I don't think there should be un-restricted comms between different countries players either.
I find it happening on the knight side with new players who think they're going to get a cookie or something when they go find the hidden cv after we take a port.
I'd rather not have a win if I have to get it that way. And the people who equate it to real world spying are giving too much credit to the info spies were able to gather; for a Knight friendly player to look at their map & tell a Knight the exact coordinates of an enemy CV or mission that's upping has no historical equivalent...it would be like Nimitz getting on the phone to tojo & telling him exactly where the pacific fleet was in real time.
I discourage the new players from doing this when I hear or read it, I try to get the point across that they wouldn't like it being done to them & it takes away from the people who try to plan & use their wits to win.
BUT.....the link is there, it must be what the game designer wants or it wouldn't be there. I'm not in their minds so I can't say why it was designed this way. One thing I am sure of is HiTech knows good & well how it's being used so I assume it's fair to report information to the opposing sides as far as the rules are concerned & those that do not like it that way will just have to get over it; me included.
