[Castle Camelot is an Obvious Tax Farm (A DNN Investigation)]

Oh no no no Camelot bros. We got to cocky! 

[I Scraped a Bunch of Alliance City Building Data (Sponsored By DNN)]

I am downvoting this because I hate data. We need less information. We need to return to ignorance. Our decisions should be based on gut instinct alone. 

[Thalmor Radio - April 1st WANA guest appearance]

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On this week's episode of Thalmor Radio, we will be having on WANA as a guest. WANA is t$'s upper gov head of FA. Playing since 2014, WANA has extensive history with the game, and I am very eager to hear his story. 

Thalmor Radio is P&W's longest running radio show. Broadcasting since December 2019 and hosted by myself and Zig, we talk about the game, major IRL happenings, and whatever else is on our minds (usually manic, detached petulance). We go live (usually) every Friday at 9 PM EST. 

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Thalmor Radio Invite: https://discord.gg/j8FBFJaWg9

Show Archive: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFr5zXOgj1AEVtX3OIsK7ZA/videos

 

[Macro, Micro and everything in between]

[Ghostbusters (Johnsons/HM) Propaganda Thread]

On 3/22/2022 at 6:16 AM, Big Mac said:

[Alliance Treaties]

Thanks for making this, OP, but as posted earlier, there is already an in-game treaty web that people can view. 

[Ghostbusters (Johnsons/HM) Propaganda Thread]

1 minute ago, Asclepius said:

The Fighting Pacifists fight like a bunch of pacifists; that is, like people who don't have a clue how to fight

And yet, all the cope and seeth is from your side. 🤔

[New Family Business [DoW]]

This is actually kinda based. Go Johnsons, go! 

 

gl hf everyone involved.

[[Sphere] Fate Lies in the Stars]

You ever get so dunked on by a forum thread that you form a megasphere? Lmao.

[[DoE] Lighthouse]

14 minutes ago, Audon said:

Bold of you to assume we even have braincells and any semblance of sanity left on this shithole we call Orbis.

Take some advice from your elder: Arguing with a fool does not make you smart. It just makes you a fool alongside them. 

[[RoH] The Unthinkable]

Not the most unthinkable alliance announcement we'll see in the next week, I'm sure. 

[[Cancelation] tCW / Wei Notice]

For those who don't know, the reason why TCW is dropping Rose is because Rose is signing a treaty with The Syndicate. 

Hence this quip: 

3 minutes ago, Belisarius said:

If only Rose can find another alliance to ally with, one that has historically used the color green as part of its motif. tbh I'm coming up blank 🤷‍♂️

 

[Yep, this actually Happened]

I was crying. I was puking. It was awful. So glad it didn't stay down any longer than it did. 

[The Start Of A Region That Probably Won't Even Make It Past The Month Of March]

12 hours ago, Federative Woodstock said:

@Miller

Congrats on credit victory.

Hi! I suspect you're hoping to get something out of raffling credits. You probably won't get it, though. Instead, I recommend spending your own resources on your own nation.

 

Also, join a major alliance if you haven't already, and make ties with the community that way. 

[The Trial of Borg]

The invite I originally posted was expired. I have since replaced it with a working link. Here it is: https://discord.gg/j8FBFJaWg9

Did a master hacker and/or intelligent AI sabotage the original invite?????? The plot thickens. 

[The Trial of Borg]

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People are yelling! The Gavel has been swung! The Bailiff takes out his service weapon! It's pandemonium, it's chaos! It's...

Thalmoria v. Borg

Scheduled for tonight at 10 PM EST, come see if a cyborg can plead the fifth, or if a bot can be compelled to testify against its creator (probably not).

 

Court Lineup:

 

Defendant: Borg

 

Judge - Thalmor

Bailiff - Zig

 

Lead Prosecutor: Prefontaine

Assistant Prosecutor: Jadenstar

 

Lead Defense: Decagon

Assistant Defense: Vice

Assistant Defense: Luna

 

Thalmor Radio will also be at 9 PM EST as usual. I plan on going for 45 minutes, and then will slowly ease into trial proceedings. Topics tonight include the war ending, my takes on some minor happenings this week, and a brief special guest appearance! I wonder who it is! Ooooh, mystery! 

 

Server invite: https://discord.gg/j8FBFJaWg9

Recording archive: Thalmor Radio - YouTube

[[DoW]The Fear Has Struck]

9 minutes ago, BelgiumFury said:

You're the guy who scammed all your members, yes? Seems apt to name your alliance after a parasitic creature then. 

He used the entire alliance as his own tax farm to grow his nation, then he tried to sell the alliance off. That's straight King Shit right there.

Econ nerds all over the game have to have days-long arguments behind closed doors over increasing alliance taxes from 10% to 15%. Meanwhile, Dwight - acting decisive and self-interested as all rational people should - just takes the whole bank for himself. Uhh, hello? Based Department? 

[Return to the OWF, fellow Orbisans]

12 hours ago, Sval said:

And I honestly don't think we're capable of it.

Why do you think the community is not capable of it? 

[Return to the OWF, fellow Orbisans]

I think 'Orbisans' is the Demonym for residents of Orbis. Those with more knowledge in etymology are free to correct me. I asked Alex and he said he had never thought about it, so he didn't have an answer for me. Rip.

In between making appeals and writing love letters, there has been a sudden return to high-level, passionate, long-form discourse on the forums. Perhaps my brain is fried from 5G cell towers, but I haven't really seen this kind of stuff since - and may Allah forgive me for uttering these words - New Pacific Order's Last Time.

In response to how destructive that war was, both in the rhetoric and its effects on the player base, the meta quickly did a one-eighty. We currently play a game where decision makers are constantly acting in good faith within a principled framework. Wars end without terms- sometimes suddenly. The community regulates itself to ensure no one or two spheres can overpower the others. Yes, there are exceptions to all these themes, but there's almost two years of data to look over and I believe that's been the trend. The current meta is a strong disgust response to what we had to deal with in that one war with those people.

Interestingly, alongside the meta's shift to being as non-toxic as possible, spirited debate has also disappeared. If you go to the wiki, and browse the forum threads linked in the various globals of 2016-2018, you will find plenty of discourse among the decision makers of the time. Some threads, if I remember correctly, would even reach 50 pages long (in a time where the active play base was less than half the size it is now, mind you). These threads would have plenty of walls of text, and tons of passion behind them. Unfortunately, these kinds of discussions don't happen anymore. It's probably the only change in the meta these past two years that I miss. Presently, it appears as if most wars and their motivations are cut and dry enough that there isn't much room for spirited discussion. If I had to guess, that's the price paid for everyone operating in the same frame of trying to act in good faith (I'm not sure if that should change though; it will inevitably happen as the years go on anyways so there's no need to hasten our collective return to hell).

I do miss the discussions of the past, though. I miss the intellectual melees that happened. I miss the passion. I welcome the changes that have occurred in the mindsets of people since NPOLT's ended, but to me, the lack of enthusiastic debate on the forums is missed. I think a lot of it has shifted to Discord, but a lot of that is hidden away in embassies, DMs, group chats, and in servers I am not a part of. There are times for talks to be hidden, but I think a lot of discourse can happen out in the open here on the forums, and it would be nice if that returned. 

I am not the only one who feels this way. I've seen plenty of people saying that they enjoy Horsecock's OP. Killzbob made a video recording of him reading that post, and it sits with 135 views; making it the 5th most viewed video on the Thalmor Radio archive- a channel with over 100 videos. In that thread, others jumped in and wrote long posts of their own. Reading these walles de textos are fun and the energy behind them is somewhat intoxicating. Now, in that thread, recent posts are encouraging people to return to the forums (comments made by Shiho and Adam are my inspiration for making this thread myself). I think that is something that should happen.

The forums have been a big part of the game. It is a place where communities make announcements, and others post their memes or valuable information (such as a tier or sphere analysis). While these things are all great, the complex political discussions that use to be commonplace are as every much a part of the game's experience and collective inheritance of the community as every meme or serious review of something that gets made. While the forums were probably used more in the early years because IRC is, like, from the 90's and Discord is much more convenient and fluid, I do think the community is missing out on entertaining and informative discussions by our political leaders in our alliances and spheres.

So, that is my request, fellow players of the game (especially those who are as decrypted and wrinkled as I am). Return to the forums. Return home. Discord has it uses, but during a time of war - or some other crisis - take it to the forums. Hash out those issues in the DoW or RoH. Someone screws you over? make a call out thread instead of yelling in the embassy. The community stands to benefit from seeing these things discussed more in the open when they happen. I enjoy seeing it, and I know others do too. It's a part of the game that I miss, and it's an old pastime that our newer companions can derive important information and fresh entertainment from.

TL:DR - Use the forums more because people are getting value (information and entertainment) out of the walls of text that come with passionate and energetic political discussion.

[Common Extra Attack Bug]

Paladins gain the ability to attack a second time when they reach level 5. Not really sure what the problem is here?

[TFP Yeets Camelot]

I think it's very commendable that you guys stood up for your ally. I was a bit concerned that TFP was going to roll over, but I see now that such an idea was unfounded. 

[An Appeal to The Syndicate]

13 minutes ago, JaxTeller said:

bleh

Don't care, didn't ask, plus you're under C30.

[An Appeal to The Syndicate]

The Syndicate is insolvent, folks! The Judge already said 'no' to a Chapter 7, and a Chapter 13 might not even be enough to bail them out! Will the local DA press federal charges?????

[[Treaty]TFP Finds Its Johnson: An Adoption Story]

The Johnsons were already very powerful. You would think TFP would've learned from that Mystery-Oasis thing that the community does not take such consolidation well. 

Perpare for the storm, kid. 

[#NewYearNewYou]

I only wish this could've waited a day so that I could channel my inner boomer and say "man, I can't believe we've been fighting you guys since last year!"