Freedom Fighters: No Gods, No Masters
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by New Faustian Man
As you are no doubt aware Erepublik will soon introduce a new military awar😛
the Freedom Fighter medal.
Now there will be the usual blowhards who can’t see the good in anything and will call this another 'quickfix' that’s unlikely to solve any of the (player-created, lest we forget) “problems” this game suffers from, namely the imbalance in the military distribution. That may be true: this isn’t going to fragment the current alliance structure, but it should go a way to upsetting the applecart.
What this new medal could do is give motivation to the many players in this game that don’t give two flying fcuks about alliances or any of the related BS, and who don’t feed of e-nationalism. By now most people should realize alliances are recipes for butthurt and not much else.
Freedom Fighting
The new medal marries an actual Gold reward with the need to co-operate with other fighters in order to ensure the Resistance War is a success and the region actually liberated. This point is important. The success rate of resistance wars is poor, especially against TWO, and this has never been helped by the fact those who could profit from it in terms of Gold and a pixel medal were restricted to the ten players that supported it. This new medal changes that. Now – in theory at least – hundreds of players could win the Gold and medal in any given Resistance War, dependent on eligibility ofcourse.
The important point is understanding how this new medal is awarded. To quote the administration release:
“This medal is awarded for helping the liberation of regions by fighting in Resistance Wars. [...] Fight in X successful Resistance Wars and defeat X opponents in each.”
Compare the Freedom Fighter medal with the most sought after medal, the Battle Hero medal:
The Battle Hero mechanic works thus: I put the most damage down = and win a Battle Hero medal + 5 Gold
The Freedom Fighter mechanic works thus: We put the required amount of damage down to win the campaign and, as long as your eligible, i.e. have already killed the required number of opponents in other successful resistance wars, win – with potentially hundreds of other combatants – a Freedom Fighter medal + 5 Gold
The important mechanic that should be bore in mind is that the resistance war must be successful -- in other words, this is nothing like the Mercenary medal, were its all a matter of doing your 25 kills and passing onto the next country, irrespective of the campaign's outcome. Therefore if anyone’s going to acquire a medal, and if they’re going to be acquired with any frequency, there is going to have to be some major assistance between the free fighters of the New World.
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What this might mean... (In the best of all possible worlds )
The new medal lends new significance to the plight of smaller, occupied countries, and allows for individual fighters to take up their cause and expect some return on it, outside of what can be reaped via COs. Ideally this might begin to foster a loosely-affiliated coalition of MUs and independent fighters preying on alliance weak points. Presently this would mean a coalition of antiTWO fighters, but (at the start at least) we’re going to witness a lot of TWO fighters contributing in the execution of successful RWs, if only just to win the medal. A specific clause in the admin release suggests they're obviously aiming to involve as many fighters as possible in the early days of the medal’s release.
The new medal could go a way to rectify the top-down alliance model which dictates who the common soldiery fight for, where they fight and why they fight. Effectively removing the politics entirely.
What it will probably mean...
Ofcourse the Freedom Fighter reward – both the 5 Gold reward and the actual pixel medal – might not be enough to a) match the alliance machinery that informs and directs hundreds of MUs, thousands of fighters and literally billions upon billions of damage per day; and b) may not be enough to mould those pursuing the Freedom Fighter medal into a coherent body of Resistance fighters that could continually and effectively threaten the holdings of major alliance(s).
As things stand now, it’s looking highly unlikely there is going to be a new alliance. There aren’t the countries available and those that are antiTWO can’t get along, not enough to cement a new alliance. Therefore its likely that TWO will reign unopposed, and as such Freedom Fighting – the pursuit of collectively co-operating to actually gain the medal may be the best means to undermine and fight against the ruling alliance.
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I appreciate there's a lot of idealism in the above, and not a few if's and maybe's. And yeah we would still require a somebody/somebodies to determine the target/alliance weak point, to prioritize that amongst all the co-operating MUs. So some form of organization and authority would no doubt rear its head, but -- considering the loose form of affiliation this would entail, featuring MUs not countries -- it would still be nothing like some of the alliance HQs we've suffered under in the past. All we're really talking is possibly a single irc channel to co-ordinate matters.
With a RESISTANCE formed of Freedom Fighters we get:
NO ROLE-PLAYING
NO PERMA-ALLIANCE HQs/HQ members
NO INCOMPETENCE
NO GODS
NO MASTERS
p.s. I’d like to give a shout-out to all my eSerb brothers and sisters!
Живела e-Србија!
NFM o/
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Comments
True, good analysis
v
From where I sit this looks like it will make the governments of TWO opposed nations almost obsolete when it comes to coordinating damage. MUs will take top billing in cooperation and coordination in the development of strategy to free regions. I will be interested to see how TWO powerhouses such as Serbia and Poland deal with this development; on the one hand they will have MUs who want a piece of the RW action, on the other they have self-interest in holding onto potential RW regions for tax purposes. Will the governments of strong TWO nations offer to compensate their independent MUs through tax revenue?
On your first point, in terms of organizing the damage, should that fall into the hands of MUs is something I'd be in favor of. Portugal's success over the last couple days [and there are plenty of other examples ofc] illustrated we don't require another alliance or all the paraphernalia associated with it to undermine an alliance, even one of TWO's power. MUs willing to work together would provide a much more solid base than transient MoD teams, imo anyway. Ideally a USAIM-type organisation that spanned the globe, that even counted MUs in countries traditionally enemies of your own as members, even MUs from TWO countries that could be persuaded to fight for the Resistance, if just to show their opposition to HQ policy or w/e.
The recent CoT fightback a couple months back against TWO pretty much derived from the eUS Mil MU Lantrip was in, their power eclipsed all the MoD teams from CoT countries and even the alliance MC, and proved a much more successful strategy than what had been practiced for months previously, or afterward. The problem was the money it required to make it a success. But it showed that the modern MU with the CO feature is as good an organ as any to direct a war.
I haven't mentioned taxes, funding etc. But most nonTWO countries know who the enemy is, so I don't see a problem here, minus the odd roleplaying gov who still wish to pretend that's there's any kind of politics in this game outside of what happens or contributes to what happens on the battlefield.
Voted and subscribed.
Sounds like what Libertad used to be when they were an active group of MUs.
Thanks o7
I originally had a paragraph in there about Libertad, but I deleted it because I figured many people probably wouldn't know what the organization was, especially from the ONE/TWO side. I think a Libertad-type format composed of individual MUs is the way ahead for those who don't wish to align themselves with another alliance and all the drama and fake allegiance that entails.
Finally a good analysis about the new medal. From my point of view lots of players will start to hunt the new FF medal by monitoring all RW's and they will hit in those which seems to be successful, during last 2 rounds. It would be more profitable to do this than to chase BH medal or Mercenary medal or even to hunt CO's. Using a 10-15 cc/million CO in RW as a defender would not bring you any damage from now on. As a conclusion, this medal will "use" the individualistic style of playing the game to "balance" the military power.
P.S. Voted and shouted (and I rarely do this) 🙂
good explains
o7
viva la revolution 😉
Chance of small country to hold non-CORE regions are now = 0
Holland is the first country which shall pay the price of new medals. Using AS in order to provide Congress will have no sense in the future.
agreed... the good news is converse is also true ... small nations can secure a congress by regaining 1 of their core region if they use the congress week effectively
v
They've created a financial encouragement to occupy as many regions as possible regardless of resources.
Which is a huge threat to small nations.
They've added a financial encouragement to vigorously RW occupied regions.
It's a recipe for perpetual war without any of the political trappings of old.
Streamlining the money machine.
And the problem of RW'ing a region that doesn't originally belong to the country you're "vigorously" RWing it from is what exactly....? Presuming there's not a treaty ofc. The financial encouragement was already there, its unlikely this new tax will exceed the profit reaped through just holding the region for its economic bonus.
We've had a state of perpetual war for years, this doesn't add to that any more than the recent comps or w/e.
Disagree that any of the updates will be damaging to what passes for 'politics' on here.
There was only financial incentive to occupy resource bonuses or landbridges to connect them.
My concern is that region based tax revenue may provide incentive for large nations to gobble up regions regardless of production bonuses.
That would be a game changer.
\o/ Let the blowhard naggery begin. 😃
Personally, I think the concept offers a niche that was missing any real payoff in the game. The practice is gonna be hellish, and players' ability or inability to cooperate will make or break the impact the new medal will have. That said, whether it takes off or not, it'll always be a tool in the hands of those who actually want to make something of it.
I agree, whoever's of a mind to use it, it provides a great inbuilt incentive to collectivize damage for mutual gain. Huge ask like you say tho, RH medals are a rare enough commodity compared with BHs, and this is gonna take a concerted effort to maintain the focus of disparate MUs over the course of multiple successful MUs. Still a great addition imo, I've been merc'ing a lot lately, which is a pretty pointless pursuit, I'll be FF'ing from hereon o7
v
nice!
Finally, a good update.
i support what plato is doing now.
o7
Unfortunately this idealistic view of the freedom fighters will be quickly dismissed by easy exploits. For example it won't be long before we will see the training wars specifically designed for this medal, where the attacker will move in circles inside the attacked country, while the successful resistance wars will follow the same path 1-2 regions behind...
If it means people keep busy in the game and find a way to earn gold without necessarily having to start digging in their pockets, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone can be on the front line of a war at all times. 🙂
@Roman - This could happen, but unlikely. You're suggesting TWs orchestrated across multiple campaigns over the course of several days, involving hundreds maybe even thousands of fighters -- and with the occupier volunteering to give up regions/bonuses?
If some form or organization doesn't surface, what's more likely to happen is every day some RW is going to get singled out if it looks at all susceptible and people are going to start flocking to it and fighting in the resistance. No matter what country it's against. There's enough unaligned damage out there to cause trouble for anyone. This kind of randomness can easily be manipulated, especially in targeting 'bridge' regions like Saxony to target a country's economy. All the organizers need do is set a small lead...
Well,Serbians are going to be pissed as hell.
Why Serbians exactly?
Look Serbia's defence of its colonies is really volatile. And Serbia is also the de facto leader of TWO.So, mischieveous enemies are going to try and co-ordinate RWs in these regions.And believe me it's goign to be a big problem for them.
I agree in part, the situation with eSerbia's economy is brittle, they've had their economy bottomed-out twice in recent memory through well-orchestrated RWs. But as long as the Polish Atlantic wall holds, they're relatively safe. I think all occupiers are going to come under increased pressure, eSerbia at least have the damage that they can withstand a massive amount of turbulence, other countries not so much.
But there is another paragraph that say: "Starting this week, countries will be able to collect taxes from occupied regions. The tax revenue is based on the number of regions a country possesses. " so countries will get money from occupied regions, so the CO's probably will be much higher than now. It depends on the value of this tax(we know nothing about that till now).
So if a country will set CO's at least 100 cc/million, for 10kk(75 kills) you will get almost 1000 cc(5 golds) there is the balance.(it depends on gold/cc exchange rate).
100cc at d4 ? dream on 🙂
depinde de taxa aceea.
v
[removed]
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Ooooooh !!!!
That's the way -aha, aha-
I like it !!! -aha, aha-
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youtube.com/watch?v=OM7zRfHG0no
If you think this can change something for occupied countries, you're wrong.
This new medal will make people goccrazy for couple of days, weeks at most, but after that everything goes back to normal with exception that strnger countries will have additional money from taxes of occupied regions.
Again, admins try to fix problems their older changes caused with short term sokutions that will only causemore new problems.
Oh, btw this situatin in eWorld isn't caused by TWO or people that made it, it is caused by those who make the rules in this game, because TWO ciuldn't be dominant without those rules.
The situation of TWO's dominance was caused by TWO's superior firepower, not via some 'rules' that handicap everyone else. Whatever 'rules' your eluding to most likely came into force before that alliance even existed. That it was able to capitalize on the game as its actually designed and __dominate__ in no way detracts from its accomplishments.
TWO is dominant only because admin's MPP rule allows them to conquer everything with sheer numbers (and to say that rule isn't handicap is wrong, because it clearly is a handicap to weaker). TWO is nothing more than admin's product, because its efficiency is based on admin's rules.
People from TWO did nothing wrong, they simply adapted to what admin gave them.
As long as admin's rules give us no space in terms of strategy and economy (except bonuses that mean nothing) to compensate sheer numbers, those with more will dominate.
No Guts
No Glory
there will just a couple of rws belevied to be sucesfull that people will throw overdamage in them while most of the rws wont change at all or even get worse
Why would they get worse?
its not about the new medal but the revenue change
Previously I've been critical of the type of updates they implement, but tbh I see this as a good one. It affords the players a certain freedom to work together to actually achieve something without having to work under an alliance apparatus. For me that's a good thing.
v
Tierra y Libertad
Smaller countries lost a lot with this change. Well..they will at least!
With the Freedom Fighter medal? I would say they gained potential damage with that. This article doesn't cover the new colonial tax.
I thought about that tax. Freedom fighter is just counter to that. But I doubt it's good enough.
It isn't going to be the addition of this new tax to the treasuries of Poland or Serbia that sees them secure further dominance against all and sundry. They already have that because they have the player numbers, so the only real change is the FF medal -- and that helps smaller countries -- as long as we have the current military imbalance the new tax will be punitive and nothing more and otherwise will have little to no impact, for the most part, on whether campaigns are won or lost.
What i see here is a possibility for many to do 25 kills for the MM, and doing them mostly on RW's, so if any of them is successful, they get another RW for the new medal.
If you look at the material benefits of actually pursuing the medal in a continuous cycle with other like-minded individuals who don't wish to tie themselves either to an alliance or an e-nation, it starts to make sense financially. True it could just play out as just an occasional bonus 5 Gold, but it has the potential of being more than that.
Ратници еСрбије регрутују играче до 30. левела.
✯ Дневно следовање за играче до 30. левела је 10 тенкова квалитета 6
✯ Додатни тенкови квалитета 7 на организованим ударима
✯ Награде за војника недеље
✯ Рад у фирмама јединице - плата 8 динара
✯ Савети за бржи напредак
✯✯✯ Оно што тражимо јесте АКТИВНОСТ пре свега. ✯✯✯
Активност подразумева РЕДОВНО ПРИСУСТВОВАЊЕ УДАРИМА на чет каналу јединице.
Ко мисли да може да задовољи ове услове нека се јави команданту јединице, за више информација, путем овог линка: http://www.erepublik.com/en/main/messages-compose/2099341
V!