Iotupa

[quote name='Horo the Wise Wolf' timestamp='1350210171' post='3041285'] Cute. Now hurry along and take your inadequacy somewhere else. [/quote] Haha....hahahahahaha. Rich, coming from the alliance you're in, with the people you've surrounded yourself with.

[quote name='bombuator' timestamp='1350110109' post='3041005'] Did Brehon say a Global War? There might not be a war for you but there certainly is one for me. [/quote] Wargames=/=war. No one actually think they're the same thing.

[quote name='Duke Nukem' timestamp='1350175832' post='3041205'] I actually will make an appearance in this thread, JB in no way represents anything about the former Bal Masqué, I would appreciate you guys not taking jabs at it's memory. In other news congrats to Shangri-La. o/ [/quote] I was more Bal Masqué than your lazy self ever was. EDIT: For profanity. Apparently this forum doesn't have any censorship yet.

[quote name='Elrich von Richt' timestamp='1350100714' post='3040942'] How am I not surprised you'd say this. [/quote] Because Tetris was a terrible alliance? [quote name='Evangeline Anovilis' timestamp='1350100902' post='3040944'] At least it outlived the non-weeaboos of Bal Masqué. [/quote] Hey, it's that guy that was too lazy to do his own job that ragequit when other people tried to help in his department! How's your home in the alliance that you hated, with the people you couldn't stand, that you swore you would never join?

[quote name='The Big Bad' timestamp='1350084130' post='3040851'] Are people really complaining about this? All you were promised was a war and that is what you have. Anyone who has a problem with it is pretty much an idiot. And you can take that to the bank. [/quote] I think people are complaining because they thought a war was promised and a war has not actually been delivered.

Tetris disbanding is awesome news.

[quote name='Jrenster' timestamp='1349980238' post='3040086'] I don't really care about this whole opsec argument, but I'd like to point out that Brehon told the entire BR that it was a wargame, with no nukes, and all of his intentions like a week after he made his 30 day announcement. The only thing that wasn't told was that it was going to be Sparta because we wanted our military to be prepared for a general scenario, not a specific scenario. We have also talked to various alliance governments, including our allies. I don't know if those alliances want to be named, so I won't name them here. Sparta also informed their allies as well. [/quote] Keeping the fact that it was a wargame secret does deserve kudos.

[quote name='Cortath' timestamp='1349978452' post='3040069'] *chuckles* Firstly, six people keeping a secret in this game is a great accomplishment! Secondly, you make wildly incorrect factual statements. You should not make wildly incorrect factual statements because they make you look very, very silly. Far more than six people knew prior to it happening. [/quote] If you can't trust your government to keep opsec, then you have the wrong people in government. That's not an accomplishment. Also, I know for a fact that Sparta only told their members after the announcement, and from the radio broadcast it sounded as though Brehon did the same for NPO. If your point is that a couple of handfuls of people around the Cyberverse knew rather than a single handful, that's hardly a point worth arguing. [quote name='Melancholy Culkin' timestamp='1349976010' post='3040041'] What an insightful and original zing. As long as we're on this level I guess I can take solace in the fact that I'm not Jonathan Brookbank. [/quote] I know, it would be far too much awesome for your meager frame to handle. ---- Also, please let Cortath do the Fracoism posts in the future, Brehon. He's a lot better at it!

[quote name='Johnny Apocalypse' timestamp='1349964256' post='3039966'] It's not often I agree with this guy but he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Did you really think that building up suspense for a month and then announcing war games was going to get a positive response? If you don't want people to think your ambitions are greater than they are then don't make them seem it. You promise entertainment and a restoration of order and reveal to us yet another boring inter-alliance circle jerk with more chestpuffing and empty rhetoric than an actual war. Nice work. What exactly was your train of thought behind this? The only possible one that springs to mind sounds a bit like this: "teehee let's tell the owf we're going to war in a month and then tell them they're all stupid for expecting something more than a pre-organised military drill lol trolled" If you don't want people to give you !@#$ for such appalling PR stunts then don't make them, or better yet shut up entirely. [/quote] You made me agree with D34th and Johhny Apoc at the same time? Be right back, I need to clean up the brain matter from my head exploding.

[quote name='Cortath' timestamp='1349952121' post='3039930'] Nice to see at least two people in this thread have a modicum of intelligence. *** Francoism demands self-evaluation; it demands a critical look at the institutions that sustain us. There is no way to know if institutions are the value-giving things that they once were unless they are put under the conditions that makes them relevant and useful. Just as important as the military institutions are the political institutions that sustain them. The past thirty days were very interesting to watch. Pacifica learned a lot about herself. What did you learn? [/quote] Wait...you actually are saying they are intelligent because like six people kept this a secret? It's not like the entirety of each alliance knew prior to it happening. Your "accomplishment" isn't really an accomplishment.

[quote name='bombuator' timestamp='1349936486' post='3039884'] We got balls how bout you? And I haven't seen a peace mode joke yet [/quote] Wargame participation is hardly a ballsy thing. [quote name='Melancholy Culkin' timestamp='1349940848' post='3039900'] You two seem to enjoy having our name in your mouths. I could find a suitable replacement if you'd like to take it to the next level. [/quote] My, my, someone's sensitive. Hit a little too close to the truth there for you?

[quote name='KahlanRahl' timestamp='1349934641' post='3039867'] Despite that being more "entertaining" for you, I do believe that defeats the purpose, JB. Also, have fun everyone. o/ NPO edit: awkward spacing was awkward. [/quote] Oh, hey. I didn't even know you were still around. Come swing by #thecombine sometime and hang out. EDIT: Also, I thought the purpose was to test out this new system that NPO has...that could have just as easily been accomplished with an ally.

You should have done this with an ally. That would have actually been entertaining.

[quote name='Rogal Dorn' timestamp='1349933508' post='3039847'] which is more than deinos can say about itself. [/quote] Wait, that's EXACTLY what Deinos can say about themselves...

[quote name='bakamitai' timestamp='1349933108' post='3039839'] Everyone complaining about Sparta: they had the balls to step up and do this. They deserve props for that. [/quote] But not the brains to say no after they just got beat down.

[quote name='flak attack' timestamp='1349932586' post='3039824'] And that has you surprised? [/quote] Hey, man, there are some people in Sparta that have their heads screwed on straight, but apparently not enough to not do this.

Honestly, this is boring. I'm not surprised that it was a boring outcome. I am surprised Sparta would volunteer to be a part of this after getting their nations destroyed in the last war. This seems like a poor strategic move on their part.

I think you're discounting the impact that Vox had in the past far too much here. Without Vox, the tide likely never would have turned completely against NPO and co. in the past. However, I agree with you fully that too many of the "Vox banner wo/men" are content to sit on the sidelines and do absolutely nothing to stop the injustice of the present, reveling in the glory of their past work and believing (incorrectly) that past accomplishments make their lengthy speeches and lack of real action now worth anything at all. Vox was not just flowery speeches in the past, and if that is all they are willing to put forth now, they should put down the banner and stop pretending they have any real intentions to stop what is happening.

[quote name='bakamitai' timestamp='1349844501' post='3039334'] It's quite simple, really. Brehon has a trusted corps of advisers (of which I'm one). Sometimes he goes with his gut, and sometimes he listens to his advisers when they tell him not to. I can't imagine this is a shock to anyone. [/quote] Suppose that's good to hear. We all know there have been times in the past where the Emperor hasn't been making any of the decisions, which is where the possibility of it going either way comes up.

[quote name='Pingu' timestamp='1349837573' post='3039285'] One of the things I admire about Brehon compared to his predecessors is his willingness to do his own dirty work, make his own mistakes and own up to them. I'd rather see him out here offering a less smooth performance than have him dispatch a surrogate. [/quote] I actually agree with you, for the most part. While I disagree with Brehon's performance in the last war (re: "I don't agree with this but I'm going to enable it!"), it was pleasing to see him being the one making the decision (at least in public, who knows what is actually happening in the background, though I tend to think he was actually the decision maker from my one conversation I've had with him) and taking the flack for it. But alliance culture isn't really "dirty work," in my opinion, so I feel that's where you and I are probably moving in different directions here. It's never really been done by Emperors because it doesn't need to be done by them, and it isn't best served (once again, in my opinion) by being done by Emperors. When you want to put forth a coherent and pervasive ideology, you have your best wordsmiths do it as smooth as possible, so as to convince the most people that it is correct.

Part of it was from the time when you were mostly gone, but it has continued since your return, you just have missed it. You're better off not having seen it, to be truthful, much of it is pretty atrocious human behavior.

What? Where in anything that I said there did I put anything into a good guys/bad guys model or try to force it into the old framework? The OOC attacks are being perpetrated by both "sides." And, for what it's worth, just because most people are "bad guys," doesn't mean there aren't any "good guys" left.

[quote name='The Big Bad' timestamp='1349820839' post='3039118'] And so Brehon receives the ultimate confirmation that he is indeed, doing it right. [/quote] I realize you're trying to insult me here. I get that. I'm going to pretend that what you're saying doesn't make absolutely no sense and respond to you anyway. I never said that he was "doing it wrong." I don't dislike Brehon and the one conversation I had with him he actually seemed to be an alright guy. What I am saying is that he's not very good at what he's trying to do right now. There are people in NPO far better at the philosophy thing. Past Emperors have trotted these folks out instead of pretending to be philosophers, why did he not do the same?

I've been gone for much of the last month, so I haven't kept up with this, but coming back I have one thing to say. Brehon is not a philosopher-king. While Francoism has always seemed a rather silly philosophy to me, his attempts to sound intellectual have made it sound even worse than it did coming from the likes of Vladimir and company in the past.

I'm going to read through the rest of this, but as this was at the very end as I scrolled down, I'll respond to it first. This is absurd. This is one point that I have strongly disagreed with many of my former comrades on. The OOC attacks being perpetrated today (with absolutely no community backlash, I might add) are as bad, if not worse, than the crimes of the old hegemony.