Lord Boris

I must now retreat and change my shorts. Congrats on the new line-up, guys.

A new personal best for you. Congrats.

Seems to me the last HALO got stomped at least once... good luck with this

I don't know, but I smell a wall of text coming on.

You're in OUT, if that counts.

Jolly good show, folks. Keep it up.

Actually, I think that given the actions of the parties involved, TSO left their backbone back at MCXA.

OOC: The more I read of this thread, the more I believe TSO is CN's version of Roland Burris.

Yeah. Just another Voxer ghosting NPO and trying to stir things up a bit. That's the story his war screen tells, anyways.

Congrats to our awesome allies on their birthday.

As someone who is very active in using both radios and morse code, I must respectfully disagree.

Tenatively, I could partake.

I think that is probably true. And I think fundamentally the issue in CN regarding stagnation, is not the fact that a dominant power structure exists, but that those who oppose the current power structure have not convinced the moderate and unaffiliated players that they have a truly better alternative, and one that won't wind up simply generating a new power structure following the current status quo. While recently groups such as Vox Populi have extensively ramped up the abilities of the anti-establishment groups due to their high profile membership and their willingness to at least try to do something other than moan about it, there is still much more they would need to do if they ever wish to bring about the change they desire.

I find myself laughing and agreeing on both counts.

Well, I decided to dust off my blog again to give another glance into my views of the politics of CN. For this one, I decided to look into an issue that a great many have aruged about for a long time. Nearly every group since the Great Patriotic War have asked those outside of direct conflict to think about what is wrong about the game, and to somehow rise up and do battle against it. Kudos for those groups for convincing me to sit down and think. It's not a common occurrance. I will preface this entry with the note that I do not exclude myself from any of the commentary herein. I find myself just as guilty as others have been on much of what I am about to note. I've done a great deal of thinking in the few weeks about what is truly wrong with CN, if anything. Upon reflection and observation, I've found that there are two things that are wrong with CN. I also found myself sickened by how few seem to really grasp the matter, and rather than seeing the issues, they look to blame groups. Too eager to look for that which is not immediately tangible, they lash out at what is. The problems do not go by the names NPO, Vox, FAN, MCXA, Continuum, Citadel, or any other group that is generally thrown out into the bloodbath of the forums as the name of a problem. The two key faults upon which the majority of woe in CN stem from are excessive egoism and excessive hate. No one group or individual is at fault, but rather a great many people become prone to outbursts of one or both of these issues. I don't try to spare myself either. I'm the quickest to admit in this process that I have been guilty of both from time to time. Now it remains to be seen if others will look at themselves and gaze honestly upon the taint on their own hands. Egoism is something that always exists, and has thrived quite well in CN. While a great deal of egoism occurs naturally, much of it is far overblown on Planet Bob. A great many of the players on Bob have become so hardened to the idea that they can do no wrong and that all others wrong simply by virtue of being different. What causes this egoism to exist? As Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, "Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog called 'Ego'." While certainly ego does tend to follow the perceived climb of success, there is a degree to which it becomes excessive. It's one thing to go climbing with a golden retriever. It's a completely different thing to go with a pack of rottwheilers. While I believe people should be proud of their achievements, for nobody would strive to achieve if they could not feel pride for it afterwards, they should not go so far as to think they are immediately great for a singular achievement. Unfortunately, Bob is a planet of excesses. The excess pride by a great many parties has made the air a bit stuffy, and the stagnant air deters new residents. It also is infectious. When one person or group tends to become extremely egocentric, others tend to follow suit. It is this build-up of ego that stirs up a lot of the more utterly pointless drama. It also causes the parties intoxicated by it more prone to make snap decisions, without truly thinking about the consequences. It shouldn't take much thought to realize the kinds of problems that type of situations has caused. While we all know a rivalry stirs up interest, at many times in the past and present in CN, we see more and more people moving from rivalry mentality into a mentality of outright excess hate. This becomes even more destructive than the excess of egoism rotting in the streets of Bob, largely because it tends to lead to a great many very rash, and very damaging situations. If you let hate take over how you play CN, and thrive on making sure those whom you direct your hate upon cease existance on Bob, you're probably not helping the community any. By extention, if you become hell-bent on forcing an alliance, the fundamental level of community in CN, to fold because of your wrath, you're also probably not helping things any. And now I come down to the sad truth about these two great harms in CN. In lesser forms, egoism and rivalry are generally harmless, and foster a competitive and interesting game. Unfortunately, we play in a realm that has become extreme in nature. Many of those who champion the moderate views needed to harness the positive potential of these two wrongs in their lower forms get swept up into becoming their own brand of extremist. Thus, the middle ground has lost strength, and the game has suffered. Additionally, many of the champions of these grave issues are also many of the same folks who keep the game flowing. Many of those who could be the poster models for these problems could also be used as the ones for what is right about the game. Many of those who have caused issues have also caused some type of progress or significant impact. Upon observation and reflection, we see that, while harmful in their extremes, these two issues are also lifeblood in their more moderate forms. Many have lost sight of how to moderate their emotions/behavior, however. They have forgotten that forward progress is a tightrope act. Not enough movement to keep your balance, and you don't go anywhere. Too much, and you fall off into the pit/net. Remember this, CN. The next time you go to take actions based on your pride or your desire to spite someone, think to yourself if it is really the best course of action. It is tough to do, certainly, given the intoxicating nature of pride and wrath, but just as it's often wise to know your limits when trying to throw down a bottle of tequila, it's a good idea to know the limits of your actions the community can digest.

Next time, let someone with the proper authority to post announcements do so, GoM. That said, Happy Birthday to FEAR. May your next year be filled with prosperity (and a few more gags on GoM so that he doesn't post announcements he's not allowed to again).

congrats on the chinese firedrill, guys. Good luck.

Regarding the first part, MCXA was mostly useful as janitorial duty in the WotC. The other alliances in the Coalition packed firepower in far greater use. You may have helped lead MCXA during the war, but you didn't help lead them to the decisive military defeat of Polar you claim. Your associates did most of the legwork for you. Also, your second bit there is extremely comical looking back at the second part of that first chunk. Clearly your personality is not a good match with NADC as an alliance. And I'll finish with just a friendly warning. It usually isn't a great idea to get into, as you call them, 'pissing contests' with OPArsenal. Especially if he's had something to drink, he's likely able to keep on in the contest while you're trying to down a glass of water to try catching up.

Irony is tragic at times, unfortunately.

Oh yeah, I remember Inertia now. Best protectorate request I ever rejected >_>

Another question that I don't think has really been pondered much is that given the apparent poor manner in which TSO seems to have departed MCXA, is TOP still planning on safeguarding an alliance that has hurt (although that's debatable given who left) their Continuum ally?

Or promises of favors/bribery.

Agreed with all sentiments expressed. Best of luck, MCXA.

edit: disregard. misread it. /me goes to not read forums after being awake for two days.