The rise and rise of "TWO"

Day 2,169, 09:13 • Published in Croatia Croatia • by Arrlo

I'd just like to share an image with you.





Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the top 20 damage dealing nations of our game, courtesy of egov4you. Of the top 10 shown here, 7 are fully pro TWO. One's damage goes both ways. One's damage goes against some TWO countries. One country is in CoT. For the sake of emphasis, make sure you understand that the three CoT/undecided countries are the lowest three, at least in this week's reading. And what about the CoT power three nations? 11th, 13th, 15th, and all long term wiped or about to be so.

Why am I talking about something which almost everyone is already aware of? Because one of the lines I've grown increasingly tired of hearing from people is "Do something about it!". Well let's consider this for a moment. Do what? Unlikely as it may have seemed at one point, Turkey, Argentina, Serbia, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Romania - like it or not you generally all hit on the same side of this game now. So what exactly are we supposed to do while 7 of the top 10, and occasionally 8 hit in the same direction? No TWO or pro TWO country responds to any advances, Turkey included, because they don't like CoT, and they are all comfortable with their easy victories and assured bonuses. Spain, Hungary, Polan😛 all have been forced to swallow some pride to tolerate TWO's increasing cooperation with Argentina and Romania.

The reward for tolerating this complex web of uneasy partnerships is obvious. Look at the map, look at the bonuses of the countries involved. Your victory is basically total.

But I know this leaves most of the best players from all sides of this game perplexed, even a little bit worried as to what comes next. The options available are probably along these lines:

1) TWO conquers everything

Albania, Croatia, and then probably China fall. Our VISAs and most non Serbs' indifference to the fight against Albania and Croatia offer the only protection against the vast damage imbalance, but eventually boredom will bring almost the full force of pro TWO against us, and we will lose. This fun will last for a month at most, and then there will literally only be TWO or pro TWO countries left standing to turn on each other.

2) Serbia and Poland split

This involves a total reshuffle of alliances, with both TWO and CoT being torn apart, and the two biggest damage dealers parting ways and fighting it out. The rest of the world will most probably snap rapidly into place behind one or the other superpower, and there would be a lot more in the way of hard fighting.

3) A more complex, but still more balanced line up of countries is engineered

Something closer to EDEN vs ONE, with a lot more bargaining, diplomacy and intrigue. Here the possibilities are infinite, so you can create your own combinations of countries in your heads for the future. This outcome will probably follow after option 1), but the longer we all wait, the harder it will be to control the ensuing chaos or predict the outcome, as well as the fact that the damage done to the participation of the communities of non pro TWO countries could be fatal.

Nobody has any right to tell countries to ditch this ally or join that alliance, I know, and there is absolutely nothing I or anyone can do or say to force change, however much the TWO trolls might gloat. But I just wonder how happy players from all countries are with the state of the game now. No victory feels as epic, and no alliance commands the same feeling of passion as they used to, and all we seem to be left with to excite us are the tournaments, competitions and...



...yeah.

Yours in contemplation,
Arrlo