The dark clouds of conflict began building following the announcement of the upcoming alliance war, dubbed The Clone War. This conflict is actually a quite amicable one which is intended to inspire more activity and excitement in the Metaverse. Teams consisting of no more than 3 empires are banding together to compete in a month long tournament which will collect all raw scores and compare them to the other teams. There will not be just one winner in the competition, as there will be awards for several different categories including skill level. Official scorekeeping is being headed up by the fine folks at Mid-Western Confederation, who are donating their Statbot capabilities to the effort. The excitement over this tournament has spread quite quickly and already several teams have formed. Diplomatic manuevering was feverish but confirmed teams as of publication date are:

It is rumored that an alliance between the Aldarians, ANZACs, and Realms Beyonders is in the works but official confirmation has not yet been made.

Already, friendly trash talking has begun between the opponents and it appears the activity level in the Metaverse is increasing. The whole purpose of this tournament is to provide a further challenge to the various empires and to also reiterate the community spirit which is so strong within the Metaverse. The discussion threads in the forum have seen a significant boost in chatter and excitement continues to grow every day.

Rise of the Guardians

The Galactic Guardians empire has made some incredible strides in the past several days leaping all the way into the Top 10! Visible and vibrant, this empire has an incredible activity rate. This new empire has caught the notice of many in the Metaverse, not just for their rise in the rankings but their community wandering. Likely to be found in any empire's thread or a strategy thread, the Galactic Guardians are a friendly voice in the Metaverse.

Empire Rankings

The Fellowship of the Ring empire fell to third place following recent migrations and an assault by the European Alliance. Vowing to not give up, the Fellowship has continued to fight and is less than 500,000 points away from the Euros. The Europeans, meanwhile, have their eyes set on Special Forces and the top spot in the Metaverse. Though their deficit is around 600,000 points, the Euros are surging and Special Forces should be very wary of the coming fight!

There is still a close battle going on between the Jedi Republic and the Mid-Western Confederation for fourth place. The Jedi currently hold the position but with only around 200,000 points separating the two empires, anything is possible. The MWC has been silent lately but continue to submit games diligently. The Galactic Guardians are trying to catch the ANZAC Republic for eighth place but the Aussies have bolstered their defences and are prepared for any action against them by the Guardians. The Canadian Star Federation is witnessing a bit more activity and is attempting to pass Realms Beyond for sixth place. Starfleet empire continued it's growth as two recent recruits brought their crew up to five.

Diplomats Reach 1 Million

The Diplomats empire reached that magical milestone of one million points yesterday and immediately set off wild celebrations. Rumors are that several Aldarian advisors were helping the Diplomats with their celebration activities and clear evidence of DHABB was apparent. The normally quiet and...well...diplomatic empire broke forth with joke telling and good humor following the announcement. The acheivement of the Diplomats brings the number of empires with more than one million points to twelve, with the Evil Empire lurking just shy of one million!

The Weekly Spotlight Empire

This week's empire in the spotlight is the Jedi Republic. This empire has been around since May 31, 2003 and is led by Emperor Jedi_Master_Yoda. Actually, the empire is led by the Jedi Council which consists of a number of active members who have proven their mettle in either battle or negotiation. Fearing a lack of activity and interest, the Jedi created Project Rejuvination, which outlined the methods for promotion within the ranks of the Jedi order. More activity in both battle and forum is now required to gain and keep a Jedi Rank, which is given at their personal website. This empire has proven to be a force (pun intended) in the Metaverse and is a stable Top Five empire. Complete history and information on this empire is found on their excellent website. It is generally agreed that the Jedi are fun-loving and interesting people who are good to chat with.