On Politics on Bob.
Entry posted by Tevron
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Politics are largely driven by power dynamics, the master-slave relationship, and the economic or political gains that result from war. It is said simply, that the politics of Planet Bob are those centered around theoretical global conflicts that could be created at any moment. Originally, these were created naturally through legitimate CB's as alliances tried to leverage political power over each other. In the Post-Karma era, it became increasingly less possible for alliances to make significant political moves due to a combination of a "lack of justification" and due to the decreasing size of the game. In the NpO-PB war, a fabricated CB was created in order to bind a coalition of like-minded individuals who sought to continue to retain status quo. Over the next few years, the then Hegemony, the Mushroom Kingdom - dominated war by centering it around the mechanics of the game itself. They allied themselves to the upper tier and with other members of the overall powers at be - continued to orchestrate "safe wars" ie: wars that were guaranteed victories. (Grudge War, Dave War). While MK faded from the alliance listings with its disbandment, DBDC and the former parts of MK's sphere would continue to play by these rules (Doom War) while the New Pacific Order would mainly focus on stability and increasing the ties between power centers in the web. The Beer-O-Sphere spent its time largely trying to reach out (poorly) to these "two sides" that were far more interconnected than their own. While some progress was made, the New Polar Order showed they could not play ball in this arena of safe politics when they declared war on the New Sith Order. It was unfortunate really, because it demonstrated the detachment the Beer-O-Sphere had from the rest of the web. They were only able to win the war through TOP's entry at the beginning of the conflict.
Today, if you look at the web you will notice that the lines that connect obvious centers of power (IRON, NPO, Umbrella, etc.) often cross between not just themselves, but their allies and the allies of their allies. These treaty maneuvers exist solely for stability's sake, because in the current system stability is the only factor of any political import. It is as simple as our last global war, the Doom War. Attack Invicta. Why? Invicta does not have sufficient treaty ties, nor do their allies. The war is already over. We beat each other up and potentially shift some power within the larger structure of the web while we destroy the lower.
In this system pieces break off. (Aftermath, Sparta, MI6) and they become candidates for future political ties, which are only actually effective if they tie themselves between clusters of power centers. We can see the resistance that meets these alliances through their images. Each of these alliances (including those once in AM) all have terrible images publicly, and while I'm not arguing there is not good reasons to dislike or hate these alliances, I am saying their reputations are at least partially a result of their current political position. Cracks and jokes can be made, but how the people who make real foreign affairs decisions perceive alliances or believe they are perceived is the most important factor in treaty partner selections, unless you happen to be in the beer-o-sphere, where friendship has often taken the front seat in political decision making. In order for Planet Bob to become a more exciting location for the politically minded to enjoy, drastic steps need to be taken. These steps are not exact, nor required to achieve a state where politics can live freely again, but rather suggestions and courses of actions that could help solidify and reinvigorate the backrooms of governments.
Re-institute Defeat. When someone goes to war with your alliance, give them terms. Make them write an orange juice review. 1B in reps. Tech. Viceroy (Buzzword). Require the defeated alliance to cancel all existing treaties and live under your protection for two months before freeing them from your overall control. Take the risk. Go to war over issues that could be resolved diplomatically if your government thinks the other one should "know better." Create drama, but make it have stakes. Don't go to war with someone for no reason. Fabricate a CB. Plant someone in their govt and fake logs; I don't care - make Planet Bob interesting by being interesting.
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