Why?
Many of the efforts in TVK were designed to address problems I've encountered in game.
1. Ghetto.
When we ghetto we sometimes find ourselves at odds with powerful, well organized kingdoms that can toy with us at their whim. You might have a couple of serious players, but you'll note many are forced to play attackers because the apathetic, low activity players intuitively jump on t/m roles. Our differences cause unnecessary friction in that concepts like TVK are barely realized. Compounding this are trite ideals of unitizing concepts under one rule by players who haven't scratched a top kingdom: "it's my way or the highway and all I know is chaining in war and dispatching CFs without diplomatic salutations". It's not that I think these players are evil or stupid, but that they've not opened their eyes to enlighten their horizon.
We can't offer these types total control, but we can provide them with a division to either prove their point or humbly accept they could round out their game. The positive side is these players and their core tend to carry activity above the norm. Many don't excercise their Fight IQ and you'll see them oblivious to enemy t/ms controlling the field. Many see land acquisition as victory and don't wrap their minds around empty nw. Sense of timing, cooperation and striking a balance between logistical leverage and unpredictability are almost nonexistent in many ghettos.
The Analogy ~ Star Trek TOS episode: The Changeling
KIRK: Spock. Spock?*
SPOCK: Fascinating, Captain. The knowledge. The depth.*
KIRK: What does it mean, we are Nomad?*
SPOCK: It was, it was damaged in deep space. Undoubtedly, the meteor collision. Its memory banks were destroyed, or most of them. It wandered without purpose, and then it met the other. The other was an alien probe of great power. Somehow they merged, repaired each other, became one.
So instead of these fringe ghettos floating as crippled kingdoms from the onset, we conceive of a learning environment equipped with built in competition and example by result.
2. Race & Personality Familiarization.
We could run around with 23 orc tacs and 2 faeries and bang heads with top kingdoms just because. We could run a narrow field war kingdom, being outraged with any interference, abiding the ideals of hostile screw jobs and mechanical declare dependence. Here, it's not about kingdom specialization it's about teamwork and sparking the epiphany of many avenues. TVK has weaknesses just as most every other kingdom, but one is not the toolbox. We're here to learn the use of many tools, techniques, timing and execution. When you do you might see what I have: that you find yourself in the last 5 weeks of the age running a newly built elf cleric and you're fighting top 10 kingdoms comfortably.
In this way TVK isn't just a learning template, because the concept of "correct kingdom building" is debatable based in my experience using a science challenged t/m race with an attacker personality and crashing top 10 builds with a full age of province sculpting based in 3 wars...not 1, not hostile, but 3 real wars. I'm not smarter, it's that the message is false concerning what constitutes formidability. My experiences have been in taking race and personalities that no one is using(I mean zero) and seeing it thrive. Yes, I've run orc mystic. Curiosity fuels courage and the price can be high. It takes one bad war to ruin an age and one good war to secure a successful age. Relax when you face the giants and watch what they do. They have players superior to my ability and I'd much rather engage them then hide from them. If you can apply enough pressure to a brilliant kingdom they will expose you to brilliant strategy. Make it easy for them and they will play possum and sometimes lull you into a false sense of security. You'll know when you strike a nerve because the reaction will be violent. You may have to experience that violence to maneuver yourself to enlightenment.
3. Elliptical Waving
Looks exactly like a ghetto wave and fundamentally is a ghetto concept. We should look at the world, the real world, to adjust our thinking. Look at the wars of the USA against certain countries with no navy, no air force and barely any ground mechanization. TVK is built from an understanding that sustained culture is the backbone of perseverance. The organized kingdoms will depoly tactics similar to special forces and make inroads. Reply in kind, even if in raggedy fashion. Through practice you close the skills gap.
Allow me to convey one more concept.
The boss(1) is perceptively alone, but actually has a sniper escort(2) on the roof of the building beneath where he wallks.
And the sniper is being escorted by another(3) who watches from a window along the boulevard. A passer by on the ground across the street is also one of our kingdom mates(4). And another(5) on the roof of the opposite building is looking for who is looking at us.
We can appear organizationally inept and accomplish many things if we all do our work. It is chess. It is SWAT doctrine.
What the elliptical wave does best is allow players from different time zones to play in their GMT wheelhouse. Yes, it would be of tremendous value if everyone could be hyperactive, but that's not realistic. The kingdom cores these divisions would be built from would probably be higher in activity by nature. The thing is that most ghettos either go completely disorganized or their expectations are too high from this perspective. In other words the ghetto, in an attempt to be formidable, puts a hard date on waving that simply can't be met. Yin & Yang here guys. The edge of chaos and order is the elliptical approach.
Originally Posted by Bishop
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