Perceptions and Realities

[Steel God]

Also, for those who play against the AI only, remember, if you have time to only play a turn or two against the AI, you have time to play a turn or two against an email opponent.  No excuses.  As soon as I found out about email, I jumped in feet first.  I have been having so much fun ever since.  I used to worry about winning.  Now, not so much.  I like the battle and strategy part of it more than anything else.  Like reading a great book that you just can't put down.  The ones you read 5 or 6 times or more.  At the end of the time, you look around.  I haven't lost any money on the results and I haven't lost any sleep over any result.  But, I did have way more fun than if I had played against the computer.  Just try it.  You won't regret it.

This, 100%.

I'm in complete agreement with you and Josey on this.  I was literally shocked when I learned not too long ago that by far the biggest customer base of WDS only plays these games against the AI.  I mean, it's about as fun as playing a board game solo I guess, but seriously who plays with themself when they can play a live opponent?  The absolute worst player I've played outperformed the AI and I don't care how much they "improve" it, it'll never match even a bad players skill in a game because of the 10's of 1000's of possible moves that need to be considered each turn.  These games simply are not Chess.  My own personal feelings on the matter are that with the exception of a few solo players for whom PBEM isn't practical, the vast majority of solo players simply are too insecure to deal with playing another human.  They view losing as some sort of stain, when it's just......not winning.  The play is the thing, winning is a bonus.