Four Hour War

The Four Hour War was the game’s first serious use of the war mechanic. It took place on March 28, 2004. As the name suggests, it lasted roughly four hours.

The Beginning

The two flags involved were Rudder Revolution (RR) and Crimson Tide (CT). Hostilities had been growing between the monarchs of the two flags – Pennsuedo and Thanos respectively – since the beginning of Midnight. The ocean was rapidly developing a distinctly bipolar political system, with many flags feeling the need to take a side. At the time, RR and CT were still the most well-known flags of Midnight, although the flags in the RAWR alliance were beginning to make themselves known.

The reason for the beginning of the war is disputed. It is agreed that both sides were keen to make use of the war mechanic. On March 28 just before midday, Thanos took the initiative and declared war on RR. The two monarchs met and agreed to specific terms regarding the war, which were a) no attacks on solo ships and b) that either side could end the war without notice. CT’s reasoning for beginning the war was frustration towards the repetitive PVPing by RR that was taking place in a manner they considered unfair. CT decided the only way to fix this was to take the matter to the high seas. RR merely saw the war as an exciting use of a new game mechanic; they were unaware of, or unresponsive to, CT’s reasoning. They accepted the war offer, starting the war at 12.15pm.

War Timeline

(All times given are in Pirate Time.)

• 11.51 am: Crimson Tide declared war on Rudder Revolution.
• 12:13 pm: Rudder Revolution is at war with Crimson Tide!
• 1.28 pm: RR Sunk CT (Detestable Mullet)
• 2.00 pm: RR Defeated CT (Proud Shad)
• 2.37 pm: CT (Small Pickerel) defeated RR
• 4.00 pm: RR Sunk CT (Sensitive Cod)
• 4.18 pm: The war between Rudder Revolution and Crimson Tide is over!

The End

CT called an abrupt end to the war at 4.20 pm Pirate Time. The official reasoning was that CT felt RR was not living up to the terms of the war agreement that had been set up between the monarchs; specifically, Thanos felt that RR were specifically targeting weaker ships which meant the war was not fun for his flag. The main example of this was the sinking of the Sensitive Cod – a merchant vessel full of cargo. The CT members piloting the Sensitive Cod posted in the YPP forums stating they were given only 22 minutes warning that the war would begin and could not make it back to port in time.

RR disagreed with the statement Thanos made, saying that they were attacking only green ships and that they were not aware the Cod was a trade ship. The RR flagmates were of the understanding that all trading would be done by a specially marked trade crew.

The Aftermath

As with many in-game conflicts, once the war was ended, supporters of both sides took to the forums to discuss what had happened. The thread stayed relatively calm; by the end, it had become a brief discussion of the war mechanic which was still very new to the game.^[1]

Long-term, after seeing the problems with the Four Hour War, flags were arguably more hesitant to go to war for some time afterwards. The rivalry between CT and RR continued for months, although there was never another war between them; the polarisation of the ocean only calmed when Pennsuedo and Thanos both took breaks from the game.