This Week in Pacificontinuum

[Chickenzilla]

Yea, the "spreading rumors and causing mistrust and doubts" tactic was starting to show some real promise, and it probably peaked at the Valhalla/Sparta incident. After that, especially since it did force Continuum leadership to come out and talk to each other very bluntly, things started to fall away and calm down. Is everything perfect and dandy? Well, probably not, no, and it wouldn't ever be perfect, but the chances of sparking a major war through all of these rumors has significantly decreased.

Thank you for giving us credit? I think?

[Calixo]

cool read, but yeah.

/me is waiting for something a bit mroe juicy... if it comes.

[Delta1212]

I would also like the put the arguement forward that some use it as a tool for survival. We were around for the days when RON was Independent. Before the polarized global hegemony collapsed we had two distinct sides; as such neutrals and independents could survive. With a single military-based power bloc in control (as was the Initiative post GW3) large independents or neutral blocs were no longer viable (see GPA and NADC/GUARD) as these groups became immedient targets and pressure was put on them. As we can see with GPA and GUARD; the global hegemony cannot stand other groups who do not necessarily oppose it but who rival it in strength. Thus, IRON had to hitch their boat to someone, to preserve their survival. I believe IRON's change in foreign affairs since GW3 was not a decision that they made out of sincerity or desire to become part of the mess of an MDP-Web, but instead a decision of necessity: to preserve their existance.

The vast majority if not all of the other large alliances who were not part of the Initiative and who remained independent of the treaty web post GW3 have been met with some sort of aggresion or pressure from the former WUT signatories over the years; RON foresaw this, and adjusted accordingly through diplomatic means.

Edit: Spelling is good.

GUARD collapsed because of a complete lack of trust, next to no communication whatsoever and the fact that NADC, and Emperor Charles in particular, had an entitlement complex because they felt that the bloc belonged to them. It was a terrible bloc and pretty the exact opposite of my current one in every way imagineable, thank admin.

[President Obama]

Needs more platypus! )):

There was a Crymson post in there.

Although, I agree, needs more TOP/Gremlins.

[Electron Sponge]

There was a Crymson post in there.

Although, I agree, needs more TOP/Gremlins.

Do something this week that merits your inclusion in next week's edition.

And no, buying a new wonder doesn't count.

[Frozenrpg]

GUARD collapsed because of a complete lack of trust, next to no communication whatsoever and the fact that NADC, and Emperor Charles in particular, had an entitlement complex because they felt that the bloc belonged to them. It was a terrible bloc and pretty the exact opposite of my current one in every way imagineable, thank admin.

I was shooting more for lumping the alliances together; based upon their common ancestry. I wanted to get more to the point were NADC was rolled, ONOS was rolled, CSN was hit and USN defended them. Luckily RIA among others escaped this fate.

Still, the point I was trying to make was that those who drift outside the MDP-web make themselves targets. Especially large alliances who rival the current power structure.

[Cortath]

Stop stroking your e-peen, no one cares about how many "hundreds" of transactions an alliance of nearly a thousand nations has.

But it's so much fun!

[Ejayrazz]

I was shooting more for lumping the alliances together; based upon their common ancestry. I wanted to get more to the point were NADC was rolled, ONOS was rolled, CSN was hit and USN defended them. Luckily RIA among others escaped this fate.

Still, the point I was trying to make was that those who drift outside the MDP-web make themselves targets. Especially large alliances who rival the current power structure.

Delta is right.

I was MoFA of ONOS, I left ONOS 1 month prior to them being rolled. Had nothing to do with 'rolling'. GUARD failed because of lack in communication and not having the balls to do anything, as well as valuing numbers rather than quality.

[Delta1212]

I was shooting more for lumping the alliances together; based upon their common ancestry. I wanted to get more to the point were NADC was rolled, ONOS was rolled, CSN was hit and USN defended them. Luckily RIA among others escaped this fate.

Still, the point I was trying to make was that those who drift outside the MDP-web make themselves targets. Especially large alliances who rival the current power structure.

CSN wasn't rolled. They came to GATO's defense because they were attacked before the cancellation period on their MDP had run out. USN then came to their defense. The only members of GUARD who were ever actually "rolled" were ONOS and NADC. That's a very small percentage of the alliances that were ever in GUARD, and makes using the name of the bloc extremely misleading.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Delta1212

[Branimir]

Couple of things before my RANT;

I was about to say the same thing. Perhaps they've finally realised that their incessent spamming of the least damning section of TWiP isn't distracting anyone from the actual issues. Or maybe it's so well written this time that there is no tiny flaw that changes nothing in the message, but nonetheless can be ruthlessly targetted anyway.

"Tiny flaw", I believe I answered this here.

I guess to a heavily biased person, its a "tiny flaw", to others, not so much. Before you say anything, you were the one to bring that up here,...I just cant leave nonsense like this not put to its place.

Or perhaps something else.

ooc: like they'll be warned for spam posts

OOC: No as it was no spam by any means. And I believe moderating is to be left to the moderators. As nobody else stated it publicly here, take it as a friendly advise to avoid a warn. You can thank me later.

And now for my rant,....

I THOUGHT THIS WAS THIS WEEK IN PACIFICA!?

Not only is this not "this week", its also not in Pacifica but in Continuum,.. And I totally liked the previous versions where we got all the attention and screens from our halls (its cool to have a groupie dedicated only to you and your Tech Corps). But here there is like,...no screens form our halls at all,... by this paste I am never getting on the newsletter

Man all my posting from past week going unnoticed,...I even told Bilrow that he is not on the boat and everything,....bummer.

[Starfox101]

A very interesting read.

I like to know they fear Vox and our friends in Blackstone.

[Drai]

Wait, what did Hyperion have to do with Sparta?

[King Srqt]

Wait, what did Hyperion have to do with Sparta?

Hyperion is a member of sparta. (not the alliance)

[shahenshah]

Yea, the "spreading rumors and causing mistrust and doubts" tactic was starting to show some real promise, and it probably peaked at the Valhalla/Sparta incident. After that, especially since it did force Continuum leadership to come out and talk to each other very bluntly, things started to fall away and calm down. Is everything perfect and dandy? Well, probably not, no, and it wouldn't ever be perfect, but the chances of sparking a major war through all of these rumors has significantly decreased.

This post probably generated some hostile responses because you insisted on using "RON" in what appears to be a serious context, which is just stupid, and can only be read as deliberately trying to draw hostile responses. That said, your analysis is at partially correct. IRON never abandoned its ideals, though. The means to achieve those ideals changed as the world changed, and so we adapted. There had been pressure within the alliance even before then to become more involved, but it wasn't until after GWIII and a few other incidents that there was enough of a consensus within the alliance to actually set a course and follow it. All Independence was about was IRON being able to do what IRON wanted to do. After GWIII it quickly became apparent that that was no longer the case, and if we wanted to return to that then we had to start getting involved and find ways to establish ourselves. Right now, IRON can do what we want to do to a much greater extent than we could have then, thus, our ideals are served.

This post certainly keeps in line with the style of TWiP, in that it expertly uses misinterpretation and selective reasoning to present a conclusion as solid while ignoring other, much more obvious conclusions. In this case, more has happened, both good and bad, in Moo's reign as Emperor because his reign has been more than four times longer than either of the previous Emperor's.

o\ HEFT, an excellent post.

I find it funny how people outside IRON try to tell us what is IRON...and how failed nations tell others how to succeed using the same formula that insured their own destruction.

I find it ironic that spying in Q has actually increased flow of information within rather than cutting it down, again TWiP helps sustain the 'hegemony' in so many ways, we should facilitate TWiP really!

Edited March 4, 2009 by shahenshah

[Earogema]

Wait, what did Hyperion have to do with Sparta?

Somebody is self centered

As king pointed out, Hyperion is the former leader of MDC, current leader of Sparta.

[Unko Kalaikz]

Do something this week that merits your inclusion in next week's edition.

More like the edition coming out two months from now amirite

[Unko Kalaikz]

First, as I mentioned earlier, if the spy were caught we would all know by now. You see, these aren't exactly nobody's we're dealing with here. The top dogs of the Continuum are big names. If one gets expelled and ZIed for being a Vox spy, people will notice.

Who says he would be expelled and ZI'd? I wouldn't do that. I would use him.

Secondly, even if the spy is a double agent, what exactly would they hope to gain from Vox? I do believe you've said it yourself. Vox isn't that big or important. You can spy on them all you want, but you'll never gain anything for value. If you're going to send in a double agent, who will be giving valuable information away to your enemy to keep the agent in their trust, you at least want to make sure you're getting something in return.

There are many benefits to using a double agent even if it involves leaking info to Vox. Use your imagination.

[MaGneT]

There is little to say except fantastic.

[Big Z]

Somebody is self centered

As king pointed out, Hyperion is the former leader of MDC, current leader of Sparta.

Actually, he's not. Darklink, Adrian, and Tulak are the leaders of Sparta.

[Earogema]

Actually, he's not. Darklink, Adrian, and Tulak are the leaders of Sparta.

Ah yes, my mistake. I meant one of the leaders, not necessarily a king.

Edited March 4, 2009 by MegaAros

[crushtania]

Ho-hum, pass the butter.

[Bad JuJu]

An interesting and entertaining read, as always.

[Big Z]

Ah yes, my mistake. I meant one of the leaders, not necessarily a king.

Considering that Hyperion isn't in Sparta .gov, your classification of him as one of Sparta's leaders is still incorrect. He's a respected member, yes, but not a government member and leader.

[Haflinger]

Did you really just claim Dilber started the NPO here?

I think it's well-established that Dilber was instrumental in starting WUT, which is what Pedron was obviously referring to.

[Drai]

Somebody is self centered

As king pointed out, Hyperion is the former leader of MDC, current leader of Sparta.

I did it for the alliance not myself (insert more honourable statements). aka, oops

Actually, he's not. Darklink, Adrian, and Tulak are the leaders of Sparta.

[ooc]Funny that the name Adrian should be brought up here too (my rl name)[/ooc]