Join the new world

Following my previous article on recent events in the current Asteria and CODE war I thought it would be a good to go to both sides in order to flesh out more of both alliances for everyone - myself included! I sent out a bunch of messages to different CPs and members of the leadership of CODE and Asteria alliances and was extremely fortunate to get responses from two significant players. The first is Herr Vootsman, current Minister of Foreign Affairs for the eUSA, Secretary General of the largest party in the US, 7 time Country President and deputy Secretary General of Asteria.

Recently Asteria have enjoyed a lot of success in the Balkans, what do you attribute this to?

I think there are multiple factors at play. Most obviously is that when Serbia is united, they are able to defeat anyone on the battlefield. They've had a great few months and are only getting stronger. Next is strategy and planning. Having a stronger country isn't useful if you can't get initiative, and historically, it's been difficult for Serbia (and others) to get initiative on Croatia. You'll see, for example Bosnia and Uruguay continue to rotate in their cores and continue to dodge attacks, but Chile who used to help do that for Croatia has since left CODE and no longer blocks, likewise, Asteria advances into Hungary creates a larger front to attack Balkans from and to avoid blocks. The invasion of Greece on the other hand, I would attribute more to motivation - there wasn't a lot of blocking nor allied support, if I remember right there just wasn't much fighting on CODE's side - which is if resources are low or if you know defeat is inevitable, perhaps it is a wiser move to save those EBs.

Asteria is a large alliance that has lasted ten years, what would you say have been the biggest challenges in keeping the alliance together?

I think it's incredible that Asteria has stayed together for 10 years, and I think it goes to show that we have amazing members and leaders, who care about Asteria, as a collective, and can make it a priority beyond just their home countries interest. I think the hardest part is both using and ignoring real world geopolitical relationships. I'll be honest, sometimes I get a bit confused in the real world, when I hear news about Iran vs USA conflict, and I have to remember that we aren't allies.

How does the alliance approach managing the priorities of its large and varied membership?

In one sense, pretty much all members care about the same thing - defending their cores, winning against their enemies, and then having Bases/TWs. So in one sense that is also what the alliance cares about. At times, it can feel that perhaps one area gets too much focus at the end of others, and it's something to keep watch for, as that has been a cause for strife in the past.

What do you think the relationship with CODE will look like in six months time?

If we and they are still around, then we'll still be enemies, and I think they'll be largely subjugated by Asteria. I'm not entirely convinced the current alliances will still be around in 6 months, however.

What do you believe are the main differences between the leadership of Asteria and CODE?

Asteria has been around for over 10 years, but I've really only been around the last 3, so my perspective is only 'accurate' for recent times, which have not really been CODE's prime. I think the biggest difference is in the number of active people that plan and participate in operations. Even if we're having an off month, we just have so much more baseline activity, whereas it seems that CODE is on break, their activity dwindles to nothing. When they're active, they're strong. I've lost a lot of battles to CODE, and numerous times we've been out-planned, consistently blocked, etc. But other times, you can see that the effort and coordination just isn't there.

What would you describe as the main advantages for being in an alliance for both your nation and its citizens?

For me and eUSA, it gives us something to fight for. I'd say in general, eUSA doesn't have a lot of 'enemies', but by being in Asteria we now have allies that we can fight for, and I think it's been an enjoyable experience for me and my team to help our allies out. In particular, due to time zones, there's a lot of coordination done - an ally may attack in their midnight, with plans for USA to hold air until they wake up, etc. My second interviewee is JOy13x, current Country President of eArgentina, Prime Minster, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs for CODE.

What do you consider as being the biggest achievement for CODE in recent times?

The recent time is too long time ago.. We dont have big achieves, to be honest.

What approach does the alliance leadership take when encouraging cooperation amongst members during challenging times?

Honestly, we don't have a leader figure to lean on, so to speak. Each of the member countries has its representatives in CODE, who try hard to prevail on the map, sometimes it is achieved, other times it is not.

Does CODE have a desire to grow in members following the departure of some key allies?

I think the imbalance between CODE and the other 2 alliances, or what remains of Hydra, is so great that it is very difficult for someone to accept an invitation from us, but of course we are open to dialogue and looking for new allies.

What do you think the relationship with Asteria will look like in six months time?

I think that the relationship with Asteria is tense from the beginning, the problem is in the imbalance of power, strength and some other bot/server put to work, which makes it more than difficult to take the foot off of many of our members and that is what that ends up destroying communities.

We all know the traps and cheaters in the game, only the admins are the ones who don't realize it or don't want to realize it. This neglect causes many to quit the game, the problem is that there are practically no new players, and the new ones cannot compete in an acceptable period of time.

What do you think are the main differences between the leadership of Asteria and CODE?

I don't know how Asteria leaders work, so I can't compare them to each other.

What would you describe as the main advantages for being in an alliance for both your nation and its citizens?

Well, I can't speak as if the Alliance were mine or as if it were a cult. What I can say is that when we want, we can and we have demonstrated it, even in more than adverse conditions. I thank both players for their time in answering my questions and I hope it is as insightful for you as it is to me. It is striking to see the difference in tone and confidence regarding the current situation, as Asteria looks to take advantage of a CODE that seems from the outside to be drifting apart at best and at worst, breaking up.

Here in the eUK we are not given much of an opportunity to find out about what goes on outside our borders and I hope that by conducting articles and interviews like this will show that there is a strong desirein the country for some insight into our own foreign affairs and what is going on in an ever changing geopolitical landscape.