What a long, strange trip it's been. This line from a famous Grateful Dead song sums up the Metaverse very well. Several empires whose presence in the Metaverse has almost been taken for granted have seen some huge changes.
One of the biggest changes to take place has been the disappearance of the ANZAC Republic.
This empire has been around for a long time, but has been shaken so many times by defections, that Emperor BlueSteel decided to disband the empire. The fate of the ANZAC Republic had been unsteady for quite some time as they bounced back and forth through the standings. BlueSteel decided to join the Fellowship of the Ring empire, who welcomed him with open arms, along with Stupot74. With his immigration, BlueSteel became known as Smeagle, the creature from the Lord of the Rings which pursued the One Ring. The remnants of ANZAC Republic joined together to form the ANZAC Imperium, headed by Emperor Evil Steve.
Another tremendous change to a well-known empire was the loss of the Pirates of the Southern Seas from G.R.O.S.S. The Posse, as they had come to be known, created a new empire, the Special Forces empire. Joined by Obi Wan Kenobi, formerly of the Jedi Republic, the SpecForces empire has risen quickly to fifth place. As an Invite Only empire, Special Forces hopes to only recruit like-minded overlords to their empire. Emperor Wild Wombat has a great opportunity to make some waves in the Metaverse.
These changes have caused a completely new picture to form in the Metaverse. The Fellowship of the Ring has remained at the top spot, but is now challenged by the Jedi Republic. Only about 140,000 points separate the two empires. The Euros once again have slipped into the third spot, passing the ever present Mid-Western Confederation. G.R.O.S.S. slipped to sixth place with the loss of the Posse, but has rebounded quite well and looks to stabalize their position for the time being. The newly formed ANZAC Imperium comes in at an impressive tenth place. Viraxian Ascension has jumped to 22nd place after gaining a new recruit. This marks the first time Viraxian has made the Top 25.
Our Weekly Spotlight Empire for this week is Adventurers Inc. This empire has been in existence since May 2003 and is now seeing a resurgence in activity. Though Adventurers Inc. only has four overlords, they seem to be gathering strength for a push into the top empires. They currently stand at 23rd spot and are looking for interested recruits at their empire page. They are currently looking into an Imperial website.