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HeroofTime55

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  2. HeroofTime55

    A Rant

    By HeroofTime55,

    First of all, have a happy pagan winter solstice celebration, everyone!
    'Tis the season of giving, and one thing we're all going to see lots of this year, are these colorful little shards of plastic known as "gift cards."
    Gift cards are retarded. Some or all of the following come attached to that cute little piece of plastic with puppies in santa hats on it:
    -Activation fees
    -Monthly fees
    -Expiration dates
    -Restrictions on where it can be used
    -Several volumes of terms and conditions
    -The eternal frustration of trying to actually use the damn thing, but you cant unless you know offhand the exact value down to the penny remaining on the card. Which no store can tell you.
    You know what has none of these problems? Cash.
    I understand that you want to feel like you are getting something for someone. I understand you want to put some extra sentiment behind the gift, and you think just giving cash feels "lazy." But gift cards are just as lazy, and force the recipient to deal with all that bull@#$%. Just get them a damn card and put some goddamned CASH in it. Cash is King. You can do whatever the @#$% you want with cash, I can pay my bills, buy !@#$ from overseas, send a package, I can do whatever I !@#$@#$ want, because cash is accepted everywhere and has no terms and conditions.
    Give CASH. The recipient will thank you.
  3. HeroofTime55

    Just so we're clear

    By HeroofTime55,

    Guys, just because the rest of us have grouped "the neutrals" together in our heads as a matter of convenience, does not mean that they give two !@#$% about each other. No neutral is obligated, by treaty, morality, or ideology, to defend TDO in any way. In fact, because they are neutral, they would dishonor their own ideology by intervening.
    Now then, the neutrals do have a vested interest in striking MQ as a function of their own security, and may coordinate for increased effectiveness, but anything they do would be for themselves and themselves only as individual alliances, and not for "the defense" of TDO.
  5. HeroofTime55
    Coming off the heels of a tragic school shooting, the Gun Control debate is in full swing. Another school shot up, another pile of young bodies. And I am just wondering, when people are going to learn?
    Where do these mass shootings always occur folks? Why is it always a school?
    Simply, because there are no responsible adults who are allowed to be armed.
    Imagine if someone in the principal's office was armed. The lives of 20 innocent children might have been saved.
    "But Hero, what about the shooting in Aurora?"
    Aurora has restrictive gun control laws that contributed to allowing Holmes to conduct his violent act unopposed.
    "But what about the recent shooting in Oregon?"
    Only two people died in Oregon. Why? Because the shooter was stopped by an armed civilian with a concealed carry permit. You won't hear that on the news, though.
    It's a simple fact: Gun Control costs lives. People need to stop making emotional decisions and instead examine the facts rationally.
  6. HeroofTime55

    Stockpiling CM's

    By HeroofTime55,

    So I'm just joking with folks on readying up for the war, and asserting that I'm going to stock up on Cruise Missiles - A cardinal sin of CN warfare.
    But it got me thinking.
    Lets say that there isn't just an infinite stock of CM's for sale. Lets say you can't just reach your hand into hammerspace and magically create CM's out of thin air.
    Let's say that there are a finite total number of CM's in Cybernations. A global stock of CM's. Every day, so many missiles are added to this stockpile. Say, as many CM's are added to this global stockpile as there are nations in the game, every day.
    There is no cap to the global stockpile, so in times of peace, it would grow a lot.
    But then a war hits, and everyone needs their CM's.
    And lets take it a step further, and say that when there are fewer CM's available in the global stock, the prices go up exponentially.
    How do you think this might affect the practice of stockpiling Cruise Missiles? Might it even affect global politics?
  7. HeroofTime55

    Just a question

    By HeroofTime55,

    If guns have such an obscene inherent danger that we can't risk having armed guards in our schools, then why does the government use so many guns to defend politicians? Wouldn't Obama be safer if we did away with the secret service and all those evil guns that cause violence?
  8. HeroofTime55
    And I hate your childlike, naive, knee-jerk response to the world around you.
    Yesterday, on Wednesday, the Internet stood up as a unified whole to deliver with authority the message that PIPA and SOPA must be stopped. The Internet dealt a strong blow in our favor, towards the defense of free speech. Our voices were heard, our voices shook the earth, and even before the bills have a chance to enter debate, we are already seeing a positive impact of our protest.
    The next day, today, the DoJ went and took down Megaupload.
    And within hours, legions of Anonymous morons, angry that one of their larger porno sources was knocked out, launched their oh-so-predictable response, and began to DDoS everything in sight.
    And this is EXACTLY what the DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and everyone else who stands opposed to a free Internet wanted.
    The takedown of Megaupload isn't just a wild coincidence, it's a timed, precision strike by those enemies of free speech. We are in the midst of a war for our very survival. You can bet your damn ass that these DDoS attacks, which cause no real lasting damage but can easily be drummed up as some sort of hacker threat that endangers the whole country, are going to be used as ammunition in the debates which are just days away.
    A bunch of idiotic script kiddies throwing a temper tantrum over the loss of a porn hub has now seriously dampened the volume of our cries against SOPA/PIPA. You gave the RIAA, MPAA, and the DoJ something which they could not give themselves, and you handed it to them on a silver !@#$ing platter.
    So thanks a lot. !@#$ing idiots.
  10. HeroofTime55
    A (roughly) 16x16x16 cube of TNT in Minecraft. You have no idea how many creepers I had to kill...
    Anyway, I might blow it up at some point. I know this isn't the biggest chunk of TNT anyone has ever sent off, but I'll still be curious to see how my PC handles it.
  12. HeroofTime55

    PSA: imo.im

    By HeroofTime55,

    I got scam calls on my skype after using imo.im to talk to people via my skype account. Currently changing the passwords affected.
    DO NOT USE IMO.IM. It is a SCAM.
  13. HeroofTime55
    I've seen one of the most disgusting things today.
    And that is the response of the Media to the Casey Anthony verdict.
    I don't spend much time at all watching the news because I can't stand the sensationalism around trials like this. Hearing about it is unavoidable, but it's hard to listen to the news seriously when you know that their primary objective is not the delivery of truth, but to sell a story.
    Today, the Justice System prevailed. This is exactly how it's supposed to go down. It's better for 10 killers to go free than for one innocent to be put to death. You cannot deliver a guilty verdict just because you "feel" like she might be guilty. There is a very good reason that it is required to be "beyond any reasonable doubt." There was a lack of hard evidence in this trial, and the courts worked exactly as they should have. I couldn't be happier with the verdict, because the verdict is correct, even if she actually did kill that little girl.
    But enter the Media. Even with the verdict, the Media wastes no time to write yet another sensational chapter to the story they've woven. Legally, she didn't do it. But the Media thinks they can say otherwise. Now, what if this woman really is innocent? She's going to be a victim of the Media, and there is a high risk that some crazy man will come after her - All because the Media wants to make an easy buck. It's a certain thing that the Media has wrecked her life, and she will be harassed until the day she dies, a punishment outside of the due process of our judicial system.
    This is why jurors are sequestered. This is why they come back with verdicts counter to what the Media wants. This is why it took almost no time at all for them to come back with a verdict of Not Guilty. Because they were subjected to a fair, balanced review of the case and the evidence, unlike the Media sharks driven into a feeding frenzy at the smell of a new target. They saw the truth, not the fantastical story the Media always loves to paint.
    The biased view being returned by the Media in response is disgusting, and it's exactly why I make an effort to avoid televised news.
    Today the Justice System worked. We Americans should celebrate the fact that our Judicial System still works, that people are not put to death on mere suspicion. This day is a victory for all of us.
  14. HeroofTime55
    So, that was a great thread. You know the one.
    Tons of great puns are made.
    A guy from NoR makes one particularly tasteless pun and can't quite grasp why he got such a negative reaction.
    kingzog raging uncontrollably.
    Oh, and it made me bother to go to that leaks site to see all the wonderful offerings from NoR's forum.
    I don't know that I believe that Lynch fellow was *actually* a member of NoR, though. Regardless, I never heard of the guy (the WN leader, that is, assuming they are two different people), but having read up on him, I'm glad he's gone. Just some people the world doesn't need, and people who spread hate for hate's sake are in that category. Did enjoy the article on his murder though. Especially the part where they quote people talking about the deceased. Let me repost:
    (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362647/Powerful-white-supremacist-leader-David-Lynch-shot-dead-home.html)
    Got a good chuckle from that.
    Further thoughts:
    -Why the hate for Slayer99? That man had the balls to get the job done, the rest of you nowadays just sit on your hands afraid to throw the web off-balance.
    -NoR, clean up your act. Give those people the boot. Anything less is insufficient. Give them the boot or you are in knowing support of that kind of ****, plain and simple. You are scrutinized because of the already questionable position you choose to "role play" from. Role play is fine, but it's clear that some people in your ranks take it a little further than the confines of this game. If you can't take responsibility for your alliance, then someone else should.
    And that's the sum of my thoughts on this matter.
  15. HeroofTime55
    OK, this one annoys me. People always !@#$%*ing and comparing 50 different kinds of treaties. It's all wrong. There are 5 types of treaties, and no more.
    MDAP - The highest treaty, requires two parties to always go to war along side each other. I would like to make a special note here - This is not the same as signing away your sovereignty. You always have the sovereign right to cancel a MADP in times of peace. But when war is on, you'd better honor your agreements. "Sovereignty" is not a valid reason for cancelling or refusing to act on one of these in times of war.
    MDoAP - Basically the same as above, but you get a little room to say "If you start a war we don't like, and start to lose that war, we don't have to lose that war with you." All MDP's are actually MDoAP's. People who compare the two as if they are different are idiots. Because basically, you can always say "Oh well they are taking this action in defense of their interests and we're going to help them defend those interests." When a MDoAP includes one of those "no chaining" clauses (Which I'm just going to note is essentially telling them that you don't really consider each other that great of friends), then jumping in is only mandatory if they receive the initial blow in a war. Without that clause, it's mandatory whenever anyone declares on them, regardless of the progression of the war. As above, "sovereignty" cannot be used as an argument to ditch the obligations, and while it's in incredibly bad form, it's not actually wrong to cancel one of these if obligations were not invoked.
    oDoAP - For the reasons outlined above, oDP's are actually oDoAP's, as are PIAT's. Basically, these give you an excuse to chain in to whatever conflict you want to, without being called a "bandwagoner" or a rogue alliance. These treaties are strictly worth less than anything with an 'M' in it. Do not, under any circumstances, ever write a "non-chaining clause" into one of these.
    NAP - Simply says that two parties will not attack each other. Can be cancelled whenever either party fancies, so you should write a long cancellation period into it; These are literally worthless with nothing more than a 48 hour notification period. Put some meat into it and make it at least two weeks. A NAP supersedes any action required by even a MADP.
    Other - This isn't really a 'type' of treaty, but more of a category - A catch-all for the oddball treaties. Things that don't fit into the first four types are relatively rare though, and frequently don't have an impact on war. If you sign a treaty where you both agree to sit down and watch Saturday morning cartoons over a bowl of cereal every weekend, that's great, but irrelevant to the point of this discussion.
    A super special note on cancellation periods - When a treaty says you must give X days notice before cancellation, the treaty is still fully active for that period. If the treaty makes an explicit note that it reverts to something else the instant notice is given, then it never was whatever kind of treaty it was pretending to be, it was only ever whatever it reverted to, plus oDoA if it was one of the first three.
    That means if you notify a party that you're cancelling the NAP, you'd better not attack them until the period is up (And the party you cancelled on should make every preparation in that time to prepare to receive you in war - this is the exact purpose for the NAP). If you're unsatisfied with a MADP partner's conduct, you can't submit notice and then claim the treaty is instantly invalid, because it's not.
    A note on treaty conflicts - Having allies on both sides is not a treaty conflict. Having allies directly fighting each other is. If two treaties tell you to do two conflicting things, then, and only then, is there a treaty conflict. Inaction is usually the only proper resolution to a treaty conflict (barring a conflict between highly unusual treaties, the response to conflicts between any of the first four are all well defined). You must still fulfill any other obligations that arise separately from the conflict. And yes, you must enter both sides of a war if your treaties demand it.
    A note on staying out of war - Unless a treaty says it, the only other time you are permitted to not honor a treaty obligation is if the other party (or in the case of a bloc, every other party) gives their explicit permission for you to not honor whatever particular terms they release you from.
    A note on leaving war - You can only leave the war honorably with the blessing of each and every one of your allies that you are leaving behind in the conflict. You don't need the blessing of the entire coalition, just those direct allies with an activated 'M' clause. If you entered on an 'o' clause, you can leave whenever you fancy, though you'll get your ass chewed for being a coward if you tuck tail and run too soon.
  16. HeroofTime55
    So, I'm a naturally curious person. When something makes the rounds of the internet, and then keeps going for months, I'm going to have to check it out.
    And this one, I resisted. I wouldn't touch it for awhile. But eventually, I had to give in, to search for the answer of why. Why was the Internet so obsessed with such a silly thing?
    So I did the only thing I could do: I downloaded the pilot of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and fired it up in VLC.
    And I enjoyed it.
    And then I kept watching.
    Weeks later, I am still reeling from the impact of this event, my world view lies shattered around me in a billion fragments. And yet I cannot but continue down this rabbit hole, sucked in to the abyss, nothing more than the latest victim to be claimed.
    ...
    Seriously, it's Ardus' fault, I probably could have ignored it if I didn't have to stare at his avatar every day.
    As far as the show itself goes... It has some serious low points, since its primary function is and has been as a 30-minute advertisement to sell toys to little girls, but damn, did they put a lot of effort into this one. If you have little siblings/kids/relatives and don't want to suffer through the usual drivel, burn this !@#$ onto a DVD. No, seriously. Aforementioned low points aside, it's not bad, and dare I say, even good. Even about half of the musical numbers can be sat through (since more often than not they're used to make fun of a certain ADHD-riddled character). Parental bonus content aplenty in this, as well as humor that any audience can appreciate. And actual character development, something that is unheard of in the genre of "30-minute toy advertisements for little girls."
    Pic related: it's what's left of my manhood.

  17. HeroofTime55
    I blew 6 hours straight today working on what has turned into a moderately-faithful build of the Water Temple from Ocarina of Time. It's actually coming along... er, swimmingly... but good lord is this game a time sink.
    The hardest part on this project is tricking the water to flow the right way; I'm now working on that infamous vortex tunnel river thing after the room where you fight Dark Link. The completed rooms are beautiful though.
    What I don't like is that the early rooms (not shown) are rather lame, as this project has grown more and more ambitious each step of the way. I may re-do the central hub room, make it bigger, but that disassembly/reassembly is something I really am not looking forward to. Most likely necessary, though.
    Screenshots:

    (Forgot to turn on smooth lighting for this one, heh)


    Yes, that floor is wool, and thus, a massive fire hazard. The other option was to build a mirror image of the room underneath a layer of glass, but I took the easy way out.
  18. HeroofTime55
    Well, it was Friday, and that can only mean one thing. Gotta get down, which seat to choose... No, no. It means Extraction Mission!
    The Human perk we chose was "Freak on a Leash" - We gained possession of a "pet" Witch, which we could "let loose" on the Zombie horde. Once let loose, it did it's own thing, and at least once it actually just ran straight out of the field of battle, but usually it just ran around stunning Zombies.
    The Zombies still had the EMP active for the mission, and it was then released the additional perk they chose for the night - "Shutdown," which left most of the important routes around campus as "red zones" that Humans couldn't enter.
    The Red Zones activated at 6, so our group decided to start moving before then.
    We had to get to building 12 for "decontamination" as part of the mission, which we made in record time with little resistance that early in the mission. We then started hopping from building to building, facing increasing numbers at each jump.
    Eventually, we made it to the last jump, where standing in our way was a fairly large number of Zombies, and BOTH enemy Witches. The doors behind us locked minutes after we got there, but the Zombies were left unaware that we were no longer in a safe zone. Armed with some leftover Motovs from the night before (capable of not just stunning, but killing a Witch, while at the same time being single-use), we made our move. It wasn't a terribly large jump to make, but some people broke formation and we lost 4 men. But we were now in the primary system of buildings, and could make good distance in safety.
    So, how the mission worked, is that we had to arm a Nuke to wipe out the Horde, and then make it back to a Vault to survive, the Vault not opening until the Nuke was armed. We had to receive arming codes from someone back in building 12, and we had to input 3 of these codes to activate the nuke, one every 15 minutes. After the final code was entered, we would then have an additional 15 minutes to make it back across the entire campus and get inside the Vault.
    We picked a door closest to the nuke (which was at this point starting to gather a substantial portion of the Horde) and were successful in activating the first code. But on our retreat back to safety, people again broke formation and ran, and we sustained heavy losses. It was at this point that it started to become clear we weren't going to make it, and we weren't helped by a number of well-known cowards who stayed behind to "guard the Vault" instead of contributing to the mission.
    With heavy losses from a sloppy retreat, we attempted to put in a second code several times, to no avail. We would punch a hole through the Zombie lines, but their ever increasing numbers proved too strong. With heavy losses on each attempt (and one where no less than 30 people shoved through a single-door in about 2 seconds flat), the reality was beginning to set in. We no longer had the numbers to pull it off.
    I went to a different entrance with another group, with time dwindling and less than a minute to enter the second code before certain defeat. But the rest of the party would not budge, wracked with fear. It was at this point, when all hope was gone, that I did the only thing I could do: I charged headfirst into the entire Zombie horde, guns blazing and screaming at the top of my lungs, taking out at least 15 Zombies before finally getting my brains Nom'd.
    Zombie Victory, the first time in the history of RIT's game. I may not have made extraction, but I upheld my number one rule: If you're going to go down, make sure it's epic. I couldn't walk away happier.
  19. HeroofTime55

    Still Alive

    By HeroofTime55,

    But it was by no means a triumph.
    Number wise, the hoard lays claim to a little over half of the players. That is quite low for how it usually is by the end of Wednesday.
    But we have lost 2 missions in a row, the Zombies are completing missions and getting perks. The next two days are going to be a slaughter.
    They have a Boomer (Drops an instant spawn point when stunned), several Thralls (reduced stun timers), Tanks (2 minute stun, socks only), and several Blights (A rather complicated unit that can "incubate" humans to spy and suddenly convert and take another Human with them).
    Tonight also saw the unleashing of 7 Witches, a unit played out by the game Moderation. 2 Witches each were assigned to protect 3 objects. A witch has a TEN SECOND stun timer, and they can also stun Zombies (Zombies were allowed to move the objects). They followed whoever took an object.
    Yesterday, we activated 2 of the 3 generators, and failed to stop them from generating the Boomer. Tonight, we retrieved one part. The two witches then became of the roaming variety.
    As it stands, over half of my clan is dead. I don't even want to know what the hell kind of perks the Zombies are going to get, but they're going to get good options to vote on.
    The perk we chose was a "gas mask" that would prevent airborne infection - Except idiot humans advertised this to the Zombs, who then proceeded to pick a different perk and cause ours to go to waste.
    All in all, it was a terrible day.
    Zombies: 156 (51.49%)
    Humans: 147 (48.51%)
  20. HeroofTime55
    It's that time again, for the most awesome game of tag ever.
    Humans vs. Zombies is, basically, a week long excuse for college students to run around campus with Nerf guns. It is awesome.
    Last session we had over 700 people playing.
    How it works, is on Monday morning, right after midnight, everyone is a Human, except for three or four "Original Zombies." The basic premise, is that if a Zombie tags a Human, that Human becomes a Zombie, but Humans can "stun" Zombies for a short period by shooting them with a Nerf gun or hitting them with a thrown balled-up sock. Zombies have to get kills in order to not starve to death.
    There are missions every night in order to keep people from locking themselves in their rooms all week, and for Humans to win, they have to make through the final Extraction mission on Friday. Zombies win by slaughtering every last Human, or by preventing any Humans from being extracted. So far, the Zombies have never won a game, because a handful of people (usually in the single digits) somehow manage to make it out.
    It's truly a wonderful game, the strategy, the teamwork, the epic battles when 100 Humans stand off against a horde of 200 Zombies.
    I'll be going as a Human this time (I typically go Zombie in the Fall quarter), and that means I'll be playing the survival game, as fun as being the hunter can be. Just finished dusting off my Nerf guns, and getting everything lined up for Monday. I can't wait. I'll look like a goddamn fool all week, along with 600 fellow students, and I couldn't care less. This game is awesome, and if it's available on your campus, you should sign yourself up.
  21. HeroofTime55
    This war has been going on for quite some time now, and it has begun winding to a close. Some alliances have agreed to terms and have existed from the DH-NPO war, while others remain in a state of hostilities, with steep offers of peace on the table.
    Many have tried to justify these terms as 'totally reasonable' and have analyzed the numerical aspect in great detail, sometimes honestly and sometimes not so much. But always, when attempts are made to justify them, one thing has been consistently ignored by those who we oppose: What are we, the allies and friends of Pacifica (and of course, Pacifica herself) going to get in this deal?
    It's an easy thing to ignore; Throughout history, the answer to that question has been so obvious that it never needed to be asked in the first place: By "paying" whatever price is in the surrender terms, you are "purchasing" peace. So why does it need to be brought up now?
    The key thing, from the perspective of Pacifica and her allies, is of course whether or not making the sacrifices demanded is worth what we will get in return. What complicates this question, is the actions and statements from those offering to sell us peace, and the way in which their trustworthiness has been irreparably damaged by those actions.
    As it stands, this war was began over, literally, nothing. Doomhouse aggressively attacked Pacifica without provocation or justification, out of the blue. It was a random act of violence. In the past, wars have been structured like so: X commits an offense against Y, and Y gathers a coalition to smash X to bits. But here, there was no offense, this war is not retaliatory for any action. This presents a problem: If DH is willing to attack us whenever it pleases them to do so, what is to stop them from doing so in the future?
    Indeed, the very words of Doomhouse indicate that they have every intent and desire to attack Pacifica and her allies again. From their Declaration onwards, they have been making this out to be some sort of "tactical operation" to "put NPO down" because they have gotten too strong for their tastes. Even the battle cry of "Everything must die" screams this loud and clear. And this only adds to a year of intense efforts by various parties to drag Pacifica into a war prior to current events.
    In short, if Pacifica "pays" to get peace, if any of us do, there is no guarantee that it will last, in fact there are strong indications that NPO is just going to get smashed again when they have made too much progress rebuilding, when those at the top of the New Hegemony decide it's time to put down NPO again, and they've already demonstrated that they are willing to do so on nothing more than a whim.
    So, it begs the question: If Pacifica and her allies are pre-destined to be smashed to bits again, what difference does it make to us if we just stay smashed to bits in the first place? The difference it makes is that we get to dictate our own strategy, we get to cause as much harm as we can to our oppressors, and our oppressors do not get the benefit of rebuilding on our paycheck.
    What Doomhouse is offering to sell us is not peace, but a brief pause in hostilities, hostilities which are sure to resume whenever Doomhouse feels like it. They've demonstrated the desire, capacity, and will to carry out such an attack. There is no reason why anyone should not fully expect it to happen again in the future. Only a fool would think that there is any hope for a truly lasting peace.
    And that is what makes the price far, far too high. It is a simple matter of economics. We know what you're selling us, we know it isn't what you pretend it to be, as proven from a multitude of factors, and we know it isn't worth the price you ask.
    Why should we bend over, let you beat us into the dirt and then hand over our lunch money, when we know you're just going to come back for more? In fact, giving a schoolyard bully what he wants only encourages him to repeat his actions.
    This point of discussion is something I have never seen any member of the aggressive side touch even with a pole of considerable length, minus perhaps a handful of snide remarks and assorted drivel we've all come to expect from "lulz"-type alliances. No serious discussion, not even a hint of a counter-argument, whenever it is brought up it is ignored with extreme diligence.
    And that's why I will raise this point again, and I will raise it again and again to expose the situation for what it is, until this war finally comes to an agreeable close.
  22. HeroofTime55
    Here are the latest reparations figures and assorted demands being made by Doomhome and friends.
    NPO: Must allow their top tier to be wrecked for a month by the tech heavy upper tiers of DH. In an official context they are:
    No reps demanded, so that DH can pretend that they are offering some sort of generous terms, while they extort the rest of the coalition as follows:
    Avalon: $50 million
    ASU: $80 million
    64Digits: $80 million
    Sanitarium: $100 million
    NSO: $100 million plus the annexation of RV for a month, OR $300 million
    Invicta: $300 million
    TPF: $400 million
    CoJ: $400 million (They're not going to write a haiku, much less a Shakespearean play)
    Legion: $2,000 million (aka, $2 billion, but just to keep the numbers formatted the same)
    TOOL: 30k tech. Officially:
    NADC 36k tech
    CD: 30k tech + other garbage. Officially:
    TSI: 12k
    Let me ask you, would YOU accept this garbage?
    Make no mistake about it. These are not fair or reasonable terms for anyone, no matter how much Doomhouse tries to pass them off as. They aren't anywhere near the realm of "fair and reasonable" even if we ignore the unjustified beginning of this conflict.
    Anyone entering this war on their behalf is supporting these outrageous figures.
    But what can one expect, in a war born of paranoia and hate?
    I say you can shovel this garbage back into the bodily orifice from which it came.
  23. HeroofTime55
    Someone asked if they could subscribe to my newsletter. Well, now you can!
    So, we have a war on our hands, and now, as usual, those who declared are trying to validate their cause while those who are defending will try to show that the cause is weak. Standard politics. But something is going on, and it can be analyzed.
    So, how did this war start? From what I can gather, some guy made threats to an alliance, that alliance was spied on by an unknown agent, the alliance spied on the guy making threats, the guy making threats attacked the alliance. Boring. Unimportant, but boring.
    Then it kicks up. NSO have admitted this nation, per their longstanding policy of accepting nations at war. This guy apparently is less than honest with the Sith about the status of the war, and then suddenly, SURPRISE, RoK has attacked the nation with no indication to NSO that this would occur. Because of the lack of explanation from RoK at the time, this is interpreted as an act of war against the NSO.
    Enter Heft. Hoo threatens Heft that he will consider the aiding of the nation an act of war, but fails to provide adequate reasoning beyond a "my word is law" mentality. Ironically, in an attempt to avert war, he aids the nation in response to RoK's attacks, which he considered an act of war by RoK - Mind you, his reasoning has nothing to do with the ongoing TENE wars. This is a mistake by Heft, because the TENE wars had not achieved peace, and it violated the Sith policy of not aiding nations before their wars were resolved. It was in response to RoK attacks on the nation. A fatal oversight by Heft, no doubt, however, that the TENE wars were not left to resolve. In the end, the numbers are $6 million in aid to a 4k NS nation.
    The rest of the story comprises NSO officials attempting to correct Heft's error, and being ignored by RoK. These attempts at negotiation began almost instantly with Rebel Virginia and lasted until RoK would hastily declare war less than 24 hours later. No contact or negotiation was ever achieved in that period.
    The above are, to the best of my knowledge, an accurate representation of the facts.
    Now, let us analyze these facts to see the big picture.
    The first thing to make a note on is Hoo's threat: Just because Hoo says something is an act of war does not necessarily make it an act of war; the facts surrounding why the aid was given are what determine that. Therefore, we disregard Hoo's threat, and analyze the circumstances.
    RoK attacked a NSO member without NSO giving the OK, or even attempting to explain why. It cannot be expected that NSO see things from RoK's angle; They did not know the history and RoK failed to make available that history. All they saw was an attack by RoK nations on one of their own. It is therefore not unreasonable, and disregarding the active TENE wars, a very moderate response, to send aid, when an attack on the offending RoK nations could have been in order. This is why Heft viewed it as a 'compromise.'
    We move on and examine the act of giving the aid: Was this legitimate? I will argue that it was not, because the TENE wars had not achieved peace. Heft failed to see this bigger picture when he authorized the aid. The aid given was thus in violation of the Sith policy of not aiding new members until they have resolved their conflicts. This is only compounded by the fact that Sedrick, the recipient of the aid and the nation central to this debacle, directly lied to NSO command, telling them that the wars were resolved. In the end, NSO should have waited for verification of this claim by seeing peace achieved in those conflicts. The policy on not providing aid is in place precisely to prevent a conflict like this from occurring.
    Can Heft's actions be considered the official acts of the NSO? I will argue that they cannot be; First, Heft lacked the authority to order the aid, due to the standing Sith policy against doing so. Right off the bat, this presents problems for RoK's case, and Heft can arguably be considered a rogue member of the government. But the main thing that makes this event not the responsibility of NSO is that, almost immediately after Heft made his error, Rebel Virginia, a member with equal raking as Heft, moved to correct the mistake, by offering negotiations with RoK.
    RoK did not even entertain the offer of diplomatic negotiations. The government of the Sith would continue until the instigation of war to attempt negotiations to come to a diplomatic resolution. These were ignored, and RoK government had a notably reduced availability over this time frame.
    The above analysis of the facts, I hold to be true to the best of my knowledge.
    As we can see, mistakes were made by both sides, and the big thing left is to apply opinion to the facts: Was RoK justified to take military action, or was it an aggressive and unjustifiable move?
    To answer this, we have to answer whether or not the act of providing $6 million in aid to a ~4000 NS nation is an act which is beyond even entertaining the notion of diplomatic negotiation.
    There are some people with the opinion that any amount of aid, no matter how small, is an equal act of war with direct attacks on an alliance, and is beyond diplomatic negotiation, demanding immediate military response.
    I believe that the magnitude of an act is something that cannot be ignored, and I believe that the magnitude of this act was trivial.
    Why do people go to war? War is a diplomatic tool. It's primary function is to force compliance out of non-compliant parties. I therefore am of the opinion that diplomacy must always be a precursor to war, if only to make an assessment as to whether or not the other party is willing to be compliant with your demands.
    Because RoK entirely skipped over diplomacy after the offense had occurred, it is clear that they had no desire to determine whether or not NSO was willing to be compliant with any sort of demands they may have had to repair the situation. The only other possible motivation was that they simply wanted war for war's sake, and thus were content to not possibly lose their 'justification' for war in the course of diplomacy.
    Thus, I hold that RoK is in the wrong, and that RoK are the aggressors of this war. I hold that RoK simply desired to start a war with a weaker target.
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