Here are my opinions of top tribes in the SW area:
1 UP: They have done a great job recovering from losses suffered early. I'll be interested to see where they try to expand to if they win their war against 1 UP. I'm also interested to see just how well they perform in wartime. So far they don't seem to be doing too badly against Varyag, so there's that. I'm also interested to see how tribes around them react to their sometimes underhanded play. Varyag in particular seemed to be annoyed by it.
Varyag: They've dominated their area without a significant challenger, until recently when 1 UP began warring them. Their tribe is still a bit spread-out, and doesn't really have any definite safe zones that only they control. It's interesting to hear that they seem to actually be serious about diplomacy with METHOD, as it would seem METHOD's position prevents Varyag from establishing a good cluster. Hopefully for Varyag they will push back against 1 UP at some point with some serious conquer stats, as right now they don't really have much momentum in that war.
PFF: A bit of a dark horse. It's still unclear exactly how well they'll perform in wartime on this world, as Bang didn't really give them a good fight. I'm interested to see how they deal with surrounding tribes. I would not be surprised if they pushed back to the rim and gathered a safe cluster, and came out looking very strong later in the game. Although it's possible they could have diplomacy with Varyag, it's also quite likely that they're hoping the Varyag - 1 UP war drags on for a long time, as both those tribes are competitors for the SW area that PFF may have to fight at some point.
And you can hate me, but it doesn't change who I am. It doesn't change who I will be. It doesn't change what I will do. It doesn't change who you are, it doesn't change who you will be, it doesn't change what you will do. Your time is your own to waste, your mind is your own to waste. But these forums are for everybody, not just you. You don't need to waste other people's time with your hate. Just waste your own, please.