It seems to me that the argument only became prevalent after Aurvandil began to win its war.
This is not strictly correct. These trends in behavior have been tracked over the past few years. This isn't just the current Aurvandil/Fontan situation. It goes back to Averoth and Thulsoma before that. From what I can see, there is a clear trend of behavior. A small/poor/weak realm has, either quickly or over the period of a few months, a large infusion of players. For the most part these players are quiet, do what they are told to do. Dissenters are ridiculed. (When someone questions why a lord was banned without any debate or reason, they are told "Be quiet. If he was banned, he deserved it.") People from outside the group are generally not given positions of power. (Although sometimes they let them be banker, because, to be honest, that position doesn't matter.) Although the realms are technically Republics or Democracies, the elections are mostly a formality. Once the clan is firmly in place, only one person runs, there is no campaigning, and that person is elected with a minimal number of votes, most people not even casting votes. The realm in question makes a stereotypical 180 degree turn: from being a small-time realm with little hope of advancement or success, they suddenly become a hyper-efficient military powerhouse. For the most part, orders seem to come out of nowhere. There is little or no IG discussion of plans/policies/treaties/etc., even in closed councils. A specific group of people is always available to follow orders. (Orders given 2 hours before a turn with no warning, and 100% movement of 40+ nobles (>90% of the realm) follows, reliably, time after time.)
This is a repeating pattern that we have seen happen in multiple realms over the course of a few years. The current Aurvandil/Fontan case is not a sudden thing. It has just taken this long for things to build to this level.
We're not saying that everyone in the realm is involved. It is possible that some people in the realm may not know what is going on. But just because they don't know about it doesn't mean it's not happening.
