Although for the most part SS players are benign, the old adage 'one bad apple spoils the bunch' seems to apply, for there is a widespread preconception out there that there are many bad apples among SS players.
In joining a family one time and after declaring that I wanted to play SS, I had to justify my strategy to the fam. One player was very leery of having an SS player in the fam:
"Most SS players in my experience have been selfish players who take up 'core space' and inflate the family's NW but never contribute much during wars" - Nox
There is a legitimate concern in this statement that needs to be addressed. It is true that SS players do take up planets. But does this force a fam to explore farther out than they would with a fam bank player in their stead? No. Their fam bank member would take as many planets in their core as any other player, SS or otherwise. Therefore, this concern is not about "core space". There is another reason fams complain about this. What is the real concern here?
The real concern that the SS player who is 'taking up core space' like everybody else doesn't seem to be contributing like everybody else. The fam is looking at all the SS player's planets and reading through fam news and seeing no transfers of funds or resources to other members and thinking that if only the SS player would contribute their main attacker's fleet or their GC or resource income would be so much bigger! Why can't the SS player just use fam bank lik everybody else?
The SS player, especially a successful SS player with a large planet count and fleet or op size, is a constant reminder that the fam doesn't have access to the SS's income. This makes them seem 'selfish'. It is especially apparent when other players in the fam believe they desperately need the GCs or resources for some reason, for instance when wars are about to start and they need to jump their oppers / attackers, or when their attackers have blown their fleets, or when their bankers have been opped and need to jump their agents or wizards.
The question is, then, why do some SS players not tend to contribute when, from the fam's perspective, it seems critical for them to do so? Well, there are many reasons. Sometimes it could be that the SS player doesn't agree with the action the fam is about to take for practical or ethical reasons. It could be that while the fam members think they are experiencing an emergency they in fact aren't, and only the SS can see this. Think they need the SS player's support and need it now, but the SS player sees the situation differently and doesn't agree that their support is necessary. Sometimes the SS does not support the fam for ethical reasons, for instance when the fam might be jumping their main attacker's fleet to war a far too small a fam. It could be that perhaps the SS player is just too honorable for what is an inherently dishonorable fam, and, due to having seen the fam arranging illegal alliances, unofficial naps, or seen the fam multi-ing, farming or vulturing or conducting other unethical activity, the SS player doesn't feel ethically justified in contributing to that fam.
Other times, it is the fam is wrong to expect support in the first place. When the fam is at peace and there isn't any pressing matter that the SS player needs to support, the fam might still think for some reason they should use the SS player's GCs and resources. This is a mistake. When the fam is at peace, they have no right to the SS player's resources. The SS player, especially the MESS player, who is putting a lot of effort into calculating how to reinvest ALL of their GC / resources so as to attain maximum growth, cannot be expected to mess up their planning to support the fam when there is no pressing need for them to do so.
Instead, during peacetime, a mutually beneficial exchange needs to occur between the fam and the SS player. This is usually planets: the SS player will need more planets and would gladly support a fam if by doing so the SS player will get more of them. This might involve having planets explored for the SS player for a price, or the SS player funding an attacker in exchange for planets. Note that if the SS player's planets aren't over built that much and the SS player is happy with the number of planets currently have, there may be nothing the fam can offer in exchange for the SS player's GCs or resources. In this situation, the fam needs to simply come to the understanding that at this time their SS player doesn't need planets and they have no right to expect any of the SS player's GC or resources. They should realize that this isn't selfishness because the SS player is not participating in the fam bank.
The fam needs to understand that the SS player's support, for instance in ops, fleet, GCs or resources, etc. will come at a price. As the SS player is not participating in the fam bank system, everything they spend in support of the fam is coming from that player's OWN production and nobody else's. A fam needs to realize that the very presence of an SS player who has a high attack bonus acts as a deterrent to would-be planet-nabbers, and that a little thank you from time to time in the form of GC or resource support FROM the fam is warranted simply for the SS player maintaining their fleet and protecting their core.
Yes, that's right. A fam needs to realize that instead of taking up core space an SS player with high attack bonus is providing a net benefit to the fam simply by their presence in or around the core, and that for this benefit that the fam receives, the SS player deserves compensation from the fam. Yes, there is a fat-chance of this ever happening, but it is true that the SS player is actually owed something from the fam rather than the fam being owed anything from the SS player.
Think about it: fleet count, agents, wizards, sending bombing runs and fig runs, or sending retakes or even large-scale attacks all cost GC and resources. None of this comes free, and yet it is my experience that the fam expects it for free. Fams must come to terms with the fact that the SS player, because they are not participating in the fam bank, needs compensation for such activities.
Bankers who benefit from the protection of an SS player with a high attack rating and large fleet in their systems, might toss the SS player a little thank you once in a while for their protection. Ops requested of an SS player should be compensated for. The cost of sending fleets should be paid for by the fam. Such is only showing respect that your SS player probably deserves but all to often never gets.
If treated with respect, if understood as being a benefit to the fam and being compensated for providing that benefit, perhaps fams would have a better relationship with their SS player. If fams are to expect further support from the SS player, they better pay the first time their SS player supports them, or they might not be able to count on it later.
The best thing a fam can do is nab some other empires' planet and pass them to your SS player; then fams might start receiving the support they want.
Although contrary to common sentiment, SS players are NOT selfish, don't just take up 'core space' or a 'player spot'. Actually, they probably contribute more to the fam than they realize and if they don't it is probably because their contributions in the past have gone unrecognized by the fam, and, from MY point of view that qualifies as sufficient anti-ethical behavior for the SS player to cease supporting such a fam. In my experience, SS players contribute far more than the fam tends to contribute to them, and that is a crying shame.
Ultimately, if you really think about it, playing SS is a thankless job, because when the benefits the SS player provides are invisible they ALWAYS go unrewarded, and even when the benefits are clear to the fam, they all to often also go unrewarded.
I wonder is it the SS player who is more selfish or is it the fam? I wonder, maybe bad apples aren't exclusive to the SS crowd?
In ending, I would provide a counterpoint to Nox's quote above as follows:
Most fam bank players in my experience have been selfish, unethical players who take a fam's GC and resources waste by saving it, misuse in poor investing on market or blown fleets, or tasteless wars against far too small fams, vulturing, farming, etc., and don't often deserve an ethical SS's support. When they aren't unethical, they often miss an opportunity for greatness when an SS player joins their team and they don't understand that the SS player's support doesn't come free. They need to buy it.
In other words, if you want your SS player's GC and resources, go get him some planets from a worthy adversary.
facing the famsupport + strong core defensive actions done ^^