OmniBlog

It's healthy for CN that new alliances continue to spring up but there is a Darwinian part of me that thinks that we should only put effort into alliances whose leaders have grasped the basic rules. We're not really doing them a favor by encouraging them if we don't think they have a reasonable chance of survival and, let's face it, the survival rate isn't very high. I'm all for helping people but there's no virtue in delaying the inevitable.

I don't have an issue with protectorates. I don't think they should be entering into MDoAPs with larger alliances either. That would be foolhardy on behalf of the larger alliance, because protectorates often don't work out. I think they are a valuable treaty.

I know when something's obsolete (erased... extinct...), and only a fool would say the concept of a protectorate is, really.

There are only a few alliances with large numbers of protectorates; many alliances eschew them entirely. You have to have spare government members to help oversee them, and those are gov members who could be helping your own members.

Speaking from experience, it's best to stick to protectorates that remind you of yourself when you were smaller. The only really successful protectorate Invicta had was NAC, and they really did remind us of a tiny Invicta when they first appeared, except without any strong nations to keep them safe. Now they're one of our best allies. The others have mostly fallen by the wayside.

TOOL's been a bit hit-or-miss with protectorates, but the ones that did succeed have been pretty solid, like Argent for example.

As for when I was CCC, we never had protectorates back then, but they took on their first protectorates some time after I had left. To be fair, though, they did sign MDPs with smaller alliances, and still do, DAAN being the most recent example of one.

Protectorates arent extinct, but sometimes they aren't really nessecary. E.g. When E reformed TSC it didnt get a new protectorate and it is doing fine.

I'd agree with most of what's written in the OP. Protectorates are important because "n00bs" if you will, need help. I strongly dislike elitists who claim that anyone at all who hasn't been playing since 2006 or 2007 isn't worth the effort. Frankly, they're being naive.

New players are what drives CN to this day. Without them, it will die... quicker.

Older players reaching out and helping the younger ones is what makes this game so special. To help another unselfishly, by giving them a chance, is commendable. Protectorates will help the game along, no doubt in my mind at all.

As long as they give me tech, I'll give them help.

It's a free Planet Bob but new players should not be starting alliances. They should seek out an established alliance that meets their gameplay style. It would be wise if they had experience in an alliance. Like I said who am I to say who can and can not start an alliance, but maybe wisdom comes from the school of hard knocks.

Playing style comes, finally, from experience in the game. Experience comes from trial and error, as well as being (if you intend to play for long, anyway) observant of other players. Alliances can be deceptive to a new player because what you see mostly is what the Alliance does. Much of what goes into the decisions that Alliance makes is kept within the Alliance. Learning how an established Alliance operates is only one example; there are scores of them. Far fewer individual players survive to become "powerful", much less a game superpower. Protectorates can offer many advantages to the Alliance AND to a new group of players. Interaction, instruction, and information can be securely shared that help both parties not only function, but grow. The Alliance must, however, expend the effort and lead the Protectorate to it's own success. This is seldom a carbon copy of the protecting Allaince. Protectorates must respect the efforts, encourage it's member nations to adhere, and seriously learn what the Alliance has to teach them. It can take a long time for those lessons to be taught and absorbed. At the end, it is entirely possible neither party is satisfied. Yet, both are better for it. I hope someday to be smart enough, and good enough as a player to have members come to me and ask me to teach them my way. But, that's all it is: my way. It is not THE way. Some protectorates do not grasp this concept. Neither do some Alliances. But, as I first stated, that is the experience of the game. It's also not a bad illustration of life. Learn before you burn. Burn bark before you burn bridges. And, leave it better than you found it. In the meantime, listen, observe, and experiment. Just use all your skills and knowledge as you do so. Gravity still rides around Planet Bob with his pesky sidekick, Inertia, after all.