What Anaris says.
IC I absolutely don't expect Velax to break up Arcaea. But for RL years we've been hearing OOC that Arcaea conquering FEI won't be bad for the game because realms will be able to fight each other and it will be really fun for players.
The fact is that Arcaea's geography makes it unbeatable. It has the most cities, the most gold, the most nobles and even the food shortages which used to cripple it don't exist anymore. OOC that's a problem. So the player of Velax should be thinking about that and how to improve it.
And immediately intervening to stop realms from settling a long standing grudge they have isn't going to improve things. Yes it creates animosity against Arcaea but that's it. And even if Sorraine/Coralynth have more CS than Arcaea that won't last when Arcaea has more nobles and more resources to fall back on - and especially not when they're both also fighting Ohnar West while Cathay considers joining in against Sorraine too.
Besides which, Arcaea isn't fun. Sorry, but it's not. It's fun if you're one of the top people maybe but the average knight has limited chances of progression and there's very little to shake up the dynamics of the realm. The king is in power for life. The judge is in power for life. The banker is in power for life. The general is in power for life. The dukes are in power for life.
At least if Arcaea was split in two there'd be more opportunities for the average noble to advance. Plus the two halves would be likely to be involved in more wars (along with the rest of the continent) which is the best thing for increasing player numbers and retention.
Look at Ar Agyr on Beluaterra. Tiny realm with few nobles and absolutely silent while it was at peace. Once it was at war it doubled the number of its nobles, despite defections, simply because there were actually things happening.
So Barry, I can't criticise the character of Velax for doing what he's doing but as the single most powerful player on the continent I really don't think you're doing enough to let the continent become more fun.
