the top alliances pissed at me. While I do that, I teach players who aren't that great certain tactics and how to do certain things, etc. Winning is overrated. After 4 years here, you learn to appreciate the community and how much of a family BD players really are.

One of the other things I like about BD is the sheer variety of people that you meet. for instance, in my current alliances I have people from Jordan, Ukraine, Philippines, Germany, different parts of the US and more I don't know about. To me this makes the game all the more interesting. I won't meet people from around the world in ordinary life. It's a great part of the game.