Robertdonald

Robertdonald (sometimes spelled RobertDonald) was one of the founders of Scallywag Syndicate. He won a Blue/Red parrot, called Moneybags in the Best Pirate Competition! of June 2004 on Midnight. He also won a red octopus, called Moneybags Jr. in the *Drinking Tournament! of August 2004 on Midnight, and a black/lime parrot, called Moneybags III in the Thanksgiving (Swordfighting) Tournaments on Midnight in November 2004.

Robertdonald was known for his high level of skill at most puzzles, particularly drinking, leading to his coding of a version of "classic drinking" on Game Gardens after the new version was implemented into the game. The culture of paying jobbers to puzzle for a specific side in blockades was first initiated by Robertdonald under the flag during the blockade. The character built up a notorious reputation, often clashing with various flags and individuals due to differing views, the Scallywag War being one such example. Following the events surrounding Jorvik VIII, Robertdonald's character was "exiled" - that is banned until further notice, but with the understanding that the ban was not necessarily infinite. Despite his exile, Robertdonald occasionally posts on the forums.

Among his achievements, he is held as a prime example of the capacity for mercenary gameplay within Y!PP.

YPP rules and mechanics created or modified due to Robertdonald
''Note: Opinions vary greatly regarding how directly Robertdonald affected these changes. ''


 * Fame: Robertdonald was known for creating alternate flags to drop war chest on islands. This was done to avoid consequences like war and to generally irritate island holders.  It also created ambiguity about who had created the alt flag.  This classic Robertdonald tactic likely contributed to the rationale behind the Fame system.


 * Building limits: Robertdonald was also famous for taking islands and selling as many construction sites as possible as soon as he had succeded in winning the blockade.  This was a major PoE generator for his attack efforts.  This tactic could have been a contributory factor in the imposed limit of only two construction sites on single island at a time.


 * No-Show Blockades: Robertdonald particularly enjoyed keeping some flags on their toes. He would frequently drop war chests on islands at strange hours and then simply not show up for the blockade. This forced the defending flag to spend time and PoE gathering an unneeded defense and place them in a "cry wolf" situation. This likely led to later Ringer policy which punished no-show blockades.


 * Blockade Pay: The firm establishment of paying jobbers to help at blockades can be credited to Robertdonald and his mercenary ways. Robertdonald pioneered, and was a vocal advocate for, the practice of regularly paying jobbers for blockading. The practice spread, and gradually became the norm. This in turn eventually led to the blockade pay mechanic to provide a simple, automated way to pay people for blockades without using workarounds or third party tools.


 * Island Transfer: Robertdonald was also famous for taking an island and selling it to another flag as quickly as possible and/or simply acting as a mercenary flag to take the island in question for them. This quick sell or mercenary island taking possibly was a contributory factor in the 'pay to transfer an island' system and the mandatory island transfer announcement system for the forums.