I am trying to better understand how smaller, newer alliances survive on Planet Bob. And while I was meditating on this an interesting question came to mind.

Lets say that you are a small alliance who wants to be a protectorate of a bigger alliance. If you could choose your protector, who would you pick?

I am almost positive that your choice would depend on which sphere you live on. My choice would probably be The Phoenix Federation, however my alliance is already a protectorate of TPF so my choice might be a little biased lol. But I would love to know who everyone else would pick to protect them.

Our protectors, Sparta, are awesome enough for me.

I'm not being biased, but STA are one of the greatest protectors if not the best, and I've been around since march 06 with different alliances, and had many protectors.

STA are always around, watching your back, always have the advice and guidance when you need it, they never get made or frustrated. They know whats best for you. And they give you freedom. They don't take Protectees often and for good reason, they want the protectee to succeed and not just waste away under their protection. If you're starting out have a chat with STA.

Tyga is pretty damn awesome, if I may say so myself.

Any protector that actually does their job is a worthwhile protector in my opinion.

Kronos. They take you in and treat you as a member of their alliance.

I am TOTALLY not being biased.


MCXA are the best protectors infact why not skip the whole thing and join MCXA.



Sarcasm aside those Siberian Tiger fellows seem to have done a good job with those Russians.

Personally, from my experience and from what I've seen of others, I would say that there are several alliances that would be good protectors, but it depends on what your looking for in a protector. I usually say to stay away from protectorate blocs. They seem like a good idea, and they do give you other allies besides just your protector, however if you have 6 other small alliances in your protectorate bloc, then that's six other alliances your protector has to take care of besides just you.

Also, it kinda depends if you want a more laid back protector, who will help you when you need it, but only when you request it, or someone who's going to try and help you all the time, sometimes that being good help and at other times it being bad help.

Another couple factors to consider are team color, size of your alliance and the size of theirs, and even the protector's allies.

Over all, I wouldn't say there is one alliance which is a better protector than any other alliance. It all depends on what your looking for in a protector.

A very good analysis and explanation. Thank you mucho

I would advise you not to discount protectorate blocs out of hand. There are different styles of protectorate blocs and one might fit you quite well. Pegasus is a protectorate bloc which is protected by the Poseidon bloc. So not only do you have friends who are fellow protectorates, you also have alliances with different government structures and different recruiting and FA styles available to offer advice or guidance.

Valhalla was an awesome and I wouldn't give up the time we spent as their protectorate. We were treated like family from the first day. The bottom line is you need to find someone you click with and everything else will fall into place.

nueva vida is the best

My top pick would be Mushroom Kingdom, followed by Rok.

I wouldn't look for any individual alliance these days if I was looking for a protectorate, I would be looking at the overall political spectrum and decide where you would like to fit in. When you have decided that then you have yourself narrowed down the list of possible protectorates that you would like to have.

There is no one single protector that is best.

I would pick the Templar Knights personally, but I'm pretty biased.

Bias aside, they have been excellent. Providing guides and Tech buyers to our nations. Yet they still don't baby us. We are always welcomed on their forums and they have only be generous to us. I haven't been under any other protectors and don't have much experience with protecting on CN. But so far the TTK has only been excellent and I haven't found anything to complain about. And I've look.

It looks like everyone picks there own alliance, or alliance that is protecting them. I must say I'm shocked. Oh well, I might as well join in, and say my own alliance. I mean, what alliance would stick with their protectorate when pretty much the whole world is against them?

Fixed that for you

Continuing with this I'd have to say VE has been about as great a protector as anyone in The Jedi Order could ask for.

Though, and continuing the above theme, it really is all about what you're looking for. In fact I'd say that what the alliance looking for a protector is looking for/needs is at least half the equation on whether or not the protectorate agreement will be a good one for the small alliance.

<bias>
Fark and then CSN
</bias>

If you're looking for a protector, I'll be honest. Find one whose political inclinations you both understand and are similar to your own. Invicta's had a few protectorates, and the good ones have been the ones who understood us.

Another tip. If you left your old big/medium-sized alliance because you didn't like their allies, they probably won't be good protectors for you. (Or you'll be a bad protectorate for them.) Most alliances are quite a lot different to deal with externally than they are internally, and you'll probably find that as protectors talking to them will feel more like talking to those allies you didn't like.

I'm going to have to go with RoK.

Nordreich is clearly the correct answer. But as people have said, you should pick one based on your political leanings. Nordreich is, as it stands, largely on the outskirts of the political spectrum which afford certain benefits and drawbacks.

Well CSN is prefect for the republic

and as people said its all depends on what you are looking for in a Protector

TPF being the best protectors? Definitely not.

Any alliance which takes on too many protectorates is not going to be a great protector. I can see something like Pegasus working out nicely, but a single alliance can't handle as many as TPF or RoK.

An alliance which takes on one or two protectorates at a time and fulfills everything they agreed to in the agreement is perfect.

Can't ask for better friends than VE. Just ask Ordo Verde.

I'd probably just sign an MDP.

Anyone with enough muscle to keep you from getting raided.

Thanks for that lovely endorsement

TIO has done well and our protectorate agreement has been upgraded to a MDoAP so that is definitely a good sign

Coming from someone who has been in our program? You are obviously well informed with what we do and what we offer.

Oh wait. No, you have no idea what your talking about.


EDIT: It really does depend on the alliances involved, some protecotrates work well with certain alliances, others don't. I don't think there's a single great protector alliance to go to. But there are definitely a few that have good all-round programs/people for that kind of thing.

Why get a protectorate when you can have none at all and have half the world jumping to defend you if you're attacked?

No, seriously, think about it.

It usually doesn't work that way unless you're raiding an alliance with OWF regulars en masse in addition to using attacks that aren't 2 GAs.

I second that.

IMO, what you want from a protector is someone who will help you develop and be available when you need help. NV has gone far beyond the call of duty for us, and we think they're just about the greatest thing going.

That being said, I am sure there are a few others out there that could be equally good. FOK did an awesome job with TGE, as did TPF for TSI. TOOL are good people across the board, too.

I hope this wasn't your honest suggestion.

Seriously, think about it.

OV was never a protectorate of VE. They are allies (VE is OV's only standing military treaty), but OV is not a protectorate, nor have they ever been.

You want an alliance you would be happy to sign a military treaty with, as others have noted their is no 'best' becuase different groups will want different things, and you'll want a protector who shares your political outlooks. Things like tech deals, aid, guides, advice, anybody can give you that. But chances are your first high level treaty will also be with the alliance that used to be your protector, that also means that with the MDP web, their allies become your allies. You need to find a group you feel comfortable with.

The four that immediately came to mind, in no particular order: STA (my current alliance), Nordreich (my former alliance), Nueva Vida (former protector of my former alliance) and Mushroom Kingdom. While they are all quite different alliances, each has a very good reputation with respect to protectorates. All of them are quite 'picky' as well, which is a good thing.

How embarrassing. I stand corrected.

Not sure why I thought they were a protectorate. Jade Confederacy was at least, I think?

Like then or loathe them until recently NPO protected a whole sphere very effectively.

A lot of OV came from OR, which was a TORN protectorate I believe.

If you are experienced in the game and starting a new alliance, then by all means you should have it narrowed down to a handful who agree with the direction you would like your alliance to go in.

MK is my vote, if you lean their way in the web.

Our protectorate of OR was carried over to OV when the merger happened.

well, i've been thinking of all the alliances and i can't think of one that has neutral thoughts. like, an alliance that agrees with that they feel is the right move, and not just siding with a side all the time.

anyone know any?


Also, i think some people are right when they save protectorate blocs can get bad. it's best to keep them few so you can focus more on the individual protectorate than the whole bloc itself.

GPA, TDO, and GOP come to mind offhand.

As Mr. Zoom has been in a protectorate bloc system, I'd say he's qualified to give his opinion on protectorate blocs, no? I could be wrong, but I took his post as saying that the mass-protection system was the problem, not the protectors themselves. I'm sure you guys at RoK are great protectors, but you've certainly got a lot of protectorates to manage. Zoom obviously doesn't think that such a system is good for a protectorate.

-Bama

I too wondered what RoK thought about the breakdown of TPF's massive protectorate system.

There is no "one size fits all" protector, hence there is no "the best" protector alliance. Ragnarok and TPF both have had experience protecting multiple startup alliances. Yes it is not easy, just as there are no best protectors, so there are no best protectorates as well. Each group of people has a different dynamic and they interact with other groups in a different fashion.

TPF did not fail at protecting their friends, quiet simply, fate and geopolitics put them in a situation where it was not feasible anymore, for the time being. They were rather good at it, when they were able to do it. They will do it again, it is a matter of time, or so i hope.

Being a protector is not something one takes lightly, or rather one should not, it is the easiest thing in the world to wake up one day and accept your first 'little brother" just because you feel you can, or are now big enough to do it. Protection is much more than simple "put this in your nation bio and get raided no more". In many ways it is an apprentice program or a mentor, mentee relationship. Of course the learning from the interaction is a two way street. Being part of an alliance that protects others, i have had an opportunity to interact with those that we protect, we learn as much from them as we teach them.

Of course then there are alliances started by non-newbies, experienced players, old friends that strike out on their own, in many such cases there is already an established relationship to build upon, and things are easier. to begin with at least. Like every relationship, this too changes over time, and one has to come to the "we work together at this" level, or it is at an end.

The success of a protector hinges as much upon the acts/ethic of the protectorate as it does on their own.

This post is relevant.

No protector is the same, unless you have the people you barely talk to, get a check-in every once and awhile...Most people treat thier little buds differently. Whether it would be forcing them to go a certain path, Allowing you liberties, Constructing your future with your opinion involved or not, or just plain letting you chill. Its all different. Its like parents...except...[OOC: cybernation /OOC]

Why not, good sir?



So you would only be liable for individual strictly tech raiding wars. That rules out any attack that would deal any severe amount of damage to your alliance as a whole. The only real benefit of having a protector then becomes to protect from these occasional minor raids. I'll take that risk.

Most protectorates have clauses extremely limiting your foreign affairs, not to mention that your alliance upon birth is already placed into categories based on the choice of protector before your alliance has even had a chance to prove itself in the world.

Many of you will probably claim that protectorates offer guidance and help, these are both extremely vague and scary. If you need basic assistance such as guides on how to go to war, I would suggest rethinking your alliances existance.

In the past, protectorates served a purpose in the heartless world of constant tech raids. However, they are slowly becoming only a severe drag on alliances. So I encourage all those planning on building new alliances, to go out and free yourself from the chains of this out of date system.

STA is the best hands down

TOP for sure

Go look at Freak Safari war to get why

You are totally wrong lol. TPF are the best protectors hands down. I said hands down! Get on the ground! Now take off your belt and pants! HANDS FLAT ON THE CEMENT NOW! DON'T TURN AROUND! STOP CRYING! SAY YOU LOVE TPF! SAY IT! SAY YOU LOVE TPF! Oh yeaaahhhh ph yeah, I loooove protecting you. Now shut up.

Seeking an MDP is probably a better road to take - protectorates have become an artifact and generally allow for too much puppeteering, intended or otherwise.