Lysander

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.

I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. Beige is a means for rebuilding after defeat, which is why victors in a Global War prefer to let the wars expire. There are several things about this I think many people will dislike, but the main one has to be what SRD said - punishing nations for coming out of beige early doesn’t seem like a good idea. For example, if I’m in a GW, and I have an offensive and three defensives, and all beige me, it’s possible I rebuild before those eight days of beige are up, but I’d be punished for leaving early even though the beige has served its purpose. Also, idk if allowing that 25% to stack would be the best idea; the more wars a nation wins, the faster they can rebuild military to fight off other wars. Imagine an initial blitz goes in favor of the attackers in terms of wars won - they’ll be able to rebuild military faster during the war than their opponents and hammer down even harder.

It was at least five, probably a lot more.

Anyone else seeing perfectly logical reasoning being labeled as corruption by a micro?

This lines up way too well, doesn’t it

This is a hell of a surrender post. Great work Epi! Lmao

5 stars out of 5 stars, or if you want to go out of 10, 10/10. The entire operation was fast, efficient, and definitely worthwhile. I’ll be using this service again in the future, and I highly recommend you all use Thalmor to nuke a few people, even if it’s just to keep radiation up and the C5 food-producing noobs angry. Could not be more satisfied 👍.

Yes, a real outstanding move there. @Isjaki, you’ve definitely been checkmated.

Cheers!

I’ll be interested to hear your take!

Let’s go! Cutting the thorns of the Rose, eh?