NPO Declaration of War and Sing-Along War Report

[Xiphosis]

Misinformation bothers me, so I guess I'll chime in on this. From the OP:

 

Instead, we allowed our coalition to devolve into a mess of

miscommunication and forced through our desire to protect our friends
over the objections of our coalition partners. After that war we
allowed, through our tepid foreign affairs policy, our image to be
hijacked by an ill-thought and inappropriate idea of hostility towards
our ancient brothers.

 

Beyond this, there seems to be a general trend here and elsewhere of putting the blame on Brehon for the mistakes made during the last war. This is false. All problems caused by NPO, when caused by them, were the result of three people primarily: Mary, Farrin, and Dilber. Mary and Farrin, as the coalition found out fairly quickly, are fairly panic-prone and they jump at shadows. Dilber knew that, and used it to try and move NPO's actions towards NSO's benefit. Inevitably, this enraged the rest of the coalition, and ultimately Brehon would have to clean it up. This happened two times that stick out in my memory, and probably to a lesser degree more times than that.

 

We should be completely clear though: Brehon's only major crime last war was not having enough time throughout every 24 hour period to keep his piss-shy dogs on a leash. Every mistake was actually made by said dogs, the main dog now being the current Emperor of the NPO.

 

Always convenient to blame those not really around to defend themselves anymore. You're still full of shit.

 

Edit:

 

Some things Brehon did last war that ruffled feathers that didn't really stand out to me, but might've really bothered others:

 

- Pushed a "War on one is a war on all of us" policy until it meant C&G was going to get hit back hard, as they did. Then he had a fit for a minute.

 

- Tried to take point on the coalition but then his nation deleted and he mostly didn't have time.

 

- There was a lot of miscommunication and going over other leaders heads with regards to terms, which turned it into somewhat of a shit show. Some of this was Brehon personally, some of it was others.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Xiphosis

[IYIyTh]

There he is. Thereeeeeeee he is.

 

Hi Xiph!

Edited November 4, 2013 by IYIyTh

[Dcrews]

Well, this thread just gained about 10 more pages of material to argue over. 

[Master Holton]

Misinformation bothers me, so I guess I'll chime in on this. From the OP:

 

 

Beyond this, there seems to be a general trend here and elsewhere of putting the blame on Brehon for the mistakes made during the last war. This is false. All problems caused by NPO, when caused by them, were the result of three people primarily: Mary, Farrin, and Dilber. Mary and Farrin, as the coalition found out fairly quickly, are fairly panic-prone and they jump at shadows. Dilber knew that, and used it to try and move NPO's actions towards NSO's benefit. Inevitably, this enraged the rest of the coalition, and ultimately Brehon would have to clean it up. This happened two times that stick out in my memory, and probably to a lesser degree more times than that.

 

We should be completely clear though: Brehon's only major crime last war was not having enough time throughout every 24 hour period to keep his piss-shy dogs on a leash. Every mistake was actually made by said dogs, the main dog now being the current Emperor of the NPO.

 

Always convenient to blame those not really around to defend themselves anymore. You're still full of shit.

 

Edit:

 

Some things Brehon did last war that ruffled feathers that didn't really stand out to me, but might've really bothered others:

 

- Pushed a "War on one is a war on all of us" policy until it meant C&G was going to get hit back hard, as they did. Then he had a fit for a minute.

 

- Tried to take point on the coalition but then his nation deleted and he mostly didn't have time.

 

- There was a lot of miscommunication and going over other leaders heads with regards to terms, which turned it into somewhat of a shit show. Some of this was Brehon personally, some of it was others.

 

Maybe you're speaking of a 'general trend' that isn't present in this thread but maybe somewhere else?

 

Reading the OP, you'll notice how Brehon was actually not even mentioned. I'll assume you're talking about the two or three sentences in the second paragraph talking about our coalition mismanagement where Red specifically wrote "we allowed our coalition to devolve..."

 

So in actuality, while it would be convenient for us to try and place all blame on Brehon or some other absentee figure from the past, this DoW actually serves as an acknowledgement of the entirety of Pacifica's mistakes going back several months.

 

Good try though.

[Schattenmann]

The entirety of Pacifica's upper tier was excused from the EQ War as "inactive banks" and for the last weeks of the war NPO fought virtually no wars over 50k NS.  I don't know what you're doing tonight.

Your memory is pathetic then Schat. I was over 80k and in the first day.. as always.. first to the front, first to blood, and first to devour. And this time around you can  counsel Crymson.. tell him the nukes that are hitting him are illusions and he doesn't need to fight back.

 

I will direct you to the bolded portions of our respective quotes, and following in your pathetic vein refer you to the adult literacy program.

 

If members/gov of NPO want to play this game and pretend that your upper tier nations fought when they did not, or that NPO stopped fighting over 50k, then I will be happy to embarrass you with EQ forum screenshots and war stats.  We don't need to go there because everyone in EQ knows, but if you insist, we can do it.

MCRABT asked Brehon dead-level why NPO's entire [virtually] upper tier was in peace mode, Brehon's answer was that they were inactive banks.  And Brehon doesn't lie.

 

And so we come back to my first reply: If NPO had nothing going on in the top tiers in its own war, I don't know what you're doing picking TOP this time.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Schattenmann

[Goldie]

From what I've heard, it is those last three things you cited that are the reason for the EQ schism and subsequent anger at Brehon/NPO, not as much the points you were raising earlier.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Okay Centurius, wish granted.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

I will direct you to the bolded portions of our respective quotes, and following in your pathetic vein refer you to the adult literacy program.

If members/gov of NPO want to play this game and pretend that your upper tier nations fought when they did not, or that NPO stopped fighting over 50k, then I will be happy to embarrass you with EQ forum screenshots and war stats. We don't need to go there because everyone in EQ knows, but if you insist, we can do it.

 
 
Did it occur to your great mind that it was because many of the ones who were actively engaged and not bankers.. were a bit bludgeoned? There is no war without scars. 

Was there a bit of lackluster activity? Definitely. I complain that the greatest enemy on Bob is not the guy in the other trench. The greatest enemy is lethargy and melancholy, the greatest enemies of everyone here. This war will help set them back, a little. But there are those of us who always give our best in every war and fight purely for the sake of watching our casualties rise. You paint in broad strokes where a finer brush is needed.

It isn't that they didn't fight. It's that they gave their all and fell below your threshold for measuring active combatants. But you see the numbers how you like Schatt, that's just.. how you see the world.

It is getting harder and harder to get people to want to pick up a rifle and that's just the honest truth of it. Probably why the neutrals have taken their place at the top of the standings.

Why TOP? Is something you'd have to ask someone else about, I just war for the fun of it. But I do know this, the aid system is what has enabled it, if that's what you're asking. We have the ability to mobilize no like time before in our history. Edited November 4, 2013 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Schattenmann]

 
 
Did it occur to your great mind that it was because many of the ones who were actively engaged and not bankers.. were a bit bludgeoned? There is no war without scars. 

Was there a bit of lackluster activity? Definitely. I complain that the greatest enemy on Bob is not the guy in the other trench. The greatest enemy is lethargy and melancholy, the greatest enemies of everyone here. This war will help set them back, a little. But there are those of us who always give our best in every war and fight purely for the sake of watching our casualties rise. You paint in broad strokes where a finer brush is needed.

It isn't that they didn't fight. It's that they gave their all and fell below your threshold for measuring active combatants. But you see the numbers how you like Schatt, that's just.. how you see the world.

It is getting harder and harder to get people to want to pick up a rifle and that's just the honest truth of it. Probably why the neutrals have taken their place at the top of the standings.

 

No, reality is not a matter of my interpretation, it is simply reality.

I have stated the fact that NPO's upper tier was excused from the war, you said they were not, I have informed you that indeed they were and I am happy to prove it, now you say "well, maybe they had a good reason not to fight."  Which is it? 

It is a simple matter of fact that regardless of why, NPO's upper tier did not fight in EQ, and so I wonder why pick TOP now.

And if NPO's problem is truly that they refuse "to pick up a rifle" kick their useless dead asses out; I found immense satisfaction in purging the dead weight from CoJ (GPA should give me a recruitment award).

Edited November 4, 2013 by Schattenmann

[Maelstrom Vortex]

I won't say anything more, but this.. we did have a bit of a post-war purge. So.. *shrugs*. Looks like we've already been doing what you would suggest to resolve the problems you feel that we have in conducting warfare. Anyway, I'm done with this conversation. But thanks for the feedback.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Third King]

Ah the sound of marching jackboots. o/ NPO

[ChairmanHal]

Misinformation bothers me, so I guess I'll chime in on this. From the OP:

 

 

Beyond this, there seems to be a general trend here and elsewhere of putting the blame on Brehon for the mistakes made during the last war. This is false. All problems caused by NPO, when caused by them, were the result of three people primarily: Mary, Farrin, and Dilber. Mary and Farrin, as the coalition found out fairly quickly, are fairly panic-prone and they jump at shadows. Dilber knew that, and used it to try and move NPO's actions towards NSO's benefit. Inevitably, this enraged the rest of the coalition, and ultimately Brehon would have to clean it up. This happened two times that stick out in my memory, and probably to a lesser degree more times than that.

 

We should be completely clear though: Brehon's only major crime last war was not having enough time throughout every 24 hour period to keep his piss-shy dogs on a leash. Every mistake was actually made by said dogs, the main dog now being the current Emperor of the NPO.

 

Always convenient to blame those not really around to defend themselves anymore. You're still full of shit.

 

Edit:

 

Some things Brehon did last war that ruffled feathers that didn't really stand out to me, but might've really bothered others:

 

- Pushed a "War on one is a war on all of us" policy until it meant C&G was going to get hit back hard, as they did. Then he had a fit for a minute.

 

- Tried to take point on the coalition but then his nation deleted and he mostly didn't have time.

 

- There was a lot of miscommunication and going over other leaders heads with regards to terms, which turned it into somewhat of a shit show. Some of this was Brehon personally, some of it was others.

 

You aren't making the case for anything other than he should have resigned and allowed someone else to lead NPO.  People who can't even manage the affairs of their own nation at the most basic level have absolutely no business in command.  Actually, the way you tell it, he wasn't really in command--he might have held the title, but he certainly didn't command the respect of his subordinates, who should have followed his directives, not allowed someone in another alliance to have undo influence.

 

That said, there is plenty of blame to go around regarding what went wrong in the EQ War (on both sides really) and Brehon was by no means solely responsible.

[Xiphosis]

You aren't making the case for anything other than he should have resigned and allowed someone else to lead NPO.  People who can't even manage the affairs of their own nation at the most basic level have absolutely no business in command.  Actually, the way you tell it, he wasn't really in command--he might have held the title, but he certainly didn't command the respect of his subordinates, who should have followed his directives, not allowed someone in another alliance to have undo influence.

 

That said, there is plenty of blame to go around regarding what went wrong in the EQ War (on both sides really) and Brehon was by no means solely responsible.

 

That was effectively my point. We have no argument regarding the first point.

[Letum]

No, reality is not a matter of my interpretation, it is simply reality.
I have stated the fact that NPO's upper tier was excused from the war, you said they were not, I have informed you that indeed they were and I am happy to prove it, now you say "well, maybe they had a good reason not to fight."  Which is it? 
It is a simple matter of fact that regardless of why, NPO's upper tier did not fight in EQ, and so I wonder why pick TOP now.
And if NPO's problem is truly that they refuse "to pick up a rifle" kick their useless dead asses out; I found immense satisfaction in purging the dead weight from CoJ (GPA should give me a recruitment award).

The thing is, when the upper tier fights, it stops being the upper tier.

Maelstrom fought in the upper tier. I fought in the upper tier. We are fighting again in the upper tier now. Many other nations like us did the same thing. To pretend we don't exist because we were willing to take the necessary NS sacrifice of any war is an insult to every fighting nation anywhere.

[Schattenmann]

The thing is, when the upper tier fights, it stops being the upper tier.

Maelstrom fought in the upper tier. I fought in the upper tier. We are fighting again in the upper tier now. Many other nations like us did the same thing. To pretend we don't exist because we were willing to take the necessary NS sacrifice of any war is an insult to every fighting nation anywhere.

Dear Brehon,

I am writing to inform you that you have made a mistake, a slight on your membership, which needs redress:

During the EQ War, in a naive attempt to motivate people, someone in the coalition [I can't recall his name offhand] opened an engagement stats thread.  As any cynic (or realist) could have told that guy, he instead opened a new thing to argue over.

In the course of the thread, MCRABT--then in IRON--asked why NPO's upper tier was not fighting.  Here is where you have given your comrades short shrift.  You told MCRABT (and so us all) that NPO's upper tier was not fighting because they were all inactive banks.  In doing so, you did not note that 2 (perhaps as many as 3) upper tier nations were fighting, and were not inactive banks. 

As you might imagine, this slip, while it might seem insignificant, has resulted in the belief in your words of everyone who read your words, and thus in the frustration of the 2 or 3 upper tier nations who did, apparently, fight.

I leave it to you to bring this matter to a close with the honorable Fighting Handful in private.

 

Yours,

~S~

[Sir Paul]

Blah blah blah Grudge blah blah blah Brehon

 

Ok, we get it.

 

Let's talk about something more important: What did you think of the Sing-Along War Report?

[Master Holton]

Blah blah blah Grudge blah blah blah Brehon

 

Ok, we get it.

 

Let's talk about something more important: What did you think of the Sing-Along War Report?

 

I think we should've sang a duet.

[Joe Izuzu]

@ Sir Paul: I loved the sing-along report and, while I would not let you advance past the first 10 seconds of any vocal competition, the fact that you didn't stoop to using autotune only adds to your artistic purity.

 

With regard to our performance in EQ, and in the last couple of engagements prior to EQ, our overall war performance has sucked. The same relatively small percentage of our memberrship go all in and the majority go through the motions, at best.  I have bitched about this on our boards on several occasions.  I continue to hope that pride, honor, shame, or some other motivating impulse will lead to a greater overall commitment, but I will not be overly surprised if it does not. 

 

That being said, I don't believe that this rather pathetic syndrome is exhibited solely by Pacifica. Some people love their pixels more than their duty.  If only they valued their sefl-respect more than their material wealth.

 

Regardless of the slackers, I am proud and honored to fight besides my Brothers in Arms for the sake of the NPO and for the sake of our allies.  And I am honored to fight against those members of our foes who lay it on the line against me.

 

o/ Pacifica

o/ Our Allies

o/ Our Opponents

[Sir Humphrey]

That said, there is plenty of blame to go around regarding what went wrong in the EQ War (on both sides really) and Brehon was by no means solely responsible.

I agree. It is convenient to blame NPO for all of the EQ coalition’s troubles because it was the one that adopted responsibility for leading the (otherwise largely leaderless) eclectic group, and was the most recognised example of the conflicts of interest which plagued the coalition. The more-subtle truth is that the coalition suffered from divergent interests and/or different levels of commitment among many alliances and on multiple fronts which resulted in EQ being less effective than it might have been (which probably would have worsened if the war continued), but that does not fit well with the narrative for this war.

[Xiphosis]

I agree. It is convenient to blame NPO for all of the EQ coalition’s troubles because it was the one that adopted responsibility for leading the (otherwise largely leaderless) eclectic group

 

While this may be the case overall, the C&G front was extremely well organized and it had very little to do with the 'main leadership' - which was largely chaotic most of the time.

[Ogaden]

While this may be the case overall, the C&G front was extremely well organized and it had very little to do with the 'main leadership' - which was largely chaotic most of the time.

 

TOP front of EQ was militarily top notch, a lot of the individual fronts managed to keep fighting effectively despite incredible disfunction in the heart of the coalition.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Ogaden

[Xantha]

Dear Brehon,

I am writing to inform you that you have made a mistake, a slight on your membership, which needs redress:

During the EQ War, in a naive attempt to motivate people, someone in the coalition [I can't recall his name offhand] opened an engagement stats thread.  As any cynic (or realist) could have told that guy, he instead opened a new thing to argue over.

In the course of the thread, MCRABT--then in IRON--asked why NPO's upper tier was not fighting.  Here is where you have given your comrades short shrift.  You told MCRABT (and so us all) that NPO's upper tier was not fighting because they were all inactive banks.  In doing so, you did not note that 2 (perhaps as many as 3) upper tier nations were fighting, and were not inactive banks. 

As you might imagine, this slip, while it might seem insignificant, has resulted in the belief in your words of everyone who read your words, and thus in the frustration of the 2 or 3 upper tier nations who did, apparently, fight.

I leave it to you to bring this matter to a close with the honorable Fighting Handful in private.

 

Yours,

~S~

Are you obsessed with Brehon?  He has not been around in what, months? Is this all any of you have to talk about?  Every other post mentions his name it seems.  Like it or not you all will have to carry on without him - if you can.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Xantha

[Schattenmann]

Are you obsessed with Brehon?  He has not been around in what, months? Is this all any of you have to talk about?  Every other post mentions his name it seems.  Like it or not you all will have to carry on without him - if you can.

Perhaps you haven't read the thread.  I made a comment based on what we know, Maelstrom took exception, we talked it out and settled it, then Letum picked up round two.  My reply directs him in an amusing way to the source, Brehon, so that he'll stop bothering me.

That's rhetoric for today.  Don't forget your pencils and protractors for geometry after lunch.  Remember to go to your home room tomorrow morning for report cards.

[Schattenmann]

I agree. It is convenient to blame NPO for all of the EQ coalition’s troubles because it was the one that adopted responsibility for leading the (otherwise largely leaderless) eclectic group, and was the most recognised example of the conflicts of interest which plagued the coalition. The more-subtle truth is that the coalition suffered from divergent interests and/or different levels of commitment among many alliances and on multiple fronts which resulted in EQ being less effective than it might have been (which probably would have worsened if the war continued), but that does not fit well with the narrative for this war.

This post is best experienced while listening to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw

 

This summary gives a half-treatment to the issues.

NPO didn't just "adopt" responsibility for the coalition, they were responsible for the war; they organized it for like 4 months prior.  Then they did the exact opposite of take responsibility: They announced that they weren't anyone's boss.  Then Brehon disappeared.

 

NPO is not simply some passive object "example of the conflicts of interest."  NPO actively schemed with its Umbrella-aligned allies before the war, made promises of a "handshake peace" made deals about who would be hit and who would not, and made promises about what coalition AAs would be allowed to do or not do.  They didn't just have conflicts of interest, they created them and imposed them upon us.

 

There is no subtle truth about the internal conflict of EQ, there is simply the truth: The divergent alliances were invited to a war and given the impression that it was the Big One we'd all been waiting for for 2 years, and that with NPO abdicating leadership we would be running the war by consensus and to its natural conclusion.  But that was never true because, we found out, NPO had already submitted a script to NG and C&G for approval and we weren't to be told until it was time to pull the plug.  Then Punxsutawney Brehon came out of his hole he didn't see his shadow, so it was time to end the war whether anyone else liked it or not, and as anyone with a brain might have imagined, we all became quite agitated. 

VE was on the verge of surrender after a long and retarded negotiation in which QueenHailee asked for input then went manic when she received it, then--while preaching to all of us about our selfish idiocy over DH terms--NPO dereailed the VE surrender in a weeklong battle over getting their name in the surrender-to list.  Then NPO convened DH peace negotiations against the will of the vast majority of the coalition, thus precluding VE's surrender at all since they knew they could just hang out for whole-Umbrella peace.  Thus we lost the crucial serious first surrender.

NPO continued to fake us all out over our supposed voice in the coalition when Brehon opened a thread asking for our beginning point terms for each AA we were at war with in preparation for his peace summit which we told him not to have in the first place.  I know, height of irony, but a nice gesture.  Then he proceeded to ignore everything we said and present his own terms loosely based on what we had said, to which Umbrella, MK, and GOONS went batcrap while OsRavan (or somebody) reminded Brehon of his "handshake peace" promise.  The negotiations were too early for DH's damages to have warranted any serious consideration of peace terms, and Brehon's version of what we told him was too extreme; therefore, they blew us off, and left with the impression that we were ready for peace when we were not.

At this point, NPO should have let the war continue, but they were Hell-bent on the white peace and they were Hell-bent on it now.  Brehon, Farrin, and Letum went on an internal campaign of berating the coalition for daring to ask for peace terms; this created massive arguments between NPO and AAs which wanted to continue the war or wanted peacce terms, and between AAs who wanted terms and AAs who wanted to cut-and-run.  NPO began trying to assert the responsibility/control they had refused at the outset; this set the dickheads on the C&G front on a path of obstinance for obstinance's sake. 

Regardless of his clear inability to control anything or speak with a mandate on behalf of the coalition, Brehon again opened peace talks, and again mutated what the coalition wanted--a longer war with DH--into what he thought would work for us and within the promises he made pre-war--a negotiated extended war against Umb only.  Sure, that worked very well for NPO with its inactive upper tier and fucked up FA. 

In the midst of our objections Brehon lost his blob, announced he was done negotiating, then went to NobodyExpects' Parlor of Love for a massage, and on NE's consult alone took the damn Frankenstein's Peace Monster to DH anyway. 

At this point he turned around and told us that NPO, AI, and IRON pre-determined everything about the war and how it would end, and that we could sign the treaty or get bent. 

 

The damage was done.  The strife opened up by all this scheming and bullying had turned EQ into a roiling basketcase which signed the peace to get away from NPO and from each other.  As ChairmanHal says, "there is plenty to go around" but with this exception: only that some of us could have handled ourselves better in dealing with NPO's crap.

 

And you know the shame of it all?  What was it for?  NPO got nothing.  All those gymnastics to keep DuckRoll and win over C&G.  I wish I got a dollar for every time NPO told us we had to go easy on DH because C&G was cancelling on them after fulfilling their debts this one last time.  But you lost it all.  Your scheming split arguably your best ally Anarchy Inc. in two and destroyed it, the scheming alienated IRON losing DR for you.  And C&G, if the promises were made at all, reneged on them.  Everyone in EQ was royally pissed or simply disillusioned.  You got nothing out of all that.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Schattenmann

[Branimir]

Blah blah blah Grudge blah blah blah Brehon

 

Ok, we get it.

 

Let's talk about something more important: What did you think of the Sing-Along War Report?

 

I found it to be one of your better works. Nicely done.

 

 

Obligatory, Brehon is a penis.