Tales of the Dragon

[dragonknight1998]

Hello everyone,

In order to attract more attention to the forums, I've decided to transfer my (incomplete) Magnum Opus, the Tales of the Dragon, here.

I once again have to remind you that the history here is as subjective as the one written by Herodotus and Xenophon: it is biased by the experiences of the one who wrote it. A more accurate historical project is in the works, with Talon, Burg_er and me at the helm.

So without further ado, let's write some propaganda political self-flattery whatever Cicero did, but with normal verb placement HISTORY!

[dragonknight1998]

PROLOGUE:
-------------------------------------
The year is 2020.
As you may know, it was an eventful year. War, Famine, Disease, Australia...
Especially the third event marked not only 2020 but the entirety of human history for years to come. No one realizes the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time.
But I am not here to talk about that. I am here to talk about Dennis, and my arrival in it.
So, big pandemic, spreads quickly and people die. Soon, it arrived to my country, and with tracking mechanisms being pretty shit like the rest of the deteriorating Universal Healthcare system, the only solution at the time was quarantine.
(I remember people screaming for a quarantine back then)
At the time, I was a bored uni student.

I am still a university student, but I ain't bored anymore, at that time however, I was stuck in home without anything to do but sit there and and watch the paint dry.

That actually worked for a few days, but then the paint dried completely. And I was like "fuck, I need to find an actual hobby"
So I watched YouTube. And what I found changed my life.
(BRB, lemme find the link)

*sounds of a wardrobe full of tools collapsing*

AHA!

youtu.be/SvALt1s3OTc

There it is. Wow, this is nostalgic. I mean look at the map. The map alone made me say "Interesting, might try it".
Anyway, my experience of multiplayer strategy games wasn't inexistent at the time. I had played Ikariam when it was cool, I've played mobile games which I would rather forget. Hell, I've even played e-sim once (wouldn't recommend it, the community is terrible). However I've never played a NatSim before.
I was bored, found game, liked game and signed in.

So, without further ado, lettuce begin a tale of War, friendship and progress. Let us begin...
*Evangelion theme opening*

THE TALE OF THE DRAGON

[dragonknight1998]

Lettuce begin.

Part 1

-------------------------------------
So, if what the game says is correct, it was December 23rd when I decided to start playing. Time sure flies.
Back then, the game was vastly different. The player base was into the triple digits, the combat system was best describe as "buy you can and hope for the best", and pops weren't a thing. In fact, now that I remember, raiding inactives was barely a thing back then.
I distinctly remember Spartan implementing the "inactive after 14 days" rule shortly after I started playing.
What's worse is that there was no building guides back then. No one could offer you good advice on what buildings give a decent Return of Investment.
Needless to say, I was pretty much stuck. Still, even in these early stages people could tell apart several things that worked, and things that didn't (ie, new buildings are better than upgrading existing ones, go for industrial point production early on etc.)
So, I listened to the community, provided feedback, and in general try to understand the workings of the game.
Before long, someone came up with a decent early game guide which soon became a must-have on Dennis (not called like that back then).

docs.google.com/document/d/10Fnl-L0zDYMPEUgp3nGGtzwgVaFdEqx5qxmwF3RuOfU/edit


Most of you don't recognize that name, which is understandable, since he doesn't exist.
Not anymore.
But more on that soon.
Needless to say, the guy was pretty "popular" by the standards of the time. Gave free advice, had his own alliance with more than 1 or 2 members, so that counted as something.
So, without wanting to join one of the bigger alliances at the time (Stardust Federation and GoTG), I decided to join the Coallition of the Willing.
(I was going to show you pictures of how it was but it seems to have been deleted)
The system at the time was democratic. Any member that was at the discord could vote on proposals by the government on what to do. In fact, I distinctly remember there being a vote on whether we wanted an MDP with another 1-man micro or a NAP.

We went for the MDP. Of course, even then, things seemed a bit fishy. For example there was only Sora mentioned above and Grand_exile being active.
Also, for some reason I was promoted to General without me knowing or being notified. (best decision yet)
Regardless of those signs about what was to come, of the terrible and great things that would follow, soon I found myself busy with an event that would mark my course in NaR, as well as PnW to an extent.
Because I, ladies and gentlemen, soon found myself in my first nation v nation conflict.
And it was none other than JadenStar10 that tried to attack me.
<====To be continued=====

(If any AAA member is reading this, I rolled Jaden before you did, HA!!)

[dragonknight1998]

Part 2
-------------------------------------
Now I know you want to hear tales of me crushing people for the first time in natsim history and becoming the bloodthirsty, full-slot loving maniac I am today, but first, let's explain the war mechanics of NaR a bit.
It's a historic documentary in a way after all.
In the current day and age, people get new units once they upgrade their buildings a bit. That hasn't changed beyond the building requirements, which were higher back then.
What was really different though was how units were deployed.
Simply put, there was no unit deployment back then like there is now, much like PnW.
Furthermore, if I recall correctly, there wasn't a broad infantry/tank unit limit, but each building level increased the amount of units for every unit type separately.
What did this nean? For starters, the most powerful armies had every single unit type in them. And the units did both defense and offense regardless of positioning.
Secondly, and most importantly, having an army with even one extra unit type compared to your opponent's was vastly more overpowered compared to now.

There was also a thing where armies had to be deployed to specific regions to defend them, but that was before my first war.
With that introductory tid bit, let's get back to the war.
The war with JadenStar10 was easily one of the most exciting events in my presence here. It started with him raiding me, and looting much of the resources I had stacked (vaults were a thing back then iirc, I just had stacked a bit above/hadn't built them enough)
The first thing I did was call for counters in CoTW. No luck, as I said in NaR discord, the guys were more inactive than GoTG somehow.
So I did the next best thing: allocated all my resources for war time purposes, upgraded military buildings as high as I could, and raided my own targets to increase what I had on me.
Soon enough, I found myself with quite an army, and iirc I was winning at some point.
Idk if Jaden was busy at that point, or if I actually did something right, but I wasn't going to pass up. I remember taking some of what I lost back before the end of the war. And not a moment too soon, because CoTW found itself at war with GoTG soon after.
Now if you ask me what the casus belli was, then don't worry, I'll let you know if I ever find out myself.
I took part in this war and managed to win a few battles.
In fact, CoTW was doing well...

...until Grand_exile, Sora and some other account were found to belong to the same person.

Yep, that was the first, and so far only time were a nation was found to have been multi-accounting. (One year later, we found two more such incidents)

Anyway, as a result of G_E's shenanigans, I soon found myself alone against 2? 3 GoTG nations?
I'm gonna go with two. I was like "no problem, I got this, I can kick ass, I AM INVINCI- wait, why can't I rebuild troops?"
In any case, the high unit upkeep as well as the constant unit rebuilding meant that I soon found myself without money.
Needless to say, I was pretty much dead in the water until the wars ended (which didn't last long btw).

And with the end of the war between GoTG and CoTW also came the end of the Neverending War more or less: the Stardust Federation was a mere shadow of it's former self, along with Cheems's Resistance and CoTW wasn't faring better. The only ones active were me, Turnerd20 and Jaden (who joined at some point after the war).
With G_E gone, I was given the title of Founder by Spartan, since it didn't pass down due to the ban.
And the first thing I did, as leader of the Coallition was...

Go play PnW, because I knew I was in over my head and needed some experience. :serious:

-------------------------------------
Coming Next, on Dennis Toons: DK1998 goes to a whole new natsim, in a journey for knowledge and power, but will these be enough to stop the Guardians of the Galaxy? Will CoTW ever rise to better heights, or will it die out like a candle flame in the wind?
Find out next, in DragonTalesZ
-------------------------------------
fyi, it seems I was player no302 in game

[dragonknight1998]

Part 3
-------------------------------------
Where we left off last time, the Coalition of The Willing was in a bad spot. I know, because if it wasn't I wouldn't be the Founder.
Fun fact, this would be the second time I would suddenly take ownership of a micro alliance in a game.
It was also the second time I would merge with others into a bigger one.
You heard it correctly folks, CoTW would cease to be and merge with the remaining members of Stardust Federation and Resistance, forming the United Warriors of Freedom. At first, it was just me, Tutnix, Cheems, Kazu and Turnerd20, along with some others who read the memo and joined after the alliance was founded.
The alliance founding coincided with a spike of activity (and mass pinging everyone) due to Spartan advertising the game in Royal Orbis News. Needless to say, many of the new comers would join our cause, getting the membership up to 15 more or less, getting us back in second place in terms of member count.

Notable figures who joined at the time were BenJaLum, a famous banker in Orbis, as well as Titan who rose to become head FA in DD. You know him, you love him.

Titan if you are reading this I should have given you the role sooner in UWoF

At the starting days of the alliance we were trying to do one of the most exciting parts of a natsim: figure out how it works from scratch.
That meant making building guides, grant programs, MMRs and various other stuff that I found out were necessary for any alliance to be successful.

This was one of the main reasons I started playing PnW btw. It provided a place to understand how an alliance functions in a way that NaR couldn't provide at the time.
It also allowed me to see a natsim that has been developed in a longer period of time.
One of my greatest decisions if I may say so myself, the fuzzy feeling I felt in my first few wars in NaR was cultivated into PURE BLOODLUST by me getting mentored by Allend in TKR.

Anyway, back in Dennis we were trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.
We weren't headless chickens, and were making good progress.
Of course, someone else made better progress, because the day UWoF was officially founded, DD also became a thing.
And they were growing fast.
Boy were they growing fast.
At first we were uncertain of DD I have to admit. They were a new force in NaR, hailing from the barren wasteland of AnO and rising in score and membership fast. Soon enough their member conts were higher than ours.
Soon enough though Ben made one of the best decisions there ever were and said "Maybe we should be friendly with them". And thus began cordial relations between the two alliances, which soon blossomed into friendship.

And thank god it did, because Spartan announced a new game mechanic that allowed nations in the top 20 to raid everyone who was 5 ranks above or bellow them, regardless of score.
With that in mind and our friendship with DD, we signed the Sexy Pact Digital Freedom Mandate, a Mutual Defense Pact that allowed us both to survive the coming onslaught and rise above it.
So strap yourselves in, put those helmets of yours bellow your nether regions, lock, load, rock and roll, because one of the most exciting events in Dennis history will be told tomorrow.
Tomorrow, start the Awakening Wars.

[Transcript from the show below]

dragonknight1998
tenor.com/view/independence-day-hello-boys-im-back-return-suicide-gif-6099267

God of the Memes — 10/16/2021
discord censors some GIF's
this is one of them

DragonKnight1998 — 10/16/2021
Smh, and people wondering why TKR choses slack.

[dragonknight1998]

Part 4
-------------------------------------
So, I will start this show with a question to the audience. If you were me, what would you do if Spartan rolled out a new war feature and you expected everyone including their mothers to be at each others' throats? (edited)
The United Warriors of Freedom were barely 15 members. And many of them were in the top 20 at the time.
GoTG in contrast had about 30+ members. True, there were many inactives there as well, but the most active ones were all in the top 20.
So we are in a dilemma. The first option we have, thank you for the suggestion @comrade , is for us to go in the offensive alone a bit before the update.

This would give us the initiative, and would allow us to loot/bombard to our discretion. Even if the initial shock wore off, the update would mean that Tutnix (still #1) would come swooping down to anyone at rank 6 and above and blow them to smithereens.
This wasn't a bad plan, and it was taken into consideration initially, but it was flawed.
For starters, units at the time could play offense and defense at the same time, meaning if GoTG was militarized, we would risk heavy losses.
Secondly, it would mean that we wouldn't be utilizing DD's military capabilities at all. It was an MDP after all, they weren't obligated to go on the offense with us.
So plan B (which became Plan A), was to fully militarize and wait for a blitz by GoTG. Stardust Federation's fall was relatively recent, and it was highly likely they would have gone on the offensive when they had the chance. That way we would be able to draw upon DD's strength, present a solid defensive front and after that counterattack with extreme prejudice. The only flaw of this plan was that GoTG might hav decided to say "fuck it" and just sit there waiting for us.

So this is how the proverbial combat map looked like:
-------------------------------------
Top 10:
In DFM's side there was only Tutnix, Cheems, Kazu, and BenJaLum in the lower end of the top 10
In GoTG's side was pretty much everyone else with the exception of a couple of independent nations

Everyone was in range of each other more or less with the exception of Tutnix, which was in range of no one at the time due to his score. This would change once the update became a thing
-------------------------------------
Ranks 11-20:
some unaligned nations, some DFM nations including me and one from DD, as well as several GoTG nations

at those rankings GoTG had a tech advantage which would make their dislodging a bit difficult, but more on that later
-------------------------------------
Ranks <20:
This where the bulk of DD's presence was located, as well as several GoTG nations

Bellow rank 20 there weren't any nations that had Tanks before the war, so it would be a Raid fiesta. Key word here: before
-------------------------------------

Furthermore, GoTG had a clear tech advantage, being able to field more Tanks, of different types, in the strategically critical top 20 ranks
Of course, they only had an in-game tech advantage, DD's and Tutnix's bots were able to give us a clear edge (edited)
So while we were waiting for DD-Day to arrive, we prepared. We stockpilled resources, upgraded military buildings as fast as we could, assigned targets, built units aaaaaaand things escalated before the update.
>wat.mp3
You read correctly, things escalated several days before the update itself.
Hold on, I got a video:

cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/398549288650801153/854778552579129405/video0-18-1.mp4

Nearing the 27th of April, GoTG's upper tier attacked iamCheems and Kazu, raiding them and in some cases even bombarding their military bases. Whether this was a strategic move by GoTG to take out our forces piece by piece, or if they ignored our MDP with DD remains unknown, but considering that said MDP was posted everywhere, in discord, PU and the forums, it is probably the former.
Say what you will about GoTG, but this was a fine move on their part. Until the update rolled out, we couldn't do much to help but provide a very limited amount of reinforcements (a new mechanic implemente before the war). If possible, we tried to offer reinforcements when the members that were hit had full forces. Idk if it was a feature or not, but you could exceed the unit limit that way.
At the 27th of April 2021, we posted a RoH, which meant that what would be later known as the Awakening Wars have started properly.

Early phases of the war
-------------------------------------
When the war began and DD joined it along with UWoF, lots of raiding happened in the lower tiers. DD managed to gain a large amount of resources due to all the looting, which allowed it to build a big bank of it's own, as well as upgrade it's existing military capabilities.
In ranks 11-20 UWoF was trying to dislodge several GoTG members from there, down to DD's war range. Once that happened they would be eaten faster than a cow in a Piranha tank, but until then we had to breach their defenses. At the early stage this proved to be difficult, and only after coordinated strikes did we manage to breach their defenses. We also had to be careful of any possible counterattacks.
In the top 10 the opposite was the case. Our members were in intense holding action, trying to shrug off as many attacks as possible. Tutnix was offering support via reinforcements at this stage. (edited)
It was critical that we get as many people as close to the top 10 as possible, to relieve our members from any attacks. Fortunately, we were making steady progress by the time the actual update rolled out, and fun could begin.

Middle phase of the war
-------------------------------------
At this stage, DD had finished looting the entirety of the lower tier, with little to no resistance. Since many of those nations were providing GoTG with much needed taxes however, it was decided that every nation would be bombarded in order to deny the enemy of valuable resources. So yeah, we did warcrimes before it was cool.
In the ranks 10-20 progress accelerated rapidly, partly due to the coordinated strikes by DFM, partly due to several nations from our side in the top 10 downdeclaring against the stronger GoTG nations in our range. Soon enough we were able to bombard their capitol buildings and throw them to the piranhas.
On another note, the Last Ride of Quack also started that day, sending my bloodlust to new heights
In the top 10 the tide of the war turned when Tutnix managed to join the war proper. Even with some of our nations having taken heavy damage, his presence there alone provided a new front for GoTG to waste their troops into. Even with carefully timed strikes, Tutnix simply had more firepower, and by this point GoTG had attacked one too many nations, meaning they were winded.

The war was drawing to a close, in DMF's favor. In a couple of hours I will post the late phase of the war, as well as what happened directly after it. So stay tuned.

[dragonknight1998]

Part 5
-------------------------------------
Last time we talked about the early and mid phases of the war, so all that is left to talk about today are the late phases, the peace talks, and several immediate post-peace processes.
So, without further ado, let us begin.

Late phase of the war
-------------------------------------
At this point GoTG was pretty much beaten in all fronts. In the lower score ranges, their members have been thoroughly looted and bombarded, same with those who were once at ranks 10-20. Any resistance was miniscule and uncoordinated. Even their more active nations were fielding less military units than before.
In the top 10 things weren't as dire for GoTG... yet. Despite the DMF counteroffensive there, the members of GoTG had enough resources to last much longer than their lower score allies.
Of course that wouldn't last for long. Our attacks were getting through their defenses and they felt each building lost.
Soon enough they reached their point where they had to convert other resources to money (we were certain they were doing that).
So at the final few days of the war the upper echelons of GoTG decided to focus on a single nation: tutnix's nation. If the plan worked they might have had a fighting chance, or at least protracted the war a bit longer.
But to quote a famous Spartan king:

IF

Obviously, they didn't succeed. To their credit, their attacks showed great coordination, having only 2 seconds difference in one case. Of course, all of them failed.
This sparked an outrage at this point on GoTG's side. Accusations of cheating were made, that Tutnix somehow managed to make a script or an algorithm that played the game for him.
Those were swiftly disproven of course. Had they been true it would have shown long ago. That being said, this didn't mean we didn't have an irl tech advantage: Titnix DID manage to make an API that notified him of incoming attacks. But even then, this API was used with the permition (and a thorough check) of Spartan.
After the issue was resolved negotiations begun, and soon after the Gardening truce was signed.
Reason why it is called the Gardening truce:



The terms were simple: white peace, and a 21 day NAP. Nothing more, nothing less.
And so it was that the Awakening wars officially ended. However, FA talks weren't happening between just DFM and GoTG.

Near the end of the war, we managed to achieve an unprecedented level of trust and camaraderie with DD. That along with us realizing that a big alliance is better than two small ones led to BenJaLum (greatest decision #2) putting forth the idea of a merger between the two alliances. We were all in agreement, and the merger was complete at the 7th of May.
News weren't as good for GoTG though. After the war they kicked more than half their players, many of whom have gone inactive by that point.

Anyway, the devastation of GoTG was something we didn't expect, not this much at least. We didn't see an issue at the time though since we were busy with doing peacetime stuff. Furthermore, after the war the war mechanics changed to what they are now, so we had to figure out how they worked from the beginning (thank God there was a test server).

So yeah, we were busy trying to make DD what it is now. After a while though, new powers would show up in Dennis.
So stay tuned so we can talk about them on tomorrow's episode.

[dragonknight1998]

INTERVIEW TIME:

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
@reader Hello ladies gentlemen and the beautiful technicolor rainbow in between, and welcome to tales of the Dragon.
Today we will do something special, instead of doing the usual historical episode shtick, I have invited for you today two people who have fought in the frontlines during the Awakening wars and lived to tell the tale.
So give a round of applause or two for @will King and titan (Ping me) .

Will King — 10/19/2021
Hello there

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Hey

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
So how are you doing today you two? Been alright?

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Most definitely

Will King — 10/19/2021
I'm doing okay, been looking forward to this since it was arranged , how you doing?

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Quite fine, sorry for the delay, late-night trash needs someone to take it out.
So, first things first. I would like you two to introduce yourselves. Who are you, what do you do, as well as what you were during the Awakening wars.

Will King — 10/19/2021
Well I am Will King, I am the current leader of Digital Dopamine as it stands today, I also handle the high gov IA position. During the Awakening wars I had the same role I do now except in a smaller aa, I led Digital Dopamine pre-merge with UWoF


Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
So, I'm Titan, I've been playing this game since early March this year, and have since been in three alliances, the important ones being United Warriors of Freedom, and Digital Dopamine where I'm serving as FA right now. In the awakening wars i was in the formerly mentioned United Warriors of Freedom, I believe I served as FA there aswell, pleasant times.

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Great. Now, I will ask one of you a question and then Imma ask a question to the other one, sounds good?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Yup

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
sure

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Ok, let's start with Titan. How did you join UWoF and what were you doing before the war?

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
sorry for the delay
so before i was in UWoF i was in a micro called Pirates and Rogues, but well, it wasn't active and didn't grow, so instead i wanted to join a bigger alliance, GoTG seemed like a good choice, but i didn't want to join the hegemony (ironic now isn't it) so i went with UWoF, a brilliant choice I must say.
Not quite sure what I was doing before the war, mostly growing steadily and visiting other alliances to see what was going on.

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Yes, not that you mention it, I do remember you being very social since day 1.

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Glad to hear

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Ok, so Will's turn, the question is pretty much the same, albeit with a small difference. How did you (and on extention DD) join the game? What did you think of the game at the time?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Well to answer why DD joined it requires a tiny bit of backstory. So DD was originally formed and got together in order to join another natsim that was being developed called Affairs and Order. We got to around 70 members at our peak I believe, now I was only 2IC and heir of DD at this point. After a long period of inactivity, lack of progress on the game and missed deadlines, we began looking for another game to play. It was at this time our leader at the time, Dede, found NaR. We then came over, and Dede decided to relinquish leadership to me over here. So that covers our joining, now what we thought of the game was mixed. A lot of us were excited and happy to be finally playing as DD, although there were some people that weren't as happy with the game because at the time it seemed simplistic. I enjoyed it tho as I always have, along with some core members we've pulled along with us Bit of a long para but I felt the extra detail was needed

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Don't worry, the extra detail was much appreciated.
So, Titan what did you feel when the war update was announced? On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited were you for the upcoming conflict?
[11:16 PM]
sorry for the delays, did something at the same time, is fixed now

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
hmmm
Well i don't remember fighting a lot before it came out so i wasn't super used to the old system, apart from raiding, but i was excited to finally get into some action, it definitely seemed like a war would come soon once it arrived, and before too, all in all we knew a war was coming
I was probably a 10, i needed some war in my life at that point
Probably one of the best updates to date

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
It was, shifted the balance of the game massively.
So, Will, before the war there was an MDP with UWoF. What did you think of that pact? Was it your first choice, and if not, what led you to do a pact with us?

Will King — 10/19/2021
That pact was something I was looking into from our very first thoughts of FA. When we got to the point we were established enough to consider formal treaties with others we looked through the different alliances around. The two we mainly looked at were Gotg and UWoF, UWoF were the obvious choice all along. We clicked much better with them, UWoF were much more active and easy to get a hold of and one of the best organised alliances up to that point. All of this combined led us to getting the pact with you guys (edited)

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Alright, next question. Titan, what were your experiences throughout the war? How did it feel, was there any success, and if so, how rapid?

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Well my personal effort in the war was sadly limited, due to my score at the time i didn't have a lot of action going for me, but the action I did get was a breeze so throughout the war it was pretty much just free raiding on my part.
Alliance wise it felt like we were on top pretty much since it started (with some exceptions of course, some of us got completely and utterly rolled in the war even if we won a bunch). From my point of view however we were clearly going to win from day one.

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Strange, I don't remember people getting rolled that hard. Maybe it was the guys at the top 10? They were hit pretty fast early on.

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
yeah
i heard a lot about how cheems wasn't quite happy of how it played out

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Yeah, little we could do early on.

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Well, long term we smashed them pretty hard so no matter
i think

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
We did.

So, Will, your turn. How did you do during the war? How did DD do?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Well being completely honest it was pretty simple for us, the coordinated counter attacks against the upper tier meant the lower tier (which DD mostly was as it had just joined) were able to fair really well if I remember correctly. I myself pretty much just got free rss from them, some of those members I personally fought are still in Gotg to this day actually. This meant there was little support within Gotg from each other, leading to as Titan said a pretty obvious win.

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Yeah, the brunt of the fighting was above rank 20 it seems. We did drop some of their guys to your range though if I recall correctly didn't we?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Yeah, they were pretty much just punching bags at that point tho, giving very little trouble


DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Yeee boiiii
Alright, a question to both of you. What did you think of the Gardening Truce and the UWoF and DD merger respectively?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Ngl I honestly don't recall much about the truce itself, I remember Gotg being notoriously difficult to contact and then being ordered to stop fighting. The DD merger was something I was initially very apprehensive about tbh, but after talking with you guys more I started to see the benefits and decided to go through with it. I am very glad we decided to do so, it's worked out very well for us all

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Well the fact that we were able to contact GoTG for a small period of time was certainly a massive success of it's own
The gardening truce wasn't too harsh on them either, nothing more we could have really done though, but i know everyone didn't find it too exciting
The merge was the best decision since, well, probably nothing in this game before. Pretty much shaped the future of the game up until today

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Okay, last question for both of you. If you knew what would happen in the future, would you change anything?

Will King — 10/19/2021
Hmmm I don't think so, I'm honestly really happy with how everything has turned out so far

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
Tough one, Not sure really what change would have been of greater amusement than what really happened,
Maybe actually convinced people that the sexy war and sexy truce was indeed the best names and henceforth they shall be known as such.

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
NOOOOOOO

Will King — 10/19/2021
Side note, those names were the bane of my existence, we couldn't escape them lol

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
I HAVE ALMOST FORGOTTEN ABOUT THAT

Will King — 10/19/2021
Everyone went with the actual names except for like a few vocal people but they wouldn't stop saying it

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
We miss you Llama

Will King — 10/19/2021
RIP Carl
One of the OGs of DD

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
It was CLEARLY the better options
and you know it

DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
The Titan emoji on the comment above tho


DragonKnight1998 — 10/19/2021
Anyway, it has been real nice to talk with you in this show (and in general). With this we can conclude today's episode and go to bed knowing history has been recorded properly. Thank you both for your time, and thanks to the audience for being with us today.

Will King — 10/19/2021
No problem, thank you for having us and thank you to anyone listening to us

Titan (Ping me) — 10/19/2021
^ what will said
Thanks for letting us participate

[dragonknight1998]

Part 6
-------------------------------------
So, where were we. Oh yes. End of Awakening wars. GoTG goes through a member diet, looses a shit ton of score and half it's members.
As I said before, victory against GoTG was expected. It's implosion however wasn't. After the war, we kind of found ourselves without much real competition.
Of course, GoTG was more still active then than it is now, since their higher score members were able to participate in the test server for our current war system. That lead us to hope that they would rise up in score and organisation, and perhaps counterattack.
They didn't.
So, without much else to do, we decided that we had to organize ourselves, and gain a mastery of the mechanics of the game.
The process was slow, but steady. Personally, I was occupied with trying to find an MMR that would fit the new mechanics, as well as other fun stuff.
While we were busy though, new forces appeared slowly in the game (or were there but decided to show themselves).

You may recognize some of these names:
United Socialist Front
Pollaris
The Coal Mines
GOONS
Black Skies also appeared after a while, and promptly renamed itself to Red Skies. At a similar date the alliance called the Iron Guard by @dragonitebos also appeared. (edited)

Other than that, nothing interesting happened at the time. The game was getting new updates in a steady pace, King from RS was asking for an MDP, and personally I have managed to do quite enough for me to focus on purging the lower tier clean of Bollywood members in PnW.
So yeah, happy days, until the 21st of June. What happened in the 21st of June? Two words:

MICRO MOMENT
Apparently, a member from Red Skies, decided to leave the alliance and hop to the Iron Guard. Nothing wrong there. The reason for the upcoming conflict however was that he left with his safekeepings, as well as a grant that consisted of 10000 money and 10000 industrial points.
Now all this could be solved by communicating properly. Instead, the one man war happened, where a member from RS and the member that joined Iron Guard decided to duke it out.
So that's how the One Man War happened. I don't think anyone won that conflict to be honest. Certainly not the members in question, since they arent active anymore.
So yeah, boring war, ended in 24th of June. What wasn't boring was the military offensive by GOONS that happened around that time.

It was quite one sided honestly. The coordination they showed was quite something. Every target nation was slotted completely.
Now the reason this happened was unclear. Most likely, the reason was they wanted to test out the war mechanics of the game.
However, there were other things happening at the time as well. There was some controversy apparently with the leader of TCM back then.
In any case, the military offensive ended quite quickly, although most alliances attacked were soon marked inactive, with the exception of RS and IG. TCM disbanded some time after the offensive.
I remember King being bombarded a lot though. It has been a recurring theme at the time.

HOLY SHIT I ALMOST FORGOT

Nikmicric tried to do solo raiding after the Awakening wars. The problem was that he didn't adapt enough to the new war system, so he got rolled hard.
Fun.
Anyway, besides those things, Dennis was enjoying a Pax Dopamina. Any conflict was very small at the time, and hasn't impacted the game too much tbh.
All was well. Of course, they wouldn't be forever, and without us knowing, the next major conflict was already brewing.
I think I'm going to end today's episode here tbh. A bit more boring than the last ones, I know, but it is hard to top a big war. Don't worry though, the things mentioned in this episode would shape the game more than you think.

[dragonknight1998]

Part 7
-------------------------------------
Let's see, what is next on the menu...
Crap, it is Down with the King
Story is simple with this one really, at least on my part.
King has raided DD members a couple of times in the past, but everytime he sent peace requests before I could assign any counters. This wasn't much of a problem really early on, but after a while we realized this wasn't gonna end any time soon.
So, when Spartan said he was gonna make alliance banks raidable, we didn't need much time to say enough was enough. The next time King raided, was gonna be the last.
At the time he raided, I distinctly remember assigning 3 people on him. A simple counter, nothing more, nothing less.
To clarify things further, we didn't think King was attacking dd on purpose, but we still had to set an example.
Of course, I didn't know how far this would go. I didn't think he would anger goons that much (I don't even remember how he did it)
Regardless, our part in the whole incident ended with that one counter.
The conflict ended in August the 1st. A memorable date.
Previously King tried to persuade us to stop the counter by giving us an IP or two. Was funny.
What was even funnier was that he said he was gonna join GOONS
Must have not worked out in the end, what with the whole we-do-not-recruit shtick GOONS have
After that of course the next star of the show would be @dragonitebos
Because by the 27th of July, he managed to persuade everyone he was an ultranationalist.
I don't know if this is true anymore, but it was so edgy that everyone was wondering what the fuck was going on. With the exception of GOONS. GOONS act reflexively in those cases.
At the 27th, somehow, what was left of IG and RS merged together.
Thus the Cursed Merge
In any case, enough micro talk, time to talk about Grimghor.
Guy literally came out of nowhere. Was bored out of his life.
And somehow, he managed to make military upgrades before anything else.
Say what you will, but this is dedication.
Managed to fend him off fortunately, but it took resources (well spent of course).
His presence jumpstarted our alliance development up to 11, had to improve our defenses in case this happened again.
He kept quiet for a while, until the reason to end this show appeared.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, give an applause for TLE.
Don't worry lads, the show will restart, in the future.