The Eternal Knights: Farewell Address

[Applebania]

Well, Bollocks!

[Nephmir]

And the Black Riders - and this should not be taken as a criticism - mainly practice a style of raiding where it is almost impossible to lose.

That's what keeps people around, victories do more for morale than anything else.

We practice all styles of raiding. What TEK lacks is a command core, TBR has no central leader, it's run by a General Staff that takes decisions by vote.

Stop talking about things you don't know about. I do not make all of the decisions.

[Unified Protectors]

MMXIV
Gladiator Gauntlet

Host Region: The Eternal Knights
Coordinator: Unified Protectors
Arena: The Colosseum
Public Area: The Plaza
Participating Regions: The Eternal Knights
Participating Nations:

The Annual Jousting Tournament is an interregional competition held by The Eternal Knights every year involving the regional members of The Eternal Knights and its allies. The Tournament is designed for entertainment amongst participating and observing nations, and a friendly competition between. This competition is open to all members, regardless of military gameplay experience. It is also a method of training players for regional operations. It is split into two parts: Stage 1: Qualifying and Stage 2: Tournament. The qualifying part is split into two stages itself, each with its own specific requirements. The qualifying stage is meant to prepare the player for the competition. The tournament stage is the actual competition. It takes place over seven days (fourteen updates). All qualifying players will compete against one another in the arena for this time period. The winner is be determined by a points system, where points are awarded for different actions. The Eternal Crown will be awarded to the winner.

The Qualifiers are an individual assessment meant to prepare the player for the competition. It is divided into two portions: Round One and Round Two. Round One involves tactical maneuvering and intelligence and data collection. Round Two encompasses applying tactics and conducting a brief mission. Both rounds will have multiple options of which the player can choose. A set number of missions must be completed in order to move on. The player must complete both rounds in order to continue to Stage 2: Tournament.

The Tournament is a fourteen-update rivalry between multiple players. Players will compete against one another in order to gain points. Points will be earned through various actions, such as gaining and holding the World Assembly Delegacy, ejecting other players, and amount of influence gained. Players use inserted nations and must have a World Assembly membership at the ready. It takes place in one region: The Colosseum. Any player action outside of this region will not count towards their points although movement is allowed. This region will be passworded. All players must adhere to the ‘Rules of Engagement’ less risk being disqualified. At the end of the fourteen updates, the points are tallied and the champion is crowned.

Consisting of several basic military tactics, the Qualifiers takes no longer than 1-2 days to complete. Players must complete one of the two Tasks in Section 1 and one of the two Tasks in Section 2 in order to be able to compete in the Tournament.

Section 1:

I. The player and coordinator will allot a time where both can be present at the same time. The coordinator will direct the player where to move a puppet nation, doing so as quickly as possible. This will also involve moving multiple puppets, and applying and resigning from the World Assembly.

II. The coordinator will place a puppet nation in a certain region. Given certain clues, such as Regional Message Board Posts, national happening, regions, and moves, the player must track down the nation and find what region the puppet resides in.

*A player does not have to complete Section 1 if rank is above Warrior.

Section 2:

I. The player and coordinator (or regional member of rank senior warrior or higher) will organize a update raid of minimum 10 targets. The raid will be executed and coordinator will approve if successful. The update raid will be treated as a normal regional operation.

II. The player will organize a stealth raid of minimum 2 targets. The player may request aid from the coordinator or retrieve it from another source. The regions and operation will be treated as a regular regional operation.

The Tournament will take place over the course of a total of 14 updates. The tournament will begin at 11:00 PM GMT on a date to be determined. Before this time, each player will plant a puppet in The Colosseum on a selected day in order to equal influence gain. Once the tournament begins, each puppet will have a set amount of influence to begin.

Players will gain points by gaining the Delegacy, ejecting nations, and gaining influence. The player with the most pints by the end will be crowned champion. A password viewable to residents will be put into place for the duration of the tournament and will be changed every 24 hours. Players may freely move out and into the region at their own discretion. The identity of all the players will remain undisclosed throughout unless the player chooses otherwise. Alliances may be formed and may be helpful. Each player is limited to 1 reinforcement (non-player) that may remain in The Colosseum for no more than 24 hours.

Complete destruction of The Colosseum will result in an automatic win for that player. The win will be credited to the last player to hold the Delegacy in the region. Upon destruction, The Colosseum may not be refounded and instead the coordinator will be notified.

A 'Daily Disarray' will occur at the time of the password change. This action could include a random ejection of a player, a random endorsement given to one player or anything else. Players may submit a suggestion regarding a 'Daily Disarray' option.

General

I. Players must adhere to the rules of NationStates, which include appropriate posting, national flag, and general national affairs.

II. Posts on the Regional Message Board (RMB) of The Colosseum and The Plaza are allowed, and must be appropriate (no swearing, flaming etc.)

WA Delegate

III. Changing of the password settings of The Colosseum is prohibited.

IV. Changing of the regional flag of The Colosseum is prohibited.

V. Changing of the World Factbook Entry of The Colosseumis allowed where specified (WA Delegate Message and Colours).

VI. Ejection of players and reinforcements is allowed. Banning is prohibited.

VII. Requesting, accepting and closing embassies is prohibited.

VIII. Suppression of posts on the RMB is prohibited.

Tournament Play

IX. Requesting 1 reinforcement (non-player) in order to gain an endorsement is allowed. This reinforcement may only stay in Th Colosseum for 24 hours, any longer will result in banjection. Upon arrival, both the player and reinforcement must telegram the coordinator regarding the affair.

X. The identify of every player will remain undisclosed throughout, unless the player chooses to reveal.

Any first-time offence will result in a warning. A second-time offence will result in disqualification.

See full dispatch version.

[RiderSyl]

So you guys are roleplaying now?

[Cormac A Stark]

So you guys are roleplaying now?

Looks like a combination of RP and GP to me, and one of the more original ideas I've seen lately. I hope it works out!

[RiderSyl]

So you guys are roleplaying now?

Looks like a combination of RP and GP to me, and one of the more original ideas I've seen lately. I hope it works out!

I have to wonder what kind of audience there could possibly be for a combination of RP/GP, though.

And although the idea is pretty original, I'd rather see it attempted by a region that doesn't have a history of struggling with organization.

[Cormac A Stark]

I have to wonder what kind of audience there could possibly be for a combination of RP/GP, though.

And although the idea is pretty original, I'd rather see it attempted by a region that doesn't have a history of struggling with organization.

As far as audience, I'm interested in it though obviously I can't participate as I'm WA immobile. Hopefully other GPers will be too, but I guess we'll see.

A region that doesn't have a history of struggling with organization? I'll get them right on this, as soon as I find one.

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

It is an intriguing idea. The wording made it seem to me like it was for TEK and close friends only though.

Also a way to occupy the WA of every participant for a while

[Unified Protectors]

So you guys are roleplaying now?

It's focused more on the gameplay aspect. While the whole thing has the theme of gladiators and such, the entire competition will be gameplay oriented. The actual competition is gameplay-based and only those actions will count towards the players benefit. The role-play is just to add some sort of flair and context to it.

So you guys are roleplaying now?

Looks like a combination of RP and GP to me, and one of the more original ideas I've seen lately. I hope it works out!

Thank you! It took awhile to figure out. However, the idea is still in its development stages and has yet to be tested fully. Based, on this upcoming event, we'll see what needs to be changed.

It is an intriguing idea. The wording made it seem to me like it was for TEK and close friends only though.

Also a way to occupy the WA of every participant for a while

Souls! Haven't talked to you in a while. Yeah, its only for TEK and allies at the moment, sorry. I thought about opening it to all nations, but seeing as it was a regional event, it would take away from that. Perhaps when its tested and everything, I'll make one for the public. Anyways, you could join us and participate! No, this isn't a recruitment method...

[RiderSyl]

No, this isn't a recruitment method...

Since when is anything in GP not some kind of recruitment method?

[Nephmir]

So you guys are roleplaying now?

Eh... speaking of Role Play (and recruitment methods ), if anyone has more RP experience then I and is willing to help me construct a basic Role Play community within TEK, that'd be much appreciated. I have already planned out a simple structure, I just need help implementing it (namely, creating and running the first Role Play, and encouraging the populace to post in it); just telegram me if you're interested in the position. You don't have to become a member of the region or participate in our military forces, so no need for puppets to telegram me. I'm specifically looking for PT with a flare of Fantasy Tech, which fits into the theme of the region, and something simple that anyone in the region can join in without signing up, all based on the NS forums (P2TM or II).

Yes, I acknowledge that I should have set this up a long time ago... but I have good reason not to have done so, which I will explain through telegram to those interested.

Thank you!

Also, anyone with a question about the Annual Jousting Tournament should telegram Unified Protectors, as I will be playing almost no role in its organization or execution.

[Starkiller101]

So, hows that battle report coming along?

[Nephmir]

Battle Report #32
Minor Update
30 July 2014

To mark the 7th successful month of The Eternal Knights, two Knights, on opposite ends of the battlefield, burned down 20 enemy encampments quickly and quietly while the Raiders and Defenders were away fighting each other!

Eternal Knights Involved
Unified Protectors
Nephmir

Regions Conquered
The Great Derpy Ocean
Nasserith
Shadow Blood
Wambo Confederation
National Socialist Republics
Jedi Vs Sith
Sheindungeon
The Antartic Territories
The Emerald Heights
Earth 1123
Omegat Empire
Royal Federation Army
The Rebels Empires
Sippar
The Darkest Study Group
The Solitudian Empire
The Geography Four
Defend Islam Create Khilafah State
Bellatrixia
Aquilonia

[RiderSyl]

We got to sit back and watch you guys hit The Solitudian Empire inbetween our attacks because y'all jumped the gun so incredibly soon on it. It provided some good laughs, so thanks for that.

[Nephmir]

We got to sit back and watch you guys hit The Solitudian Empire inbetween our attacks because y'all jumped the gun so incredibly soon on it. It provided some good laughs, so thanks for that.

Yeah, we didn't have update times.

We took a pre-made list that was in the correct order without the times attached, with no communications whatsoever during the raid.

Besides, it's not like we were worried about Defenders or anything like that. No resistance was expected and none occurred.

[Kknight]

So in other words, I should randomize the list of hits from now on.

[Nephmir]

So in other words, I should randomize the list of hits from now on.

Pretty much.

Sorry if we don't have a tool that allows us to go on a raid without hours or even days of planning- rest assured we'll get one soon. Then maybe we'd be able to put up a better fight.

[Shizensky]

Start here:

http://nationstates.net/pages/regions.xml.gz

Either find a developer who can parse that for you, or figure out how to load it into Excell without crashing Excell. ProTip: XML Source Task Panel might be the way to go.

Experiment on your own from here.

[The Assassin ShadowX]

So in other words, I should randomize the list of hits from now on.

Pretty much.

Sorry if we don't have a tool that allows us to go on a raid without hours or even days of planning- rest assured we'll get one soon. Then maybe we'd be able to put up a better fight.

No even with a tool you need some prep time. My method for example requires about an hour of prep time. Though 45 minutes of that time isn't spent setting up the tool itself, that can be done in as little as 5 minutes if you really get right to it.

No, most of the time for me is spent finding appropriate targets that fit together. So usually depending on who's coming in the raid, I must find appropriate targets with 1 to 2.5 minutes between each target. That process takes most of the time.

Halcones once told me that TBR's tool is more efficient, and overall everything takes less time to prepare fool than my process, but the update times I get are pretty much the same as his. So I guess that's good, but I am considering of implementing everything within a new C++ or Java program or even Python and make things a lot faster.

What about you TEK, does it actually take you "days" to set things up?

[Nierr]

Manual triggering over all. More challenging and I'd pit my record against any tool.

[Nephmir]

What about you TEK, does it actually take you "days" to set things up?

If we want to increase our chances of a successful run, we have to slowly place sleepers in each of the target regions, if we don't already have one there, at least 24 hours ahead of time to get fresh data from the pipes (you know, those things you have to pour gasoline into and hand crank to get started). Then we have to make the list, attach the times, remove the regions that update too close (less then 10 seconds apart), and set up raid preparations. We've gotten used to using pipes, though, so we can use them and interpret the data and call 10 second triggers with them when we prepare this way, and end up getting 15-24 regions on average each time, which isn't too bad.

Whenever you see us doing the terrible jumps, we either don't have update times, or are too lazy to gather times and use NS++ times

Manual triggering over all. More challenging and I'd pit my record against any tool.

It is definitely more challenging at first before you get used to it, yes, but I'd prefer it not to be harder then it has to be. Tag raiding is meant to keep the forces in shape and to maintain constant activity levels, with the ability to use easier tools as you advance through the ranks to provide extra incentive to rank up and to pick out those that are willing to work harder by manually gathering times before presenting them with the next level tool.

Start here:

http://nationstates.net/pages/regions.xml.gz

Either find a developer who can parse that for you, or figure out how to load it into Excell without crashing Excell. ProTip: XML Source Task Panel might be the way to go.

Experiment on your own from here.

Thanks! Already experimenting with this, but I have a friend who may actually know what he's doing, so I'll see what happens

[Nephmir]

Brief unofficial report: Coalition of Freedom has decided to merge into TEK, thereby creating a larger and more powerful region. When the merge has been fully completed and the region stabilized to accommodate hundreds of new arrivals, we will effectively be the largest Anti-World Assembly region in existence, with .80% of the World Assembly within the region, with a goal of 1% by December 30th. To put this into perspective, this is the amount of WA members in a small GCR.

The military will still remain the primary focus, as the goals of TEK have not changed; however, we will now have another government operating the community and Internal Affairs, overseen by Riftend, who has access to the Regional Controls as WA delegate.

An official announcement may be released on a later date.

[Shizensky]

It's a bit optimistic to expect even 2/3 of CoF's population to move with the merge. You'll get the active core, and a few stragglers, but it might be wise to hold off on the projections until after things slow down.

[Nephmir]

It's a bit optimistic to expect even 2/3 of CoF's population to move with the merge. You'll get the active core, and a few stragglers, but it might be wise to hold off on the projections until after things slow down.

Precisely why I didn't release an official report

I don't expect there to be many problems, as Riftend will be sending out another WA telegram soon, but you are right.

[Blood Wine]

REALLY optimistic if you ask me

TEK currently has 8 endorsements on the delegate + CoF has 62 on theirs (update pending) so that would be 70
14622 WA members atm,so it would be about 0,47% of WA nations - that is if all WA nations actually move to TEK and become official members,my estimate would be 30-40,or 0,25% if you're so hellbent on percentages