I have played a game pre-expansion where the two strongest players decided to have a cease fire of sorts, then "team up" to make sure one of them would win.
I found it a bit "loophole'ish", and a bit against the spirit of the game; and us other 2 players pretty much just threw up our hands the rest of the game after that. But quite legal I suppose. So Alliances just seem to make people like that above officially teamed. Although the fact that they now both win kind'a add an extra :yuk: to the feeling of the game after that I would think.
I found it a bit "loophole'ish", and a bit against the spirit of the game; and us other 2 players pretty much just threw up our hands the rest of the game after that. But quite legal I suppose. So Alliances just seem to make people like that above officially teamed. Although the fact that they now both win kind'a add an extra :yuk: to the feeling of the game after that I would think.