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Hey fam! I don't know if you know this or not, but it's New Years. I've been very busy with family today, and rn I'm in the process of getting ready for my church's New Year's Service, which is several hours long and lasts until Midnight. Point is, I'm busy. I've launched a ground battle yesterday, and I intend to do more attacks tonight. While I won't deny that I'm beige farming (which is not against the rules), I am certainty not slot filling. Please reach out to me if you think I'm breaking the rules in the future instead of running to moderation to use them as a weapon! Thanks!

I'm glad we've found yet another demonstrable excuse to argue over something that isn't relevant or necessary. Nominations for the awards were open to the masses for days, and the voting was open to the masses as well. Everyone had an opportunity to participate in free and open elections for cheevos that do not matter. So why must we re-litigate the entire process? Why, so we can all continue arguing of course. Some of the folks that are wasting time here to argue over awards should instead redirect their energies to the negotiating table for the war they've lost instead of dying on this proverbial hill.

Often the start of a new year is looked at as a chance to have a fresh start on a wide variety of things and a chance for resolutions. This idea doesn't need to be confined to the real world but can also apply to our little virtual world as well. This is not another "end the war" thread, or trying to pin blame for where we are on anyone, side, or event. Instead I'd like us to take a moment to remember why most of us are here in this little dumpster fire of a game, or at least why we tend to stick around; the community. We can talk and joke about how the community is rubbish these days, or how toxic it is but at some point we've all enjoyed these kinds of games in some manner and enjoyed spending time with others which share this space with us. While not everyone will get along and this game is driven by conflict, it is important to remember and take part in the differences between OOC and IC. Hate each other IC, but don't let it bleed over to OOC. We all populate this space together. Remember there is a person behind each (non-multi) account, a person who shares in taking some form of enjoyment from this game and community. Lets take this new year to all take a collective breath and remember that this is a game. Lets also have a few drinks because I sure have tonight! Cheers, and a happy New Year to everyone.

Thanks for trying to do something nice, hope. I'm sorry so many people are triggered by it. But don't let that put you off.

This is a derail and non-discussion, I was referring to this specific case and not all of these. lol

My thoughts on these are probably meaningless and to some from both sides won't be truly liked but here ya go: When I joined the server I did ask around for the point behind them because my initial thoughts were basically "This seems kinda..... Salty and upset". Not that I thought the people running it where such but that the ideas behind them were more going for that if they couldn't have it there way officially they were gonna have it their way anyway. Once I started talking and reading more inside the server I did see that they knew these were "meaningless" and were more so just to have Abit of fun their way. Which isn't necessarily bad in anyway. The argument can be made that they're "testing the waters" so next year they can push for it. I saw this argument and this is correct. But ultimately it really doesn't matter. Atleast to me. The awards in general to me are kinda meh official or unofficial. It's just some fun at the end of the day. I really hate that alot of us, on both sides, can't seem to have fun with the game these days. And even if you don't know the person, the AA they associate with are all it takes for you to think you know the character of said person. For example me, I just came back from leaving the game in 2016 and I rejoined Polaris because of my history with them. I will meet someone for the first time and because of my AA I will get shut out or shat on on an OOC level. Some of the best friends I've made in this game do fall on the opposite side of my AA which is the main reason I decided to take part in these awards. Because at the end of the day, they are just for Abit of fun and the fact that they aren't "official" or you don't like the format of how they're being done, it shouldn't cause anymore of a rift. If you don't wanna partake, don't. There's no need to continuously cause grief on the fact. Let those that wanna have fun do it. Sorry for the monologue. I don't post much but there is a really big issue in this world and I'd really like to see it dissaper. And BOTH sides are causing it. Not just 1 side or 1 AA. For there to be a conflict you need more than 1 person or side.... Lets just get back to what this is... A game we play for fun

This strawman argument again? NPO and BK members form their own opinions every day, just like TKR members do. They chose to join and choose to remain in their respective alliances. If they listen or talk to NPO's and BK's governments, that's their choice. If they vote the same way their government does, that's also their choice. If they choose not to subscribe to the propaganda information from TKR or any other source, that's their choice. It isn't your, TKR's, or anyone else's right to have equal access to and equal consideration from our members. They are, after all, our members. And that is, again, their choice, and the result of their popular will.

sip tea short circuits *BZZT* This one thinks everyone should get an award this year.

Your advice is appreciated and it'll be considered. That's partly what I've been inviting you all to do for about four pages now, so thanks. My issue with your alliance's criticism is the insistence that this is inspired by a discontent with the results/that people are trying to retcon the awards. There were issues with the awards this year but the outcome wasn't one of them. Furthermore, the insinuation that this is another Coalition A/Coalition B situation is ridiculous. The idea didn't even originate with us, we were simply asked for our input and invited by hope to participate, same as you guys. I don't appreciate having what's supposed to be something for, ideally, the entire community to enjoy and participate in reduced down into yet another wartime sh*tshow. The issue with this year in particular's was the short nomination and voting periods. Prior years had weeks for both, not just a few days directly before and after Christmas. As I pointed out, there were a multitude of people from all over talking about the lack of choices this year and I repeatedly stated on these forums - before the awards came out - that there was a lack of participation during the nominations, particularly in the community category, that contributed to that. I do think there are other issues with the structure of awards as well. I don't know if this is the absolute best solution either but why not try it out and see how it goes? Anyways, thanks for your response. If you guys want to be an active participant in these awards and to help shape what they look like, you're still welcome to join the server and get involved.

I have OOC beef with everyone because they play nation sims, checkmate.

Pretty much what it says on the tin. Let alliances place embargoes and let their member nations opt out if they wish. Let this be against other alliances ir individual nations. A spy intel mission on said nation will let folks know if they are currently following thier alliance embargo or not.

Hey! We're having an awards ceremony. We have Alliance Category, Player Categories, Silly Categories, and Community Categories. Come check it. In case you're wondering who we are, our staff contains Adrienne from TKR, Sval of OWR, deadmeat of GOONS, myself of Heaven's Gate, and Redarmy of CoS. Cheers, and we hope to see you here soon! https://discord.gg/hxCRtpX

Greetings Friends!! Welcome to the 2019 Fraggle Awards, Presented by 88.6, The Radish, in partnership with Cricket Wireless, the proud wireless carrier of Fraggle Rock. Now let's go down to the main stage, where our friend Wembley Fraggle is presenting The Nation of the Year award. Thanks Gobo. I'm glad Fraggle Rock has perfected the technology to bring you back from the dead. Remember when I thought there was a coup and I shot you in your muppet mouth, then slept with your dead muppet ass for years? Of course you don't, but now you do....and now The Nation of the Year, presented by Me Undies Dot Com. Promo code Wembley for 15% off. And the nominees: Wampus of Alpha Fenris of RNR Tsardom of Slavia of TCW Callisto of Intersteller And the winner is.... Fraggle Rock of Thundercats Now let's throw it over to Red Fraggle for The Nation With The Most Promise in 2020.....after this commerical from Toyota Pepsi Corp.

Nation Link: https://politicsandwar.com/nation/id=189118 Name(s) in question: !@#$ Obama !@#$ hunter Is the name(s) for leader, nation, or city? leader and title

That woud be nice. But evidently, there are some elements within this community that can not fathom the idea of letting other people have fun without feeling attacked or getting paranoid. Adrienne's offer to join in is clearly there so I suggest to not further engage in this kind of mental circus.

Excuse me, please don’t assume my inclusion. I think the awards should be inhumanely euthanized.

I've said this in the discord, but I'll repeat it here. Just let others have fun. I thought this could be a cool little distraction from the absurdity of this war and the forums for the past half year+. We could've had some fun discussion about alliances, members, wars, etc. but in an atmosphere that removes many of our IC motives. When is the last time we had some light-hearted inclusive FUN in this game? I sure as hell don't remember. If you think that's silly, broken, naive, etc. Okay. But for Flying Spaghetti Monster's sake can we just stop frickin arguing about every damn thing?

He asked a question, relax. You do you when it comes to "official diplomatic policy". It's not Coalition A. Currently, it's approaching just about everyone but you/BK/UPN because you refuse to join. You were invited. Your presence would further balance out any current concerns you have about this being Coalition A heavy. If you don't want to join, that's fine and completely your decision, but you kicking up a storm about it and making wild accusations only serves to paint you and the alliance you represent in a negative light. NPO is better than that.

Damn...remind me to drop off my donation envelope when i sober up in a few days.. Love you Fraggle ♥

My vote was for Fraggle and Thundercats too.

Not if it's done properly. I believe that first of all, there should be a project that allows you to host foreign armies. Also, there should be a cap on the percentage of foreign soldiers you can host at a time, and a cool down time before you can import more fighters after importing. Also, I'm sure the game admins can find a way to make foreign fighters less effective than citizen soldiers and more expensive to maintain. That way there wouldn't be any unfair advantage.

See You Space Cowboy

Literally anything is elite compared to your alliance, so I'd say they have an argument there.

Yeah, you guys have a chronic problem with it. Ever think how it might annoy people when you randomly put them on embargo lists, so every member of goons embargoes them at least once? With many spam embargoing many times? You guys claim to want rules enforced on others, than whine when they get enforced hard on you guys for your blantant attempts to annoy all around you guys.

Hello Orbis! I'm proud to announce that Aiyr Bank ☁️ Is Open For Business Investors! We have public shares selling for 1000ppu, now is your chance to get them! Convenient savings account, with 1.5%-2.75% Intrest Other forms of investment such as bonds will also be rolling out soon! Alliance Leaders! We offer larger and more specialized alliance-wide loans Nation Leaders! You can open convenient checking accounts to safely store your money with no restrictions on withdraws We also offer loans to create a better place for your citizens! (Or you could just build aiyrplanes that's cool too..) all this and many more services to come! Let us help you make banking a breeze! Links Discord | Charter Dino Joe Scratchy ReFlex

I'm sorry I can't invest in this concept unless I see a stamp of approval. Once such stamp has to come from the following individual and it has to be on video before I will invest:

This is only true in the ideal case. That is for the meta and in real-life. I think it's nearly unanimous that each participant in the game should actively voice their opinion on who they believe should the be the nominees and the winners of each award category. The problem is that in either case the ideal isn't possible. This is the whole reason why we have (or need) protections in place to ensure a better functioning Democracy. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that in real-life, there is "Democracy" but not democracy at least by the definition that people express their opinions. Consider the influence that lobbyism, money and partisanship play in determining one's opinions. I mean people are more likely to side with their partisan view than even their ideology or what policy actually benefits them. A lot of that can be explained by John Zaller's RAS model, which is quite interesting but I won't further discuss for the sake of political-science-nerding y'all. The same dynamic is mirrored in the game where many governments, such as NPO or BK, tell their members who to vote for. And you know what–that is fine. The problem though is that others then hold up the awards as some representation of popular will when it's actually decided by a few Discord Group messages between a handful of people. They tell their memberships who they decided, and then they win in virtue of their memberships size and/or activity levels irregardless of the engagement, knowledge nor interests of each individual member. I believe that each of these members, if given the chance, could have the agency to make an informed decision or at least their own decision, yet this system is more reflective of a indirect oligarchy that we deem "Democracy" due to the fact that there is a vote. Understand that democracy isn't defined by elections. Look at Russia, Turkey or even the United States in the Gilded Age under the control of party bosses like Tweed in Tammany Hall. Democracy is government by the will of the people. And to respond to @Shadowthrone, the way in which y'all influence your members makes the process very exclusionary. Instead of having the opportunities to form their own opinions, they are subject to the overriding stimulus of their gov's opinions (irregardless of whether it is due to lack of care, loyalty or having a non-attitude). The authority structures present in Orbis make it nearly impossible to have a straight popular vote and deem it "fair." So to get back to the point here, "one person, one vote" is an excellent standard if what we had here was a true expression of the popular will of Orbis. Instead we are actually dealing with the shoddy reality that Democracy in its true form isn't achievable, not with the current dynamic of voting nor influencing. If we want to have fair awards, then I think a mix between alliance representation and the popular vote is a way to do that. Neither method is perfect, but averaging both together we can have some advantages of each while lessening the impact of the inequities. And there are ways to make even this system better. For example, we could try ranked-choice voting. But the best we can hope for is to approximate the actual popular will instead of the facsimile of the will of just a few people mass-messaged to their members we see in the status quo. And I'll end this with two notes. First, I don't really care too much about the awards and have considered them illegitimate before this whole debacle began, but it seems a bit hypocritical to me when a lot of the people who first complained about the awards are now the people defending them and calling them "fair." Second, I really do hope we can find a better system so people can actually consider more than a sham (on both sides), yet I know that requires for people to be constructive and hash out the ideological conflicts.

sips tea I will be waiting.

The official imprimatur can be removed, more or less, by getting as much stuff out of this subforum as possible. I'm glad you agree, and I applaud the request to move the thread. We criticized these for a couple of reasons: First, because these look and smell suspiciously like the myriad, perennial complaints that the awards would be oh so much better if they were "objective" (whatever that even means) and not "rigged" by people actually, you know, voting in them (lol). The timing immediately after the actual awards didn't help, even if it was, as you said, a prime motivation for creating these. Second, because these are ultimately designed to produce another set of winners. Fun or not, that's still something of social and propagandistic value, so we're taking note. Third, because these were in this subforum. I've posted at some length about why I object to the setup, and you seem to agree (even if only to shut me up ) so I won't go into more detail. Lastly, because the idea that full participation in community activities should be restricted by anything beyond having a nation is anathema to our vision for the community and for the metagame: I've helped out by offering several suggestions to improve both the ethos and process of these. Obviously whether or not that advice is heeded is up to you guys, not me. However, we believe that many things which happen outside the game are intrinsically linked with and strongly impact the game itself. Because of that, and because we think the mentality behind these is ridiculous, we'll continue to criticize and/or ridicule them.

These awards will not have in-game representation. I can't help the "defacto administrative sanction" with regards to the forums but, as I said earlier... They are supposed to be for fun and have no bearing on the game. If you guys don't want to be a part of it, that's fine. But stop kicking up a storm if you don't want to be involved and help out because these literally will have no impact on your in-game experience. @Chief Wiggum, if you'd be so inclined, go ahead and move this thread to Orbis Central

This war is still going on, wow! Pat yourself on the back for being so committed to the war.

Can you go back to not posting on the forums... please?

Can you guys ever be happy? You threw a tantrum in the official awards thread and ranted and raved about the need for an alternative despite you winning by a landslide thanks to numbers. Now, when there is an actual alternative being run, it's another tantrum about them being undemocratic and biased. I guarantee if it was someone in Coalition B running the awards, they would be billed as the greatest thing since the invention of democracy. Cut it out. There's no reason for you to be acting like this.

Not one mention of GOONS in your charter. I thought we were meant more to you than that.

already drama about who qualifies and who isn't. Maybe if it was openly democratic there wouldn't be this problem?

Can't let facts get in the way of the narrative.

You're not excluded. You're literally invited from what I understand?

I don't believe many of these people in some not to be named deplorable alliances have the mental capacity to maintain two unique personas. Which leads me to believe if I dislike them IC, I probably will OOC. Happy New Years folks!

Wow, so many sad people here making too much of a ruckus. You folks really need to step away from the keyboard and go outside.

o7 Fraggle ?

Fraggle do the community awards, we trust you

Plenty wrong with it, its exclusionary, the awards are done and dusted pretty much, and noone cares about your pointless vanity exercise to get results you will probably prefer.

I love how you're so entitled you flip your shit and decry a plot to destroy you everytime a change to the status quo is suggested. How many textwalls have you out here whining that anyone would dare want to do something different? Jesus Christ get over yourself. Kev is on the nose with this, it's a community event people chose to organize because they could. Don't wanna participate, then don't. Save you whiny ass victim whining for another day when not liking NPO is the same as wanting to destroy them. There's literally nothing wrong with any of this, it's not even official. Good God.

The only micros that deserve rewards are the ones that disband.

But goons is a micro

This is pretty trash, not gonna lie.

Why not 69???????