What you did is fine. It is ok to just have him log in under your username and shouldn't be a problem. The request for a pause is fine, though it may not be granted depending on who you play with. Your etiquette was completely acceptable.

can you clarify the rules-- does everyone have to vote for pause, or a majority? thanks

It has to be unanimous to both start the pause and end the pause.

Also, it is important when asking for the pause to specify when you will be back. That way if someone refuses to unpause after several days or weeks beyond when the game should have resumed a mod might be able to unpause it. Some people don't like pausing because it can be hard to get it unpaused if someone is acting like a turd.

Having someone sit your games is a good option, especially for a short time when you can instruct them on what is needed. Also, you should change your password to something temporary and give them that. Then when you get back, change your password back and you know your account is secure.

Lastly, when asking for the pause, you might want to suggest that everyone else vote to pause and that you'll vote the last time you are online before being away. That will keep the game flowing as much as possible rather than having the game unnecessarily paused several days ahead of time.

Hope that helps

Good way of putting it Alderian.

As he says the vote is unaimous, although if someone tries to hold up an unpause to try and gain diplomatic favour the mods may step in.
I would hope you get your pause, after all it seems rather unsporting to me if people refuse them, but equally you may find it better to instead get a sitter, particularly if its just a short time. After all, how would you feel about stopping a game you were in.

wow no one is attacking him for asking for a pause, i guess people just hate me :)

Thanks for the responses- on reflection I will probably go the sitter route. My moves are straight forward and i think i will miss only one diplomatic phase.

Alderian: You have no idea how screwed over I got by basically doing what your last suggestion was. (threadID=499708)

Fin: Follow the course that will least affect the game. Using a sitter, which presumably has a different brain than your own, could change the game. Always try to arrange a pause first, and use a sub if this fails. If the other players are responsive enough to successfully pause the game, they should unpause it fairly quick.

It doesn't appear the technique is what caused your problem, but rather a glitch that Kestas fixed. I'll go ahead and amend my statement though for two reasons. If you ask them to all pause and you'll be the last one to pause, don't do it right before leaving. But don't do it too soon either. Leave yourself enough time to get a sitter in case of any problems. The glitch JECE was a victim of is one example. Another is someone unexpectedly canceling their pause vote because they've decided to be an ass and try and take advantage of you being gone.

And Fin, as figlesquidge alludes to, some people refuse to pause solely to take advantage of you being gone. So having a sitter handy is definitely a good backup. And then once you get back you can try and turn everyone against the asshole that refused to pause.