As to the 'catch up' not expecting it either. But I'm sure we have all encountered the player that has a city, the units, the attacking power commensurate with their ranking points of millions attacking the small sub par, less than 100k players. To me these easy wins, no brainers, auto wins, to steal goods or whatever, do not formulate a challenge, and are to a certain degree, beneath me. But to those who need to do them every day and incessantly it is a form of bullying. To those who take pleasure and gratification from doing it, it is bullying.
If these supposedly helpless & weak players can't be arsed to pick up their goods/productions on time, then I will always happily put those finished productions to a better & more productive use for them.
I'm sure we all know the type... the city with 10-50k or so pts that leaves 24/48hr productions sitting around, uncollected for a day or more at a time, never bothers to hit the aid button, etc... Why should I feel anything for such a player?
They obviously don't care that much about what happens to their city, so if I can swipe 20-30 previous era goods to cover the cost of a couple GE negotiations, then why shouldn't I do something that's a positive benefit for myself
and by extension, help out my guild too?!
And yes, if someone wants to leave their 8hr/24hr productions uncollected every single day, I'll gladly help myself to them, especially if they're sitting there, lonely & looking for a more loving home.
It's not that hard to set your productions to finish at a time that fits into one's daily goings-on. If a player can't figure out how to do that, then that's on them, and not the daily plunderer/s. (...damn, maybe this inability to add 2 and 2 together is the so-called "new math" some are always going about?!
)
In sports you don't seek out lesser players to compete with, you take on those at the same standard and preferably better, in order to improve your own game.
Riiiiiiight... so because the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't won a Cup in 53 years, the other 30 NHL teams just give them a pass and don't beat up on them every single year? It's not like they only made the play-offs once across 12 years or anything... and let's face it, what a bunch of evil, disgusting bullies those big bad Bruins are for bashing the Maple Losers every time in game 7 and booting them from the play-offs!! After all, they should have just left them alone and let the Loafs win, right?! (...sorry Leafs fans, but you guys are still the joke of the league, especially after the zamboni driver "incident"!lol
)
And of course, no NFL team ever looks ahead and relishes the chance to grab an easier game vs. say, the Jags or the Brownies! (...and yes, I know the Browns are in the play-offs this year, but they still suck and only skated through because of their weak-sauce schedule + the Steelers sat literally their entire starting roster in their final game!)
No MLB team has a fun time vs. Baltimore, or derides their sorry-sack team as 'baseball's avian flu' due to their roster being a bunch of no-name, under-talented minor leaguers... (note: we can insert the Blue Jays here too, because, well yes, we suck again!lol)
In chess or bridge, the idea of a ranked player playing against a beginner is just not done, bordering on the abhorrent unless for teaching purposes.
...unless it's you know, an actual competition and the so-called beginner decides to go and play in the big boys pond.
Or should the ranked player just give up and conceede the match so as not to hurt anyone's feelings?
Premier league clubs do not relish the games against conference league teams as it poses no real challenge, and is viewed more as training.
...and what happens when the lower league club advances up into the Premier Leagues, even if the newly minted team is still complete trash? Oh right, they still compete and get their backsides handed to them, because the whole premise of "mercy rules" is only for 4-6yr olds who are still just learning the basics of 'insert sport here'.
In society the strong, bigger, older person beating up the smaller, weaker, younger persons is by definition bullying. Hence we have laws and a moral code against it.
And in those same societies, the smaller, weaker, younger person also gets charged with a crime when they kick the bigger, stronger, older person in the back and/or bully them on-line or say, in the school yard.
I mean, it's almost as if moral codes cut both ways, and personal responsibility is an actual thing.