DragonsPhyre

Where's the drinks? I'd like to say that at least none of us are Omniscient or TimLee. We meet minimum acceptable standards these days! In all seriousness, everybody that got to a position of leadership tried their best. Sometimes, it wasn't enough. Sometimes, we barely squeaked by. A few times, we were actually cool for a hot moment. Most alliances go through that. Few stick around through the worst of it and still recover at least a little bit afterward. I know we're not, like, top tier hotshots but I am very happy and proud of what we have accomplished through the years, regardless of what anyone else thinks. We've survived leadership through the whole range of utterly incompetent to truly excellent as well as a bunch of crises that might have wiped out lesser alliances and I think the essence of what makes us who we are has remained through the years, regardless of whatever the funny numbers say. Yes, that's the primary reason we're still around. I think you and I have actually talked about that before. There's just really not a whole lot that's worth caring about in this little world we share these days outside of the communities we've built.

I enjoy how people have been forecasting the fall of GATO since 2006 and we're still here. We're just vibin', man.

Honestly, in retrospect, going nuclear instead of restricting ourselves at the time might have been a good idea. Only thing is that I doubt we would have been able to surrender without NPO getting beat down first, which means we would have been committing to a longer war with that.

I dunno if you're aware but this is the OOC forum so.... I did give IAA a shiny medal and they have a prized role in our history for taking up arms in our defense in spite of us literally saying "it's fine if you say out", as do CSN, USN, and the Commie Volunteer Force. My job as Assembly Chairman was to ensure the survival of my alliance in whatever way I could so long as I could hold the trust of the General Assembly. We were looking at an entire coalition that seemed perfectly willing and eager to completely destroy GATO and had already inflicted enough damage that we lost much of our membership both old and new. It was a war on a scale and length that we were completely unprepared for against a force that exhibited no apparent mercy and no desire to make peace even during the rare times I actually got ahold of someone willing to talk. We were playing by rules enforced on us that were already changing elsewhere in the game and I was doing everything I could not to show the bitterness and distaste from GATO members on the forums specifically because I wanted it to be absolutely clear that we were interested more in peace than vengeance. That's a core tenet in the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, you know - peace and diplomacy over war and vengeance. We haven't held as true to that in the past years as I would have liked, but it's those ideals that led me here based on DasGirl's recruitment message at the time. Every voice counts here in a home that values peace, autonomy, diplomacy, and democracy in a place increasingly influenced by warmongers and deceivers. Anyway, since you seem to be taking our surrender in that war personally, here's how it happened. Moo-Cows messaged me on IRC and said they'd accept an unconditional surrender but he wanted an answer now. I had to push just to get the 24 hours we had to rush a discussion and vote through. Over two thirds of the alliance wanted peace and were willing to accept this cost. That's why we're still here. Even managed to be stubborn enough to come through the viceroy period basically unchanged because core membership didn't bail and instead fought to keep our core identity alive and well. There were no cowards here. We fought tooth and nail for as long as we could and then kept fighting during the peace to ensure the alliance remained a place we could call home. I was too burned out from the war to see it all through, sadly, but others managed to keep it going while I took a break. Sometimes, I do wonder what would have happened if we had said no and just kept fighting. Would the Karma War that erupted soon after have changed our fate? Could enough alliance members have weathered the storm long enough to make it there? Was our continued existence worth having NPO chains for a time? I don't really know the answers to these questions. All I know is that we made the best decision for the alliance and its members that we could with the information we had and if you want to be bitter that we didn't make the same decision that IAA did, then that's your problem to deal with.

Me? Personally? I'm just a nobody, sure, generally more focused on internal affairs stuff these past few years. Being AC during the war with 1V was enough to burn me out of inter-alliance politics so I stopped giving a !@#$ about "balance of power" and the oh-so-intricate plots of what amounts to a bunch of children imagining they're political geniuses because they can use their fists better than their words. Back before GW2, it was a lot more fun, a lot more political. I remember those times pretty fondly even if these public boards were a lot less civil. GATO has gone through quite a bit in these past fifteen years. We've lost and regained power, influence, strength, and even our sovereignty for a time. Our chosen task was never about ensuring a balance of power between the alliances on Planet Bob. It was to create a place where the principles of democracy, honor, and justice were held high, front and center, and we have done that through all the trials and tribulations that we have gone through. In the past, Pacifica sought to destroy us and to grind us beneath their heels into the dust as they built a world that served their philosophy of pure strength and power. They failed. Others have tried to humble us, change us, or isolate us to the mere periphery of planetary politics. Their success is always temporary. GATO remains. Our circumstances shift. Our friends come and go, some becoming enemies and some enemies becoming friends. Though the world may turn to irradiated ash and corpses pile high, GATO remains unchanged - bent maybe, bowed temporarily, but unbroken all the same. The General Assembly has always held the reigns of power, ultimately, and our commitment to honor, justice, and democracy is still the same as it was on the day of our founding. That, more than anything else, is why I am proud to be a part of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. That is why my loyalty is to this alliance and no other. Balance of power? !@#$%^&*. So long as everyone else prefers to save their skin over anything else, there will be no balance of power possible. Can you say that about yourself, Grub, and Polaris? I suppose you can, at that. Polaris started as Pacifica's blue colony and look, you're still attached at the hips to Pacifican power and influence rather than standing on your own. Maybe come back to me about being "essentially immortal" and holding the "balance of power" when your legacy is anything more than as a man who reached for the stars and failed to realize he dug his own grave instead.

Bold words from a man in an alliance inside Oculus, the current powerful alliance bloc.

You can always come back to GATO, krabs.

I look forward to accomplishing nothing of note once more!

It's been over a decade, I believe, since the Legion and the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shared a mutual defense agreement. We have both gone through multiple tumultuous events since then and have come out different for the experience. It's a good tie to see come alive to this degree again.

While I'm not FA or AC right now, the reasoning you've provided is pretty much our internal reasoning for this as well. For most of GATO's history, we've been very tolerant of how matters on the Brown sphere go as long as everyone gets along and nobody tries to explicitly interfere in our business, which does include placing sanctions when necessary or properly requested. Brown is not a place to make for political protests on that matter. Grey sphere is the place for escaping color sphere politics.

What coalition?

LSF was asked to stop supporting a rogue senator. They didn't. And honestly, given the trouble you have given us on Brown in previous incarnations, I'm fine with you being sanctioned.

I understand! I guess I'll just wait for another one to open up and then I can vent my frustration a bit about these stupid rogue senators. @Junka, calm down. This thread isn't even about you.

Sir William stole my slot.

Confirmed.