Nice to see you all fired up Rebus! I kept wondering when you would finally post a response. I've already apologized for my unfortunate reference. As to everything else, without better input from you, all we could do was speculate. Understand that I wouldn't be saying anything at all if you weren't so highly ranked. Capitulation could be viewed as a crafty defensive decision that envelops all the tools of the game. I've always felt it was mostly there for lower level/ less skilled players who couldn't get rid of a bully. These players are potential buyers of credits and/or viewers of advertising and the admins don't want them all run out of the game.
Non political/historical analogy time...
I have friends who sleep with a lot of women. Fine. I'd rather not see my priest doing it. I know people who smoke a lot of weed. Fine. I don't want to catch a doctor doing it right before surgery. We've all seen small children use their fingers for counting in math. Great, they're learning. But, I'd be very concerned if the guys at NASA started taking off their shoes when working with numbers greater than 10.
At your skill level and army size, it just doesn't seem like a technique you should need anymore and therefore disappointing to witness. Army saves and vacation mode seem more appropriate. That's been my opinion and I'm not always very sensitive to feelings when I have one.
Potential trump card time...
It was pointed out to me since you wrote your last post that you may not be playing with credits. If this is the case, you have a more valid argument than any you have used thus far. If this is the case, you can't go into vacation mode. If this is the case and life is too hectic to log in much if at all for several days, the gold it takes to do regular army saves to the opposite side of the map might make it impractical. If this is the case, hey, free pass on the white flag. Such a circumstance, especially for a top player with an enormous army, trumps my positions on the subject.
Glad you took time out to read all my other posts. Hope you enjoyed.
***Edit- Having learned more via george, I'm going to back off my critiques regarding Rebus and the white flag. Enjoy your game man. I reserve the right to reinstate this opinion for other players, however, unless or until they give me a reason to feel differently.