John,
I don’t believe we’ve corresponded before so I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Regardless, pleased to make your virtual acquaintance.
I’ll try to address some of your questions and concerns from my own viewpoint as a member of DT, although certainly not speaking for my tribe or the rest of my tribemates.
I wish you’d attributed those quotes and given a fuller context for their meaning – it’s hard to tell to whom you wish a response addressed … you - or the person who wrote them? If the latter, then the person quoted may have had a different context in which they were writing, and as such, any response would be tailored to that particular argument.
Anyhow, I can’t and won’t speak for KNT –their members are perfectly capable of speaking for themselves - but I will address your “Tong Po” point. You’re thinking of it in terms of the account itself, but you’re forgetting that there is a person behind the account. That person is someone very near to DT’s heart, and it would necessarily follow that that person would want to join DT. If that person were still the original owner of the account, or a person dear to (for example) Myriad's heart, perhaps that person would have made a different choice … probably, as a matter of fact. So nothing nefarious in your example, I’m afraid.
Regarding the N.O situation -you say “I don't want to get into the right's and wrong's of a [sic] refugees …” – could that be because you know a discussion of refugee policy would invalidate your imputation of bad conduct on the part of N.O? Or is that just the "depression" talking?
Also – and just as a sidebar – with your slur of “hanger-on,” it can’t possibly be that you’re suggesting Snaus (one of the acknowledged premier players of this world) & co. are afraid to stand on their own? It could be that they simply haven’t decided what they want to do yet. Not unprecedented when wars take months and even years to resolve.
It seems the crux of your argument is that the current dominant alliance is too much like Bloc. An odd complaint coming on the heels of the dissolution of the last of the Bloc tribes; a dissolution that was accompanied by a great deal of self-hagiography and rosy recollections from both Clorox and Clorox’s allies and “hangers-on” (that would be … erm … Myriad, etc.)
The question really isn’t “Are KNT, DT et al too much like Bloc?” – I think the determinate question is “Are Myriad, Nuke, etc. anything like the old A-Bloc?” You know, the tribes that took Bloc on … and won. The tribes that would not be defeated, that forged lasting bonds of alliance and common interest in the face of overwhelming … well, you get the point.
Over the past few months, as Union’ s domination has become more and more apparent, there’s been an idea that’s gained a great deal of currency from Union’s opponents in that this world is “boring” or, as you more aptly (for you and your allies) put it … “depressing.” I assure you, it isn’t depressing when you’re winning, as your Clorox allies could have told you up until about 8 months ago (if, of course, many of them hadn’t abandoned this world after it became apparent that the barbarian noobs on the rim weren’t quite so incompetent after all; easier pickin’s on World 3x. Come to think of it, things probably aren’t so “depressing” there for the W8 losers.)
