West

The **West** is a major region comprising the westerly areas of the Old Continent and its offshore maritime domains. The term in the UTC has a geographic or cultural context, usually as the cultural and ethnic stronghold of white regular players or areas which avoided premium influence, which sometimes includes parts of the Midlands and Spawnland.

The Western countries are bordered by the Sea of Mordor and the region of Mordor to its North, the Southern Ocean to its South, the Midlands and Spawnland to its East and Southeast respectively and the White Sea to its West, though in-game, it is the Swamps.

The West has served as a bastion for white players and white player culture in the game, which the UTC considers a unique ethnic group in MineZ. Much of the UTC's territories reside in the Western regions of the map and the UTC has at times claimed ownership over the entire area after TLB, the only clan who challenged their claim, to withdraw from the region after becoming majority premium and started fighting in Al Hasa. The region was at times, the target of balancing and looting updates, but has not changed much since the January Al Hasa Updates.

## Definition

The start of the West for most players is usually West of Portsmouth which sits on the left of 0x, making any negative X coordinate a candidate for the Western regions. The town of Portsmouth also conveniently sits on the border between Spawnland and Freisland for the UTC as well and can serve as the technical divide in the continent, though anything within the Snow biome or the "Midlands" is considered part of the Midmap by the UTC and a wholly different region.

## Political Geography and Political Situation

The West, according to the UTC, is divided to 4 regions. They are the Swamps, Byesford, the Westerlands, and Freisland. The Swamps and Freisland serve as the main bastion of the white population, but places such as Grimdale and Yawpton usually have a sizeable premium population. The Westerlands at times has been plagued with premiums from Yongton, Lazerville and Crowmure, but their numbers are generally fewer than in the East where they dominate.

### Major Cities

* Byesford
* Grimdale
* Aspermont
* Crowmure
* Exolesco
* Somnia

### Major Towns

* Arbreton
* Forest
* Carnival
* Pravus
* Yongton
* Kaocho

## Economy and Industry

As a region, the West was once considered the poorer area of the map and players residing there depended heavily on trade with the Southern West and the South in general to acquire basic goods, but the West was rich with military goods, which they used to buy materials from the South. Balance updates however have relieved some of this poverty with basic goods becoming somewhat more available, but the major industry is still military weapons, especially an update to Forest that has given the West the capability to manufacture diamond swords.

In comparison to the East, the West's towns are much more balanced and have a larger spread of loot. Many Eastern locations have large concentrations of one item, such as food, (Pileus, Abandoned Farm) military goods, (Agni Ignis, Zerbia) or potions (Aeternalis Cathedral, Al Hasa). The West, on the other hand, has many locations with all of these things, allowing players to generally inhabit them longer and more comfortably. Some examples are Yongton Abbey, Crowmure, and Arbreton. It should be noted, however that there are exceptions to this in each area.

The UTC's main factories are located in the Western regions. Everything from chain to iron is manufactured in the West and sold in the South - however, the UTC has now diversified its sources and currently gathers from all over the map - even as far as Agni Ignis. Majicou's Secret Update also forced UTC members to go east for loot from giants with the removal of the giant spawn in Forest.

## Demographics

The West, from its Southern end to its Northern tip is very diverse. Players from all kinds, Regular, Premium, leathers, chains and irons or mixes of them all exist in the West. That being said, it is more common to find Regular (white) players in the West due to the lack of PvP hotspots among other things. The population is much less denser however, than in the East. However - the West contains locations of traffic, most notably Grimdale, Lazerville, Crowmure and Forest.

The region has a higher proportion of healers and friendly players in general compared to the premium dominated East, this can again be credited to the lack of PvP and hopping hotspots (some places, such as Crowmure once did have frequent fights although the decline of MineZ's overall population, and Crowmure's nerfs have made the uncommon).

In terms of clans, few if any stay in the West or have any interest in holding it other than the UTC. There are few, if any, clan battles on a large scale as the January Al Hasa updates drove the last remaining premium clans East. Some clans hop Lazerville, however, it isn't as frequent as compared to the Eastern locations.

## Culture

The West and the Westerners who reside there, though far more peaceful than the East, has learned to be warlike and is capable of organizing themselves into fighting effective PvP. Its smaller yet frequent clan and group conflicts has fostered a distinct style of warfare. In contrast to the mass use of irons who fight decisive battles in the East, which to the Westerners, are generally just a show of PvP skills, the West values superior employment of strategy and tactics to make up for its lack of numbers and irregular inventories - preferring to fight in the rough wooded and urban terrain, compared to the flatter ground of the East.

Westerners are also not discouraged to defeat opponents with superior numbers and inventories when they can, as the region of ambushes rather than pitch battles has conditioned them to mass all advantages they could acquire before striking.

Aside from its high respect for military endeavors, the West also takes pride in it being a merchant's center. Originally started for want of basic goods, the West now possess some of the greatest trading groups and individuals in MineZ, even though the region now contains goods of all kinds. Mainly military goods are purchased and sold in the West. Healership is more appreciated in the West as though they are not unfamiliar to the use of the sword, many Westerners realize that long-term friendships are a better investment than instant gratification.

Westerners generally believe in liberty and individualism. With the region being tolerant of bandits and at times encourages political incorrectness "just because", than in other areas, as it is the choice of playstyle and nothing inherently wrong with the person using it. Even large cohesive groups like the UTC use personal liberty as the basis for how it deals with members.