Notum Wars effects on the storyline

[____________Rejkavik]

ooc- I'm confused as to how Notum Wars will play into the games storylines.. I mean according the official ao site both Omni-Tek and the Clans want peace... for the most part anyways. So how is promoting the ability to build mines and own land figure into this? Doesn't that basically promote more bloodshed (fighting over land)? I think the idea of land control rocks, but i'm not sure why anybody on Rubi-Ka would promote if they really wanted peace. Seems really bad timing to do it just after the radical Sentinels took control of Tir... etc etc. Has anything official been released from FC on how the clans/omni-tek could condone land control?

[AiymaNeut]

About 75% of the recent threads in this forum are asking that very same question...

[____________Rejkavik]

lol, didn't notice that, but also haven't read through this forum. Already read through a ton of the posts in the PvP forum, the eyes begin to bleed after a while... ;P

[_______________Fazun]

hmm as you said ... omni and clans want peace ....

ehehe

/me raises a fist

ha! time for profit to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

*cough* *cough* arr splerr ... or so ... **** lungs ....

/me leans back, drinkin some import-rum

ya, but lungs aside, time for some serious action ....

give me those damm recipes for ammo production and open some kind of channels to control the masses ....

"the screen shows a political map of rubi-ka"

bah ... bah bah bahhhhhh .... now whats that ? i want ... anarchy ... no stupid rectangles in my eyes ... i want pvp everwhere ... i want fear ... i want reward ...

i want people *feeeeeaaaarin* the night ....

ahhh ... we'll see .... we'll see ....

ooc: hmm i guess i'm just drunk ehehe

[Aerinyi]

Omni may want peace, but they also want to mine notum. The Sentinels most definitely do not want peace, and they've stolen the notum mining tower technology from Omni to make available to the clans (I have no idea where neutrals get it, maybe they have to buy towers in Omni and clan stores). This doesn't necessarily mean that Omni and the clans don't want peace, the only people to act in a way that encourages war so far have been the Sentinels. Once Notum Wars goes live, we'll see how many player guilds are serious about wanting peace and how many are more interested in profit (i.e. tower bonuses).

[_________shaquaneeva]

"the love of credits is the root of all evil"

ICC sees the situation, deregulates notum mining. sol banking company has been behind the whole thing all along so they have been promoting towers in our city streets ahead of time, not to mention the fact that they will throw every monkey wrench they can into the fight to get OTRK lease shortened even further.

and hey, yalmaha finnaly got new shipments of their luxury class out to RK.

it's all about money now, not about freedom.

[AiymaNeut]

Originally posted by shaquaneeva
ICC sees the situation, deregulates notum mining.

Correct. I think it was an IGN article that confirmed this would be the case.

Originally posted by shaquaneeva
sol banking company has been behind the whole thing all along so they have been promoting towers in our city streets ahead of time, ...

...not to mention the fact that they will throw every monkey wrench they can into the fight to get OTRK lease shortened even further.

No and ?. The Tower technology is actually a creation of Omni-AF (see the billboards) and another NW preview article stated that the Sentinels stole that technology and are the ones supplying the Clans (can't remember which preview article it was). This has been confirmed by Clanners in their discussions with Sentinels' personnel. I have no clue what SBC's involvement in all of this is (or will be), and who knows if they're even a player anymore.

...and hey, yalmaha finnaly got new shipments of their luxury class out to RK.

I can't wait to sport one of those...

it's all about money now, not about freedom.

Funny how true that is. Now, the OTRK-Clan conflict is no longer solely based on freedom for the Clans, but rather for direct control of Rubi-Ka's resources. The bulk of the Clan stance thus far has been that OTRK is free to continue to subsist, so long as they left the Clans alone to form their own government, call their occupied territory "home", and be free from "Omni Oppression". Now, instead of a more conciliatory, moderate stance, the Clans (those that participate in land control) have essentially been forced to adopt the militant stance of the Sentinels.

Regardless, I've said it before and I'll say it again: we're all talking about this OOC because we've read the previews, but, aside from the Clanners' discussions with the Sentinels, we have no idea IC what the heck is going on. No reason for the new shops & billboards, and above all, no reason to even think for a moment that we'll all be at war tomorrow...

[Myers]

I've heard that the increase of notum mining will be related to the Shadowlands expansion

[AiymaNeut]

That's was Gaute said in an interview. Something about how the increase in mining will open up this "alternate dimension" to the Shadowlands. I'm not sure if it is an alternate dimension (hence the reason for the quotes), but it could be something like "Shadow" from the Lord of the Rings story - a different plane of existence in the same world.

[_________shaquaneeva]

Originally posted by shaquaneeva
"the love of credits is the root of all evil"

ICC sees the situation, deregulates notum mining. sol banking company has been behind the whole thing all along so they have been promoting towers in our city streets ahead of time, not to mention the fact that they will throw every monkey wrench they can into the fight to get OTRK lease shortened even further.

and hey, yalmaha finnaly got new shipments of their luxury class out to RK.

it's all about money now, not about freedom.

WooHooo 3 out of 4 ! thats better than that zodiac mess.

/me buys a crystal ball and sets up shop in newland

[Nyadach]

Shadowlands seems to be the alternative dimension, the place where we will eventually find the truth as to where the notum comes from, and what it actually is....and also explain the creation of the universe. A lot of this information is available from talking to Ida Sculler in Omni-Trade. She wonders around and I tend to find her most often in the northern section. Has ALOT of information, some of which I posted in the thread about her. Either way, she is definatly someone worth a visit and Omni's Trans Dimensional experiments/goof ups seem to be both very intreguing, and totally dangerous in equal measure...guess time will tell though.

[______________Nelida]

I believed that opening up notum mining would not end solely in a war of sides, but in a free-for-all where greedy, violent organizations would attack even their own side to procure land for notum mining.

Indeed this has started already with numerous reports of Clan attacking Clan and Omni attacking Omni. Even Neutrals attacking Clan and Omni...and not all of these have been just reprisals...some outright pre-empitve attacks.

More than ever now the inhabitants of Rubi-ka need unity. A unity that protects the individual rights of property ownership and freedom from agression.

Some of us have already begun to set up non-agression pacts with our neighbors. I would hope this trend would continue until we can organize a planet-wide peaceful and just society. One where diplomacy and civilized procedures for redress replace gangs of gun-toting hooligans.

[AiymaNeut]

Your efforts, and, above all else, your clear reason, are to be commended, Nelida. This rapidly accelerating civil war is indeed drawing interesting battle lines both among and within political affiliations.

What interests me most is an expansion of this thought:

Originally posted by Nelida
More than ever now the inhabitants of Rubi-ka need unity. A unity that protects the individual rights of property ownership and freedom from agression.

Do you have anything in particular in mind?

[Vixentrox]

One of the things Nelida has referred to was non-agression pacts. Whisper's Edge is seeking out Omni organizations to set these pacts up with. You don't attack our mines...we wont participate in an attack yours. It gives land holders on both sides of the conflict one less possible hostile guild to worry about thus making your mine more secure for your members' benifit.

[______________Nelida]

kicking around a thought...a rather bold one and one difficult to implement.

As Vix mentioned above WE has been seeking out non-agression pacts with our neighbors and other Omni organizations. At least one other Clan org is actively involved in this (I leave it to the leaders of that guild to chime in here as they see fit).

What I can envision is an expansion of this idea such that there is one planet-wide non-agression pact that individual guilds of ANY side can participate in.

Initially it is simple; no member guild participates in an unprovoked attack on any other member guild. You can go to the defense of a tower that is attacked by a member guild but you may not actively attack another member guilds tower. This pact only affects notum mining facilities and in no way interferes with non-mining squables.

I can see this expanded in a number of ways;

1. A mechanism for redress for agression or other disagreements between member guilds with sanctions and penalties.
2. Expansion to provide a 'security force' to come to the aid of member guilds under attack. There are a number of ways to do this such that no member guild is found fighting its own side if that is a problem.
3. As available land becomes scarce this organization can be a tool to fairly distribute remaining land. This, obviously, has numerous problems and is so far in the future that I see no point in going into the possibilites.

Personally I don't 'see' sides any longer...I only see peaceful and violent orgs and individuals with a variety of Clan, Neut and Omni 'tags' tacked on them.

It is about time that our society as a whole put a stop to run-amuck war-mongers on all 'sides'. For those of us that enjoy the battle I'm quite certain that this proposed type of 'security force' would have more than enough to handle given the large number of thugs running loose across our planet.

Originally posted by Alamexis
Your efforts, and, above all else, your clear reason, are to be commended, Nelida. This rapidly accelerating civil war is indeed drawing interesting battle lines both among and within political affiliations.

What interests me most is an expansion of this thought:



Do you have anything in particular in mind?

[Ashval]

This is an excellent idea, Nelida...I will definitely support it anyway that I can.

[Fixerben]

Nel, all the things you just stated are what is currently under development within the CoA. I will share a draft of the new Ares Pact as soon as one is available. But we are trying to implement into the reformed CoA the things you just listed. If you would like to have any input into the new Ares Pact please let me know. Vix gave us her input earlier this week. I am sure you could be helpful as well.

Alamexis it sounds like you might have some constructive things to say, and maybe give a little help. If you would like to give some input you may contact me as well, and we can get in touch with the drafters. We can all have a nice meeting. I will bring the coffee and some small sandwiches

[______________Nelida]

A number of things make me think that the CoA is a bit too complicated and Clan-centric for what I have in mind.

1. CoA IS a Clan org...what I want is a cross-faction effort.
2. The name is not right for what I want to do. Rubikan Mining Cooperative might be more 'neutral' in flavor.
3. I personally would NOT like to see the founding orgs be some of the most PROVEN agressive orgs on our planet. I think that would NOT make for acceptance amoung Neutrals and Omni.

I can, however see this new 'mining cooperative' cooperating with CoA on matters of grievences and territory disputes. Most certainly there should be close communication.

I'd like to make a few rather obvious observations...and perhaps the notum we breath doesn't have the same 'clouding' on my mind that it does on so many others that have taken a rather simplistic approach to what we are embarking on...

1. While many of the recent attacks have been side against opposite side, there have ALSO been many Clan against Clan and Omni against Omni so this is obviously NOT purely about faction fighting...it is about greed.

2. As land areas dwindle...and they are...bully guilds will start picking on opportunistic targets irrespecitve of faction to an even greater extent...again this is not a war between factions.

3. For all of you that shout "we want the best exp bonus" I'd like to point out that 7%, or even 25%, exp bonus on ZERO exp is still a big fat ZERO exp. So far, and I don't know about the rest of you, I've gained about 90% LESS exp than I did before I was constantly running around defending towers...mostly on false alarms. My math tells me that this great side exp bonus doesn't make up for that...and most likely NEVER will. Do you all GET it yet?

4. For all the fighting and pushing and shoving we are all now involved in the only real benificiaries are those that are not involved in tower defense at all...those unafilliated that roam Rubika happily benifiting from side exp bonuses.

5. Oh...one other benificiary group...the PvP fanatics...I'm sure they are absolutely THRILLED that the rest of us are now logging on to find ourselves playing predominately for their entertainment.

We have a choice: We can embark on an endless tit-for-tat turning of the Wheel...mindlessly buying towers, kicking butt to take land, defending that land till it is in turn taken from us..only to start the entire cycle all over again. This whole time we can loudly proclaim we have the best side exp bonus! Ooops, well we'll have it again tomorrow! But, sadly, never really see any benefits from that bonus. Or, we can get a clue and band together to try and maintain some stability and USE the PvP fanatics to do our dirty work for us....getting involved as we find amusing instead as we find we are obligated to.

Of course the other unmentioned alternative is that many of the smaller guilds disband and join large ones that can maintain sizable forces 24/7. I'm sure there would still be plenty small guilds that would give up the land ownership and go back to what they had been doing before...but for enjoying the side exp bonus for a change.

The only problem is that most of this requires some semblance of self control...both individual and amoung the guild leaders...
Self control to wait for an appropriate time to attack someone or something...not just on a whim because it is 'fun'.
Self control to not get your panties in a twist and go running off trying to take the law into your own hands when you think you've been wronged.
That, I'm afraid, might be more than we could ask for from what I've seen.

Originally posted by Benjacrat
Nel, all the things you just stated are what is currently under development within the CoA. I will share a draft of the new Ares Pact as soon as one is available. But we are trying to implement into the reformed CoA the things you just listed. If you would like to have any input into the new Ares Pact please let me know. Vix gave us her input earlier this week. I am sure you could be helpful as well.

Alamexis it sounds like you might have some constructive things to say, and maybe give a little help. If you would like to give some input you may contact me as well, and we can get in touch with the drafters. We can all have a nice meeting. I will bring the coffee and some small sandwiches

[Vixentrox]

Nel has said a lot of very true things here. One point though. The majority of the Clan vs Clan and I am sure Omni vs Omni incidents, are due to the 5% towers shooting at friendlies. In most cases that is what it has been or some lone wolf acting without permission.

[AiymaNeut]

(Edit: Nelida evidently trumped me by typing faster; I started this before she posted, and as such I haven't responsed to or read your recent comments)

Responding in kind, as always:

Nelida,

Your ideas seem quite well-planned, and I do hope you succeed in your endeavours. Issues obviously arise with points 2 and 3 of your expansionary vision, but you seem to be fully cognizant of the various dilemmas.

I would be happy, and am indeed most anxious, to review a “no names” copy of a sample of your non-aggression pact. Should you wish my comments, I would be more than happy to offer any insights or advice. Simply rename the parties as “A” and “B” or something similar, and send it to malcom_age@hotmail.com , and I hereby guarantee you, in this public forum for everyone to see, absolute and total confidentiality with respect to any discussions and communications.

If you do not wish to provide a copy at this time, I would certainly be honoured to have a chance to meet with you to discuss your proposals for non-aggression and, most importantly, peace.

Benjacrat,

Foremost, I thank you for your postings of last night. By intervening as diplomatically as you did, you may have halted what would have become a bitter argument between Fiqh and myself, which I am certain neither of us have any vested interest in.

((OOC: Fiqh, if you’re reading this, or if not, Benjacrat, I really really hope you’re not taking my attacks of the Ares Pact personally – I mean it only “IC”. If you are taking it personally, please accept the apologies of the guy sitting behind Alamexis’ keyboard . If this is a sincere problem to you, just let me know and I’ll tone it down. Likewise, if you want the help or opinion of the guy at the keyboard, strictly OOC, just ask and I would be more than happy to help. As I’ve said before, I’m rooting for you CoA guys /OOC))

I would be happy to provide whatever assistance I am legally permitted to offer. Naturally, as is my professional duty, I must advise you in advance of the evident conflict of interest with respect to my assisting in the matter of the Ares Pact.

As I am currently under contract with Omni-Tek of Rubi-Ka Corporation (hereinafter “OTRK”), I am legally bound to follow any legally-compliant instruction given to me by those of authority. I am further precluded from divulging any information, whether consequential or inconsequential, material or otherwise, regarding the affairs, conduct, business, performance, politics or other matter relating to or involving OTRK.

However, such contract to OTRK is limited to the extent that it does not prevent me from entering into a non-disclosure agreement (hereinafter a “NDA”) with third parties in the interests of the opening of dialogue and the furtherance of diplomacy. Such NDA would prevent me, by OTRK’s very policies, from disclosing any matters, facts or advice that are made known to me throughout the course of our discussions.

Furthermore, so long as the Council of Ares maintains its current policy of publicly disclosing the Ares Pact, I will not be in breach on my contract to OTRK, as I will not be handling or in the possession of confidential information pertinent to the Clan community.

I hereby represent and warrant, by affixing my signature hereto at the end of this posting, that all statements, facts, and performances represented herein are true to my knowledge on this, the 4th day of December, 29476.

((OOC: But hey! We can always do this OOC. /OOC))

Now that we’ve settled that business, I would be delighted to meet with you. As I know Nelida and Whisper’s Edge have a number of concerns regarding the Council of Ares and its intentions, and given the persistent and admirable dedication to peace displayed by Whisper’s Edge, it might be constructive to include one of their members in any discussions as well.

Second edit: Oh, and I might add, that if you are going to supply the coffee, please make sure it's from The Cup