I believe it must be a punishment because you shouldn't be allowed to deadbeat your way out of a game and lose nothing for it. And besides that, if you think about it, the strongest player would be able to terminate anyone left anyhow, so why not give him the points from the deadbeaters?

But why should the strongest player be punished for doing the smart thing stratigically by eliminating an actual opponent versus one taht has abondoned his post? And why shouldn't he be allowed to continue on eliminating people? I just don't see the reasoning for the rule.

I just had the same exact thing happen to me, and it was 3 players who deadbeated!!! I went back and read the rules, and I understand now how it works. However, it just seems like a bad idea for lots of reasons, the largest being that if you deadbeat in a terminator game, no harm befalls you! Along ...