A lot of FFA video games and even board games seem to struggle with this, where everyone naturally gangs up on the leading player. Then the position of leader just cycles around until someone comes out on top. I've discussed this with a few people and most of them seem to think part of the game is "throttling" your progress so you don't seem like a threat. I'm not sure if there's really any viable solution strategy or balance-wise, but I feel like part of the problem in NG is the victory progress screen; they shouldn't just feed you the exact % VP of your opponents, in pub matches you're basically painting a big target on your head.

I've only played FFA with my friends in private lobbies, but I guess we have the benefit of being able to negotiate and bluff over voice chat. I assume in pub games there isn't much communication?