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For those who had not realised, Friday 13 November 2009 is an important day. I am not talking about paraskevidekatriaphobia, but rather the anniversary of W27's inception. Often we use this as a chance to look back on the year and comment upon the events with the benefit of hindsight as well providing some nostalgia for the more venerable W27 players out there. What follows is a brief overview of the world's events and the comings and goings that begot our current situation; I begin of course on a Thursday morning one year ago...
When this world was first announced and its settings realised, it was not disapproval, but curiosity that sparked attention in this world. You see, W27 is unique in many ways, not least in its early settings. The idea of placing players into random tribes upon their arrival in the world and preventing them from leaving and joining others was perhaps interesting in theory, but the true nature of it could only be realised after the months had expired. It was an experiment in so many ways but that is often the only way one can truly see how these sorts of things play out.
The settings as they officially were:
World 27 Settings:
World will open Thursday the 13th of November, between 15:00 and 17:00 ST
Server speed: 1.1x
Troop Speed: .9x
Packages, No Paladin, No archers
No Tribe Limit, No Leaving tribes or disbanding them.
Techs: 15
Beginner Protection: 5 days
Location is random, you can not support people outside your tribe.
When a player joins a server they will automatically be put in a random tribe.
You can not attack your tribe mates.
There will be 200 Tribes created for when the world begins. For the first 3 months you will not be able to disband or leave your tribe.
After Three months, you will be able to leave or disband any tribe or join any other tribe.
The duke will be elected by the tribe, within the tribes forums.
Once a tribe has 100 members, the tribe will have 4 days to do voting. After 4 days the duke will receive their title and be able to appoint their council. The person with majority vote will receive duke.
One could divide those who joined into two camps, those who didn’t have much of a clue about what the settings were, and those who were curious as to the workings of such a scheme. I, like others, was genuinely interested in seeing how this would work and the possibilities it would engender. I fancied that an inability to simply join the tribe of your neighbour to offer mutual protection would leave many areas, particularly the core, to be savage deathmatches or else that it would test each player’s diplomatic and decision making skills in choosing which of their neighbours that they worked with and which they attacked.
Those first few days were no doubt quite an experience for veteran and newb alike. Amid the incessant complaints haranguing the settings and the predicaments of the author or lamentations on the state of tribes, there were some players who were finding the settings to be a refreshing change. Indeed, the settings did significantly polarise opinion, on the one hand there were those who though the idea to be ridiculous and that the game was unworkable; that it defied the concepts of the game and increased the reliance of success on good fortune by possessing such a glaring disparity between tribes. On the other hand, the change was welcomed; players could no longer hide in their tribes and forced an independence from them. It also was responsible for many new relationships between players who may never have got to know each other had it not happened. Crucially, it enabled prospective dukes to make the right decisions in the ensuing months about who was worth inviting and who was not.
When one considers the point of the tribe lock, one has to believe that it was to eliminate one of the problems with the early game and that is of course the formation of tribes themselves. We find a lot of problems with early tribes, a duke is tasked with a difficult position when choosing who they wish to invite as they do not know who will survive the first months and become a strong player. They tend to err on the side of caution and mass recruit a lot of riff raff who come and go from tribes very quickly; indeed early tribes can be messy and disorganised affairs before the core of the tribe is established and the longevity of its members more greatly affirmed. I would posit that these settings were to combat this and allow the world to see who the strong players were before dukes started inviting. To an extent, this did actually succeed, but players were still burdened with messy early tribes which served little purpose except as social areas with players so thinly spread.
However, it did at least seem that the game was thrust to a greater degree into the hands of the players themselves. No tribes, no ‘assured’ allies, random positions; something of a deathmatch scenario which would determine who the fittest players were. It did build skills, it did take players’ games in new directions and it was a unique experience. It also brought together players from different sides of W27 and laid the foundations for enduring relationships as well as excuses for mercy. These goals were ostensibly accomplished, but not it seems without the mass exodus of a significant number of players.
I have known quite a few players to comment on the state of the early world and the proliferation of barbarian villages and general lack of active players. Perhaps deservedly so though, as many new players did not read the settings and it may well have put many off who were induced to quit. The lack of local tribal structure also left many players vulnerable to their neighbours and the eventual result was a stunted world, which never filled to anything like its capacity. I think we should at least be grateful that barbs do not grow too much or we may never have had any wars!
The settings were probably always going to divide players and it did indeed leave something of a dichotomy in the world. On the one hand, you have your veterans, who have fought off all comers to keep control of their little areas, bound together by de facto alliances and the masses of small players struggling along beside their neighbours, kept safe by excessive numbers of PAs or else mutual fear. As the 3 month period began to come to an end, plans were already afoot by shrewd dukes and duchesses as to whom they were to invite; connections were being made and February 13 was certainly going to be an explosive day indeed.
And what a day it proved to be, probably setting a record for the most tribe changes in a single day. Finally players were released from the yokes of their tribes and allowed free reign 3 months later than normal. Those leaders who had planned ahead put into action their schemes and brought in their potential recruits overnight. My memories of the following period of greatest change and influence to W27 are hazy, so I have compiled extracts from various forum threads to tell the story and with my commentary along the way. A massive thank you to the people who made these threads, future comers will be able to share in the W27 story because of the time you took.
Now without further ado, we look at the immense tribal upheaval on Feb.13. A congratulations should go to the reins behind the tribe Feb 13, it would have been rather fitting had you turned out the victors, but that’s the way these things happen I suppose. The top tribes you see here are the work of leaders who had planned this well in advance:
It is perhaps testament to the fiery environemnt of that first week that some prospects were lost as quickly as they had come. PM was one such endeavour. Like other top tribes at the time, it had a large amount of very strong players who had been picked as the lock progressed and was thus armed with a strong membership. Many were expecting this tribe to punish the leaders of the time, ATTACK, with a superior membership. But as these things go, the tribe was lost within days and one of the more interesting prospects of the time was snuffed out (Loss of PM). Many members went to local tribes, in particular ATTACK was furnished with quite a number of strong members who would provide a core for later conflicts and who endure to this day.
It is also interesting to note that after ATTACK had established itself on the first day, it scarcely relinquished its position at the top of the leaderboards, something which must have been down to the immense planning of those in charge. Already we see the world forming as many will remember after that dizzy first week. In many ways it is a good thing that the world took shape so quickly, it makes the history rather simple because the tribes formed here tended to last far longer than if we done similar topics on a normal world. 3 months to throw out the riff raff and 3 months to plan. Predictions at this point anybody? Well, a lot expected PM to do well, but they disbanded as quickly as the had come; ATTACK were dividing opinion around the issue of mass recruitment and a lack of a core area; YGI?, Nstlk*, LA-G – all were contenders. It was one of those interesting times where things were still open, the vultures were watching to see whose plans had come to fruition and who had disappointed.
However, it was not just the unlock which was a key moment, my other reference in the title was to voting. With a tribe limit having not been agreed at the start of the world due to the settings, it was in the hands of players to decide:
Survey
World 27 is coming to the point where random and forced tribes will be ending.
With that said, we will have a vote on what tribe limit the players prefer. Whichever choice has the most votes will go into affect when Tribe Lock is ended on February 13th.
40 414 33.09%
60 33 2.64%
80 12 0.96%
100 425 33.97%
150 7 0.56%
200 6 0.48%
250 6 0.48%
Unlimited 348 27.82%
Votes cast: 1251
It was by the smallest of margins that a limit of 100 beat 40. It’s one of those moments when one can reflect upon what might have happened had the limit only been 40. Speculations to that effect are here. As for the vote itself, it was a defining moment in W27 and set the score for the future of the world. The contemporary thoughts of influential players are thus.
As the dust settled from the first week we had the world taking shape. Those successful tribes were establishing themselves and beginning to iron out the internal machinations. It was, in so many ways, looking like a real world again.
Some thoughts on the tribe lock, courtesy of the Weekly:
We enter now the grittier times of W27, a time where peace slides into obscurity and players who have been so long dormant have a chance to unleash themselves. Where would TW be without a war to round things off. We look of course to the first major tribal conflict of W27 and that is between ATTACK and LA-G. We only had to wait 10 days.
It was something of a disappointment in a lot of ways, the fight was awfully one sided and the PnP was a little lacklustre. It wasn’t a war in the strictest sense of things, more of a cleansing operation at the expense of LA-G. It was a swift and crushing defeat, but before ATTACK could finish what they had started, an event occurred that forever tarnished the reputation of another tribe and did for a moment, threaten to bring about an unexpected change to the W27 order.
I think however some context is necessary. We face a situation on W27 at the time where a tribe is threatening to become too large, not large enough so as to merit the forces of other tribes all combined, the threat that grows but is never dealt with. This is what ATTACK was becoming at the time; it was steadily improving its membership and making its diplomatic deals, forging a strong position. When it brushed aside LA-G early on, it no doubt sent a message to other tribes about the strength of ATTACK. They were outgrowing their rivals and something had to be done.
Thus it was that Feb.13 took it upon themselves to fight ATTACK in could well have been a war to decide the dominant force in the world. Although ATTACK was larger, it was already fighting a war and there were rumours at the time that YGI? would be lending a hand against ATTACK too.
It aroused great controversy at the time. On the one hand, it was seen as a necessary move to counter the behemoth of ATTACK, while others claimed it was a dishonourable move and this reputation, with ATTACK having emerged as the victors, seems to have stuck. Despite early gains due to the surprise element from Feb.13, things evened out and then turned against ATTACK. With LA-G left largely alone for the moment, ATTACK focused on this war and the superior numbers began to tell. With no help forthcoming from other tribes, Feb.13’s gambit backfired and they were outnumbered. Even so, it was a slow war above all, and dragged on for over a month without massive gains.
After just over a month, Feb 13 disbanded and was followed by the amnesty mail post from ATTACK: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=132855. Interestingly enough, FurionX wrote rather prophetically:
Poor language aside, it was a statement that is all the more ironic in these times. We have an interesting world forming, with a dominant tribe threatening to remain so whilst their rivals neglect this fact. The remnants split into several smaller tribes – C46, 4Fun and Gone; each with varying intentions against ATTACK, while other members joined ATTACK or else chose to remain tribeless for the moment. The spectre of Feb.13 was gone. As ATTACK celebrated its victory over Feb.13, its next closest rivals – Nstlk* and YGI? – went to war with each other.
Seeing as I cannot find a declaration, I can link to one, but it is of no consequence; this proved to be a most disappointing war. Whilst many were keen to see YGI? tested out, they were yet another hot prospect destined to come to nothing. Following a war lasting less than a fortnight, the YGI? leadership fell apart and the remaining tribe merged with Nstlk*.
As they did so, a monumental period came to an end. Feb.13 and LA-G were gone as major forces while ATTACK and Nstlk* began to square off against each other. The stage was set for the greatest war yet to come.
It is quite a picture, the world at this time. We have our two major players, ATTACK and Nstlk* growing tense in an uneasy peace. While ATTACK is eager to move on the Feb.13 remnants, it knows that to do so would be to invite Nstlk* and for the second time an enemy escapes annihilation. On the other side, Nstlk* are thinking of how to win the war against ATTACK should it come, and looking to the two undecided elements who could tip the balance. I talk of course about ~AOW~ and T-GR.
As it stands, ATTACK, as powerful as it is, cannot hope to take on the entire world, and just as it isolated Feb.13, so too does it need to be sure of a solo conflict without usurpers. ~AOW~ and to a lesser extent, T-GR have it within their power to tip the balance either way and the triple alliance of Nstlk*, ATTACK and ~AOW~ is beginning to become tense.
And all it took as one spark and it was quite something when it came. The largest war yet in W27 history was about to unfold.
So it was that Nstlk* and ATTACK went to war. Just again the excuses came from ATTACK about dishonourable conduct, but the element of surprise certainly gave Nstlk* the early edge. Indeed, it was looking good for Nstlk* in those early days and ATTACK were punished for a lack of forward planning. But the war was hanging in the balance, and both tribes held their breath they looked to see what the other tribes would do.
~AOW~ was the first to declare its allegiance on the side of ATTACK, honouring that alliance. Although perhaps a less experienced tribe, the numbers were now significantly against Nstlk*, and with their advantages surrendered, they would face a tough war.
This left T-GR who had in fact been squaring off against ~AOW~ in the past, and following persuasion from Nstlk*, joined them against ~AOW~ and ATTACK. We had then, our two sides, and a war to decide the dominant tribe in the world.
As we near the end of April, the war is blossoming into full swing. With the two sides clearly defined and with support readied to the frontlines, the conflict once again slowed. With the impetus of ~AOW~, the conquers had been more or less evened and the lack of reliable war stats from the time makes further commentary difficult. Most seem to recall a largely static front and slow and sporadic conquers on the isolated players of each side.
As the end of April approached and we lapsed into May we witnessed what would be the most momentous event yet in W27 as ~AOW~ and ATTACK agreed to reinforce their alliance and merge to form Shadow (name change actually occurred part way into May). Shadow against the world was fast becoming the thought on everyone’s mind as Nstlk* began to relent and the omnipresent spectre of inactivity and RL began to claw at them. An end was not in sight, but Shadow was beginning to seek an advantage, and with T-GR remnants mopped up in the South, it was just the NW to be decided.
By now, the map was taking on a recognisable shape, with some new tribes carving a name for themselves. As Feb.13 remnants went their separate ways, some joining Shadow, others to Nstlk*, the size of those tribes diminished and LA-G was fading, new tribes were coming to the fore. In the East, we had TK, and in the South, AA. But most interestingly, in the North East, two tribes had been growing who had been keeping out of affairs – SORRY! and K25PG. It was these two who would draw some attention to themselves at that time and give some others news than just Shadow/Nstlk*. It may not have been the most ambitious war, but it was a reminder that other tribes did exist and were not perhaps to be underestimated completely.
The Early Days – Tribal Prisons and 3 Months of Waiting
When this world was first announced and its settings realised, it was not disapproval, but curiosity that sparked attention in this world. You see, W27 is unique in many ways, not least in its early settings. The idea of placing players into random tribes upon their arrival in the world and preventing them from leaving and joining others was perhaps interesting in theory, but the true nature of it could only be realised after the months had expired. It was an experiment in so many ways but that is often the only way one can truly see how these sorts of things play out.
The settings as they officially were:
World 27 Settings:
World will open Thursday the 13th of November, between 15:00 and 17:00 ST
Server speed: 1.1x
Troop Speed: .9x
Packages, No Paladin, No archers
No Tribe Limit, No Leaving tribes or disbanding them.
Techs: 15
Beginner Protection: 5 days
Location is random, you can not support people outside your tribe.
When a player joins a server they will automatically be put in a random tribe.
You can not attack your tribe mates.
There will be 200 Tribes created for when the world begins. For the first 3 months you will not be able to disband or leave your tribe.
After Three months, you will be able to leave or disband any tribe or join any other tribe.
The duke will be elected by the tribe, within the tribes forums.
Once a tribe has 100 members, the tribe will have 4 days to do voting. After 4 days the duke will receive their title and be able to appoint their council. The person with majority vote will receive duke.
One could divide those who joined into two camps, those who didn’t have much of a clue about what the settings were, and those who were curious as to the workings of such a scheme. I, like others, was genuinely interested in seeing how this would work and the possibilities it would engender. I fancied that an inability to simply join the tribe of your neighbour to offer mutual protection would leave many areas, particularly the core, to be savage deathmatches or else that it would test each player’s diplomatic and decision making skills in choosing which of their neighbours that they worked with and which they attacked.
Those first few days were no doubt quite an experience for veteran and newb alike. Amid the incessant complaints haranguing the settings and the predicaments of the author or lamentations on the state of tribes, there were some players who were finding the settings to be a refreshing change. Indeed, the settings did significantly polarise opinion, on the one hand there were those who though the idea to be ridiculous and that the game was unworkable; that it defied the concepts of the game and increased the reliance of success on good fortune by possessing such a glaring disparity between tribes. On the other hand, the change was welcomed; players could no longer hide in their tribes and forced an independence from them. It also was responsible for many new relationships between players who may never have got to know each other had it not happened. Crucially, it enabled prospective dukes to make the right decisions in the ensuing months about who was worth inviting and who was not.
When one considers the point of the tribe lock, one has to believe that it was to eliminate one of the problems with the early game and that is of course the formation of tribes themselves. We find a lot of problems with early tribes, a duke is tasked with a difficult position when choosing who they wish to invite as they do not know who will survive the first months and become a strong player. They tend to err on the side of caution and mass recruit a lot of riff raff who come and go from tribes very quickly; indeed early tribes can be messy and disorganised affairs before the core of the tribe is established and the longevity of its members more greatly affirmed. I would posit that these settings were to combat this and allow the world to see who the strong players were before dukes started inviting. To an extent, this did actually succeed, but players were still burdened with messy early tribes which served little purpose except as social areas with players so thinly spread.
However, it did at least seem that the game was thrust to a greater degree into the hands of the players themselves. No tribes, no ‘assured’ allies, random positions; something of a deathmatch scenario which would determine who the fittest players were. It did build skills, it did take players’ games in new directions and it was a unique experience. It also brought together players from different sides of W27 and laid the foundations for enduring relationships as well as excuses for mercy. These goals were ostensibly accomplished, but not it seems without the mass exodus of a significant number of players.
I have known quite a few players to comment on the state of the early world and the proliferation of barbarian villages and general lack of active players. Perhaps deservedly so though, as many new players did not read the settings and it may well have put many off who were induced to quit. The lack of local tribal structure also left many players vulnerable to their neighbours and the eventual result was a stunted world, which never filled to anything like its capacity. I think we should at least be grateful that barbs do not grow too much or we may never have had any wars!
The settings were probably always going to divide players and it did indeed leave something of a dichotomy in the world. On the one hand, you have your veterans, who have fought off all comers to keep control of their little areas, bound together by de facto alliances and the masses of small players struggling along beside their neighbours, kept safe by excessive numbers of PAs or else mutual fear. As the 3 month period began to come to an end, plans were already afoot by shrewd dukes and duchesses as to whom they were to invite; connections were being made and February 13 was certainly going to be an explosive day indeed.
February 13th – Eponymy and Ostraka
And what a day it proved to be, probably setting a record for the most tribe changes in a single day. Finally players were released from the yokes of their tribes and allowed free reign 3 months later than normal. Those leaders who had planned ahead put into action their schemes and brought in their potential recruits overnight. My memories of the following period of greatest change and influence to W27 are hazy, so I have compiled extracts from various forum threads to tell the story and with my commentary along the way. A massive thank you to the people who made these threads, future comers will be able to share in the W27 story because of the time you took.
Now without further ado, we look at the immense tribal upheaval on Feb.13. A congratulations should go to the reins behind the tribe Feb 13, it would have been rather fitting had you turned out the victors, but that’s the way these things happen I suppose. The top tribes you see here are the work of leaders who had planned this well in advance:
Top 20 tribes on that day:
1 ATTACK
2 PM
3 LA-G
4 Nstlk*
5 Feb.13
6 YGI?
7 LA
8 Santa!
9 K55
10 RB
11 *TKP*
12 Alone
13 EWO
14 RIM,
15 BAN
16 Dune
17 Nstlk~
18 UNMA
19 Autumn
20 Idk
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=122887
Top rankings with figures
1) ATTACK [81 members so far with 656 villages] 4.2mio
2) PM [35 members so far with 526 villages] 3.8mio
3) LA-G [55 members so far with 466 villages] 3mio
4) Nstlk* [48 members so far with 397 villages] 2.6mio
5) Feb.13 [20 members so far with 256 villages] 2mio
6) YGI? [11 members so far with 207 villages] 1.6mio
7) LA [20 members so far with 220 villages] 1.3mio
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=122700
Thanks to macca for this (rankings changed slightly over the course of the day between threads):
1 ATTACK
2 PM
3 LA-G
4 Nstlk*
5 Feb.13
6 YGI?
7 LA
8 Santa!
9 K55
10 RB
11 *TKP*
12 Alone
13 EWO
14 RIM,
15 BAN
16 Dune
17 Nstlk~
18 UNMA
19 Autumn
20 Idk
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=122887
Top rankings with figures
1) ATTACK [81 members so far with 656 villages] 4.2mio
2) PM [35 members so far with 526 villages] 3.8mio
3) LA-G [55 members so far with 466 villages] 3mio
4) Nstlk* [48 members so far with 397 villages] 2.6mio
5) Feb.13 [20 members so far with 256 villages] 2mio
6) YGI? [11 members so far with 207 villages] 1.6mio
7) LA [20 members so far with 220 villages] 1.3mio
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=122700
Thanks to macca for this (rankings changed slightly over the course of the day between threads):
Maccano1 said:
Here’s a better quality map (courtesy of mattcurr):
Top 15 players just after the unlock:
1 albrew5 ATTACK 445.586 50 8912
2 ftw97 RB 431.777 50 8636
3 tgo0 LA-G 387.666 42 9230
4 OjibweMan ATTACK 386.843 39 9919
5 frombie ATTACK 350.077 39 8976
6 Carthon II ATTACK 326.044 41 7952
7 firatdinlerr40 Feb.13 295.956 33 8968
8 ornyto PM 293.677 33 8899
9 Floner ATTACK 279.520 32 8735
10 bojanm ATTACK 268.036 33 8122
11 Titan414 266.414 29 9187
12 weiliang89 Feb.13 263.891 29 9100
13 RobTheGreat ATTACK 262.361 32 8199
14 ChazGC ATTACK 250.682 34 7373
15 Calinor YGI? 246.945 29 8515
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=124297
Top 15 players just after the unlock:
1 albrew5 ATTACK 445.586 50 8912
2 ftw97 RB 431.777 50 8636
3 tgo0 LA-G 387.666 42 9230
4 OjibweMan ATTACK 386.843 39 9919
5 frombie ATTACK 350.077 39 8976
6 Carthon II ATTACK 326.044 41 7952
7 firatdinlerr40 Feb.13 295.956 33 8968
8 ornyto PM 293.677 33 8899
9 Floner ATTACK 279.520 32 8735
10 bojanm ATTACK 268.036 33 8122
11 Titan414 266.414 29 9187
12 weiliang89 Feb.13 263.891 29 9100
13 RobTheGreat ATTACK 262.361 32 8199
14 ChazGC ATTACK 250.682 34 7373
15 Calinor YGI? 246.945 29 8515
Source: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=124297
It is perhaps testament to the fiery environemnt of that first week that some prospects were lost as quickly as they had come. PM was one such endeavour. Like other top tribes at the time, it had a large amount of very strong players who had been picked as the lock progressed and was thus armed with a strong membership. Many were expecting this tribe to punish the leaders of the time, ATTACK, with a superior membership. But as these things go, the tribe was lost within days and one of the more interesting prospects of the time was snuffed out (Loss of PM). Many members went to local tribes, in particular ATTACK was furnished with quite a number of strong members who would provide a core for later conflicts and who endure to this day.
It is also interesting to note that after ATTACK had established itself on the first day, it scarcely relinquished its position at the top of the leaderboards, something which must have been down to the immense planning of those in charge. Already we see the world forming as many will remember after that dizzy first week. In many ways it is a good thing that the world took shape so quickly, it makes the history rather simple because the tribes formed here tended to last far longer than if we done similar topics on a normal world. 3 months to throw out the riff raff and 3 months to plan. Predictions at this point anybody? Well, a lot expected PM to do well, but they disbanded as quickly as the had come; ATTACK were dividing opinion around the issue of mass recruitment and a lack of a core area; YGI?, Nstlk*, LA-G – all were contenders. It was one of those interesting times where things were still open, the vultures were watching to see whose plans had come to fruition and who had disappointed.
However, it was not just the unlock which was a key moment, my other reference in the title was to voting. With a tribe limit having not been agreed at the start of the world due to the settings, it was in the hands of players to decide:
Survey
World 27 is coming to the point where random and forced tribes will be ending.
With that said, we will have a vote on what tribe limit the players prefer. Whichever choice has the most votes will go into affect when Tribe Lock is ended on February 13th.
40 414 33.09%
60 33 2.64%
80 12 0.96%
100 425 33.97%
150 7 0.56%
200 6 0.48%
250 6 0.48%
Unlimited 348 27.82%
Votes cast: 1251
It was by the smallest of margins that a limit of 100 beat 40. It’s one of those moments when one can reflect upon what might have happened had the limit only been 40. Speculations to that effect are here. As for the vote itself, it was a defining moment in W27 and set the score for the future of the world. The contemporary thoughts of influential players are thus.
As the dust settled from the first week we had the world taking shape. Those successful tribes were establishing themselves and beginning to iron out the internal machinations. It was, in so many ways, looking like a real world again.
Some thoughts on the tribe lock, courtesy of the Weekly:
_XsaphiraX said:
Sweeney2kaii8 said:
February/March – An End to Peace
We enter now the grittier times of W27, a time where peace slides into obscurity and players who have been so long dormant have a chance to unleash themselves. Where would TW be without a war to round things off. We look of course to the first major tribal conflict of W27 and that is between ATTACK and LA-G. We only had to wait 10 days.
It was something of a disappointment in a lot of ways, the fight was awfully one sided and the PnP was a little lacklustre. It wasn’t a war in the strictest sense of things, more of a cleansing operation at the expense of LA-G. It was a swift and crushing defeat, but before ATTACK could finish what they had started, an event occurred that forever tarnished the reputation of another tribe and did for a moment, threaten to bring about an unexpected change to the W27 order.
I think however some context is necessary. We face a situation on W27 at the time where a tribe is threatening to become too large, not large enough so as to merit the forces of other tribes all combined, the threat that grows but is never dealt with. This is what ATTACK was becoming at the time; it was steadily improving its membership and making its diplomatic deals, forging a strong position. When it brushed aside LA-G early on, it no doubt sent a message to other tribes about the strength of ATTACK. They were outgrowing their rivals and something had to be done.
Thus it was that Feb.13 took it upon themselves to fight ATTACK in could well have been a war to decide the dominant force in the world. Although ATTACK was larger, it was already fighting a war and there were rumours at the time that YGI? would be lending a hand against ATTACK too.
It aroused great controversy at the time. On the one hand, it was seen as a necessary move to counter the behemoth of ATTACK, while others claimed it was a dishonourable move and this reputation, with ATTACK having emerged as the victors, seems to have stuck. Despite early gains due to the surprise element from Feb.13, things evened out and then turned against ATTACK. With LA-G left largely alone for the moment, ATTACK focused on this war and the superior numbers began to tell. With no help forthcoming from other tribes, Feb.13’s gambit backfired and they were outnumbered. Even so, it was a slow war above all, and dragged on for over a month without massive gains.
After just over a month, Feb 13 disbanded and was followed by the amnesty mail post from ATTACK: http://forum.tribalwars.net/showthread.php?t=132855. Interestingly enough, FurionX wrote rather prophetically:
Poor language aside, it was a statement that is all the more ironic in these times. We have an interesting world forming, with a dominant tribe threatening to remain so whilst their rivals neglect this fact. The remnants split into several smaller tribes – C46, 4Fun and Gone; each with varying intentions against ATTACK, while other members joined ATTACK or else chose to remain tribeless for the moment. The spectre of Feb.13 was gone. As ATTACK celebrated its victory over Feb.13, its next closest rivals – Nstlk* and YGI? – went to war with each other.
Seeing as I cannot find a declaration, I can link to one, but it is of no consequence; this proved to be a most disappointing war. Whilst many were keen to see YGI? tested out, they were yet another hot prospect destined to come to nothing. Following a war lasting less than a fortnight, the YGI? leadership fell apart and the remaining tribe merged with Nstlk*.
As they did so, a monumental period came to an end. Feb.13 and LA-G were gone as major forces while ATTACK and Nstlk* began to square off against each other. The stage was set for the greatest war yet to come.
April – Stalking the Shadows
It is quite a picture, the world at this time. We have our two major players, ATTACK and Nstlk* growing tense in an uneasy peace. While ATTACK is eager to move on the Feb.13 remnants, it knows that to do so would be to invite Nstlk* and for the second time an enemy escapes annihilation. On the other side, Nstlk* are thinking of how to win the war against ATTACK should it come, and looking to the two undecided elements who could tip the balance. I talk of course about ~AOW~ and T-GR.
As it stands, ATTACK, as powerful as it is, cannot hope to take on the entire world, and just as it isolated Feb.13, so too does it need to be sure of a solo conflict without usurpers. ~AOW~ and to a lesser extent, T-GR have it within their power to tip the balance either way and the triple alliance of Nstlk*, ATTACK and ~AOW~ is beginning to become tense.
And all it took as one spark and it was quite something when it came. The largest war yet in W27 history was about to unfold.
So it was that Nstlk* and ATTACK went to war. Just again the excuses came from ATTACK about dishonourable conduct, but the element of surprise certainly gave Nstlk* the early edge. Indeed, it was looking good for Nstlk* in those early days and ATTACK were punished for a lack of forward planning. But the war was hanging in the balance, and both tribes held their breath they looked to see what the other tribes would do.
Sweeney2kaii8 said:
~AOW~ was the first to declare its allegiance on the side of ATTACK, honouring that alliance. Although perhaps a less experienced tribe, the numbers were now significantly against Nstlk*, and with their advantages surrendered, they would face a tough war.
Sweeney2kaii8 said:
This left T-GR who had in fact been squaring off against ~AOW~ in the past, and following persuasion from Nstlk*, joined them against ~AOW~ and ATTACK. We had then, our two sides, and a war to decide the dominant tribe in the world.
As we near the end of April, the war is blossoming into full swing. With the two sides clearly defined and with support readied to the frontlines, the conflict once again slowed. With the impetus of ~AOW~, the conquers had been more or less evened and the lack of reliable war stats from the time makes further commentary difficult. Most seem to recall a largely static front and slow and sporadic conquers on the isolated players of each side.
As the end of April approached and we lapsed into May we witnessed what would be the most momentous event yet in W27 as ~AOW~ and ATTACK agreed to reinforce their alliance and merge to form Shadow (name change actually occurred part way into May). Shadow against the world was fast becoming the thought on everyone’s mind as Nstlk* began to relent and the omnipresent spectre of inactivity and RL began to claw at them. An end was not in sight, but Shadow was beginning to seek an advantage, and with T-GR remnants mopped up in the South, it was just the NW to be decided.
Top 20 at the end of April
1. ATTACK
2. Nstlk*
3.C46
4.TK
5.LA-G
6.4Fun
7.T-GR
8.K25PG
9.-AA-
10.*TKP*
11.SORRY!
12.Dstlk
13.~AOW~
14.~TSS~
15.~VEN~
16.Feb.13
17.*Epic
18.BOA
19.TLF
20.TKRT
1. ATTACK
2. Nstlk*
3.C46
4.TK
5.LA-G
6.4Fun
7.T-GR
8.K25PG
9.-AA-
10.*TKP*
11.SORRY!
12.Dstlk
13.~AOW~
14.~TSS~
15.~VEN~
16.Feb.13
17.*Epic
18.BOA
19.TLF
20.TKRT
Maccano1 said:
By now, the map was taking on a recognisable shape, with some new tribes carving a name for themselves. As Feb.13 remnants went their separate ways, some joining Shadow, others to Nstlk*, the size of those tribes diminished and LA-G was fading, new tribes were coming to the fore. In the East, we had TK, and in the South, AA. But most interestingly, in the North East, two tribes had been growing who had been keeping out of affairs – SORRY! and K25PG. It was these two who would draw some attention to themselves at that time and give some others news than just Shadow/Nstlk*. It may not have been the most ambitious war, but it was a reminder that other tribes did exist and were not perhaps to be underestimated completely.
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