I don’t agree at all. If I put down a plot, and a while later suddenly there is a ring of plots around me, blocking my way out, i do not care if it was done by 1 character/player, or 10 characters/players, it is fairly obvious to anyone who ponders about the situation for more then a moment, what is most likely happening. I have a ring of plots around me, that is all that matters at that point. and I am decently sure the devs will understand that collaboration effort for breaking the rules doses not suddenly make it legal.
Depending what you define as “small” and how this is done, it still may be punishable.
If you take this rule at face value, one can build a decent case that plotting 3 sides around someone, can show intent to stop them from expanding. It doesn’t state it haves to be all 4 sides as long as the intent can be proven to the dev. 1 or 2 sides obviously is a weak case, 3 sides is a strong case, 4 sides is a solid case
but that is up for the devs/GM to make that judgement. I would report it anyway. Somewhere it is stated to report things that you are unsure if they are breaking the rules or not. The worst that can happen is nothing is done.
I am not here to debate rather or not this is an effective way to prevent the situation or not. My point is only about the risks someone may or may not be taking by trying to get around this proposed solution. Nothing more.