Losing citys is losing citys, you cant cover it up or make it look not so bad by saying it was an inactive player. How an alliance deals with its inactives says alot about that alliance. Besides, if your players had them all tripped then you guys would have broken the sieges, you do after all have a massive advantage with your numbers.
On the TSL to OFTR seige break you mentioned above. 3 or 4 members responding to a shared forum post and sending siege breaking attacks at OFTR is a War declaration in my books. Either that, or those 3-4 players are Rogue players and dont represent the alliances stances....so which is it?
Dug, I note you didn't get an answer to the pertinent question you posed.
Well congrats to MOS diplo for getting me to register, and apologies to snake223 for you being confused with me...!
I won't bore the already-bored readership with the history - posts passim will show that it is claimed that TSL went to war with Silver, and when Silver got the upper hand against TSL, TSL called in MOS. MOS tipped the scales and then recruited the best players from Silver, leaving the rest to go elsewhere.
So OftR were pacted with TSL, and they were our only ally at that stage. With an objective of keeping it small. The pact didn't work out and TSL pulled it and declared war, notification of which was received after hostilities commenced. Fair enough. TSL had a view that we would merge into them, but that was never a viable option amongst all the founders - for whom independence was our reason for starting here. If TSL felt strung along, I could see that. Didn't see the much-vaunted diplomacy skills coming out of that though. (Side note - who is the diplomat there? They all seem to disappear)?
Anyway, TSL tell us they were happy to take on an alliance 2.5 times smaller without MOS help, and MOS confirmed that TSL had asked them to stay out of it.
It's a good war, and with all respect to TSL, it's what I think we both needed. What we don't need is MOS getting involved. MOS declared neutrality, but has proceeded to take part in two siege breaks. I understand MOS' position, TSL have been their lap dogs since day 1 pretty much, and MOS has stated if push came to shove, they would support TSL - and that is admirable.
But they still maintain they're neutral, and TSL hasn't asked for yet another bail out. Maybe TSL should rename themselves GREECE?