AAAAAAAAAAGGGG

Not so ruff oniichan~

I like how everyone points at an arbitrary idea and state "That's it! This is what's killing the game" be it that there are too many treaties, too many micros, tech-raiding, crippling reps, not enough wars, not enough changes to the game, etc etc., but the reality is, no one can really provide evidence that these are "game-killers" in any sort of sense. Think about it, do you know for 100% certainty that thousands of people have left the game because they got tech-raided? You might be able to point to some examples of a friend leaving (vivid examples that touch close to home is how stereotypes are made, despite them being an incredibly small sample size), or something, but you can't back up your statement with actual proof. No one here can honestly say that any one of these ideas or some of the other thoughts are exactly why the game is supposedly "dying." This leads to my next point: as xiphosis said, this game isn't really dying. Declining membership? Sure. If you think about it, the majority of membership tends to stay off OWF (as well as some alliances having policies of OWF radio silence in general), so they're missing the drama aspect of it. If they leave, would anyone really notice? There's still an active and vibrant community. Everyone has choices, when you play a game, you play it until you're bored. CN is really no different. I played the crap out of Unreal Tournament 2004 back in the day, but got bored of it and moved on. A lot of games have declining memberships, people move on, that's life. Nothing is really going to change that. Admin is probably hesitant to make too many changes because he could very well jump the shark on the game, driving out the members that still play the game. So lastly, I highly doubt merging alliances is really "good for the game." It's good for the alliances involved (if everything goes well), but not for the rest of CN. So a tl;dr would be: stop complaining about the supposed "decline" of the game, you dolts. It's life, these things happen.

Little late, but hey - congrats. This is actually a pretty good grouping.

Glad to see this finally went through. Love the name.

NPO really seems to cling to the "you guys need to forget all the bad things we did to you, it's all in the past now!" without ever giving any form of reason as to [i]why[/i] anyone would want to do that.

Doomhouse wasn't considered a bloc until we declared war on NPO. This action was done more as a statistical advantage that the three alliances carried against NPO. Umbrella and GOONS weren't needed against the Polar front anyways, so it was best to save them for a bigger target.

I have a hard time believing that if someone were to reroll as a new "character" that they'd suddenly be smarter, or be some way better than their previous "character" unless they put on an act of some sort (i.e. roleplaying a different type of person).

UINE seems to have a pretty bad case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Why would anyone want to make theirs or someone elses alliance more democratic? That's a terrible idea.

Here's the real reason why we're named Umbrella: [spoiler].[/spoiler] In other news, congrats.

Don't forget Genesis too! This looks like it was written directly from Moralist Handbook 101. The whole idea that all wars should be done without reparations is pretty dumb, to say the least. If we all fought wars without any sort of consequence, there would be no political change in war, nor motivation to get revenge. Revenge is a great thing to motivate an alliance, I think. As for declining membership, no sort of "political change" is going to increase membership. This game has lasted for 5 years, which is very impressive. People move on after they're tired with a game. It's life. If that wasn't the case, we'd all still be playing the original Heroes of Might & Magic with no desire to move on to a new game that's added any sort of depth.

Here's the thing: what you guys did was pretty cool. The problem is, is that since then, none of the ex-Vox have done anything relevant, instead each time the anniversary of either the forming or disbanding of Vox comes up you talk about the good ol' times and how awesome you were and how you changed everything. Now I'm all for celebrating birthdays and stuff, but we've heard about your accomplishments time and time again; no one really likes an excessive bragger.

Now you get to re-experience the joy of purchasing wonders!

You guys have been around for 3 months now. I think you need to start dropping the "we are new" gig because a lot of your issues are things that could have been easily avoided if you were somewhat competent.

d34th, are you just trying to be a hipster by ironically supporting Ramirus? Not all coups are bad, in fact, this is probably one of the best coups I've seen on Bob.

Gremlins were one of Umbrella's best allies before Ramirus turned them inside out. I hope for some great things from you guys, and best of luck.

[quote name='Letum' timestamp='1304806598' post='2708219'] With two left feet and no practice since 2007, this infra-fatty needs all the help he can get to get a bit leaner. [/quote] I think the same could be said about the majority of your alliance at this point in time.

Despite Polar track record, you do realize this is xr1, right? I mean, you've seen what he's did to previous alliances, I'm hoping!

[quote name='Sardonic' timestamp='1304114726' post='2702187'] The Sweet Oblivion 3, longbowe is a bad poster [/quote] He's not in TSO anymore :ssh:

[quote name='Ayatollah Bromeini' timestamp='1304042868' post='2701641'] I can't take anyone seriously who can, in good faith, give Umbrella anything less than an 8. [/quote] I imagine it has to do with: 1. NPO and friends giving us the mentality of "you're on the other side, therefore you cannot score higher than a 5" 2. They believe MK bosses us around 3. "You're so mean declaring war like that!" And so on and so forth

I already did the first list in the other thread, so here we go: Alliances Added to List: Siberian Tiger Alliance - 2, Not sure how an alliance led by Tyga and Pezstar is going to accomplish much besides whining. The Prolific Empire - 6, You've seemed alright. Olympus - 5, I think if you separated yourselves from NPO (as it seems like you've wanted to in the past), you'd really step up here. Poison Clan - 8, good fighters, lose a few points for the instability factor. Colossus - 4, nothing great about them. Greenland Republic - 4, improve your activity. United Purple Nations - 2, Terrible fighters, consistently bleeds NS, would have been a 1, but at least you're saying you're trying to improve! Hydra - 5, netural. Carpe Diem - 3, the smartassery of re-entering and playing dumb was pretty idiotic. Créole - 3, some good people in there, but I see that alliance as a waste of some perfectly good nations. =LOST= - 6, All things I hear about you guys is pretty good. Europa - 6, see =LOST= Dark Templar - 3, myworld is pretty insufferable and one of the more lazier leaders I've ever seen. Imperial Assault Alliance - 4. You've never been impressive in anything. The Order of Righteous Nations - 5, I think they're doing a slow turnaround. I miss Bigwoody as a GOONS member though. Seems like power got to his head and he's just obnoxious now. Phoenix Rising - 2, Your performance this last war was awful, good luck trying to shake off GGA 2.0 now. Seaworthy Liberian Carboard Boxes - 5, I admire the fighting spirit, but your demeanor is immature. Invicta - 2, Lord Gobb's quote perfectly describes you, and that's all I will think about anytime I see Invicta. Also, Haflinger. New Sith Order - 7. Hey! An "other side" alliance that has improved its reputation. Giving a good house for RV, as well as being upfront about how terrible Invicta and Legion are give you bonus points. You're like the GOONS of the other side. North Atlantic Defense Coalition - 2, just waiting for that disbandment. The Imperial Order - 3, "let's protect Thriller!" "Oh wait all the OWF hates it better stop welp" United Blue Directorate - 3, Bad OWF posting/ Gotham - 3. You haven't been impressive at all. SOS Brigade - 2. One day you'll all grow up and realize all that anime you watched was a waste of your time. Nebula-X - 5. Um no idea. The Sweet Oblivion - 3. You've gone downhill since Bipolar. I'd expect disbandment at some point in the future. Union of Integrated National Entities - 2. You still use banks lol Exodus - 3, admittedly you're not as bad as the other "new GGA" alliance, but still pretty bad. Molon Labe - 3. Your definition of a rogue is hilariously bad. \m/ - 2, may as well disband. Atlantic Sphere Union - 5. Neutral, I guess. OMFG - 7. Good alliance overall, fun leadership and good nations. Blocs: Complaints and Grievances Union - 7. In terms of executing things as a bloc, you're fantastic, however International doesn't seem to fit in with you guys very well. Superfriends - 7. Having RoK out should improve your unity immensely. Synergy - 3. I can't think of a good alliance in this bloc. Doomhouse Accords - it's a 3-way treaty and not a bloc so whatever. I do enjoy reading the comments on it though. Pandora's Box - 7. Great grouping, but we always have areas of improvement. AZTEC - 4, besides NV, the rest of the alliances in here have terrible reputations. Blood For Friends - 5. Could go either way. I'm sure you'll either prove your worth in the future (or go the other way, hopefully the former). Chestnut Accords - 5. Does chestnut even roll together in decisions anymore? Terra Cotta Pact - 6. You rolled together, at least. Checkmate - 4. Three small alliances, the presence of this bloc isn't really anything amazing. Kel-Morian Combine - 2. Any bloc with THL is pretty much doomed. Poseidon - 3, you guys really aren't unified. Victory Not Vengeance - 2, three unheard of alliances. Sorry, not really floating my boat.

If you're going to rate, at least give a small explanation as to why you've given that score. It makes reading the scores all the more hilarious.

Mostly Harmless Alliance 8, I disagree with people saying you're useless. I've always loved your newsletters. Green Protection Agency 7, if you want to be neutral, this is the place to be. Fark 4, Everything seems to anger you Independent Republic Of Orange Nations 6, on the upswing. Sparta 8, you guys have done well to work on your reputation. World Task Force, 5 - they never post, so I know nothing about them. Orange Defense Network 8, Done a great job in war, have really improved their image. I'm not a fan of democracy structure you got, though. The Order Of The Paradox 8, I like where the new TOP is going. Umbrella 10, there's good dating threads here New Pacific Order 3, Yeah you were once the mighty alliance, but CN moved on; you didn't. I mean who the hell still uses banks lol Global Alliance And Treaty Organization 4, bureaucratic democracy ugh Viridian Entente 9, Always got your back, Impero and Goldie are hilarious. The Democratic Order 5, see WTF New Polar Order 3, similar to NPO, though not as bad, however you score equally because of your annoying moralism. FOK 9, love my dutch friends R&R 6, slightly good, I think you have improvements to make. Mushroom Kingdom 9, lose a point for that fine gent detlev. But seriously though, I probably read MK's forum as much as I read Umbrella's. Nordreich 7, having gotten to know them, I like them more. Bonus for kingzog, probably one of the best posters ever. LoSS 4. meh. Nusantara Elite Warriors 3, your views of politics are silly and skewed. The Legion 2, lol. Valhalla 6, ex-Kronos in Umbrella swear by you guys, so I'll take their word for them. You'd be better if your main voice wasn't ChairmanHal. Multicolored Cross-X Alliance 4, hah. Nueva Vida 4, You have good nations, but terrible slot usage, and I don't think your demeanor is really to be trusted. The Foreign Division 5, would have been higher if Lusitan was there, but he's in Umbrella now, so =/ Federation Of Armed Nations 6, Good announcements, I'd like a better military showing for a higher score. NATO 4, meh. Global Order of Darkness 7, everyone complains about Xiph, but he's actually pretty hilarious and cool to talk to. Big Z as well. The Grand Lodge Of Freemasons 5, I can't recall a thing GLOF has done. Legacy 4, no comment. The Templar Knights - 5, see GLOF The Order Of Light 2, just disband and get it over with. Rip the band-aid off. Asgaard 5, I think there's room for improvement here. iFOK - 8, good guys. Commonwealth Of Sovereign Nations 6, I like you for the most part, there's always room for improvement. Athens 6, I hope you guys weather the storm and come out stronger. Londo was one of the reasons I disliked you, but hey! He's gone. World Federation 6, took a beating last war, but stuck around for it. Good job. Goon Order Of Oppression Negligence And Sadism 9, sup ktar Fellowship Of Elite Allied Republics 5, I dunno. Global Democratic Alliance 4, I haven't heard anything about these guys since they DoW'd on Genmay in the unjust war. Argent - 8, you need to embrace a darker side and have more fun, dangit janax :< Guru Order 6, pleasant folk with the one encounter I've had with them. Would like more activity. Christian Coalition Of Countries 3, I can't think of a good thing I've ever heard about you guys. Ragnarok 3, "We don't surrender, deal with it lolol" - Sure, you modified the wording to say you didn't surrender, but everyone knows you got your asses handed to you by an alliance with half the members you have. Your military reputation is terrible, you flip flop when a founder gets angsty, and overall you haven't improved in any sort of way since karma. The Phoenix Federation 1, You say Slayer is gone and you no longer live in his ideals; I disagree. You've still been the same alliance that cuddled up to NPO and hasn't cared to try anything new. When it comes to OWF posting, I'd say you guys are the worst; your most frequent posters consist of Vol Navy, Judge X, and HHYAD. I've fought your nations, they're nothing special. Your history consists of a backroom deal to leave your allies dry on the field, and forcefully disbanding another alliance. So yeah, I don't think you are very good. Random Insanity Alliance - 6, You seem to flip flop a bit much, but you have pretty good people overall in your alliance.

Fake or not, this was hilarious. It was actually worth reading that wall of text.

Having a government position in a real alliance rather than leading a micro-alliance is going to give you more influence on a grand scale, plus you're most likely not going to be sinking time away into an alliance that will most likely fail unless you can retain active members and can maintain an active FA presence. Overall, I just don't think it's worth it. But it seems like you've already changed your mind on this idea. Good, but alas - people will still continue to make micros, micros that will fail / be absorbed by their protectorate, and the lifecycle continues.