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W27 – A World Like No Other
To all those who called this world home
Foreword
This work comes dedicated to all those that played W27, as a means to commemorate the vicissitudes of a truly unique experience. It has been crafted as a tribute to the good people who made the experience what it was, so that their achievements might go down in history.
As the title suggests, I have sought to lay out a complete history of W27 from start to finish. Much of the early history I have pieced together from posts on the public forum and the memories of those who were around at the beginning. A great deal is also my own writing and explanation of the unique circumstances of the beginning. In later times, my predominant source work is my own Weekly which in turn is based on the statistics, and also files a great many interviews which add the scope of comment and opinion. I have also inserted relevant and contemporary forum posts, and to seek both current and retrospective comments and opinions throughout the course of my time here.
I have endeavoured to source my material if it comes from the public forum, and the many uses of my own Weekly merit that it always be classed as a source of information from its inception. At all times, I have sought to avoid plagiarism of any kind, and when a comment can have its progenitor named, I have done so. Frequently, I have factored the opinions of others into what I write and used the modal judgement at the time as the basis for my comments. Sources of information extend beyond written comments and retrospective analysis and discussion has yielded ideas that find their way in here. Therefore, it is best to see this as a compendium of all the knowledge I could find on the world, strung together with my narrative and structure. As a member of Shadow, the majority of the information I have concerns my tribe; information on the state of the rest of the world varied in its reliability and paucity. As such, speculation on other tribes is less accurate.
Material sourced from the forum or other players may subject to minimal editing for spelling and grammar where the meaning was difficult to discern or reading was painful, or indeed to keep the syntax like mine. However, I have sought not to edit works where possible. Full review of the primary source is always possible. If you would wish me to remove material that you yourself have provided, then please make yourself known.
The work itself is intended as a factual document as far as is possible and with what material I have. That being said, Tribal Wars is also a game, and this history, whilst lengthy and factual, is also intended as interesting, engrossing and entertaining. Although I realise that my own position in Shadow does inject a bias, I have endeavoured to be fair, and to offer as many sides as I can to any controversial points. Given that the rise of Shadow is the story of the world, that is the main theme of the document, though by no means its entire composition.
I hope that all enjoy it, and that my time writing it has not been in vain. It is testament to my enjoyment of this world that every name remembered and event captured brings a smile to my face. With the utmost gratitude, I thank all for their time here, for being a part of this experience. I thank too all those who have found their way here and appreciate a fine tale as much as me. Let us begin ...
The Early Days – Tribal Prisons
When this world was first announced and its settings realised, it was not disapproval, but curiosity that sparked attention in this world. 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 is that not often the only way one can truly see how such things play out? How many could predict what would transpire here?
The settings as they officially were:
[spoil]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.
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
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. It is doubtful that any at all joined because they found the settings to be favourable. 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 to work with and which to attack.
A brief outline of the settings is necessary to many here since the idea of preset tribes is foreign to many. Any player who joined from November 13 2008 to February 13 2009 was thrust into any one of 200 tribes, named creatively by the TW staff. Each player was assigned to a random tribe and a random location in the world. Hence, each tribe would grow all over the place, and each would be inter-mingled with the rest.
Once each tribe reached 100 members, voting would take place internally on the forums for a duke, which was its own game of posturing and elective rigmarole. The duke was endowed with the usual abilities for a tribe and had the honour of running that tribe. The tribe itself was then like any other; its name and profile could be changed, and privileges could be distributed, though no player could leave the tribe, nor could the tribe be disbanded. One could not attack tribemates (this rule was lifted after the Lock ended), but only tribemates could be supported (a rule which continued throughout the life of the world).
Those first few days were no doubt quite an experience for veteran and newb alike. Amid the incessant complaints haranguing the settings and the 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 thought 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 it 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.
Interestingly enough, we have a handy poll from the first few days:
[spoil]
Poll on World Settings: November 14
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
I thought I would also include some opinion pieces from players in those early days. The following are in chronological order, with a few pieces from that week, and then some threads appraising the situation later on:
[spoil]
Super Awesome Player – You have to be kidding me! – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]You went and put me in some lame tribe, filled with lame members...[/spoil]
WindowWatcher – Strangest World Ever – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]Hello, W27 readers!
Now, I come to you today to state the obvious, but to also state some other facts that may be of interest.
W27 is the strangest world on TW. Ever. This cannot be debated. Already there is talk of premade tribes after 3 months, and in how many world can you laugh at n00bs asking how they got into a tribe?
But I come onto the forums to examine W27. For starters, I present :
Exhibit A : (21.|58 P) My Rank
I mean, come on?! This is probably the easiest start to a world I have ever had. I logged on, stayed on for about an hour, went out for 2 hours, then came back on again, and I find myself just outside the top 20, with no idea that I would be in the top 1000?
Is this just me pointwhoring? No. I have been using my usual start to a world. So then, has this world got no decent players whatsoever? Or at least, a lack of very skilled players? We shall see..
Yet, with only 200 tribes, will this world work? A lot of tribes already have a few members glued to the bottom with 26 points. No doubt they will auto delete after 2 weeks, but a lot of tribes will have weak players at the bottom, logging in once every week and upgrading their village HQ every so often.
Will this world prove to be a dumping ground for inactives, or the best school to ever develop on TW? We shall see.
WW[/spoil]
vpar2 - World 27: An initial evaluation, and thoughts for the future – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]World 27 must be praised as an excellent concept, regardless of how it turns out. So far, it appears to have been overshadowed by World 28, making World 27 extremely small. While this is doubtless interesting to the players, it indicates that the settings are not widely popular.
It is extremely early, I know, but I will attempt to evaluate the reasons for this, explain the current and future states of World 27 as I see them, and discuss how this concept can be tweaked in future worlds.
Rationale for the size of the World
People like to make decisions for themselves. Although many enjoy being placed in a tribe, others relish a sense of control. Regardless of how fun they may find the world after joining, this, coupled with the ability to only join W28 or W27, has doubtless sapped the interest of many in this world. Perhaps a world such as this should be offered on its own in the future, and not as a package alongside another. Worlds such as this are unique and interesting, but without member support, I doubt that tribalwars will see an incentive in continuing them.
The State of the World
The current state of W27 is, in my opinion, poor, although it has potential. While the concept of this world was excellent, namely players with all experience levels working together to forge strong tribes, the execution has not been the best. This is the first time this concept has been tried on tribalwars.net, so certain allowances must be made. Regardless of any critique I make of this world, creating it was a bold and inspired move, and must be praised.
In W27, tribes are widely spread out and all similar in member composition and numbers. Each tribe has a few players who desperately desire to be duke, a few players who are veterans, and thus believe that they should be duke, a few players who honestly don't care, and a few players who are inactive. I am unsure how voting will turn out, but this is not a good mix for a tribe. Some allowances must be made in terms of the forums or in terms of kicking players for this concept to truly function.
Currently, there are only 2 levels of forum privileges. Either you can read hidden forums, or you cannot. However, this poses a problem when you have known inactives and spies in your tribe. Typically, many tribes use hidden forums for aristocrats to discuss matters. In this world, they will see more and more use for typical tribal functions as leaders slowly learn to exclude the untrustworthy by means of revoking hidden forums access. A second level of hidden/privileged forum access would help in this world, if if could be implemented.
Second, although known inactives and spies can be dealt with using the hidden forum method, perhaps a script could be run on the world to kick all of those who have not grown for a predefined amount of time. This is a more controversial setting, as it would essentially strand them, tribeless, if they chose to return, but perhaps some facility to rejoin their original tribe could be implemented. Flesh this idea out, if you like, I have reached my limits with it.
Too Spread Out?
The spread out nature of tribes is also a significant issue. It has potential to greatly increase teamwork in terms of relocation and long range support, but it likely will not, as those require significant activity, something most tribalwars players lack. Due to this, it will be easy for more active players to gobble up isolated players, who can only get in-tribe support. This will lead to a few active players coming out on top in 3 months. The only real drama I foresee is active players attacking each other. There is hope for a well-led, well-coordinated tribe, but the majority will not be.
In order to fix this issue, I believe that tribes should be restricted to a certain number of continents in future worlds, if this is implemented again. 2 is a good number to me, but it is debatable. While still allowing for drama and ennoblement, due to the fact that this is not extremely closely packed(100-200 players over 2 continents is not a whole lot, especially with all the inactives, etc, that are in these tribes; do not think of these tribes in typical "elite/continent tribe" terms), it would also allow for tribemates to support each other. This would make the game far more interesting.
Returning the IRC link that once existed atop the tribalwars toolbar would also aid in this. In this world, quick defensive support and good coordination will be needed, which is easiest over Skype or IRC. As many cannot or will not download Skype, the ability to easily click a link and be taken to a java IRC client is sorely missed.
Choices, Choices
The process for application to be Duke also seems to be too informal. Although the voting has not begun, and I am unsure how it will be implemented, if this concept is carried to future worlds, some kind of in-forum application should be developed in which people can list their experience. This would place all applications in an easy place, and would keep threads uncluttered, allowing players to make a better choice.
A Duke that is elected 4 or 5 days into the world also may not last long, or may turn out to be a poor choice. Considering that the tribe is essentially stuck with the candidate for 3 months, I would suggest a second round of voting a few weeks in. In 3-4 weeks, players will know much more about each other and their leadership, and will be able to make a much better choice. Stranding players under a lame duck or inactive duke will only make them lose interest in this world. A Duke is necessary early on though, to set tribal direction and moderate the forums, so simply pushing the vote back that far is not a viable option.
The Future?
I currently see a lot of energy and enthusiam surrounding this world, both in game and on these forums, but I fear it will fade; I am already seeing signs of disillusionment. Although it is possible to forge good tribes on this world, the amount of work that it would take is considerable, and the early vote for Duke does not aid in finding the correct candidate.
Ultimately, I believe the true value of this world was in allowing players who do not ordinarily interact to do so, both forging bonds and bringing up the overall knowledge and player quality. However, many veterans do not enjoy the teaching aspect, and I fear that this world will lose its unique value.
Currently, this world consists of several similar, extremely spread out tribes. The only winners I foresee in this world currently are those who are active and slowly take on these tribes, which will fold, as the players will be too far apart to support each other. I foresee that we will see an abandonment of these random tribes in 3 months, and a shift, as the active players band together.
To me, this will mark a failure of this world, and I would not like to see this happen. Any change or concept that can perpetuate these early tribes and keep them going is a good one, to me at least.[/spoil]
antpi1e - Thank you TW team,thank you for this world
– Source: Public Forum[spoil]Finally going with the name of "Tribal Wars" ..
Not "Tribal lets Ally and NAP every tribe in site"
I dont even care if I go down early,at least it will be fun.
I hate playing in worlds where point whores survive...
P.S. After feb 13 instead of letting people make their own tribes you should just reshuffle all of the remaining players into different tribes
[/spoil]erect - You and your tribe – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]I'm curious. This one goes to those who say they will ignore their tribe completely, acting as if they were tribeless and afterwards, when the three months are over, screwing it over and leaving to form a premade..
Why the hell did you join this world?
I'm pretty sure the reason I joined is to see a top 20 in 2 months time that doesn't look like this:
1 CND 24.481.111 28.646.225 67 427.556 3106 9.223
2 C² 22.819.463 31.678.425 80 395.980 3457 9.164
3 =HRV= 20.347.703 24.775.488 76 325.993 2601 9.525
4 Plight 18.299.808 18.299.808 39 469.226 1916 9.551
5 ORC 16.622.824 22.279.775 78 285.638 2356 9.457
6 BANG! 15.735.736 20.861.218 75 278.150 2273 9.178
7 ~I~ 15.517.100 17.584.748 65 270.535 1908 9.216
8 GUNs 13.706.779 17.282.335 69 250.469 1891 9.139
9 ~LOD~ 7.192.984 7.917.478 72 109.965 949 8.343
10 Virus 6.846.350 7.268.845 54 134.608 851 8.542
11 HOT 5.797.890 6.149.521 73 84.240 748 8.221
12 |BFL| 5.103.053 5.741.474 64 89.711 733 7.833
13 ~LS~ 5.062.380 5.147.304 45 114.385 645 7.980
14 *MK* 3.432.958 3.432.958 7 490.423 366 9.380
15 MLTPP 3.152.550 3.940.745 77 51.179 593 6.645
16 KOTF+ 2.831.635 2.948.054 57 51.720 463 6.367
17 ~M~ 2.722.591 2.902.198 69 42.061 408 7.113
18 Alamo 2.697.638 2.697.638 9 299.738 328 8.225
19 ronDA 2.418.434 2.450.755 43 56.994 362 6.770
20 WLD 2.399.077 2.399.077 5 479.815 257 9.335
Do you note something? 22million points of difference between twenty places. This is an example of all worlds(correct me if im wrong). I was hoping to see something a bit different, a much more competitive world in which there was an actual top 20, not a top 5.
Maybe it could be a bit more entertaining to have threats all around you rather than having just a few tribes which could cause you any harm at all.[/spoil]
chucklefang - Something I like about this world – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]To me something I really like about this world is being widely over looked. It is my impression that it is being overlooked anyway, and my sincerest apologies if your view's as a reader do not match with my own personal views.
I really like the fact that each tribe only has 1, 2 or in some cases 3, and 4 p&p personalities. To me early in these new worlds the game can get bogged down a bit and almost make the world that much less desirable, due to a group or groups of people from tribes just taking the worlds forum they inhabit and having their cruel, sick, and nasty ways with it in various ways and positions. Who wants to see the same things over and over on here anyway? I sure don't, and seeing the same people post a lot of the same crap over and over gets old to me.
This is just an epiphany I had on the constantly changing aspects and ever rising(or for some decreasing) interest in the new elements that this worlds has brought along.
Carry on, carry on.
[/spoil]IloveTheRain - Players killing the most exciting world? – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]First of all, I would like to thank TW moderators for this world, which is absolutely different from all the others. I even wanted to leave TW at least for a while, because nothing new ever happened, but this world forced me to stay.
But what do our "great" players do? Do they adopt to the settings and try to play with their tribes? I know some tribes got a bit luckier than others, but in no other world you will find so many equally skilled tribes. They just use their friends from old worlds, and gang against others. (And I'm not talking about what few players tried to do against me, that probably was their only chance, so I don't blame them ).
Can we all just stop hugging and play a real world? Why do you even join world with these settings, if you are going to form 100 personal alliances with your friends, and will work together with them even if you are not in the same tribe?
If you want to play with them, you can do that in any other world, but this one is special, where you can play against players, you can't in other worlds.
Of course It is a lot easier to play ,when friends are clearing villages for you and lowering loyalty. but is that fun at all? I don't remember when was the last time I have had so much fun playing TW, like I did yesterday ,when 4 players from whom at least 2 are very good, were coordinating against me. I was ready to lose, but that just made it more interesting.
I would love to see a world, where players wouldn't be afraid to lose and would go against friends from other worlds. Don't you think that fighting someone you know, who is good, would be more fun, than coordinating with him against someone , who wont be able to defend?
And no, I don't say this because I'm getting rimmed, I actually got a new village today. And I don't care if someone will be mad at me and send me to the rim. I just want to have some fun before that.
But I guess everyone plays as he wants. Some fight for their villages, and some... not.[/spoil]
abdellah123 – What is your opinion of this world? – Source: Public Forum
[spoil]Well since this world is a little bit quiet, i think we should get people to post what they think. Obviously the world descriptions wont change, but we all want to hear what you think.
What i think, is that the description killed it, joinning automatically a tribe is a bit boring,
but oh well.What do you guys think?[/spoil]
[/spoil]
Here’s a little something to put the state of the tribes in context too:
[spoil]
Early Tribes Map: November 15
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
The map certainly makes for quite a sight! There is little better way of conveying the early chaos than a display of the scattered nature of each tribe. When you consider the true multitude of 200 tribes all dispersed across the map, you realise that the early months of W27 were unlike anything else.
I think you can also see that there was a broad range of early opinion and one that possibly became more negative as time went on as the novelty wore off. Certainly an excavation of the forum reveals that many players had expected the world to be aggressive and fierce with a strong impetus on player survival. It was new, and different, but this sadly proved unable to hold the interest of a lot of players, particularly some well known faces.
There’s always going to be a novelty value in something like this, but once that faded and the reality of the world was realised, the world lost its sparkle. Once the intriguing part is lost, the machinations of the settings and the fact that it is such a small world anyway meant that it was probably not enticing enough to stay.
There was also a great deal of criticism from the supposedly more experienced players that the attitudes of the players themselves ruined it. Many suggested that the lack of tribal support meant that the solution was to horde PAs and de facto alliances with neighbours which did just as much to prevent any sort of early anarchy as would be seen from ‘hugging’ in other worlds. Much of the player base that went into the world looking forward to the settings was sadly disappointed and left as a consequence.
When one considers the actual 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 whom 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 considerable number of riff-raff who come and go from tribes very quickly. Indeed, early tribes can be messy and disorganised affairs before the core 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, with players so thinly spread, served little purpose other than being social areas .
Moreover, it also removed another spectre of the early world in that it denied a capacity for pre-made tribes. Now, whilst these tribes form a large component of those tribes successful in the earliest days of the world, it could be argued that an unfortunate disparity is created in the early world, and that the idea of prefabricating a tribe and putting it together is somewhat unfair. Perhaps the crux of this world’s inception was its adherence to ideas of fairness, or even the promotion of an egalitarian environment where each player was tested on the merits of their survival skill, rather than their connections.
Whatever the case, 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; it was 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. 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 later in the game. These goals were ostensibly accomplished, but not, it seems, without the mass exodus of a significant number of players.
Fondly do many remember their premade tribes, and such links continued after those early tribes were disbanded to become anything from a spy ring to a guarantee of mercy. Citation of the great players in one’s ‘Lock tribe’ was often a talking point or even a point of comparison among some players, as if a tenuous connection with some of the great early players would somehow endow kudos.
Certainly, many newer players missed the opportunity to ask the more experienced players for their wisdom, even if some larger players displayed a pleasing patience and helpfulness to the smaller members of the tribe. Indeed, it may even have been the wish of those who devised the world to see the experience and knowledge about the game spread around, even if such a thing was a scarcity.
This author recalls little tribal forum activity, an excess of immaturity, inactivity, and a rather dubious honour bestowed upon the duke. Although, the system did offer the opportunity to discuss the game with players whom one might not perhaps have met otherwise. The bottom line is that the entire experience was extremely variable between tribes, and some recall them fondly because they genuinely enjoyed the experience, whilst others merely remember the hilarity of the affair.
I have known quite a few players comment on the state of the early world, 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. Perhaps 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; on the other, you have the masses of small players struggling along beside their neighbours, kept safe by excessive numbers of PAs or else mutual fear. No doubt venerable players were a little unsettled without old tribemates and being left truly on their own; a truer test of survival skill in the early period would be tough to find, and simply surviving that period was an achievement in itself.
Ideas such as support (since tribemates were too widely dispersed to be of realistic assistance) and local tribes (you were lucky to have a blue neighbour, even in a 15x15) were thrown out of the window. Success though was not all about martial prowess, and a careful player could use their diplomatic and social skills to put in place a protection of sorts, or even a means to gang up on other neighbours!
Perhaps the most interesting example of this was the infamous horsemen alliance:
[spoil]
Rough backdrop of The Horsemen of K45
A summary of an attempt to put a treatise into action
A summary of an attempt to put a treatise into action
Dartship said:
Horsemen Thread
Some of the fallout
[spoil]
Map of Horsemen Alliance: January 2
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
Source: Dartship & Public Forum
[/spoil]
Novelty and innovation are always risky things, and it is a credit to those in charge that something different was tried. It was definitely commendable to try something outlandish at that; and as it stands, it was not perhaps something that was greeted with enthusiasm. But it was an experiment, and no one would really have predicted the outcome.
As a conclusion, I would posit that it was a brave move, and that there was scope, but that the settings were a little too outlandish to be likeable. Many offered the solution that players, whilst placed randomly, might have tribes limited only to a small number of continents, which might make the early tribes viable, and leave the possibility of wars. The period of 3 months and the idea itself was fun and I definitely think that it needs to be reconsidered which is perhaps the main thing that should come from this. Novelty attracts players, and that is something they will want to look at. Possibly the main criticism was poor advertisement and explanation of the settings, and releasing W28 alongside it at the same time; many players were attracted there instead.
I shall present a final look at some opinions on the matter, from players who came out the other side. It is compiled from W27 Weekly interviews, and from the Shadow forum:
[spoil]theSleepwalker - It was a cool idea of which I had no idea how to play with. That's probably why I was rimmed early in the game. The days leading up to 2/13/09 were some of the best times in this world, due to forum activity and rampant speculation.
ashiwwru12 - Just ok as a new experiment but not good for the world future because the tribe with good diplomacy and recruitment skill have a catwalk in this type of world.
maccano1 - A great experiment, which won't be repeated again. The idea was sound, but it just didn't realise the real aims of what it was meant to achieve. The best players rolled over the average/poor players, got bored and quit (as they didn't want to fight amongst them selves). This left a player vacum which has yet to be filled in my opinion.
Sinister Zero - At first it angered me, forced to stay in a tribe with people I didn’t respect or like but as time went on I began enjoy playing solo and gained experience from crushing everyone around me who were also forced to play solo without help from their tribes. I managed to go from playing tribal hugs to a strong offensive player as a result of the tribe lock.
olafSchlief - I think the idea behind the tribe lock was ok but it did not have the desired results. I feel they intended to get rid of premade tribes and force people to work with a new group of tribe mates. This might of had a chance if they did not start tribes with members all over the world maybe contained each tribe to one quadrant.
Deciphered - The tribe lock was an interesting concept and was theoretically strong. It allowed the more experienced players to dominate their surroundings and make respectable PAs. The days following February 13th were the most interesting and diplomatic times many players would ever have seen. Merges, NAPs, immediate declarations...you name it. However I do not think it will ever be repeated, not on .net worlds anyway. It has made a small world with a small bunch of active players, Innogame's turnover for W27 will be negligible. They are a business at the end of the day.
willettskillz - The tribe lock was odd and in my opinion very unsuccessful. Tribe lock was a good idea but never had a chance of working because in TW (as in most other online games) the best and brightest join together. Tribe lock made this an annoyance for the best and brightest, thus the mass quitting.
A positive (for me at least) was the ability to make friends in high places. I like to think that I’m an easy person to get along with so I felt no need to make enemies in the beginning. This was (as in Lord of Bones's words) "a way to gather information" later on in the game.
Carthon II - I believe tribelock was an enormous stroke of luck for me, it provided me time to learn the game. As the tribes were all spread out, it also forced players to be independent. My early tribemates were helpful in teaching me the finer points of the game and directing me to some of the terrific guides that are out there. That being said, I do believe the Tribe lock was too long and tribes should have been grouped closer together.
Samurai Kiwi - Interesting change, was a bit frustrating though.
sweeney2kaii8 - The tribe lock was a great idea, it allowed experienced player to teach new ones, though I can't see it happening again.
Silverwolf008 - For me the days of the tribe lock were excellent. I was in a tribe with two experienced players who knew what they were doing. Both of them took me under their respective "wings" and taught me rather a lot about the game. Especially the early stages of it. No one had ever extended such a courtesy to me before so I basically followed what I was told. Due to several unforeseeable factors both my teachers were nobled out and due primarily to luck I was not and still have not been on this world. This is a first for me.
It was also during this time that I first met Eph - although she was in a different, far more powerful tribe - and somehow got into her good graces and was very generously given a position in the now legendary "Shadow" which was ATTACK in those days.
Lord of Bones - For one I hate tribe hoppers (the policy of RIM in W6 was that if you join the your points stay in RIM, with or without you); I believed that the setting would create tribes where the more experienced would teach the new players and the tribes would be more active. I tried my best and ABS finished ranked 3rd at feb.13 and merged into ATTACK, so I must have done something right
. I ‘gathered’ players and taught them to play better and helped as much as I can and today they are great (players like kfoo, dirtfish and some others).metaldoc - I was surrounded by 2 enemy tribes I was doing really well but I couldn’t defend against 5 players. I was off to a rough start, lost all my villages in VEN and restarted in K25.
mrpickle99 - I was glad I had joined as the way I saw it, some of the best players in the world were stuck with me (Carthon II and OjibweMan both originated from *TKP*, at the time called LITE). I still thought of it as a bit dumb that we could not get rid of the players who had quit and they were just a bunch of dead weight, however if we could I would have never met two of the best friends I have had on this world.
Mande1992 - It actually was great. On the other worlds the big question was which tribe to join, a noob really has no way of knowing, or proving himself to be able to get into a good tribe. On W27 you were automatically in a tribe and some people knew how to play and shared their knowledge. I can't really remember anyone that was in the tribe but it did help to get me started to see how to learn from others, and to see how people react to each other.
Ephette - Was tribe lock fun? Yes and no. Yes it gave new challenges, kept you on your toes more so than if you were joining a regular pre made all in one area tribe. And for many of us the start of a world is the most fun, getting those buildings up, keeping a check on whose growing around you, trying to get those barbs farmed before someone else does, and seeing how many newbies around you can be convinced to restart elsewhere. My biggest gripe was that the lock was too long. Those 3 months took forever. On the other hand it eliminated a fair bit of competition. This world I think was very much an experiment for the admin staff. Something a little different to try. Would they do it again? Not to the scale this world was. The 3 months I think was generally accepted by most parties as being too long. Would I play another world with a locked tribe setting.
Oh yes
sparkosss - I didn’t know any better as it was my first world but looking at it now, it created a different way of developing.
tresorro - Since I was not familiar with any other settings, I did not think about it being good or bad. It just was the way things were.
winvarwen - I thought it was great. It allowed me free reign in the area without having to deal with tribal politics. Now I never even looked at the world settings so I had no idea it was even there until I started, and it took me a bit to figure out what a gift I was given.
Onyx Knight - I never cared for it. I think, in the long run, it neither helped balance the world, nor ruined it. Initially it kept a cap on things but after it was lifted tribes form the same way they do in any world.
Shaneanigans - I thought it was a great experience but my only problem is that everyone was way too far away. If they made the tribe lock with closer members it would have worked out great. If they did it this way I would give it another go.
foghorn66 - Got to admit I hated it.
SusieJean - It was an amazing idea. I loved it!
gmdobb - As for the tribe lock, it was good for me. As I was new to TW and didn't have lots of friends to form a tribe with, the lock put me on the same footing with everyone else. And with all your tribe members so far away you stood or fell alone. The thing I miss though is being able to support non-tribemates. There's nothing like stacking a barb that someone is trying to farm ;-)
CSLincoln - I could see that tribe lock would help players to form a decent alliance over distances not thought of before.
pallysrange - One of those great ideas but bad in practice things. Sure it may have taught a few players how to play better but for the most part it doomed players to one man army fighting while having a shared forum.
Zarin – I leave my own thoughts, written in the final Weekly of 2009; some bits I carried over into my history, so apologies for repeating myself:
I would hope that the entire community is familiar with the concept, so I shall pass over the explanation, but rather we must consider the event that leaves our world in the shape it did, what would have happened had it not been initiated, and therefore what if W27 were any other world.
It must first be said that the Tribe Lock was a new thing to ‘.net’. It had the same appeal as anything else new and different and immediately set this world apart. The theory of forcing a player into a randomly assigned tribe was an interesting one. The discussions on the settings of the world lie mostly forgotten, but let us consider why such a modus operandi could be successful.
One of the things that the tribe lock was designed to guard against was pre-made tribes in a two-fold scheme. Obviously those players seeking to establish themselves as a tribe immediately were not able to. Admittedly this point is somewhat moot, because an uncodified tribe could still have existed. However, the settings also dictated that tribe members could only support their own side, detracting from the ability of a de facto tribe, and there was also the small matter of random placement of players, scrambling attempts to band together.
Essentially therefore, the spectre of pre-made tribes was eliminated. It was an idea intended to make a world how it should be, as even a playing field as possible. Aside from this, one cannot see huge benefit in the Lock; it did allow some players to mix with more experienced ones whom they would not have had the chance to. It also tested leadership skills in many ways; players had to persuade 99 other complete strangers of their credentials. Not that being the leader amounted to much; it was more of a bureaucratic necessity than an imbuement of any actual authority.
What was most interesting however was the proposed liberation from the Lock 3 months down the line. Here we had an opportunity for leaders to no longer be burdened with the multitude of riff-raff that so infested early tribes, but rather to be able to select their members based upon the merits of 3 months’ growth. Essentially, the world only started for real and each player had to maintain a deposit of 3 months of play in order to actually reach the world proper. It proposed the effect of ‘starting’ the world already aware of who was good and who was not.
Overall, it paints a rather tidy picture. We have a new experiment, a world free of pre-made tribes or old friends ganging up with each other in the early game. It offered less experienced players the opportunity to mix some of the more experienced and provided a test of leadership ability. It also seemed to endow a real start to the world 3 months in, when it was clear who was staying and worthwhile in a tribe.
On the surface, with a bit of positive thought behind it, the Tribe Lock is an excellent idea. It is not difficult to see why some might join, though I think the intentions for the world and the reasons why people came are not the same. Despite its credentials, the endemic reason for joining seems to be a simple one: to give it a go. Many players simply saw these new interesting settings and decided that it would be worth a look. Well, I say that, some players neglected to even read the settings and then wondered what was going on. If you were new to TW, this could well have been quite surreal, considering what you had heard.
On the other hand, a significant number of highly experienced players joined in order to sample an experience that would be more natural, and unencumbered; a tabula rasa in which each player had to survive on their own, and where the weak would sink and the strong would swim.
It is plausible to divide those who joined into some rough groups: those who were not aware of the settings; those who were curious as to the workings of such a scheme; those who felt that it would be advantageous and indeed a good experience. Like the majority, I was mostly in the group who were here for the ride, though possibly I could see it as being beneficial. It was a nice speed too; what was the worst that could happen? I sensed that a lack of tribes and pre-made PAs would leave each player squarely on their own, turning many neighbourhoods into veritable deathmathces for supremacy, and a diplomatic and social scene that went beyond the usual people skills. You really could trust no one.
Looking at those first few days, it was clear that the world would be like no other. We had a deluge of complaint and disenchantment which induced a lot of players to quit and probably scared off a lot of the newest players to TW. Admittedly, there were some players who were finding the settings to be a refreshing change or who were at least lucky enough to have found their feet in the lottery of the start, while others were left hamstrung. It is not unreasonable to posit that the lock polarised much opinion; you either thought it was ridiculous, or you liked it. I do not feel that anyone had overly strong feelings towards it, but some were interpreting the state of affairs as unworkable and against the concepts of the game.
On the other hand, it did have the effect of thrusting a player into a Darwinian environment where independence was the only means of play, forcing players to be less reliant upon others, and requesting a consummate political and social game from them too. It is obvious at least that it forced players into new relationships and broadened the social scope for the game, even if it was not fully realised.
It was also the reason for many players leaving the world early, dissatisfied with this supposedly wonderful system, and accounts for the general lack of growth as its early expansion became inhibited after it had been so heavily criticised. From that point on, it simply did not attract the necessary amount of players, and its growth slowed considerably. 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
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.
Perhaps I should pause here and consider what the world would be like if Tribe Lock had been maintained. What if we had a world where the lock was permanent? Admittedly it might be a bit of a lottery, but it could certainly raise some interesting scenarios. Some changes could be made here and there, but what if we simply forced players to fight it out like that? Personal alliances would be rather less prolific than they were, and it would be a case of simply trying to work towards your allies, hoping that they are decent players. On balance, perhaps, it would be a little crazy, but interesting nonetheless.
But I digress. As the lock came to an end, the most astute leaders had their plans afoot, as if they have been allowed a glimpse 3 months into the future from the start of any other world to pick the players whom they knew to be worthwhile. This is key to understanding why the early tribes developed. ATTACK, more than anyone, was looking to pick up the best and brightest in all continents, as part of something that was almost global; the Lock allowed them to do that.
So were those 3 months well spent? Well the first question is perhaps one that I can answer for anyone else. It was certainly an interesting experience, and I think every player learned something if they stuck it out, much more so than if they had joined a local tribe in another world. It encouraged an independence that was valuable and shaped the world today. People would not be here if it had been an utterly terrible experience, so there was definitely substance.
Was it a useful experiment? Any experiment is useful, particularly one that has not been done before. The only real way to discern how this would turn out was to actually put it into practice, and the results speak for themselves. Whether it will be taken forward and similar settings proposed, I do not know.
How would it have turned out on a normal world? This is probably the most interesting question. Certainly the scope for ATTACK’s ambition was accommodated by the Lock, and such a thing is unlikely to have existed without the Lock. I think we’d probably see some of those pre-mades that were either split up or simply neglected to join having a say in things. It’s impossible to know, but interesting to flirt with.
Now if you had to ask me whether I would do a similar world, then I probably would, just for the nostalgia. However, they would probably consider changes. I think a shorter lock would be beneficial, as it still accomplishes its objectives, but helps to retain more players who were dissatisfied. The leadership selection probably needs a revision too, and players who knew what they were getting themselves in for would be nice. Grouping tribes more closely, in a small number of continents could augment the potential in the early period quite considerably, and allow some coordination, without a massive invitational neighbourhood hugfest as with most worlds, where all the local active players join together and stunt their own ambition.
I’d also love to witness a permanent lock, just to see what would happen and how players would adapt, particularly if the members were positioned closer together. Indeed, shaking up the membership every few months and reassigning tribes could also make for some added hilarity. Maybe these are more in the realm of a speed round, just for the sheer nature of the experiment.
Whatever the case, I have come to realise what the TW Team were attempting. I see a lot of positive thinking marred by an almost endemic ignorance of the settings, and a slightly misjudged execution. I definitely think that it should be tried again, and that slight revision should be made, as well as clear advertisement of what players are letting themselves in for. Accomplish all that, and there’s a lot of untapped potential left in the idea.
All in all, it was an interesting run; that cannot be denied. For better or worse, we are in the situations we are because of the lock and I think many took something from it. It may be unpopular, but it holds a unique place in our experience.[/spoil]
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. What better use for those first tribes than a recruiting base? Indeed, a waiting period of many weeks weeded out the weakest players and gave prospective leaders a clear view of who to invite and how they might build a tribe. Many 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, 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. Below are some maps and stats; the top tribes you see here are the work of leaders who had planned this well in advance:
[spoil]Top 20 Tribes: February 13
01) ATTACK
02) PM
03) LA-G
04) Nstlk*
05) Feb.13
06) YGI?
07) LA
08) Santa!
09) K55
10) RB
11) *TKP*
12) Alone
13) EWO
14) RIM,
15) BAN
16) Dune
17) Nstlk~
18) UNMA
19) Autumn
20) Idk
Source: Public Forum
Top rankings with figures: February 13
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: Public Forum
Top 15 Players: February 19
01) albrew5 ATTACK 445.586 50 8912
02) ftw97 RB 431.777 50 8636
03) tgo0 LA-G 387.666 42 9230
04) OjibweMan ATTACK 386.843 39 9919
05) frombie ATTACK 350.077 39 8976
06) Carthon II ATTACK 326.044 41 7952
07) firatdinlerr40 Feb.13 295.956 33 8968
08) ornyto PM 293.677 33 8899
09) 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: Public Forum
[/spoil]
Thanks to maccano1 for this piece on some early evaluation of the tribes:
[spoil]
Map of Early Tribes: February 13
[spoil]1 ATTACK: Black
Lead by: Ephette & Robthegreat
Key K’s:
One of the largest tribes has managed to stick around, and has established its self as one of the largest tribes; a Feb 13th purge and subsequent recruitment have seen them firmly establish them at the top of the tribal listings. Have seemed to go with a liberal recruitment method which has players joining with all kinds of point totals from 1k to 166k.
Their problem may be the spread of their players means that they are vying for dominance of many K’s but it also means that they will be stretched everywhere and a conflict with a couple of tribes at the same time could see them crumble as they seemingly don’t have a specific core.
2 PM: Orange
Lead by: ornyto and alkalye333
Key K’s: 54/64
A tribe which has been in the public eye for quite some time due to alkalye333’s announcement of their existence a week ago, these guys have been working together on an external forum for a while now, so are likely to be more organised than most other tribes at this stage. They have a solid player base with some really good players, and unless there is a surprise I can see these guys dominating the SW easily, their only real challenge is Nstlk* who occupy k43 and k53
3 LA-G: Brown
Lead by: steve34cks and Crystalball
Key K’s: 44
Another existing tribe which has been able to survive and recruit a good set of members, these guys will have to fight for K44 initially because they have a number of other large tribes who could stop their dominance in that area, if they are able to get that K under control then they will have the pick of who they want to fight next, their expansion could go north, south, west or east. My only doubt would be them currently having players in K66 which is nowhere near their main cluster.
4 Nstlk*: Green
Lead by: ???
Key K’s: 43/53
They currently have a nice position on the rim which means that they don’t have as much worry with being surrounded, I imagine that they will quickly come into conflict with PM as they both share territory, which could be an interesting war, PM have some good members, but they will be fairly far from the front, and it would be a great test of their strength.
5 Feb.13: Turquoise
Lead by: ???
Key K’s: 45
In a similar position to LA-G, but I would say will have an easier time solidifying their position within their main K because other main tribes don’t have a significant proportion of the villages, however due to their spread they may quickly end up in a conflict with LA who are on the rim and may look to expand in their direction.
6 YGI?: White
Lead by: Shark79
Key K’s: 34/35
A small group of players based in K34 and K35, have already been working together on an informal level, while they lack numbers of the other tribes there members are mostly experienced players from the early worlds. Share a border with attack, which may see an early conflict if alliances/naps aren’t set up.
7 LA: Blue
Lead by: Deciphered
Key K’s: 46
Pretty much on the rim, they have almost complete control of the eastern part of K46 however will have to spread out to the rest of their K if they are wanting to gain true dominance, this will probably see them come into early conflict with Feb the 13th who have members in the western side of K46.
8 Santa!: Purple
Lead by: AllyDInDaHouse
Key K’s: None
A tribe which has survived Feb the 13th however looking at their player spread it will be hard for them to stay as a true contender as they have a number of small cores which are likely to get swiftly eaten up by the main K tribes in the area. However Ally is meant to be a good player, and they by far have the best tribal COA, so I hope they stick around!
9 RB: Pink
Lead by: ftw97
Key K’s: 44
A four man tribe against the world, you’ve got to respect that, I’m going to reserve judgement just at the moment because I’m sure they are either going to get a couple more members or move tribes quickly, as I don’t see 4 of them staying on their own.
10 K55: Grey
Lead by: Bob Sherly
Key K’s: 55 (who’d have guessed)
Well they get the award for least imaginative name so far, dragging their heels somewhat at 10th which I’m surprised at when you consider that it is a core K.[/spoil]
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
Here’s a better quality map courtesy of mattcurr (the tribe labelled Nstlk* is Feb.13):
[spoil]
Top Tribes: February 14
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
It is perhaps testament to the fiery environment 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. 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 some 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 had done similar topics on a normal world. Three months to throw out the riff raff and Three months to plan proved useful.
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. Congratulations were probably owed to the eponymous Feb.13 which was perfectly apt for the state of the world. It was one of those interesting times where things were still open; the vultures were watching to see whose plans would come to fruition and whose would be 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 originally set to unlimited to accommodate so many players in only 200 tribes), it was in the hands of players to decide:
[spoil]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
Ensuing Discussion
Source: Internal Tribal Wars Survey
[/spoil]
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 their internal machinations. It was, in so many ways, looking like a real world again. Indeed, my final act on this section is to offer some contemporary thoughts on the tribe lock, courtesy of the Weekly:
[spoil]_XsaphiraX - What do you think about the Tribe unlock?
Ephette - It came too late, this was an experimental world and hopefully they will implement the changes needed if they do decide to do this again.
eg Bring the lock down to 2 months duration.
Have a second vote for a tribe leader after perhaps another month - I think this caused most of the probs, a tribe being stuck with a tribe leader who had no interest in the tribe or this world.
stampcoin - What did i think about the tribe unlock. well... It was nice to finally get out of the old tribes that was for sure. Finally got the action in World 27 started, and finally we had Freedom!
Bob Sherly - The tribe unlock was just delaying the inevitable, even in our previous tribes that we got sorted into we could have had the same situation but we couldn't as we were spread too far apart. Other than that the tribe unlock was set for too long, even as an experiment, they should have put it as a trial at 1 month, then 2, etc.
waylander29 - the lock was silly, no good at all every1 just made alliances and had an other tribe that way.
shark79 - Tribe Unlock is an act, which benefits the cooperative players, who like the team playing. It tends to develop the social skills of people, which is one of the reasons this game exists.
ashiwwru12 - its great and their is excitement everywhere.everybody wanted to do things on their own way like previos worlds.this is the oppurtunity to learn for new players and exp players will make their own tribe and invite all the strong player to lead the tribe..
TheLastDragon - As for the tribe unlock i dont think having it locked in the first place really accomplished anything other than wasting alot of important time. The unlocking simply made it possible for the same veteran players to all leave and team up together again. Beyond that i cant honestly say its had any effect on the world at all.
Source: W27 Weekly
[/spoil]
Let’s leave with a flourish and a very colourful map from just before the end of February, when peace was reining in W27:
[spoil]
Top Tribes: February 19
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
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 dormant for so long 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.
[spoil]
Top Tribes: February 22
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
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 in W27 where a tribe is threatening to become too large for any single rival, but not large enough so as to merit the forces of all other tribes 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.
It was thus that Feb.13 took it upon themselves to fight ATTACK in what could well have been a war to decide the dominant force of the world. Feb.13 had of course taken in much of LA (which was led by Deciphered who shared the reins in the new tribe), significantly augmenting its strength. 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 in the way that Feb.13 surprised ATTACK. 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 them. 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.
Let’s have a brief look at the rankings and some thoughts from players at the time:
[spoil]
maccano1 said:
Source: Public Forum
stampcoin said:
Source: Public Forum
Lord of Bones said:
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
Here’s a map midway into the war:
[spoil]
Top Tribes: March 11
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
After just over a month, Feb 13 disbanded and was followed by the amnesty mail forum post made by albrew5. With Feb.13 brushed aside, we have an interesting world forming, with a dominant tribe threatening to remain so, whilst their rivals neglect this seemingly obvious fact. The remnants of Feb.13 split into several smaller tribes, mainly C46 and 4Fun, each with varying intentions against ATTACK. Other members joined ATTACK or else chose to remain tribeless for the moment. Many of these remnants continued for quite some time before going to war again down the road. Most importantly, the spectre of a unified 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.
A map just before Feb.13 was disbanded:
[spoil]
Top Tribes: March 25
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
Despite the mouth-watering prospect of these two tribes at war, this proved to be a most disappointing affair. 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*.
Elsewhere in the world, two smaller tribes were engaged in a war of their own – RB and BAN as well as BAN’s motley crew of allies. RB took the lead in that one, mostly down to them having ftw97 who was the largest player on the server at the time:
[spoil]
RB vs. BAN, BAN-A, LA-G, *TKP*, VSB: February 26 - March 5
Side 1: 19
Side 2: 1
Difference: 18
Side 1: 19
Side 2: 1
Difference: 18
Source: Public Forum
[/spoil]
One or two other smaller wars surfaced: ~AOW~ defeated –W- and Nstlk* defeated ~APE~ in what were only ever going to be formalities.
[spoil]
~AOW~ vs. -W-: March 6 - March 8
Side 1: 17
Side 2: 0
Difference: 17
Side 1: 17
Side 2: 0
Difference: 17
Source: Public Forum
Nstlk* vs. ~APE~: February 27 - March 6
Side 1: 21
Side 2: 2
Difference: 19
Side 1: 21
Side 2: 2
Difference: 19
Source: W27 Weekly
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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 world had tasted its first wars, and with the dust having scarcely settled from the rapid formation of tribes, so too had some engaged in wars. The events of the intense early period are neatly summarised in a timeline.
Out in front, ATTACK now crucially had a better quality of members, and had gone some way to building a solid reputation. It had been battled tested in places, even if there had been little blood. However, whilst it was out in front, its poor positioning in places meant that Feb.13 remnants could still be a threat, and it lacked the unified position of its opponents. War on several fronts would surely weaken it, and there seemed to be no shortage of usurpers waiting in the wings. Consolidating their position was the name of the game, and shrewd diplomacy seemed more likely than continued warfare to put them firmly on top.
Following it in the rankings was Nstlk*, now on a more even footing with new members from YGI?. Little had been seen of them in combat, but they had enough strong and experienced members to be a cause for concern themselves. In many ways, their position was safer than that of ATTACK, since their only major threat was in ATTACK itself, whilst ATTACK had everyone to consider. With the numbers against them, and expansion a difficult affair (since attacking anyone except ATTACK left them wide open, but engaging ATTACK was a risky move indeed), careful planning would be needed to see out this period intact.
After them, other tribes lurked in T-GR and ~AOW~. Both of these were large enough to significantly tip the scales in conflicts of the above tribes in either direction, and this made them priorities for Nstlk* and ATTACK who would be rushing to court them for support. Alone, they were no match for their superiors, but an intelligent merge or simply waiting out the inevitable clash of the titans could serve them well. Ironically enough, a war with each other seemed the most likely outcome.
For a short time, peace descended on the larger tribes; but the stage was set for the greatest war yet to come.
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