Paradox No More

[SinOfNemesis]

Final Official Announcement from The Order of the Paradox
Disbandment

 

 

Hear me, hear me, the great lands of Cybernations. 

 

I come to thee with a very saddening announcement. 

 

While I don't expect with any of you to remember me, I imagine that The Order of the Paradox alliance will leave many of you puzzled as well. 

 

Some of you might wonder, TOP who? 

I understand that we haven't been active in some time now. But man, did we have some good wars in the past. 

 

No words could do this alliance and its history justice. It was an amazing community that gave me a feeling of home away from home. 

 

But like many great empires, TOP's chapter is about to end. But I'd like to think it has made its own mark in history (at least of CN).

 

Paradoxians are proud people. But proud in good way. We're proud where we came from, what we achieved, and what we carried over to other games and (*gasp*) real world.

 

Our CN record started with a group of people who came from another gaming community - Paradox Interactive. We went on to build a legacy of our own. The Order of the Paradox proudly flew its flag on May 18, 2006.

 

*tips hat*

Our founders - Avernite, Gustav II Adolf, Mezzo, and Zanza - have lead the alliance into being a major force and defender of Orange color.

Our first treaty came to fruition in November 2006, when we signed the  "Non-Treaty Treaty" with the New Pacific Order. This was TOP's first and for a very long time, only, MDP (excluding multilateral treaties).

 

So shout-out to our first friend, NPO. 

 

We have a long history of wars. The first was during Great War II. We did pretty well, let me tell you. Then came Great War III, Continuum-GPA, War of the Coalition, and many more. 

 

2009 was probably the peak for our alliance. After the Karma War, TOP ascended to the #1 spot in alliance nation strength and alliance score.

 

Throughout those wars and peace times, TOP has remained loyal to one goal - building a community that has stronger bonds than any political agendas. 

 

I want to give a special shoutout to other of our long standing friends, IRON, with whom we defended the Orange sphere and fostered a great friendship.

 

While Orange has been our founding base, we had moved to the more Pinker grass in 2011. 

 

Throughout later chapters of TOP's book, I would like to special mention MK for being our friend and Umbrella for taking us under your umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh. 

 

I'll be honest, I haven't played an active part of TOP since 2012. And I am sure I have missed out a lot of events that came after. But I would like to share below some quotes from Paradoxians - what this alliance and the game meant to them. 

At the end of the day, this alliance has always been about the people. 

 

Our book isn't over, just one of the chapters. Until then - Long Live Paradoxia.

Yours truly, ex Grand Mistress of the Order. 

 

Signed by the remaining Paradoxians,

Planet Earth

Lum L Lumwood 

SinOfNemesis 

Yir Yoronti

AvengerNL

Feanor Noldorin

Lunchbox 

Denis McGrath

Marcus Aurelius

jesse james

themadstork

Power

hormones74

Shardoon

 

P. S. Any Paradoxian and all good friend of Paradoxians should come join us on Discord and reminisce the glory days: https://discord.gg/UpvgQX2).

 

Quote

 

Deus

I have two memories I can share. I remember back in early 2006 when the guys at the paradox forums started discussing the founding of TOP. I was a part of GATO already so I watched the discussion and may have contributed, but ultimately I lost my interest in the game. 

 

I remember when I returned to CN a few years later, you were the one to interview me, I even saw my admission discussion for a few minutes until the thread was put away. I have found memories through thick and thin of the community and that something the founders have tried to build here. Sort of a carbon copy without the quasi democracy.

 

 

Quote

 

Yir Yoronti

The community was great but really can't put it into words. 

 

 

 

Quote

 

Monkeydee

I am 8 years removed from TOP at this point and the specifics of my time with TOP are getting fuzzier and fuzzier. TOP was a wonderful and terrible experience all at once. I met some great people, and found a source of social interaction I normally would never have enjoyed. I also met some terrible people and lost a significant portion of my life to TOP and CN. A lot of life lessons were learned or practiced at TOP; including, but not limited to, time management, people management, event planning, critical thinking, and politics. My favourite times at TOP were during "Great War 3" in 2007 and the entire summer of 2008. Given how fast people were coming and going in those days it was almost like two different alliances from one year to the next. Both experiences were engaging and fun, but both had their own merrits. 2007 had in-game, in-character play. 2008 and beyond was much more personal and much less about the game itself. I really do hope all of those who have come and gone through that time are doing well in life. It is amazing how most of us met as teenagers in 2006-2008 and now as adults we're all getting established in our careers, life-long relationships, buying houses, etc. It's like growing up with a group of friends, yet we've never really met.

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

Blue Lightning

I joined CN around the end of 06 and joined a few alliances in my first year and a half. Then I think it was around April 08 I joined TOP. My previous alliance (TTC) was in it's last throws due to inactivity and I didn't have a lot going for me. Jstep had joined TOP a little while before and DJPenguin kind of encouraged me to apply one day. I decided to give it a shot on a whim. I remember being a bit cocky in my interview, as I was fairly active and didn't have any real baggage. I'd never thought of an alliance who would look beyond that and I think I just scraped through with a 2/3 vote.

 

Once I joined, it was an odd feeling, although I had no strong ties to TOP it just very quickly felt like home. I immediately felt very comfortable with the vibe, people were relaxed and friendly,  no big drama or cliques. That feeling never went away, so I stayed put. I also remember feeling like a total noob as I realised how far behind my knowledge of game mechanics and nation building was. I dived into some guides to get up to speed and started building my nation properly.

 

Although I served in gov I never really had a huge impact on the alliance. I put some guides together for the military but that was about it. Mostly I was just active giving my thoughts on stuff. Without ever getting super close IRL, I made a lot of friendships with people and that core of people was a massively important part of my life. And continues to do so on Discord.

 

The peak experience for me was the bipolar war. I recall for years we had been building and building, and had faced many accusations of stat-hugging or being paper tigers. I knew, as someone who had access to our warchest info and war stats, that we were far from it but it was hard to convince the OWF. Wars had previously been pretty boring, where we had few targets that were in range, and those few were often smashed out of range within a round or two. This time though, we had more targets than we knew what to do with. That was our moment to show the world our true strength. I felt so incredibly proud of how we absolutely devastated the nations who declared on us over and over for weeks. I remember someone essentially ran a multi-ring alliance to declare on us just to keep us in war mode for a few weeks.

 

It was very bittersweet for me though, as I realized that war just how little fun the CN war engine was at its core. Essentially logging on once every other day just before update to run a blitz of attacks and then go back to sleep. It got old very quickly, and for me that was when my interest in CN really died. I kept active and abreast of politics for a while but never had the same drive to play. I think many others felt the same and our numbers began to fall as more and more people drifted off to inactivity.

 

Overall, TOP was a big passion of mine for the better part of 8 years. I made a lot of friends and had some great times. It was integral to my development into the !@#$%y man-child I am still today. I'm sad at how it faded away without getting a chance to say a proper goodbye to everyone, but glad to see that many of us are still in touch day to day on Discord. I am sad when I think of how I interacted with others at times, I know I could be quite scathing when I disagreed and rarely backed down. Yev springs to mind immediately for this, I hope he knows how much I like and respect him. And others who I treated poorly and made a game of insulting, I hope you can forgive me and know that I mostly joking. Not you, Logbone ;).

 

I don't want to give any shout-outs because I will run out of e-ink and will probably forget to mention my sister or something. Fair to say if you were an active part of TOP at some point I remember you fondly and would be happy to see you on discord from time to time (link: https://discord.gg/UpvgQX2).

 

 

Quote

 

SkyGreenChick

CN has been an experience of its unique kind. I never would have imagined meeting people all over the world and somehow keeping in touch with a number of them throughout the years. I started this game as a teenager and it definitely left an imprint on me even to this day. 

TOP was not my original home, but I would say it was as home as home gets. I spent most of my CN time there and even to this day, I still refuse to let my nation die for nostalgic reasons (even though I have pretty much been logging in every 22 days, when my email yells at me to log in for the past 6 years). 

I met some great people here and it's always hard to say goodbye to something that was a large part of your life. But those people who are true friends have remained so even without this game as the platform. 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2018 by SinOfNemesis

[Qazzian]

Best of luck out there.

 

o/

[DeathAdder]

Sad to see you go. Were always one of the more interesting AA's out there.

 

o/ TOP

[Centurius]

Even with years gone by since I left, I still remember my time in TOP fondly. To anyone remaining I wish you good luck, but I am sure the bonds of alliance will remain in those other realms we inhabit.

[The Big Bad]

So ends another great chapter in Planet Bobs history.   Sad to see you go.  Farewell TOP, The Big Bad salutes you.   

[Leopold von Habsburg]

Damn this one hurts. I remember fondly having interactions with you guys in your IRC when I was a fledgling diplomat just getting started.

 

Me and everyone in Sparta will honour your memory.

 

o/

[Emperor Khan]

Yet another alliance that has done sweet FA. But thanks for what you did a decade ago or whenever it was, you were the best and I'd just like to have a shout out for Useless who did nothing but collect taxes for 10 years and Wasteoftime with whom I had great chats with 8 years ago during the Noonecaresanymore war, great times!

 

Good riddance.

[Lummerian Empire]

The Order of the Paradox was a major part of my life for more than ten years. I'm not sure if words can describe how fantastic the community was. And yes, I know every disbandment announcement has someone make that claim. In this case it is the truth.

 

I was also extremely happy to see a bunch of old Paradoxians show up in our Discord today. I have many fond memories of my time with you all.

 

And for those wondering: yes, our disbandment was performed at TOP speed.

 

Hail Paradoxia!

Edited July 8, 2018 by Lummerian Empire

[hormones74]

This is a harsh and bitter time for me. TOP took me under their wing a very long time ago as an ally and eventually a member. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people. I will always carry these guys and gals in my heart. I truly hope for the best for my fellow ex-Paradoxians. 

My years spent in CN was truly a great experience, and I thank both friend and foe for that. I'll be deleting soon now that the end has finally come. I have quite a few shout outs to give, but I'll forego that. 

I've had a lot of interactions here on BOB and will remember CN as a stepping stone in RL. I really have learned alot here and will cherish the time spent here. TOP-SPEED my friends.

Remember this quote always because it pertains to each and every one of us here. I've followed it everyday since I first read it and I hope you as well. 

 

"MINDS ARE LIKE PARACHUTES, THEY ONLY FUNCTION WHEN OPEN" 

 

Stay open-minded my friends and always think before you act. 

[Gingervites]

Almost started coughing from wiping all the dust off this forum account..

It may be the end but her impact lives on, thanks for having me even if in the more twilight years.  

 

Paradoxia Vult!

[Tevron]

I thought you had disbanded before, but I guess I was wrong. Sad to see one of the oldest alliances end, but may your members find more joy somewhere else!

[Saber]

Had some great times, spent crazy amounts of time and effort in playing the game. In the end, probably took it too seriously and antagonized some people but such is life. I apologize to all for that. 

 

Deus vult!

Edited July 8, 2018 by Saber

[Ethereum]

*Does a few shots

 

In memory of the good times. o7 TOP.

[Franz Ferdinand]

The link is broken and should point to https://discord.gg/UpvgQX2

 

It's a shame that this has happened, but I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Franz Ferdinand

[General Kanabis]

8 hours ago, Emperor Khan said:

Yet another alliance that has done sweet FA. But thanks for what you did a decade ago or whenever it was, you were the best and I'd just like to have a shout out for Useless who did nothing but collect taxes for 10 years and Wasteoftime with whom I had great chats with 8 years ago during the Noonecaresanymore war, great times!

 

Good riddance.

 

Lmao.

 

They had a nice flag though.

[themadstork]

Sad day definitely, thanks TOP for always being a great ally and for the last few years a great home. 

 

o/ TOP

[Ch33kY]

The best experiences I've had in CN were with TOP. I loved all the plotting and conniving and talking strategic politics. No other alliances compares with TOP for how deeply its members contributed to these discussions. They played CN like it was Game of Thrones. My only regret was that I didn't join them sooner.

 

It's been real.

 

But all good things must come to an end. Hope some of you guys stay on in CN.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Ch33kY

[Neo Uruk]

Hail Stratephor.

[Hime Themis]

Gentle TOP

 

 It is with great sadness we see your story come to an end. Sometimes we were on the same side sometimes on another. You were without question one of our more interesting friends and sometimes foe.

 Be well where every you find yourselves.

 

Respectfully

Dame Hime Themis

From your friends at The Order of the Black Rose

[Kream]

Farewell to a once great alliance and ole protector.

[Stonewall14]

Roll TOP you say!?! Adios dudes...o/

[Tasuki]

o7 TOP

[MaineGOP]

o/ On behalf of another defunct Citadel alliance, thanks for all the memories from the FCC. From our closeness pre-citadel (TonytheTiger was a great diplomat), to our times and battles within Citadel, to Karma, and to my love for PI games. This world would not have been the same without you. 

 

Best of luck in life and who knows I might run into some of you all on the PI discord.... 

[mmansfield68]

Cheers to an awesome history and a true credit to Planet Bob over the years, as once a friend and once a foe.  Sad to see you go.

 

o/ TOP!

[Inferno]

Long life Paradoxia! ⚔️