That doesn't seem quite right to me.

First off, you've perhaps misread my vengeance comment. In-game vengeance may well be proper gaming; you're just not going to get a palpable carry-over for it into the next game. There's no shaming of the vengeful at all.

Secondly, my commentary still has substantial value in a Diplomacy game. Trust, but verify and all. Diplomacy's about talking (usually; there are no-press games.) If you walked into one of my games, you'd have no advantage whatsoever for whatever trusty goodness you think you have.

Thirdly, I still view the intrusion of real-world considerations onto game ethics as undesirable. If it's Survivor and you don't eat if someone doesn't kill the rabbit, then it's a different situation. But each game has it's own rules; if you communicate your bridge hand through hand signals, you're a scummy cheat - even if it helps you win. I don't do that, because it's wrong. Certainly, making private real-world side deals strikes me as cheating, and would be in my circle. Trying to cash in on a rep for real-world honesty strikes me as misguided.

I hope this helps clarify my position.

--JRM