Watch Blog

All of that sounds lovely, and certainly there is some truth to that. Personally, I miss the days where CB's could be a little bit less serious and a little more fun, although I wasn't around for then.

However, I think CB's are still important, even if the morality isn't so much so. Morality is always a perceived notion, not necessarily a notion of objective truth*, which I think you have accurately portrayed. However, for the purposes of the how the alliance looks to all others, CB's are important. If the general public thinks that your war is justified, they will tend to like you more. However, as is the case with the start of the Farkistani war, many people thought that GOONS' actions were amoral. Now where is GOONS? Disbanded, and well on their way to being left in history lessons.

Ferrous is quite correct. CB's have little to do with morality, and far more to do with gaining political support for the military action. If political support is forthcoming then the military action will be much easier -- either because others aid/continue to aid you in your efforts, or simply due to the lack of political pressure from allies to end it (which is of great importance for longer-term relations, and thus the strength of your longer-term international position).We can view the importance of this in a number of instances. In the positive one might look at the Orders' ability to remove enemy alliances during the Great Patriotic War (largely done by throwing LUE et al's CB into doubt); in the negative one might look to FAN's attack on NoV, where a complete failure to win the political argument meant that they had to pull out of the war altogether (and led to a severe weakening in their international position).Thus it is fairly safe to say that what everyone else things is most assuredly not irrelevant; and running an alliance on that basis would be a rather quick route to the scrapheap.

Yes, but I think that has more to do with the a descriptive perspective of the past history of Bob. In all actuality, the present political atmosphere seems to have more to do with factionalism than a sense of justice. In other words, alliances support whatever faction they happen to be a part of (blocs, ideological framework, or whatever) and the legitimacy of the opposite faction's complaint is irrelevant.

So, if that is true, what is the use of CB's? Those who value CB's are looking for a sense of justice in an IC RP value. As far as game strategy, they are not relevant, in my opinion.

I think the confusion lies in a CB (Reasons for War) as opposed to a simple Declaration of War. Lots of folks seem to view them interchangably, despite the very different goals of each announcement.

A Declaration of War is vital to communicate to the OWF when an alliance declares war. It alerts allies and non-combatants to make appropriate arrangements (Building up to honor a treaty or suspending aid to the warring alliances) for the duration of the conflict.

Most DoW's INCLUDE a CB, but as was mentioned above, the reasons to go to war should be subjective. One problem that I have with some CB's is that they may be based on flimsy or nonexistant fact. If an alliance wants to make sure that they're NOT grilled on the public stage, then they need to make sure they have verifiable fact on their side. You may not believe that it's battle-worthy to go to war over a recruitment message targetted at a member of my alliance, but I might. If I decide to go to war over it, I have the objective facts to support my CB and the subjective morality of my CB is irrelevant.

I don't believe that CB's are irrelevant, however. It gives valuable insight into the Declaring Alliance's moral stance on issues and can help you predict what their reactions might be in the future. If their CB is based on shaky logic, then you might doubt their reasoning in later issues. If their CB indicates that they have a stick up their rears, then you know to give them a wide berth. In an environment where there IS NOT a moral objectivity to rely on, it can provide a worthwhile roadmap to navigate the changing tides of subjective alliance morality.

Not only that, it can set the tone for the inevitable conversation that will surround your declaration of war. Lack of a CB won't stop people from talking about it, but a comprehensively written CB can at least get your viewpoint out before folks start guessing and the situation snowballs into something much worse.