Why don't I love murder anymore?

I grew up on Dudes on a Map games. I played Axis & Allies with my cousins when I was back in elementary school. If someone offers me a seat in a 4x, I'm in. But around ten years ago, I switched to playing a bunch more euros, where the meanest you can be is maybe taking a resource you don't need in order to keep your neighbor from going off. When I was playing Stationfall for review (and since, it's a really good game), I reacclimated myself to kneecapping people. If it's looking like the game will be violence-heavy, I'm throwing the Botanist’s plant out the airlock. Sorry, there's only so much room on the podium, and making sure you're off it makes me that much more likely to get a place on the top. So then why does making sure a strong faction in a DOAM game doesn't get going feel too mean?