I'm willing to see how this plays out, and maybe I will be able to see the lines on these things soon, but I'm concerned.
I think the key in a complex situation like this is communication.
OOC communication.
Yes, you
assumed that other realms would join in on Thalmarkin's side, which would have made it a more even conflict. Zatirri
assumed that when he declared war on Irondale, he'd get Irondale and maybe one or two other realms involved in a war, and probably VS on his side.
What I would like to ask of "you" (in quotes because it's not "you, Matt" or even "you, the realms arrayed against Thalmarkin now", but "any rulers who are in the situation in the future of preparing to be one of several realms declaring war on one realm") in the future is that you first
talk to the realm about to get its butt kicked, preferably on the Ruler/Admin OOC channel so that we can be present to help mediate, and make sure there's a good enough understanding on both sides of what you're all getting into that the
players involved aren't faced with nasty surprises.
And to be clear, if you're concerned about such OOC communications being taken IC and ruining the situation, I still expect there to be
some communication, even if it's private with the ruler in question, or even just with the Titans or Admins so that we can try to work on it from our end. (Which, I would have to say, would usually involve communicating with the ruler
anyway, but at least that way it comes a bit more anonymously, and can potentially be done in such a way as to obscure the details of who might declare war when.)
In general, the cultural change I'm trying to advocate for (well, one of them) is for players, especially the players of ruler characters, to stop treating the continent as being full of "nobles who are my friend" and "nobles who are my enemy", and start treating it as being full of "players who are my friend, who might be playing alongside me or against me, but whose fun matters to me either way."
