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!