Indeed. If our enjoyment were tied to winning, Diplomacy would be a masochistic exercise (since the whole setup makes winning rather rare).

But the direction of our game ought to be none other than victory. The tough challenge. Rather than the path of least resistance.

It's how the game is meant to be played. And it can only truly shine if everyone subscribes to this.

Incendentally, I've designed my variants (1648, 1936) with an eye towards promoting soloism. The victory conditions are much lower than Standard's 50%+1. Indeed in the 9-player 1648, it (currently) clocks in at 25.8%.

So I'm dangling the solo carrot very much in front of players. Whittling down the board in favour of a draw becomes a dangerous prospect, as such efforts will nudge players ever closer to the magic solo number.

And with powers threatening a solo much earlier, this also creates greater diplomatic instability.

This has me wondering: How would Standard play if say the victory criterion were set at say 12 SCs...?