caligula

A noble effort, I fear the bloodlust will continue for days, and maybe even weeks to come.

Oh look, another thread for the same topic.

This is quite amusing.

Onward to victory, FARK.

[quote name='Tygaland' timestamp='1292797759' post='2544977'] My pants are clean. Feel free to verify with a sniff test if you like. [/quote] OOc I didn't know cats wore pants but google has proven otherwise. [img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DLMRT-omL.jpg[/img][ /ooc ... I do not trust your kind, with your sneaky non-cancellations

+20 to contents of pants of all other alliances not allied to either.

okay, i'll admit, this was good.

I salute this honorable and amazingly worded document of greatness. o/ -IYIyTh.

[quote name='potato' timestamp='1291207719' post='2527223'] So, wait... if you weren't around for GPA, who, outside NPO and Sparta, exactly did you see in the driver seat in your time here? [/quote] [quote name='potato' timestamp='1291207719' post='2527223'] So, wait... if you weren't around for GPA, who, outside NPO and Sparta, exactly did you see in the driver seat in your time here? [/quote] OOC: I have him pegged as a re-roll of a certain southern general. /OOC Anyway Rebounder, You advocate for a removal of politics that would insinuate the only way a #1, #2 alliance is doing their job by your standards is by getting itself trampled over drama filled scandal... That doesn't take being the #1 , #2 , etc alliance to do. Anyone can be politically inept.

[quote name='R3nowned' timestamp='1291182732' post='2527088'] What I said just completely flew over your head. The ranked 1 alliance a paper tiger is laughable. Compared to all the previous non-neutral rank 1s, your alliance is the worst. Being a paper tiger itself is not your fault, since basically all recruitment alliances are, but the fact that you, and alliances like yourselves just sitting there not doing anything is what is causing [i]political[/i] stagnation. [/quote] I laugh at this every time. You and many others cite the inability for rapid and sudden change to occur in this game as a sign of political stagnation, when it is obviously the opposite. If anything, dumb people do not possess the ability to cause the conflicts you speak of anymore as they have been removed from leadership or have retired and have been replaced with more pragmatic leaders. Further, alliances have taken note of former politics and have adapted not only to survive, but to increase their influence and standing through treaties, recruitment and growth, formal and even informal friendships. Alliances that poorly played their political hand in the past are now either defunct or substantially weakened. You, my friend, should be advocating for the removal of politics from the game if what you say is true. Also, I agree. Of the non-neutral #1 alliances, we are probably not the best. We're near the bottom of the very few ranked alliances ever to achieve the #1 ranking. (Gasp.) It's an accomplishment no matter how you attempt to spin it. Ghosts, meatshields, etc...Don't really care. At the end of the day, we're playing the ooc: game /ooc how we want to, and doing quite well I might add. Oh, and I'm fine with others picking at it. It's something that they can't take away from our alliance, and I pride myself in being a part of what is and moreover what has helped make the now #1 alliance in the game what it is. What you think "it is," we have made ourselves into is irrelivant to me, and I would like to think the rest of my and the rest of the other alliances you have "called out," agree on the same principle. But back to the justification of unprovoked force against sovereign nations with no regard for real politik. You can change things, sure, no one's denying that. You aren't going to change them, or if you do even a little, nearly or profoundly as much than if you applied yourselves. But given the depth of the politics, you'll have to play within the rules of the system if you want a piece of it. I have faith in you. You're better than this.

[quote name='R3nowned' timestamp='1291121260' post='2526487'] I, for one, am amused at the importance put on nukes in this thread. What's the difference if one has nukes or not? Really. At those NS levels, they barely do 1mil of damage each. WOW. And MHA is rank 1 right now because they haven't suffered any severe beatdowns ever. Combined with the influx of ghosts due to their number 1 spot, and what you have is the prime "paper tiger" alliance. A small active core of around 5-10% of the alliance with the rest of the members making up around 70-85% of the alliance simply sitting there paying bills, collecting taxes, and doing the occasional tech deal. The rest being ghosts. Same with Sparta. Same with Legion. Same with many of those recruitment alliances. Only difference is that most of those alliances have experienced harsh war over the past 3 years. MHA hasn't. Your contentness to sit there and do nothing compounds on the problem. Your (along with others) lack of ambition stifles the political battlefield. The problem rests not only with you, but with other alliances that I've pointed out. Of course, my rant is just words. Anyway, my point is that MHA alone is not to blame for stagnation, but all those alliances who employ similar policies. Neither is MK at fault here, since they are in the same position that Pacifica was in before. Those puppet alliances just hand over their strings to alliances like MK, whether they like it or not. There's this survivalist mentality in those alliances that spreads like a disease. Unfortunately, it is very contagious. [/quote] Using your own argument, if MHA is a paper tiger then it can't be blamed for stagnation. At all.

Rebounder, I can assure you that outside of those of us who read the forum you are not even on our radar. Seriously. That's how ineffective you are in whatever (? what are you trying to accomplish lol?) you are doing. It really puzzles me that you assume any of the alliances you have attacked actually care about what you or anyone else who attacks a fellow member of ours (Which, seems to be on the pre-text of nothing in hopes of becoming something rather than having an actual cause.) It's nice to know that MHA is a global puppeteer controlling the treaty web though. lmao.

[quote name='silentkiller' timestamp='1289926733' post='2514756'] Also MHA why must you make this harder on yourself? Lets just get it over with. [/quote] >.> We've been waiting for a while.

Caption: I hope you die! Meow, I'm just kitten!

Nice.

I blame Hoo. And then iFOK. After that the worst loss was .02

[quote name='Aurion' timestamp='1289687521' post='2512206'] OOC: Double edit: For the declining player base issue the main problem is that the mechanics of the system frankly suck and are positively Sisyphean. It kills people going two ways, both new people who stare up the mountain and say "to hell with this", and the older people who get so incredibly [i]sick[/i] of the mechanics that even the alliance communities can't make up for it. If they were improved, people might be a bit more willing to maneuver around...but that's apparently not in the cards. Everyone, have or have-not, is stuck with that albatross. Game stagnation's gonna kill this place long before political stagnation will. /ooc /rant [/quote] And we have a winner.

There's quite a bit of irony in claiming what you have. In fact, your point proves the opposite. Just my two cents.

[quote name='Duncan King' timestamp='1289406479' post='2509392'] Excellent piece! Although I disagree with you on the fact that the war would have been even (CnG and PB probably would have helped MK and Aztec probably would have neutraled out using Colossus, GLoF, and NV's ties to TFD), I do think that you are right that this war would have unified the non PB/CnG parts more than they'd been since Karma. [/quote] I actually had said in the OP that this purposive war would not have been even, and insinuate that this may have been a greater reason why said war did not occur. I then state that this particular event may have sown the seeds for a future even war whereas a majority of SF and CnG alliances re-align themselves as to not be highly involved in an aggressive war comparable to the one that may have arisen out of this incident had NSO not payed up. The final part is just speculation on whether or not the Mushroom Kingdom will ever be in as good of a position as it was again on November 9th. While this is (admitted in the OP itself,) based on many assumptions, most if not all made in the OP are at least plausible if not true with a rational approach. To the whole, thanks for your opinions. I agree Bansky that I may have overthought the entirety of the issue (Although I am sure this has been debated in private forums of most active alliances in the game,) but I disagree with the belief this event does not have long-term ramifications. At the very least it gave those recently disenchanted with the perceived* actions of MK in the past several months unto November 9th a reason to maneuver or start re-thinking an MK+PB alignment, and the very least a chance for Aztec/Neo Bleu + Pacifica to think about starting up their own Karma printing presses with the global shift. As for the Pacifican / Polar alliance, I know quite well the history between RI, Polar and Pacifica, and thus the word "temporary reconcilliation," may be substituted for "united action borne of necessity rather than choice." *(I am leaving it up to interperetation, as it's a matter of perspective and context.) Edit: wow, structure.

This post is an OOC post predicated on the recent happenings during the NSO - MK tiff. Given the treaty web, I believe the politics of cybernations are as multipolar as ever. However, the fact of the matter is that militarily there is no answer for the current PB Bloc. You have NPO and friends, Polar/Tygaland/Aztecville, and PB (For the sake of the initial argument MK will be treated as a member of PB, yes i know, 2 treaties does not a member make, but the elimination and/or weakening of (aka rolling,) MK in its endeavor would be a poor political and irrational decision.) While it is not entirely safe to say that Polar/Aztec /NPO would have no problem coming to each others defense in the event that the imminent destruction of one was certain, it is rational to think that if one is rolled while the other watches, the one who gazed would only be seeing their future. [img]http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2754/60634543.jpg[/img] Further, the treaty web implicates that two sizable yet recently fractured blocs, CnG and SF would side with PB in an identical situation before this incident occurred. The reasoning is that while several alliances have expressed their concern over the incident, it is hard to see several alliances breaking/not honoring treaties over a conflict which two parts have very reasonable cause for war in MK's case and assistance in NSO's case. Given that NSO has its allies backing and Pacifica's consent, it gives MK the finger. Polar and Aztec, not ready yet to see another counterweight to their own isolation destroyed, temporarily reconciles with Pacifica and joins in on the circus. TOP decides it has payed enough reps and IRON mobilizes for war yet again. What happens? PB rolls. Easily. While Pacifica has made strides it is still building its reserves/banks, TOP is still paying reps from nearly half a year ago, and PolSTAr/Aztec can simply not account for the nuke/strength discrepancy that such a war would entail. (No, this war was not going to be "even.") So the NSO backed down, given that its allies likely did not support it in this instance. It would have been a great CB / Rallying cause as ever, but the numbers simply weren't there. What we did see however, was the input of several alliances (CnG, other non-directly PB tied alliances,) expressing their concern over the incident. In the future, you may see the remnants of CnG / SF move away from PB + MK alignment. (In fact I think both are capable of dissolution at any moment and I wouldn't be surprised. And yes, I know that some in CnG are/will still be allied to MK.) Not to say it would be substantial, but perhaps enough to minimize the participation of said alliances in the above scenario by the way of them abstaining from joining an aggressive war. In the future, with the Pan-Pacifican alliance rebuilt and former bellicose TOP re-armed, the prospect of an even war becomes even more palpable. (Yes, a future "even," war is possible given slight re-alignment of CnG and SF alliances.) However, this event was a game-changer. Never before had Archon's control of the more colorful persona of the alliance come under more attack. MK's tone on the boards has become increasingly more hostile, and an attitude of expected respect / power has been more than evident. This culminated in an event that should have never happened, as Archon has admitted himself even in his ultimatum. While this is not exactly a new observation by any means, it had never threatened the legitimacy that Archon held as one of the few unofficial leaders of the Karma War. The Mushroom Kingdom, in a single event, ceded its right to claim that it had never abused its position in the world as many before it had. The effects of such are yet to be seen. Again assuming that the three main bloc's / centers of power remain, it is inevitable that they clash at some point. When they do, it's not hard to believe that the odds might never be as good for MK as they were on November 9th. (As a side note, I'm not arguing whether or not MK or NSO was/were right or not. In fact, I appreciated the excitement and political aptness displayed by both Archon in realizing the potential victory that could be secured and NSO's allies as well as some internally in NSO as well. I just wanted to hear a discussion on what this bodes for the future months.) Discuss away.

so the political machines have begun churning out propoganda. Interesting. This should be fun now that the cold propoganda war is over. :3

...An ODP is an ODP, not a MADP, nor a MDoAP treaty. Essentially, The Conclave is doing more than they're requested to by treaty in promising to be there for their fellow signee after their aggressive war is over. Friendship is nice and all, but it's unlikely that a level of friendship existed between The Conclave and AcTi that would have them devaite from the will of their protectorate and engage in an offensive war through an Optional Defense Pact. Even if it had, I wouldn't expect The Conclave to be praised for their dedication to their ODP treaty partner, moreso chided for foolishly joining a blunderous war conducted with the foreign affairs skills of a naked greenhorn. That would not only be dishonorable in the respect that they are hanging out their other treaty partners to dry, but gaining no honor in fighting for someone elses (foolish, no less,) cause with absolute abandon. Granted I like a lot of the folks at RIA, but such a move would constitute the epitomy of random and insanity, and in no way should it be praised nor suggested in a serious manner. I would also expect serious questions to be raised about treatying with such an alliance, rather than the same for following the letter and doing their utmost to uphold the treaty in such trying times. Good show, Tc.

[quote name='WorldConqueror' timestamp='1288766566' post='2500696'] Don't mind us.... [/quote] ...What's that?!?!?! Sound the alarms! Man your recruitment and growth stations!

[quote name='Crymson' timestamp='1287509040' post='2487788'] You guys must have been relieved that said war never happened; otherwise, you'd have yet again had to suffer the trials and travails of asking someone else to decide what you should do! [/quote] Actually, everyone was giddy for another war.... But yeah, Glad to see you're still blaming others for your own personal failures Crymson! In the previous edition of Don't Panic there was a used violin for sale, I'll have to inquire about it's availability so I can more appropriately set the mood when reading of your love for MHA.

Something something darkside, something something complete. /me air washes hands.