The 'advice' feeds the poison and stunts real true growth in this game. How can a game grow when small alliances are crushed and forced into larger alliances. With those same large alliances refusing to change their actions, resulting in the numbers that currently play.

Everyone fluffs on about 'merge into a larger alliance, get stronger then branch out once your numbers are bigger' bullfluff. Name a bunch of alliances that have done that in the last few years? You can't! The same people running this game, don't allow it.

Number 2 problem, You mistake someone asking for 'help' as trying to scheme a 'handout'. Just because you never got help, doesn't mean in the interest of growing the game, you offer help... In social multiplayer gaming, where there are no images, its all fantasy text based roleplay. Isn't that the idea? To grow the game...?

You see even your recruitment, is with old vets that used to play. But the problem is that, they gave up the game. And the same reasons still exist today. So they come back for a 'reunion' set. See it hasn't changed and then leave again. No growth.