Drostan

Protip: Setting the record straight usually entails some form of disclosure rather than vague allusions to information that cannot be discussed. If Polar already knows and you know but won't tell us, then who in the hell is this dicussion meant to benefit? I find it hard to believe that this was a legitimate attempt to bury the hatchet as it were because it certainly reads a lot more like stirring the proverbial pot. Good luck with this. Actually, I don't care either way. Continue.

I honestly think the true magic number is zero. But since everyone wants to stick by this system that can't possible do anything other than stagnate things, I will say a handful. Those you know best, don't care if they are right or wrong, and are more than happy to fight an eternal war (even a losing one) for. Anyone else you can just declare in solidarity if you feel you really want to help them.

I think that the 'friends' model is great. But I also think that people have a pretty loose definition of 'friends' now and everyone claims that it's out of friendship but in my experience it rarely is. There are some alliances who make the friends thing work but most don't despite their official stance.

It's funny because I bet many out there share this viewpoint. I wouldn't slide KDII into his place though simply because, while KDII shows great promise, he has yet to frustrate me with his pig-headed contempt for the english language to near the degree Bilrow has over time.

Most disappointing alliance: Sparta. This is not meant in a mean-spirited way but rather that I had such high hopes for them. I was a Spartan for over a year and the constitutional reforms of GtG promised to bring Sparta into a new golden age. Unfortunately, I feel like Sparta under-whelmed in the Karma war and then people grabbed ahold of that and ran with it. As a reaction, I feel that Sparta got defensive and somewhat paranoid (to be fair many alliances were like this following the conclusion of the Karma war). I eventually left mostly out of friendship for Heracles and Ender (which is funny because they are now gone) but also because I realized that many of my criticisms against those boxed-in fools in Pacifica who knew nothing outside of their own forums could be levelled against many Spartans as well. I still find Sparta very isolated in the sense that they only show up en masse to beat threads to death and you rarely see individuals actively contributing to political discussions outside of the party line. That's a shame. I always got along with Sethly though I get the impression that many I left back in Sparta are mistrustful of me and I can understand that. At the end of the day the purges of Sparta I thought would renew its membership levels and eliminate the plague of inactivity (which I myself suffered by times). I dreamed of an alliance of a few hundred rather than twice that, but after the purges we still seemed as huge and directionless as before and I longed for a more personal touch. I am glad to see Lyc and Pearl back at it, and it seems that you've had some new recruits over the past while that show great promise. I also can sense from the change in many members' attitudes towards Sparta in recent threads that your private FA attempts are being successful. I still have hope that Sparta will come into its own with its new constitution and that may already be happening but it's simply too early to tell from the outside. Even as I was on my way out I was confident that Sparta's military prowess was greatly under-estimated and I am sure with Lyc back and Hyp in charge that Sparta will surprise people whenever their next conflict rolls around. People need to understand that there is a continuum between Hope and Disappointment, and so to say that you have been disappointed is a complicated compliment in many ways at least in this case. Most disappointing player: Electron Sponge. I am coming at this from the total opposite side of things than others who have mentioned this. I find his history disappointing but my reasons are more personal. I think people gave ES more credit for many of his posts than was due, but he was a mature poster in public most of the time. He conveyed level-headedness and a willingness to see both sides. Why he proved to be my biggest disappointment is that in private he often is a completely different person. Much less reasonable and way more hot-headed. To say that he was conceited would be a massive understatement. Anyway, it was just sad because it was a moment wherein I realized just how double-sided many 'luminaries' of this community are (it has not been the last of such revelations sadly). I will follow up my gripes against ES with compliments to STA. While I still think Tyga is somewhat over-rated as a poster, I can see where that comes from. My praise lightly sails over Tyga's head and lands squarely on the ample sense of Bzelger and Pezstar. Dealing with these folks, even on an antagonistic basis, was more enjoyable than I could have imagined. This is an alliance that I can honestly say is more concerned with dignity than ego at the end of the day. I would like to believe there are many alliances like that out there, but STA is one of the few to have proven it to me. I should also mention how nice Ragashingo is. Sorry about that, Ragashingo, I nearly forgot to mention you. Skippy's alright too. Ok, done. I just figured that in a thread that so readily lends itself to negativity I would try to bring a slightly different approach and lighten things up a bit. Also, I tend to write long-winded rants that only cease when I am foaming at the mouth and falling over backwards. In conclusion:

When did Andrewbw leave? Anyway, not really the point. I get what Alyster is saying about not liking the climate in Sparta being a fairly recent departer myself, but obviously this was not the way to handle it. We will never know precisely what the image in question was, but given that Alyster has not disputed the reported content, I am pretty sure I am happy not seeing it. On the flip side though, when I checked this morning there was still at least one war active against Alyster, and I can understand why he brought this into the open seeing as he was essentially being warred by an entire AA. Unfortunately for him, Sparta showed up in force, stopped warring him, and he had no moral high ground to stand on. Consequently nobody cares. But in the end, he's off the AA, and the wars are over. Ugly, but it's done with. On a side note, what does a picture of a woman killing herself or an abused child represent about yourself? It honestly seems like you are trying to hide behind the aegis of freedom of expression when really your goal seems to have been shocking and disgusting. I find it hard to believe there was anything other than that that you were trying to express to Sparta.

Who would have guessed those fearsome Spartans were so sensitive? ...

It's good to see FCC's foreign relations won't be adversely affected following Methrage's departure... lol. The words "stay" and "classy" come to mind.

Need I remind you how much dust Kronos has kicked up in the past little while? Come on now. We should not only be in this poll, but winning it.

Didn't vote because there was no "people should just stop caring about treaties altogether and go to war whenever they feel it is just" option. If friendship is so clear, you should not need a treaty in order to want to fight alongside someone. I'm new school like that. I figure people will always sign treaties for whatever reasons, but the idea that treaties are the sole thing that can justify involvement in a conflict is stupid. I await the day that an alliance of consequence actually fights at their own discretion rather than the judgment of Planet Bob's abundant e-lawyers.

Ever since I realized how impoverished most communities are and how much this game is like sim city, I've wanted to quit but each time I tell myself "not before I get a WRC and do some real damage". It's sad because overall I think I should have quit a while ago. But once you've invested this much time, the inertia becomes considerable. The trouble is that I really don't feel like it's worth the effort to make an impact here on the global scale if it is at all possible. This game measures merit predominantly in age and direct political power and so I think your dreams of debating winning the day are untennable. Though you are pretty old...

Some pretty weird choices overall. I think I'd be more inclined to bet on essenia's side. Sparta got chosen pretty high on Kaiser's team. Not to say that I think that's a mistake but I probably would have had other picks first.

I like the fact that the validity of many people's posts etc hinges directly on how old they are. I am not saying I am entirely against it, but like I said before, I find there are a lot of not-so-great posters that have an aura of quality around them built up over the years by simply showing up regularly. Planet Bob has an active cult that worships the old. Not always a bad thing but definitely not always good either. *high-fives Chron for another worthwhile, well-thought-out, tough-talking argument* ... and then drinks the cool aid from a cup with ES's face on it. Just pretend ES's face is fat and ruddy complected for the purposes of this post prz.

I'm just worried about what happens after he runs out of nukes. I guess that is the ultimate plan to ensure this tech raid is not profitable (that and having never bought much tech to begin with hehe)

I can only hope that the arrogance and total lack of diplomacy continues on your end thus ensuring that this ends up being quite a profitable 'tech raid' in the long run. Cheers.

It is amazing reading this thread to think that people disagree at all on planet bob... Maybe you're all really of like mind or perhaps you're just lazy. We will never know. I also gather that people love those who alleviate their boredom for them whether that be by sabre-rattling or lulzy antics. *shrug* I don't agree with Chron or the opinion that Chron is a valid poster often, but he did hit the nail on the head regarding TOP's posting recently. It's always amusing when you can guess that someone has posted a link to the thread on the alliance's private forums and said "NOW GO SPAM IT TO DEATH!" TOP has been doing an impressive job of showing up en masse and beating discussions to death lately. That being said, LM makes a sincere effort and I do appreciate his advocacy. I find it interesting how many votes are cast for Tyga instead of Bzelger or Pezstar. Bzelger gets my vote from FB because he's not all bluster. I have no gripe with Tyga or Grub but they both seem rather hot-headed by times. Luckily for all of us, they are fortunate enough to have those like Bzelger who remain classy even when discussion has abandoned that path long ago. Pezstar also deserves credit in this capacity. Overall I feel that STA represents the most sense in all of FB. CnG: GeorgetheGreat though he no longer seems active in politics and probably no longer likes me. I will follow that up with anyone but Londo (it's like watching an olympic gymnast the way he twists!), Jack, or Choader. heh. I'm also going to throw out the name Iosif Moldov. The avatars alone justify it. I like A Soviet Attack's announcements as well with all the pretty pictures. LJ Scott is also doing it right with his avatars. CN is all about the cult of personality I've found. That's cool. I'm just glad tLc is dead.

There's no danger of anyone else declaring on them because there are no slots... heh.

Yeah, I'm sure Kronos will learn its lesson here and never tech raid again. Watch your war screens for confirmation. heh. I will flip the sentiment you expressed and say "I applaud Kronos. The only way to discourage taking tech raids as wars is to show how unprofitable it is to sacrifice your entire alliance's nations to make an absurd moralist stand that only ends in anarchy." Some guys tech-raided an unaligned alliance and that alliance decided to fight us full out. Not really that exciting. I appreciate the spirit of RLMMO in this conflict but I can pretty much guarantee that the longer this conflict goes on the less favourable the outcome will be for you guys. Though I doubt we'd ever ask for reps

I had almost forgotten all about TORN. What are they up to these days (except getting cancelled on)? Sad story etc etc. Good luck etc etc.

Heh, personally I kind of assumed this happened but I think they should have just gone to war right off the bat. Now they're going to have to deal with the fact that they clearly manufactured a CB because they knew nobody had UED's back. I await Mafia's entrance into the fray.

I hoped that you would prepare like this and with what looks to be about 60+ wars before update, I congratulate you on taking charge of this situation.

At least one person is kickin' it oldschool! I do agree that for me the worst outcome is any war that isn't Cit vs SF + CnG + FB or some close variation because it would be a pointless curbstomp and not even close to even. I still think even TOP ultimately under-estimates how difficult it would be to bring them down a few pegs. It will indeed take quite a coalition. Though that coalition would probably form quicker if you'd start kicking some puppies around. There are still a few pesky treaties preventing the world from being at each other's throats. Everyday I wake up and check to see if one of them has been cancelled. A mass cancellation would be quite a Christmas present... think about it.

My Dad did that to one of my friends whose father had left when he was young and I was so embarrassed. As for my in-game name, it is pronounced Draws-tan.

Well partially because all those Cit self-votes almost certainly would have gone to FB

Alright, so basically those nations who attacked can be considered rogues and ZI'd then? Unfortunately, this seems like a peaceful resolution. Offer to pay reps and ZI the guy who tricked your members imo.