[TheCommonNoob]

The OP makes a lot of vague points that I don't really agree with, and it seems like this post is more about the Geladynian raids on Beggar's Hole than anything else.

This is about the raids. It is the only point of time as of now that two player factions have gotten into serious conflict with each other on a skirmishing level, on this big of a scale in SL2 history as far as I know. (Accounting that it is fully public RP with no houses or events held to host such a conflict).

The end result? Quite messy with no concrete conflict rules. The mainland always lacked them but was hand waved almost always, due to players never really being "in control" of the situation there. Though that is a tangent of its own. Sure we have flee and capture rules but now we need war rules.

Does Beggar's hole have NPC guards, or an NPC or player driven watch of any kind? I'm assuming not given the OP's talk on NPCs and their usage. This kind of excuses the no notice if so, though an activity post/ping of some kind should probably still be made for such an event and I couldn't find one anywhere.

If they wanted to go down the NPC-route? Then sure, Beggar's Hole is aligned with the Smugglers who live RIGHT NEXT TO THEM and have existed for who knows how long before player intervention. Which I'd assume would be not very happy that Geladyne sends in troops to march on their neighbors. Even then, the first time they marched there was indeed a player watch but they were walked pass by with no RP whatsoever.

Disregarding that, there SHOULD be a notice on a OOC-level at least. Communication is king. What are you going to expect to find when you march in unannounced/without communication to your IC opposition and nobody is around in a RP game? Just go back? "Hey boss, they weren't home so we left a letter." If it was Meiaquar that marched troops into Geladyne with no announcement or OOC communication as an example, it probably wouldn't feel too great for either side.

TL;DR: Conflict in its current state has proven to be a messy endeavor, and strives should be made to ensure it is smoother in the future, on both an OOC and IC scale.

Regarding the main post then there are many things that have been agreed upon by players from different slices of the community and in-game factions, even. I believe that's some indication that there is something wrong with the current way of how things are going.

I agree most of the outcries myself as I've seen how the way things are affecting both sides of the coin and a more solid foundation for rulings would be a good start to fixing some problems that have risen with how current conflict goes.

My own two-cents in the end are, please communicate OOC'ly with one another. Even if you may not agree with one another, we're all roleplayers looking to roleplay proper. Not legitimate enemies that must have the upper hand at all cost.