Johnny Apocalypse

I agree. These off-brand generic pop-ups bear no resemblance to the original House of Doom.

Best part about that dig is he obviously took cues to make it from the guy in his alliance who uh, was the person who offered to be the spy. So I'd keep an eye on that one if I were you Hershey, who knows who he's offering to spy on your alliance for

This guy gets it

Push the big red button. Go on, it is your destiny.

I guess I make a link in my head between the position of Neutrality and being more prone to focusing on the objective and less the subjective aspects of a dispute. So in relation to the slot efficiency comment, you were simply stating that; on paper the stats suggest CLAWS could easily fill OC's slots, especially with the low slot use suggesting plenty of gaps in the market among their buyers, Not a politically charged response, a purely neutral response

You say you're peaceful, I said insurgents, "We're peaceful!" Insurgents. Let's call the whole thing off ♪

yeah this about sums it up gg hakai especially; "Former individuals and alliances from entity "Boognish" all went to Non Grata. They also all got as far away from Non Grata as possible."

Which is what makes it a formulaic and deeply boring experience, No real variables are introduced for every new round, maybe a slight change in how many days until you can build x wonder or that you need y and z wonder's built before you can get x, Nothing meaningful that gives the game any depth for the players to get creative with. Just play it the same way every time. Like I said, it's SE speed-dating, same mechanics but condensed and compressed to be played out toward a definitive end. That's really the only actual difference; TE resets and starts the same game again and the same alliances use the same guides they've had for the past decade, while SE instead never resets but everyone still will never stop trying to play the politics according to the other playbook from that same era. There are plenty of far more enjoyable, formulaic and rewarding games I can play instead if I need feed the dopamine feedback loop curse.

Herein lies the reason we gave up trying after 2 rounds of being sniped on day 6 by the same people utilising questionable methods to clip the wings of any potential challenger before the game had even warmed up. It's like the speed-dating equivalent of coalition building for SE curbstomps but with less people in attendance.

Objectively speaking he is right tbf. Neutrality isn't everyone's jam but I can see the appeal of not having a strong opinion on anyone one way or another. Just following truths instead of bias and party lines pushed from an ivory tower designed to serve other people's agendas (Merge and assimilate like a puffer fish does to make itself seem bigger, take a whole year to form a coalition to guarantee a curbstomp victory- or do nothing if that cannot be guaranteed while you watch members drift off to the realm of inactivity) It's really quite nice and liberating to play this way if I'm honest (not that I'm 'playing' anymore but ygm)

That is how this game is different though, it is an infinitely long game and so the parameters for victory are determined by the players not the administrator. The fact that the players cannot conceive of something greater than signing the most treaties and assembling the biggerest coalition over the course of a year speaks volumes to the absolute void of ambition we have here. In the long long ago; NPO decided that they owned all of red team, no other alliances could exist there. They set that parameter themselves and we all had to just deal with it (my first AA was formed on red before we were told to clear off or get stomped) What do we have today? More Optional Defense Pacts, is everyone that terrified of committing to a FA direction properly? As if we didn't all reserve the option to defend whoever we want in the first place? The Moldavi Doctrine was never nullified, therefore all ODPs are not only redundant but also vain opportunities for endless circle-jerks; "boy what great allies we have, didn't we do well!" It's not upto Admin, it is upto us. I had my fun with this world, with the help of my friends we made it ours for the better part of a year. The stat-hoarding monoliths could do nothing about how we stomped around doing as we pleased. Instead of waiting for devs to set a winning condition for a reason to play? You just have to get creative yourself and not rely on an absent god to answer prayers.

Woah now, don't let me stop you. Be as philosophical as you like, gotta shoot the !@#$ about something right? You aren't wrong, the game has played out long enough that most of the significant rivalries and feuds which could have shifted the political tectonics in the event of a global war are now dead and buried. Many of the best leaders we've seen have veni'd vidi'd and vici'd already. When you've beaten all your foes (or been beaten by them) there really is little incentive to keep going (obligatory shout-out to Alexander the Great) The alternative is that people simply befriend all their former enemies. In a world where political gambits move at a snails pace and everyone knows everyone, it's inevitable that everyone eventually becomes friends in some form or another. The problem with this is that people are unable to draw the line between being a friend with someone where you would be talking about what's going on in your life/corner of the world (OOC) and being a vicious conniving Svengali to generate some actual dynamism into the RP. For those of you who play the Civilization series; nobody ever wants to win a 'Diplomatic Victory' because it's such a painfully dull way for every player to go that route. You're just spending a few hundred turns building infrastructure and militaries that you'll never use. Abolition of war with regards to your analogy with the UN is not a bad thing in the slightest- IRL. But here? We need traitors, rogues, spin doctors, agent provocateurs and elaborate plots to see the overthrow of different entities. That doesn't mean we have to stop being friends to accomplish this. If I fell out with my pals for every game I beat one of 'em to death as Ethiopia in Civ V then I'd have no friends at all (except for you, Nebuchadnezzar ¬_¬ ) Like I said, you aren't wrong. It is a good demonstration of humanity inevitably coming together and finding themselves to be pals with people from all corners of the world through some series of convoluted chains that guarantee near-eternal safety from any bigger fish. But aside from signing ODP after ODP and having a good ol' circlejerk with the diplomats who joined your server to get the treaty signed? What gameplay is there to even speak of? There's no visible evidence of political intrigue, or a whiff of ambition from anyone. We're all just playing it safe, lassoing ourselves to one another in one of the most boring BDSM sessions, where there's all this rope lying around and no domination to be seen. It's a nice chart and well put together but it'd be even nicer if it had to be re-made more frequently because of political tides which shift more freely. tl;dr - People should stop signing treaties with alliances already tied up in the web and kidding themselves into thinking it's some kind of spectacular event. Forge your own FA paths as independents, if your allies start forging paths that contradict yours? Remove that link for the sake of your own coherent gameplay, so what if you get rolled? At least you did what you wanted- not what everyone else wanted. Or in other words:

Nothing like a graphic to explain why this game is in a near perpetual state of inertia. Good work everyone?

I may be a burnout but at least I'm not a burnout who established my own narcissistic discord called "Johnnytopia" and also tried (and failed) to co-opt another alliance's flags and lore for a demented crypto-fascist ideology- I could go on..... I'd rather eat my own lips off than play tanks with that loon.

You're telling me! weeeew boy did I drop the ball eh?

Just popping in to echo this sentiment because Hoo is usually right and ask if anything in this thread has been genuinely entertaining? I don't know about anyone else but my gut says maybe.

Nah it ain't an excuse. Anyone who's paid attention to global politics properly could've told ya FAN and NG are pals. Enjoy the casualties everyone

So cut him loose. You came to me months ago with concerns about Hitch's actions where he was going behind your back to ruffle feathers and undermining your authority as premier. You told me you hoped to 'reign him in' so to speak, I told you that this was a fools errands. Hitchcock is a maverick, he does what he pleases and has little respect for chains of command unless it suits him. If it is true that you don't condone his actions now and it is true he has a history of defying your authority as leader, why is he still on your affiliation? Most other alliances would've removed a member behaving like a rogue entity already. This isn't about 'micro prosperity' it is simple opportunism where he has opted to blight the remnants of a once united and prosperous network of micros which has since fallen. But when you strip away this attempt to spin a yarn to justify his actions, all you have is a textbook rogue who is attacking people as he pleases without first answering to you; his 'leader' Cut him loose.

Well now that's just rude, I'm literally right here!

This. Blue-balling your opponent is a tried and true method of biting one's thumb at them when the odds aren't in your favour.

"UfP mAkE tOo mAnY aNnOuNcEmEnt" I call it; 'Spongxelmock' - It is disgusting I know but hey free tech is free tech!

They did? I don't see a formal announcement of their disbandment anywhere. Nor do I see an alliance surrender for that matter, which would mean the AA is still technically in a state of war with Non Grata.

I meant what I said! You just have to circumnavigate and keep going East a bit longer To the dismay of our cartographers, our compasses don't have a 'West' and any talk of such a direction is tantamount to treason.

GOONS gonna goon, just in different places

The nomadic people of Anubia since being displaced have set sail and found ourselves on the Antarctic peninsula to the east of Kitex. We have chosen to settle here and hereby lay claim to this peninsula and the territory further south.