Adrian LaCroix

Oh dear, I'm sure there's a lot of material to work with. That was an interesting time.

April 2019 1. [268] (-3) New Pacific Order : 141.31 —> 145.67 (+4.36) 2. [225] (+13) Independent Republic of Orange Nations : 104.14 —> 108.30 (+4.16) 3. [129] (-14) CLAWS : 57.79 —> 54.37 (-3.42) 4. [128] (-6) Freehold of the Wolves : 54.92 —> 52.26 (-2.66) 5. [123] (-5) New Polar Order : 43.87 —> 43.24 (-0.63) 6. [46] (+3) The Dark Templar : 30.09 —> 30.66 (+0.57) 7. [56] (-1) Orange Defense Network : 29.61 —> 29.08 (-0.53) 8. [103] (-3) The Legion : 29.47 —> 28.07 (-1.40) 9. [53] (-1) Viridian Entente : 26.26 —> 25.93 (-0.33) 10. [61] (+4) Global Alliance and Treaty Organization : 22.97 —> 24.23 (+1.26) 11. [61] (+2) Knights Of The Round Table : 22.68 —> 23.44 (+0.76) 12. [46] (-3) Green Protection Agency : 24.31 —> 23.18 (-1.13) 13. [38] (-6) Federation of Armed Nations : 21.60 —> 19.03 (-2.57) 14. [44] (-1) The Mostly Harmless Alliance : 19.49 —> 18.31 (-1.18) 15. [44] (+0) Fark : 17.56 —> 17.77 (+0.21) 16. [41] (-3) Nordreich : 17.03 —> 16.82 (-0.21) 17. [32] (+4) NATO : 15.18 —> 16.41 (+1.23) 18. [47] (-3) Sparta : 17.01 —> 15.76 (-1.25) 19. [26] (-5) Argent : 13.17 —> 12.46 (-0.71) 20. [25] (-1) The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons : 13.10 —> 12.37 (-0.73) 21. [32] (-1) Random Insanity Alliance : 11.70 —> 11.91 (+0.21) ---------- Add Line: 11.72 [29] (-1) Christian Coalition of Countries : 11.24 —> 11.03 (-0.21) [23] (-4) World Task Force : 12.54 —> 10.33 (-2.21) ---------- Drop Line: 10.00 Passes Global Alliance and Treaty Organization passes Green Protection Agency Knights Of The Round Table passes Green Protection Agency NATO passes Sparta Random Insanity Alliance passes World Task Force Add Line passes World Task Force Christian Coalition of Countries passes World Task Force Biggest Gainer: [268] (-3) New Pacific Order : 141.31 —> 145.67 (+4.36) Biggest Loser [129] (-14) CLAWS : 57.79 —> 54.37 (-3.42) Commentary Sanction Race update lovingly hand-crafted in small batches. Another red-number month for Bob, April. A handful of alliances had gains, some of them large: The New Pacific Order and Independent Republic of Orange Nations both gained more than four points of score, with the Independent Republic of Orange Nations actually managing double-digit member growth for the month. The Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and NATO also managed solid growth of more than a point, allowing them to pass the Green Protection Agency and Sparta respectively. Besides that, though, there were some pretty big losses. CLAWS continued a rather precipitous drop, losing fourteen members and almost three and a half score, though they held on to their spot as the third largest alliance by score thanks to loss of more than two and a half score by Freehold of the Wolves. There were also some large losses by the Federation of Armed Nations, and the World Task Force (who are really flirting with the Drop Line now), with Sparta, The Legion, Green Protection Agency, and The Mostly Harmless Alliance all losing more than a point of score. Well, I'll see you at the end of May, folks.

March 2019 1. [271] (-5) New Pacific Order : 141.33 —> 141.31 (-0.02) 2. [212] (+4) Independent Republic of Orange Nations : 102.18 —> 104.14 (+1.96) 3. [143] (-11) CLAWS : 62.66 —> 57.79 (-4.87) 4. [134] (-3) Freehold of the Wolves : 56.17 —> 54.92 (-1.25) 5. [128] (+0) New Polar Order : 42.53 —> 43.87 (+1.34) 6. [43] (-1) The Dark Templar : 30.32 —> 30.09 (-0.23) 7. [57] (+2) Orange Defense Network : 28.81 —> 29.61 (+0.80) 8. [106] (+2) The Legion : 29.14 —> 29.47 (+0.33) 9. [54] (+1) Viridian Entente : 25.21 —> 26.26 (+1.05) 10. [49] (-2) Green Protection Agency : 25.07 —> 24.31 (-0.76) 11. [57] (-3) Global Alliance and Treaty Organization : 24.08 —> 22.97 (-1.11) 12. [59] (+0) Knights Of The Round Table : 22.81 —> 22.68 (-0.13) 13. [44] (+2) Federation of Armed Nations : 20.33 —> 21.60 (+1.27) 14. [45] (-3) The Mostly Harmless Alliance : 19.78 —> 19.49 (-0.29) 15. [44] (-2) Fark : 17.90 —> 17.56 (-0.34) 16. [44] (+3) Nordreich : 16.66 —> 17.03 (+0.37) 17. [50] (-3) Sparta : 17.70 —> 17.01 (-0.69) 18. [28 (-3) NATO : 15.85 —> 15.18 (-0.67) 19. [31] (+5) Argent : 12.64 —> 13.17 (+0.53) 20. [26] (-1) The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons : 12.94 —> 13.10 (+0.16) 21. [27] (+2) World Task Force : 11.64 —> 12.54 (+0.90) 22. [33] (+1) Random Insanity Alliance : 11.43 —> 11.70 (+0.27) ---------- Add Line: 11.34 [30] (+3) Christian Coalition of Countries : 10.27 —> 11.24 (+0.97) ---------- Drop Line: 10.00 [19] (+1) Mostly Harmless Alliance : 10.53 —> 9.84 (-0.69) [39] (-3) The Kashmir : 12.06 —> 8.80 (-3.26) Passes Orange Defense Network passes The Legion Nordreich passes Sparta Argent passes The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons World Task Force passes The Kashmir Random Insanity Alliance passes The Kashmir Mostly Harmless Alliance passes The Kashmir Christian Coalition of Countries passes The Kashmir Drop Line passes Mostly Harmless Alliance and The Kashmir Biggest Gainer: [212] (+4) Independent Republic of Orange Nations : 102.18 —> 104.14 (+1.96) Biggest Loser [143] (-11) CLAWS : 62.66 —> 57.79 (-4.87) Commentary Sanction Race update lovingly hand-crafted in small batches. Bit of a rough month for the cyberverse, March. We saw some decent growth for some alliances, Independent Republic of Orange Nations leading the way with almost two points worth, followed by the New Polar Order, Federation of Armed Nations, and the Viridian Entente, each of whom gained more than one score. We saw some quite large losses as well, however, particularly from CLAWS, who've lost double-digit members and almost five score. An ongoing war has caused The Kashmir to plummet out of the race, though they've managed to inflict more than a score of damage on the Freehold of the Wolves in exchange. Also of note is the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization dropping more than a score, and Mostly Harmless Alliance falling below the Drop Line. Not a ton of passing going on outside of the wars, but the Orange Defense Network managed to pull past The Legion with some decent growth, though they remain only a stone's throw away. Nordreich has just squeaked above Sparta, and close as those two alliances are some flipflopping is possible in the coming month. Same with Argent sneaking past The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons; it looks like the bottom half of the race could see some continued movement in the near term. Well, until next time.

February 2019 1. [276] (+6) New Pacific Order : 137.66 —> 141.33 (+3.67) 2. [208] (+8) Independent Republic of Orange Nations : 99.15 —> 102.18 (+3.03) 3. [154] (+10) CLAWS : 62.90 —> 62.66 (-0.24) 4. [137] (+1) Freehold of the Wolves : 53.22 —> 56.17 (+2.95) 5. [128] (+1) New Polar Order : 43.16 —> 42.53 (-0.63) 6. [44] (+2) The Dark Templar : 28.80 —> 30.32 (+1.52) 7. [104] (+0) The Legion : 29.53 —> 29.14 (-0.39) 8. [55] (-5) Orange Defense Network : 30.37 —> 28.81 (-1.56) 9. [53] (-1) Viridian Entente : 26.19 —> 25.21 (-0.98) 10. [51] (+0) Green Protection Agency : 24.93 —> 25.07 (+0.14) 11. [60] (+2) Global Alliance and Treaty Organization : 23.07 —> 24.08 (+1.01) 12. [59] (-6) Knights Of The Round Table : 23.02 —> 22.81 (-0.21) 13. [42] (-2) Federation of Armed Nations : 20.86 —> 20.33 (-0.53) 14. [48] (+0) The Mostly Harmless Alliance : 15.40 —> 19.78 (+4.38) 15. [46] (-2) Fark : 18.04 —> 17.90 (-0.14) 16. [53] (+2) Sparta : 16.85 —> 17.70 (+0.85) 17. [41] (+0) Nordreich : 16.75 —> 16.66 (-0.09) 18. [31] (+3) NATO : 14.95 —> 15.85 (+0.90) 19. [27] (+2) The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons : 12.54 —> 12.94 (+0.40) 20. [26] (-1) Argent : 13.08 —> 12.64 (-0.44) 21. [42] (-5) The Kashmir : 14.21 —> 12.06 (-2.15) 22. [25] (-3) World Task Force : 12.36 —> 11.64 (-0.72) 23. [32] (+?) Random Insanity Alliance : ??? —> 11.43 (+???) ---------- Add Line: 11.41 [18] (-10) Mostly Harmless Alliance : 15.40 —> 10.53 (-4.87) [27] (-5) Christian Coalition of Countries : 11.56 —> 10.27 (-1.29) ---------- Drop Line: 10.00 [3] (-2) DOOMBIRD DOOMCAVE : 11.38 —> 6.66 (-4.72) Passes The Legion passes Orange Defense Network The Dark Templar passes Orange Defense Network and The Legion NATO passes Mostly Harmless Alliance The Kashmir passes Mostly Harmless Alliance Argent passes Mostly Harmless Alliance and The Kashmir The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons passes Mostly Harmless Alliance, The Kashmir, and Argent World Task Force passes Mostly Harmless Alliance Random Insanity Alliance passes Mostly Harmless Alliance, Christian Coalition of Countries, and Add Line Biggest Gainer: [48] (+0) The Mostly Harmless Alliance : 15.40 —> 19.78 (+4.38) Biggest Loser [18] (-10) Mostly Harmless Alliance : 15.40 —> 10.53 (-4.87) Commentary Sanction Race update lovingly hand-crafted in small batches. Bit of a mixed month for the Cyberverse, February. Big gains posted by The Mostly Harmless Alliance, New Pacific Order, Independent Republic of Orange Nations, and Freehold of the Wolves, though Mostly Harmless Alliance, DOOMBIRD DOOMCAVE, The Kashmir, and Christian Coalition of Countries each suffered losses in excess of a point of score, with DOOMBIRD DOOMCAVE falling out of the race thanks to Cuba's departure, and Mostly Harmless Alliance and Christian Coalition of Countries are flirting with that Drop Line. Not a huge month for passes, with The Dark Templar managing to move up to 6th on the back of solid growth, while The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons makes a couple of passes by way of treading water. Shout out to Random Insanity Alliance for just barely squeaking above that Add Line. Well, until next time.

Lol, that would also do it!

30th January, 2019 1. [270] (+16) New Pacific Order : 116.92 —> 137.66 (+20.74) 2. [200] (-31) Independent Republic of Orange Nations : 99.43 —> 99.15 (-0.28) 3. [144] (+144) CLAWS : 0.00 —> 62.90 (+62.90) 4. [136] (+32) Freehold of the Wolves : 41.86 —> 53.22 (+11.36) 5. [127] (-8) New Polar Order : 40.63 —> 43.16 (+2.53) 6. [60] (-8) Orange Defense Network : 31.38 —> 30.37 (-1.01) 7. [104] (-14) The Legion : 30.71 —> 29.53 (-1.18) 8. [42] (-8) The Dark Templar : 30.25 —> 28.80 (-1.45) 9. [54] (-13) Viridian Entente : 29.13 —> 26.19 (-2.94) 10. [51] (-45) Green Protection Agency : 47.30 —> 24.93 (-22.37) 11. [58] (-12) Global Alliance and Treaty Organization : 27.85 —> 23.07 (-4.78) 12. [65] (+0) Knights Of The Round Table : 21.84 —> 23.02 (+1.18) 13. [44] (-7) Federation of Armed Nations : 29.21 —> 20.86 (-8.35) 14. [48] (-11) The Mostly Harmless Alliance : 24.84 —> 15.40 (-9.44) 15. [48] (-2) Fark : 20.52 —> 18.04 (-2.48) 16. [51] (-9) Sparta : 17.21 —> 16.85 (-0.36) 17. [41] (-4) Nordreich : 16.69 —> 16.75 (+0.06) 18. [28] (+28) Mostly Harmless Alliance : 0.00 —> 15.40 (+15.40) 19. [28] (-6) NATO : 14.54 —> 14.95 (+0.41) 20. [47] (+?) The Kashmir : ??? —> 14.21 (+???) 21. [27] (+?) Argent : ??? —> 13.08 (+???) 22. [25] (-2) The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons : 12.57 —> 12.54 (-0.03) 23. [28] (-1) World Task Force : 10.73 —> 12.36 (+1.63) 24. [31] (+?) Christian Coalition of Countries : ??? —> 11.56 (+???) ---------- Add Line: 11.51 [5] (+1) DOOMBIRD DOOMCAVE : 9.82 —> 11.38 (+1.56) ---------- Drop Line: 10.00 [30] (-7) State Of Unified Nations : 10.15 —> 9.28 (-0.87) [17] (-10) Last Call : 11.67 —> 8.46 (-3.21) [25] (-17) Non Grata : 13.33 —> 4.41 (-8.92) [2] (-61) Alpha Wolves : 17.22 —> 0.27 (-16.95) [0] (-55) Umbrella : 41.22 —> 0.00 (-41.22) [0] (-61) Children of the Morrighan : 25.94 —> 0.00 (-25.94) Biggest Gainer: [144] (+144) CLAWS : 0.00 —> 62.90 (+62.90) Biggest Loser [0] (-55) Umbrella : 41.22 —> 0.00 (-41.22) Commentary Sanction Race update lovingly hand-crafted in small batches. I got nostalgic for the days when I used to update this, and decided to give it one last crack. It was a rough second half of 2018 for the alliances of Planet Bob; lots of red numbers, not a lot of green outside of some merging. The New Pacific Order put in some solid growth over the period, as did the Freehold of the Wolves, the New Polar Order, the Knights Of The Round Table, and the World Task Force. On the other hand the Green Protection Agency had a rough time, though it has hung on to its sanctioned status, and Non Grata took a tumble all the way out of the race thanks to its ongoing war. The Mostly Harmless Alliance similarly has had a tough go of it, including losing their old AA to squatters, with the Federation of Armed Nations, Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, and Viridian Entente also suffering significant losses. Shoutouts to The Kashmir, Argent, and the Christian Coalition of Countries for joining the race. If you see any errors I've made please let me know. I took this data from the Display All Alliances tab, I've no idea how accurate and up to date that ends up being. I may choose to do this again... sometime. Maybe not though. In any case, thus ends the nostalgia trip.

As someone who's always loved the small alliance feel, I wouldn't say they're bad for the game. Of course I'm biased. Protectorates are often just completely irrelevant hunks of newbies, but if the alliance is politically active it's just one more variable, which can be good or bad depending on what other alliances do based on the number of variables available to them. Some see opportunity and attempt to woo the new alliance, some see uncertainty and hem and haw about.

So many big red numbers in the membership stats. I wonder how many nations packed it in this war.

I spent about 3 years in FA gov off and on.

I just wonder what sort of lesson plan you could base around CN. Spreadsheet class?

Karma, by a wide margin. The buildup was great, the actual war itself was fun and short enough (for me and mine) that it didn't get to the point of tediousness, and really it was the culmination of every storyline that had been prominent since I'd joined. It's all gone downhill from there, for a number of reasons.

People still play videogames? I thought everyone was too busy screwing around with farmville and microtransaction advertisements. On a more serious note, are we really still talking about graphics? This past (current?) generation advanced graphics to the point where I can't really see caring about any extra gains in that department. In fact it will probably only do more to push every representation of a human being in a western-made video game further into my Uncanny Valley, where they've been pretty much since the 360 and PS3 were launched. Beyond that, what are the selling points? Social media enabler bullcrap? Motion controls? I don't really do social media, and motion controls were stupid when Nintendo did them, they're pretty much always just going to be for gimmick games and kiddy crap. What else? World of Brown and Gray: The Shootening? A port of a half-assed PC game? If you paid me to do it, I might get a PS4. Odds are pretty good I'll not be bothering.

The most I've ever lost was in PB-NpO, where I went from about 60k NS to about 15k. Unfortunately I don't think I've ever really gotten much bigger than I am now.

Congrats.

Sounds interesting to me.