[Anhita]

Hey. I dont make threads often. Even less often things like this. But theres a blatantly clear problem I am seeing here. Esspecially in the front of clear communication. (A problem that seems to consistantly be mentioned -- but nothing is ever done.)

As I am sure many of you may know, There was recently a conflict between Meiaquar and Fairview where Fairview attempted to declare independance. And Meiaquar clearly had issue with that and member of their community that were meant to be exiled ages ago. By all rights - Meiaquar had the advantage. They were a nation. And ontop of this-- they took the time to gather allies from outside of their own nation from the Astral Order to back up their forces.

During the first day, Fairview fought back against Meiaquar, and it ended in a stalemate. From there was a long 3-dayish span where absolutely nothing seemed to be happening

Just people sitting to watch the siege. Occasionally spars happened between the sides. But otherwise. Nothing productive.

At one point there was even a rumor that Ashvath and Yuri had even straight up left the siege line without RPing. I cannot validate this myself as I had D&D that day.

But its clear none of this went to any sort of plans that were already talked about before the conflict happened.

From my current accounts, and please correct me if I am wrong, it sounds as if the GMs had intervened to force a decision that Meiaquar would not normally make given the circumstances.

 But the Don's still had to deal with the Consequences of their GM-Ordered IC actions (I would like to personally apologize for my Shaitan's shitty attitude)

And by all accounts, it also did not seem like Fairview attempted to garner much in terms of allies on their side before committing to what was seen as a hostile action. This naturally culminated into the siege, where 30+ players were involved, and they were in the disadavantage

I cannot speak for everyone, But as somone who has to consistantly deal with a higher ammount of danger due to my role, Seeing what could effectively be the two leaders that had effectively begun 'rallying' Fairview against Meiaquar get off light feels.. wrong to me? Esspecially when there was alot of player involvement up until things begun to stretch onwards.

Maybe its just me. And overall is generally demotivating, seeing as the conflict had been resolved by OOC means instead of IC-- And makes me generally wonder how much I'll have to play 'nice' when a character or their group begins to blatantly threaten Geladyne. Or otherwise. It overall sets a pretty bad precedent for how future conflicts are going to go, in my opinion.

[Illumi]

I agree fully with Anhita, and as someone who took part, it feels incredibly silly.
I'd likely be much, much harsher against GMs so I'm glad someone else posted instead.
This sets an incredibly bad precedent, and frankly makes me wonder what the point of conflict is supposed to even be if you can get out of consequences so easily.

Many people had their time effectively wasted due to multiple days stuck waiting, unable to actually do what we were supposed to, let alone effectively having ICs paused.
And then we're stuck with a decision forced upon us.
The ones who effectively started a war while vastly outnumbered and outgunned were not punished.
The ones who arrived in response, the stronger force no less, were the ones who were punished, unable to fulfill the primary intent of the siege, and then left to figure out how to make the IC fit.
I guess our IC is at the whims of the GM team now, consequences aren't real unless they say so. Great message for an 'RP-mandatory game.'

[Dezark]

I wasn't one of the people who took part in the Siege when it came into play in the end, but I atleast watched the turn out that began upon it for the start at the very least and was kept up to date on bits where possible on things.

I do admit i'm not entirely fond of the ultimate decision for it, and I knew atleast from what I was told; there were alot who were unhappy with it, and it does feel atleast in the sense where we drive a majority of the decisions some things we're honestly a bit of a mess following it with how we could at the time. There was a very large amount of conflict that followed through this all, both ICly and OOCly on it for things that were said and responded to; and there were rough bits through it all.. I could only really understand atleast one major part that played out of it was the OOC disagreement that followed since the two biggest conflicting players in the entire seige were not pleased with how the opposing side took to things. (I.E actively using the nation army as a defensive measure to prevent outside help, going from the moment they left Fairview to make a plan and actively seeking contact with others [Astral] to assist with the regard since in a sense of player wise, we have very few in term of it naturally; so the merchant city leader's took to means of forming deals with others to gain allies for this.) and it was met with clear unhappiness atleast toward the end of it from the major two of Fairview side.

Now I honestly get wanting to try and make things fair, cause in term of response of it as what been said on the OOC standpoint of things; Fairview had expected Meiaquar to answer with atleast 4 players, to the entirety of thier village; and to quote what I have been told and shown from the beginning of the conflict when things were informed to Fairview. "We'll beat you all easy, you can't do anything." (not the exact words mind you, but in that general sense. Anyone from either side who reads this that was in the chat specifically during that is free to correct me on that.) while Fairview had, before people chose to actually stand down while the claims of "we're going to be executed anyway!" was said (no one even said this was the case icly; just what was rolled with.) and that standing with them would result in the same for them. (Again, never a case actually proven on that regard.) So I have to be honest.. I understood wishing to make it fair for them so that it felt equal in some way.. but even at the end of it all, the response to the first day of the siege was most of Fairview standing down, drama occuring oocly over things and a argument over who won because the response of the RP to "Team 2 falls back so the next team can enter." for the sake of everyone to be able to get rest at the time, was to heal your team mates and claim you were the victors because you were choosing to revive people suddenly after the entire matter.

I will say again, I wasn't there physically myself to witness and even give remark on this due to my own personal reasons IRL, but I was kept up to date and watched thanks to a stream a friend had of it for others to see who couldn't be there at the time.. but I feel at that point alone, the matter of things being kept "fair" should of been put in deep consideration.

I ultimately gave my peace as suggestion for GMs when it was asked in the higher up channel of Meiaquar and just mention that they're considering such, and I honestly understood wanting to make things fair specifically; for the rest of Fairview, and that I find was fine for discussion to happen and such on that ultimately among whoever was there.. but I do agree that giving the wave off specifically to the ones' who started it all with a slap on the wrist and a "your exiled from here, leave now." with that ruling being a big part of what started this all to begin with.. wasn't the best call still.

Ultimately, I didn't have much say on it, I know it was left to Meiaquar leaders for who was brought in and I respect that and the ultimate decision that was come to between those chosen for Meiaquar and Fairview to kinda work to this compromise; and I know in the long run, this is still all stuff that being sorted out since we never really took the chance until now to try and piece together a nation vs nation/settlement/etc situation that wasn't ran by GMs or Eventmins themself but I will still be honest with the regard that I feel it could of been done a bit better in some way.. atleast in the sense that it understood ultimately that it not GM team holds the final decision in every major action done in the RP given matters on that atleast personally, since I'd presume (and i'm once again going off what I know what was wanted in the return of Fairview winning in the end..) that something as major as the deaths of several high ranking members would of caused just as much of a spark in disagreement as this, or possibly given a chance as it was seen as fair does not quite settle well for me atleast in the long run.

A short version of this.. I feel like Ash and Yuri should of gotten a harsher punishment honestly, I said before that I don't mind if we gave the rest of Fairview a slap on the wrist for it ultimately after we spoke to them; but making it clear that the actions of two "leaders" that lead to the build up of this all (logs can be given of that as well for the entire conversation leading to fairview "independence" and what sparked the conflict) should of ended in a term that honestly showed our actions in RP will have consequences, same if we were to commit a jail break or assault a leader figure or anyone else in game, it'd give us the same consequences tha we would have to honestly accept on that matter even if we don't like it. It was enforced that way on the Main Land in the same sense that (even very rarely) that a execution was decided by the Guard Commander; or a character was locked away for thier actions that it was accepted and the punishment served or taken. Otherwise people will honestly not take it to heart for that, and I understand as well with the attachment to characters especially those we play frequently and the wish to not lose them but there still a moment in time I honestly feel when we need to accept biting that bullet for it. Otherwise it only gets used as an excuse to hurt more people with the ideal belief that it won't matter what happens in the end; because the result following it will be the same, and that a slap on the wrist is all they'll get for saying or doing whatever they ultimately wish and that shouldn't be the case in any way shape or form.

[BluestStark]

1. GMs handled this conflict poorly, the team wanted things to be 'fair' when icly it shouldn't have been. They were a group against an entire armed force and city. They received help from mercenaries and other friends, but to claim independence from a nation and making the fight 'fair' seems a bit farfetched unless the group received help from other nations.

2. The OOC conflicts were not squashed which caused the IC conflict to go on longer than it should have. The IC conflict seemed to be over after the first day. However the OOC conflicts went on for far longer, which caused a lot of people to lose interest in even going around the Fairview area.

3. The GM team refused to ban someone who was being aggressive and has a known history of being a poor sport. I get giving someone a warning but from what I saw what they did went well beyond a warning.

4. This shows us the precedence for conflict in Korvara is going to be handled through PvP to make things 'fair' when it was originally promised to not rely on PvP. I believe that this could be fixed by some sort of conflict rules strictly for sieges or war as a whole. But that'd be something for a later date I imagine.

5. Any conflict from here on out will be terrible unless people have a great PvP build which will throw off the people that wanted to join Korvara for the RP setting. I don't know where all this stemmed from, maybe people are just tired of there being 'slow' times.

In conclusion, not only did this conflict upset many of the players involved, it also goes against what Korvara originally stood for.

[Dystopia]

Hey guys, just a quick heads up.

We see the thread and we're going to address it shortly.
Please give us a moment to compose our thoughts and respond to the posts made thus far.

[DerpyMcPandos]

Salutations,


The hour that this came to the team's collective attention was rather late. However, what the team collectively decided that this warranted a rather immediate response, which I decided to provide the writing for.

Now, for the sake of making my response clean and coherent, I'll be paraphrasing Anhita's points as best I can in order to summarise the most salient arguments and respond to them, rather than getting bogged down:
1: That the GM's were forced to take action and give Fairview an outcome for which Meiaquar's leadership is taking the majority of the IC blame for,
2: That the reason for this blame is due to the outcome that was brokered was one that was unfavourable to Meiaquar,
3: That the main outcome that is of issue was the fact that the two leaders of Fairview (Ashvath/Yurippe) were permitted to be exiled and,
4: That this sets a concerning precedent due to the implication that people can flaunt their 'Permissions' in a way to force these kinds of unacceptable and improper outcomes.

Likewise, I'll paraphrase Lumi's arguments, which while mostly are an affirmation of Anhita's arguments from their own perspective, but with an addition. That being that there was a lull (Which Anhita referenced), where time was 'wasted'. I will assume this time period was from the close of the first day of sieging, to the current time.

I'll add my summation before this occurs, but given this incident, I believe the GM team will be taking a much more rigorous approach into looking into the negotiations and setting much clearer and firmer 'consequences' for their actions. I likely speak for the entirety of staff when I say that we did not want to see such an outcome that left individuals displeased with the progression of the RP. Much of what lead up to it was IC and the pay off seems to have left many displeased. We apologise for not having been proactive in and rather being forced to have reactively attempted to mend the situation when it was already clear too much damage had happened.

However, with that out of the way, I will get into details and demonstrate the time-line of events from the staff's perspective.

---

Firstly, I hope this comes as no surprise, but I would like to note that the staff were already aware of and anticipating problems like this. After the community's reception to the OOC around Geladyne and Wasgow/Beggar's Hole, we collectively wanted to facilitate a means of collaborating and avoiding miscommunications. This was done through the creation of a private channel on the server discord where-in we invited the leadership of Meiaquar and Fairview as we identified them to talk terms. Our policy at that time was to be off hand and provide several guiding principles that would lay the ground work for some kind of resolution that would leave both sides more or less satisfied with the outcome of events. Dev himself was involved in this

A snippet of said principles will be embedded below (Highlights my own):


 We had hoped that this would prove to have been the end of it, thought that with these rules in place, as well as some small scale intervention on the part of us as the GM team and event runners, that this could be made into an enjoyable experience for both sides of the conflict.

This was not the case. Despite GM attention, there was little in the way of actual planning with a lot of matters coming to be decided on the 11th hour. We had come into it with the best intentions from the individuals we chose to invite into deliberations, and expected mature handling from everyone. We did not pursue exact plans or a point to point plan, but I do not particularly feel a need to harp on those points, mostly because it would be a hassle and too long to point out every single assertion and claim made by either party. Only that there were miscommunications in spite of the channel as to planning, player numbers available for each side on the event and so-forth. There was a plan in action, but as it followed, it was not actually executed. The original plan had enough players on Fairview's side to permit multiple fights, with event runners/staff watching and tallying wins/losses in a way that would allow for the 'siege' to occur over an increased period of time.

The specific terms of a win or loss were not explicitly agreed upon, though there was gestures from both sides as to their wants at the conclusion of the conflict, no specific details were yielded up. I suppose both sides were of the opinion to let the IC progress before it occurred.

Likewise, the GMs were conscious of providing an 'enjoyable experience', this is where the second highlighted part I noted of 'respecting others and compromising' comes in. We had seen that folks were against conflicts that had an air of unfairness, and wanted to provide a way to circumvent that through explicitly encouraging and reminding folks that Roleplay, fundamentally, is a collaborative environment. Or in plainer language: You give a little for the sake of ensuring everyone has fun. Likewise, to nip any issues in the bud regarding the employment or lack there-of of NPCs, this was in line with ensuring player agency in conflicts and not handwaving issues away through mysterious corps of faceless troopers.

---

Initially, despite some hiccups seen at the start of the event. There was little in the way of problematic developments as we identified, though admittantly the numerical situation with Fairview rapidly became apparent as Meiaquar was able to convince a majority to stand down as non-combatants or the like, which lead to a single combat occurring. This lasted a long time, and eventually the IC call was made by the attacking parties' combat commander to withdraw. They maintain that this was in respect of Fairview's interests since they mentioned they were being exhausted in the looc.

Due to complications, this withdrawal did not occur in any timely way, and was eventually forced to be done via GM intervention. The first day of the siege was considered concluded at that point, and so talks resumed OOCly. Naturally, this was a fair thing to do. Things had changed from the initial plan based on IC and bases had to be touched to ensure that matters were still on track for an easy conclusion.

At this point, negotiations broke down. I'll be nipping another bud but do not expect logs or specific details. However, I will be clear and mention that there was an incredible obstinence from Mother and Kyratio, though more-so the former than the latter, that lead to no conclusion being reached. This was not due to a lack of trying. Meiaquar and all the GMs tried to veer the discussion onto some kind of course that would lead to a key discussion of:
How the matter would be resolved in terms of combats
What the consequences of said combat would be.

These negotiations went on for at least a day or two, with irrelevant points being raised from Fairview's negotiators as there was essentially a hardline taken with Ashvath and Yurippe being allowed to survive in some way or another. This was, in all honesty, irrational of them as they did not seem aware of the consequences that seceding would yield. They of course, had rationale for this, but I will note that the reason for their beliefs was not made very well apparent because of their bellicose arguing. The matter got severe enough that slow was placed on the channel, and then eventually a complete mute on speaking. This was done because the team had eventually realised after so long of trying to convince Fairview and giving them the benefit of the doubt, that it was not worth it to continue talking to them.

---

To this end, the GM team instead elected to select other members to represent Fairview OOCly. A second chat was created sans those two players where we asked the players their perspective on things, uncovering a large amount of the OOC confusion that had been around the planning, and received a much clearer expression of interests from them, as opposed to Mother or Kyratio. With that in mind, we invited Meiaquar into this second chat and they were both able to settle an agreement.

I will take this chance to dispel any concerns that Fairview is only 2 people, and that there were in fact others. And they, from what they told us, wanted to see an end to this and wanted to minimise the 'sour taste' for everyone. We wholeheartedly agreed to this principle, and decided that since the other members of Fairview wanted a conclusion that spared Ashvath and Yurippe, that we would accommodate this. It was not the staff's unilateral decision in that regard, but striving to minimise gripes. There was a prevalent air of OOC exhaustion and exasperation, and people wanted to move past it, get an amicable end, and continue their roleplay.

Frankly, had the group we talked to been of a mind to proverbially throw Yuri and Ash to the dogs in return for their safety, we would have accommodated that want. At that point, it was clear from conversations that Kyratio and Mother were completely done with the matter. The team likewise was, to the point I personally informed the two of them that there would be a conclusion to the matter wherein they shouldn't expect their "Lack of attendence to derail the conclusion of this (the event)"

---

This leaves us at the current, where I can quite well understand any outsider's perspectives on things. Many of the attacking members showed up to a fight, stood around as a group of four fought, and then waited a few days before a conclusion was hashed out. Defenders were likewise placed in the same situation. A lot of the roleplay leading up to it was essentially rendered in service of an unsatisfactory outcome.

For this, We apologise. We had tried to avoid such an outcome, but regrettably we came to one regardless, and tried to fix it in some way, leading to the current events. Moving on, we will likely be using this to implement ways of ensuring that logical outcomes and fairness aren't forced into direct competition, but can rather be meshed for the sake of telling a cohesive story. It was never our intent to dictate what's done, but I'd like to extend an offer to people who are in leadership positions or intend to be to reach out to us if you feel there are concerns over this, especially if you seek to engage in antagonistic behaviour. Our goal remains in providing for a fun and entertaining environment to all.

And while I have only recounted so far, I think it is pertinent to note the staff did take collective note of how brazen it was for Yurippe and Ashvath to continually escape persecution by the skin of their teeth so I, on behalf of the team provided them the following warning:



Essentially, the Staff was no longer interested in entertaining good will as a reason to allow them to continue being around, and we also re-iterated to them, as I did to you all earlier, that it was not their decision that they had survived, but rather the collective of Fairview, without their personal input.

---

So, in conclusion, I will revisit the points made and half agree that the GMs were forced to make a decision on behalf of Meiaquar. We instead facilitated a different means of reaching a conclusion after the original negotiations had become fruitless and we acknowledge that people getting away lightly with matters of heavy ramifications is unsatisfying, and we want to structure our means of handling matters like this in a way that doesn't result in such outcomes heading forward.

Some may be dissatisfied with the solution, especially when the one battle we could deliberate on ended up in a stalemate, but it was one made with the goals of both Meiaquar and Fairview in mind, and so it was reached as a compromise, as giving Meiaquar a complete victory would have lead to others being left dissatisfied, who at this point want to simply move on.

-Pando

[lordpidey]

Hello,

While we are discussing Fairview and it's siege, I have a few concerns, and areas to suggest improvement on, which have NOT been touched on so far.

1) There needs to be more GM involvement in scheduling these attacks.  Make a public announcement maybe 24 hours ahead of time, so that people can schedule what time they play in order to participate, incase they aren't notified by the other players.  People have lives outside of the game, and can't be online 24/7.

2) The confusion over the scene lock was unfortunate.  I would have liked if a GM restated earlier that there was a scene lock, to alleviate confusion.  Ultimately however, this is relatively minor compared to my other complaints.

3) I feel that the artillery location retcon was executed poorly.  Perhaps partially retcon it, and say that some artillery was mistakenly setup on the wrong hill.  That would lead to some interesting RP between Telegrad and Meiaquar.  I also would have preferred it if the retcon were announced through an official channel, as for a WHILE all the word I had on it was another player's say-so, and it is poor precident to simply accept a player's word for retcons of items stated by a GM.

4) Perhaps after the battle there should be special placeables (Like a signpost, but with an icon that says OOC INFO), to inform players who just wander up and have no idea about the current situation is.  A new player who just started and wandered into Fairview would have NO IDEA that something is going on, unless another player happened to be there at the time.  I have seen one such new player wander up like this.

5) Regarding item 1 on Pandos's post for "Please understand the following":  This seems to have been flagrantly violated, as NPCs were firing gasious artillery into the village.  Hardly what I would call minimal, or defensive.  *EDIT*  I have been informed that the artillery was indeed lead by PCs.



----


Here is my analysis of the events, in as objective of a form as I can have.

I was in the process of writing a similar thread to this one, and double checking facts, etc....

Fairview is a town on the border between Telegrad and Meiaquar.  It is on the Meiaquar side.

There are hostilities between Fairview and Meiaquar for IC reasons.

An event started where Meiaquar attacked Fairview.  Quite a few players were there.  I'd estimate... 25-35?  This occurred on OCT-17

I was notified OOCly about the time of the attack by a Fairview player, so that I could plan my RL schedule around being able to attend.  However, as far as I know, there was no public announcement over the scheduled time, so people not in the OOC friend circle would not be able to schedule themselves accordingly.

The leadership of Meiaquar and Fairview were talking OOCly about how they wanted it to go down.  Ultimately, they wanted some sort of long siege that lasts multiple OOC days, and thus not have a scene lock on it.

Come the day of the attack, GMs were there, and posted some narrates.  The GMs decided to lock the scene.  There was confusion over whether or not the GMs knew the leaders of Meiaquar/Fairview wanted a scene lock.  The IC reason for the scene lock is NPC soldiers from Meiaquar circling the town.

IC events happened, people's allegiances changed on the battlefield.  That's all fine.  That's purely IC actions, and good RP.

A narration was posted, that indicated that Meiaquar was using siege weaponry located on a hill to the south.  This was confirmed in LOOC.  According to the border map that was released literally the day before, that hill is actually on Telegrad soil.

I performed IC actions to attempt to inform Telegrad leadership that Meiaquar's military was using their land to position siege weapons.

Here's where the events get a bit hazy.  I am only posting what I have witnessed, seen, or was told.

Later, the leadership of Telegrad and Meiaquar spoke OOCly about the weaponry being placed on Telegrad soil.  I do not know if GMs were involved in this conversation.

Ultimately, it was decided that the artillery was stationed to the west, rather than the south.  I do not know who suggested this, or decided this.

No public announcement was made for this.  I was first informed of the retcon by the player of Telegrad's leadership.  The first I heard any GM even mention it was over 48 hours after the event, in discord chat.

[Lolzytripd]

Hello,

While we are discussing Fairview and it's siege, I have a few concerns, and areas to suggest improvement on, which have NOT been touched on so far.

1) There needs to be more GM involvement in scheduling these attacks.  Make a public announcement maybe 24 hours ahead of time, so that people can schedule what time they play in order to participate, incase they aren't notified by the other players.  People have lives outside of the game, and can't be online 24/7.

2) The confusion over the scene lock was unfortunate.  I would have liked if a GM restated earlier that there was a scene lock, to alleviate confusion.  Ultimately however, this is relatively minor compared to my other complaints.

3) I feel that the artillery location retcon was executed poorly.  Perhaps partially retcon it, and say that some artillery was mistakenly setup on the wrong hill.  That would lead to some interesting RP between Telegrad and Meiaquar.  I also would have preferred it if the retcon were announced through an official channel, as for a WHILE all the word I had on it was another player's say-so, and it is poor precident to simply accept a player's word for retcons of items stated by a GM.

4) Perhaps after the battle there should be special placeables (Like a signpost, but with an icon that says OOC INFO), to inform players who just wander up and have no idea about the current situation is.  A new player who just started and wandered into Fairview would have NO IDEA that something is going on, unless another player happened to be there at the time.  I have seen one such new player wander up like this.

5) Regarding item 1 on Pandos's post for "Please understand the following":  This seems to have been flagrantly violated, as NPCs were firing gasious artillery into the village.  Hardly what I would call minimal, or defensive.



----


Here is my analysis of the events, in as objective of a form as I can have.

I was in the process of writing a similar thread to this one, and double checking facts, etc....

Fairview is a town on the border between Telegrad and Meiaquar.  It is on the Meiaquar side.

There are hostilities between Fairview and Meiaquar for IC reasons.

An event started where Meiaquar attacked Fairview.  Quite a few players were there.  I'd estimate... 25-35?  This occurred on OCT-17

I was notified OOCly about the time of the attack by a Fairview player, so that I could plan my RL schedule around being able to attend.  However, as far as I know, there was no public announcement over the scheduled time, so people not in the OOC friend circle would not be able to schedule themselves accordingly.

The leadership of Meiaquar and Fairview were talking OOCly about how they wanted it to go down.  Ultimately, they wanted some sort of long siege that lasts multiple OOC days, and thus not have a scene lock on it.

Come the day of the attack, GMs were there, and posted some narrates.  The GMs decided to lock the scene.  There was confusion over whether or not the GMs knew the leaders of Meiaquar/Fairview wanted a scene lock.  The IC reason for the scene lock is NPC soldiers from Meiaquar circling the town.

IC events happened, people's allegiances changed on the battlefield.  That's all fine.  That's purely IC actions, and good RP.

A narration was posted, that indicated that Meiaquar was using siege weaponry located on a hill to the south.  This was confirmed in LOOC.  According to the border map that was released literally the day before, that hill is actually on Telegrad soil.

I performed IC actions to attempt to inform Telegrad leadership that Meiaquar's military was using their land to position siege weapons.

Here's where the events get a bit hazy.  I am only posting what I have witnessed, seen, or was told.

Later, the leadership of Telegrad and Meiaquar spoke OOCly about the weaponry being placed on Telegrad soil.  I do not know if GMs were involved in this conversation.

Ultimately, it was decided that the artillery was stationed to the west, rather than the south.  I do not know who suggested this, or decided this.

No public announcement was made for this.  I was first informed of the retcon by the player of Telegrad's leadership.  The first I heard any GM even mention it was over 48 hours after the event, in discord chat.

I really understand where you're coming from about the artillery, it was Originally supposed to be placed on the hill north of fairview on the main meiaquar map.
It was Gm intervention that placed on the southern hill, for convenience of anyone at fairview wanting to interact/attack it during the course of the siege, to my own understanding that was a mechanics interpretation, not the actual location of the artillery. even though its pretty much a shorter distance from the main meiaquar map grid wise, it requires traversing two maps to get to.

[Snake]

I think my only personal chin rub is why there were no mechanical advantages for a roleplay-set ambush/siege. The sake of 'fairness'? I don't think that was very immersive in the bigger spectrum, and that small advantage for Meiaquar would have given them what was needed to wind the fight that was, otherwise, an utter snore fest of Vydel spamming and Thunder Step missing.

Why didn't the enemy at least get inflicted with Confusion for a few rounds during that fight?

What was the point of Iggy's Intoxicating Mist gas attack?

My overall point here is that I think the GM staff could have more leeway and room to arbiter this, even if it ended unfair. (Which even then, it'd not be as unfair given the amount of people who were left on the 'defending' side.) It is what it is. Deeds beckon consequences and all of that. There shouldn't be fear when trying to justify yourselves that much or trying to damage control it. In the end it'll always be the losing side that will go 'gms korrup' anyway, no matter if you present a ten-page essay detailing how it came to that decision.

I fully support the staff and their decision making in situations where they need to be more strict, because getting to the point of staff intervention should already be more than the melting point in most scenarios.

[Trexmaster]

I just want to add that, being someone who has their character living literally next to Fairview, it was only due to being in a chat that was actively discussing what was going on that I knew when the attack on Oct 17th was even happening and was able to at least be present before it was scene-locked for the chance to participate/observe at all ICly.

I understand not wanting everyone to metagame their way over there when it happens and make a mess of it, but there should be some courtesy given to others to be informed if major IC events are going to be happening quite literally on their doorstep, so they can react appropriately. This sentiment also applies for ongoing events like the siege where as stated earlier players passing by would be entirely unaware of what's even happening if no players were around to tell them, as outside of those present for the start of the siege there was zero announcement or information that the siege was even happening at Fairview, when it's something that post scene-lock anyone passing by would be subject to.