WarErZA - Behind the Tags

So... Who Are All These MUs Anyway?

This one has spent rather a lot of time shooting things lately.

And when you spend enough time on WarEra's battlefields, you begin recognising the same little tags.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69a86f7a83c15481ff4a067c appears. https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 appears.

Someone from https://app.warera.io/mu/694ce4f14bff8f86caa9e8e2 and https://app.warera.io/mu/69cf764cf18f2f6578e948e8 arrives.

A few https://app.warera.io/mu/693526dee76410bfb1b3242a names wander in.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69211a688510e26928ac2e17 starts shooting something.

https://app.warera.io/mu/691c988acc751d7f4585c059 and https://app.warera.io/mu/68f5b5deb7bd4d5177f97be9 is around somewhere.

And eventually this one realised something.

Khajiit knows the tags considerably better than he knows the people behind them.

That seems like a slight problem for somebody carrying a press badge.

So this one went looking.

THERE ARE MORE OF THEM THAN YOU THINK

South Africa's MU landscape is crowded.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69a86f7a83c15481ff4a067c. https://app.warera.io/mu/694ce4f14bff8f86caa9e8e2. https://app.warera.io/mu/69cf764cf18f2f6578e948e8. https://app.warera.io/mu/693526dee76410bfb1b3242a. https://app.warera.io/mu/6973098411016f295af02b8a. https://app.warera.io/mu/6973930d099aba6390ddd033. https://app.warera.io/mu/68f3c1b2b0106c54a16b3d56. https://app.warera.io/mu/697c36a365279cff33d5e640. https://app.warera.io/mu/691c988acc751d7f4585c059. https://app.warera.io/mu/69fa059db245fa3c4979f2ee. https://app.warera.io/mu/69ede20fcb74d0b550493667.

That is eleven populated MUs before this one has even crossed the border.

And crossing the border doesn't particularly help.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f5c has https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f59 gives us https://app.warera.io/mu/69211a688510e26928ac2e17, https://app.warera.io/mu/68f5b5deb7bd4d5177f97be9 and the https://app.warera.io/mu/69a9cec4d0f38a044f5d3532.

https://app.warera.io/country/683ddd2c24b5a2e114af15db has https://app.warera.io/mu/694d627cd792579fa9416dbe.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f6d has https://app.warera.io/mu/694281fb15d752dafdbef001.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f70 has https://app.warera.io/mu/6a849ba24e7a6415f285a1e1.

Eighteen populated Military Units across the little corner of Southern Africa WarErZA went exploring.

And, more importantly, there are 241 active players sitting behind those tags.

This one had expected a list.

Instead, he found a neighbourhood.

EVERYONE APPEARS TO HAVE A DIFFERENT IDEA

The amusing thing is that these organisations aren't simply eighteen different places to put your damage.

They seem to have wildly different ideas about what an MU should actually be.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69a86f7a83c15481ff4a067c doesn't exactly arrive quietly. Its recruitment pitch begins with:

“The best South Africa has to offer.”

High damage. Contracts. Serious fighters.

A bold claim.

This one has written it down for later.

Very carefully.

Then there are the Hestias.

Yes. Plural.

https://app.warera.io/mu/694ce4f14bff8f86caa9e8e2 describes itself as the chilled South African bounty-hunting option.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69cf764cf18f2f6578e948e8, meanwhile, talks about competing with the bigger MUs and opens its doors to South Africans and Olive Union members.

At some point this one will have to sit somebody down and ask precisely how we arrived at https://app.warera.io/mu/694ce4f14bff8f86caa9e8e2 and https://app.warera.io/mu/69cf764cf18f2f6578e948e8.

Today is not that day.

Mostly because This one would like an entire article out of the answer.

https://app.warera.io/mu/6973098411016f295af02b8a wears its South African identity rather more openly. It recruits active South African warriors and has already built enough of a reputation to have parts of its story told before.

https://app.warera.io/mu/697c36a365279cff33d5e640 manages to be even more efficient.

Its description?

“South African MU.”

Three words.

Done.

This one writes articles for a living and suddenly feels deeply inefficient.

https://app.warera.io/mu/6973930d099aba6390ddd033 is where things become a little more complicated.

It isn't merely an MU. It openly connects itself to a South African political party as well.

Politics and guns under one roof.

What could possibly generate more questions for a journalist?

Then we reach https://app.warera.io/mu/68f3c1b2b0106c54a16b3d56.

The full name is:

Tactical Response and Intervention Detachment for Rapid Neutralisation.

This one remains convinced somebody desperately wanted the word https://app.warera.io/mu/68f3c1b2b0106c54a16b3d56 and then refused to sleep until the acronym worked.

It describes itself as African-based and aligned with South Africa.

Honestly?

Worth it.

There is https://app.warera.io/mu/69fa059db245fa3c4979f2ee, promising:

“No hesitation. No weakness.”

Followed by:

“Dominance in the Dark.”

This one is unsure whether he is supposed to enlist or prepare for a boss fight.

Either way, the branding is excellent.

Then there is https://app.warera.io/mu/69ede20fcb74d0b550493667.

Its recruitment pitch is:

“Can I offer you a phuck yu instead?”

This one could analyse their strategic communications approach.

But sometimes journalism means knowing when the source has already given you the perfect paragraph.

And then there is https://app.warera.io/mu/693526dee76410bfb1b3242a

This one lives there.

So in the interests of journalistic transparency, https://app.warera.io/mu/693526dee76410bfb1b3242a is obviously a flawless organisation without any strange people whatsoever.

Editor may wish to fact-check this statement.

Its actual philosophy is considerably more useful: fighters, economists, new players and veterans are all welcome.

Level 1 to Level 50.

Apparently even journalists.

Finally, https://app.warera.io/mu/691c988acc751d7f4585c059 is looking for South African damage dealers who would like to fight for:

“freeeeeeedom!!!”

There are enough Es in there that this one assumes the freedom is particularly free.

SATURN also gives us our first reason to look beyond South Africa.

Because there is another one.

KHAJIIT CROSSES THE BORDER

https://app.warera.io/mu/68f5b5deb7bd4d5177f97be9 lives next door in https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f59.

And it isn't alone.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f59 is also home to https://app.warera.io/mu/69211a688510e26928ac2e17, or SWAK, which might win the award for the most Southern African MU name possible without simply calling itself Braai Commandos.

SWAK's message is bigger than https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f59.

It talks about liberating Africa.

Nearby, the tiny https://app.warera.io/mu/69a9cec4d0f38a044f5d3532 declares itself dedicated to the:

“DEFENSE of Africa !!!”

One wants to liberate Africa.

One wants to defend Africa.

This one would like to schedule the joint interview.

https://app.warera.io/country/683ddd2c24b5a2e114af15db brings us https://app.warera.io/mu/694d627cd792579fa9416dbe, a small but active mercenary outfit operating from across the border and associated with Baddie Hunters.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f6d has https://app.warera.io/mu/694281fb15d752dafdbef001, whose recruitment material involves stealing from gods.

There are spelling questions.

There are mythology questions.

There are probably legal questions.

All in good time.

https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f70's https://app.warera.io/mu/6a849ba24e7a6415f285a1e1 is smaller still.

Its recruitment message says everyone is welcome and that eventually:

“the active ones will prevail.”

This one appreciates a recruitment message that doubles as natural selection.

But the most interesting border crossing might be https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f5c.

BFB LEFT SOUTH AFRICA. SORT OF.

On paper, https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 belongs to https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f5c.

In practice, the story is considerably messier.

And considerably more interesting.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 has recently gone all-in on being a mercenary MU.

Contracts. Bounties.

Someone needs damage and has the money to pay for it?

https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 would apparently like to discuss business.

Its recruitment pitch wastes no time:

“Fighters ONLY. Contract/Bounty Hunters.”

And this is not a sleepy flag planted across the border either. https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029's entire current roster showed as active when WarErZA went looking.

But here is the important part.

A great many of the people behind that https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f5c flag are actually South African.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 may have crossed the border and embraced the mercenary life, but the message accompanying that change has been that they will never forget where they came from.

Now that interests this one.

Because eventually somebody is going to put enough money on the table that the mercenary and the South African in https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 are looking in different directions.

What happens then?

Khajiit has written that question down.

The https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 commander can answer it later.

THE FLAGS START GETTING A LITTLE FUZZY

And that may be the most interesting thing this little expedition uncovered.

There are 190 active South Africans scattered through the MUs WarErZA examined.

But they do not all sit inside South African MUs.

Meanwhile, South African units themselves contain players from elsewhere.

The further this one looked, the less useful it became to think of every MU as simply belonging to the flag displayed beside it.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69b06cc64922375a1b5a2029 is based in https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f5c but carries strong South African roots.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69211a688510e26928ac2e17 sits in https://app.warera.io/country/6873d0ea1758b40e712b5f59 but talks about Africa.

https://app.warera.io/mu/68f3c1b2b0106c54a16b3d56 describes itself as African-based and South African-aligned.

The https://app.warera.io/mu/69a9cec4d0f38a044f5d3532 wants to defend Africa.

https://app.warera.io/mu/69cf764cf18f2f6578e948e8 welcomes players from the wider Olive Union.

Some units are national. Some are regional.

Some are political. Some are social.

Some are mercenaries.

Some apparently exist to offer people a phuck yu.

The tag tells you who somebody fights with.

It doesn't necessarily tell you why.

SO THIS ONE HAS A NEW PROBLEM

WarErZA originally went looking for an overview.

We found one. Eighteen populated MUs.

A surprisingly large active community.

And enough different philosophies about what an MU is supposed to be that this article could become very long indeed.

So we are going to do something else instead.

This is only the map.

Next, this one starts knocking on doors.

Not all at once. This one values his remaining sanity.

But WarErZA will be sitting down with the people behind these units and giving each of them their own turn.

The commanders. The members.

The history. The rivalries.

The contracts. The politics.

The strange recruitment messages.

Why they formed. Why people stay.

Where they think they're going.

And perhaps most importantly:

What makes your MU different from the seventeen others this one just found?

Because the census can tell us who is active.

It can tell us where they live.

It can tell us which flag appears beside their name.

But it cannot tell us what turns a collection of players into an MU people actually care about.

For that, this one needs to ask them.

So, commanders of Southern Africa:

You may consider this your warning.

Khajiit is coming with questions.

And probably a notebook. Definitely the notebook.

https://app.warera.io/user/68e538c09c4aafa6f1a0bd5c — WarErZA War Correspondent

YOUR. VOICE. MATTERS.