Rant

BATTY:
I will *not* be playing Purple's game. I'll be busy defending Red lands and my governorship, and honouring GONTOR even if Green does not. Was any Red consulted on this game?

Purple has reached such a monsterous size that they can now dictate to the other factions what lands we may or may not hold. I think the only thing stopping them from spreading across all Skytopia like a giant purple bruise, is the desire to do so. They have already demonstrated that they can wipe all other factions away. The other factions are happily baa-ing and coo-ing and patting purple on the back for doing so, while hating us and condemning Red for doing the same thing. This just demonstrates to me what sort of duplicitous bastards they are.

Herley, is this the powerless Red faction you desired?

HERLEY:
Batty, I say this with utmost respect: You seem to be equating power with being an asshole. I'm unsure if that was your intent, but that is how it seems to me.

I never wanted a powerless Red faction, just one that I could be proud of belonging to. It's been my opinion that Red's social image is what is leading to its decline - many new players are warned away from Red by other, more experienced players. Whether those warnings are warranted or not isn't the case - the point is that because of the way Red has acted in the past, unabashedly steamrolling everyone and not even attempting to make it palatable to the other players, Red loses potentially strong influence runners.

Add that to the whole mentality where the influence you've run is the only currency, and you get a monolithic faction that is slowly dying because it refuses to change.

Now, why is everyone patting Purple on the back, despite their steamrolling?

1. They're trying to make it palatable. The whole thing with "Chords", etc., is a successful effort to make what they are doing gameplay-wise fit their Faction's characterization.

2. They don't have, as a faction, a bad reputation. Purple has long been seen as a sort of underdog, and regardless of whether or not they are duplicitous bastards, people don't see them like that. They have very carefully cultivated the reputation of being ineffectual, as a whole, when it comes to influence running, and despite this massive success, they seem to be keeping that reputation.

3. They seem to actually care about the endgame, and in a way that doesn't make them seem like bad people. This round has, so far, been utterly underwhelming.

My point is that whether or not Purple is bad people, they seem to be good people. Despite their actions, they have maintained a reputation of being caring and respectful. This is where Red has failed - demonstrating power while remaining polite. The incessant and disrespectful bragging of many members when there is a success has given Red a bad name.