I bet there is some standard declaration of independence form everyone has always used throughout history that they slightly modify for their uses as we usually learn in school
TKoV has some names out there, hopefully we can see some more!
So as a side note on competition in a games, I've actually be talking a bit about this with people recently. As I keep mentioning I have a son that is only 5 months but soon enough I'll be introducing him to gaming, and what I hope to pass on is an idea of what healthy competition is.
I have some people I've tried to play games with that honestly don't really care about the outcome in any capacity. In the end they end up not being very fun to play with because through the act of not trying, they somewhat spoil the game, making losing moves constantly with no intention to learn and improve and grow. The game becomes boring and stagnate and in the end not much fun.
But when someone is trying, even if the skill level is different, the game becomes much more fun. Usually when I play games with people 'in the real world' I tend to figure things out first and understand the trade-offs in game quicker, so a lot of time I'm teaching others how to do things correctly, and it is hugely satisfying to watch people improve and get better as they grow and even surpass me.
But really that is in my mind what healthy competition is, growing and getting better at the game or whatever you are doing. Without the a competitive environment though, it can starts to become difficult to actually get better at something. If neither party is trying their best or using optimal strategies, than weak strategies will still succeed, and you pick up lots of bad habits.
Applied to warband it might be something simple like you can return swing after a block. If you always played beginner players who never improved, you could effectively spam them, and keep spamming them forever. You would never learn any of the other aspects of the game, because swinging over and over would be just good enough. But as soon as you encounter someone who is using stronger strategies, suddenly you have to find something new that works, have to learn a new skill, and understand a new aspect of the game you might have not even seen before.
At the end of the day though you do need a way to measure performance, you have to be able to look back and see that you improved. But often it doesn't have to be the end score. When I was playing volleyball on a rec team, for me it was more about great plays, and how well i did that night, rather than the final score for me. If we won but I still missed easy plays or my hitting was off or something i still came home frustrated, but even if we lost all 4 and I got some great hits and didn't mess up when the ball came into my area I still felt good.
But yes, being obsessed with the outcome, and being the best, and obsessed with a record, can lead to some nasty things, and that is where competition can get a bad rap. But really I think for me is that in competition, when people are really trying and giving it their all, is crazy fun, and overcoming the challenges being thrown at you or overwhelming another person with your own, is the spirit of an event.
I mean if you look at this nation cup thing, every match played is going to suck with ping, and at the end you get a tshirt. I'm pretty sure we could very easily go buy our own tshirts, but it's not about that. It's about getting out there and meeting up with your fellow gamers in this small community, and really pushing each other to play better and learn more and to enjoy this game further.
This isn't the religion that is professional sports, I am pretty sure that getting teabagged in the nations cup of warband isn't going to cause riots in the streets
