Foreword
Once again, the author was unable to adhere to the highly comprehensible and important rule no. 3 "Naming and Shaming" of the official LiF forum. The author deeply regrets this and promises that one day he will read the set of rules and adhere to them according to his literary abilities.
The open letter of the Askanians was now revised by the author to comply with the rules. All names of guilds, factions, groups, alliances, and virtual characters, even if the latter are not mentioned at all, have been replaced by synonyms.
Explanation of synonyms
Bloody Pain (BP)
One of the two grand alliances, which is located in the north-west of the sandbox. Bloody Pain Alliance is at global war with United Siberian Host Alliance.
United Siberian Host (USH)
The other grand alliance, scattered widely in the sandbox. United Siberian Host Alliance is, of course, at global war with Bloody Pain Alliance.
Ducks Are Cooked (DAC)
The declared enemy of the Askanian Kingdom, which can not expect forgiveness or forbearance.
Roasted Ducks
The central guild within the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC).
(Possible names similar to existing organizations in LiF:MMO are "not intended" by the author. As a precaution, the author points out that for unforeseeable reasons complaints due to rule no. 3 could show up again and therefore the author apologizes in advance to the forum administrators for the inconvenience.)
Dear friends,
concerning the current political developments in LiF:MMO, the Askanian Kingdom is morally committed to drawing attention to some very dangerous developments within the game, which may harm the entire LiF:MMO community and, in particular, the further influx of new players and thus the entire success of the promising LiF:MMO project. Through this open letter to the entire LiF:MMO community, the developers of LiF:MMO and in particular to the already existing grand alliances Bloody Pain (BP) and United Siberian Host (USH), we would like to obtain a rethink of the current, very one-sided political developments. Otherwise, the world of LiF:MMO will soon be dominated by only a few major powers and their wars. From this point of view, the basic idea of a great medieval world with numerous kingdoms, many cities and villages, an active global trading system and a great world, which has been animated by players, is massively counteracted.
The basic idea of Askanians
The community of Askanians, founded in October 2015, had from the beginning the firm goal of starting as an independent kingdom regionally on server 42, predominantly together with the German-speaking and international groups based there. After initial difficulties due to other dominant groups with high targets for the regional server 42, the Askanians could establish themselves as the dominant power.
In a global political context, the Askanians rejected the received military alliance requests of other groups right from wave 1. On the one hand, there was no regional basis for partnerships with groups and alliances, some of which were far away. On the other hand, the Askanians deliberately reject the formation of grand alliances, which fight only for war, thus destroying the game enjoyment of many players.
To not affect the current global conflict of the two great alliances Bloody Pain (BP) and United Siberian Host (USH), the Askanian Kingdom has signed a non-aggression pact with both factions that is still effective. This gave both factions the certainty that they did not have to fear any interference from the Askanians. Until now, all parties have agreed to the agreement.
Since the beginning of wave 1, the Askanian Kingdom has been concentrating mainly on expanding infrastructure and safeguarding its own region, negotiating of trade agreements for regional raw materials, and cultivating diplomatic relations to get to know its neighbors better.
The Askanian Kingdom has so far only been militarily active against the group of Roasted Ducks and its allies (Ducks Are Cooked), who had originally claimed the territiories of present-day Askanians. So far, other declarations of war on the part of the Askanians had not been necessary.
In the further course of wave 1, the Askanians observed with great concern the growing influence of the two grand alliances on the rest of the player community. More and more groups in LiF:MMO saw and see themselves forced to join one of the two sides because of the global conflict between Bloody Pain (BP) and United Siberian Host (USH). Through the diplomatic relations with other groups it became clear that numerous small groups were formally forced into the conflict between the two grand alliances, since otherwise they were threatened with destruction. Not only is this development of the global rearmament of both grand alliances evidently already destroying the game enjoyment of many players and small groups, it also destroys the influx of new players and the growth of new kingdoms, which would be important for a stable and healthy political development. Who wants to start a game in which he is merely the plaything of two great powers.
Completely surprising for the diplomatic staff of the Askanians, the United Siberian Host (USH) turned to the Askanian Kingdom in the course of round 3 of wave 1 and asked:
"We are calling for the end of the war of Askanians against the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC), so they can fight together with the United Siberian Host (USH) against Bloody Pain (BP)."
As the coalition of the United Siberian Host (USH) and the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) against Bloody Pain (BP) raised the fear of a one-sided destabilization of the power relations of the two grand alliances, the request of the United Siberian Host (USH) was rejected by the Askanians. The Askanian Kingdom just offered to limit the attacks against the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) to certain regions under certain conditions. However, the United Siberian Host (USH) did not pursue this offer of the Askanians.
A further important reason why the Askanians rejected United Siberian Host's (USH) request for peace with the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) was also that on the part of the Askanian Kingdom the enmity to Roasted Ducks and thus to the entire Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) has already been so deeply rooted in the people of the Askanians, that this hostility will be carried on by the Askanians in openBeta. This is where the Askanians see an important aspect of their role play (RP).
In round 4 of wave 1, the diplomatic staff of the Askanians has now been informed by the United Siberian Host (USH) that the enemy of the Askanians, the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC), has been integrated into their grand alliance as a vassal and so the arms race of the two grand alliances has come to a new peak. The question of how to deal with the non-attacking pact, which was concluded with both grand alliances, now became important for the Askanians. One of the pact partners, in this case the United Siberian Host (USH), is now allied with the enemy of the Askanian Kingdom. In principle, one might consider this a break of the pact by the United Siberian Host (USH) against the Askanian Kingdom. The Askanians wonder which reaction the United Siberian Host (USH) expected after the inclusion of the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) in their grand alliance or if it has been thought of at all?
In addition to the Askanian Kingdom and a few smaller groups, which are far away from the global battle, there are now only two grand alliances that dominate the game in LiF:MMO. It is very doubtful that this kind of mass destruction and global warfare strategy is beneficial for the overall development of LiF:MMO. The current number of players in LiF:MMO backs this assumption (formerly about 1300 players, currently less than 250 players who are online at the same time). From the point of view of the Askanians, this development has a detrimental effect on many players, especially if they have a more PvE and RP oriented style.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend!
The reaction of the Askanian Kingdom to the inclusion of the Ducks Are Cooked (DAC) in the United Siberian Host (USH) did not hold off. In order to be as far as possible from the global drama of the two grand alliances, the Askanian Kingdom decided for a clearly defined and goal-oriented support pact with the opposite side of the United Siberian Host (USH), the Bloody Pain (BP). In this pact, it was unambiguously defined that support from the Askanian Kingdom for the grand alliance Bloody Pain (BP) will be granted in the fight against the Askanian enemy Ducks Are Cooked (DAC), as long as DAC is involved in the global warfare on side of the United Siberian Host (USH). An extension to other targets or war opponents, in particular the United Siberian Host (USH), was expressly excluded, unless the latter denounced the non-aggression pact with the Askanian Kingdom, or broke it through attacks against Askanian institutions or forces. Concerning the Askanian Kingdom, the non-aggression pact with Bloody Pain (BP) and the United Siberian Host (USH) remains effective.
The future will show how this forced tragedy will continue. In any case, the Askanian Kingdom will continue to maintain its independent position as far as possible, and will re-position it only in case of global one-sided destabilization of the game. Basically it depends on decisions and reason of the leading players of Bloody Pain (BP) and the United Siberian Host (USH) how LiF:MMO will develop in the future. Does it degrade into a large PvP-Zerg like so many other MMO or is the community able to turn the helm and make LiF:MMO something unique, in which everyone will have their joy.
Conclusion from the point of view of the Askanians
Since the Askanian Kingdom itself has already reached a considerable size and stability in LiF:MMO, it basically needn't worry about the current development. However, we all want a lot of game enjoyment in LiF:MMO and a big community and so we would like to sharpen the view of everyone for the future. Big kingdoms and alliances are a great thing and there is nothing against it as long as they do not dominate globally and inhibit the regional overall growth. We would like to see a lot more big kingdoms in LiF:MMO that would act regionally and supra-regionally but would not dominate globally.