Milestones The end of a looooong road...

Raydium88

Strategos
With about 30 hours left of Last Stand and with it the world coming to a close, is safe to assume this server is pretty much over. Currently controlling over 55% of the world, there was never a chance for any opposition to strike with meaningful impact... Some saw this coming months ahead, others remained naive, or perhaps, just wished to enjoy whatever leftover "wonders" speed 1 had to offer....... I can't say I will miss them lol.


giphy.gif


But it wasn't always a snooze fest. Despite the outrageous rebuild times, CS TTs and the sorts, there was a time not only the world was buzzing, but even the keyboard warriors came out to play in what became the Pharae externals... a platform for passive aggressiveness, toxicity, trolls, rants, exposure... some compliments mixed in, but almost reminiscent of the good old days. But by now, you should know better, victors write history.

As an alliance, we at Hugs, believed in a different approach to Domination. An approach devoid of what Domination had become known for... ironically being, mass-hugging. No NAPs, Pacts, sisters, mergers and with a retention of 74% of our player-base, I'd like to think we've proven that you can play Domination with an aggressive posture... Fight, fight, fight... Control over the core, above one's ocean waters. BP for slots. Overwhelm your competition, and ultimately succeed. Yes is a speed 1 world, but even then... there was nothing we could have done differently, to make it any more competitive. And before you say "but golden premade", mind you we started here with no more than 30 players, half the ally cap...

So, do I think we deserve to win, and to feel proud of what we've achieved? YES, I do! To become the first ever alliance to achieve >50% domination.......... that takes some dedication! To which, our team members are the biggest contributors.

8 months back, I would never imagine to be where we at today. And that's thanks to Hugs' players, this amazingly dedicated team. Yes, it took some steering and words of encouragement out of us from leadership, but for you all to have responded in the way you did, that's more than we could have ever asked for. So, to any Huggers reading this... THANK YOU! :cool:

giphy.gif

Too cheesy? Ok... I can be the dog, I don't mind...


As for our opposition. Let's start with the elephant in the room, TF... a team which, with all the resources in the world, and over 300 players turnover, still didn't manage to win? Why? Honestly, just bad leadership. And that's, honestly unfair to their collective leadership, you all know I am talking of James here. He loves to be the centre of attention, so hope the spotlight of shame suits him just as fine. And although, he can call myself and Thizzle a joke (yes we're aware), is sort of ironic how these "jokes" managed to beat … by how much was it? 242 taken - 14 lost (that was with your sisters' AKA "army of bed bugs" included). Just cause I know James loves his numbers lol.

And the rest of the server, who didn't manage to fold beforehand and stayed to endure and see the end days of a dead world... That being mostly Hounds and Nightmares. Good job on you! You lots are definitely worth a mention, and I hope you manage to develop yourselves as players, leaders, teams and relationships for worlds to come... and hopefully one day, see a different outcome. As I always say, "Grepo isn't a sprint.....


giphy.gif


With this world coming to a close, is no secret, but I'll announce publicly anyway, as myself and Thizzle will be retiring the game! Some people will be celebrating, laughing away, others will just be....... indifferent. But personally, years of leadership non-stop in this game does take a toll on you. We'd like to think we've achieved not only a good number of successes, but also failures. The latter being important also... Keep us on our toes. But when the game becomes a second job for too long, is time to pull the plug. Was our amazing team, and in part this community, that kept us going this long... but for now, is time to take a break. Who knows, maybe if Grepo is still running, we'll return one day :rolleyes:

Good game, Everyone!


On behalf of Huggers,
ray-external.png
 
Last edited:

1saaa

Strategos
I've already made my thoughts clear about this server and put my final words in the compliment thread.

Sad to see you both leaving the game but I understand why. I should probably stop brownosing now but all I will say is that if you guys ever do return those of us that are left will be here to welcome you back (and remind you why you left in the first place ;)).
 

DeletedUser56359

Guest
Very loooong game indeed. Thanks to all who played with and against us. I joined about six weeks late and still haven't caught up...lol. Seriously, there was something about a no-win situation that was interesting. Put together a band of people-some who know how to play and want to fight against the odds; some who are learning how to play and will take risks and maybe flub a few things, but get right back into it and learn and succeed--and see what develops. NoE got lucky in location and had some time to build up and get situated; I got lucky in that Stannis-Storm and Tankafaire and SirPoopyPants and others set up the forum and did all the other initial work creating the framework for the alliance. What developed was a cracking good crew...willing to go as far as we could go. I'm so very proud of us all. I keep hearing the words, "honorable" to describe actions and interactions. This is the game I love. We play as warriors, but with a certain level of respect for what it takes to be here. Yeah, there's some smack talk, but mostly I just can't say enough about the players in NoE and the other players with whom I've had the pleasure of PM conversations, sometimes even in the midst of battle (sometimes with the help of Google translate to Romanian or Croatian).
To Hug This: You deserved to win, no doubts. Thanks for being tough as nails and driving the rest of us batty with continuous attempts to better ourselves.
To Hell Hounds: Second sure isn't too bad. Thanks for the suggestions, the intel, and the development of the coalition...it was a viable option, think it just needs something, I dunno, maybe will figure it out eventually.
To AC Primordial: You pushed so fast and hard there toward the end and got third. You earned it.
To NoE: We regrouped, we organized, we played so freaking hard, we had fun, we grew and we learned and we were amazing really. Love you all.

I know this is a long post. I always read the forums and never really signed up or commented until this world---it can get pretty ugly in the externals at times. I recently posted this in our forum. Anyone can disagree.

Hey guys, a few weeks left and I'm here until the end. Just wanted to share with you what you and all the players I have played with in Grepolis have taught me and for this I am extremely grateful. These are not just things I value in the game; I value them in RL too. I made this list to give to another player several weeks ago.
Top Twelve Leadership Skills:
1) Have some experience in the game.
2) Surround yourself with quality---the better players will rise up and be visible---promote them.
3) Let people do what they are good at and acknowledge those good skills in the forum
4) Always remember the alliance is a team---everyone's voice matters---acknowledge those who provide any input.
5) Encourage feedback from your members---allow disagreement and respond with respect for genuineness and honesty. Address conflict quickly and openly with as much fairness as possible.
6) Remember strategies or plans that have a consensus of agreement from the team are more likely to be carried out.
7) Model what you would like to see from other members, i.e. updating communication during attacks/ revolts, using the templates, staying calm, thanking people for assistance. Sometimes people need to see it in action.
8) Be able to admit your weaknesses, so that someone else on your team can shine, i.e. I stink at the maps---someone else on the team stepped up and is a whiz at them.
9) Help newer players navigate the game and praise their progress and interactions. Acknowledge we were all new once and there is a steep learning curve. Walk them through a few offensive and defensive steps. I freely admit to them and others that I have made about every boneheaded mistake that can be made.
10) PM people randomly with timely praise for doing something interesting or helpful for the team
11) Be able to step back and let the alliance run---a good team starts to run itself with only occasional intervention needed---every aspect does not have to be controlled
12) Share the belief that sticking with it, continued growth, skill-enhancement activities like Ops, interactions with the team, and going for it even if afraid it might not work out will result in a fun and adventurous experience with friends, old and new (and even with enemies, as one day enemies--next day friends, or vice versa). We all have love of the game in common.
CATZEN3740 aka ~Cat
 

DeletedUser13524

Guest
This server has been a bit mix of a wild rind and an incredible grind.

First off, Congrats to Hugs fora more than well deserved win. Y'all came in here with a gameplan, stuck to it, and really played well. Not only did you guys have a stellar offense the entire world, but you played an even better defense. Trying to plan a way around your defenses always felt like trying to smash my head through a brick wall, and I think that would have been a more effective plan than what we eventually settled on tbh. I'd say "I haven't seen Grepo play like that in years" but that probably doesn't mean much considering I quit playing back in 2011 only to come back a year ago for 110, lol. Still though, returning from the old-school days to a server like 110 put a damper on my experience. But seeing how you guys played reminded me of how things used to be and really was a great sight to see while I adjusted to how much the game has changed. Nothing but respect for your team, even if you kept me up for way too long a few weekends while I tried to snipe as many CS as I could with just a handful of birs.

To AC Primordial and NoE, y'all did good to hang in there. I never interacted with y'all much as I left that to other leaders in our alliance most of the time so I don't have much to say. AC you guys did a good job pushing your growth in Dom. And NoE your group played hard. I'm not going to lie, I thought you would have folded like every other alliance in your ocean did. But you held firm.

To my friends and Hounds. Idk how y'all put up with me but I'm glad you do. We really had to grind through this world, but we still managed to have fun and enjoy what we had through the power of sheer determination and really shitty memes.

I feel like there's another alliance that could be discussed but I Fear the Truth of the matter is there's nothing worth mentioning that isn't anything more than a hollow ghost.
 

DeletedUser56652

Guest
Sad to see you boys go, hopefully all ends up well and we meet again in this game, til then gl in real life, been a pleasure working with you all.
 
Top