SNN Special: OGame History of RoLUE

PART TWENTY FIVE

The end of 2016 finally arrives, with the rise of a new "hero" and a new "villain" (from the RoLUE perspective) to cap things off. There is some promise for better days on the horizon, a new RoLUE with new competition, but this promise will not be fulfilled. So take a deep breath, enjoy this story for what it is, because next time...everything changes.

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BEHIND THE SCENES DIPLOMACY, BLACKBREAD IS TOASTED, AUGUSTUS CLIMBS TO PROMINENCE

The number one concern everyone in RoLUE had after the merge was that Raven would leave with the #1 account, which he didn't do. The #2 concern was that baal or Raven would betray one another, sending the various uneasy alliances that existed into chaos, but that never happened either. The third concern was with TBH. While RoLUE and TBH had worked together for some ACS crashes, the two sides weren't allied, this was also true of RoLUE and BAAL, and this meant that if any diplomatic problems were to occur with either Bibas or baal then there was a heightened likelihood that such a disagreement could lead to war with both.

Bibas and baal had a very interesting dynamic from the start as far as I could tell. They would get rather verbally aggressive with one another, in a way that didn't really seem like messing around, and yet everyone talked about the TBH/BAAL alliance as if it were unbreakable. Evidently, no matter how much they conflicted, when it came time to make decisions in-game they would find a way to make it work. This was, perhaps, a classic example of two players with similar personalities, who both thought they were the best, having constant verbal oneupsmanships and stubbornly believing they were correct during any disagreement. No one knew how they had worked together so effectively in the past but somehow they did and here they were, together still in Universe 1, helping keep the universe safe for each other. It was a beautiful love story in its own way; if you squinted really, really hard.

Those verbal spats were nothing compared to the previously mentioned real internal conflict that existed from the initial merge. Any time Raven made a mistake in-game, baal would verbally obliterate him for his incompetence, going for the jugular every time. RFAIL did their best to convince Raven to let it go, but eventually Raven would unleash, instigating baal to the point where both kept escalating, leading much of the initial BAAL/RFAIL post-merge diplomacy to involve soothing one or both of their tempers. Imagine me, barely knowing these people, sat in the middle of these verbal wars, not knowing who, if anyone, would turn on who, or who, if anyone, would actually be loyal to RoLUE long term. It was tense for a good long while and that degree of drama would be integral in a lot of later decisions about the direction of the RoLUE alliance.

Over time, the worries about RFAIL abandoning RoLUE died down and Raven would leave Universe 1, ending the conflicts with baal. Then bricks would leave. Then Dean, the original player on heisenberg, would leave. Without them around, what were the odds that Omega, the player who had already left RoLUE due to suspicions of a spy, would hang around? She had gotten along with GIR but now GIR was gone. Thankfully, she was independently motivated, and found whoever was available to fleet with, but we were running on borrowed time.

What was far more troubling was that many of the big accounts RFAIL had brought into RoLUE were now sitting in vacation mode. Perhaps they were conserving their energies, waiting for that day when ASSASSIN would join so they could come at them renewed? It was a nice thought, but time was increasingly showing it to be little more than a hallucination of mystical thinking. These guys weren't coming back, and if they didn't come back, then we were in a lot of trouble. At least the civil war between uneasy allies hadn't actually happened and BAAL/TBH were still viable allies in the battle against R-B. Speaking of whom...

On October 27th, 2016, A r e s and RobinHood "Jr" of R-B, along with FarfetchD of JeB, would decimate BLACKBREAD of BB. It was a 13 billion total damage hit, enough to land the #5 ACS hit at the time. The deut haul was just under 300 billion which was as big a winfall as had ever been seen. On the other end, November 2nd would bring a hit with heisenberg (Omega) and Augustus of RoLUE teaming with baal-shamim of BAAL to wipe out nischu of JeB. Omega had so much trust in baal that she asked him to slow the fleet to the proper speed in order to land the hit properly because she wasn't going to be available at the time; and he did exactly that. People dunk on baal a lot for his occasional negative rants, but he certainly knows what he is doing in-game when he wants to do it.

The slapping about of R-B and JeB by RoLUE would continue, with Omega using them as target practice while Augustus' fleet kept increasing in size, allowing him to start smashing larger enemy fleets on his own as well. Skull would even get in on the action, though he was hitting a neutral party (siimpson) just for the heck of it. Omega would be a one person wrecking machine for the next month, with Augustus and Skull jumping in for a few more smaller victories as well. The only other player competing with the public smackings was FarfetchD of JeB, making hits similar in size to those of Augustus. The most significant of these was on BeautifulDay of RoLUE, who had been a huge deut supporter of Deneb, massive miner, and wonderful person. She would quit not long after this as the fun of OGame had faded for her. It was a weird environment with nearly all the top fleets quiet and only a few people doing their best to keep the energy up in Universe 1.

On November 3rd, 2016, the Karasu account would pop out of vacation mode to meet up with heisenberg (Omega) and baal (you've probably gathered what his alliance is by now) to send over 5,000 RIPs total at Gismo of NoAlly who was on, as baal explained it, "a 4 week harvest mission on full view to all and sundry". Anyone in Universe 1 could have caught this fleet and it was easy enough pickings to even get players who were basically retired to come back for one more go. The solidarity was nice to see, I only wish it had lasted a bit longer.

There were various hits at the end of 2016 but the one of note was on December 30th, 2016. Augustus was at it again and his fleet was getting to a properly competitive size. He made a rare crash on Mars of R-B, with a total damage of over 1.3 billion, similar to the sizes pinky had been posting back in the day. What was particularly strange about this thread was the random appearance of Deneb, who initially politely corrected an issue regarding a past Top Ten, then went all in on Rav3n (the moderator, not the RoLUE member) and Augustus for very specious reasons. If anyone had been unclear about how Deneb got banned from the boards in the past, they wondered no more.

The new year would bring new challenges and begin the rapid approach to the end of the RoLUE story. The universe itself had become fairly convoluted, far emptier, and less active. A weeks worth of hits would be posted over the course of a month. No doubt RoLUE had something to do with this, going from Deneb being untouchable and breaking the competitive spirit of others, to the influx of RoLUE leaning accounts that only further squashed the remaining opposition. Being there for each of those periods held many moments of fascination and occasional misery, but the drama isn't quite over yet.

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PART TWENTY SIX

2017 brought with it destruction and rejuvenation. The rejuvenation of Universe 1 in the sense that strength was beginning to spread more equally and balance was beginning to return between alliances. The destruction was what follows...

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First, something I missed...

On October 14th, 2016, Bibas of TBH would awaken briefly to land an individual Hall of Fame crash on Slap_Stick of SERBIA.E. I believe it was ranked fifth at the time. In the twilight of the RFAIL run in RoLUE, Bibas finally showing activity was promising to those who still remained in the coalition but it was an anomaly, as Bibas would largely return to his passive play style after making this reminder that he could still do a lot of damage if he chose to put in the effort.

RFAIL LEAVES, THE URZA ACCOUNT TOO, ROLUE IS ABANDONED, THE GLORY IS OVER

The inevitable happened in early January 2017. Omega left RoLUE. She would continue working with Baal on crashes but on January 22nd, 2017, she would get ninja'd be Petit of R-B and that would be the end of her too. It's possible Omega continued playing after this off and on, but her run of activity and stomping on enemies of RoLUE was over. Even more surprising would be who would start posting hits on the board next after being largely silent prior.

On February 28th, 2017, Merchant of Death of R-B would get part of his fleet caught by baal. What followed was a string of solid hits posted by baal, making up for the gap the old RFAIL members left behind. With RoLUE's top accounts slowly fading out of activity, all eyes were on baal and Bibas of TBH. Bibas, in particular, would have nastynate of R-B trolling him by changing his name to Bibass. Even though Bibas had the second biggest fleet in Universe 1, he had become infamous for not using it, and this made his alliance members easy pickings for any who could be bothered to try. His fleet would sit, his account would grow, and because the #1 in fleet size was his friend, it made no difference. Could anyone finally coax Bibas into action or would they simply forever bounce off of his inaction?

Speaking of the #1 fleet, BFist (aka bricks123) would return on April 3rd, 2017 and again take the reigns of the top fleet to post one final hit on Proximo of Orion. It wasn't the most impressive of all time, it was a 3 billion damage total hit, but it was a fair hit to finish up on given the sparse pickings for targets. It would be the end of a strong Universe 1 career, playing a part in various ACS Top Tens and filling a leadership role within the RFAIL group. This would be the last top RFAIL name to officially leave Universe 1 (jaugernaught2 disappeared at some point early on, I'm uncertain what happened beyond his semi-disturbing post in the RobinHood "Jr" ACS crash).

RoLUE had been defeated not by other fleets, but by account shifting and inactivity. Universe 1 was like a plant that had been beaten into the dirt and everyone was uncertain if it would ever grow again. What was clear is that all of the RoLUE members who had been slaughtering fleeters indiscriminately had stopped. We still had some big accounts in RoLUE but no access to them and no one to play them even if we did. Then, by the time May arrived, those accounts that had been standing as monuments of RoLUE past would be out of the alliance as well.

To see the account that so many had poured hours of their time into being taken out of RoLUE was disheartening for many. Carbon, an ally of baal, came into possession of the urza account, still the #1 account in Universe 1, and had no desire to stay in RoLUE with it. It seems RFAIL had promised to not move the account and had, incredibly, stuck to that deal, but with the account in new hands there was no such deal anymore. No one could really blame Carbon, the account was in his possession and he could do as he pleased with it just as any other player could, but it was the final blow to the strength of the RoLUE empire. The true insult was what followed.

On April 27th, 2017, our former #1 account would ninja RobinHood "Jr" in an emotionally ambiguous moment. We did not like that the account had left RoLUE but we also didn't like Robinhood "Jr". Maybe this at least meant that whoever was intending to play the account long term would remain friendly with RoLUE? Maybe the tag didn't really matter as long as the loyalty remained the same.

On May 4th, 2017, the former #1 account of RoLUE would be used to crash El Nino of RoLUE with a total damage of 19 billion. El Nino had originally been the account AGFS spent so long building. AGFS would even comment on the thread that it didn't appear a single ship had been built since he stopped using it, with Wraith02 further inferring the hit looked like a "legal push"; though he would go no further with it. Apparently a recent ACS involving A r e s of R-B on Marlenus of OPKA had been similarly criticized, with further accusations of these "legal pushes" being pointed A r e s' way. Then baal, the one most solidly pointing the finger of accusation at A r e s, would be called out for scrapping accounts in the past to raid their resources, an even more profitable "legal push". Was this the new meta for OGame greatness or mass paranoia?

In other news...look at these little FGR saplings! AWWWWW! Look at this ACS, it's like seeing someone taking their first steps. And look at them now! So big and tough. But this.....AWWWWWWWWWWW!

[TOT: 28.741.000] Zorro09 [FGRW] & matthew1485 & Weird Al [F G R] vs. Argentum [LEGA] (A: 5.099.000, D: 23.642.000)

That's enough of that.

Augustus would abandon RoLUE as the ship went down, adopting a new alliance tag. The missing jaugernaught2 would also reappear with the rfail2 tag, but after the attack on El Nino it was hard to believe he was returning as anything other than an enemy. FGR, to their credit, would be very active, being nowhere near strong enough to contend with a group like R-B, but carving out their own space as a potential future threat.

Hostilities with R-B would be continued by baal who would hit version4 and make a tidy profit. This would evidently get version4 riled up and an argument with Amraam of RoLUE over a "farm" would lead to R-B IPMing all of Amraam's defenses and crashing the fleet he had on the same planet. This is as fitting a symbol of the state RoLUE had fallen to as there could be, a player acting with the attitude of a top dog only to get battered down into reality when all the friends that were once there to help save him had gone.

Skull would attempt to put RoLUE on the winning side of some combat reports but the sizes of the hits were nothing like what had been saturating the boards mere months before. It would be Weird Al of FGR who would circumstantially avenge Amraam with a ninja on version4 of R-B. The ninja happened on June 23rd, 2017, and it was insane to see how far FGR had come in such a short time, especially to be going up against one of the stronger R-B fleeters and winning. Skull would continue doing his best to keep the good name of RoLUE alive but it quickly became clear he was basically the only one left that could fight.

In many ways this story is over, the time of RoLUE's reign at the top of Universe 1 ended. We retained some strong players, many who would be with us through both the Deneb and RFAIL eras, with most of them being equally sick of the drama. We could either make desperate attempts to try to draw in new fleeters to help protect us, potentially entering into yet another draining cycle of stress, or we could accept our new place as a capable but no longer as offensively threatening force. From the mass alliance that could (and, quite often, could not) - to heroic underdogs - to a much hated untouchable force - to careening out of control - to choosing the dignity of independence over a state of subservience, we make our way to the present. But there are still some stories untold. And whatever happened with that spy?

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PART TWENTY SEVEN

We're well on the way to the finale and here is the conclusion to a small side story from part way through events that is finally getting its moment in the sun. A hard lesson learned for RoLUE and a lesson for everyone else as well.

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THE SPY IS REVEALED AND AN ALMOST FINAL GOODBYE

"Do you know who I am?" A strange question for someone I believed I was interacting with for the first time to ask. I had found my way into this conversation through some convoluted pathway that led me to a "secret meeting" with this dark and shadowy figure. To my knowledge I had not met this person, I'd just been told they were an OGame veteran and that, with the third merge on the way, they might be worth talking to. Alright, fine.

The player introduced himself as Carlos but the name did not ring a bell to me. After some messing about, he would clarify that he was better known as RobinHood "Sr". Ahh, ok, a member of ASSASSIN, got it. I now somewhat better understood why I was recommended to speak to him, though I couldn't imagine anything he would say that could lead me to want to support an alliance my team had been actively preparing to oppose for years. Plus, we had been at war with his son (or who we believed to be his son) for many years, and the more we heard about their in-game exploits, the more we wanted nothing to do with them. We had also heard rumors that RobinHood "Sr" was the same person as RobinHood "Jr", but so many people swore to knowing them separately it was hard to know with any certainty.

Then he began to talk about things that only someone within RoLUE would know. He began referring back to old conversations, all in a very cat and mouse way. I had no interest in his game, at most I wanted to know what he was getting at and be done with it. "I am chronosland". Click. The player I'd wanted to kick literal years before had been an enemy all along. It also proved that RFAIL's claims of distrust toward us in the past had not been as unwarranted as they seemed. We were the ones with the spy. But what if he was bluffing? If he was truly chronosland then he'd be able to log into the account, an account that had been inactive for quite some time. "Just a second". I refreshed the page and nothing. I refreshed the page again and the green light next to the chronosland account popped on. It was really true.

RobinHood "Sr" talks about how he enjoyed the chats we had years back and that he respected how I handled myself as a leader. With this, he seemed genuine enough. He said he had helped Deneb with various hits and would only stray from helping when it involved attacks on RobinHood "Jr". He had tried to do his part as a true ally while also, very actively, being a spy. He then told me that when ASSASSIN joins Universe 1 RoLUE could be allied with them and be safe from what they were certain to do to the rest of the universe. He would personally vouch for us and use our past history as proof enough we were worth being allied with.

It was strange because for a moment I considered it. RFAIL had come to Universe 1 to prepare for a battle with ASSASSIN, now RFAIL was largely gone. RoLUE had been stripped of all of its offensive weapons in part thanks to RFAIL and ASSASSIN were certain to come in and clear house as they had done in every other universe they'd been in. Why not just accept RoLUE was as low as low could get and take the helping hand being offered? We had gotten along just fine when I hadn't known who he was and maybe it would turn out we'd get along with ASSASSIN just fine too. Except...no. That wasn't going to happen.

I made it very clear I'd rather be in a middling alliance of people who had fought the good fight and who had proven themselves reliable than to become subserviant to our enemies, especially those who conducted their business like this. We'd be raided into the ground and disband before that happened. There was no way we would go from a situation where a player had so actively lied to us over a period of years to suddenly being perfectly fine with that for the sake of being "safe". I knew the players around me could hold their own, they'd been evading fleets their entire OGame lives because they'd never been the top accounts doing the attacking, they were always the ones being attacked. But they'd survived. And I was confident they would continue to survive.

"Are you sure?" "Yes." The conversation ended and that was that. RoLUE would not be allied with ASSASSIN. I knew we offered little other than being deuterium farms for other alliances so we wouldn't ally with anyone else either. It was tempting to latch on to another big alliance with big fleets, but that didn't feel right for a group who still had so much pride after years of being on top of Universe 1. I didn't think any RoLUEsers needed any special protection anyway, they would learn to survive under the new conditions or the RoLUE empire would be retired. I was prepared either way.

And how they have survived. Sure, we're no longer in the Top Three alliances where we spent the majority of our time prior to the 2017 implosion, but we have persisted and thrived in different ways. No huge fleets meant deut could go wherever it was most beneficial, we were weaker in an overall sense but also freer than we had ever been as well. Life could have been far easier if we had chosen to bow our heads, we would have looked far more appealing to other players who wished to share in that safety as well, but we chose what felt right. This kind of obstinance isn't always valuable or virtuous, but give me people who can survive the greatest turmoils without an advantage in the world and you'll have given me the most resilient people that can be imagined.

I don't have to worry about whether a modern RoLUEser can hold their own or not. I'm not afraid that one of them will run off with their fleet and never return. I'm not concerned about whether someone is trying to watch our active times from the inside or passing on vital information to other alliances. It doesn't really matter. We've dealt with it before, we're resiliant, we'll adapt. We know the complexities, we've lived them. We've been up, we've been down, and we've been all manner of places in between, but somehow the ship keeps tossing through the waves.

Now, after such a long journey, it feels like the right time to get a little philosophical. In this game of crashed ships, diplomacy and betrayal, that doesn't seem too out of place.

I wonder how much an escape mechanism like OGame can really matter to a person's life? A game that has become nearly unrecognizable beyond its basic core mechanics over the years. A game where there have been literal months of time where I forgot OGame even existed, the worst of which was unfortunately when alliance classes were first introduced and I was one day away from entering the graveyard. If OGame was so meaningful, could I really forget it so easily?

It would be wrong to say that OGame has just "been there", though on some deeper level that is probably the most profound thing I can say about it. Over nearly two decades of life many things have changed, but this ridiculous game, with the blue colors and the pictures of planets, is still here. In some ways it seems to exist in spite of itself, a feeling I can certainly relate to more often than I'd like to believe.

I guess the real question is why go through all of this effort? Why spend every free moment for weeks writing about something that won't put money in my pocket or food on my plate? What is the point? A related question was posed at the beginning of "The Lessons of History" by Will and Ariel Durant, a couple that spent a good portion of their lives compiling and writing about the history of the world all the way up to 1789, as they looked back at far more meaningful efforts than my own and wondered what the point of it all was. The opening goes something like this:

"As his studies come to a close the historian faces the challenge: Of what use have your studies been? Have you found in your work only the amusement of recounting the rise and fall of nations and ideas, and retelling "sad stories of the death of kings"? Have you learned more about human nature than the man in the street can learn without so much as opening a book?"

There is, for certain, little that is profound in any of this; we are acting out fictional events in a fictional world. Yet people's real efforts, real time spent in their real lives led to these events, the same real efforts and time people have spent to create things we would consider very real. This may not be a history of "the" world, but it is the history of "a" world so many people have put their love, hate, passion and tears into creating. All of these people living in the moment, or perhaps trying not to live in the moment, coming together to create a fantasy world full of heroes and villains that continues to persist.

If a day spent in game has ever brought you a sense of excitement, or a moment of peace, or just something you may never have experienced anywhere else in life, then maybe it all hasn't been so pointless at all. Maybe this writing project, brimming with nostalgia, has been both for the mere act of its creation and to honor what this shared experience has been for so many of us. Maybe there are many meaningless things that people do in life and maybe that's a more important part of life than we tend to realize. This is a silly game, no doubt, but perhaps we have, as a community, created a meaning here that is worth remembering to celebrate sometimes.

...and on...and on...

The final three sections will wrap up what remains and bring us into present day, covering events I didn't mention before and going into some stuff that only semi-relates to RoLUE (or not at all). The final entry will be an acknowledgement of the present RoLUE and what survives of the fallen empire. Although, right now, all I really feel like saying is: thanks for reading; and if you've made it all the way from the begining of this story to this point we're currently at then...what the hell is wrong with you? lol

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PART TWENTY EIGHT

The story of RoLUE's rise and fall may be complete, but that doesn't mean the story of Universe 1 is over. What would become of Universe 1 with RoLUE largely out of the picture? There was still plenty going on and this is a brief summary of that; though if you notice some huge events missing then you might want to tune in to the next part that will cover 2019 to modern day. YA RLY.

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AFTERMATH (THAT SECTION AFTER THE VIDEO GAME ENDS BUT YOU'RE STILL PLAYING)

I hardly recognized most of the people in my own alliance for the first time since I'd joined RoLUE all those years back. It was a sobering experience to know how quickly an empire can crumble. I had already been barely active and had my fill of trying to thread the needle in terms of keeping RoLUE competitive. What I needed was someone who was active, who was attentive, who was having success in the game and who cared about the group. There were probably a few people who met this criteria but one stood out at the time.

Soong was showing a lot of promise in terms of forward progress and ability to find his way through difficult landscapes. He had some small conflicts with a few members, but on the whole he was active within our in-game community, with his name coming up consistently when I spoke to other members in regards to who was helping or going out of their way to do things for the alliance. After that the choice for leadership became obvious. The few people who had clashed with Soong previously either worked it out or left and the remaining core of players became the RoLUE you see now. Players were not appearing in the combat report threads on the winning end as much but rarely appearing on the losing end either, and there's something to be said for that too. After passing the buck to Soong I essentially went inactive, coming back on occasion to see that new capable players had joined to the point I recognized the alliance even less, yet they were all representing the same crazy tag I'd known for so many years and seemed to be content in doing so even without my input or the need for any historic veterans to lead the way.

I've heard that the best kind of leadership is when you can trust in others to take over a task and believe in them enough to know that things will come out alright in the long run. For that I have a great appreciation for Soong and all of the other members who have seen this "spontaneous raid turned decades long struggle" through long after Rome fell. It couldn't have been an easy sell either, "Hey, we have no fleeters and most of our veteran players are inactive, want to join?" but we found our new niche all the same and are working our way along just fine.

I know I've spent a lot of words describing RoLUE's history but I'm still not sure I have the words to describe how it feels. From my own personal journey as an aimless young man to living a life of experiences I never could have dreamed of back then - to the changes in the alliance from the valiant but hopeless efforts against Mara.DIM (although having technically won, it's important to keep that in mind at all times) - to rising from the ashes to support an account that became the individual version of the CURSED U2 dominance in Universe 1 - to becoming part of the most one sided force U1 may have ever seen - to existing in the wake of that high with no chance of ever reliving it in the same way again. The game had changed too much, the alliance has changed too much; I have changed too much.

So what happened to Universe 1 after RoLUE's prominence ended? Our enemies seemed to move on to bigger and better targets. There were the occasional spiteful attacks from those who remembered what RoLUE was and wanted their bit of revenge now that we were that no longer, but mostly everyone saw that the players they'd disliked had either dispersed elsewhere or left entirely. Beating up on a bunch of unrelated people just because they shared the same alliance tag didn't seem to be as fun.

Before the third merge came, it was BAAL/TBH against everyone else, the baal/Bibas pairing being put to the test. On occasion baal would do some stuff, on the much rarer occasion Bibas would yawn and some stuff would happen, but mostly it was TBH members getting ravaged despite still being the #1 alliance overall. Similar to how things were when the urza account went inactive, the hyenas saw the lion was tired and took everything they could while they had the chance.

On March 19th, 2018, this would all officially change. The unbreakable bond was broken and the love affair was over. The BAAL alliance officially declared war on the TBH alliance. The back and forth banter was some of the most hilarious, somewhat cringey stuff that Universe 1 had seen in years and made for some excellent entertainment. Unfortunately, Bibas' messages have been wiped from the history books so we can never relive the full experience of that time again. In summary, it seemed Bibas expected baal to turn on him eventually, baal suspected everyone would turn on him eventually, and their mutual paranoias arose to conflict. Statler and Waldorf levels of conflict (points if you get that reference without having to look it up).

We also get a good idea of how things looked in 2018 as baal posted a round up of those who would be going to battle. The former urza account was ranked second at 205kk points (mostly due to inactivity) while Bibas was ranked first with 218kk points, baal was ranked 3rd with 144kk points, and Carbon was ranked 31st with 82kk points with the #4 ranked fleet worth 58kk points. Coming in at #3 was baal's fleet with 118kk points, #2 was Bibas with 155kk points, and the former urza account still hanging on at #1 with 158kk points in fleet. Five of the top ten ranked accounts would technically be involved in the war and, for memories sake, the top players for each team were jean michael (urza account) #2, baal #3, carbon #31 for the BAAL alliance and Bibas #1, Morgrim #7, umit #8, dan00bs #19, xR4fFi #20, Punished2017 #34, aPoLLo12 #43, Hellboy69 #49 among others for the TBH alliance. The only hits I could find from this conflict were Carbon making a smaller smack on Bibas and baal taking out johocknut of TBH with 4.4 billion total damage (it's possible this was the full extent of the "war" :P).

ASSASSIN would eventually come to Universe 1 after Rigel, Taurus, Deimos, Fidis, and Kallisto began to start merging in on October 13th, 2018. The RFAIL group that had formed to meet them were long since gone. With ASSASSIN as a united group and many of the other top players broken up into uneasy alliances, ASSASSIN had a field day picking off their biggest enemies. ASSASSIN would again dominate a universe they had joined, seeming unstoppable until an unlikely challenger arose. Those tiny sprouts in FGR suddenly shot up to be the biggest competition ASSASSIN has ever seen.

Two other alliances with massive accounts would join Universe 1 called CHIMERA (with PAGAN aka Cathedral) and MUPPETS (with Basil aka Arcane and eventually King Rabbit). A new merge style would also become common which was to let an account go into the inactive Graveyard and then move that account to any universe desired. FTN would infamously benefit from this as the Coffy account would be graveyarded into Universe 1, being massively larger than any other account in the universe and spreading koolaid to the allied masses.

RoLUE would continue along, rekindling a brief conflict with JeB on April 20th, 2021, that would lead to some much needed activity but a battle seen as largely detrimental for both as both sides were merely moderately sized players in the game now, weakening each other for the much larger vultures swooping around. Unfortunately the most noteworthy recent event involving RoLUE was a Top Ten ACS hit on ccc of RoLUE by a combined effort of the FTN/FGR/BAAL alliances. I also posted some Tavern filling content that sparked a bit of life in the overall universe, even if just by facilitating some memes.

To end similar to how we began, here is a list of players who I happened to make note of, and is most definitely incomplete, who passed through RoLUE after its collapse as a fleeting threat:

DarkWolf, noitailater, scar, StrlA, Pawl, GateCrusher, aster, Captain Falcon, South_Park, GodFather (not that one), iris, Arc Eye, Captain Io, BobTheBuilder, enema

Thanks for all your efforts, no matter how brief they may have been.

Next up is a "special edition" with the two warring alliances that rose up after these events taking center stage.

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PART TWENTY NINE

The last of the unpleasant dark blue text on a blue background headings and the last hurrah before the finale. Here it is, the history of 2019 to present day, as told by someone who wasn't really around for it but cobbled together everything he could find about it anyway!

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WHO CARES ABOUT ROLUE? TALK ABOUT MORE RECENT STUFF!

Are you ready for the longest entry and one that largely has nothing to do with RoLUE? Yes? No!? Maybe?!!? Well, either way, here it is! This covers the time period that should be the most relevant for everyone, from 2019 and onward. Speaking of onward, ONWARD WE GO!

Having mentioned the ASSASSIN / Forgotten Realm (FGR) conflict previously, the story of this rivalry is certainly worthy of having a prominent place here. I am not the right person to discuss this in-depth but I can give a general summary based on what is on the boards. As these sides have been in conflict for years now, it is safe to say that they do not care for each other very much, even if there remains a degree of respect between them in terms of in-game skill. In a war game such as this, it might be that the greater the hatred that is developed between two sides, the more fun the hunting becomes for both; while always keeping in mind that this is, still, a game.

As an example of what made ASSASSIN so feared in the past, on September 27th, 2016 in the Kallisto universe, Thunder Child, RobinHood, GKP, Budyser, and IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN would crash Catastrophe of NINE for the #1 ACS crash .org wide. This was just the penultimate example of the coordination and precision with which ASSASSIN was dominating multiple universes. Unfortunately, with big hits came big suspicions about play styles, account growth, and the like, but the impact ASSASSIN was having on any universe they were in was undeniable. When ASSASSIN finally arrived in Universe 1 things were surprisingly quiet in terms of record setting smashes for a few months but soon a new contender for the ASSASSIN throne would make their first big statement.

On June 29th, 2019, Big Daddy Al, Zorro09, and Harv of FGR would establish their growing fleeting empire by welcoming the Ex-Kallisto powerhouse group of DoD to Universe 1 by crashing TeH BaHaMuT for an ACS top 10. Not to be outdone, on August 18th, 2019, RobinHood, GKP, Thunder Child, Budyser, and IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN would have a similar welcome for the ex-Taurus powerhouse group of INYEON when they crushed AKULA for a total damage nearly four times the size of the FGR accomplishment, becoming by far the #1 .org ACS crash of its time (still being the #9 ACS in Universe 1 today). FGR may have been coming into their own, but the account sizes were still far in ASSASSIN's favor.

ASSASSIN would look to further establish their dominance in Universe 1 by going after their newest competition, FGR. Their first victim would be Zorro09. Curiously, it was Zorro09 who would post the crash a few days after it happened on the same day that Zorro09 would post another even larger ACS. ASSASSIN was not pleased to see their accomplishment posted by the defender and far less pleased to see what followed it.

On September 21st, 2019, a post was made about a prior hit where GKP and budyser of ASSASSIN took down Zorro09 of FGR for a new ACS top 10. On that same day a Top 10 hit that happened approximately 48 hours later was posted, with Zorro09, Big Daddy Al, Ocelot44, and esio trot of FGR teaming with carbon of BAAL to take down A r e s of JeB and Taco Stand of ASSASSIN, a hit that was more than twice the size of the damage ASSASSIN had down to Zorro09 originally. The player baal was credited for getting A r e s to move into position and so a new rivalry was born.

Looking to further harm ASSASSIN, Big Daddy Al would launch on Big Boss, not realizing this was all part of a bigger plan. On December 6th, 2019, Big Daddy Al of FGR would be ninja'd by Big Boss, Thunder Child, Galactus, GKP, and Mako of ASSASSIN for another Top Ten ACS and significant revenge for the damage done to Taco Stand. Would FGR be able to respond or would this be the beginning of the dismantling of yet another ASSASSIN enemy?

What few could have expected was that the next #1 ACS would be ASSASSIN attacking one of their own. On February 9th, 2020, GKP, Thunder Child, Budyser, unionpacific59, and Isaac Asimov would take down former ally RobinHood. The story of why this hit happened would not be revealed until a GKP interview years later, describing how RobinHood was pretending to be more than one person and this deception finally ruffled the feathers of enough ASSASSIN members to bring an end to the partnership. Much like ally vs. ally hits of the past, questions about it all being a ruse to justify a legal push flew wild, but the hit continues to stand as the #7 ACS in Universe 1 to this day. And this would pale in comparison to what happened next.

Following some major ASSASSIN smashes on Arrow of G_S_S_F and AKULA of INYEON (being top 10'd again), the post that would send shockwaves throughout the universe would finally arrive. Bibas, the titan of TBH, was down. On August 24th, 2020, the combat report of GKP, Thunder Child, Budyser, Unionpacific59, and IssacAsimov ACS crashing Bibas for a Universe 1 record destroying 883 billion debris field #1 ACS was posted. The hit was dedicated to Bang58, an ASSASSIN member who had passed away earlier in the year, and it seemed ASSASSIN was well and firmly established as the most dominant team in yet another universe. With Bibas falling, the dominant collective from the previous merge was dealt a devastating blow and it seemed nothing could stop ASSASSIN.

For a while it seemed FGR was happy focusing on other targets, with Big Daddy Al getting a Hall of Fame on travelcheck of INYEON, but that was a mere appetizer for what happened next. On November 2nd, 2020, Big Daddy Al would make a huge mess of The General of ASSASSIN, doing 83.5 billion total damage. But he wasn't done! On November 23rd, Big Daddy Al and Liquid Ocelot of FGR would finally get the hit they had been searching for a year prior on Big Boss of ASSASSIN, putting another ACS Top Ten against ASSASSIN on the score board. ASSASSIN would have to content themselves with non-FGR targets as the year ended with Top Ten ACS hits on Mindflayer of FZN and MC11.

2021 would see many big hits, with FGR showing even more growth, but for much of the year these huge numbers would not be between FGR and ASSASSIN. The FGR team would take out envi of TBH (by Big Daddy Al and Ocelot44), Pearl Harbor of INYEON (by Big Nub), and Moonshot of NO_CO (by Big Daddy Al) each for a new Top Ten. ASSASSIN would have their own individual Top Tens on xR4fFi of TBH (by Taco Stand) and Jorj X of RoLUE (by Monarch) but it is what happened between these two hits that would be the story of the year. ASSASSIN would make three smashes on three different massive accounts to really begin to amp up tensions within the universe.

On June 26th, 2021, GKP, Thunder Child, Budyser, IsaacAsimov, and Taco Stand of ASSASSIN would hit Phobia (formerly Antis) for a #2 ACS Hall of Fame. This would soon be followed on July 5th with budyser, GKP, and Thunder Child of ASSASSIN making a new #3 ACS Hall of Fame on Big Nub of FGR. On July 16th, their enemies would again be torn asunder as budyser, Thunder Child and GKP of ASSASSIN made a #6 ACS Hall of Fame on Coffy of FTN (an ally of FGR). Both Phobia and Coffy had suddenly appeared in Universe 1, towering over all other accounts, having utilized the new graveyard feature to act as pulling accounts for their allies. The hit on Big Nub of FGR was just a further attempt by ASSASSIN to keep down their competition.

It would take a while for a response to happen but it did arrive as FGR dominated the final month of 2021. It would begin on December 5th, with new FGR team member Slevin Top Tening Digger of BTMI (an ally of ASSASSIN). The very next day, Ocelot44 of FGR would take down Taco Stand of ASSASSIN for another new Top Ten. This would be capped off with one final achievement, as Learner Driver of FGR took out Puck of FZN on December 16th for yet another Top Ten individual Hall of Fame. FGR was going from nibbling at the heels of their enemies to crushing them to bits meaning 2022 would inevitably be the biggest year yet in the ASSASSIN / FGR conflict.

For 2022, let's start by acknowledging the achievements of those outside of this conflict. A_L_E_X of BAAL would catch both Lord Beerus of RelVan and Phobia of INYEON for new individual Top Tens. Mutt in RL of RoLUE would lay a heavy hand on Calyus of FTN for his own individual Top Ten. Catastrophe of D00M would chop down LeaveMeAlone of RelVan for an individual Top Ten and Mindflayer of FZN would bounce back from previous tragedy to hit viriato of JeB (the infamous universal moon shot giver himself) for his own Top Ten achievement. Universe 1 was quite alive in 2022, as was the larger war.

Day one of 2022, January 1st, Learner Driver of FGR demolishes IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN with a total damage of 487 billion, making it not only the newest #1 individual Hall of Fame of Universe 1, but nearly doubling the previous #1. How would ASSASSIN respond? On February 2nd, GKP, IsaacAsimov, Deadmau5 and MrFlibble of ASSASSIN take out FGR ally tochint of FTN with a new ACS Top Ten. The damage wasn't as big, but the message was sent that ASSASSIN was on the hunt. Retaliation would take a few months, but on May 13th, Big Daddy Al, esio not, Slevin and Jotunn of F G R would wipe out MrFlibble of ASSASSIN with an even larger ACS and their own addition to the ACS Hall of Fame.

What could possibly be next? FGR would pad out their ACS Hall of Fame numbers on a non-ASSASSIN member this time, taking down darkest_lord of DRH and not stopping there. On August 14th, tragedy would strike again as FGR would post a #3 ACS Hall of Fame, the biggest without an ASSASSIN on the winning side, as Slevin, Jotunn, Big Daddy Al, and Ocelot44 of FGR would again take down IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN. It was a bad year for Isaac and about to get worse. On December 3rd, Slevin, Ocelot44, and Jotunn of FGR with baal-shamim of BAAL would again kneecap IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN for another ACS Top Ten. But revenge was on the move.

The biggest ACS in Universe 1 history would drop the very next day, December 4th, setting the record as the first 1 trillion total damage hit, which saw GKP, Creeping Death, and Thunder Child of ASSASSIN taking down their top enemy Big Daddy Al of FGR. Did this finally spell a definitive end to this conflict? Would ASSASSIN now slowly pick away at all of the remaining FGR members? Slevin certainly wasn't worried about this as he would post another indivdual Top Ten on jay of DRH only a few days later; but it was going to take more than that to recover from the damage caused. 2023 would be make or break for FGR.

The ACS pickings were slim in 2023, as there was only one that made it into the Hall of Fame. It was a coming together of allies, with SaNtana of FTN, A_L_E_X and baal-shamim of BAAL, as well as Slevin and Jotunn of FGR punching down at poor ccc of RoLUE. A true tragedy. The biggest smacking any individual RoLUE account has ever received. Some other smaller ACS hijinx would occur, as well as something involving a Rabbit attacking a block of Ice with some recyclers, but these aren't the big stories of the year (even if the latter is one of the more memorable).

2023 is the year MUPPETS and CHIMERA would join in the action after the fourth merge (which happened from March 13th to March 20th) and make their mark in Universe 1, but not before a blast from the past reappears to accomplish some of his own goals. Deneb, going by cimbi31, returns on his own personal mission with the United N tag to take down MasterCard of MUPPETS to make his way onto the individual Hall of Fame list for the first time in years. The MUPPETS abuse continues as Pirate Andy of ASSASSIN makes an even bigger individual Hall of Fame on Flawless of MUPPETS. It turns out MUPPETS came into Universe 1 not only with massive fleeting accounts but as allies of FGR, something ASSASSIN was not taking lightly.

Undoubtedly bothered by this, Basil (Arcane) of MUPPETS would make a proof of concept by creating an even larger Top Ten than the previous two on karl of DOOM. But Basil wasn't done there. On February 9th, 2023, a new individual #1 Hall of Fame hit (that is still the current #1) would be posted that not only more than tripled the size of the previous #1 hit but was also significantly bigger than the #1 ACS hit that four separate fleets had been involved in! Basil of MUPPETS would hit Thunder Child of ASSASSIN for a whopping 1.7 trillion total damage! And the pain for ASSASSIN wasn't even over because this would be followed by a surprise FTN fleeting victory seeing SaNtana of FTN once again abusing IsaacAsimov of ASSASSIN and placing him on the losing end of a Top Ten for what must be a record breaking fourth time considering they were all big enough to stay on the list concurrently!

ASSASSIN was reeling, but could they strike back? Pirate Andy of ASSASSIN would just manage to sneak a Top Ten onto the board by hitting Zack of TPR, but this would be the last major victory ASSASSIN would post for the rest of the year. The tables had fully turned as Weird Al (Formerly Big Daddy Al) of FGR would land another devastating blow on Gebrunn of ASSASSIN. Another Top Ten, another ASSASSIN down. But once again, Weird Al was not done. On July 1st, 2023, Weird Al of FGR would hit darkest_lord (evidently under new ownership) of DRH for what was the #2 individual Hall of Fame at the time but still only half the size of the recent overall #1!

King Rabbit of MUPPETS would go on a tear in July, hitting cabanadave of KoW for an individual Hall of Fame on the 14th, then hitting Mindflayer of CHIMERA for the #3 individual Hall of Fame on the 18th. Not the way CHIMERA would have liked to introduce themselves to the leaderboards. The summer of the Rabbit wasn't over yet though because on August 11th, King Rabbit of MUPPETS would replace his own #3 overall with a new hit on GhettoGhostwolf of JeB, ending a string of decisive blows on various alliances throughout the universe.

CHIMERA was not about to be completely outdone by a Rabbit however as on August 17th they would finally get a positive score on the Universe 1 board, with Ice of CHIMERA dealing even more damage to ASSASSIN by taking out MrFlibble. This would become the #7 individual Hall of Fame of its time, only to be knocked out of that place by a surprise bash at the end of the year. ASSASSIN was falling apart, JeB was struggling, and these two historic alliances would decide to find common ground, allying together in late 2023. This was followed by a huge victory for the new conglomerate with AMOTION of JeB taking down Crypto of FGR for the new #5 individual Top Ten hit, destroying the first of what they likely hope will be many bitter enemies to fall.

You might think we should be done here. 2024 just started, what could possibly have happened? Well, Ice happened. Or more accurately, Ice happened again. Immediately following a string of bans that impacted ASSASSIN and its allies almost exclusively, Ice of CHIMERA saw his opportunity to strike on January 20th, 2024, mere hours before I am originally writing this, to again decimate MrFlibble of ASSASSIN for a whopping 1.5 trillion total damage and creating the definitive #2 hit in Universe 1 history! Then King Rabbit of MUPPETS, just to make things difficult, managed to sneak in one last top 10 crash on NickV2 of FTN on January 24th, which rang in at just below 1 trillion total damage and became the new #3 overall individual Hall of Fame crash.

With ASSASSIN being hurt so badly, with their coalition members already publicly questioning their involvement in the group, is ASSASSIN officially fully out of contention? And if so, what is the next great rivalry that will replace the excitement FGR / ASSASSIN has brought to Universe 1? Or will the remaining members of ASSASSIN, beaten down and struggling as they are, find a way to begin striking back at those who have taken part in their undoing? Only time will tell because we have reached the point where there is no more history to tell.

Next time, and for the last time, we complete the circle.

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THE FINALE!!!!! OMG IT'S FINALLY OVER AND SPIDEY WILL STOP SPAMMING THE BOARDS WITH THESE POSTS! THIS TRULY IS EXCITING!

PART THIRTY

I've written all these little blurbs after the fact since I completed the bulk of this project long ago. Not much to say here other than: for those who enjoyed, I'm glad you did, and for those who were annoyed, I'm glad it did. I guess I'll start doing other stuff now. TO OTHER STUFF! *clinking glasses*

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MODERN DAY ROLUE AND HISTORY'S END

After all the excitement and general lengthiness of the last post, let's end on a more chill note. This is what RoLUE looks like in 2024.

I have nearly a decade on any other member of RoLUE in terms of start date within the alliance. Soong, Skull, Melos, Lynz, lanfear, xces, and PRiNCE PERSiA have been around for slightly over a decade, with astroboy being only about a year behind them. Then there are g63c70, mtndew, Definitely Not Mutt, Darklite, Lord Rango, Mutt, Grumpy, and juke (in that order) who have between 2 - 3 years of service. The most recent additions include Gardenia, Tachanka, Wobble D Wobbles, and mashinga with under a year served. And Spaceballs weighing in at less than 24 hours!

By this point, Soong is about equal with Talonic in terms of time spent as leader, an incredible feat in its own right. Soong and I have each seen a wide variety of strategies those in this game employ, with Soong being far more advanced than myself with such things, making decisions regarding the alliance with all of those years of experience in mind. Soong has, by this point, played one of the most exceptional roles in RoLUE history, seeing us through some of the most difficult times there have ever been and managing to thrive through it all.

Grumpy might well be the longest term ally of RoLUE and only recently finally took his honorary place within the actual team itself. I genuinely have no idea just how many events Grumpy had some part in over the years, including quite a few that you'd really have to go back in the old time machine to experience, but his accomplishments as an ally easily eclipse anything helpful I ever did from within. That is how historic a figure Grumpy is and I only wish I could find more specific details to share about him than that. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll see this, telling us about them himself

Skull is the only person who might rival Grumpy in terms of years served supporting RoLUE, also spending a good amount of that time as an ally rather than in the alliance. When Skull officially joined the team it was a big day, here was an active fleeter with a strong strategic mind who went from learning from top level RoLUEsers to becoming one, bringing both that knowledge and his own unique perspectives to our team. Skull played a major supporting role during urza/Deneb's rise to #1 and beyond, proving that you don't have to have the biggest fleet yourself in order to help cause some of the biggest damage.

Melos and Lynz have genuinely been two of the greatest members RoLUE has ever had. Being a great team member comes in many forms as it is all about being willing to help and support when needed, which these two have gone above and beyond to do for their entire time within the alliance. During our darkest days there were times when so much of the alliance was inactive that I was afraid that any new members wouldn't find the support they needed, but these two really stepped up to welcome and provide what they could to make those players feel at home. It is additionally amazing to see Melos as our highest ranked account now, proof that perseverance is every bit as important as fleeting dominance for finding success in a game like this.

PRiNCE PERSiA, lanfear, and xces have provided similar support over the years, with PRiNCE PERSiA and lanfear even adding the occasional fleeting services to our history. For years xces has been the quiet player in the background, doing little things that added in less obvious ways but that have added up to invaluable contributions to our team. Each of these players has hit the in-game wall many others have, having less time to be active, but also having added so much to the team in years past that every moment they spend playing in the future is simply a bonus on top of that.

The expedition achievements of mtndew have been so historic that even notorious FTN leader Jex Roselin dropped his name as an inspiration for such endeavors. As someone who followed in urza's mindset of minimizing losses and maximizing profits, mtndew rose his account through the ranks largely through utilizing said expeditions to their fullest, reaching the top 30 at his strongest. He also became a critical member of the RoLUE team, providing guidance to other players and sharing the wealth of his individual success with others.

Mutt chose a more difficult path, staying on a lower ranked account because he found it more enjoyable than jumping to an unfamiliar, more competitive one. Of the modern day RoLUEsers, it is hard to think of anyone who has contributed more than Mutt in terms of helping new members and old members alike. If Mutt had been around for the beginning days of RoLUE, he'd have been one of those players that all of our Tier leadership would have held up as an example of how to play the game and what they would have wanted others to model their play after.

Definitely Not Mutt is actually a familiar name from RoLUE past and also the last RoLUEser to get a Top Ten crash achievement on the winning side for our team on FTN. In some ways that hit could have been seen as mining alliance on mining alliance violence, but the point was made that RoLUE wasn't completely out of the game fleeting wise and this was a nice accomplishment to see after such a long drought. Not much more needs to be said about him than has already been said, a great player and a greatly appreciated ally.

Players such as astroboy, g63c70, Lord Rango, juke, Darklite, Gardenia and Wobble D Wobbles are examples of our change in philosophy after the "glory days" of RoLUE. RoLUE started as a group that liked to poke the bear, now we are more open to those who want to pet the bear, maybe have a picnic with it and lounge in the sun with a full belly. Playing safely, competently, and helping out when possible become more meaningful traits once the attrition stage of the game kicks in. Not everyone shows their talents through big personalities or breaking other people's stuff, some just enjoy playing to the best of their ability, setting personal goals (as pinky spoke of in his SNN establishing interview), and measuring their own success against themself.

On the other hand, having fleeters isn't the worst thing in the world, and Tachanka (aka Ciklet, Fire in the hole) came along to add to the rich history of past RoLUE fleeters by fighting his way up the ranks under conditions none of the classic RoLUEsers ever had to deal with. The point disparity between top and bottom only grows greater with time, making success within Universe 1 more difficult with each passing day, which is why the efforts of Tachanka have been so highly valued by us. With additional fleeting support from one of our newest members mashinga (when life gets less busy) and Spaceballs (a U35 veteran just making it in under the wire for this recognition!), who knows what might be accomplished in the long run! As much as OGame Universe 1 has become a game of entrenched old timers, it is nice to be reminded of what the game can be like for those who are still fighting their way up the ranks.

It is true that OGame is not the same game it once was and every good change has not come without a cost, but the point remains that it is still kicking along. With GameForge still pulling in record profits every year, there is hope that OGame will continue to find ways to evolve into something greater than it has ever been before, through the efforts both of the staff and the community. If nothing else, this delving into the past has shown the immense amounts of fun and memorable moments the game has brought to so many over the past two decades, whether from the RoLUE-centric perspective I was able to provide or for the many players who fought the good fight outside of that.

To all who have ever made the effort to play in Universe 1 and contributed to someone elses play experience, even if it was just low ranked probing and fleet hunting, we salute you. Any game, and frankly any community at all, is healthiest when there are people at each stage of development, from grizzled elders to mid-level survivors to complete newbies. Not everyone can grow to the highest rank but everyone has the potential to have fun in whatever stage of the process they are in. RoLUE and many other alliances currently in Universe 1 have played their part in creating the excitement that has kept OGame alive for as long as it has been. Who will be the next set of legendary figures in Universe 1 to be remembered for years to come?

Only time will tell.

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But seriously, I appreciate all of you and what your text names with your planet numbers, friendly pretend ships, and flashing red triangles have provided over the years. Speaking of which, do you remember when there were no red triangles and you'd just find yourself being "owned" if you weren't paying close attention to what was happening on the fleet screen? And there was no convenient way to hide all of those fleeting missions so your dial-up and crappy RAM would lag to death when there were too many fleet movements counting down?...nah, it's probably not worth going into that.

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Quote from baal

i made a promise to myself that i would not interfere with anything written in these histoires

because when somebody else is writing about events, they have to write the truth as they saw it. or as other people have presented it to them.

however, the baal/bibas war

i want to say something about that - from my end.

here is the truth of it anyway. he kept accusing me of being an assassin. this went on for years - he didn't trust me, and i was going to fly with assassin against him.

one day, i had enough of it, and declared a war. he said he wouldn't fight ... and he didn't. a lot of TBH v moded.

assassin themselves didnt believe it was genuine. they thought that one of us was planning to quit and push the other. they thought the war was just to make it look legal. (they were watching from Rigel, lol. they hadnt come to uni 1 at that point).

oh man, it was all so stupid. after a short time i wanted to call it off, and announced this on the boards. i claimed a win due to lack of fights from the other side. but bibas said - no. he said he had to agree to it, and he wouldn't agree. in the end, Mordred (?) agreed to end it. as the actual leader of TBH.

i was never against bibas.

it remains a great sadness to me that he couldn't see it.

and one final little correction, spidey

i have no paranoia about people turning against me, i know who my friends are.

sometimes we disagree, but the test of true friendship means we can do this from time to time.

well done, spidey. this was an epic of love for you, i think. you did a good job.

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Thank you for this. Yes, the overall story is from my perspective and that of those who helped influence said perspective, but many of the situations mentioned had no involvement from me so hearing from those who were has been a cool addition. I wouldn't be surprised if people were more interested in your comments and those of others who clarified or expanded on their experiences than the story itself. I certainly found them to be the most interesting parts

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man, does my heart a-warming to see that you're still around, spidey; I might tear up just a tiny l'il bit. Sadly there's not a whole lot I'm gonna be able to add from my perspective about the old old parts, because they (and I) are *old*. But dang, man, this was some good reading. Especially the part early on describing the tier 1-2-3 and me going "yep, i remember every single one of these people". One of my last actual memories before i fully retired from everything was Vendetta1923, funny enough, 'cause winney and I were part of that when it started(I think?) and about a month in, I looked at that, the ogame staff stuff, and I just decided "I'm burning too many candles and I need to be done". That, and making image macros for Urza crash reports involving cute animals to offset the visceral horror that was his fleet. Still have some of those archived, I think.

Nothing else to add, really; a friend searched "ogame talonic" on a whim and linked me this topic, and I still had an account I made from 5 years ago when i last popped my head in (Hi Cass! Still not dead yet!), so.... why not? Excellent writeup, 5 gold lueshis, etc. Everything he said about me being a butterfly is 100% true, I'm a bastion of goodwill and have never done anyone wrong in my entire life.

Very unexpected but the prophecy at the beginning of this has fulfilled itself lol

Good to see you around, whole other reality back then, game now is....we won't go there, lots of good memories at least haha

No other old timers left of the OG crew, really even I just login to do moonshots and occasionally grow some points...and yes, you've hardly ever caused any trouble *moves the broom swiftly away from the rug*