Basics of Military Gameplay

[Frisbeeteria]

And if they are off?

Then the Raider Delegate can cast WA votes on behalf of the region, and pretty much nothing else.

[Riotopia]

I'm not sure whether I want to be a raider or defender =)) I want someone to influence me

[Evil Wolf]

Like acting for yourself and planning your own moves? Be a raider.

Like reacting to others and having your next step dictated to you by your enemies? Be a Defender.

Morals can play a role in choosing, if you believe in them when it comes to a game. If you don't, cause in-game morals are silly, the gameplay I described above is pretty much how the average update goes.

[Riotopia]

Like there aren't defenders that "defend" regions even if they aren't in danger =)) I do have in game morals... kinda... I'm just a bit confused as to what I should do =))

[The Black Hat Guy]

Like there aren't defenders that "defend" regions even if they aren't in danger =)) I do have in game morals... kinda... I'm just a bit confused as to what I should do =))

Most large regions have defensive pacts with many other regions, and often defender regions, and defenders, are involved in those.

You want my opinion: be a defender. Raiding is essentially just legitimized bullying - there are many concrete examples of how it destroys communities, causes players to leave the game, and creates general bad feelings. Defending is an attempt to prevent that.

[The North Polish Union]

Like there aren't defenders that "defend" regions even if they aren't in danger =)) I do have in game morals... kinda... I'm just a bit confused as to what I should do =))

Most large regions have defensive pacts with many other regions, and often defender regions, and defenders, are involved in those.

You want my opinion: be a defender. Raiding is essentially just legitimized bullying - there are many concrete examples of how it destroys communities, causes players to leave the game, and creates general bad feelings. Defending is an attempt to prevent that.

Most such pacts are mutual cooperation pacts, and not defense pacts. The two regions generally agree to cooperate with each other on the international stage, and this may mean raiding, defending, or neither, depending on the gameplay alignment of the signatory regions. To blanket these pacts as defense pacts is, IMO, ignoring the many other aspects that such pacts may have, and which are certainly not limited to defense.

Furthermore, Riotopia, raiding does not destroy communities. Such communities are certainly free to choose a different name, and since a name alone does not define a community, the community thus is not destroyed by the loss of a name. Neither does it cause people to quit the game. Most such people were already discontented with the game before the raid. If they had been enjoying it, why would they quit? They may use the raid as an excuse to quit, but the raid is almost never the root cause of their quitting. As for general bad feelings, I'm not sure where that came from, but I've never seen any reason to believe such.

Finally, the overall ethical problems that defenderists face are staggering. They often claim to have some moral high ground in their defendersim, but the actions of their leaders (especially the UDL's leaders) often show less of a moral compass than those taken by their raiderist opponents. The practice of defending is in itself immoral (see here for a more complete explanation). They generally claim to restore the region to its "natives" by putting the native delegate (who couldn't protect their region in the first place) back in power. Then, when the region is raided again, the region must again rely on defenders to save them. This puts defender orgs in charge of an sort of empire of founderless regions that are totally dependent on them. Therefore, defenders are really imperialistic raiders (who I have no problem with) who attempt to use logical fallacies and appeals to morality to justify their heinous acts (which I do have a problem with).

Hope this helps you make a decision.

[Evil Wolf]

You want my opinion: be a defender. Raiding is essentially just legitimized bullying

OH BAH! BAH AT YOU, SIR! You sound like some of the Role Play MODS in my signature. It's a game, raiding is part of the game, it's been part of the game since the first player figured out he/she could do it, deal with it. Stop using the tired line and argument that people have been using for years that "oh, it's legitimized bullying". I didn't realize doing things other player might not like was "bullying".

Guess I should stop winning rounds in other online games, I might be banned for "bullying" the other players' sensitive psyche.

Riotopia, you want a good reason not to go Defender? You'll constantly have to put up with people smugly asserting how pious and righteous they are on a near daily basis.

[Inyourfaceistan]

Like there aren't defenders that "defend" regions even if they aren't in danger =)) I do have in game morals... kinda... I'm just a bit confused as to what I should do =))

You could just stick to the Role Play forums...

[Evil Wolf]

*Evil Wolf swats at Inyourfaceistan*

Get out of here, Role Player, you are lost.

[The Black Hat Guy]

OH BAH! BAH AT YOU, SIR! You sound like some of the Role Play MODS in my signature.

That's probably where I got the phrasing from - it did sound familiar to me as I was writing it.

It's a game, raiding is part of the game, it's been part of the game since the first player figured out he/she could do it, deal with it. Stop using the tired line and argument that people have been using for years that "oh, it's legitimized bullying". I didn't realize doing things other player might not like was "bullying".

Except in other games, there is no other way to play the game. The other player is doing the exact same thing to you and has consented for you to do the same to them. This is not the case with raiding.

Riotopia, you want a good reason not to go Defender? You'll constantly have to put up with people smugly asserting how pious and righteous they are on a near daily basis.

The number of defenders that do that is minimal.

[Inyourfaceistan]

*Evil Wolf swats at Inyourfaceistan*

Get out of here, Role Player, you are lost.

Well between the two, I would choose raider. But you are making regret my sympathies...

But really though, people switch regions all the time? Regions go inactive all the time. What's the big deal if they get "raided"? Why is it such a crime that everyone makes it out to be?

[The North Polish Union]

OH BAH! BAH AT YOU, SIR! You sound like some of the Role Play MODS in my signature.

That's probably where I got the phrasing from - it did sound familiar to me as I was writing it.

It's a game, raiding is part of the game, it's been part of the game since the first player figured out he/she could do it, deal with it. Stop using the tired line and argument that people have been using for years that "oh, it's legitimized bullying". I didn't realize doing things other player might not like was "bullying".

Except in other games, there is no other way to play the game. The other player is doing the exact same thing to you and has consented for you to do the same to them. This is not the case with raiding.

Riotopia, you want a good reason not to go Defender? You'll constantly have to put up with people smugly asserting how pious and righteous they are on a near daily basis.

The number of defenders that do that is minimal.

1.) Except when your region becomes founderless, you must acknowledge that the region's now at risk of being raided and take steps to prevent that. There's no reason to be surprised if your region does get raided and it's the "natives" fault for not taking steps to prevent that.

2.) Really? I see lots of defenders going around proclaiming their righteousness quite often. Just because they're not as vocal about it as Unibot and Co. are doesn't mean that they don't come across as assuming moral superiority on a regular basis.

*Evil Wolf swats at Inyourfaceistan*

Get out of here, Role Player, you are lost.

Well between the two, I would choose raider. But you are making regret my sympathies...

But really though, people switch regions all the time? Regions go inactive all the time. What's the big deal if they get "raided"? Why is it such a crime that everyone makes it out to be?

It's because defenders have an agenda to push, and want to push it at all costs.

[Riotopia]

Yeah the defenders being like an empire is the reason why I'm not sure whether I should be a raider or defend =)) They both mean power and I'm not sure which I want to be part of heh.

[The wonderful world of Sheeploch]

Im confused. So raiding is basicly joining a region and attempting to become the WA person and take over the region?

[Frattastan II]

Yes.

[Evil Wolf]

Im confused. So raiding is basicly joining a region and attempting to become the WA person and take over the region?

In a nutshell. Of course, it typically makes more sense for that region to be founderless, as Regional Control switches over entirely to the Delegate in regions that have no founder. It gets more complicated the more questions you ask, though.

[Letoilenoir]

"For what else is the life of Military Gameplay but a kind of play in which nations in various costumes perform until the Moderators motion them offstage?"

[Fratanica]

Good to know.

[Altito Asmoro]

Nice post

We don't post "Nice post" without an explanation of why you posting.

[Vladamir Putin]

You guys really go hard at this kind of stuff.

[Anumia]

You guys really go hard at this kind of stuff.

The main thing to remember is to stop invading Europe.

[Zwitserland]

Any updates for the regional influence? There's been some new "ranks".

[Quenching Fires]

Perhaps you could look at the thread that is still being maintained, and is stickied at the top of this forum, rather than gravedigging this one.

[Consular]

Yes this guide is no longer updated. I'm actually not sure how you found it instead of the one pinned at the top. For reference; this is the up-to-date-ish guide: Complete Guide to Military Gameplay