IIIlusionist [253384] —
Original article
Pull up a chair and grab some popcorn, because this is going to be an interesting and fairly lengthy tale.
Upon their inception, Born Fighting (BF) held the Faction ID 32, which at this point made it the oldest faction in Torn. Although ID 32 bore various names in the past, including Superheroes In Tights, it adopted the BF crest around 2013, when it was purchased by Rapid_riser [262223] for the princely sum of $1,000,000,000. BF was part of the 39th family, which also included 39th Street Killer and 39th X. BF's relationship with 39th SK was a mixed bag, to say the least, with some 39th SK members begrudging the constant requests to help BF in wars, and others happy to help out, often going above and beyond what was asked of them.
BF started out like any other ambitious new faction, with few members and little experience, meaning they had to build the BF name and strength out of nothing. During the early years Rapid_riser, with JungleFever [485551] as co-leader, set the foundation for how Born Fighting was going to operate. BF was to be a faction for the new and inexperienced (also known fondly as noobs), and subsequently, there was no level or stat requirement for membership.
Rapid_riser, being a true Torn old schooler, used his experience of leading the 39th Street Killers and general Torn expertise to help his new recruits find their feet in the game. He took them under his wing, taught them how to chain and created many useful forum threads packed with information and guides to assist in playing the game.
However, alongside their altruistic approach towards new players, BF was also intended to serve as a reviving faction for 39th SK. With this in mind, one of their early goals was to chain hard in order to obtain Salutary X as soon as humanly possible. They began by attempting a single 100 hit chain a day, with Rapid_riser nursing the chain throughout as other players came on to make hits. But, as their member base grew, the number of chains they rocked each day increased substantially. And so, despite their formation as a reviving faction, a role which was fulfilled to an extent, Born Fighting eventually became much more of a force than anyone had ever envisaged.
By fighting in wars and claiming some extremely high bonuses, it was often claimed that BF was a stepping stone to 39th SK, despite the fact that no one was ever officially promoted between the two. Some of the faction's top hitters would get a prize on the odd occasion, and be allowed to join the other 39th factions to build on their stats, but this was a very rare event. Nevertheless, BF was the definition of a nonstop chaining machine, chaining all day, every day. Training breaks? They were just an urban legend that members had heard might exist in some far away land.
All of the players I talked with mentioned chaining was nonstop, with little or no time for training. Was that the best way to help young players grow in strength and experience, or was it the selfish ambition of the leaders, seemingly attempting to accumulate huge amounts of respect without considering what new players really needed to focus on?
At this point, Born Fighting was fast becoming a recognised and respectable faction in Torn. It could even be argued that they were in better shape than their parent faction, whose own fortunes had struck a rather big bump in the road. With problems abound in 39th SK, Rapid_riser felt they needed his presence to help them back on their feet, entrusting Born Fighting to HUZ [1407331] in the interim period, along with Champion [1927067] (known as RPG on a previous account) and Mr_PsycWard [1579270].
Between them, they ran the faction in the absence of Rapid_riser, but what happened next...well that's a little fuzzy. It is known that Rapid_riser was forced to abandon BF in order to return and help 39th SK in a war against Milk & Cookies, and when he eventually returned to BF, he found nothing but chaos. In his absence, JungleFever had taken it upon himself to kick out some 20 or so members, before quitting the faction himself in disgrace. Thankfully, Born Fighting did manage to regroup, but some time after re-joining Rapid_riser was forced to depart again, due to a combination of 39th SK losing their leaders and his own real life commitments.
It is clear that Rapid_riser was key in establishing BF's culture and atmosphere in its early days, and his influence could be seen throughout BF's existence. However, it is also clear that Rapid_riser's attentions were not merely limited to just one faction; in fact, his authority and mantra were spread across the 39th family, and when combined with demands outside of Torn, this led to him taking less of an active role in leading.
Inevitably, Rapid_riser began to delegate his responsibilities to other trusted members, yet even then the members he left in charge were still required to report directly to him. Any respect points they wished to spend on specials, any major changes or decisions they wanted regarding the faction; everything had to have Rapid_riser's stamp of approval, and with his level of activity dwindling to a trickle, this was less than ideal. Obviously, this situation couldn't continue indefinitely, and after much chopping and changing, leadership eventually fell into the hands of Woolis [1568593]. At this point, things started to get very juicy indeed.
At first, Woolis seemed to pick up right where the other leaders left off. His reign started with the promise of a bright and successful future with him, a calm, patient and fair leader, alongside other experienced members who would guide Born Fighting from strength to strength. Woolis remained accessible in chat and was there to organise, make hits and run chains when necessary, whilst also making himself available for members who needed advice or help during chaining events. But sadly, this wasn't to last.
The first crack in the glass appeared during the war between BF and Wolf Pack Next Generation. This conflict turned into a guest-fest, and members were kicked to stop either side from claiming victory, a tactic we'd seen before during the war between Trigger Happy and Helevte. Despite this, once again BF managed to regroup, albeit with half the number of members they enjoyed prior to the war. After this incident, perhaps disheartened by what he had seen, Woolis began to become more and more distant; spending less time on chat, less time running chains, and barely helping the faction's members at all. Woolis slowly fell from the top of the hit list, but the damage had already been done, as the crack began to spread.
Gone was the calm and patient leader we once knew, and now, as BF's members described, Woolis was simply too aggressive, too arrogant. It was a case of his way or the highway, and when people objected, Woolis began banishing members for what they felt were trivial and unjust reasons.
The glass was all but shattered when Woolis summarily dispatched each and every one of BFs members from the faction, in a move which was completely unannounced and seemingly without reason. Confused and factionless, BF members dispersed to various factions, with some heading to 39th X and a handful accepted into 39th SK by Mr_PsycWard. Mr_PsycWard himself had left BF due to Rapid_riser's demand that chaining should be non-stop, but his welcoming of BF members came at a heavy personal price, as he was stripped of his access to applications - although 39th SK leaders maintain that the two events were entirely unrelated. As a result of this, Mr_PsycWard left the 39th family and BF members were asked to leave or kicked, with only the intervention of Rapid_riser saving a few of them from the boot.
Out of respect to those involved, and the lack of concrete information available regarding Woolis' motives, I won't go into too much detail on this matter. However, some say a lover's spat between Woolis and a certain fellow member caused him to lose his marbles, whilst others claim he was simply fed up with the leechers who permeated the faction - although BF had a large member base, so this reason seems farfetched, to say the least. Another conspiracy theory is that although Rapid_riser was instrumental in creating BF, the former leader's constant hopping to 39th SK may have irrevocably damaged its chances of a future. This hopping, coupled with his intermediate attention to the faction in the later stages, led to Woolis feeling that Rapid_riser had abandoned Born Fighting, and when he came knocking at the door to reclaim the throne after several months away, Woolis was unwilling to relinquish control, no matter what the costs.
All this drama no doubt caught Rapid_riser's attention and he began angling for a return to leadership once more. However, as mentioned earlier, when Rapid_riser made an official request to Woolis for reinstatement, Woolis refused, sparking some considerably heated conversation.
Rapid_riser attempted a last-minute negotiation with Woolis in a bid to save the faction, but it was to no avail. On 14/12/2015 Rapid_riser finished what he'd started and dropped a dirty bomb on Born Fighting, destroying it outright and ending faction ID 32 for good. Born Fighting's former members have fond memories of the faction, and after the dust had settled, some still held hope that they may yet rebuild.
Sadly, that wasn't to be. And thus ends the story of Born Fighting, a faction smothered in its bed by the mother who had borne it.
Upon their inception, Born Fighting (BF) held the Faction ID 32, which at this point made it the oldest faction in Torn. Although ID 32 bore various names in the past, including Superheroes In Tights, it adopted the BF crest around 2013, when it was purchased by Rapid_riser [262223] for the princely sum of $1,000,000,000. BF was part of the 39th family, which also included 39th Street Killer and 39th X. BF's relationship with 39th SK was a mixed bag, to say the least, with some 39th SK members begrudging the constant requests to help BF in wars, and others happy to help out, often going above and beyond what was asked of them.
BF started out like any other ambitious new faction, with few members and little experience, meaning they had to build the BF name and strength out of nothing. During the early years Rapid_riser, with JungleFever [485551] as co-leader, set the foundation for how Born Fighting was going to operate. BF was to be a faction for the new and inexperienced (also known fondly as noobs), and subsequently, there was no level or stat requirement for membership.
Rapid_riser, being a true Torn old schooler, used his experience of leading the 39th Street Killers and general Torn expertise to help his new recruits find their feet in the game. He took them under his wing, taught them how to chain and created many useful forum threads packed with information and guides to assist in playing the game.
However, alongside their altruistic approach towards new players, BF was also intended to serve as a reviving faction for 39th SK. With this in mind, one of their early goals was to chain hard in order to obtain Salutary X as soon as humanly possible. They began by attempting a single 100 hit chain a day, with Rapid_riser nursing the chain throughout as other players came on to make hits. But, as their member base grew, the number of chains they rocked each day increased substantially. And so, despite their formation as a reviving faction, a role which was fulfilled to an extent, Born Fighting eventually became much more of a force than anyone had ever envisaged.
By fighting in wars and claiming some extremely high bonuses, it was often claimed that BF was a stepping stone to 39th SK, despite the fact that no one was ever officially promoted between the two. Some of the faction's top hitters would get a prize on the odd occasion, and be allowed to join the other 39th factions to build on their stats, but this was a very rare event. Nevertheless, BF was the definition of a nonstop chaining machine, chaining all day, every day. Training breaks? They were just an urban legend that members had heard might exist in some far away land.
All of the players I talked with mentioned chaining was nonstop, with little or no time for training. Was that the best way to help young players grow in strength and experience, or was it the selfish ambition of the leaders, seemingly attempting to accumulate huge amounts of respect without considering what new players really needed to focus on?
At this point, Born Fighting was fast becoming a recognised and respectable faction in Torn. It could even be argued that they were in better shape than their parent faction, whose own fortunes had struck a rather big bump in the road. With problems abound in 39th SK, Rapid_riser felt they needed his presence to help them back on their feet, entrusting Born Fighting to HUZ [1407331] in the interim period, along with Champion [1927067] (known as RPG on a previous account) and Mr_PsycWard [1579270].
Between them, they ran the faction in the absence of Rapid_riser, but what happened next...well that's a little fuzzy. It is known that Rapid_riser was forced to abandon BF in order to return and help 39th SK in a war against Milk & Cookies, and when he eventually returned to BF, he found nothing but chaos. In his absence, JungleFever had taken it upon himself to kick out some 20 or so members, before quitting the faction himself in disgrace. Thankfully, Born Fighting did manage to regroup, but some time after re-joining Rapid_riser was forced to depart again, due to a combination of 39th SK losing their leaders and his own real life commitments.
It is clear that Rapid_riser was key in establishing BF's culture and atmosphere in its early days, and his influence could be seen throughout BF's existence. However, it is also clear that Rapid_riser's attentions were not merely limited to just one faction; in fact, his authority and mantra were spread across the 39th family, and when combined with demands outside of Torn, this led to him taking less of an active role in leading.
Inevitably, Rapid_riser began to delegate his responsibilities to other trusted members, yet even then the members he left in charge were still required to report directly to him. Any respect points they wished to spend on specials, any major changes or decisions they wanted regarding the faction; everything had to have Rapid_riser's stamp of approval, and with his level of activity dwindling to a trickle, this was less than ideal. Obviously, this situation couldn't continue indefinitely, and after much chopping and changing, leadership eventually fell into the hands of Woolis [1568593]. At this point, things started to get very juicy indeed.
At first, Woolis seemed to pick up right where the other leaders left off. His reign started with the promise of a bright and successful future with him, a calm, patient and fair leader, alongside other experienced members who would guide Born Fighting from strength to strength. Woolis remained accessible in chat and was there to organise, make hits and run chains when necessary, whilst also making himself available for members who needed advice or help during chaining events. But sadly, this wasn't to last.
The first crack in the glass appeared during the war between BF and Wolf Pack Next Generation. This conflict turned into a guest-fest, and members were kicked to stop either side from claiming victory, a tactic we'd seen before during the war between Trigger Happy and Helevte. Despite this, once again BF managed to regroup, albeit with half the number of members they enjoyed prior to the war. After this incident, perhaps disheartened by what he had seen, Woolis began to become more and more distant; spending less time on chat, less time running chains, and barely helping the faction's members at all. Woolis slowly fell from the top of the hit list, but the damage had already been done, as the crack began to spread.
Gone was the calm and patient leader we once knew, and now, as BF's members described, Woolis was simply too aggressive, too arrogant. It was a case of his way or the highway, and when people objected, Woolis began banishing members for what they felt were trivial and unjust reasons.
The glass was all but shattered when Woolis summarily dispatched each and every one of BFs members from the faction, in a move which was completely unannounced and seemingly without reason. Confused and factionless, BF members dispersed to various factions, with some heading to 39th X and a handful accepted into 39th SK by Mr_PsycWard. Mr_PsycWard himself had left BF due to Rapid_riser's demand that chaining should be non-stop, but his welcoming of BF members came at a heavy personal price, as he was stripped of his access to applications - although 39th SK leaders maintain that the two events were entirely unrelated. As a result of this, Mr_PsycWard left the 39th family and BF members were asked to leave or kicked, with only the intervention of Rapid_riser saving a few of them from the boot.
Out of respect to those involved, and the lack of concrete information available regarding Woolis' motives, I won't go into too much detail on this matter. However, some say a lover's spat between Woolis and a certain fellow member caused him to lose his marbles, whilst others claim he was simply fed up with the leechers who permeated the faction - although BF had a large member base, so this reason seems farfetched, to say the least. Another conspiracy theory is that although Rapid_riser was instrumental in creating BF, the former leader's constant hopping to 39th SK may have irrevocably damaged its chances of a future. This hopping, coupled with his intermediate attention to the faction in the later stages, led to Woolis feeling that Rapid_riser had abandoned Born Fighting, and when he came knocking at the door to reclaim the throne after several months away, Woolis was unwilling to relinquish control, no matter what the costs.
All this drama no doubt caught Rapid_riser's attention and he began angling for a return to leadership once more. However, as mentioned earlier, when Rapid_riser made an official request to Woolis for reinstatement, Woolis refused, sparking some considerably heated conversation.
Rapid_riser attempted a last-minute negotiation with Woolis in a bid to save the faction, but it was to no avail. On 14/12/2015 Rapid_riser finished what he'd started and dropped a dirty bomb on Born Fighting, destroying it outright and ending faction ID 32 for good. Born Fighting's former members have fond memories of the faction, and after the dust had settled, some still held hope that they may yet rebuild.
Sadly, that wasn't to be. And thus ends the story of Born Fighting, a faction smothered in its bed by the mother who had borne it.
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