I think your podcast was great, very entertaining and insightful
I agree also that the tutorials don't provide the information to start off properly, since the game has so many levels of depth and strategy.
One thing that you guys may have missed when explaining the game is the depth. Besides the diplomacy (I'll get to that soon), each individual move and attack or even just movement of resources requires intense calculation. You need to be aware of everything around you, and keep track of things that have left your area of sight. Your attacks need to be calculated to guarantee success, and your defences need to be readily available and reactive.
A strategy I used as a new player was the feeding of false information. Your game was all newly-introduced players. This allows for the full ability to feed false information. First step - like most of you followed - is to ally with all of your neighbours (I recommend leaving one neighbour open to allow for an opportunity to attack and expand). But next, you need to act like the fake friend. Tell lies. Tell player A "oh man I was just told that player B is going to attack player C, who told me he will attack you". You need to throw in true facts that will be verified soon (i.e. "heads up there is a sub with 10 drillers from Player A coming near your side"), to build trust and show you are looking out for them. They will then trust your false information, which puts you in power. In turn, I recommend taking everything said to you with a grain of salt.
Coordination is key. Working on truces is big, and what we here on the forums love is the "Non-Aggressive Pact" (NAP). This NAP is an agreement between two players that says that you must give 24 hour notice before attacking another person. This forces an alignment, or at least peace. This also allows you to go to the public chat if your NAP is betrayed, thus making everyone else turn on your new enemy.
I speak for all of us here when we say we're happy that you guys enjoy the game, we look forward to you being a part of the community, and we also greatly appreciate the publicity you've brought to the game. I would loooove to see you guys make a special that you recount games you've played, or even better a YouTube series of your games. That would be great! I think you guys mentioned the CoolGhosts guys who played this last year, and I think you guys would be great to watch do something similar. You're hilarious and have a great podcast, so a weekly series might also bring a bigger audience! Please consider it!
Thanks again!
A wise guy's always right; even when he's wrong he's right
-Lefty, Donnie Brasco
400th Page TPBM