Cecily de Demici said:
So, we all talked for a long time about what a realistic catalyst for the end of the war would be before the idea above was proposed. Here is my opinion on everything:
Basically, the OS and GR FA (and I am sure many many members) agree that in order for this to be a believable story, the Sith would have to suffer a pretty shocking
something. The idea of an invasion was put on the table, but there were some general issues brought up:
- If the GR did not win the invasion (and based on our track record we could very likely loose) how could we justify that the OS sustained enough damage to be 'afraid' of the GR.
- The only way to ensure a victory by the GR would be a predetermined invasion, which really isn't fair to the OS and isn't something we as the GR have ever really done.
- Factions lose planets all the time. Losing ONE planet when the GR has lost TEN probably wouldn't strike fear into the hearts of the Sith.
- Many parties feel that a lot of the OOC drama and hatred between the two factions has been caused because of poor behavior ON BOTH SIDES during invasions. So, trying to solve the problem by doing the thing that has seemingly caused the problem is taking 1 step forward and 3 steps back in a way.
1. [member="Gir Quee"] answered this perfectly. Don't overthink it, we're negotiating with the OS staff. We just spent an entire thread being told that they're honest and genuine, so I'm sure that an agreed-upon deal will be honored.
2. Actually, it's not. It's possible to lose the invasion and still capture Darth Isolda (and if that's already a predetermined outcome of a big skirmish anyway, I can't see why that wouldn't be a reasonable alternative.
3. And now we come to the heart of the matter. This is Kuat. Losing it is almost like the GR losing Coruscant. It strikes a huge blow at their ship building capabilities, and if capturing shipyards is put on the Invasion objectives list, we can cripple their ships with or without an invasion win. This is certainly a reasonable catalyst for a Cold War.
4. Then this will be a chance to prove them wrong, won't it? We just had an entire thread discussing how easy it is to cooperate with OS players. Let's put it to the test, why don't we? It will either disprove the naysayers or vindicate them.
So really, an invasion with the losing prize being the capture of Darth Isolda is really the best of both worlds. If the OS is committed to the Cold War idea, I think they should be able to negotiate with us to make things work out. We need to be clear, as a faction, what is acceptable and what is not.
I honestly don't think a skirmish alone is acceptable. It's tantamount to getting something for nothing. We capture one character in a story, great. But what keeps the OS from ICly mounting mission after mission to rescue her? It's paper thin collateral and there's no real problems. Does it hurt the OS ICly? Yes, but only for a short while, until another warlord comes to power and regains order. I can't imagine the OS would OOCly let their faction fall apart because of an IC story.
But capturing a world, that's a higher bar of progress. Site rules prohibit the simple re-capture without a costly invasion. Might the OS win such an invasion easily? Perhaps. But it would mean they'd have to go through the invasion process, and that's not something that could happen without breaking the truce. A rescue mission of Darth Isolda could be managed (*cough* Bay of Pigs *cough cough*) without declaring war first, but an invasion realistically cannot be. We at least have OOC notification of the invasion, and that gives us some time to position some IC feelers out there so the GR isn't blindsided.
So, my point is, capturing a world would be a much better hostage than a simple character, both for IC and OOC reasons. With Gir's suggestion of a Phyrric victory, especially if we can destroy the shipyards (and even KDY itself), we should have no problem believing that an armistice/cold war could come about even if we lose the invasion.
