Antonia the Builder
Private
GBG Round 9 - Sineranian Showdown
Tensions have been simmering for a long time, occasionally bubbling up to the surface (especially in GvG), but in round 9 they are sure to reach boiling point.
The Synergy Factor - Terrain Titans war has been going on for some time now, with little love between the two any more. This is the first time though that the four big players will be on the battleground together at the same time.
Let's recap where they're all at:
With MMRs almost identical except for TT about 100 points ahead of the rest.
This means that all four guilds should remain platinum (at least) for next round (TT can make it to Diamond with a 1st place).
Synergy Factor have laid waste to TT and LS's GvG holdings, which along with SA's recent expansions there puts SF way ahead and GBG as the remaining battlefield.
I conducted short interviews with representatives of the four guilds and here's what they had to say about the situation:
There is one more cog in the machine, well, maybe two - Solo Smugglers and Phoenix - the two new platinum guilds. Exactly how everyone will place is still being debated, but we will certainly find out soon. Rumour has it that Solo Smugglers will be siding with SF and SA for this round, as for Phoenix, who knows?
Phase 1 - The beginning
LS Started strong, but were largely headed off by SF's great wall push up the middle/left with SA filling in behind them. TT seem a bit under-strength and are pushing around 3rd ring towards the top. Phoenix and Solo Smugglers have had slower starts.
Well, the pendulum has swung back all the way. Within the first few days the SF/SA alliance was able to push all other guilds back to just a few sectors, with LS hit the hardest. It has been a very one-sided affair and unless something major shifts, I think it's safe to say that it will stay this way for the foreseeable future.
LS did get a boost from previous rounds, but with SF's rapid improvement and TT losing so many players, they really stood no chance. SF have graciously allowed their ally SA to take 1st place this round which will see them both reach Diamond after next round together. As I said earlier, TT and LS will stay platinum for some time, unless another guild can take 3rd place (which seems impossible this round) they'll stay in the mid-ranks and thus not have a significant change in MMR.
The Future of GBG
It's a bit of an anti-climax, but this reporter believes we'll see SF and SA continue to take 1st and 2nd between them each round with TT and LS taking 3rd and 4th and whoever else happens to have the highest MMR at the time taking the other positions. The only likely exception to this is NR who, whilst not strong enough to compete with any of the top 4 directly, could, with a deal, take say 3rd place off TT/LS.
The top level GBG will largely turn into a farming fest, with the ranks pre-determined, and the action mostly revolving around players deciding how many troops/goods they want to pay for the rewards on offer. It reminds me a bit of professional wrestling - the winner is already decided, but the action is still intense.
The Alliances
I think it's clear that the SF/SA alliance has been a huge boon to both guilds. SF really just needed any ally from the top guilds, but they all worked against them until SA was formed. SA have jumped from roughly 5th up to 3rd and any day now should take 2nd place and hold it.
TT and LS enjoyed their golden age, but TT looks like a shell of it's former self, but hopefully they've now re-found themselves rather than just being 'the-anti-SF-guild'. LS have actually had a bit of a resurgence which has helped pushed them above TT, at least for now. The alliance is still crucial for them both though, as without it other guilds like NR can creep in above them.
Tensions have been simmering for a long time, occasionally bubbling up to the surface (especially in GvG), but in round 9 they are sure to reach boiling point.
The Synergy Factor - Terrain Titans war has been going on for some time now, with little love between the two any more. This is the first time though that the four big players will be on the battleground together at the same time.
Let's recap where they're all at:
With MMRs almost identical except for TT about 100 points ahead of the rest.
This means that all four guilds should remain platinum (at least) for next round (TT can make it to Diamond with a 1st place).
Synergy Factor have laid waste to TT and LS's GvG holdings, which along with SA's recent expansions there puts SF way ahead and GBG as the remaining battlefield.
I conducted short interviews with representatives of the four guilds and here's what they had to say about the situation:
Goremise, the pendulum has been swinging back and forth, and at the moment it's not swinging your way. Do you think with LS by your side you can get beat SF and SA this round?
You win some, you lose some, what matters is we give a good fight. The guild is going through a transitional period at the moment, getting re-organised and back to our 'fun no drama' TT roots from before the feud with SF started. As someone famous once said, it’s not about winning, it is about sending a message, and our message is that we are still strong and never giving up, even with the following question and reply.
TT's player-count dropped a bit lately, with some noticeable absences and rumours of a sour mood within the guild. How does it feel to you, and do you think you can get it back on track for round 9?
We had a rocky start to the last GBG as the SF/SA alliance took us by surprise and we had a few last minute departures which gave us no time to recruit. The feud with SF was also causing some people act childish with insults being thrown at each other and some personal attacks. I have apologised for my role in that publicly in the forums as it just creates a bad atmosphere for everyone, not just those in TT. This is not our goal as a guild and we really want to return to a stress free, fun, no drama guild of just few weeks ago before we had some people with big ego’s join us, mainly because we were winning GBG against the top guild on the server. Change has already begun though, we've done a bit of cleaning and work has started on getting back to how things were before GBG divided people. Our allies will remain the same as we push towards a new future for the guild. Onwards to glory and happy forging!
From that, would you say that TT started to lose direction a bit and became a sort of anti-SF guild, rather than the guild it was with its own values and direction? Do you think you can recapture that, and given that the feud doesn't look like ending soon, where do you think that will take TT in the future?
Yeah, things just really got out of hand, happened as quickly as these things usually do. Now we don't worry about SF anymore as we are hoping to mend bridges, it has really cut down on the inside and outside drama . And yes I do think we can recapture that, as that is what we are heading towards now. TT has already felt like the home it used to be before this started which I know many members are once again enjoying. As for the feud, at least on our side it has ended. Still going to put up a fight in GBG but that's just normal got to have some fun and get some rewards!
You win some, you lose some, what matters is we give a good fight. The guild is going through a transitional period at the moment, getting re-organised and back to our 'fun no drama' TT roots from before the feud with SF started. As someone famous once said, it’s not about winning, it is about sending a message, and our message is that we are still strong and never giving up, even with the following question and reply.
TT's player-count dropped a bit lately, with some noticeable absences and rumours of a sour mood within the guild. How does it feel to you, and do you think you can get it back on track for round 9?
We had a rocky start to the last GBG as the SF/SA alliance took us by surprise and we had a few last minute departures which gave us no time to recruit. The feud with SF was also causing some people act childish with insults being thrown at each other and some personal attacks. I have apologised for my role in that publicly in the forums as it just creates a bad atmosphere for everyone, not just those in TT. This is not our goal as a guild and we really want to return to a stress free, fun, no drama guild of just few weeks ago before we had some people with big ego’s join us, mainly because we were winning GBG against the top guild on the server. Change has already begun though, we've done a bit of cleaning and work has started on getting back to how things were before GBG divided people. Our allies will remain the same as we push towards a new future for the guild. Onwards to glory and happy forging!
From that, would you say that TT started to lose direction a bit and became a sort of anti-SF guild, rather than the guild it was with its own values and direction? Do you think you can recapture that, and given that the feud doesn't look like ending soon, where do you think that will take TT in the future?
Yeah, things just really got out of hand, happened as quickly as these things usually do. Now we don't worry about SF anymore as we are hoping to mend bridges, it has really cut down on the inside and outside drama . And yes I do think we can recapture that, as that is what we are heading towards now. TT has already felt like the home it used to be before this started which I know many members are once again enjoying. As for the feud, at least on our side it has ended. Still going to put up a fight in GBG but that's just normal got to have some fun and get some rewards!
Mithridates, LS had a rough round 7, an easy gold round 8 and back into the platinum again. Do you think LS are back up to full strength?
Roond 7 was more an issue of starting map location, early strategy to cede centre provinces to TT so they could push through to SF (which they only managed to do late in session) and those early lost vp's hurt us in the long run. TT was also to fight SA and their 'inability' to do so eventually ran us out of time, We have only gotten stronger from gbg 1 so it will always be an issue of location, alliances and ability to focus players over 10 days.
TT's defections have been more high profile, but LS haven't been immune. Do you think that will affect morale and the fighting ability of your guild?
Not at all. Only one top 10 gbg player has moved and organically grown gbg participants have easily filled any gaps. It has more effect on high era players and their internal trades than overall gbg performance.
There are rumours that TT were contemplating dropping LS as an ally in place of SA. Have you heard of this before? Does that shake your faith in your alliance?
No. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Round 7 demonstrated that any alliance will develop cracks and TT by their actions (or inaction) essentially gave SA their placement. It's in TT's best interests to maintain the alliance or remain 3rd to 5th in any gbg round as GBG 8 demonstrated
Do you think the TT/LS alliance can beat SF/SA this round?
Hard to say really. Much depends on what TT has left. It will likely take a 2 guild alliance and strong full round to beat an SF SA alliance for this round.
Roond 7 was more an issue of starting map location, early strategy to cede centre provinces to TT so they could push through to SF (which they only managed to do late in session) and those early lost vp's hurt us in the long run. TT was also to fight SA and their 'inability' to do so eventually ran us out of time, We have only gotten stronger from gbg 1 so it will always be an issue of location, alliances and ability to focus players over 10 days.
TT's defections have been more high profile, but LS haven't been immune. Do you think that will affect morale and the fighting ability of your guild?
Not at all. Only one top 10 gbg player has moved and organically grown gbg participants have easily filled any gaps. It has more effect on high era players and their internal trades than overall gbg performance.
There are rumours that TT were contemplating dropping LS as an ally in place of SA. Have you heard of this before? Does that shake your faith in your alliance?
No. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Round 7 demonstrated that any alliance will develop cracks and TT by their actions (or inaction) essentially gave SA their placement. It's in TT's best interests to maintain the alliance or remain 3rd to 5th in any gbg round as GBG 8 demonstrated
Do you think the TT/LS alliance can beat SF/SA this round?
Hard to say really. Much depends on what TT has left. It will likely take a 2 guild alliance and strong full round to beat an SF SA alliance for this round.
Sierra, the first round since you moved over to SF has been incredibly successful - not just outclassing your enemy, but also your ally SA - what do you credit to such a strong resurgence?
As a former leader on TT, I know that there have been a couple of back to back seasons where SF was cornered with nowhere to go. This naturally leads to frustration and morale can suffer. This time, as a leader in SF, we pulled together a strong alliance with SA beforehand. We headed into the season with a strong, experienced GBG leadership and rallied guild members who were happy to strategically work with our alliance and take the top spots. As it became clear we were achieving our goals, the members were even more eager to win. It’s a strong team, lots of great fighters, and as always, it’s the team that should be credited with the win.
SF seem to be back in full swing in GBG and SA, while smaller, certainly can hold their own. Do you think that's enough to beat the combined might of TT and LS this round?
We will see! I’m looking forward to the next round for sure. I’m expecting even more of a fight this time so buckle up for some fun ahead! TT did very well at coming back from behind this last round and they have new leadership, new members, so looking forward to see how that works. LS did very well in their last round as well. Next season will certainly be one to watch.
The role of the non-aligned guilds has often had an influence, last round there was talk of a NAP between SF and NASA (pushing NR down to 5th). Do you think the 5th guild this round can tip the balance? Are you concerned that further alienating NR might come back to bite you later?
The 5th guild is like a swing vote. They can potentially have a big influence on the outcome depending on where they spawn and where their affiliations lie. They can be a help or a hindrance and you don’t know how that’ll play out til it does. I’m sure that whomever is in with us will be getting messages from leadership of all the other guilds, trying to determine how they fit in with their own strategy. And, depending on their choices, could either raise them up or knock them down as happened in last round with NASA and NR.
As for alienating NR, we did approach them before last GBG round and they were happy to not ally or form a NAP but to go on their own. We respected that, however NASA were more agreeable to a NAP so unfortunately for NR that meant we pushed them down in favour of NASA placing higher. It’s strategy and gameplay so I think NR can respect that. It’s not personal in any way. In future, we may be allies....who knows...stranger things have happened (like me going to SF lol).
As a former leader on TT, I know that there have been a couple of back to back seasons where SF was cornered with nowhere to go. This naturally leads to frustration and morale can suffer. This time, as a leader in SF, we pulled together a strong alliance with SA beforehand. We headed into the season with a strong, experienced GBG leadership and rallied guild members who were happy to strategically work with our alliance and take the top spots. As it became clear we were achieving our goals, the members were even more eager to win. It’s a strong team, lots of great fighters, and as always, it’s the team that should be credited with the win.
SF seem to be back in full swing in GBG and SA, while smaller, certainly can hold their own. Do you think that's enough to beat the combined might of TT and LS this round?
We will see! I’m looking forward to the next round for sure. I’m expecting even more of a fight this time so buckle up for some fun ahead! TT did very well at coming back from behind this last round and they have new leadership, new members, so looking forward to see how that works. LS did very well in their last round as well. Next season will certainly be one to watch.
The role of the non-aligned guilds has often had an influence, last round there was talk of a NAP between SF and NASA (pushing NR down to 5th). Do you think the 5th guild this round can tip the balance? Are you concerned that further alienating NR might come back to bite you later?
The 5th guild is like a swing vote. They can potentially have a big influence on the outcome depending on where they spawn and where their affiliations lie. They can be a help or a hindrance and you don’t know how that’ll play out til it does. I’m sure that whomever is in with us will be getting messages from leadership of all the other guilds, trying to determine how they fit in with their own strategy. And, depending on their choices, could either raise them up or knock them down as happened in last round with NASA and NR.
As for alienating NR, we did approach them before last GBG round and they were happy to not ally or form a NAP but to go on their own. We respected that, however NASA were more agreeable to a NAP so unfortunately for NR that meant we pushed them down in favour of NASA placing higher. It’s strategy and gameplay so I think NR can respect that. It’s not personal in any way. In future, we may be allies....who knows...stranger things have happened (like me going to SF lol).
Note: Normally I would speak for Shadow Assassins on diplomatic issues like this, but it seemed pretty weird to be talking to myself any more than I already do. Ras Al Ghul, another leader, was kind enough to answer my questions.
Ras, the Shadow Assassins had a very strong round 7 immediately after merging with a comfortable 2nd, but seem to have struggled to make as big an impact in round 8. Why do you think this is the case? Was losing the journey-man Cheers Mate part of the cause?
SF became more organised as soon as 3 or more players from TT joined in round 8 but didn’t leave TT weak. Losing Cheers Mate didn’t help but had a few new arrivals but midway through we had a few players quit the game all together and we had some underperformers.
Some would say the alliance with SF is opportunistic and will only help SA in the short-term until SF are done with TT and LS. What do you think about this? Are you confident the alliance will last and continue to be fruitful for SA?
The alliance seems to be going well with SF and to be fair this is only our first full round with them so we’ll see more next round.
Your sister-guild, Shadow Thieves, struggled this round against the bigger guilds. Are there any concerns about their performance?
Our sister guild is our training guild so no worries there about performances as long as we get some players trickling through.
SA is still the smallest individual guild in the top, does this smaller member count limit the success of your guild? What are you doing to try to increase that number?
Being the smallest guild in the top 4 looks good at the moment but again SF have been assisting us in GvG.
Ras, the Shadow Assassins had a very strong round 7 immediately after merging with a comfortable 2nd, but seem to have struggled to make as big an impact in round 8. Why do you think this is the case? Was losing the journey-man Cheers Mate part of the cause?
SF became more organised as soon as 3 or more players from TT joined in round 8 but didn’t leave TT weak. Losing Cheers Mate didn’t help but had a few new arrivals but midway through we had a few players quit the game all together and we had some underperformers.
Some would say the alliance with SF is opportunistic and will only help SA in the short-term until SF are done with TT and LS. What do you think about this? Are you confident the alliance will last and continue to be fruitful for SA?
The alliance seems to be going well with SF and to be fair this is only our first full round with them so we’ll see more next round.
Your sister-guild, Shadow Thieves, struggled this round against the bigger guilds. Are there any concerns about their performance?
Our sister guild is our training guild so no worries there about performances as long as we get some players trickling through.
SA is still the smallest individual guild in the top, does this smaller member count limit the success of your guild? What are you doing to try to increase that number?
Being the smallest guild in the top 4 looks good at the moment but again SF have been assisting us in GvG.
There is one more cog in the machine, well, maybe two - Solo Smugglers and Phoenix - the two new platinum guilds. Exactly how everyone will place is still being debated, but we will certainly find out soon. Rumour has it that Solo Smugglers will be siding with SF and SA for this round, as for Phoenix, who knows?
Phase 1 - The beginning
LS Started strong, but were largely headed off by SF's great wall push up the middle/left with SA filling in behind them. TT seem a bit under-strength and are pushing around 3rd ring towards the top. Phoenix and Solo Smugglers have had slower starts.
Well, the pendulum has swung back all the way. Within the first few days the SF/SA alliance was able to push all other guilds back to just a few sectors, with LS hit the hardest. It has been a very one-sided affair and unless something major shifts, I think it's safe to say that it will stay this way for the foreseeable future.
LS did get a boost from previous rounds, but with SF's rapid improvement and TT losing so many players, they really stood no chance. SF have graciously allowed their ally SA to take 1st place this round which will see them both reach Diamond after next round together. As I said earlier, TT and LS will stay platinum for some time, unless another guild can take 3rd place (which seems impossible this round) they'll stay in the mid-ranks and thus not have a significant change in MMR.
The Future of GBG
It's a bit of an anti-climax, but this reporter believes we'll see SF and SA continue to take 1st and 2nd between them each round with TT and LS taking 3rd and 4th and whoever else happens to have the highest MMR at the time taking the other positions. The only likely exception to this is NR who, whilst not strong enough to compete with any of the top 4 directly, could, with a deal, take say 3rd place off TT/LS.
The top level GBG will largely turn into a farming fest, with the ranks pre-determined, and the action mostly revolving around players deciding how many troops/goods they want to pay for the rewards on offer. It reminds me a bit of professional wrestling - the winner is already decided, but the action is still intense.
The Alliances
I think it's clear that the SF/SA alliance has been a huge boon to both guilds. SF really just needed any ally from the top guilds, but they all worked against them until SA was formed. SA have jumped from roughly 5th up to 3rd and any day now should take 2nd place and hold it.
TT and LS enjoyed their golden age, but TT looks like a shell of it's former self, but hopefully they've now re-found themselves rather than just being 'the-anti-SF-guild'. LS have actually had a bit of a resurgence which has helped pushed them above TT, at least for now. The alliance is still crucial for them both though, as without it other guilds like NR can creep in above them.
Last edited: