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Bartley

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Everything posted by Bartley

  1. I completely understand that my alliance has its unsavory history, and it is something that I need to keep in mind whenever I post. I carry no illusions of the ill will many bear against the NPO. I believe many people understood the point of my post, but some still sought to find fault for the sake of finding fault. Others disagreed while pointing out some things that I missed. I'd like to address a couple responses: 1) Posts like Opethian's make the claim that NPO members joined because they enjoyed the safety of being on top. Others seem to personally take the weight of their feelings for the NPO on me, which I will talk about later. I joined the NPO because I happened to pick the red team. Like many of the younger members, the NPO was the only choice. It was hardly a matter of analyzing the statistics and weighing its diplomatic connections, nor was it a matter of digging into its history to gain a perspective in its past. 2) People have mentioned more than once that the NPO government conducts their actions with the weight of their people behind them: even if the people may or may not agree, we still have the option to surrender, leave, etc. But I presume that many people have loyalties to an alliance and may even have friends within that alliance. If your alliance was attacked, would you surrender? Would you leave while your alliance was still in conflict? I would like to make a point here: too often, people have priori assumptions and refuse to take a second look at their opinions. The majority of the responses here is a microcosm reflects the sentiment throughout Planet Bob: the NPO deserves this punishment. Maybe so. But is it logical to continue to demand such harsh peace terms and push for prolonged conflict as punishment for past actions perpetrated over a period of several years conducted by numerous governments, which was made up of a variety of different people? I fully understand there is a debt to be paid. The defeated always have to make amends and right the wrongs. However, the terms so far are beyond what is capable of being repaid reasonably: the only assumption I can make is that the terms were not put forth with the intention of allowing us to repay the debt, but to extract more punishment and keep us down for the count.
  2. "Vox populi, vox Dei" [...] can not be trusted in science Logic should, but doesn't, prevail in the masses For any philosopher, scientist, or any individual who ever thought a thought, I'd like to invite you to a discussion. The title is an excerpt of this quote: To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree. When it was first said that the sun stood still and the world turned round, the common sense of mankind declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of "Vox pouli, vox Dei," as every philosopher knows, cannot be trusted in science. -Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, 6th ed. The concept of the majority being right is often times true: in both nature and human societies, there are many examples where this is true. Then you enter the world of international politics, where chaos reigns free and the legal structure which is built upon the labors of diplomats and lawyers is virtually powerless (take a look at the ICJ). It takes the weight of the most powerful nations to enforce these established concepts of "right" vs. "wrong," and the entire enforcement of sanctions and other "international punishment" is completely their prerogative. More often than not, the ones to be 'punished' just get a stern talking to. Nothing changes. Life continues. My first topic on these forums drew many responses and opened my eyes to a variety of different views. It turns out that my alliance is viewed as the 'big bad wolf' whose crimes of previous regimes have compounded over a long period of time and festered discontent, jealousy, among many other negative emotions. The majority of the CN World (henceforth referred to as Planet Bob or PB) has backed up this viewpoint in the latest war against the NPO: with many of its allies deserting her and remaining allies merely fighting token wars prior to pulling out, it seems clear that the world has passed judgment, sentencing, and punishment. And statistically, we were punished. Hard. Like whoa. etc. etc. So much so, that the remaining power players within the winning faction have already begun to position themselves for the strongest position in Planet Bob. The masses of players have decided the time has come for NPO, the symbol of the over-dominant oppressors, the puppeteer of the destruction of various alliances, etc. What many who fight have failed to realize is just that: their fight against the NPO is not because the people or government have personally wronged them. Instead it is symbolic revenge each alliance is seeking to comfort them regarding the wrongs of the past. Unfortunately, the players that make up this symbol, who may or may not be to blame, are the ones who pay.
  3. Forgive me, because I know this conversation has been inactive for quite awhile now. However, I have just finished reading the thread (finally!) and wished to make some remarks. Thanks to all the posters to my first thread. I honestly believed it would get buried and also believed it would be trolled into oblivion, but I felt I should test the waters here. I was pleasantly surprised to find support and criitique, detailed views of the causes of the war, the continuing peace negotiations, and the subjectivity of morality. To those who believe that the NPO experience is simply just another experience that everyone has, I agree to an extent. I must presume that much of the experience here are shared throughout; and in that light, should we not all have a better understanding of our opponents? I'm not advocating peace and love: this game was built around politics and war; that will never change. But we all strive to provide security and seek the means ot secure it, so pretending that we are otherwise above one another in that regard is a bit silly. The Pacifican experience is different and this latest war has proven that to me. Few alliances have survived wars against all odds and crushed into near extinction, and I applaud their perserverence. (I am aware that the NPO often drove them there) But how many alliances have members who invite other members to real life gatherings? How many alliances have members who post pictures of themselves with an actual flag of their alliance? I can not say I know for sure, but that kind of dedication is rare wherever you are. The fact that the entire landscape of this game is completely player driven makes it interesting. This is just a game: the nations we run can not truly be destroyed, the tanks, soldiers, infrastructure are just numbers. But real people play the game, real egos are damaged, real opinions are expressed, real rage may flare behind the keyboard knowing that one has lost his or her (not real) empire. Keeping all of that in perspective and knowing what is real may be the most important thing in playing this game.
  4. Why I am a Pacifican My name is Bartley. My nation is iPodistan. I had been in CN for roughly a year and in the New Pacific Order for nearly as long. When I first began, my nation was small, and I was only dabbling in the game to pass time. I did not have much time, so CN was perfect for someone who did not want to devote tons of time or money to a game (such as World of Warcraft. Good lord, I hate that game). Over time, I was recruited to join an alliance, where I continued in my apathetic and gleeful growth of my tiny little nation. However, the Pacifican way piqued my interest. There was more than just growing and buying things to build your nation: there was diplomacy, international intrigue, histories of history, political debates, military stuff I'm probably not supposed to mention... Whoa. Suddenly the nation building aspect became just a page of statistics and the real game of Cyber Nations opened up. I started talking to other people, who showed me the ropes and taught me all sorts of interesting things. The Karma War broke out while I was still relatively new, so I did not have very far to fall. I do not know why Karma attacked beyond the "truths" and "facts" I read on forums and do not fully comprehend the history or the causes of such animosity against the New Pacific Order. Nearly the entirety of the New Pacific Order has been hit and many have lost much more than myself. Yet they are still here. It became even more evident that it did not matter what "truth" was being pushed around or whatever propaganda was being thrown around. I realized what 'truthiness' is written in the histories will not matter, either. My name is Bartley. My nation is iPodistan. None of that is real, but the personal experience with other people in my alliance is real. The fantastic and diverse group of people who share the same alliance are real. And they are still here. And there is no clearer truth than that.
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