Emperor Adam

Down with war! No more nukes!

I 100% think a meta move back to forums being primary would help a lot overall. More content that can actually be reasonably kept up with for one, and for two it helps a lot with flooding and swarming, making it easier to actually have conversations. Discord and radio have their perks for sure, but forums shouldn't be neglected.

Speaking purely for the timeframe I was gov for t$, a lot of it stemmed from the immediate hegemon claims by certain parties and lead us to feel like we *had* to be defensive.

I blame me talking to some people from here regularly still and being reminded the game exists

>inb4 "Adam u quit stop being a loser and checking forums" This post came to my attention and being one of the people who directly kept t$ on the path I felt like I should respond. Pre-emptive note to Syndi that this isn't me flaming y'all or whatever, it's just my genuine thought process. For the most part, minus the unnecessary NPO comparisons, I agree with what Aleph said. I won't go too far into detail on it as I don't represent t$ anymore in any fashion, but I wanted to respond to a specific point of Pre's. We've had our differences in opinion, but this specific series of lines is something I wish I'd been told when taking over for Partisan. I take full responsibility for what I did as FA, which is essentially be a shitty 140p ripoff dvd of Partisan, and I genuinely think if I'd gone another route Syndi and I would've been better off for it. That grandstanding FA style was never my cup of tea no matter how much I acted like it, and I wasn't nearly as good as Parti was both at doing it and knowing when to stop. It's likely the main reason I quit, honestly. I pretty much ruined the game for myself by trying to be someone else and shoddily copying their FA style instead of making my own, and I think doing that caused a lot more issues (particularly between t$-TKR following the split and GnR) than it solved, and I genuinely think had I been doing my own thing a lot of subsequent issues wouldn't have happened. I view my reign as FA as an utter failure. It wasn't catastrophic, but it wasn't what Syndi needed and wasn't what I was good at. My message to WANA is more of a "don't make the mistakes I did" moreso than a "change what you're doing now" type thing, but: Reevaluate if this is the way you want to do politics and you are comfortable with Syndi being seen as. If you are, by all means keep it up. If you aren't, use this war and postwar to make efforts to change things to your own style.

Valk did.

Making moderator names public would go a long way to dissuade this. Faceless moderation inherently fosters a "us vs them" when there's disagreements, whereas each party knowing the other adds that level of humanity to it and makes things a lot less confrontational in the long run.

This is dumb in that advisory roles are retirement unless you're like Abbas or Keegoz and can't keep your hands off the wheels 😜 That said, my opinion as I've stated in RON is that there wouldn't be a war between any of us 3 regardless within the next 3 months unless something major happened, which considering Sphinx is out of gov and can't leak anymore, I doubt. Instead of whining that the NAP is in place, why don't you go tell Oasis/Mystery to do something? TKR, Rose, and t$ can't do all the entertaining around here.

A. 3 spheres that arent in this NAP vs essentially the entire game being included in GW16S B. All three of the people you screenshotted there are retired and old, all we do is yell now

Your grab for attention is noticed. Carry on.

Homie Did you miss the part where we literally were beat?

Can't believe @Leftbehind got camelot rolled

Finally someone standing up for us farmers. Bless you, Pope.

They aren't contrary points. I actually enjoy the shit you talk because it adds to the political drama. Doesn't mean you can't get hit over it. Glad to see your responses are getting better. This is a fair argument and I see where you're coming from, but your gov is even agreeing. Your members are. You're the only one I've talked to besides listening to Hodor thus far that claims that GG isn't a whale hegemon. And if that's what you want to be, that's fine, but you can't act surprised when people want to throw hands over it, especially when, as I mentioned, it takes outnumbering you by a good margin to be able to drag you within a reasonable timeframe for short wars. You do still preach those, don't you? As I've mentioned to TKR, there's honestly a big chance this war would've been avoided were it not for the debut war on Rose. An ex-ally who'd hidden things from t$ the last month or so of our treaty signing our biggest rival and immediately rolling out on the only other aa in the game that you claim can 1v1 GG set off every alarm in the building. Once the counter-militarizing was starting, it was hard to consider that the backdown was possible. I will say that I'm speaking for myself as I think Wana wanted to talk to some extent but the timing was rough. I think after the debut this war was inevitable. I think after this war there can be some massive shakeups on all sides to prevent the repetition of this. The 6 month NAP has been explained in detail both by t$ and TKR. I won't get into your treaties because as soon as they leave you either forget them or insult them for leaving, which is a beast in itself. WANA and I have different admin styles, yes. Differing opinions is a part of the game. (Which is why I still yell in public, suck it WANA) Based SRD. Hello dms are bad 👎

Ironic that when it takes @Cooper days to respond to something he said he would despite being active, it's a-okay, but god forbid Wana take a few hours to respond to something. Be better, Wana. Your gov is well aware that GG is a significant buffer to dynamic politics by nature of their size in the whale tier. Ben and I have spoken in detail about it. GG's size makes it to where anyone declaring on them needs to either: a. Be willing to sacrifice their whale tier entirely or b. Have enough numbers to make up for the inferior tiering Neither's a great option, but more often than not folks are going to choose b for obvious reasons. How's that negatively influence game meta? Easy. It means either GG and their allies will sit pretty and be ignored, decimate any other sphere's whale tier, or cry "muh dogpile" when two+ spheres hit them. This will lead to either GG being ignored (which to be frank, won't happen - especially with how loud and proud Ronny was about being untouchable up until this war) or repeat wars, even if there's buffer wars in between with different shakeups. Going to go on a tad bit of a rant here then followup: Politics in this game is, frankly, already in the shitter with the current setup for most FAs. It's not the same game it was a few years back, and the game's hurting for it. Other people are too focused on being likeable and not focused enough on trying to keep the game interesting. It's an entire conversation I had with @Valkorion Baratheonabout Rose's FA last year. When you're sticking to backroom kind talks, the general membership has no idea why they're fighting who they're fighting, and any trashtalk (ie Eumir, me, etc) results in people getting in a twist over it. This game is not any fun if it's all sunshines and rainbows. If there's no trashtalk and everyone's all sweet and dandy to eachother, politics loses the edge and rivalries become, frankly, not any fun. It becomes a soft little leagues game instead of what things used to be. This isn't anyone specifics fault - a lot of the old guard have stepped down and/or left the game, and the game has a lack of people willing to be "mean" (I use that loosely, as frankly it's a game and if you're being hurt over some trashtalk you probably shouldn't be in a position where dealing with it is up high in the job description) which leads to things getting more stale as time goes on and more "kind" people take over in FA positions. So, to loop it back: That's why GG is an issue on a meta level. Politics is already boring. It's already stagnating. When you add a factor like that in, it puts a wrench in one of the last few things the game could offer - different wars with different people. Believe it or not, stagnate and boring politics in a political simulator is a horrible thing. It isn't just because "GG number big very scary", it's because FA/Milcom are having to choose to outnumber them enough to offset the far higher tiering or telling their own upper tier that they're !@#$ed and need to get over it. Hope that explains it a bit better.

Wrong. Tjest historically borrows members from across the game. Parti runs it, yes, but calling it a t$ centric venture instead of a "Partisan's bored and wants to start shit" is a bit disingenuous. Clearly not for "all intents" given I asked if there was any need for it given the multiple weeks notice before, and Ben said yes. In retrospect, probably using that as an excuse to finalize war shit while warding off potential preempts. Transparency is out the door when you're actively pulling the wool over the eyes of your ally, breakup incoming or not. Then that's not only ridiculously stupid FA on your part, it's a complete failure to use common sense. Makes it worse that I directly told you any hit on Rose with that CB would result in Oasis/Swamp (or MysInc, as the rename branded them) joining in. Y'all are lucky they didn't plan better. You are extremely inconsistent. You can pretend otherwise all you wish, we know the tune you're singing now is much different than it was when you were with us.

I think the reasoning behind WANA mentioning the ghosts was lost in translation a bit, so I'll make it clear as it's own point. It wasn't "OMG LOOK HW IS GHOST HITTING US???" it was "Oh look, Grumpy members who constantly go raid and then go back to Grumpy the second they get bored with 0 consequence are at it again". Grumpy is a threat and needs to take damage. Look how effective it is! Ronny can barely string words together as he watches his alliance finally take some damage early in a war. Grumpy is objectively bad for the meta. There's a few others that are too, but Grumpy is easily the number one issue currently. We discussed this in the embassy. t$ has been steadfast on this point at least since I joined, and even longer than that from what I've heard. SRD actively flaunted Grumpy's inability to be hurt/lose/etc and straight up said t$ was a target that had been floated but that the only reason we weren't hit is because Quack had just split. Don't pretend TKR wouldn't have taken that as a threat if you'd been in our situation. We both know you would have. As far as I'm aware this is accurate - though my gov is free to correct you if it isn't. Here's the issue, Coops. HW and BW didn't start off on a good foot. T$ found out you were making war plans behind our back during a war while we were still allies and had an information clause and before we'd even given an official notice. It was during our notice that we realized you weren't prepping for rebuild, while t$ was in the process of starting. I was getting a few messages from parties I won't mention here asking what was going on, and I had 0 clue despite still being allied to you at the time. This is after I'd probed Adri/Ben a few times on your post-quack plans and was met with silence despite giving you a heads up on what our plans were. Once the treaty dropped, you debuted your new allies in an offensive war against the only other sphere that you, SRD, and others claimed could "definitely fight GG guys" with the entirety of TKR's half of Quack, plus BK and all of HM. Let's break that down a bit and restate a few things. You: -Hit Rose with an overwhelming force while allying a group you knew we took issue with for various reasons, making essentially a new Quack. -Made these plans behind our backs despite the information clause in our treaty, knowing we'd be less than thrilled about the idea, and refused to tell us anything about your plans. -During the war, twisted my words more than a few times and used my broad number statements while ignoring the statements I made about tiering. Forgive us if we're less likely to trust you and consider you an honest party.

Didn't know you switched sides, friend! Good to see t$'s lord and savior is once again here to argue on our behalf.

Yes, we dogpiled you for the entire... 2 minutes? Before Rose counter-blitzed. We had info that they were joining in. This has already been gone over. I won't bother responding to the rest of it because frankly it's a ramble bordering on coping. Glad to see GoB's finally taking damage that actually matters, and that it's knocked you so out of norms that you're unable to respond nearly as well as you usually do.

I see we've hit the Godwin's law of PnW. When you (or your FA, as Cooper has yet to fulfill his promise of responding) has an actual argument let me know, yeah?

You know better. Read my response to SRD.

I think there's a miscommunication here so allow me to clean it up a bit. GoB by itself is not unstoppable. Guardian by itself is not unstoppable. Both would 100% be incredibly difficult fights because the general member competency and the tiering would support them a lot, but there'd still be a generally fair 1v1 sphere fight. Here's an objective alliance-by alliance tier chart. Notice something a bit off? If you just look at the totals, sure; t$, Rose, and GoB are relatively matched. But look at the tiering. We're extremely bottom heavy whereas you're extremely top heavy. What's the point of elaborating that? Simple: Downdecs+Guardian giving you extra support on the lower half. No matter how you put it, there's next to no way unless GG suddenly stops logging in for either Rose or t$ to 1v1, even if you add allies in. It'd be throwing our c30+ into a grinder and telling them good luck. TKR knows this as we talked about it in depth when discussing meta in Quack. Now, let me be fair and clear: I don't think GoB or Guardian are innately bad people and doing this to hurt the game, and I disagree with anyone who suggests that. That said, the strangehold on the upper tier hurts it regardless. And I don't think that's all on SRD. There's always going to be folks that don't want the hard fight and they'll be drawn to you. It's your gimmick. It's not necessarily something you can control without uprooting your culture entirely. That said, when you yourself constantly flaunt GoB's relative lack of damage, shit on your former allies for not wanting to fight while y'all always come out relatively unscathed, and then go "well if Rose and t$ would just grow" when we both consistently take significant damages in that tier, it gives you an reputation, and not a good one. It's extremely arrogant and is the reason that t$ has been consistent on this stance for years now. If you want a switch up, the ball's in your court. Where you throw it decides where the next road leads. If you want to actually see new and interesting FA, it's not us that can make that change this time. EDIT: SRD pointed out it wasn't updated. Got it fixed, will only post t$/Rose/GoB as they're the main point of my post: Numbers for Rose and Syndi are up and GoB's is down, but the disparity is still tehere and the new 30-32's don't change the downdec argument.

This is a continued counter-narrative y'all keep pushing. Since other attempts to respond have clearly been ignored, let me list it as simply as I can: 1. We had a reason to hit you. 2. Rose had a reason to hit you. 3. It's no secret and even certain ones of your allies agree: Either of us hitting you alone would be utter whale suicide because after 2-3 rounds our 35+ would be dead and downdecs would start. Both of us together stand a decent chance because of the number advantage. It's simple. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, especially when said enemy is borderline untouchable without them.

Bold of TKR to call Eumir out for "tantrums" (which tbh, in itself makes you look dumb) when their prevailing narrative has been whining about our cb and how its a dogpile. Then, when WANA gives you what you want, have two TKR reps completely ignore the post y'all have been begging for only for one to make a comment on something you've already dug into the ground while ignoring all the additional context, and for you to whine more about a member that's getting on your nerves/hurting your feelings. Bricks in glass houses, friend. I'd do yourselves a favor and let Adri or Cooper chime in, at least they do your FA some justice.

As one of the loudest proponents of the split, allow me to get involved. For the sake of keeping things clear: This response is fully OOC. Let's start with this. As literally anyone in t$ or anyone who knows me outside of the game can confirm- I'm an extreme leftist. I'd leak some of the politics chats from t$ to "prove" it but frankly I can't be arsed because the claim is so innately outrageous it doesn't warrant the time and effort. Let's look into why the split exists in the first place. We all have to play characters to genuinely enjoy this game. Do you really think Partisan is as eccentric, wild, and outspoken IRL as he is IC? Do you think that I actually stand by my "old people are bad", "all communists deserve punishment", etc rhetoric IRL? Do you think @Denison dresses up in a half-assed crusader halloween outfit everyday and goes around to call people weak and cowardly? If you do, re-evaluate a bit. The internet's an escape - games like this even moreso. It's an excuse to put IRL junk aside and be someone you're not. It's no different from if I were to go play DND with some friends, or jump on Gmod for some StarWarsRP. It's something you use to separate from your IRL self for a minute, because let's be frank, the world's in a shitty spot and we need something to go to to get away from it. Let's point out a prominent example of where this can quickly go wrong, especially when certain people are attempting to cross that line and use it for something else. Again, a reminder that since this is an OOC post from me. Also a pre-emptive I'm not here for sympathy or other bullshit, I'm just wanting to make sure this sort of attitude doesn't permeate and ruin a community. From January to right at the start of April, I was dealing with a situation where members of the game were insinuating t$ was a !@#$/!@#$ sympathizing alliance. I dropped character for this, as I believed it (and still believe it to be) a dangerous accusation to make. During this time, I was dealing with helping my mother and my grandfather deal with my grandmother, who'd been in the hospital for most of 2020 and had, in December, been put on hospice care and given a few months to live. I tried to use this game as an escape from the day to day I was dealing with, only to find out I was being accused of being a !@#$ because I was indirectly tied to a group of, let's be frank, trolls. So, to clarify, one of the few escapes I had at the time (thanks to COVID ruling out a lot of other ones), was being actively ruined because of the accusations that were being pushed. Eventually I got screenshots of these and to top it off, it seemed to be an attempt at getting some IC gain (the person leading the accusations was attempting to get a prot of an ally to join them and drop their current protector). I had a few friends involved in the situation that believed the accusations, which lead to us, obviously, drifting apart. In March, logs of/from the main accuser dropped. I read through the logs a few times before, justifiably in my opinion, getting pretty pissed off. I had lost more than a couple people I'd considered friends over the accusations, as well as had to deal with getting questioned about IRL morals by IC folks. A week later, my grandmother passed. I was dealing with the loss of a few friends, my grandmother, and trying my damndest to keep my shit together for my family that needed me. All that shit at once was, frankly, bad for my health and ridiculously stressful. If it weren't for a few folks (you know who you are, and I appreciate y'all a lot), I probably would've completely dipped out of the game with one last "go !@#$ yourself, Orbis". Dropping the OOC/IC line helps nothing. Get rid of the blatant racists, homophobes, etc, but when you drop it entirely you will inevitably make a bad call and cause undue stress and harm to a community and/or person. The game is just that - a game. Let's keep it that way. Let moderation handle the bullshit. Witch hunting does nothing good for the game. Frankly, if this kinda stuff doesn't stop, it'll lead to the death of the game. And you'll be the only ones to blame. OOC over. Adam out.