You still score points for a loss, but of course not as much as a win. I'm also sure you're aware that different victory types give better or worse scores.
So anyway.
1) Probably.
2) It still counts as a game and you do get some points but not as much as a win.
My advice. Declare war on your so called "allies" and take them out before they can achieve their goal. Also in the future, it's a good idea to simply disable victory types that you don't want to occur.
I *always* go for the military victory but that's just the kind of guy that I am. I disable Tech wins and Influence victories, but leave in Alliance victories because I can be in control of whether or not it occurs. However so far I've never offered or accepted any alliance.
As far as the "embarassing" icons, I believe there's no such thing. Playing for fun is the utmost importance, the score can add to that fun if that's what you like, but score alone isn't enough. From my point of view I respect and appreciate your participation regardless of score.
Besides, weren't you the one that posted "Does the Metaverse need people who don't care about scores" thread? IIRC the predominate answer was yes.
