Bend isn't in the rim and is an excellent player. The world is still young, when I landed in O55 my biggest fear in the first week was actually having suitable conquest targets. Now they're all over the place and I can't move fast enough to expand a town, restock my units, and conquer another town.
The core in most US servers tend to be the worst. US Omicron had O55 over run by another alliance in a month. Most premades flop anyways. I can tell you from a series of bad experiences that you need an A++ leader, a well established game plan, and a great crew for it to even have a chance at working. I honestly think you have a better chance at winning with a random pick up team, than with a dream team.
As for hating MRA's, you could always be the guy that joins them, gets leadership privs, and kicks or hits disband.
