|
 | Procyon Herald - Issue 38: Opinion - "The Ruse of War" |  | |
Issue 38: Opinion - "The Ruse of War"
01-28-2007 10:52
Ruse de guerre. Translated, means “ruse of war”, and is defined as an action taken by a belligerent in warfare to fool the enemy in order to gain intelligence or a military advantage against an enemy. (Source = Wikipedia.)
It has been an effective and accepted tactic used throughout history. Napoleon’s fleets, for example, would often sail flying Spanish colours to fool the British. The British, in turn, would sometimes fly French colours to lure their enemies closer. A ruse can include the planting of false information, or the use of a smaller force to simulate a larger force (“Surrender – we have you surrounded.”), bogus radio transmissions, moving landmarks, construction of false air fields, feigned attacks or retreats, etc… A ruse de guerre, however, does come with its own rules and obligations.
While the distinction between a legitimate ruse and an illegitimate ruse is often fuzzy, one rule is very clear: “It is especially forbidden to make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag, or of the military insignia and military uniform of the enemy.” In this case, improper use constitutes firing on an enemy, while wearing the uniform of that enemy.
In the recent battle of Chugoku, Admiral Mank donned the uniform of a Brigantine (more on this in a moment). In itself, this would be considered an acceptable ruse de guerre. However, he crossed the line the moment he opened fire on the pirates without first revealing himself to be one of the Allied ships.
As for donning the uniform of a Brigantine, and wearing the clan tag, this too is controversial. If what Mank is saying is true, then the Brigantines Capt gave permission to the player that was Neo Flame to wear the tag, who then transferred the character (and tag) to Mank. (Question: Did Mank create a ‘new’ Brigantines Neo Flame, or was the original character, name, ship and all, somehow transferred? I’d like to know how this was done.) The question now becomes, ‘Who has the right to grant permission to use clan tags?’ Does anyone in a clan (such as the original Neo Flame) have this right, or is it simply the leader of the clan? At the Battle of Chugoku, Cougar gave his permission to certain individuals to wear the Cobalt clan tag. Clearly, Brigantines Capt did not give Mank permission to wear the Brigantines clan tag.
True, Mank sought permission from the admins before doing this, and presumably they gave their consent. Really, this should be the end of it. The problem is, as Hash points out, this sort of activity creates so much controversy that it ought not to be allowed. In my opinion, it undermines peoples’ faith in the server rules themselves.
You are all free to do whatever you want with this. It’s just a game after all. But for my own part as a ‘reporter’, I’m going to be boycotting any future battles that make use of clones. Apart from making the battles extremely difficult to follow, and opening the door to many possible abuses, the stories that come out of such clone-infested battles are just plain boring.
“Welcome to the Procyon Herald. A bunch of Tokers clashed with a bunch of Cobalt Swallowtail Gulls last night. Many Tokers and many Gulls died. In the end, the server’s entire battle system was put on ice, and everybody lost.”
For the Herald, this is Ravenwood, signing off.
Back to the main page | |  | |  |
| November on 01-28-2007 11:32:51 | | |
& Pandora laughs... | | | | |
| Hash on 01-28-2007 11:47:58 | | |
When the idea for the toker tags first came about, I thought it was a stroke of genius. The one problem we as a clan had expierenced in system battles was focus fire. Overcoming 20-25 pilots streaming fire in your general direction is a tough thing to do. The toker tags gave us as a clan a chance to feel like we were fighting, and yes, to flex our muscles. Its tough being considered such a threat that people lock onto you extinctivly. This is something I know cheech and chong have delt with for a while and something I am just now getting acustomed to.
One thing I will make very clear is this. We never allowed the use of the tag by anyone other then Toker members. Anytime you say a toker tag it was one of the 4 of us.
When the cobalts descided to use their own version of the tag, as I stated on the forums, it was expected. We figured a lot of folks would jump on the bandwagon and that the tag issue would be squashed by the admins and not allowed anymore. The admins threw a curveball though by allowing the cobalts to go through with their version. I had many of the same thoughts you do raven, about how watered down this would make system battles. I wasn't at all concerned about not being able to use focus fire on the cobalts, as thats just something the tokers didn't do often.
Mank crossed the line with the use of the Brigs tag. I find it very disheartening that the admins have allowed that to happen, and I almost wish we had never used the toker tags to begin with. I feel semi-responsible for helping this situation come about, but the simple fact is Mank is his own person. He circumvented the rules in a way that should not be allowed. He has done nothing but push the rules well beyond their bounds to make up for his lack of actually game prowess. It's sad really, to take it all so personally.
As it stands now, I will be putting in a request to not use the toker tags anymore, and I will not use mine. I'm hoping the admins step foward and do the right thing in this situation, and put a stop to it. | | | | |
| SgtWildman on 01-28-2007 12:30:56 | | |
I agree with this. It was boring not to be able to brag that I killed someone specific. Although it was a one time stroke of genius, it should not be repeated. As far as shooting at someone using another tag, well it is happening these days with real war. The enemy will use any tactic because the don't play by the same set of rules as us. But this is a game, and I don't think this should ever be allowed again. I thought it was just being used to spy, not to shoot. If I had known this at the time, I would have agreed to it. Now, in the aftermath, I do not. The gulls thing was fun for a min but now it is boring. | | | | |
| yalkara on 01-28-2007 12:59:19 | | |
How can you even see the right in using that char to spy? I can see if mank had grown a set and actually gotten into the brigs on his own instead of having to have someone delete their char so he could make a copy of it (which is using a tag without the tag owners permision which if it is not bannable it sure as shit should be) not only did he take the sissy way out he used his ill gotten char to shoot people in the back instead of being a actual man and on the alliances side of the fight in his own ship. | | | | |
| Tom Cruise on 01-28-2007 15:11:56 | | |
[[[one rule is very clear: “It is especially forbidden to make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag, or of the military insignia and military uniform of the enemy.” In this case, improper use constitutes firing on an enemy, while wearing the uniform of that enemy.]]]
Sounds pretty cut and dry to me. There's a reason those rules are in place in real life. Because without them, there would be nothing but chaos. It only takes one party to break the rules to make the whole system fall apart. | | | | |
| Gunbeard/Reverend on 01-28-2007 20:44:52 | | |
This is why I'm on Mank's case so much. It's not bashing, it's warning.
If someone finds a way to exploit or evade the rules, they should stop it or expect trouble. In the long run it degrades the server for the rest of us.
This place deserves to have a good community of friendly gamers who will not screw each other over or bend/break/evade the rules to achieve victory.
I'm really proud of a lot of people for speaking their minds on this. Stand by and do nothing and some people will take it as an open invitation to grab power at anyone's expense. Hooray for Procyon! | | | | |
| Tolrick on 01-29-2007 02:48:41 | | |
I was initially bothered by the Toker's use of the trick until I realized that only the actual four members of that clan were using the names.
OK, it's just to prevent focus fire and make the fights more interesting.
The Cobalt's evolution of it allowed for more than the normal roster of Cobalt's to play 'gull', even my clan was offered to use them.....We declined.
again, prevents focus fire, and with the Alliance pilots admitting to be slightly less skilled than their pirate opponents, I saw it as almost a neccessary trick.
Until I saw the numerical odds being channeled through one single jump hole.
Then it was kinda silly.
Mank's attacking of Brigs while wearing the Brig tag, no matter how justified he saw it at the time, was not acceptable.
Lots of other people have done horrific things in the name of 'neccessity', and been vilified for it, but this could in no way be considered neccessary.
The phrase 'victory at any cost' can not and should not be applied to any video game! | | | | |
| Tolrick on 01-29-2007 02:56:12 | | |
An afterthought:
The seagull swarm should have been limited to only Cobalt pilots, imho.
Other clans, such as Wraith Squadron, should have come up with their own method of making pilots unidentifiable.
I also believe that, in order to participate in a system battle (should any more ever happen after this), pilots should be legitimate pilots listed on a clan roster.
They also should be part of an allied clan to one side or another, or official mercenary group hired for the fight.
And then fight for their given side in open battle!! | | | | |
| Reverend on 01-29-2007 16:34:32 | | |
Tolrick raises some good points there. If we get the rules and regulations straight right from the start, there'll be no gray areas to argue over or exploit. | | | | |
| Cobalt_Falcon on 01-30-2007 22:22:33 | | |
Though I do not condone shooting people in the back, this is just a game. War is hell, deal with it. Warfare is an everchanging subject. Least we forget, the Nazis used the same tactic against Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge. English speaking Nazis posed as American MPs and cause several problems for our advancing forces. Several occasions involved those same Nazis killing Allied soldiers while wearing the uniforms of our MPs. Breaking the rules of the Ruse happens. Is it wrong, yes, do I care, no. Some Pirates have done far worse things, nor do I mind that. Remember, War is hell, and this is just a game. Now that this War is cooling off, we should all cool off as well. | | | | |
Add your comment:
|
