Is "are you going to attack me with Ulamog" an obvious threat or an innocent question? A yes or no question where the wrong answer, or even no answer, means instant death, I would say qualifies as an obvious threat rather than an innocent question. Honestly, the majority of yes or no questions are not totally innocent: they are loaded questions by nature, pressuring people into binary options designed by the asker rather than the asked. Closed-ended questions always carry implications.PrimevalCommander wrote: ↑4 months agoIf the statement is that blatant, then one must make the choice, do I value Life, or FreedomIf someone is using obvious threats instead of innocent questions, then the mood of the conversation changes and I typically see dramatically different results.
"What are you thinking of doing on your turn?" is an open ended question, which (depending on turn order) may allow the second person opportunity to volunteer information like "I think I'll attack player C" if that seems like information that can help by sharing, without the question implying hostilities. "Are you going to attack me with Ulamog?" carries the assumption that Ulamog is attacking, and both yes and no would amount to declaring hostilities at someone, as "no" naturally implies attacking someone else. That question puts the recipient in a worse position just by being asked, hence why people feel antagonized in those situations. f the goal is to cooperate with someone, that's not a very effective method. And like, what if player C has a Fog, and saves the Ulamog player. Suddenly the attacker is in a bad position of their own making, having declared hostilities against someone with a threat on board.
The question itself engendered hostility. If insight into their perspective was the goal, the wrong question was asked. If somebody asks "do you wanna fight me?", the hostility isn't coming from an answer. You wouldn't look at someone answering that question and say "well if you didn't want to fight, you should have just said no, you didn't have to make it hostile" when they try to walk away from the question.yeti1069 wrote: ↑4 months agoI think you're making this more complex than it needs to be, and discounting simple reassurances. An answer, whether complex or ambiguous is decidedly NOT the same as no answer. An answer can provide some insight into what the other player is thinking, maybe what they're viewing as a threat, or how they're weighing their options. No answer at all provides some information, but less than an ambiguous one would. Also, you can ask for clarification, or extend a question + answer to a conversation, but no answer puts all the onus on the asker to try and push for an answer, which itself is likely to engender some little hostility.
