Unibot III wrote:New Rogernomics wrote:snip
I won't respond bit by bit because there was a lot to unpack but I think there's a few things that should be said:
- Divergent perspective on the PRL and the Emerald Realm are important here. I see the old Emerald Realm as a failure: it was neutral, sure, but it was also terribly inactive, almost nonfunctional - its "government" was like eight Gameplayers (with focuses elsewhere) caught in a messy political gridlock between the FRA, imperialists, and the NPO. I also don't regard the PRL as a failure, I think, despite Feux, Milograd, and AMOM's best efforts, the PRL was actually an enormous success. The revolution took the most inactive GCR and made it the most active GCR - it pulled in a whole new generation of NSers and gave them their first start in NS. It was voted the most active and important region in the game by others at the time, it also had the most active and the most prominent defender military in NS at the time. The PRL seemed from the outside to be a force of generational change within the game. Every region has political bans (Balder, NES' region, has dozens of political bans) -- I don't regard the PRL leadership as a "cabal," it seemed to me to be a rather open group of some of the 'youngest' NSers leading a GCR in NS who were experimenting, innovating, and reconsidering what a Game-Created Region could be, culturally and politically.
Ah yes, coming from a true native of Lazarus rather than a known defender subversive. I am sure your extensive history of unbiased observation within Lazarus has led you to this belief.
I think there is a diaspora of players who cut their teeth in the PRL who have never been welcomed back to Lazarus after the crises; their good experience with the PRL is uncomfortable for Lazarenes because it contradicts a foundational myth that today's Lazarus likes to tell: that the PRL was bad, corrupt, exclusive, or compromised ethnically.
I presume you have examples of this? I am unaware of any such thing occurring. We welcomed back Milo before he chose the NPO over us, even though he was involved in the NLO as well as the PRL. If I recall, Harmoneia was involved in the PRL and she was a Security Auditor until she was removed for inactivity. I don't believe we specifically excluded anyone because of their involvement in the PRL. Your made up claims regarding "foundational myths" is also not based in reality, as in Lazarus there is no such tale being promoted.
Frankly, this argument is completely made up, based on no actual facts.
I agree with you that if Lazarus were to realign itself with a defender cause that it should form a new multilateral organization/nucleus -- that is global leadership that is missing today and the region that fills that void will gain an enormous political advantage.
Luckily, you do not get to have a say in Lazarus' affairs. If Lazarus wishes to realign itself with the defender cause, we will decide for ourselves what we do with it.
NPO is most certainly neutral. Francoism sees raiding and defending as userite causes/movements - and calls for the NPO and other GCRs to rise above this userite struggle. Francoism is also expansionist, in that it anticipates the unification of the Pacifics (Pacifica) -- so invaders and defenders can be "useful" to NPO in these regards as pawns and temporary political allies or scapegoats, and the means of expansionism can appear to be synonymous with imperialism.
The NPO is an opportunist regime out only for it's own gain and influence within NS, and they view influence in the GCRs to be the key objective. They have in the past aided defenders more than raiders - the most recent occasion being the liberation attempts on Iran, which they even attempted to conceal by working with clean puppets. The purge of Lazarus in 2013 is another example, as is the aid the NPO gave to the Revolt in an attempt to gain greater influence in Lazarus through Task Force Lazarus. I do not recall the NPO ever working together with raiders in recent years. Indeed, they were openly hostile to raiders, who they regarded as a threat to their opportunist agenda in the GCRs, whereas they regarded defenders as their allies. You could say they are more defender-leaning (although personally, I think they view defenders as the easier faction to exploit for their own goals).
Anyways, speaking as a Lazarene, I am glad to see a non-agression pact has been established between our regions.