Closed Week #14 2017-08-07

[DeletedUser110914]

I plunder regularly, but just the people who have barely any defense. Like only 2 spearfighters. As soon as people start to put up a defence I don't bother anymore. Never had anyone comment on the fact that I attack and plunder them on a daily basis

Oh, I befriended some higher level players, they have Arc's close to leveling and only one or two people who spend points on it sofar, lets see if I can get some BP's

 

[vikingraider]

I've only ever had one comment, and it was an absolute beauty. But I doubt I can post it on here....I told my guildmates and they absolutely loved it too. It didn't stop me plundering him again though.

 

[DeletedUser110195]

I've had someone comment on being plundered...though it was more of a guilt trip "I wouldn't plunder, but that's me" back when any time someone attacked me I retaliated and plundered if I got through. This particular individual was on my friend list but unfriended me, then proceeded to attack and fail to get through. I took that as a double slap to the face and relentlessly attacked and plundered him every day...as I did anyone who attacked me...I really didn't like people who attacked me, whether they plundered or not.

 

[vikingraider]

I try not to plunder, honest!

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

I try not to plunder, honest!

Ha ha, yes, I'm sure it is just a compulsion you Vikings have!

I can't afford to move out of HMA for a while yet. Having last week laid down a Temple of Relics and today, a Dynamic Tower, I have some time to put in getting those beasties (and my ohter GBs) levelled up to between 3 and 7. In the meantime, I hope to be picking up lots of upgrade/renovation kits.

 

[DeletedUser110179]

It's also not wise to piss off people who can easily make your next couple weeks hell.

I think I used to confuse people mostly ... a kind of Chinese torture rather than pissing them off.

I made a text file of all the neighbours, listing their defensive army (you quickly spot the bees, hornets and ants).
Quite frankly, attacking your most difficult customers will give you the best battle-points
(seek out anyone with a Champion in their army ... plenty points).
You quickly learn what to expect from each neighbour although I never had the option to plunder fps in Bronze Age.
Mix it up, attack without plunder, plunder only small stuff or simply aid everyone for a day or two.
Got first place in the 3 lowest age towers but, making more medals from investment, A&P lost it's luster.

War is a means to win the race to super-abundant prosperity
(The British Empire started with piracy but switched to a more profitable means to success).

 

[DeletedUser110195]

I can't afford to move out of HMA for a while yet. Having last week laid down a Temple of Relics and today, a Dynamic Tower

I don't know Prinza, I'd still say pushing ahead to colonial first is the way to go, then you plant yourself there and sit for months...more medals for winning that tower, and you can make progress on advanced age quests and thus units.

I think I used to confuse people mostly ... a kind of Chinese torture rather than pissing them off.

I made a text file of all the neighbours, listing their defensive army as I worked my way through (you quickly spot the bees, hornets and ants).
Quite frankly, attacking your most difficult customers will give you the best battle-points (seek out anyone with a Champion in their army ... plenty points).
You quickly learn what to expect from each neighbour although I never had the option to plunder fps in Bronze Age.
Mix it up, attack without plunder, plunder only small stuff or simply aid everyone for a day or two.
Got first place in the 3 lowest age towers but, making more medals from investment, A&P lost it's purpose.

War is a means to win the race to super-abundant prosperity.

Every once in a while, declare peace....it confuses the hell out of your enemies.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

(The British Empire started with piracy but switched to a more profitable means to success).

Oh please. That wasn't piracy, if was privateering!

Actually, there really are some differences, notable being a state of war. Well, of conflict, anyway. Well, maybe just the possibility of confilct, which had best be nipped in the bud before it gets any worse. Well, you know .. they might start getting aggressive if we leave them alone for long enough.

...Which isn't all that different to how many major military nations are behaving these days, either.

Edit: Having read through about a third of the linked source, I gave up in disgust at the innacuracies and innuendo. British history is no more rosy than most nations but a historical author could at least get the facts straight!

 

[DeletedUser110195]

Oh please. That wasn't piracy, if was privateering!

Oh please, it isn't breathing, it's respiration!

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

Oh please, it isn't breathing, it's respiration!

Quite. But there is a legal difference between the two, primarily based around the concept of whether the nations the ships are sailing under are in conflict. Privateers remain distinctly seperate in intarnational law from pirates, since pirates have no sanction by any nation and will usually attack any nation's vessels, whereas privateers have specific sanction by the nation whose flag they sail under (which might be different than the nationality of the owner or the captain) and are commissioned by that nation to carry out naval warfare. Privateers are the naval equivalent of mercenary troops, while pirates are the naval equivalent of armed robbers or abductors.

In the days of sailing, things did get a little confused. A privateer might set sail from his Northern European port with all papers intact to take whatever he could from the Spanish conquistadores. The day after, peace could be declared but the captain would have no knowledge of this and - to be fair - nor would many of his targets setting sail from America. Only when returning to port 6 months later, with a captured ship and whatever it contained, would he find that he took a prize while at peace. Since he acted in good faith, most governments of the time paid him his share of the booty, thereby tacitly acknowldeging that the peace they agreed to wasn't very solid.

And so begins the next aspect. War is rumoured (if only because the peace was never very solid) and the captain sets sail again. This time, his papers tell him that if a country is hostile (again) he has the right of siezure. 2 months later, he approaches an armed Spanish cargo vessel which is worried about his intent and fires a warning shot or two to tell him to keep his distance. The captain takes this as a hostile action... In relation to the linked source, I do not know that Britain ever gave out such 'maybe' letters of marque but the Dutch certainly did.

 

[vikingraider]

And history lessons too! What a great forum!

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

That wasn't just history; it was also a simplified breakdown of current international law, which gets revisited and thrashed through again every few years.

A rowing boat load of entrepreneurs has shown how easy it is to capture a multi-million pound cargo ship. They were pirates and treated very harshly as criminals. A rowing boat load of freelancers given permission by their government has shown how easy it is to capture a multi-million pound oil tanker. They were privateers and since the people who stopped them were not the nationality of the tanker's flag, they had no right to even hold nor stop the take-over of the tanker.

Sometimes, that 'bit of paper' really does make a difference. Today, just as in the past.

 

[DeletedUser110195]

That letter of marque only stops the privateer from being crucified by their own nation....other nations are free to do whatever they want to people committing acts of piracy, whether sanctioned by their government or not. If the privateer was of an allied nation, and the privateers government didn't alert their allies to what was going on, then whatever happens to the government sanctioned pirates is deserved.

 

[vikingraider]

Getting complicated for me now.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

That letter of marque only stops the privateer from being crucified by their own nation....other nations are free to do whatever they want to people committing acts of piracy, whether sanctioned by their government or not. If the privateer was of an allied nation, and the privateers government didn't alert their allies to what was going on, then whatever happens to the government sanctioned pirates is deserved.

Private military units - whether land mercenaries or naval privateers - are prohibited by quite a few (smaller) nations. The UK, USA and other major powers not only consider them to be legal but also use them. Most nations will be careful of upsetting the nation that has given a letter of marque (or one of its modern equivalents) by feeling 'free to do whatever they want' to that nation's private troops. To attack another nation's forces without provocation can be treated as tantamount to a declaration of war.

In the UK, the Gurkhas are well-known mercenaries and even considered part of the British army. As with other areas of military, the USA has been in the lead with private mercenaries and privateers, with a tenfold increase in numbers since the Gulf War.

Private armies are big business and since the rise of pirate operations, the number of companies running privateers (typically with small, fast gunboats) has also grown, spurred by the success of ex-US Navy's Erik Prince's business. Like it or not (I don't) the rise of the corporate army, navy and even air force is happening.

 

[DeletedUser111095]

Ladies and Gentleman,

I write this note with a heavy heart. It has recently been brought to my attention, that some of my tavern guests have been behaving in a 'less than acceptable' manner. This type of behaviour will NOT be tolerated and immediate action will be taken against all offenders.

Firstly, I need to setup some ground rules, to prevent misunderstandings :

1. There will be no skinny-dipping in the river outside the tavern. As I have explained before there are no blowfish in the river and, contrary to what you may believe, blowfish don't actually ... well ... blow.
2. Please leave the wildlife alone, there will be no frolicking with the fauna, getting down with the deer, or anything else. These animals are protected wildlife and should be left alone, this includes our pet rabbit, Roger.
3. To those of you stealing the hay outside the tavern, please stop this immediately. I think you misunderstood me, so I will clarify, the hay is for the horse (H-O-R-S-E), not for the W-H-... We are not that type of establishment, and I am offended that you even considered it.
4. For those of you visiting the City, I must inform you that a 'Pillar' is a Community Building, as is a 'Monument', so when I said you may 'Polish the Pillar', or 'Motivate the Monument', I meant the buildings in the City and nothing else. Please refrain from performing any other interpretations of what you may think these phrases mean, especially in public. Please note, this includes climbing to the top of the lighthouse, jumping up and down and shouting 'Giggity'. I have no idea what that means, but it is both stupid and dangerous, and we cannot guarantee your safety up there.

That about covers it, we welcome all patrons to our tavern and city, but would like to encourage you to please behave, adhere to our rules and be conscious of other people's needs.

Thanking you kindly,

The Mayor

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

Hey Mayor, when are you going to fix that old bridge? It was in bad repair when I first saw it and patching it up every hunfred years or so hasn't helped much.

 

[DeletedUser110195]

At this point it might be best to visit that city by boat and just sail up to the tavern....at least you won't have to worry about a decrepit, neglected bridge collapsing as you try to drive over it....though you may have to worry about that happening while sailing under it. It might be best to seek alternative taverns for the time being.

 

[DeletedUser111095]

Thank you for your feedback regarding the bridge issue ...

Believe it or not, we've been trying very hard to finish the repairs on the tavern walls first, but no matter how hard we try, the place still looks like a run-down ruin, with a nice tablecloth.

We've asked the guy fishing on the bridge to please move so that we can start repairs there, but he keeps insisting that he will keep on throwing out his rod until he finds a blowfish, even though we've explained that there aren't any.

We apologise for the inconvenience and will attend to this matter as soon as we can.

 

[DeletedUser110195]

You can always come to my tavern in the meantime...though you may have to get used to the clouds of coal smoke hanging in the air as we have smokestacks built right into the tavern...not sure how my engineers talked me into that but we have em...