Ah, Thalion, if I was two years younger and still full of hopes and dreams. You always knew I was a game player and not a gamer. Winning always took 2nd place to a good fucking game to me... though I confess getting quite irritated by betrayals- it seemed a little unsporting, but eventually I got used to them.
But I am always amazed how much can be done by a nobody who cares to attack. But, unfortunately, you can't attack stupidly, so you gotta watch the map, send messages to neutrals to keep em neutral, make deals with gents and a shit load of other things. The only thing I had easy was really good mercs most of the time.
But seriously, what have I gained? I fought you when your faction was the last man standing, and I will take pride in the fact that I tried to keep it sporting. I warned you of high crime in Ismirala castle, and I chose field battles over sieges. I also gave you Yruma Castle when JayJrod betrayed us due to sJimmy's rotten nighttime settings (that was an awesome fun bit of maneuvering, and I give you guys high kudos for matching each of our strategems).
But, quite frankly, I was quite happy being the shitlord until Tristan mentioned I should get a reward on Discord. Then I thought, "WTF!?". Win a stupid tourney aimed at the best players and they get a fancy hat or neat original weapon. But try take over the map only to be crushed through betrayal or mega-rich Euros you get nothing. Get the highest renown in NA despite having a tiny faction by just fighting and fighting and fighting, and still only get a brief mention in the forums.
I have been cursed with mediocre ability to fight, but blessed with a lot of Strat luck. I am sure I had one of the most eventful careers in NA strat, and it was awesome (thanks to my awesome mercs who signed for me), but the only rewards of strat are new enemies and a lot of hate.
So I'm gonna try buy your love with LPs.