What You Need To Know About NAPs

Somebody recently asked for an article about NAPs, how to structure them, and what they are. So, I asked one of our alliance leaders in VUK named Aped to offer superior advice on the matter. We are one of the top alliances in k80 and Aped handles all of our NAPs.

Who They Are Made With

NAPs = Non Aggression Pact

"Regarding the NAPs... They are primarily done on a case by case basis. Leaders [in VUK] usually review them in a way that benefits us directly. We think, "what do we get out of the NAP? Of course everyone wants a NAP with a big guy/ alliance because they don't want to become a target. But as a big it comes down to how does this benefit me? (This is the case when you ask anyone for something of value in real life). Take UVG, WH and AA! The biggest three in the kingdom. Does it benefit those three to be at constant war? In their case an NAP is justified because their power base is so similar it becomes a draw...

Now look at the next tier alliances, us, EVW, 1RF, and BMR. Some of us have bigs, some of us were feeder alliances for the bigs so we have a form of protection from them, but not much. Other alliances send requests all the time for NAPs, but again if they don't bring anything to the table it's usually not given. A way they may get around that issue is to pay rss to a big for protection, but that doesn't shield them from other big alliances.

NAPs can be tricky and are usually held together with tape. One wrong attack, wrong comment, or wrong defense (allowing enemies in kvk to get kills from you) could send a NAP spiraling. So while they are good for the kingdom especially among ruling alliances, they are usually managed with kids gloves because of their fragile nature.

They are not made without careful thought."

Rules to making an NAP with a big:

1. Find a way for it to benefit them, or be crafty and make them think it will.
2. Be very careful what you say, who you attack, and how your alliance holds itself during kvks. We even allow alliances we have NAPs with to attack us on occasion to make sure people in our alliance are banking rss and rallying when they should be, and we do the same to them.

What NAPs don't mean:

1. That whoever you have an NAP with will protect you from other enemies.
2. That you have a very secure relationship with that alliance... UVG has broken NAPs with us many times, and us with them. Then, we have to compromise or accept losses due to whose fault it was.

I hope that helps any leaders who have been struggling with NAPs.

What are some other experiences you guys have had with NAPs?

Contributed by Aped