Ardus

If you measure power by the egregiousness of sins committed and conclude NPO was more powerful because they were worse (doing things that even big bad MK would not do), then you have logically admitted, contrary to the efforts of a great many people, that MK was, in fact, not worse than NPO.

That you guys did not upgrade this years ago will never cease to astound me.

Except MK did have that power and consiously chose to not exercise it in favor of conquests less horrifying yet more ambitious. It turned the world's alignment around its finger like a ring, blew alliances it didn't like to bits on a whim, and (save for TOP) let them off with no lasting chains just so it could do it again. And its power did not wane until it plainly decided that it didn't want to play anymore. Those of us who took control of the Kingdom back from 1337 between Dave and eQ were in some respect acting contrary to the wishes of the Kingdom: the general membership was already ready to check out on top and 1337 had been working on fulfilling that wish with as big a boom as possible. IC, Azaghul, and I wanted to keep at it, but found it impossible to do so against the membership's wishes. So MK stopped playing and still the best her detractors could do was force a statistical draw. The only force in CN history that comes close to the power MK accrued is the World Unity Treaty, and though it was possibly the greatest hyperpower bloc to have ever existed, the extent of its power is inflated by the relatively simple network of treaties during its heyday and the conentration of nations into fewer alliances. When NPO swung its weight during the post-GWIII era, it did so against totally isolated pockets that couldn't defend one another, a bloc in a world with no other bloc. When MK savaged people, it struck at the gut of intricate webs of obligation and intrigue, slashing through everything in its path. I was pro-NPO at its height (and I do consider WUT it's height; Q doesn't even compare) and still am pro-MK: the latter simply takes the cake.

The elimination of their obligations and cessation of formal structure are the important requirements of disbandment. These requirements have been met. In any event it would be wise to consider MQ and MK different bodies. An attack on the first may well be plenty justified by your moral and ethical standards--try and send them to Allarchon for all I care. An attack on those who are uninvolved under the latter designation, however, will earn our contempt and more.

Schatt gets carried away and goes on a little longer than necessary/advisable from time to time, but on the whole it's a fine contributor and I usually enjoy reading his posts.

and the sequel "1337: Also at fault for literally everything ever" then there will be a biography of our complex relationship

So what you're saying is I should just retire from CN now

I beg your pardon

Too bad this absence of irony isn't ironically absent.

Tonight we bear witness to the passing of one of CN's most successful and controversial alliances. Since the wake of the BiPolar War, the Order of the Paradox and the Mushroom Kingdom have stood fast together, joined under the auspices of the Unholy Alliance, united in our disdain for incompetence and by our mutual interest in creating a reliable base of power upon which our nations might prosper. Together we rose to incomparable heights; together we burned our foes; together we endured the attempts of eQ to break us. In its aftermath, we so remained allied and unholy. Over the course of our union we suffered one surrender, but never failed to impose upon our foes the horrible specter of defeat. Though we bid farewell to our Shroom comrades, the obligations of Paradoxia to the Kingdom persist. Under the authorization of Grandmaster Centurius and the responsibilities of Grand Chancellor, I confirm the assertion of protection set forth in the Kingdom's declaration: The Order of the Paradox shall protect all peacable nations remaining under the Mushroom Kingdom alliance affiliation. We further extend this protection to the alliance Alchemy. This protection does not extend to any of the other-titled MK affiliate groups, known or unknown, nor does it extend to any nation that chooses to engage in rogue operations. Those Shrooms who choose to remain in CN have that right, and any alliance to which they relocate will be lucky to count them among their ranks. On a personal note, it was an honor to have served you for so long, in glory and inglory. Goodbye boys; it's been a helluva ride.

I appreciate the flattery but my efforts are modest at best. I simply have not had the time or spare mental capacity to reassume the sort of bombast I used to favor. Kind of hard to be all big and bad when RL is so emotionally draining :(

Maybe I should bring back oaths of fealty for surrender terms. I sure as hell don't want dirty filthy reps.

Very nice gentlemen.

The first two of your three examples were responses to hostile propaganda either in part or in whole and are thus inappropriate for your argument. Only the last "fits", and even it was so wildly bizarre and (though few admit it) pervasive that it transends the "lulz" distinction into its own screwed plane of reality I hope we never again visit.

Contender for Worst Leader Ever. That UPN survived her is a testament to their resiliance.

There is the pro-Ardus crowd and the anti-Ardus crowd. Right now the former is looking pretty alright.

deal with it

We rarely directly engaged once relations went south, though. It was always tangential. Also he wasn't leaked nearly as much as I was so I don't know much from his end. :( Nor is there some fundamental difference in ideology. If anything we play the game in a similar way, which is why we worked well together for so long. It was just that the calculus for each of us was in total contrast given our alliances and forced a very hard division for a time.

My last 5 years of CN has been riding a sine wave ranging from 3 to 5, with the occasional outlyer in 1 just because it's fun to go summon the olden days in an argument.

I mean, if we're going to go all the way back to UjW to rip on TPF, may as well go back to the start and point out that TotalFark was comprised of people who abandoned FARK amid its holocaust at the hands of the Neutral Shoving GOONS. Neither is really relevant today.

all glory to Bob

deep down inside, everybody is platysphere it's a platyworld

my statement wasn't really related to rota's post other than it was a rota post

wait did nadc actually accept you? jesus christ

I'd pay a nickel to see you barnstorm for Sardonic