Ykno I wish more people would read this post... there's so many alliances that are defunct or completely useless because of who's running the show...
In Zorg, the big talkers and the arrogant bigshots tend to flare out after they get crashed.. but the damage they do until they get crashed is sometimes devastating...
Alliances should only be there to provide knowledge and training (the right training) while also tempering the members with skills they can use. Unfortunately sometimes when the wrong people are in charge they forget that not everyone knows the game top to bottom.. and odds are they don't even know it that well themselves... They end up on a power trip and 9 times out of 10 they start a war that almost always ends badly (I won't say any names or point any fingers).
I have met members of other alliances that haven't even been taught the basics... or been offered the help... On the other hand though, there are members in our alliance that don't communicate and don't use the resources provided.. so they're pretty much in the same boat. What's worse is when someone escapes the grinder by pure chance and thinks their strategy is superior.. and proceed to teach the wrong tactics to those who will listen (this time I will name names - particularly Abomination). We all know what happened to him... and his follower...
Sometimes though... alliances can get so large that they're no longer effective because there are simply too many people... so communication is key. I think any alliance that doesn't have a secondary form of communication and information sharing is at a severe disadvantage regardless of its size... 3 members can gain as much from it as 30 can.
As to the whole offering protection bit... it definitely should not be a deciding factor on the alliance you join......
Considering the balance of power in the universe... unless the player is a mintaka doppleganger it's rarely effective. I
One last comment... about the whole sending resources as bribes... Even after posting it in our own alliance rules, publicly ostracizing every member that asks, and threatening removal doesn't quell the n00bish request for resources...
Thanks Slash, you have said what many of us have been trying to say for a long time...
Join an alliance that has activity within the alliance as a primary requirement for continued membership. Wearing an alliance tag means nothing if you aren't part of an active community.
Could not have said it any better.
If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.