Welcome, welcome, lord and ladies to another edition of the W27 Weekly. There are few words able to sum up the W27 situation that are not featured in ‘Urban Dictionary’. When you realise that only 10 tribes remain, and that those opposing the world leaders, Shadow, total some 1,500,000 points, you realise that the world is in dire trouble. It does mean that we are rather close to the end; and that means I can treat you to a juicy issue of the W27 Blog in what could well be one of my last.

Picture the scene if you will: Shadow enjoys massive dominance across every continent of the world. Isolated pockets of resistance are all that remain. Players hang onto their last village desperately, hoping in vain that they might be spared by some miracle. Shadow stutters at the last hurdle with selfish claiming and laziness.

The usual apathy surrounding W27 is evident once again as the public forum is less active than any, despite the impending victory here. Is that because there is no debate? Is that because it has been done once and now the novelty has worn off?

Certainly, the victory in W27 might come as more of a surprise than the one in W12 ever did. Whilst hopes for finishing before the end of November might be dashed, W27 should certainly not drag on beyond mid-December.

The most recent week has proved that when united with purpose, Shadow can be a far more formidable machine. It’s ironic that only when the battle is won do we see some of the most endemic activity and nobling from Shadow.

It’s perhaps not surprising that, only now, are we seeing the best in them. I remember well the apathy and laziness that was an inherent part of many conflicts. Indeed, any tribe leader will know that it can be very difficult to keep an entire tribe motivated, regardless of the situation. Even while Shadow enjoyed a dominant position for the last year, it has spent much time resting, at least in part, on its laurels.

Ignoring the reduction in the price of nobles, the increase in nobling has been substantial. It has been the psychological impetus of impending victory that has really expedited events on W27. I honestly thought that a 2010 finish was out of the question, but throw in the knowledge that victory looms, and the tribe is transformed.

A cynical commentator would make a great deal of this. Does it really take a genius to ascertain that most players are therefore in it for themselves? Tribal Wars is a massive commitment, and giving every day is an exceptional thing. Every tribe has its core of players that can be relied upon to do this, but the throng of other players is a capricious and protean beast.

As a result, whilst certain players give continuously for the entirety of the lifetime of a tribe, others add their contribution as and when it suits them. Tribes hinge not on the core, but the state of the rest of the membership. If these can be persuaded, encouraged or coerced into action, a tribe’s impact can grow exponentially. This is exactly what we have observed.

Whilst its veterans have merely been augmented by packet cost reductions (see nobling for last 30 days), others have been encouraged to rise the occasion. It wasn’t the availability of nobles, since apathetic play would have yielded masses of packets anyway; no, it was the incentive of victory.

As a duke, I think that it has been an interesting experience in psychology to watch the shift in ethos at the behest of announcements of impending victory. I don’t lament this new vigour, and indeed I applaud it, but much like my cynicism towards ‘Christmas spirit’, I ask where it was the rest of the time.

Whilst y’all consider that, let’s press on with the stats for week and the further demise of Shadow’s enemies:

Shadow vs. SBM

Side 1: 80

Side 2: 0

Shadow vs Dawn

Side 1: 44

Side 2: 1

Shadow vs. [OBL]

Side 1: 123

Side 2: 0

It looks like [OBL] will be heading to the bottom of the class this week. The continued demise of Fullcircle among others has not only ceded K37 heavily to Shadow, but has pushed the tribe down below Dawn.

With SBM also dropping down heavily, now to below 1 million points, the game is well and truly drawing to a close. Their losses have been almost as heavy this week, with only orvil58 making an impressive stand against Shadow.

Dawn are the ostensible success of the week, making a cheeky conquer against Shadow and losing the fewest villages. They also went up in the world, if that is any sort of victory. With only 5 players on non-zero points, it’s not exactly looking like a bright future.

Shadow for their part still manage to find an impressive volume of targets. With some 250 enemy villages remaining, a well coordinated week could close the story on W27, though this author expects some targets to linger on into the following week.

In Other News…

• 3 more players joined the 1000 club, putting all of the top 5 above 1000 villages.
• Shadow has 100% domination in 35/48 continents.

Stats

Tribes:

Ennoble Winner: Shadow (+472)

Ennoble Loser: [OBL] (-123)

Players:

Ennoble Winner: sstarkey (+68)

Ennoble Loser: Fullcircle (-46)

Top Ten Tribes:

1          Shadow            222.761.096    226.351.114    44        5.144.344        23290  9.719

2          SBM    961.995           961.995           22        43.727 138      6.971

3          Dawn   316.634           316.634           22        14.392 49        6.462

4          [OBL]  220.466           220.466           19        11.603 51        4.323

5          S-R      11.880 11.880 1          11.880 1          11.880

6          spock   1.885   1.885   1          1.885   1          1.885

7          +KN+  1.709   1.709   48        36        2          855

8          EBM    484      484      1          484      1          484

9          E=MC²            301      301      1          301      0          0

10        Dawn-A           159      159      12        13        1          159

Top Ten Players:

1          Zarin    Shadow            12.050.546      1194    10093

2          gerick6 Shadow            11.745.574      1139    10312

3          sstarkey            Shadow            10.337.482      1048    9864

4          mikestuntz        Shadow            10.218.399      1044    9788

5          lord trader        Shadow            9.883.088        1014    9747

6          SusieJean         Shadow            8.697.390        891      9761

7          foghorn66         Shadow            8.324.256        845      9851

8          kfoo     Shadow            8.232.650        820      10040

9          Deciphered       Shadow            8.172.568        810      10090

10        Mande1992     Shadow            8.161.656        857      9524

Maps

Top Tribes

Top Players

I think I shall call an end to proceedings here. It has been a pleasure as always. I suggest you tune in next week because there will not be many left!

Zarin