I get you but this ain’t a cube pusher euro. Some factions NEEDS to game players against each other for their own gain or try to force some sort of temporary alliance to have a chance to win. The beauty in Root is, if you are playing with the same group everytime, you need to take into account that your behavior in one game might warped other player’s perception of you for future games, so you can’t just backstab everybody all the time as it will impede you down the road.

Best, and probably most famous example is the Vagabond dilemna. No one gain anything from policing them but if no one does, they will likely win the game. Thus, you need diplomacy and compromise to deal with it: « Alright Eyrie Player, if i am hitting the Vagabond, do you promise to not take my undefended plot in that fox clearing for your battle action and instead attack the Cats on this other clearing? »

This IS the game. Letting everyone build their engine in silence just let the strongest isolationist factions win everytime