Northern Warming?

And I try to be as diplomatic as I can, but it always ends up being a psychodrama up there on stage. 

-John Zorn

      Welcome back to ZLE! Last time our issue was quite short and very narrowly focused. However, we will try to expand here today and let you know whats happening on W58. We have more developments on the TBH/GBEARS/Manic front along with some emerging tribes that may become game-changers. For an inside view on these events, I'll be speaking with Rawr Mode, rank 19 from TBH and I Want Milk, rank 121 from Answer.


And now for your Top 10 tribes folks! 

RANKINGS!

1.FORK
   Secure hold of K43 with gains in surrounding K's most notable being K44 where FORK is #2 in the K. Long-standing member of the top 5 tribes, recently taken the #1 spot from main rival GBEARS following the formation of TBH. 
2.MANIC
  From base in K46, Manic has been moving north into K36, and began dominating the K after recruiting several members from the local power of the time, AXE. Known ally of GBEARS and recently in the news for tense relations with TBH. A very northern focus in terms of expansion, however cannot overlook that Pacman is to their south and gradually rising in points to match MANIC despite a smaller member base.
3.Pacman
 With the smallest member count of the top 5, Pacman has held their position from almost the beginning of the world. Widely recognized for their high-caliber skill base, Pacman is tackling the task of dominating their two main K's, K65 and K56, while also making gains in K64. At the moment their appears no tribe willing and/or capable of stopping Pacman's growth.  
4.*K*
 A recent new-comer to the political scene, *K* is a mosaic of K44 players coming together to form a new entity. While this is a very important development for the Core, one can only wonder how they will handle dealing with GBEARS to their north, TBH to their east, and FORK to their West. By far in the most difficult of positions world-wide. Recent recruitment of Caffe members suggest *K* has a SE trajectory deeper into the Core.
5.GBEARS
 Former #1 power on W58, an internal disagreement has splintered this tribe into two camps, GBEARS loyalists under TWNoblebot, and a rebel faction under Ultimate Warrior and Rawr Mode. Their are several speculations as to this split but no matter what way you tell it, GBEARS has fallen on rough times after losing what appears to be their top players. Time will tell if they recuperate from this staggering drop. 
6.TBH
 The rebel faction under Ultimate Warrior, this tribe has the skill and the room to grow, even if that means taking on their former tribemates! With Rawr as a diplomat expect them to pull no punches and start taking some risks. A highly volatile new factor has just been introduced to the North.
7.HONOR
 A tribe with little exposure to the world stage, however shares borders with FORK, PHX, and Pacman so they will need to pull some strings to stay in the game. Expect a war with PHX to fill the power vacuum in the South West. 
8.PHX
 A similiar situation to HONOR, however with room to expand into the Rim, PHX has the maneuverability to last if the correct choices are made. Again, expect to see PHX mentioned alongside HONOR when discussing the SW. Either a merge or a war will happen soon unless a Great Power decides to step in. 
9.T.N.T
 WIN!,ARMADA, GBEARS, TBH, MANIC. Throughout the history of this tribe, they have had to contend their position with these top tier tribes at their respective moments in history. Yet WIN! and ARMADA are no more and MANIC/GBEARS have a minimal influence in K45. T.N.T is resilient and has a future in the Core. Whether they become an actor on the World stage will be determined on the choices they make in regards to the surrounding Great Powers.
10.CM
 Control of K55, however it is not absolute and Pacman will soon surround them on two fronts. This tribe will not last long though I challenge them to surprise me and the rest of the world.

An Officer and a Gentleman:The Art of Diplomacy
  

“Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.” 

Otto Von Bismarck

     In light of recent discussions on the diplomatic tensions between TBH and MANIC, I thought I would highlight a few sayings/rules I live by when conducting any diplomatic conversation.

Always Respect the Other Side

What is not a threat today is not always the case tomorrow.

Calm Before the Storm

Never reveal your true intentions, the other side should not be able to read your emotions. He should see only what you want him to see.

The World is a Chessboard

Every move matters, every actor matters. You ignore either to your own disadvantage.

We Do Not Live in a Vacuum!

Every action has a repercussion that will affect you down the road. It is your job as a diplomat to make sure these effects benefit you and who you represent.

The Northern Drama

An Interview with two prominent actors to shed light on recent happenings in the North.

*

I Want Milk, Rank 121 aka Dexa

 Duke of Answer, Rank 15

Jace:You currently are leading a top 20 tribe; do you feel that the smaller tribes still have a chance to compete with the top 5 despite the growing point gap?

Dexa: Well the way I see it, there is a major gap between the top 3 and the rest of the top 20, but let’s not forget the top 3 are in highly contested areas whereas the rim for example are a buffet to feast at every day.

Up here we don’t have the competition, thus we have a better opportunity to preserve our troops and thus be prepared for the oncoming wars towards the core.

Dexa: So yes, basically my answer to your question would be, I strongly believe we have a good chance to catch up.

Jace: What are Answer's Greatest Strength and Greatest Weakness?

Dexa: hmm I can start with the strength then. It would be the core players making the tribe what it is, the comradeship we have forged and the willingness and what I like very much, their hunger for wars :)

Dexa: our weakness, hmm that would be that we got some relative new to the game players, which need to be taught the elementary aspects of the game. Understand me right in this, they’re learning real fast, and again as I said, it’s a bunch iv come to respect, love, and cherish. A great bunch of ppl.

Jace: Where do you see Answer going in the coming weeks? Will you continue to expand into the Rim, or will Answer stake its claim to the northern core that just lost its hegemon, GBEARs?

Dexa: at the current moment we are removing Warzone and its academy, from there I suspect we will take a brief pause in our expansion and take some time to secure the rest of the K, and the highly discussed k34 border.

Dexa: the former Gbears members who have forged TBH seems to be the best selection of what used to be Gbears, and I suspect them clashing together with Gbears, what happens next is yet to see.

Dexa: it can be said though, I don’t like having my back open so expansion towards the outer rim will happen at one time or the other.

Jace: It seems Answer has many options at this point. How has Answer been handling recruitment and how do you view recruitment as a tactical tool in global positioning?

Dexa: our goal has been crystal clear ever since I took over answer back when it was C*A, we have selected what we believed to be the most experienced or the most willing to learn players, dedication, and hard work has been the key words when we select members.

Dexa: it has also been made crystal clear that if a player starts lacking behind, not caring, not participating in tribe affairs, they get the boot.

at the rim you have to weed out the bad players and always be on the lookout for promising players, we have done this the entire time that we have been up here.

The result has been forged into what answer is today, and I strongly believe the players in the tribe at the current stage, are amongst the prime of what you can get up here.

Of course there’s always the odd rose sticking out of the weed, and if we find those we always try to make room for them.

Jace: It has been great talking with you Dexa, before we conclude this interview, what would be one proverb you'd use to describe Answer for our viewers?

Dexa: Willing or Ready, I think suits them real well.

*

Rawr Mode, Rank 19 

Diplomat of TBH, Rank 6

Jace: Rawr, can you give our readers some back story regarding the formation of TBH?

Rawr Mode: basically TBH is the few that stood against many. We just didn't see eye to eye with a lot of the leadership and disagreed with a lot of their choices. So we chose to rebel and make our own tribe. Thus formation of TBH

Jace: Is TBH an interim tribe or do you see it becoming its own distinct force on W58?

Rawr Mode: honestly we are small and plan to remain that way as that is one of the reasons we chose to leave GBears, but we are a force to be reckoned with even as of now. We have a lot of dedicated player's. Basically the one's that left GBears are the better part of Ex-GBears but not all.

Jace: You have recently been in the spotlight over some harsh language exchanged with Manic, do you see this as water under the bridge or will TBH respond to this insult?

Rawr Mode: ah I think it's only a matter of time honestly. Who draws first blood will be the one to look out for. As pointed out earlier by myself and other's the border isn't that great. So a war with MANIC right now is rather redundant but they are more welcome to try if they like :P

Jace: It is common knowledge GBEARs are allied to Manic, would the nature of your relationship with them and their ties to Manic be a cause for TBH to worry?

Rawr Mode: I wouldn't say so, they got friends. So do we. We have a lot of support on the externals as well as IGN. I don’t doubt our player's one bit in fact I think it's a challenge for us, which in teh end will make it funnier. Think of it like a dog cornered, usually that dog fights hardier to get out of the corner to defend itself and what not then the dog trapping it.

Jace: Much of the world's attention has been on the North; do you feel there will be future important developments there in the coming weeks?

Rawr Mode: Great War of the North? Basically sums it up. A lot of great tribe's up here, more skilled players in the north then in the south in my opinion.

Rawr Mode: only southern tribe that stands out to me is PACMAN and they don’t really have any competition since ARMADA has fallen.

Jace: Thank you for your time today Justin, is there any last comments you'd like to make for our viewers?

Rawr Mode: I secretly love you all but it is my job to give you all shit :D

Rawr Mode: well maybe not all. Happy gaming anyways

Rawr Mode:  :D

Rawr Mode: now I can go pee

Rawr Mode: ha-ha

Jetzt ist es Zeit für ROCK!

Good bye W58! See you next time!

Breakdown of Society

Welcome Gamers, we finally have exciting news! A few dramatic paradigm shifts since last issue, most notable are the events surrounding GBEARS and ARMADA.

RANKINGS!

• 1. FORK-2,387,902 pts-397 Villages
• 4. MANIC-1,907,183 pts-349 Villages
• 3. Pacman-1,884,637 pts-303 Villages
• 4. GBEARS-1,561,014 pts-257 Villages
• 5. *K*-1,141,148 pts-232 Villages

Seriously, WTF?

Woah... for anyone keeping up with current events, this is quite a dramatic shift! First, we have ARMADA crumbling from inactivity and once again the deadly banhammer! Their active members scrambled to find new homes with MANIC and GBEARS, two powerful top 5 tribes currently allied.


It seemed a new hegemony was about to take place, with a GBEARS/MANIC alliance dominating the North. Then our next surprise hit us when no one was looking. GBEARS top players, including recent #1 player Ultimate Warrior, currently under heat for reaching the top spot through internals, broke away from GBEARS forming TBH-The Brave Heroes!


As ARMADA spirals down the top 20, GBEARs have fallen to #4 while MANIC rises to #2. 


This has the potential to change the political landscape in quite a number of ways. Will GBEARS and TBH turn hostile? Will Answer, who has already made progress into K34, seize the opportunity and push deeper south?


We will conclude this short issue with these questions and reconvene soon with a corollary piece devoted towards seeking to interview the prominent actors of the North and how this will affect the future of the region and the entire World 58.


Rock On W58!

The Race Continues

Welcome back everyone to another edition of ZLE! Today we will be speculating as to the future progression of the world. Things have begun to settle in, but with the rim reaching nobles, now is the time for some change as we are approaching the time for our first wars.

RANKINGS

1. GBEARS-1,579,204 points-289 Villages-No Change in Rankings
2. FORK-1,341,621 points-262 Villages-No Change in Rankings
3. Pacman- 1,130,688 points-203 Villages-Up from #4
4. ARMADA-1,004,899 points-180 Villages-Down from #3
5. MANIC-777,697 points-163 Villages-No Change


Currently, GBEARS continues their dominance of 2 K's (K34 & K35) with FORK chasing their heels from K43. Pacman has usurped their neighbors, ARMADA with a dominance in K65 and #1 in avg. pts per player. ARMADA continues its goal of dominating the eastern Core but currently control no K's and has dropped in rankings. MANIC is expanding north from their power base in K46 and has begun to challenge AXE for K36 dominance.

There has been little activity on the externals in terms of gossip and bickering. Most tribes have settled into their K's and have begun a process known as K Clearing. While the term is familiar to some, I will define it for those that have not encountered the term. K Clearing is when tribes have showed clear dominance of a K but have yet to remove the pesky smaller tribes. These small tribes must be dealt with before a tribe should even think of expanding into a new K. Without a solid base, future wars could be disastrous if the small tribes unite to harass a tribe's backline.

Wait... Did They Just Do That?!

While most tribes do not feel the need to declare these wars to the externals, GBEARS decided the PnP section needed to be spiced up and declared publicly on SLAP, WZ, and ZiP.
Declaration can be found here

Map of the Involved Tribes GBEARS vs. SLAP WZ &  ZiP

(map taken from TWnoblebot's thread)


Will the Gummy Bears destroy their smaller brethren?


Or shall the small unite to overcome the strong?





SUCKER PUNCH! The Guys You Might Not See Coming


This week I'd like to discuss a tribe outside the top 10 that is showing up more and more.

The tribe NO


With a dominance of K64, 15 members averaging 25,000 points per player, and spot in the top nobling charts with 26 nobles for 114,206 points this tribe has secured a top 20 ranking at #17.

While the difference between the top 5 and bottom 5 is quite vast, if this tribe pulls together and maybe draws out the local talent from the rim, they certainly could carve out a spot for themselves in the SW which currently lacks a top tribe's influence. 

Crème de la Crème

While our top 5 tribes have proven they are here to stay, at least momentarily, it remains to be seen which will make the choices that will succeed in ensuring their tribe is the last one standing.

GBEARS-Will have to make some good calls with wars and diplomacy. ARMADA to the South, FORK to the West, and MANIC on the march to their East, the only path of expansion that will not require war is to the North. But with Answer and :DD both reaching the top nobling charts with a combined 86 nobles on GBEARS frontier, these rim tribes might be harder to tame then most. One must also consider GBEARS increasingly negative reputation on the forums, with such proximity to 3 of the top 5 tribes, this could be a dangerous policy to continue. Postion: Poor
FORK-This tribe has firmly secured control of K43 and faces potential opposition to the North, South, and East. However, none of these are named tribes and might be intimidated at the prospect of facing the #2 tribe.    The West however shows signs of being wide open to FORK expansion. FORK and GBEARS have no small amount of bad blood over an isolated cluster of FORK members attacked by several GBEARS members. Conflict in the future is quite a possibility. Position: Moderate
Pacman-With two K's slowly coming under their control, Pacman has a wide array of options. With such an formidable reputation, Pacman will be able to choose their fights, and barring MANIC and ARMADA to the North, all directions of expansion are available. Position:Excellent 
ARMADA-spread over 2K's without showing any signs of dominating either, combined with GBEARS to the North, Manic to the East, and Pacman to the South, ARMADA will need to be tenaciously aggressive or find a friend soon. Position:Vulnerable
MANIC-With gains in K36 and K46, MANIC has only a small border with GBEARS in the north, Pacman to the South with a limited western border with ARMADA. This leaves the East wide open and opportunities to be active on a world stage, whether it be in the South, Center, or North. Position:Remarkable

Life With TW

An Interview 

with the lovable trolls over in Pacman.

Sam-gRim Sleeper, Ranked #4, 112,325 Points, 20 Villages

Idogan-Ghia

sSsi, Ranked #11, 86,858 Points, 17 Villages

Jeff-Klaus Heissler, Ranked #25, 62,514 Points, 12 Villages

Jace: How many hours a day do you each play?

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: 25 obviously

.Sam.: hmm. I probably spend about 2 hours a day playing tw. about 5 hours talking on skype. 2 minutes watching porn. 3 hours watching movies.

 .Sam.: literally spend about 2 hours actually on game :D

 Jace: What is the biggest thing that draws away from playing? School, work?

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: School

 .Sam.: alcohol and my girlfriend.. she has needs.

Jace: How many co-players do your accounts have?

.Sam.: single player account (flex) tell all your friends!

Jace: How do you manage a top account with only 2 hours a day?

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: Lots of porn

Jace: Stream or torrent?

 .Sam.: 20 mins to send out farm runs, a few minutes spreading around res, couple mins here and there for mails, few mins sorting targets. repeat process every 3 hours

 .Sam.: stream ofc. redtube, 4tube, youjizz.. all of the above!

but like I said, that only takes 2 minutes

 :D

 Jace: while playing to you have anythign else open? or solely focused on TW for those 20 minutes

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: Porn, And TW=My Life on the Internet

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: Oh, and Hulu

.Sam.: skype. skype is always open.

 Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: Got catch up on those My Little Pony episodes

.Sam.: and I am always lurking on the externals

Jace: Favorite pony?

 .Sam.: :D I dont post on other worlds, but I be lurking there.. so watch out.. lol

 .Sam.:

          Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi:

"Got catch up on those My Little Pony episodes"

what a pedo guy.

Jace: You don't talk shit about MLP!

Jace: (shake)

 .Sam.: Voltron>MLP

 Jace: Such libel, I guess it naturally fits here then

.Sam.: how long do you spend playing tw a day?

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: 25

Jace: ^Dr. Who over here

.Sam.: oh yip, so you do the whole bending time thing as well.. seems pretty common on this world

Jace: So who does Pacman consider their rival at this stage?

.Sam.: what about those robots that look like mutated rubbish bins with pointy probe sticks :D

 Jace: and who are they?

 .Sam.: 

I wouldnt say we have any rival at this stage. that would mean another tribe would have the capabilities to challenge us with an equal chance of winning.

.Sam.: who do I think looks good other than Pacman, and which tribe would I give respect to if my life depended on it... probably Fork.

 Jace: What about Manic and ARMADA, will they be future food or fierce fighters?

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: I doubt Armada will be a problem

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: We are currently in diplomatic relations, I think

Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi: Last time I checked

Jace: I see, Pacman is seen as a tribe of elites, what is one word of advice for other, less skilled players?

 .Sam.: 

 Idogan/Q-bit/Ghiasssi:

"We are currently in diplomatic relations"

 I think you are mistaken, tribe markings only :D Armada no doubt have a few good players, but I believe they don't have the drive or self conviction to back it.. so they'll probably fail, or I may have just sparked life into them with this comment (devil) Manic.. meh.. depressing just thinking about them (chuckle)

 .Sam.: Jeff is a bit mad, he cant see this chat

Jeff|InActive: holy earth all this time i was in here

 Jeff|InActive: xd

 Jace: He speaks!

 Jeff|InActive: 3 languages

 .Sam.: [5:46 PM] .Sam.:

        Jace: "

you guys really didn't even do much"

       .Sam.:"

we came to check out your girls.. erm... but seemed like a giant cockfest.."

cockfest is Jeffs kinda thing..

FYI

 Jeff|InActive: right samantha

 .Sam.: [6:11 PM] Jeff|InActive:

<<< 3 languagesI speak 4 (flex) Sam>Jeff

 Jeff|InActive: so what are we talking about

Jace: Currently, advice for smaller players

Jeff|InActive: sam, 1337 sp34k and pig latin don't count

 .Sam.: sign, spanish, engle, and my native tongue - Maori (devil)

 Jeff|InActive: well jace, some advice for smaller players, get a mentor, it's the best way to learn the game

 .Sam.: be one of those stubborn farms that continues to build troops and defend against farming attacks!

 Jeff|InActive: and be open to learning new things and continually farm

 Jace: Well with that, I believe we can draw this interview to a close, anyone like to have a last word?

 .Sam.:  Jeff|InActive wrote:

          "well jace, some advice for smaller players, get a mentor, it's the best way to learn the game"

but make sure Jeff isnt your mentor, because he might want a bit of private 1 on 1 mentoring when your parents arent home if ya know what I mean

Jeff|InActive: last words, watch out for my interview with dabearo coming out tmrw

 .Sam.: hmm advice for nubz... be prepared to unlearn everything you already know about tw and start from the beginning with the basics.

New Zealand FTW!

Songs That Will Get You Laid

Till Next Time W58

Zabi Signing Out!

And So It Begins!

INTRODUCTION
Hello my name is Jace and I'm a 19 year old university student that has fallen into the time trap that is Tribal Wars. I've created this blog to provide yet another perspective on events that occur on W58. As entries progress I hope to expand in content and will be searching for a skilled map-maker to assist me. 


So on to the good stuff! Many things have changed in the past couple of weeks. GBEARS currently sit at #1 with 1.25 million points and a ~280k point lead on #2, FORK.


RANKINGS
Our current rankings.
1-GBEARS,35 members
2-FORK, 32 members
3-ARMADA, 34 members
4-Pacman, 20 members
5-MANIC,26 members


While the rest of the world has been in a flux, these 5 have together dominated the rankings, and the competition is fierce. At some point in time, each of our top 4 tribes have held the #1 spot, albeit for some it was brief. 


And now, your top 5 in the news


GBEARS-Still being flamed for merging/hugging/recruiting Inc. members which earned them the #1 spot and secured their 2nd K.
FORK-Recently flamed for recruiting several Pacman members trolling.
ARMADA-Has kept out of the spotlight recently but must always be cautious of their past lurking in the corner. 
Pacman-Staying away from the public eye currently, it seems most are reluctant to engage them on the externals. Elite player+insidious troll/spammers is quite the potent combination. SWID should have studied these guys before creating their spam tribe.
Manic-Except for a few members, not currently vocal on the externals, also keeping a low-radar.


WHO YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR
Many of us spend our days on this excellent war game but often our efforts are never quite appreciated. It seems people only care about the top 20 or even as exclusive as the top 5. While it would be an impossible pledge to give enough time to focus on the smaller tribes sufficiently, in future issues this section will deal with any tribes below the top 20 that do something remarkable/impressive. 


TROLL OF THE WEEK
Rawr Mode. GBEARS have come under the public eye and so have FORK for some interesting recruitment. And as 2 top tribes sharing a border, the tensions are high. Still, this player is the winner of this prestigious award for literally arguing with anything and everything that has the physical ability to press the post button.


INTERVIEW WITH THE BOSS

-What the FORK?

Jace: Was Fork conceived as a premade or after the world had begun?

michel(Destabilise): it was actually decided the day before the world opened if I remember correctly by Matt and me.

michel(Destabilise): And as we went we got a bunch of friends to join us

michel(Destabilise): even once we had started some were still joining.

Jace: When all this was happening, did you and Matt expect to be leading a tribe considered to be one of several top contenders in the world?

michel(Destabilise): Nope.

michel(Destabilise): Reason is when we started playing this world we were maybe 5 to 10 members joining as friends and we were gonna join some tribe as the better tribes emerged

michel(Destabilise): but more friends kept on joining day after day

michel(Destabilise): so we eventually decided to keep the tribe

Jace: Now within the ranks of FORK, certain rumors run abound about the mysteriousness of your gender. Do you blame being part French for such widespread gender confusion?

 michel(Destabilise): LMAO  yes I'm French but that confusion is because on Skype it's my wife’s picture.

 michel(Destabilise): and every time i meet someone new they think I'm a girl and try hitting on me

michel(Destabilise): I'm a 40 years old male that is married

Jace: As a world progresses, this game tends to take more and more of our daily lives. Do you feel you have everything balanced to play this game?

 Jace: Are there certain things that take precedence over TW duties

michel(Destabilise): For those that really know me they know I'm very active and when I'm not working I'll log about 16 to 20 hours a day on TW

michel(Destabilise): and right now with the news I got a few days ago I'll be on here quite a bit as I'm not allowed to work or play hockey for at least the next six month so TW will see me lots

Jace: do all Canadians play hockey?

 michel(Destabilise): about 90 % of Canadians played or play hockey i think

 Jace: on average do British-Canadians have an advantage over their French counterparts?

 michel(Destabilise): I don't understand that question lol

michel(Destabilise): I'm French

 michel(Destabilise): don't make it too complicated

 Jace: Moving back to the game, now that you have surpassed your initial expectations for FORK, what is the next step?

michel(Destabilise): It's actually simple finish what we started and win this world as from what everyone can see we are not too shabby but there will be tough roads ahead as there are a few good tribes around

 Jace: What other tribes hold the most promise?

 michel(Destabilise): any tribe can win a war but right now only 2 tribes come to mind Pacman look pretty good but i don't respect their arrogance and ARMADA if they are playing properly and don't do what they did on other world then they will be tough

Jace: FORK, ARMADA and Pacman have been trading ranks for some time now. How do you feel about GBEARS sudden rise to the top?

 michel(Destabilise): mass recruiting tribe looking for stats only

Jace: Well thank you for your input on world events, before we finish what’s one thing you predict to happen in the next month?

 michel(Destabilise): I will get asked if it's me on my skype picture lol

MUSIC OF THE DAY

CRYSTAL CASTLES- UNTRUST US

Stay Tuned for Next Issue!