Since we've got a handful of newfriends who have never experienced something like this before, as well as some oldfriends who may have forgotten what living through something like this is like (though hopefully most of them remember so they can help me out and comment with more advice), I thought it would be a good idea to make a post outlining what's been going on in the wider CivMC world, what we should be doing about it, and maybe even the way out of it. I will be repeating a lot of what I've been saying in discord, but this post can be used to reference back to as well as catch anyone who might've missed my discord messages because discord is hell and you have to scroll back hundreds of messages to not miss out and I don't know why it's the norm to use it- but I digress!

Background

For those who are fully unaware, the powerhouse nations of Estalia and Rhode Island (aka USA but I'm pretty sure that's a meme, but you might still see them referred to as that regardless) have been in a state of total war for the better part of a month now. You may not have interacted with or even heard of either of these nations, but you should think of them as the USA and USSR of CivMC, at least in terms of geopolitical relevance and military capacity. Most if not all of their members are experienced in the civ genre, with at least all of them having previously played on CivClassic and with some of the top brass even having been playing since Civcraft 2.0, building up almost a decade's worth of experience doing this exact kind of thing. Many of their members have also been recruited from PVP servers, so while they might not be entirely knowledgeable on logistics in civ, they have honed their craft in clicking on people in fights. My point being that neither of these nations are one to underestimate, and the conflict between them is serious.

Currently, the war has expanded to include all those who were defensively allied with Estalia, including most notably Pavia where the most intense fighting and griefing has been. Rhode Island, hailing to their Nox, Kallos, and USA ancestors, has dropped all pretense of legitimacy and openly declared their intentions of ending the server. The survival of the server, whether you want that or not, genuinely depends on the success of Estalia and her allies.

What It Means for Danzilona

Danzilona is and historically has been a neutral nation, typically avoiding on stepping on other people's toes and not taking military action unilaterally. Until a specific response has been crafted in cooperation with our allies in Alenarith and the Medi, Danzilona itself should avoid all involvement, and no one claiming to represent Danzilona has the right to take a stance in our name.

However, that does not mean that we will not be totally affected or caught in the crossfire. Danzilona has been the site of many wars and battles despite our culture of non-aggression and negotiation. Rhode Islands should also be expected to pearl anyone they see, including Danzilonans who may travel outside our borders. So, without getting directly involved in the conflict, here are some ideas for things you can do to stay safe and prepare for the worst:

1) Expand our snitch network. With the amazing efforts of our citizens, pretty much all of our border has been snitched, so you will most likely see when someone enters the country. However, more advanced warning is key, as well as snitching some of our internal province borders to be able to track their movement once they're in. If you have mod permissions or above on DZSnitch, please try and expand this snitch network by laying some further out into the ocean as well as within the FDR.

2) Dropchest your valuables. Everything that you build on the surface should be considered- at least mostly- expendable, and you should come to terms with that. Everything valuable that you own (iron, diamonds, essence, xp, snitches, bastions, etc) should be put in a dropchest far from civilisation. A dropchest is a normal reinforced chest (iron or diamond) that you bury at least 10 blocks underground. This is done to fool potential x-rayers, as CivMC has a plugin where complex player-placed blocks like chests turn into stone if viewed from this distance and beyond (you've probably also experienced chests turning to stone from a much closer distance, but this is a bug afaik). This means that, when you stack back up to the surface after you dig to access or place your dropchest, you need to place the blocks exactly as you found them. If an x-rayer sees a straight, 10 block deep pillar of dirt in a sea of stone, it's immediately going to trigger suspicion. So when you dropchest, be sure to carry some smooth stone on you. Securing iron and diamond is even safer, as you can use them to reinforce a junk block like cobblestone into a huge cube (usually built underground so it's not ugly). That way, the iron and diamond can only be acquired by someone on the group (aka you since it should be your own personal group) breaking those blocks they were used to reinforce.

3) Build citizen bunkers around town. By bunkers, I don't mean anything particularly complicated. These would just be small, safe panic rooms scattered around our territory that citizens can be close to and run to if they're caught out by the time raiders arrive. They should be made of IRO or DRO and built just 1 block underneath the surface, accessible to citizens only (maybe reinforce to DZSnitch or DZWorks) through a trapdoor. You could also optionally store a chest in the bunkers that contain food or pots, but ultimately their main purpose should just be a safe place to log out in. Be sure to also snitch them on DZSnitch so players logged in them know if it's safe to log back on or not.

4) Finish securing the shaft. Correct me if I'm wrong Track, but the DanzShaft should be completely bastioned thanks to the efforts of him and others. Being in a bastion field prevents people not on the group it's reinforced to from placing blocks within the field, meaning that they can't pillar over the moat. Priority should be given to setting up reinforced doors, tunnels, and gates that prevent invaders from using our own bridges to cross into the shaft, allowing us to hunker down there safely.

5) DO NOT GET INTO FIGHTS. The TF2 Soldier once said "If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight." If this is true, then the inverse is also true. If fighting is unsure to result in victory, then you must not fight. Grief is fixable and raided items are replaceable, but YOU are not. Being pearled by Vah is no longer a temporary affair, and you could be locked away in a vault for weeks if not months if you find yourself on the wrong end of a sword. DO NOT BE A HERO. Like I said, these people have been honing their pvp skills for YEARS. You should assume they know WAY more than you. That doesn't mean you can't practice your pvp skills on separate servers or whatnot, but any action should be taken extremely carefully and extremely coordinated and not be taken lightly or impulsively.

The Way Out

Despite what may seem like insurmountable odds, I believe that we, as a server, will win. The raiding side has ALWAYS had the best pvpers and the biggest pool of shitters to grab from, and yet they have never come out on top. 2.0 survived Recharge and Nox. CivClassic survived Lexington and NATO. And hell, even CivRealms survived the USA (though it could not survive Stonato). We have always won, and no matter how long it takes, I believe that we will, or the civ genre itself will go down trying.

Post Fata Resurgo