I can't release the name but here is a hint:



The idea came to me because I was becoming bored enough with the game that I nearly wanted to quit. The game had been reduced to waiting for energy to recharge, collecting resources, repetitively clicking NPCs and missions and taking turns playing dead in PVP. The one saving grace may have been the chat at the bottom of the screen. I was already leading one of the top 8 legions but there was literally no hope of catching up with any of the more powerful legions. They were thousands of levels ahead, which in ultimate terms would equate to thousands of dollars and months of resources and development associated with having already been a higher level for quite some time. Since I'm not going to spend thousands of dollars and getting 50 people to spend hundreds of dollars is about as possible as getting them to do anything else in a unified fashion, it should be rather apparent to anyone that catching up is literally, absolutely impossible. These ultra-powerful legions aren't going to stop and let everyone catch up out of the kindness of their heart. Thinking that it is possible to gain an equal footing through conventional growth is sheer delusion.

My original objective with The Dark Side was to "bring balance to the force" which I tried to do by promoting rapid player growth with NPCs and a high-energy strategy. This slowly bored everyone to death and they either slowly became less active, quit, or leveled rapidly and left the rest of the legion in the dust, not that it improved their morale. I don't think all these feelings were shared, as the banter remained quite lively, but it seemed to become more and more apparent in the general lack of activity and disparity in rank. I was starting to feel similarly disillusioned and bored when I realized that I was slowly destroying my own legion with a distinct lack of fun. PVP is the fun part of the game and it didn't seem fair that I had no chance against a legion when I was well more powerful than most of their players and I have plenty of legionmates that are as well. Instead of doing the same old thing every single day, I thought I would try something totally different in lieu of quitting. Thus the formation of a new mega-legion of very high levels oriented primarily around PVP with the existing forces at the top.

The only way to catch up is to either merge with other legions at the very highest levels or to create an all new "mega-legion". Since most legions have sister legions and stratifying more than a few legions by level in some kind of "mega-merger" would be a logistical nightmare with trying to get people to actually do things and whatnot, it seemed prudent to create a separate entity instead.

We generally have a "pizza party" style of leadership, allowing the objectives to take care of themselves through the collective actions of high ranked players that don't even remotely need to be babysat. Everyone contributes to the legion instead of expecting the legion to help them out and it becomes quite a different thing than what people are used to. Even with our currently meager numbers we get as much done as any other legion with 50 people. We currently have the numbers to take care of any NPC and they disappear as fast as my old legion of 50 people. The only weakness we might have at the moment is limited to the planet defense bonus.

With how limited the ranks are at the top, much of the recruiting has consisted of us approaching leadership and them saying no. I find it odd that they want to continue the same routine with no hope of anything I might define as "success". We have offered leadership spots to people willing to bring new members in and NAPs with their ex-legions given the same condition. I'm getting tired of posing this same argument over and over to different people behind closed doors though, so I think it makes more sense for people to make the choice for themselves and I don't want to be accused of "going behind people's backs" as other legions have done. The offers stated above still stand if any leadership is still willing. Anyone over rank 300 will be openly welcomed.

here is a link to the legion

Oh I forgot to mention... We have baked goods!

lmao

good luck.

I have to say you're growth is impressive, you went from 3 members to like 18 in a matter of a few days, is it slowing down though? I just don't expect many players with your requirements to be legionless

You'll notice he talked about taking members from other Legions, not trying to find people not in Legions.

true, but I thought those were just guys he knew, can you really steal that many people from other legions?

Of course you can. Rebel Scum is a great idea. There is little point for rank 300+ people sitting in a legion with rank 100 - 200 rank people. It only hurts the higher level people when they get stuck in that sort of legion.

People have asked for us to join them quite a bit, which would involve them kicking however many people. Given the leadership and NAP offers we have, the only difference between us merging with someone and them getting their higher levels to join us would be the name. It was created so people wouldn't all have to be kicked and/or shuffled around. I guess if enough people join from some source the name could be changed even.

I think maybe part of the difficulty is sort of centered around getting on of the more hated people to do the promotion. I think people don't realize that a potential "defection" doesn't have to end up being a bitter ordeal with the NAP system. Whatever other ridiculous demands someone might have could be addressed.

I don't see Rebel Scum being incorporated into any of the current high level legions. They would be welcome to join us and we can easily make room but I would imagine the majority of their players wouldn't want to do that. All the current high level legions have such differing philosophies (honor, anarchy, troublemaking, power) that it is highly unlikely all the players would agree on the same legion.

When Ni was started it was with very high ideals that have since went to pot. The majority of their current members (even our former members that left to join Ni) have abandoned their word and those ideals. Several members told me "If it ever gets like that I will quit." Now Ni is little better than the Dy_es and they brag about it.

How would Rebel Scum not end up just as bad? Any legion with rules to prevent such a thing is going to be to restrictive for many of the Rebel Scum player to follow which is exactly why there needs to be rules.

I think the main functions of most legion's existing rules seem to be limiting notifications. The reason that seems necessary is to make it so the people that get alerted actually get hit instead of there just being a swarm of notifications where everyone picks the easiest target that can give them badges and anyone that is truly challenging or any fun to fight is left totally unscathed. Our group has been notifying maybe 2 people a day so far and they seem to be picked because they have a lot of actions. Singling people out is what works. They can only notify 1 person in return and with the limit system singling out jerks with tons of actions works even better. Just because a tactic is what your enemy uses, and they are jerks, doesn't mean that it isn't what works and I don't think using those tactics is what makes them jerks. If you rule out a tactic because thats what your enemy does you are cheating yourself. It's a shame that people have the same opinion of high-level legions, when that is literally the only way to have an equal footing.

Other legions have rules restricting notifications to people that are "doing more than just badge hunting" and that seems to be a bit more reasonable than the sheer chaos of not having rules or some chivalric code where there is an "original aggressor". I think most people were pretty aware how hypocritical a "chivalric code" was when DOO was around. You're depending on 50+ people to follow those rules exactly and any confrontation with another legion holding those rules is, by all means, supposed to turn into armegeddon if there are any discrepancies in the rules of the two legions or people's adherence to them. If someone took my planet, I'm going to smear them every time I see them and that is termed differently depending who you ask and the reactions vary. I don't think everyone really feels the need to justify every action they take and every person they alert when they are smart enough to know how hypocritical it is to think they are "right" just because they have a certain set of rules.

The game has restrictions on that and it is, after all, just a game. Much of our existing membership has a negative opinion of rule systems but the legion charter remains to be written and we could still await possible input on that from other potential leaders. Our members have a good idea who the collective enemy is and are objective enough and have enough restraint to know that alerting everyone possible isn't good for the legion. Our members, so far, are smart enough to do what is good for the legion and they know that it will help them out more in the end. If we do have one rule it would be "don't be an idiot" and if we had an objective it would be to "have fun" but it hasn't yet been written down. In any event, I don't think there is much need to make everything incredibly complicated.

In any event, with the amount of conciliations we are willing to make with leadership positions, NAPs and even rules, policies and perhaps even name changing with enough members from another source, that "defecting" to this legion would be about as equivalent as having us merge into another legion. The advent of NAPs alone would make any member transfer more amicable than when Ni was formed. It would only be a "betrayal" if that is how people chose to view it. Odds are it will only help to better achieve the objectives of the legion you might be leaving no matter what those objectives might be. If people feel betrayed regardless, then it probably turns out you were babysitting them the whole time anyways. I certainly don't have any problem helping the lower ranked players but I think eventually it takes away a sense of self-sufficiency. Many people aren't even aware how optional PVP is. That was one saving grace of a legion without rules; people could take care of themselves, but not having rules didn't really help achieve the legion's objectives. With only the high levels from those legions that hasn't really been an issue yet. I don't think "honor" is the real issue with having notification rules and I can't really say that notification rules are flat-out a bad thing either.

our motto is "Scum rises to the top"

Those things I spoke about are more than just one specific kind of rule. Like I said, it is more a philosophy. For example we have former members that our now working against us. They gave their word that wouldn't get involved in any attacks on us and I gave my word that their planets would not be attacked. Even though we have and continue to keep our word (including replacing a planet that was lost because of a newb), they do not keep their word. Should I break my promise and be a liar just because they are? Its all very well and good to say "Its only a game" but what difference does that make in honesty? Many of us consider each other friends so why is it ok to le to your friends? That kind of integrity goes far beyond a rule about alerts.

My "code" as you call it has nothing to do with how others act. They can be liars, bullies, thieves and worse, it doesn't mean I need to be. I am not as big or strong as they are anymore and that is to be expected. I would rather belong to a legion full of low levels that can be trusted than a powerful legion that lies to people they called friends. I know there aren't that many high levels that agree with me or Ni wouldn't be as bad as it is.

I am sure the other legions have their own versions of these little nuances. I know GD does as does PA. Whatever you guys do I really do hope it works. I had high hopes for Ni and whatever direction you guys go I have high hopes for you.

Well the NAP system would take care of not taking planets if that is anyone's concern. I haven't really heard of NAPs being dropped since the update based on anything actually happening since the update. It's a much better indicator than taking people's "word" for it and much easier to deal with appropriately... but then we aren't going to go around having an NAPs for no reason either. Having the same enemies doesn't automatically make everyone allies. There will always be new enemies anyways.

Everyone wants their own legion to "catch up" with their opponents and there really isn't any realistic possibility of doing that without drastic changes in membership and that is simply never going to happen under the same banner as before doing the same thing as before. I understand it isn't everyone's objective to be in the most powerful legion. If it were they would just join the dysonians or Ni and I'm sure plenty of them have.

Our objective, within this game, is mainly to have fun and it does fit into plenty of people's definition of fun to be in a legion that wants an equal footing with their more powerful opponents. PVP is the fun part of the game for most of the higher level people because that is most of whats left that hasn't just become mindless repetition. Our philosophy or mantra hasn't yet been totally defined as we haven't actually drafted some charter telling our members how to behave and we're fortunate that they already know that.

It makes about as much sense to ask you to sum your philosophy up in however many words and explain why it is better than that of the hundreds of other legions in the game. There isn't some magical philosophy that will save us all in some "second coming". There is only the one that you think will get you more members because there isn't anyone willing to read more than a paragraph when making what amounts to a trivial choice. Our philosophy, within this game, is to have fun. We are already doing a rather fantastic job. We know what we have to do to improve the situation in regard to increasing our level of entertainment without making the game less fun for everyone else in the process.

Someone mentioned that with all of the accommodations in terms of Leadership, NAPs, naming and policies we are willing to impose on ourselves in the interest of recruiting other leaders that the legion could end up being like the UN where we end up kicking out leaders when their old legions act up. Maybe not entirely accurate given the current name and membership, but it was an entertaining thought nonetheless. I imagine Ni may have thought they were doing something like that but seemingly ridiculous things like that are actually possible with the NAP system. Not saying it would happen or anything, but that would be the appropriate framework. Saying it is impossible because Ni didn't do it is about as silly as considering it in the first place.

I hope you punish the liars that break their word especially if they called themselves a friend.
I personally would keep attacking that person whenever alerted for their lack of honor .. I'd treat them worse than an enemy.

There is nothing worse than having snakes in a legion or as friends.
A man of his word is one thing but being walked on is another ...

I hope you crush your snakes that were your so called friends and guys that went back on their word ...
I'm sure your legion mates would respect that.

Breaking a contract verbal or otherwise does nullify the other members from maintaining their portion of the contract. If I contracted with you to take turnips from the turnip farm to the city dump and NOT sell them at a profit in the streets, in exchange for carting away your celery to the dump and not selling them on the streets, then once you started selling my turnips, my all means I can sell your celery, and I can stop allowing you to ship my turnips. that's basic contract law. when one party invalidates a contract the entire contract is nullified..

Perhaps the story is not a direct parallel, but it is a parable, and therefor comparable.

However if you personally want to keep your end of the contract up after others had invalidated it, you're free to. there are no police, and no court of law here though, so it seems silly to do so since the premise behind that would be to seek reparations through the judicial system due to breach of contract, which you have no way of even considering doing in a game.

Blitz,

Despite our obvious differences, I can agree with you whole heartedly here, which is why I hold so many obvious differences with people who have at the least migrated through your legion.

-Q

yeah we have had a few encounters lol but that will happen from time to time ... but yeah I believe in punishing back stabbers to the full force of the law ...
By that I mean a legion should attack that person or persons without mercy.
That will make them think twice before doing it again to anyone or another legion .

Spoony, I never said our policy is better than any other. In fact I said quite the opposite in that many other players wouldn't be interested in it and wouldn't want to be in a legion that worked like that. We all have different philosophies that attract different kinds of players.