Lysander the Great

How rude, valid CB

Elephants do look a lot like aliens.

For idea two, would you mind clarifying? The first war lost - both offensive and defensive? Or solely the first defensive war lost, and losing offensive wars gives no beige? Does beige not ticking down until all wars are finished includes offensives, unlike the proposed/tested system? Also, this additional change: If you are beiged within 12 turns of declaring an offensive war, that beige does not apply until x (vote above) turns have passed since your last offensive war declaration. This implies that if I’m currently slotted with three defensives and declare an offensive (maybe I can suicide ground or something to help an ally and haven’t been completely wiped), and then two turns later my three defensives all beige me; since your minimum option for x is 6 turns, doesn’t that leave four turns for my opponents to slot me again (since it won’t apply for those four turns) and then hold through beige? If so, how is that going to apply to the beige timer depending on which idea gets added? Will the timers stop ticking, or keep ticking because the original defensives expired?

I like the general idea of this, and completely agree with pursuing new structures that are more flexible than what we have currently. At the same time, I think you missed a very important benefit of the current executive structure - response times. We could certainly move to a legislative-style system, more like the few democratic alliances that still exist, but you still end up with a leader/2ic because there needs to be a response. To clarify: If we take a theoretical legislative alliance, and they get hit by some outside alliance; a legislative-oriented alliance must vote on a course of action, which can take time and cause delays. If they’re appointing people to deal with this stuff until it can be voted on (IE appointing a “Prime Minister”), then it’s still the executive system, just more openly debated within the same stagnant government system. Of course, I don’t fully know what you mean by “legislative” but without any specialization that allows for competent people in all fields to be represented, it’s difficult to see how a legislative group could work. A ruling legislature within an alliance of 5-15 people does no real good if one of the traditional departments suffers as a result (IE the AA falls behind on Econ or internals). Like I said earlier in this post, I don’t disagree with spicing things up in any way. I do want to make sure we’re not skipping over the benefits of the current system, though, because doing so means any replacement ideas might fail to do enough.

Tonight, in Royal Orbis News, we will be hosting a game suggestions show! Come listen in at 9pm EDT (that’s two hours and twenty minutes from now) in RON to review the new mechanics and the suggested changes to superiorities. After this review, we’ll jump into some game mechanics suggestions, things that could be added to the game to expand the gameplay and options available to us all. There are no planned guests, other than yours truly hosting the show, but it will be open invite to bring listeners on to comment as wanted. TL;DR join RON at 9pm EST tonight for the fun of reviewing the war changes, and ideas for changes in mechanics, hosted by Lysander!

United In Death The High Lord Lysander strolled the streets of Terra, recently returned home from warfare against the armies of Carthage, and sighed. The war effort was going well, but it was an arduous process to run. The Astra Militarum had performed well, and continued to fight with great renown, but to control such vast forces was a headache beyond any one man. The Emperor of Mankind, may he reign forever, had tasked the High Lord with finding someone who could aid in leading the war effort. Not another Lord Commander Militant, but an individual capable enough to alleviate the need for one. Lysander glanced through the recent war news as he walked, before stopping abruptly. A mysterious name, “Darknite,” continued to pop up as a valiant fighter in the war effort over and over again. However, there was no record of him as a member of the Imperium of Man, nor of any war allies. Here was an individual who fought for the glory of the fight, who fought because it entertained them, and who was skilled enough to win. The more the High Lord read about this “Angel of Death,” as the tabloids called him, the more certain he was that this was the man to aid the Imperium. The Angel of Death had already greatly contributed to the war effort; it was time for the Imperium of Man to formalize an alliance with him. I. Mutual Defense Both parties will be obligated to come to the aid of the other in the event of unjustified defensive wars declared on a signatory of this treaty. II. Optional Aggression Both parties shall have the option, but not requirement, to join conquests initiated by the other. III. Non-Aggression The parties agree not to act in ways malicious to the other, and to seek a peaceful resolution to any conflict between with the other. IV. Sovereignty Both parties recognize the sovereignty of the other, and agree not to unwantedly interfere in internal matters. V. Intelligence The parties agree to share information important to the sovereignty, defense, and well-being of the other and the other’s interests. VI. Cancellation Should either party wish to withdraw from this treaty, a 72 hour notice is required. VII. Elephants Both parties agree that elephants look a lot like aliens. TL;DR The Imperium of Man and Momento Mori sign a MDoAP. Signatories: Imperium of Man Germanicus Julius Caesar, Emperor of Mankind Valentinos, First Commander of the Imperium Lysander, High Lord of Terra Momento Mori Darknite, Angel of Death P.S. This was a requirement for Momento Mori to be listed as a combatant on CTOwned.

One fine evening, the Emperor of Mankind was enjoying a lovely evening planning to continue purging the universe of xenos when he received a notice from a close ally of the Imperium. As he skimmed over the details, his eyebrows rose; House Stark was planning a war against an ally of an ally, and the Imperium of Man had been invited to join! The more the Emperor thought about this, the more frustrated he became. The Imperium of Man was always open to infighting; in fact, they did it on the regular, as a tradition! And war was of no object; the nobles of the Imperium had been even more bloodthirsty than usual as of late, and a war would help them blow off some steam. No, the Emperor was frustrated because he did not want to risk jeopardizing his popularity as an anti-alien crusader, and Carthago did not appear to qualify as aliens. Having an outward focus had helped the Emperor conquer more and further than most past Emperors of the Imperium. That is when the Emperor heard a voice at his shoulder. “A war against Carthago? We should take this opportunity gladly,” trailed the voice of High Lord Lysander. “But how can we justify another internal war?” asked the Emperor. “Our people only wish to deal with so many natural threats.” “Well,” began Lysander, “have you ever seen an elephant?” “Yes, what about it?” demanded the Emperor. “I don’t know about you, but they look an awful lot like aliens to me,” the High Lord said with a grin. “Nothing with ears that big can be considered a natural part of our empire.” The Emperor of Mankind thought for a moment, then laughed. “Issue the call to arms, then! We fight against aliens found right in our homelands; the Carthaginian elephants!” The Emperor of Mankind turned and looked back out at his legions, excited at the prospect of another war. TL;DR The Imperium of Man declares war on Carthago in support of House Stark, and because elephants are weird. P.S. Late is better than never!

Ignoring spy assassinations is probably a bit extreme a change, but then again it had to come up in discussions somehow. Best of luck with the new ideas.

I've missed these posts

The way I’ve seen it generally looked at is more a difference between a neat treaty web and an ugly treaty web. IE, sign whoever you like, or stick with a specific group and don’t mix across groups.

I think it’s important to see where we as a community are on political preferences. Do we generally want to go with sphere-oriented, or alliance-oriented? What kind of spheres do we like? This matters given all the discussion about minispheres, O-levels, and wars/politics. For context - Multipolarity is used as multiple spheres, but not evenly balanced spheres. This is generally where Orbis is. Limited Multipolarity is used as a condensed version of Multipolarity (envision back in Quack times - fewer, but larger, spheres). Expanded Multipolarity is used as a broadened version of Multipolarity (think generally more, fairly even, and smaller spheres). TL;DR just curious where people want things to go. Easier to debate the merits of these things with that knowledge.

For those of you that had the misfortune of missing the Thalmoria Awards Show last night, worry no more! Thalmor’s picks for each Academy Awards category are listed in the first document below, while unique Thalmoria-specific awards are listed in the second document below. Want to watch the recording? Stop by the Thalmoria server, linked here - https://discord.gg/HmKyMkdMpp https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NoLX3onL5vXTEmZcvyo5J8lpgUz9hz4_qtXJ-TNHjYs/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eq2bswde3T5wG8E2C0ERmeR8zkOQBIYvncIzobMaq1U/edit

Love that die-or-merge-ing nanos is considered rapid growth. Someone should do that to y’all.

Project Name - ICBM Development Project Requirements - Iron Dome, Missile Launch Pad, Nuclear Research Facility Project Cost - $200,000,000, 30,000 steel, 10,000 iron, 5,000 oil, 10,000 gasoline Project Effect - Allows a second nuke to be produced every day. Increases odds of a launched missile striking past a defender’s Iron Dome to 60% (essentially, reduces a defender’s Iron Dome odds to a 40% chance).

Would love to see “Best Businessman/Businessperson” be added as a category. Not something most of the game might care about, but it is relevant to some people.

Hey everyone! The Lyon Broadcast will be hosting a draft kings-style event, where attendees make picks to create their own sphere, tomorrow evening! The show starts at 9:00pm EST; I will be aiming to get as much of the news as possible done by 9:30pm, to allow that as the start time for the drafts. I have a treaty web editor to allow us to visualize the wacky combos that will be made, with only a couple limitations. Those watching in the audience will have the opportunity to be picked to come on stage to voice and partake in a draft (or, if necessary, do it via text). Thalmor, Killzbob, Chad and I will be starting off the draft event ourselves. At the end of every draft, when the spheres are completed, the audience will be ranking them to see how they compare in several categories. Credit does go to Kev, who I believe first did this idea a while back in VGM with some prominent FA figures. I'll see you at 9pm EST tomorrow, as we build some wacky versions of Orbis like the one below! Thalmoria Server Link - https://discord.gg/ncs6epWR4k

TFP says they’re passing on the Johnsons to The Elites, so in reality, Johnsons has received its 72hr notice… big trouble

This upcoming Friday marks the third hosting of the Lyon Broadcast, a new show on Thalmoria! To celebrate an action-packed last couple of weeks, and me somehow having had the willpower to still be here, we will have Atlan, Wizel, and Sweeeeeeet Ronny D all coming on to talk about their respective wars, in addition to a few other speakers. They will be helping me cover the TLE v Odyssey, HoF v TKR, and Rose & Eclipse v GGO wars all taking place. We’ll also be covering the latest news, discussing some game philosophy, and having a generally fun time. It’s going to be an action-packed night, ladies and gents, in Thalmoria at 9pm EST! Invite Link to tune in - https://discord.gg/hyEces73y8

Congrats on the move, Polaris! Onwards to a new adventure.

Lol I’m sorry for timing it with the Global. Been working on it for a few days, not paying attention to the militarization, and it got done tonight...

We all know there are issues with the way politics are at the moment. There have been multiple suggestions on how to fix this, from a return to bipolarity, a stronger move to minispheres, and even making a broad move to democracy for alliances. I admit, I was not here for NPO’s Last Time, so I don’t have the full experience of the nine months of war and the struggle that went on during that time. However, the game needs to move past NPOLT. Not making moves because you don’t want to be related to NPO, or because you’re scared of being linked to IQ; this is part of the issue. Being afraid to be seen as an aggressor, wanting to play the victim and cry foul, is an issue for much of the game. Even certain spheres who’ve been fairly aggressive in the political arena still cry foul over “bad” CBs. One thing that’s been really ironic to watch is all the popularity behind the idea of minispheres. So many people are supportive of the idea of really small spheres, and yet we’ve arguably been taking numerous steps back from that direction. There are alliance leaders who publicly say they’re for minispheres, and yet they won’t work towards them. I understand the idea behind this; “we’re not going to shrink down unless they shrink down.” And yet, unless someone takes that first step, can we ever get to minispheres? And, as mentioned later in this post, are minispheres even possible without decision-makers being willing to involve micros? Democracy is a suggestion that is both problematic and a great idea at the same time. Part of the reason why this has been suggested (at least, part of the reason I’ve seen) is to open up alliances to fresh ideas and fresh government members. It could facilitate minispheres, facilitate new wars, new alliances, and even new treaties and spheres. At the same time, democracy is a bad idea, because, well, duh? Many members don’t pay enough attention to understand what the best policies for them are. They may not really understand what candidates are the best option for them. Limits on who can vote, who can run, etc. may work to resolve this, but they will also limit what ideas and individuals can actually lead an alliance. That ultimately defeats part of the purpose of having democracy in the first place. Something that has been one of the most irritating statements I’ve seen in recent times is the statement that “we need a villain.” Yes, we could use a villain. But that’s not really the issue. There are two major issues. The first was listed above - people, and some decision-makers in particular, are scared of being aggressive. They don’t want to be seen as the villain or the bad guy in any situation. That comes with drawbacks - less interesting CBs, less interesting politics, etc. The second, and more prominent issue, is that this game despises villains. In order to survive as a villain, you have to either be nearly unkillable. That narrows who a villain can be to two groups - pirates, or a mega-sphere. NPO (and their allies) were, from my understanding, able to stay a villain and stay un-wiped because of sheer size. They were competent enough and large enough to fight wars as villains, and they had a chance to win. A pirate alliance could be a villain, because we’ve seen pirate alliances survive wars (long wars, wars where they are desperately outnumbered, and more). But anyone else aspiring to be a villain gets utterly crapped on by the game. A prime example many people may remember is Lord Alan of Black Skies. He wasn’t afraid to play the villain and cut garbage out of the equation; this ultimately led to him being rolled, mocked, and then issued irl death threats. A much older example would be Jayce, of the Assyrian Empire, who tried to form a bloc with some micros and was basically doxxed out of the game. These are players labeled “villains” because their points of view differ from the norm. Even actual villains, like SpAnKy, are abused to a rather ridiculous extent. SpAnKy absolutely causes chaos and deserves some of the things that fly his way, but the game as a whole trend towards hating on him (and people like him), and discrediting what he does. This is one of the biggest issues with current politics. We all agree the current mold is bad. We all agree it needs to be broken. And then we destroy those who dare to break the trend. Everyone can agree on the need for some fresh blood, yet we beat the crap out of micros and people with new ideas. And then we refuse to allow them any chance at a possible redemption. That is why we’re stuck with what we have - because we take down everything else that is proposed. If y’all actually want minispheres, fresh ideas and leaders, and overall, spicier politics, then as a community we need to tone down the bashing of people who don’t follow the trend. Otherwise, all the potential good ideas out there that could really revitalize our politics will be shot down with the bad ones.

Rip LPH

Long live the Chicken Revolution!

If you consider it, though, that 25% stacking boost will help with that. I assume when you say “come back” you’re referring to the defenders getting some boost to roll the attackers - if the defenders have lost their wars, the attackers will have that military purchase boost which theoretically lets them remil faster than the defenders can, meaning they’d be in a better position to counter a second round from the defenders. Would also force the defenders to actually use beige to rebuild, which I think was a concern you listed initially, because if the defenders don’t come out with a stronger military they’ll be helping the enemy rebuild their military even faster with free wins.