Originally Posted by
Bart of Sparta
Would like to apologize to Bishop for overstepping my bounds and reverting to malicious personal attacks toward one of his friends. Would furthermore like to emphasize that my behavior was not in accordance with my rank and stature on these forums, and not obeying a direct order from the one who's managing it is simply inexcusable.
Would also like to apologize to Flogger and that other guy if I really gave them the impression there was a CF. As a KD we had a long discussion about this, and we're willing to make amends within the reasonable bounds of game mechanics. In the end this is all a game about war and pain, but also love and cherishing even your worst enemies for they are the ones that give you the strength to carry on.
I'd like to make a further apology in the name of all of Sparta to all those that might've felt aggrieved by our actions in the last few ages. From a personal perspective, my journey (and the same I think goes for all of Sparta though I cannot speak FOR them) has been arduous and full of abuse (both as subject and object).
If I were to be judged by a leftist apologist they'd probably blame the environment in which Sparta grew up, suffering constant abuse and dealbreaks in the lower tiers, moving up slowly while honing our warring skills we now had to deal with an even more formidable force: the top. The main difference was that in the ghetto people simply ****play and call you names, whereas in the top people have been thrown into so many various situations with different outcomes that ****play or even dealbreaks mostly end up being a matter of semantics of which part of common law you wish to cite. This in the end leads to those with the biggest guns calling the shots. Sparta does not possess big guns nor have we been blessed with allies of old or a network of old friends to stand up for us. This has led to a significant amount of bullying suffered by us, which in return triggered a response.
The response, admittedly so, was magnified through my character traits, which are based in an undying trust for those that I cherish, coupled with an unhealthy pinch of ambition and a sense of honor/independence. This meant that when we came into contact with the top, we were not willing to perform the role the top had assigned to us, rather choosing to forge our own path outside their networks. However, to keep afloat and at the same time keep up with my ambitions (which, granted, have at times led to significant unethical gameplay), we've sometimes had to navigate into territory that is unfamiliar to many, frowned upon by most, in the end leading to the introduction of certain people and their practices that even took matters too far from my own taste.
At the start of this age we've sought to cleanse Sparta of this and become a more healthy Kingdom again. We were willing to compromise and took our opening war defeat on the chin. However, fearful of being completely obliterated by Pandas whom we assumed were merely planning on revenge, we sought the help of our erstwhile ally and utopia stalwart, to provide the liquidity we lacked to mount our assault. This was in the end solved by a timely intervention of the powers that are, putting in place a diplomatic system guaranteeing a constellation whereby liquidity became a non-factor and after a while the same went for land.
This in turn clashed with the practices of many oldschool top-players who choose to run solitary or duo-KDs and use internal sources of growth rather than seeking outside gain. They mostly use the top-KDs unwillingness to invest time and willingness to compromise to their advantage, securing Ceasefires and growing in peace, utter peace. However, Sparta had run into several of these KDs in the last age and suffered quite horribly at their hands, with loss of stock and land a direct result. We therefore sought to treat them without compromise this age, offering friendship and help but clamping down on the slightest sign of aggression, which in fact happened.
The question now remains: did we go too far vs Flogger + friend? We personally do not feel it was a dealbreak, never mind an intentional one. However, when one wants to shed an image, one has to compromise as well. We've made our peace with Fluffy, Divinity and FS this age. We even let off TNB who DBed us last age, making peace with them as well. If there are any other aggrieved, do not hesitate to bring it up here. Please be specific about the situation, the context and the way you were treated. Me and all of Sparta can probably do no more than apologize and try to make things good with the resources that we posses right now.
I wish everyone a happy utopia gaming week.
With kind regards,
Bart.
