Nevar Fergit

[Schattenmann]

9/11

On this update in 2007, the Grand Global Alliance and its allies issued a "recognition of a state of war" with the Goon Order of Neutral Shoving. Within the next 24 hours, NoV, PoC, NTO, IRON, ODN, Illuminati, and FCO followed suit. Over the next few weeks, many others joined the fray.

I do not want you to argue. Don't argue about why it started, don't argue about why it ended. Arguing either accomplishes nothing.

I want you to think on the time since. Tell your story, read others' stories, keep your peace. I will try to set a good example in the following post.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Schattenmann

[Schattenmann]

On September 11, 2007, Schloss Eggenberg was already 7 months old, but its leader might as well have been born on September 10th. I had no idea what WUT was, I had no idea why we called this guy loldavi instead of his real name, I thought you could only buy 10 infrastructure per day, I had no idea why Anothony was the supreme UjP commander or why that was so funny. I was hardly a goon, only having a mask for Camp Meatspin (GOONS's academy subforum) I was all butthurt about no one from GOONS helping me get Construction so I could graduate, and I took Digiterra way too seriously (I still do).

But, if there was any way to make me come to Jesus, it was to wreck my little nation. I spied my little heart out on MHA, stayed awake until 2 and 3 AM every night for a month, and when Alastor told us it was time to get creative and either really surrender or "surrender" and keep in touch, I "surrendered." Since I had absolutely no knowledge of any alliance, I joined the first one I saw: Republican Organization for Liberty, a new alliance started by Nintenderek.

I got clearance from my IRON PoW Councillor DarkMistress to join, and since I had this totally awesome war guide written by Arcades057 just before he surrendered and joined NPO, Nintenderek made me Minister of Defense.

I registered as a Hidden Goon and began my dual-life. Oppressed former goon/manipulative subversive. I really was both.

A merger propelled me to MoD of Purge, a small and stumbling rebirth alliance led by a triumvirate of good friends. Because Purge was a member of TPF's Overlord's Protectorate Pact, I gained access to information of value. When TPF and Valhalla jumped BAPS, GOONS old and close ally, I felt useful. GOONS/BAPS needed TPF's target lists, and I was able to hand them over. GOONS knew Atlantis was dead meat before Atlantis knew.

When Purge's gov't collapsed after its merger attempts were discovered by TPF, I was able to hold things together by a thread, and along with Kharn420 we tried to rehab Purge under a TPF viceroy. When it collapsed, I went on to Browncoats where I tried to cool my heels for a while.

The Dark Vows had been signed recently then, and I needed a trade circle, so I went over to the Black Conclave forum. GOONS was still over 50 members then, and still had a Black Senator even though they had gone perma-peace. When CIS's Sharduke sanctioned the GOONS senator with the reason (something like) "Regards, NpO" the Hidden Goon in me went to work. I wrote a 2 page mega-flame against infringements upon Black, the CIS puppets, and generally anything else that might stir a Black response and piss off CIS. I learned a lot about what people in power do to shut up people that aren't then, and generally just from being a member of Browncoats.

When I left Browncoats, I went to ZI. I thought about destroying Schloss Eggenberg, but a friend (if a moderator can be a friend) assured me that that was a rather drastic response. So, I looked thigs over and figured that TOP (a) was an alliance I had never pissed off and (B) had lots of former GOONS in it. So, I applied to TOP and hung out there for a while. All this time, GOONS dwindled, and time proved to be no healer of the wars of the Unjust War; not for GOONS, not for our enemies. I still held out hope, and reported every snippet of the least signifigance to the Hidden Goonerie. I cannot say how widespread the effort or hope was--none of us could see anything at the Hidden Goonierie except what we said ourselves, or what was said to us by gov. I played the odds and hoped that out of 1000 GOONS, many had remained dedicated like me.

TOP was a great place, but I had picked it without regard to its politics. Even things that seemed commonsense to me--like the suggestion that TOP make decisions based on its own interests, not NPO's--drew gruff replies from gov and made me uncomfortable there. I had to leave, and I did.

Not long before I left top, the last government of GOONS, Alastor and Sarafina, disbanded GOONS. The Hidden Goonerie was also immediately erased. With no purpose--no fight, no alliance--I destroyed my nation in August 08.

A few days later, the noCB War began.

If I've been called a troll, and I have, it's because I was. And as a troll, I couldn't pass up the noCB War's opportunities for some serious material. In order to regain access to these forums, I reincorporated Schloss Eggenberg so fast that I misspelled its name "Schloss Eggneberg" then proceeded to PM mods on the last active users list for an hour trying to get remasked. Later that night, I was asked to roll with other retirees in this goofy trolltrain Vox Populi.

Our genuine stance attracted thousands. Hundreds joined Vox Populi, thousandss more joined us in their minds. I had a reason to exist again, and I lived as I had not lived before. Not for revenge, but for rebirth. Not for something doomed to death, but for something bound to life.

In all this, I could not forget my origins. I have said often that everything I am is a creation of the UnJust War. The man before you is the result of just one more war that started 2 years ago today. In a matter of weeks, I went from a clueless meatspinner to an OWF junkyard bulldog and backroom dealer. I've done things I regret, but I cannot regret the sum of those things--I can't regret my being, the things I've accomplished, the things I've effected, the things I've created or killed. They are all part of a stream of time created on this day.

I made a lot of friends, I made a lot of enemies. But, as I grow older, I see more and more that even the most bitter enemy on Bob is a friend. I've felt my edge slipping as more and more of the old faces go. The names that once held so much power are greying, the new people don't seem to matter though they do.

What did the UnJust War create in you? Where have you been; what have you seen; how were you shaped; how have you shaped things?

As such, at this moment in time, Schattenmann does hereby issue recognition of a state of remembrance initiated by the UnJust War.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Schattenmann

[Deadshot]

Unfortunately Inertia was not incorporated until January of 08 and I missed the fun. However I will watch this topic with interest as the time period interests me greatly. Thank you Schatt for that great post.

[Jack Diorno]

I cannot comment on the unjust war's personal effect on me, but Schatt that was a great read.

I am curious though, if GOONs disbandment left you with no fight, and no purpose to retain your nation, and then the NoCB war/vox populi brought your interest back because you could resume your fight, why are you still here now? Things are much better then when GOONs disbanded, and there is once again noone left to fight.

[Deadshot]

...and there is once again noone left to fight.

I am 100% certain there will be my friend. Every hero needs a villain.

[USMC123]

Excellent read. I wish I would have been in the war myself. I narrowly missed it (OOC: Marine Corps boot camp) and wish I could have been a part of it. This war, and other events that took place in the three-four months before it, have left a nasty hole in my personal CN history books. I enjoy reading such fine prose as it helps me learn what happened during my absence... It always seems like I missed a lot in those few months. Well, I guess this is Bob we are talking about though.

Thanks for that though Schattenmann. I quite enjoyed it.

[Alfred von Tirpitz]

Excellent read Shantamantan, not having existed at the time, it is nevertheless a very interesting period of CN history for me. One can say that the old wars continue in some way to shape everyone, even those that were not around for them.

[Hell Scream]

I enjoyed destroying UJP, glad to have helped the cause.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Hell Scream

[ChairmanHal]

I enjoyed destroying UJP, glad to have helped the cause.

Meh. History proved that the UJP wasn't the real problem, it was a small group of individuals within specific alliances. As for the era that followed, it was no better and in some ways it was worse.

FYI: I always disliked the name "Unjust Path" because of the implication that anyone that opposed them automatically stood for the opposite, that being justice, regardless of how evil or unjust they actually were.

I've given my specific recollections about the war almost too many times, so I'll spare everyone this round. Suffice to say that there are some things that I did back then that I would do differently now, and some I would do all over again and for which I make no apologies.

[flak attack]

The Holy Empire was founded the day after UJW ended.

OOC: You have no clue how many times I've been asked whose reroll I am because of that luck.

[A Soviet Attack]

The Unjust War didn't really impact me at all. I was on ZI lists before it, I was on ZI lists after it. CIS was widely disliked and mocked before it, CIS was widely disliked and mocked after it. It was a war for power, nothing more.

[adolf45]

On behalf of the Finnish Cooperation Organization, I gave the order to attack GOONS on this date, alongside BLEU and Nordreich. We were shortly countered by CMEA, a GOONS ally of equal strength.

I do admit I miss the old GOONS and I think the era that followed was nowhere near as interesting as the times before the UJW's end.

Edited September 11, 2009 by adolf45

[Bob Janova]

I was thinking 'I hope both sides can kill each other here', throwing together as it did the two alliances who were the closest thing we had to enemies (GGA and GOONS), and the silliness on both sides that led to a war. Shortly afterwards we were preparing ourselves to help TOP with whatever they decided to do, which was almost war with Brown. In the end the Unjust fell apart due to the infamous 'OOC attacks' (the first time that phrase was used widely), only one side was badly damaged and we had to put up with another several months of GGA.

Soon after the end of the war (the 27th Sept) Citadel was signed; at almost 2 years it's one of the most successful and longstanding blocs in existence, although we've had some slight changes in membership over that time. We also joined Continuum that December, which didn't turn out to be such a good decision; the history of our disagreements with much of the rest of that bloc have been well documented and I won't go into detail here, but from a personal point of view that year was mostly political frustration and material nation building (including some time as the head of Grämlins' tech import). We did have one major fight – Polaris – which smashed out some old hatred and resulted in much better relations in the aftermath (which have since cooled off again, which is a shame).

My history since leaving Continuum was pretty quiet until getting involved with a potential defensive coalition centred around VE during their cancellation/realignment drama in March, and then with what became Karma when that threat re-emerged in April. We all know how that piece of the story turned out.

[jerdge]

My dear Shantamantan, you're awesome as usual. Good read.

As for my story of those times:

I and four valiant friends founded AHEAD (that had another name at the time) in August, 2007. My nation was less than three months old at the time, and I hadn't been in any other alliance.

In the first days of September we were having trouble with the Mushroom Kingdom, that had given refuge to a rogue nation that had been attacking mine; the MK was openly threatening to raid our entire (tiny) alliance, and in fact they probably would have, if we had been in range.

Then the UJW started, it quickly became evident that the MK was going to be flattened and we were just happy about it. Very happy (lolMK... )

[supercoolyellow]

I've done things I regret, but I cannot regret the sum of those things

Eloquent.

Nice post on the whole. I won't comment on its politics b/c I'm not sure where my new alliance stands on all things

0/ Schattenmann

[Delta1212]

At the time war broke, The SuperFriends was four days old. At the time, it consisted of Fark, RIA and ASC. When war broke out, we joined in on the side of the Unjust Path because of ASC's treaty with GOONS, among other less immediate reasons. I was still in a stint where I was out of government at the time, but I wound up stepping in to organize RIA's war effort anyway, along with Kaiser and with some assistance from C-zom and Emperor Whimsical. It was also the first war on the new forums so I thought I'd try my hand at saving clutter by taking all of the usual polls that pop up during war time and stick them in one topic with the multipoll feature so other people wouldn't make a million polls (it didn't really work, but the name I created in the poll for the UjP side, The Unjust Highway, stuck. I called the other side Blue Team for obvious reasons because they couldn't think of a name for themselves until ~ came out late in the war).

SF drew GGA as an opponent, one we proceeded to beat to a bloody pulp while sustaining essentially no damage ourselves, despite being on the technical losing side. That was one of the most entertaining matchups I've experienced. We managed to get out with reps so low they might as well have been non-existant and no other terms, an anomaly in a war filled with brutal terms across the board. Ultimately the experience cemented the fledgling SF and set us on the path we've taken ever since. It was hard not to take a lesson on the importance of trust and unity from that war and I think the timing of our birth had as profound an impact

on our guiding philosophy and subsequent success as a bloc as the initial membership did.

For a lot of people, the UjW represents the end of an era and is characterized by death, either of communities or enemies. For me it marks the birth of the entity that has given me the most enjoyment out of this world.

[Haflinger]

I joined Invicta directly after the Unjust War, as a result largely of drama that occurred in my first alliance during UJW. Some of those people are still around, so I won't go into details.

However, I supported tilde; at the time I joined Invicta, the alliance I had the most contact with other than Invicta was UPN, which was one of the lead alliances for tilde. That old friendship has had something of an impact on Purple history.

[Schattenmann]

I enjoyed destroying UJP, glad to have helped the cause.

Cool story, bro. :allears:

I cannot comment on the unjust war's personal effect on me, but Schatt that was a great read.

I am curious though, if GOONs disbandment left you with no fight, and no purpose to retain your nation, and then the NoCB war/vox populi brought your interest back because you could resume your fight, why are you still here now? Things are much better then when GOONs disbanded, and there is once again noone left to fight.

Twofold: At the time I first deleted, I was still firmly a member of GOONS; nothing I did to that point was not influenced by my desire for a ressurection/resurgence, so, when it was given up, the rug was yanked out from under me. When I came back, it was temporarily, as it was for Doitzel and others who had deleted just prior to the noCB War. The evolution of Vox kept us around, and in that time I was for the first time playing for myself, with no secret guiding hand. With this rebirth into self-fulfilment and self-determination, my existence is defined by me. There is a lull now after the long war, and I have receded a bit myself (you'll also notice many other have, Doitzel, Sponge, kingzog, etc we've all put it on autopilot a bit since April). But now I stand on my own foundation, and I'll stick around as long as I've got something to keep myself busy.

Meh. History proved that the UJP wasn't the real problem, it was a small group of individuals within specific alliances. As for the era that followed, it was no better and in some ways it was worse.

FYI: I always disliked the name "Unjust Path" because of the implication that anyone that opposed them automatically stood for the opposite, that being justice, regardless of how evil or unjust they actually were.

I've given my specific recollections about the war almost too many times, so I'll spare everyone this round. Suffice to say that there are some things that I did back then that I would do differently now, and some I would do all over again and for which I make no apologies.

Aw, Hal, be a sport! How'd your experiences then shape your course?

[Schattenmann]

For a lot of people, the UjW represents the end of an era and is characterized by death, either of communities or enemies. For me it marks the birth of the entity that has given me the most enjoyment out of this world.

Beautiful.

That old friendship has had something of an impact on Purple history.

In both of these stories, isn't it cool to see how the multitudes of single shifting grains amount to dunes over time? Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. Very interesting, thanks.

I see you reading Tautology, where'd history take you when you left GOONS? It's a wild ride from GOONS refugee to RoK Triumvir, I imagine.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Schattenmann

[Heyman]

Back then, I was something of a mindless grunt who started seeing some specks of light during the NoCB war.

This war? It had my utmost and serious attention.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Heyman

[Seerow]

A good thread, and an interesting story Schatt.

My own was far less interesting. I was part of the NPO up until around the time MK was founded. It just happened to line up that they were founded around the same time Anthony was expelled from the Order. For months prior to this I had been feeling out of place as a part of the Order, and we all knew something of the sort would happen eventually, there were too many tensions in the upper ranks between Anthony and just about everyone else except Moo for it to not happen. In this time I had come to see the jrcommers as the Military Command at the time was called (don't ask) as my real alliance, and stayed primarily to help them. Remember, I was in military command during that time period where NPO was starting a war every month or so (or if not starting, participating in one), there was a significant workload for everyone pretty much constantly. But anyway, the point is I had told Anthony long before if he got expelled for any reason, I would be following him shortly. Most of the rest of the military command had made similar commitments.

So Anthony gets expelled. About 24 hours after talking with my friends in the alliance, I eventually follow through on my prior commitment and leave the NPO. Upon me leaving several others make up their minds and follow suit. However despite having been in the NPO I had had almost no contact with GOONS, I leave the talking to outsiders to others for the most part. Let's face it I am the least diplomatically inclined person I know. As a result, Anthony decided to go to GOONS but I didn't have any driving need to be a part of them. On the other hand, I had a friend from that other moon game, who had joined MK upon its founding. MK had been founded very recently (like within days of Anthony's expulsion). As at this point NPO was the only alliance I had ever been in, I took the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an alliance, and applied.

Shortly thereafter, I'm working in Military command for the Kingdom, and just generally doing my own thing. Fastforward a bit, MK gets an upgrade from protectorate to MADP with GOONS, and becomes a part of the Unjust Path. We were all feeling pretty good at this point, having just forged the bloc, there was all the fun, the !@#$posting, everything you expect in the leadup to a major war.

Then the war itself hits, earlier than anticipated and with people on the opposing side that were expected to remain neutral or side with us. It's looking bad, but hey it's not absurdly bad odds yet, just mostly bad. Of course, then as everyone knows the cry of "OMGOOCATTACKS" goes out. The whole Bilrow affair blows up and into the UJP supporting OOC attacks. TPF pulls out immediately, getting white peace in doing so, turning the situation from bad to hopeless. That leaves everyone else scrambling to get peace as best they can.

I remember how surprised I was when as we were trying to get peace Archon asked me to join the peace talks. At this time GunneR was LHT, but was apparently mostly innactive, I had no place in upper government, I was just another military commander. I helped organize !@#$, but I had no special position. But when it came down to the peace talks it was just Archon and myself along with the NpO Government. Mind you, Ive said before I am the least diplomatically inclined person I know and am very surprised I didn't screw it up and get MK on EZI during these talks, but apparently I was wanted to help determine what reps would be payable by MK. Shortly following the conclusion of negotiations, I was promoted to LHT, and was left trying to organize an alliance that was just hurt pretty badly into rebuilding and paying reps.

And well, the rest is pretty much nothing. The leadup to and ending of the UJW signaled my personal transition from a Militarily focused individual to a banking focus. I stayed as head of the treasury up until RL caused me to have to take a break, at which point I resigned from MK, and got beat on by the NPO for a little over a year for my transgression of leaving them. As a result I more or less completely missed the NoCB war. I finally got off PZI just before the Karma war started, and have been semi-active since.

[LJ Scott]

Firstly you missed the most important flag:

As for UjW I was getting blue balled waiting to enter whilst NPO, and finally getting the disappointment of going up against GOLD.

[OOC]Oh and I was churning out daily target lists on UjP and friends;

• Atlantic Shadow Confederation
  
• BANG
  
• BAPS
  
• FARK
  
• FOK
  
• Gen[m]ay
  
• GOD
  
• GOLD
  
• Golden Sabres
  
• GOONS
  
• =LOST=
  
• \m/
  
• Mushroom Kingdom
  
• OFS
  
• RIA
  
• R&R
  
• Scotland Forever
  
• TOOL
  
• TPF
  
• UNION
  
• We Are Perth Army
  

[/OOC]

Also had one of the best DoW's ever from =LOST=

[Delta1212]

According to those charts, the then members of SF had 349 offensive wars and 22 defensive wars between the three of us at the time you drew those up. That pretty much matches my recollection of how well the respective sides did on our front.

Also, King Penchuk being an MCXA member got a chuckle out of me.

[kevin32891]

o/ UJP

[BamaBuc]

I founded the Alabama Nation about a month and a half before UJW. For a few days everything was ho-hum with the exception of Legion getting rolled. The first thing I really noticed about the greater politics of Bob was that the Initiative was dominant, untouchable, united, and permanent. Then the Moldavi Rebellion and "modgate" controversies happened. I had no idea what any of it meant, but I thought I did. I figured I could read the history books and stuff and just "get it." So I made a general fool of myself on the forums. Anyway, a month of tension, excitement, and verbal sparring went by. Since then I've been around for two years, and I've yet to see a month like it. The verbal sniping was everywhere, yet the leaders all hugged and proclaimed that there would be no war. Every few days a rumor of war would go around, and the whole world would stay up late for a night or two.

The war itself was almost a letdown after the suspense of the prologue. I rolled an IRON nation alongside Calderone and Cyber King... Poor guy was 17 inactive when we anarchied him. TOOL did great for a few days... We were a very low ANS alliance, and IRON's lower ranks weren't great. The big boys were occupied with GOONS and \m/. Myself and another TOOL were attacked one afternoon by an IRON nation who failed to anarchy either of us... We got him that night. But towards the end, IRON was able to divert more nations and aid to our front. Peron anarchied Calderone and me in one fell swoop (He ended up being Cal's boss in the Karma War, ironically).

Then the whole end-of-the-war thing happened. I must confess that I scratch my head when people speak of it as if it were the turning point. Let's be honest with ourselves now: We had lost. The war was becoming a rout, and even idiot newbie me could see it. It just would have taken a bit longer and everyone would've blown a bit more stuff up. ~ would still have had their way with the ones they really wanted to punish. \m/ and GOONS would not have lived happily ever after. Militarily, most of UJH seemed to be in disarray. \m/ was falling apart, though actions taken after the withdrawals certainly sped that up. Many GOONS government decided to destroy their nations and go out with a bang that was not of an explosive nature. They KNEW it was all over, and decided to go out with a bang. I've heard it said that UJP could have somehow pulled it out if not for the withdrawals due to some miraculous tactic or event that would have changed it all if the war had gone on for just a few more days. This is wishful thinking at best. Let's get one thing straight: On Planet Bob, the side with the numbers wins. The bigger the war and the longer it goes on, the more true this is, because isolated cases of succeeding against the numbers are swallowed up in the greater conflict. You do not come back from the kind of numbers disadvantage we were at at that point. It does not happen. The one shot UJP had would be for the same situation to happen in reverse, causing ~ to break up and withdraw. Even that would have been only a temporary respite, because UJP and her allies were whipped, and her foes would still have existed and been at full strength. I also cannot comprehend how the event leading to the withdrawal has been downplayed and even justified by some. But that's been done to death.

-Bama

Edited September 11, 2009 by BamaBuc