Since it is now official that APO, PAL and BAT have allied, we dont want to defer the finals any longer.
The game has been decided at the "bargaining table" and not on the battle fields of Civilization. Thats a pity and might be recommendable for real life but for this game it is a bit unsatisfying. This process was surely fostered by the set of rules used for the semi-finals. So we recommend to think twice about reusing this modus.
I would like to add one setence regarding BAT. We allied with BAT to keep the game open in order to really play it the way Civ is intended. As it seems - correct me if I am wrong - BAT had other ambitions and cancelled our alliance to make sure they reach the finals.
We exceeded the time limit a couple of times. That was due to BAT have us wait for answers (in vain) - that is where we think that BAT has planed this move for quite a while.
There is no kind of rule against this behavior and there wont be in the future - thats why we inform all other teams about the honor code of BAT.
One more thing I would like to make very clear.
GWT doesnt have enemies! We all like / love to play Civ, we fight on the battle field of Civ but we are friends!
Unfortunately, there was a statement from our team that I have to stronly reject.
APO is not our enemy. Myself - and many more here at GWT - made good friends at APO and thats the way it should remain.
At the same time I would like to announce that GWT invites the winning teams of this final to take part in a new IDG.
We wish all finalists a lot of fun and a good game. Enjoy it and always remember that it is (only) a game.
Striker
p. s. many thanks to Plattfuss for this excellent translation