TTNews Power Ranking, Volume 4
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TTNews Power Rankings: Volume 4
It is hard to believe that 4 years have passed since the last TTNews Power Ranking. A lot has happened since June of 2015, and in order to help set the context of the 4th TTNews Power Ranking, it is worthwhile taking a moment to reflect.
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Then:
In June of 2015, the Bay Area Income Consortium (BAIC) was voted the most powerful alliance. This was the third consecutive time BAIC earned top spot, notably earning a record power rating of 94%.
The STARS, coming off a recent victory with their allies Murder Incorporated (Minc) against the North West Renegades (NWR), remained in second place, but now shared it in a tie with Collective Alliance Protecting Ourselves (CAPO). CAPOās rise was a result of continued member growth, player development, and a policy of intelligent and level-headed decision making. Meanwhile, M. Inc. had moved into the 4th spot and acknowledged as "the best of the rest".
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High Profile Player Syndicate, known as the Massholes, rounded out the top 5, with The Renegades (#6), Reign in Hell (RIH, #7), M@dFam (#8), Only The Elite (OTE, #9) and Nomads (#10) following. In addition, BOA, Department of Noobs (DON), We are Renegades (WAR), West Side Syndicate (WSS), The Legion and MTC were also noted as active alliances, but not ranked.
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The Interim:
While the The Stars / M.Inc. vs. NWR war was over, the aftermath and lingering diplomatic issues would set the stage for the next major conflict. Many of the former NWR members, now without an alliance, would be absorbed by BIAC. Meanwhile, BIACās general relationship with their long time allies The Stars was in tatters. By the fall of 2015, the Stars / BAIC relationship was at an all time low. The possibility of war hung in the air, and in many ways seemed unavoidable.
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East vs. West: Shots Fired
Early capping and recapping started in October of 2015. Initial belligerents, included members from BAIC and Minc. Who capped first is debated, and perhaps at this point is irrelevant. But these opening attacks and counter attacks set in motion final strokes of war. Attempts to find a diplomatic solution quickly failed, leading to a rapid escalation in the number of participants and capped turf.
The conflict quickly went worldwide, and included players from many countries. But at its heart, it centered around long time fighting veterans based in West and East north America, as follows: The West (BAIC, NWR, and other former west coast alliances) vs. The East (Stars, Minc, M@dfam, Manns).
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Early Assessment:
Opinions differ, but the general consensus was that at the start of the war, the sides were roughly evenly matched. Both sides offered deep rosters with high profile players and high quality accounts with many years of fighting experience. Some suggest that the early edge belonged to the East, which had the advantage in low and mid size rangers. Conversely, others give the edge to the West, which included four of the largest mob/bren count players in the game.
As one power ranking committee member put it, on the whole āI thought it was by far the most evenly matched war Iāve seen in the game ā
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No Fix, No Fill
The initial months of the war saw both sides making progress and realizing āvictoriesā in the places they focused their efforts. The Western group worked to consolidate control in their traditional areas, such as the major Urban Areas and Airports in California. The Eastern players fought for control of islands and other strategic locations, such as Bermuda.
As the fight dragged on, attrition began to take its toll and players began to drop out. Many months of spam and clear had also had its impact, with some high-profile players having exhausted much of their bank and now facing the prospect of having to limit their activity/turf planting.Catching many players off guard, an unexpected update to the Turfwars app dramatically reduced the cost of planting turf. This move would greatly change the course of the war.
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The planting cost reduction was viewed by the Eastern group as favorable and preferential treatment of large mob, high spending Baic players that were running out of in game currency. The change effectively eliminated any consequence of mass spam and was seen as particularly beneficial for large mob players.
The changed resulted in a mass protest of Eastern players, which was emphasized in their slogan āNo Fix, No Fillā (i.e. if the developers donāt fix the change, players will not spend real money to refill their stamina and keep fighting).
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Also in protest, a number of important players from the Eastern group reset and/or retired. This included parts of the Stars leadership and other key players, dramatically decreasing their overall fighting strength and coordination.
The perspective of some Western players was quite different. In their view, the change benefited and punished all players and alliances equally, and they simply continued to play within the rules of the game. There is also the opinion that the Stars and their allies had already began to waver and were losing players to attrition and fatigue at a quicker rate. To some, The protest over the rule change was simply used as a convenient excuse to throw in the towel.
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Stars Disband, Western Dominance
Following the turf plant cost reduction, the Stars Alliance began to unwind. Several initial resets, including key members of their leadership, was followed by the steady overall decline and disbandment of the group. Several notable members joined CAPO, while others joined M. Inc. or went solo.
As the Stars began to drop off, Western players faced far less resistance on all war fronts. Battles taking place in key areas, including Hawaii, Bermuda and M. Incās base in the Philippines, were quickly concluded and added to the Westās territories.
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Meanwhile, back at Martha's Vineyard..
During this same period, CAPO continued its organic growth through player recruitment and development and also benefitted from the influx of a number of former Stars looking for their next home. At the same time, CAPO continued its seemingly never ending war with The Commission (TC), which during this period saw a temporary boast in membership as old TC members came out of retirement and rejoined the fight with CAPO.
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Overall Trends and the Emergence of Fungal
As reflected in the ratings, the general consensus is that CAPO has benefited the most over the last four years. Continued player growth, territory acquisition and a war that allows their members to stay active without any real threat of losing were noted.
However, no alliance has been spared from the overall trend of player attrition and fatigue. As a whole, the base of active fighters is shrinking. This is leading to fewer alliances, with the consolidation of smaller groups necessary to keep the main fighting alliances viable.
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Case in point is the emergence of Fungal Expansion. Fungal, a new entry in this year's rating, is a confederation of many different players from a number of now defunct alliances (including M. inc., TWFC, STARS, Manns, M@dfam, and others) which has come together under the banner of fighting Baic.
Conversely, alliances unable to reinvent themselves or continue to grow in the current TurfWars environment are disappearing, as evidenced by shrinking number of alliances (from 16 to 7 since the last rating).
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Meet the Rating Committee:
The TTNews Power Ranking Committee was open to fighting veterans (previously, it was open to any player). The following players participated in this fourth edition of the Power Rankings: Chucky (Baic), I love Spam (CAPO), Greedo (CAPO), More Cowbell (Fungal), Viking (Fungal), Scarzy (The Commission), Saba (Solo, advisor to MXLG), Bigmann (Fungal), Fallacy (solo).
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The Scoring System:
Each Committee Member is asked to create a ranking list. Each list ranks the alliances in order from best to last. A weighted score is assigned to each position. First place receives the most points, last place the fewest. The scores are than added together and tabulated to calculate an aggregate score, now expressed as a percentage (the TTNews Aggregate Score).
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#7: MXLG (TTNews Aggregate Score 16%)
MXLG is a brand new entry in this year's power ranking. Once a part of the "infinite alliance" umbrella of families, MXLG broke off to forge their own path. This led to a small scale war between the two groups.
Like Infinite, MXLG is primarily made up of newer players with limited game experience. However, a cast of veteran mentors could help this group take it to the next level.
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6: Infinite Alliance (TTNews Aggregate Score 25%)
Infinite Alliance is a collection of several different families all coming together under single umbrella alliance. Infinite is a brand new entry in this power ranking, and is primarily made up of newer and lesser known players, many of which are not fighters.
Infinite has taken a "quantity" over "quality" approach to growth, but has also picked up a couple fighting vets along the way. Committee members noted that Infinite's real source of power is the protection afforded to them by their mentor, the game's all time capture leader, Johnson Mob.
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#5: Reign in Hell (TTNews Aggregate Score 46%)
Reign in Hell (RIH) shares a lot of attributes with TC. It is a smaller group that is primarily centered around a core of 3 or 4 long time fighting veterans, with a supporting cast that seems to ebb and flow over time.
RIH has been around a long time and fought a lot of battles. Lack of victories and overall coordination held this group back from a higher rating.
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#4: The Commission (TTNews Aggregate Score 52%)
The Commission (TC) is an old alliance that was once known for selective recruiting and a very insular group dynamic. For many years TC was considered an elite fighting unit, however, their abrasive approach to diplomacy created toxic relationships with other heavyweight alliances. This eventually led to the surprise attack against TC in the "witching hour war" of 2013/2014 (see Turf Tales News Issue 17). Believe it or not, six years later, this war is still simmering.
Committee members mainly commented on TCs refusal to quit, and more specifically, the sheer determination and tenacity of its four core players to keep fighting against all odds.
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#3: Fungal Expansion (TTNews Aggregate Score 76%)
A new alliance formed out of the ashes of a number of groups that fought BAIC as part of the East vs. West war. Fungal includes elite players from M. Inc., Stars, Manns, M@d and even former TWFC players that have been brought together into a confederation against BAIC. Fungal was viewed by the committee as having a strong ranger and mid-sized player base, that has seen recent successes against BAIC in areas where fighting is in close quarters and primarily range based. The lack of mega (100k plus mobs) and secure income areas were noted as Fungal's limitations and the difference between 2nd and 3rd place.
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#2 Bay Area Income Consortium (TTNews Aggregate Score 86%)
BAIC has long been considered to have the "gold standard" for recruiting new members. While this has ensured that the alliance only grows by admitting the best of the best, this policy has not favoured BAIC's overall power ranking in the current environment of veteran attrition and slow new player growth. Regardless, BAIC still includes some of the largest, most tenacious and experienced fighters in the game. This, combined with massive map coverage and locked down income zones, makes BAIC a difficult opponent for anyone.
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#1 Collective Alliance Protecting Ourselves (TTNews Aggregate Score 94%)
CAPO has continued its steady rise to the top and now stands above all others as the most powerful alliance in Turf Wars (and ties BIACs previous record TTNews Aggregate score of 94%). Committee members agreed, CAPO has it all - steady growth, the largest total membership, international coverage and territories and intelligent leadership that has maintained cordial relationship with other major alliances.
While other alliances have seen their resources and player base drained in recent years, CAPO has steadily increased their map coverage, and picked up a number of perennial fighting veterans along the way.
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Fin š
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Finally I find out what happened between BAIC and Stars! I left before the war, returned, and everything had changed.
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Thank you Fal and to all those who gave their time and input.
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Nice job
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Good job fal as always and yeh baby fungal voted 3rd
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Great read falšš¼šš¼ Well done
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Excellent Falšš»šš»šš»
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Excellently written again Fall, always a good read, thanks to everyone who contributed.
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Hope all is well fallacy šš»
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