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Has anyone else come to the conclusion that Near East in the World Dip variant is at a major disadvantage not having a fleet at the beginning of the game?
Having three armies to start I suppose could bring 2 scs for the first build but not without risk.

Has this been discussed and is it worth looking at?

I haven't seen it discussed, but perhaps it's been talked about on our sister site vDip? They are more focussed on variants.

If by "worth looking at" you mean testing, then no. We wouldn't do that here. On vDiplomacy.com though, where they develop new variants, it might be tested.

Also putting a fleet in NE to start with would undeniably push them in one direction to go, as far as year 1 moves and eventual hostilities go. Armies are less restricting, diplomatically. And until you get a bit bigger those fleets are a huge negative defensively as well