Action thru Inaction: Maintaining Global Stability
Entry posted by DictatatorDan
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Recently, in this cyberverse, there has been a spate of articles that proclaim to have stumbled onto the reason the game we play is not exciting. With increasing frequency, like a spring meekly sputtering up a thin dribble of water, individuals mutter that the game has become boring and past it's prime. They are only partially right. Many link the lack of conflict to a lack of activity and excitement. We are experiencing the most peaceful period in CN history due to a plethora of factors that have altered gameplay since the inception of the Cyberverse, which have become more profound and frustrating in recent months.
Prior to the Karma War, planet Bob was basically to one extent or another ruled by NPO and it's allies. The old Hegemony emphasized rule through force. In all of it's wars except one, NPO only fought wars that it knew it could win. Alliance statistics determined the progression of the game more than any single factor; power and influence was directly linked to the statistics of an alliance. NPO formed it's friendships with other alliances in the interest of maintaining power. It's leaders boldly placed itself as the center of the treaty hub, entice alliances to join their sphere of influence, and share in the power. Being an ally of the NPO pre-Karma was a guarantee of security, a very important benefit, as long as your alliance did not speak out of turn.
"War dose not determine who’s right. War determines who’s left."
The old Hegemony was ruthless in punishing those they perceived to be against them. Peaceful coexistence was not an option. To put it in the words of Ivan Moldavi, "To stand against the Orders was the definition of wrong". Wars of extinction, unimaginable in our new world, were not terribly uncommon. FAN endured a war that lasted for nearly two years with the Order and it's allies. Actions taken against individuals perceived to be anti-Order were also more harsh than they are today. The whole concept of Permanent Zero Infrastructure and Eternal Zero Infrastructure did not only exist, but were applied liberally; In it's infancy, Vox Populi was sentenced to PZI by the old Hegemony up until the conclusion of the Karma war. Most major alliances had a list of individual nations on PZI and EZI list, it was considered radical and stupid to stand against the concept.
It also serves to note that the world was much bigger before Karma, and fighting a war was easier. At one point, update blitzes were revolutionary, and nuclear conflict was limited. Purchasing the Manhattan Project wonder was not even encouraged amongst most alliances. The outcome of a war could be concluded in a few days, with fighting continuing only do to the progression of negotiations. Few if any alliances advocated lower level nations purchasing the Manhattan Project during my first tenure in CN during 2008. The higher number of nations and alliances, coupled with smaller warchest served to lessen the debilitating effects wars had on alliances.
The greater abundance of nations, alliances, and rulers in the old world also conspired to create a greater variation of successful and ambitious leaders, who were not afraid to use warfare, deceit, and backstabbing to gain power. It generated a much more politically involved game. Alliances were also not as strongly bonded together as they are today; in the old world it was not uncommon for many alliance members to desert at the beginning of a war in order to protect their pixels.
A major turning point came in Bobs history in the War of the Coalition, where the nefarious dealings of NPO against it's cousin alliance and blue colony, NpO came to light that culminated in NpO and the BLEU bloc's destruction; and set into motion the gears that would eventually create Karma. It also changed the way we fight wars. Every major war afterwords would be one of annihilation; strategies shifted to wards what amounts to a cybernetic version of scorched earth. Seasoned alliances learned that stats alone could not win a war, if there was not enough money to back them up.
It took the NPO around 3 months to diplomatically isolate Polaris, through persuading it's allies to drop treaties with their cousins in Polaris. Polaris was not particular popular among the Hegemony leaders, because essentially, what had set out to be in Pacifica's eyes as a colony on the blue team, actually became and independent alliance, and a political liability. A key characteristic about both the old and the new worlds, is that the treaty web is designed to keep the power in the hands of one group, and if something as seen as jeopardizing that hold action may be taken; However, when the game was larger there was a lot more aggressive maintenance of the web and preventative actions were taken.
Today on the other hand, the new hegemony looks at aggressive action in an opposite light; by doing nothing, they maintain the status quo. Not only are the blocs of Pandoras Box, CnG, and Superfriends made up of alliances that inherited the power vacuum left in the wake of a defeated Hegemony, they have staked their entire legacy on being more benign than the old powers, while still maintaining a certain degree of defensive malevolence that prevents anyone from provoking a conflict. When the degree of connectivity betweens alliances reaches the point of creating an impermeable defensive treaty web, a period of unopposed global predominance that will last indefinitely ensues; unless an collusion of factors creates an opening for meaningful political change. Essentially, the final result is, when predominant forces are not, or can not act aggressively, the game stagnates. The only difference now, is the alliances that filled the power vacuum left by the capitulation of the old Hegemony during Karma are not having a piñata party with all of those whom they dislike. We have achieved utopia where there is no provocation for conflict.
(This has sat in draft form for a while, and I could make it longer, but the more I wait, the more disconnected the final portions will be from the original thoughts)
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