In Defense of Major Militaries

The level of unfounded hatred toward the major groups, Ordo Imperialis and the Merczateers, in combat on the grid is really quite sad.  For example, let’s focus on the Merczateers for a bit.  Here’s a burning noob in Merczateers armor overlooking Thorium, home base of the Chthonic Syndicate.

The same thing is visible in Second Chance, the home region of Sparta.  This Merczateer has a spear through his heart instead.

After seeing this, someone made an interesting point.  Could you imagine how absolutely outrageous people would be if say, greeting visitors at Salamis, were burning Chthonic Syndicate soldiers or Spartans impaled through the heart?  They’d immediately complain about how terrible it is that the Merczateers were going against the Iron Symphony doctrine by doing such a thing.  And for that matter, does it say anything about the Merczateers that they don’t have anything similar to burning enemy soldiers?

Of course, it’s a game and it’s just e-puffery, right?  Nothing behind it other than playful combat roleplay.  Or is it?

For example, the maker of the burning Merczateer in Thorium, is the same person who was caught sithacking into Badnarik during the recent assault by CS, 2142 and Sparta on the Merczateers.  Sour grapes for being caught?  Or indicative of a bigger chip on one’s shoulder?  Sounds like some people are out for more than just roleplay.

The hypocrisy of it all extends further.  Recently, during the 2142/CS/Spartan assault on the Merczateers, they had roughly 40 soldiers fighting less than half their number of Merczateers.  They swarmed – I used the S word! – swarmed the Merczateers.  And there’s nothing wrong with that!  Winning a fight is about bringing more to the table, whether it be in terms of tech, skill, or manpower, after all.  I love fighting swarms.  One time Ordo came to New Jessie as a group of 20 people or so, and basically me and two others were the only ones fighting them.  And we all had a great time!

The only problem with the swarming of the Merczateers is that the same people who swarmed them routinely claim that they themselves are, yes, swarmed, usually by evil Merczateers.  In fact, CS and Sparta have full sims – and yet they impose an avatar cap of 20 on their regions, making it quite literally impossible to swarm them to any real degree, unless these groups have virtually nobody on base at the time.

To be fair, CS does offer a way around the limit:

Christopher Compton: The limit is set to twenty.
Christopher Compton: If you need more, fill out a request.
Takkun Gray: How do I fill out a request?

(Takkun was denied this request.)

But regardless, does it really seem fair to make swarming impossible for others to do, only to then do it to someone else?  And if you, as I, think that it doesn’t matter how many numbers someone wants to put on a battlefield – doesn’t it still seem wrong to complain about it if you yourself do it?

Another common complaint is the use of various tactics of the Merczateers – most namely, their use of armored combat.  To be sure, this is definitely something that they’ve got a lead over everyone else on for the moment and they’ve not been shy of deploying the stuff.  But what about other groups?

Groups like 39th for example pioneered fast, flying and heavily armed mechs.  They had them and nobody else did, at least at first.  Did they offer to help others develop the technology, or develop a doctrine for its restrained use?  They probably didn’t.  Should they have been expected to?

No, probably not.  It’s a combat community, and sharing tech and helping others can conversely mean putting yourself less further ahead.  But then again, when your adversaries do the same thing as you in creating something new, and then go one further in actually trying to help others create similar units and then one more further in writing up a doctrine on how to restrain the use of said units, can you really complain when they’re doing nothing more than a kinder, gentler version of what you yourself did?  You really can’t.

I’ve often heard about the nature of the setup of Salamis and Badnarik and how it’s impregnable.  It’s pretty tough to crack.  But what about other sims?  How hard is it to crack a place like Thorium or Second Chance – both of which feature teleporters for defenders in the sim to use to navigate around it?  How fair is that?  It seems leagues less fair than to have a pretty vulnerable wall about 10M high that the Merczateers are likely to be caught chatting on rather than dug into, as they do in Badnarik.

But hey – everyone has their own sims, and everyone has their own rules, and that’s part of the enjoyable thing about combat on the grid is that everywhere is unique.   But the problem lies in the hateful hypocrisy – the fact that people will accuse the large groups of doing and saying so much that is supposedly bad, while partaking in it themselves, and sometimes doing worse – like sithacking into someone’s sim to try and win a battle against a force that is already vastly outnumbered anyway.

All I’m saying is, make sure your own house is in order before attacking someone else’s.

So why burn effegies and post spiteful comments about the Merczateers?  There are dozens of Merczateer spin-off groups out there to boot.  For example, one member of 39th is in charge of a group called Merch-Uh-Tears, whose charter reads:

“Merch-Uh-Tears”

Our job: To lag you back to the stone-age.

We’ll take over your sim in a matter of seconds (the equivalent of about 7hours due to the lag) so don’t mess with us! Or we’ll cheat and whine and spawn camp you till the bitter end!!!1!!!SHIFT11!!!1!!!!11

The 39th member also shares another rank due to the group, that of Mercshiteer Marshal.  Again, what motivates someone to do something like that?

The point I am trying to make is therefore that criticism is fine, but unfounded hate and needless insults, as well as hypocritical condemnations of things done by those who levy the same criticisms, is wrong to do.  You can’t hate being swarming, think it’s wrong, and then go swarm people.  You can’t decry the use of new technology on you when you’ve used it on others.  You can’t complain about an impenetrable base when your base itself is built to be much the same way.

And so therefore, I say that it’s really time to move off the Merczateers as a common punching bag of complaints, because it’s essentially true that while they are far from perfect as all us mortal beings are, they at least aspire to get out of the common muck that is the endless drama and burning effegies and hate groups that make up a lot of combat today.

I am quite certain of course that I myself will not be a target for writing such a piece.  After all, they must have paid me to write it.  Rest assured that if I could get people to pay me to write nice stories about them, I’d…well…write a lot more of them, because I like money.  Kidding aside, such charges are ridiculous. I write about things as I see them.  A couple months ago I wrote a column in defense of smaller militaries, and I was praised as having looked at a side of things not often looked at.  I am confident that all of those who are fair of mind will understand that I am doing the same thing here in looking at the side of the group that usually has the mud slinged at it and is not slinging much in return.  And though I have focused on the Merczateers because I hear about them more in terms of my sources of information in combat, the same usually applies to Ordo as well in terms of what I’ve said.

Nevertheless, I am eager to know what you think.  Am I wrong in my observations, or are these fair points?  Please share your thoughts in our comments section.

-Caine Constantine

The End of Dominatium and the Grid’s Combat Malaise

NOTE: The last article was removed as per the request of the author.

The Dominatium saga has ended with the unfortunate disbanding of the group by its leader, Amory Gears. I talked to him earlier today about the situation.

Amory Gears: Caine, do you have a minute ? I have a scoop for you.

Caine Constantine: Sure, although I may not be able to write much for a bit.

Amory Gears: This is going to make many people happy, others will say “I knew it would happen” but i hereby announce the dissolution of the Dominatium Regime. In short : The Dominatium is dead.

Caine Constantine: Wow, why are you taking this step?

Amory Gears: We lost support from our main sponsors after the recent events and as it seems our sim has been sold to someone. We couldn’t afford it anymore.

Amory Gears: We stood tall for more than a year, we were there before Echelon, we were there when the IS was still young, we never gave up, no matter what happened but this time it is no longer a matter of choice. I see myself forced to quit.

Amory Gears: All i will say to my men and to those who supported us for so long is that i am sorry. I wish we could go on but this is no longer possible, i encourage them all to join Chaos and support the group on the best of their abilities. All groups will be disbanded, with the exception of the main group which will stay as a memorial group for us to remember how Echelon’s lies ended up with the death of one of their former allies.

Caine Constantine: So it was finances that did Dominatium in.  But why would you encourage them to join Chaos?

Amory Gears: Because Chaos seeks to expose the corruption of the IS. And that’s what its all about.

Caine Constantine: Will you be joining Chaos?

Amory Gears: No, I am quitting military life. This will be the end of my career.

Caine Constantine: I am sorry to hear that Amory.  Do you have any last words for the readers of the Journal?

Amory Gears: I would like to publicly apologize towards my men and towards the community. I am sad that my group has been subject of so much drama and I never wanted things to escalate in a mind crusade against the Iron Symphony.

One of Herbert Feldmann's propaganda poster creations.

We started to make posters, we started to spread rumors ourselves, we started to act like our enemies and caused harm around us, we offended people and for that I am sorry. But above all I apologize towards my men, these few faithful individuals who gave me everything. Armies come and go, others will rise from their ashes, but not the Dominatium, this is the end. I am sorry.

Caine Constantine: Well I appreciate the information Amory and I wish you the best of luck on your future projects.

Amory Gears: Thank you.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

The story of Dominatium ended as many militaries do – with a request by the leadership that its members join another group who is seen as carrying on the best traditions of the ended group. But the request that the members of the Dominatium join Chaos is what seems to be an example of a growing trend in combat in Second Life – dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Right now, it appears that the predictions of one member of 39th, who came to talk to me after the article on their short-lived blockade against the Merczateers, are true, when he said that it’s essentially the “Iron Symphony versus everyone else.” There is no more Vanguard, and the Alliance Navy is on such friendly terms that it is not unusual to see it and soldiers of various I.S. groups joining in on attacks together.

Other groups are good at playing defense, but attacks on the hundreds and hundreds of soldiers that make up the core groups of the Iron Symphony are not practical unless you use underhanded tactics. During the last major raid into the Merczateers base for example – in which it took every bit of the rest of combat on the grid to challenge the group and its allies – people on both sides swore up and down that they saw an attacker sit hack into the base and teleport enough people into it to make claiming victory seem reasonable. And what is the point of a fight if it’s done with underhanded tactics?

Word among the Merczateers is that soldiers from the Republic of Germany are even now looking for turncoats willing to teleport invading forces into the sim for yet another backhanded attack on the base. This is what it takes for smaller groups to breach defenses that are routinely 10 to 20 soldiers strong.

As a result, much of the serious military combat these days goes on in seriously limited void sims, whose processing power is set to only decrease as Linden Lab squeezes script limits into sims already limited to 20 avatars. Except for Ziost, Thorium and Second Chance – whose rules prevent it from usually having more than a void sim worth of people regardless – there are no full sims for traditional military combat. Many of the members of the I.S. claim that it’s better this way, with smaller raids and less lag, but even small raids can turn into grey goo in a void sim.

There is a growing feeling among many that combat on the grid is just plain gummed up. Chaos is a symptom of this. It’s made up in large part of people who are frustrated with the current situation. Some of its members are even experienced members of I.S. militaries with strong track records with them, but who for reasons of intrigue are no longer with them.

Other symptoms include the recent ban of Ordo Imperialis from Nerva, the home of one of their allies, the Militant Collective. The ban is apparently due to a feeling among many MC that Ordo is disrespectful toward their group and has recently been combing its membership for new recruits in a time in which the MC is looking to grow and become a larger part of the combat scene. On the other hand, Ordo has not had a recruit from the Militant Collective in over a month. The Merczateers are apparently mediating the dispute towards a positive resolution.

What these random bits add up to is that military combat on the grid appears to need a new major force to get it going again. This could come from Nanao Mahfouz’s new Ascendant Initiative military group, or from Kharne Spyker’s Teen-Grid imported New Rome military – both new challengers with old histories. Or, the steady growth of the unallied Chthonic Syndicate could continue to represent a third way from the Iron Symphony and the ruins of the old Ascendant Initiative alliance.

I have heard more people talk about military diplomacy, improving intergroup relations, and establishing a new way of doing combat in Second Life this past month than I have ever heard before. But what good is all of this if it doesn’t result in more fighting for the average soldier? Or are Second Life’s militaries now more about socialization than about combat?

This isn’t an attack on any groups or alliances, to be sure, but it would be interesting to know how many people – soldiers, officers and leaders – are truly satisfied with the present system. If it seems to focus mostly on the Iron Symphony, that is simply another example of the alliance’s ability to be the 800-pound gorilla in the room that all other things are measured against.

Right now there’s a whole lot more talking than there is shooting. The question is whether this is a positive development for anyone other than the leaders who are doing the talking.

-Caine Constantine

Pregnant Women at War and Other Fun with the 10th Mountain Division

For the first time in a long time that I can remember, New Jessie was completely empty.  It was a good time to restart the sim, so doing that, I had to abandon ship or get caught in the end of the world that would ensue in two minutes.  10th Mountain Division’s Baie Lazare is always a fun place to go for a raid, so I put on a right-handed Operations Glock, which looks pretty good with my suit, and holstered it.  I enjoy getting someone else to start the fight rather than just going in guns blazing, so I walked up to the checkpoint at Baie Lazare.

Two women, TaLanna Jameson and Pandoraearth Mathilde, both soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division greeted me.  Now I am no sexist – I am perfectly fine shooting a man or a woman in the head if it will save my skin and allow me to shoot more people.  But since they asked if I needed any help, and since my gun had been holstered anyway, I figured I would say hello.

I had planned on attacking, but I always feel bad breaking up a lovely conversation for the sake of my own desire to make green (and yellow) dots disappear on the minimap. I was outnumbered anyhow.

Soon enough they told me that they were pregnant – and we had a discussion about women in the military.  TaLanna told me she thought it was ridiculous that women aren’t in militaries, but I told her that I thought the problem was that she had a baby in battle.  I imagine the only situation more dangerous for a baby than a combat zone would be a trip to Planned Parenthood, but that much aside, TaLanna said her twins were doing well.  I could tell – an object she was wearing said as much:

“TaLanna feels more cramps and more aches in HER body as the MICHAEL AND MICHELLE ROMANO grow.”

She went on to tell me that the 10th Mountain Division does not force her to fight while she is pregnant – and that she even has the choice of maternity leave during the course of her pregnancy and for the time immediately after the baby is born too.

It was a very interesting statement about the family environment that has quite literally grown around the group.

TaLanna and Pandoraearth, left and right respectively, tell me about being military mothers to be.

Pandoraearth and TaLanna even told me that during a recent visit to the Chthonic Syndicate at Thorium, they came armed and ready and were asked by a CS soldier whether or not it was okay to shoot them, being pregnant.  Tempted to tell them it was not and then shoot them anyway, they held back from exploiting the opportunity.

Nature soon interjected: “Pandora’s Tummy: YOU smile knowing that the new life within you will be strong and healthy.”

Both of them are in relationships with male superiors in 10th as well, so it would be an interesting question to ask whether or not all women on base would get such treatment – but I imagine they would be friendly about it.  They are a pretty gregarious bunch for the most part.

I really enjoy attacking the 10th Mountain Division because they’ve got a great layout and a simple but fun base, and they are (at least from my experiences) pretty open about what you can use there.  I remember one time not too long ago some of my friends and I hit their base while masquerading as some kind of mix of the Soviet Empire and the Dreamcast game “Skies of Arcadia.”  They made things tough with the amount of firepower they brought to defend themselves.

Our revolutionary cause took far too many balls to the face before we finally infiltrated the 10th Mountain Stronghold.

Note: We are not communists, we just enjoy roleplaying as fools, and you don’t get any more foolish than communism – although fascism is probably tied.

With their explosives making a strong hold of the base's interior difficult, we decided to claim the skies above the base with our glorious worker's ship.

It’s not often in a world of bans that anyone is willing to negotiate surrender.  10th wasn’t ready to give up, but at least they humored our desire for some faux-diplomacy.

Comrade Constantine sits at an oak desk in the ship demanding the surrender of 10th Mountain's Baie Lazare in the name of the glorious revolution, only to be given a shot to the chest, courtesy these soldiers.

I am not sure who won that day, since eventually after four hours of combat I had to go to bed. But 10th Mountain is always a fun place to visit because it’s always changing and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Granted, one time I was given three or four guided missiles to the face because the bullets in my assault rifle were deemed “too big,” and the giant flaming red balls are present in nearly every assault in which the member of the group who uses them, Ertys Back, is online.

And so with pregnant women, Soviet spaceships, and bombs full of the brimstone of hell, it’s always an exciting place, and it is a real reprieve from the often times all-too-serious nature of combat in Second Life.

And yeah, a lot of other stuff is going down in combat in Second Life.  A massive battle took place a few days ago in which the Iron Symphony got what may have been the first real challenge as an entire alliance that it’s ever had, with huge battles in Vadoo Reef, Nerva, Titan, Salamis and Badnarik.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of complaints about rampant cheating and griefing during the attack too, and one attacking army withdrew from the coalition because of the behavior of its allies.

Merczateer Officer Blade Syakumi defends Badnarik from his Scimitar in a hail of gunfire, as swarms of invaders meet a human wall of Merczateer defenders.

The attack, organized by Olympus Wycliffe, was certainly nothing less than a feat of organization, but it has also left a bad taste in the mouths of many as well, so we’ll be reporting on the whole story soon enough.

And the day after, a lone Chaos member phys-delinked the entire Echelon Union base in Vadoo Reef.

A picture of Vadoo Reef in the wake of the phys-delinking, or a visual representation of Chaos' public reputation among most groups these days? "We report, you decide."

News in SL combat has been mixed lately, and I figured a short story like this might be a fun reprieve.  We’ll be covering this all and more soon enough, so don’t worry.

So, if you haven’t checked them out, visit 10th Mountain Division in Baie Lazare sometime, with some friends or on your own.  If you can make it past the great balls of fire and the ooing and awwing at the baby’s latest kicks within the womb, it’s usually a great time.

-Caine Constantine

[Special Comment] – In Defense of Small Militaries

One of the biggest criticisms that the Journal has faced in its time of operation is that we give too much coverage to newer, smaller combat groups who have not yet “proven themselves” or are not worth the attention.  I have to say that I find this sentiment puzzling, because every group on this platform started out as a small organization out to prove itself to the world.

Cutthroat Competition and its Effects

Small groups out there have always had it tough, no doubt.

The professionalism of the military community in terms of building, texturing and scripting makes the majority of the grid look hopelessly far behind by comparison, for the most part.  So joining this community means that the first thing most new armies do is look for recognition.  And the disrespect they get for not starting right out of the box as a gridwide great power means that they look for guns, armor, buildings, land, recruits and money wherever they can get it.

So in an attempt to keep up with the groups attacking them, often with years of experience and well-oiled R&D departments backing their front lines up with the best weaponry on the grid, small groups will often arm themselves with commonly leaked weapons and other objects, freebies, or whatever weaponry individuals might own of their accord with their own private finances.

That’s not to say of course that it’s a good ideato use this stuff forever, but it’s really not a cardinal sin to charge into battle with anything less than 2,000 prims of attachments and fancy custom weaponry.  Give them a break and some time – and if you’re really bothered by it, join a small group and give them some help.  You can make a great mark on a work in progress.

Every Group Starts Off Modestly

It can be plain laughable sometimes.  If anyone remembers the Task Force Marines in their early Prize Delta era, (Check out an old story of mine about them at the Second Life Herald at http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2008/06/battle-of-prize.html ) then you know they were a lot of fun.

Their base was built of freebies and large blocks formed into zigzag walls unenterable half the time by even their own soldiers.  It was guarded by soldiers who were mostly without uniforms and using free and leaked weapons.  During the attacks by the Merczateers and Ordo against them in the story above, one of them was shouting “SOM 1 GIVE ME A WAEPON PLZ,” to which I responded with a free AK-74.

But for all their “noobishness,” they were all having a good time – and so were their attackers.  The Ordo and company who invaded while masquerading as the British Army and using single shot rifles were having an especially jolly good time of it all.

A few months later, the Task Force Marines were split, with the leader and his officer corps splitting into two factions, one of which remains today as what those officers named the Chthonic Syndicate, led by Mayra Roffo.

Though they are still growing, I would say they’re on par with any military group out there.  Mayra and her soldiers have built themselves a fine base and can boast a lot of talent – and are now an independent group who is also free of the alliance system often criticized with slowing down combat on the grid.

The Chthonic Syndicate is a far cry from the old Task Force Marines they can trace their lineage from, and are a strong group now, tempered by innumerable swarms of invading soldiers who thought that three defenders were worth thirty invaders, and the slings and arrows of their own defunct Vanguard allies, who once helped defend their base at the cost of much of their sovereignty.  As one of their soldiers once told me, “They’re our allies but we try not to talk to the guys in black…they don’t have much of a sense of humor.”

And a long story short, the Chthonic Syndicate is now on par with most of the “established” groups on the grid, with their own sim and equipment, and a number of well-armed and motivated soldiers.

We’re All a Lot Alike

Small groups start off in incredibly similar ways.

The Task Force Marines  had one of those generic names that new groups often have.  The now fogotten Elite Armed Forces – as if anyone would fight for more than five minutes in the name of “Elite-ness” – are a good example of this.  And yet, not to rub anyone in the mud, but does anyone remember the United Tactical Forces, or the Alliance Navy II?  Were those names truly any more professional, or were they changed in the name of building a better group identity?  What about when the Alliance Navy “policed” the sandboxes of Second Life – which I once did on a “noob” alt of my own – was that up to par with today’s standards?  Everyone has to start somewhere.

The great powers of the grid all started out small too, with just a few interested guys eager to go on missions and shoot stuff.  And as these great powers prove, there is a lot to be said for what time, experience and talent can do.  Even New Jessie started out as about 1000 square meters of land in the original Jessie simulator, with nothing more than a bar, some freebie weapons and a belief in building a better combat zone.

Imagine Combat on the Grid Without Them

The fact is that these little groups are not just to be defended, but to be thanked.  In an era where alliances and declarations of neutrality – often serving the same purpose – restrict combat between the big militaries, these small groups give big players a place to fight.

Though they often rightly complain about the cheating that they do in battle, what would the three or four hundred Merczateers do without the Guerilla Rebels and other small groups they raid when their only real competition in terms of the numbers needed to take them on, Ordo Imperialis, is forever allied to them?  Can pre-scheduled interalliance skirmishing really ever replace authentic combat?

Boredom is the greatest enemy of all armed forces because it means less combat, less donations, less recruits, and eventually, the end of a group.  The smaller groups of Second Life combat provide a lot of combat to soldiers who would otherwise be stuck twiddling their thumbs or, more likely than not, either quit the game or go join the rest of Second Life in a grid full of crummy and habitually empty builds and continually full freebies shops and sex parlors.

In fact, the only out-of-the-box great power I know of that ever hit the grid was Vanguard, and they were – rightly or wrongly, as I am making no judgment here and only stating a fact – eventually despised by nearly everyone.

Small groups of all sizes deserve respect because big groups need them to survive in their present form.  Unless the large militaries of the grid plan to march to war against one another – and chances are, this will not happen for a long time if ever, especially with the end of Vanguard – these small groups are arguably just as important as the big groups to keeping combat going.

And so next time you look down your nose at the choice of name of the Super Dooper Cool Brigade, or mock their use of freebie scripts in renamed weapons, remember that they are important members of the combat community because without them, honestly, where would you go when the few “established” groups there are to fight are done?  And sure, lots of these groups are dead the month after they are established, but so what?  Everyone loves a new place to fight.

You can always come to New Jessie of course, and it’s a great place to meet members of the combat community great and small, but barring that, remember that everyone’s a “noob” sometime and that this goes for groups too.

And not to re-ignite drama, but to cover all angles, clearly groups like Dominatium have had their faults and blackened the reputation of all groups trying to make names for themselves, but they do not speak for all small groups either.  They’re one of a few bad apples in the bunch, and are trying to build themselves anew as we speak.

But on the whole, we should admire what large and longstanding groups have done with their time and their talent, while respecting that there are small groups out there who in the face of the odds in their way, nevertheless strike out on their own path and make the combat community a little bigger.

Please, have some respect, and frankly, some appreciation for the small groups that round out combat in Second Life.  I encourage you to share your thoughts on the subject with me in the comments section.

-Caine Constantine