I never played EE when Troy played EE. I probably wouldnt have ever if not for some arm twisting about Elders 6 or 7 years ago. EE was sorta never my vibe and if it wasnt about friends, i probably would have emigrated to Prom years ago because I like that the developers do a weekly live chat about what they're working on, whereas here we're oftentimes lucky to hear anything positive, if at all, for months or even years at a time. And the devs/mods seem less keen to combat with members over past politics. That combined with the admins only ever playing one of the metas, but believing they know what's best for all is a frustrating head into the wall experience for me. Otherwise it's basically the same game. I'd take that in a heartbeat tbh. West is a great developer who listens to his player base and doesnt try to dream up changes for servers/metas he doesnt play rather than taking suggestions from the base, and no one has any drama with him. Wish I could say that about ee. I figure if we asked for a live question and answer session here we'd get told we dont deserve it because we're mostly toxic assholes. That's what they think of the people who keep the lights on and pay the bills, you know? I've had the same 2 questions for like a year and a half now but "I dont deserve an answer for a fluffing thing."

That all said, Troy was the man in e2025. I dont doubt he got some love on his number ones. No doubt he did. But the dude was a total player. IMO, the current game is more about bot farming and running excessive acres on one of one strategies (FFO) and being proficient at hybrid oil destocking. I think any moron with as much time as I had during covid could do a billion avg now. It's not difficult. Just get 5 million acres build farms and some oil and destock. So yes, I think it is impressive because a TMBR destock actually takes some thinking, and strategies like rep casher and C/I and d reseller and TTR were still able to be competitive with the one strat that produces nw in FFO now. I could write a simple strat guide that anyone could hit a billion with FFO in this dynamic. Same cant be said about any other strat. That lack of parity combined with an overpowered oil desyock sort of makes the game way easier and more predictable imo. I'd be far more impressed by people who played before this incarnation even if the member numbers were the same because the game isnt as complex as it once was with more or less even strategy NW potential. Bots made the game too easy, killed 5 strategies and made one easy as hell to break every record with. None of it impresses me, and no one should ever consider me one of the best to play this server despite my records. I absolutely did it the easy way. The 4 rep cashers I sprinkled in were for my sake remembering a game where they could compete, not for winning sake because I knew the whole time they would lower my total. TMBR is objectively tougher and as such, all oldies had a tougher run with more creativity and adaptation necessary. Absolutely hes the GOAT