2.1. Morale Troubles

Alliance forums:

This doomsaying is nonsense. This is not the time for threads of "We suck!" and moans of "How far we've fallen!" There is a time for soul searching; this isn't it. Renegades, STS, EV are all completely competant, good alliances. It is no shame to lose planets to them. It's no shame to take some pods from them. It's how TDZK works. We're going to take pods; we're going to dish out pods. We're going to lose and take planets. None of this means that we're plummeting to an untimely demise, or that we lack the means to be successful, or any of this nonsense that people seem to be so worried about.

The time to genuinely question our future as a good alliance will be if, when faced with a genuine threat (such as now), we crumble and back down. This has not happened yet. The fact that we've been hit hard is not a problem in itself.  If we degrade into a chorus of self pity and "woulda-coulda-shoulda's" -- THAT would be a problem. It's simply a matter of hitting them back harder. Problems face every new alliance; not a single successful alliance has made their name in the TDZK without growth pains. These are the sort of situations that will sort the core of the alliance from the leechers, the players from the talkers. And this is a GOOD thing; a neccessary step in the evolution of a succesful alliance.

Are there things to be worked on? Certainly, without a doubt. But we need to shake off the injuries and move forward, rather than getting worked up into a rut of self analysis and criticism.  Talk is fine, to an extent. But "we need to do THIS and THIS and THIS" is very different from the actual dedication, time committment, and sacrifice that makes a good alliance what it is. It all comes down to you, the players. Why are EV/Rens doing so well? Because they've got the dedicated people who will be up at 3:00 AM for a planet raid. They've got the people who will make the ends meet so they DO show up to escort. They have people who decide to use their turns today, rather than tomorrow. It's easy to say "Too late. I can't make it" but this is a fine way to achieve mediocrity or at best, competance.

In the end, it's time to stop talking about what "we" need to do and start thinking about what "you" need to do. I have complete faith that we have what it takes to be a great alliance; it's a matter of proving it, individually, instead of hoping someone else will take up the slack.