gfloyd2002

EDIT: Apology (sort of, kind of) happened while I drafted a masterwork wall of text. Sigh. It would have cured cancer, and I even complimented ES's valiant use of his renowned spin skills for an ally, but it is now deleted as OBE. All except for this: As an aside, I wonder how eager NSO would be to work on this diplomatically if they weren't facing CN-wide outrage, some fairly threatening statements by Grämlins, MHA support and all manner of bad PR. I suspect they would instead continue to go with the whole "strong dominate the weak" and "peace is a lie" thing.

I hope you are right, but the message seems clear to me. Neutrals have no allies to jump in to defend them and their nuke counts are comparatively low. NSO screwed with neutral alliances, taunting them to do something about it, recalcitrant in public, essentially continuing the taunting on OWF instead of apologizing. NSO doesn't have the individual NS to pull that off, but gets to rely on the comparative advantage of non-neutrals -- its own treaties -- to bail it out. The neutrals have no real options here. Do nothing and appear the coward or fight back and get smashed by NSO's allies. It would be hard for someone not to learn a lesson from that. I'm also curious as to how this isn't an act of war by NSO. It was more than poaching. It was a direct message to members of a sovereign alliance telling them that their government "muzzle(s) and restrict(s)" them, has "an absence of belief" and is "pathetic" and "impotent." This wasn't just a standard recruiting message that goes out accidentally to noobs. The last line particular is a direct invitation to war as I read it: "Oh, and need more proof of just how pathetic your neutral alliance is? Watch as they respond impotently, if at all" I can't imagine there would be too much complaint about lack of CB following essentially being taunted to war, especially given the lack of apology forthcoming here. You are right on Moldavi, I wasn't even close on the timing. I wasn't around back then, it's just that when one sees someone bullying a neutral, one automatically thinks "Woodstock Massacre." Totally different people and circumstances, admitted, as GPA had some issues then, while here I see nothing at all by the neutrals that brought on this kind of aggressive act other than their perceived vulnerability to it.

This shows the first signs of what many suspected would happen post-Karma War as several neutrals jumped up in the sanctioned alliance rankings -- people were going to agitate and try to pick them off simply because they can. NSO is obviously the kind of alliance that will push any advantage if there is no perceived threat, and also the kind of alliance willing to use the strength of Frostbite to protect it from the consequences of aggression. TDO and GPA can't respond with military, nor could GOP or Grey Council -- Frostbite would presumably defend NSO and nuke the neutrals to oblivion. Presumably NSO will face no repercussions for this, letting the world know that neutrals are fair game. I suspect this is the first of really aggressive actions against neutrals by similarly amoral alliances. (No offense intended there, NSO is RPing its code.) What would be very interesting to see in response to this would be a bloc of neutrals. All equally committed to their neutrality, aligned only to those agreeing not to treaty outside of the bloc, only to those committed to the same neutrality. I'm thinking they are going to need it to present sufficient strength (particularly nuclear strength they lack individually) to pose a sufficient deterrent to these kinds of actions now that they have some prominence in the Sanctions Race. The sheer numbers of such a bloc would probably better protect their preferred way of playing the game and from these types of attacks. Out of curiosity, I forget, was Moldavi in charge of NPO for the NPO beatdown of GPA? I'm thinking it was Moos by then. Yeah, had to have been.

Thanks to all who have wished us well, and to my many friends from MHA. I'm honored to be associated with the people of the Rosular Kingdom, among the most honorable and accomplished in Digiterra. Congratulations to my friends Dame Themis, Sir W_A_R and Sir Winslow. Sir Winslow deserves particular mention because he has never served outside of the Order, and does yeoman's work on internal affairs, so he may not be known to many of you. A better alliance-mate one couldn't have, and we are all thrilled to see him take a higher profile. /o OBR /o MHA (Also, hi Trinite and Kev. I'm still kickin.' Come say hi on EsperNet, #blackroseorder and #blackwater)

Love the leadership, love the code of honor, love the theme. Best of luck, AirMe. <ooc> Huge Japanese history buff, can't wait to see what you do with this. <ooc>

In the course of her own defense in this thread, Emily has posted private logs of Triumvir-Minister discussions about extremely sensitive internal MHA issues. Any doubt about the merits of ZI ended with her behavior in this thread. It's deeply saddening to see, as I know Emily a better person that she shows here, just as MHA is too good to allow itself to get baited like this.

GDI and 3E just announced a treaty. The rough launch continues.

I see several reasons, not all good, not all bad: 1. People who get blocked from advancement in their own alliance start one of their own. The Peter Principle at work. Crushtania had a nice blog entry on it somewhere I'm too lazy to look up. 2. People who have disagreements with factions in their alliance, split to form their own. 3. The treaty web is a mess. Easier to start from scratch and pick your spot than work with the baggage the old allliance is carrying. 4. Honest attempts at creating a community with friends, excluding asshats and increasing trust levels and communication. 5. Protectorates are handed out like candy. There is little risk to being too small to defend yourself. 6. There aren't any big alliances anymore that will just pick off little guys because they can. Wars are more likely to be caused by being part of the treaty web and having lots of ties. Being small and withdrawn is, oddly, safer. 7. Some people just selfishly want their own fiefdom to rule (badly) with an iron fist.

How is honor in third? In honor lies the ultimate test of character - not to do what is easy or what you want, but what is right. Honor lies in the challenge of doing what must be done, and great honor brings great burden. If honor and alliance clash, your burden is to bring your alliance in line with honorable action so both are satisfied. If honor and friends clash, your burden is to help your friends do the honorable thing. You cannot abandon honor for your friends or alliance -- If you do you also abandon your friends and alliance. By insisting upon honor, you serve as a truly loyal friend, a truly loyal member. Real loyalty tells the truth and counsels the correct course. Fallen Fool and Dr. Dan put alliance first, but both are honorable people I do not believe would truly put alliance above honor. True leadership is to make the honorable decision the one that is best for the alliance. Any other action leads to short term gain only - justice does not serve expedience. As said by the Guru Granth Sahib, "Speak only that which will bring you honor. They alone are good, who are judged good at the Lord's Door. Those with bad karma can only sit and weep.”

Darn you, Kowalski, you will ruin perfectly ridiculous responses with logic. Actually, probably not, or Syzygy's post like 8 pages back would've killed it. Great 2 paragraph explanation of the whole war that also put the OP in perfect context, and still people are all worked up. In fact, only better post in the whole thread was eejack's classy response to the OP, which has me rooting for him now. Best of luck to all involved.

Congrats to my many good friends in MHA. An alliance I think reflects the character of its leadership, and MHA's ability to have a fun environment that really cares about its member nations is a testament to MHA's old guard and top leadership. Well, that and the outrageous number of ghosts. Well done, MHA.

Is Janax really in charge? Really? You can't expect us to believe that Argent achieved this level of win, handicapped by Poobah for pete's sake, without Rusty, Diomede or someone else really running the show. Please fess up, who is the real power behind all this awesomeness?

Poll might be doable if it eliminated anyone from voting consideration who didn't get more than one nomination. And I say that because I got two.

1. If a mute swears does his mother wash his hands out with soap? 2. Having met your goal to enter Citadel and now surpassing 2 mill NS, what is Argent's next big goal? 3. When sign makers go on strike, do they picket? 4. Have you gotten much flak for the recent addition of OG leadership to Argent? 5. Why are goods transported by sea called CARgo, while good transported by land called SHIPments? 6. Why the move back to Aqua, and not to Orange, Black or stay on White? 7. Can dragons be gay? Other than Poobah, I mean.

Please accept the following as my Welcome to Bob. It is the avatar I use for my fantasy football team, "The Four Horsemen"

lol, bring it on Pingu! Here is another one for you, my personal favorite Worst Poem Ever: The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool. They lay. They rotted. They turned Around occasionally. Bits of flesh dropped off them from Time to time. And sank into the pool's mire. They also smelt a great deal.

Good choice. While you want to get your wonder clock started early, you need to develop a bit more income first and it is generally advised to wait until you are in the 4000 infra range to get a wonder. In addition to getting the benefits of the income from the extra population, you will be getting bonuses from improvements still at your range, and you will be increasing your ability to keep up with your monthly wonder clock by earning enough money to continue to afford them.

I am selling a $20 donation, requesting tech in return. 600 tech requested if you fill 2 or 3 slots and repay over time. 500 tech requested if you fill 5 slots and repay quickly. You arrange the tech deals, donation paid in-game only. PM in-game if you are interested.

It's cool to debate the numbers, and to make sure that everyone is keeping all the factors in mind. Lots of that going on in here, awesome, and more power to you for raising concerns and asking them to be addressed. But this is too much for me. Bob Janova is one of the better people you'll find in CN. Honest and straightforward, would do nothing that wasn't his best attempt at fair. You are mistaken that you were taken advantage of, though you may have feared so at the time because you didn't know. Lots of snakes in CN, but Bob Janova is absolutely not one of them.

Congrats, Enderland. Best of luck to you and Kronos.

1. Holy crap, that MHA gear at CafePress is amazing. You will outsell the world with it. Best logo in the game. I'm buying a shirt right now. 2. I can't believe that crap poetry. What perverted idiot came up with that garbage? And do I get some sort of prize? EDIT: 3. Wait, a sleeveless T? Does the trailer and 40 oz. malt liquor come with it?

Inactivity is measured by when you collect taxes, nothing else. Many people don't collect taxes for long stretches to provide advantages to their nation (early in the game you will need alliance support to do this), logging on to check PM's aid and be aided, and pay bills. So "inactive" doesn't really mean inactive as you might think. And your nation is open to attack to nations within a certain NS range, as you are not in peace mode. The guy who attacked you was in your range, so it makes sense. In fact, you seem to have been asking for it. You started three wars with war declarations saying "bored," which is practically an invitation to others to pile on you. The war declaration on you of "karma sucks" seems an indication that someone noticed you raiding other nations minding their own business and is having fun with you as a result. This is a common thing for players new to the game, having fun with the war system, figuring things out, having some fun until people realize they get pounded and can't grow that way. Should you wish to be free from attack and grow your nation, after clearing up your current wars, join an alliance for protection. You can find all sorts of useful nation building tools, friendships and other things to stave off boredom there.

63 pages read, phew. There seems to remain two main problems after all these posts: First, the claim that it is not possible to get 90% of the remaining peace mode nations into war. I haven't read (or I don't recall after a brain-frying 63 pages) an explanation of how NPO is expected to comply with this, and it seems unreasonable to expect in any alliance to have that level of activity, making the other terms moot. Second, the concern that the 2 weeks of war against the high NS nations wouldn't start to tick off until the 90% was reached, meaning that those responsive nations who are expected to pay the tech reps will be at war for longer than 2 weeks. Again, I don't recall a good discussion of this issue either. I do not post as a criticism, but to note what appears to be the sticking points for which there should be doable negotiable solutions. Best of luck to all involved.

Asian players are sad, left to choose their favorite vacation spot instead of their home. Also, let us hope that the list of bisexual females age 18-21 never gets into the wrong hands. FARK or Umbrella would be dangerous with that info . . .

This list makes me want to nominate Machiabelly, whom I've never spoken to, because of his amazing taste in nice people - it's a perfect list. I would like to single out Rupert particularly. His patience with new nations at his age and NS is amazing. He is a regular poster in the "Question Center" giving good advice to young 'uns, and does much more than that within MHA as well. He's all class and generosity. EDIT: And Crushtania, of course!