User blog comment:Harmonmj13/Why RP is Sh*t Currently/@comment-12161342-20160204202835

Why the RP is really unstable:

TREATIES. Everyone is signing treaties/entering coalitions/alliances/etc left and right, and its tying our navies' hands together. It has basically killed the small wars that relieved tension. Navy 1 cant settle a small difference with Navy 2 because if Navy 1 attacks Navy 2, then they will probably have to deal with Navies 3, 4, 5, and 6 that get dragged in against them because of the spider's web of treaties/alliances that almost everyone has. No more can a problem between two navies be taken care of, because then it becomes EVERYONES problem, and nobody wants to end up taking on 5 navies just to settle a territorial dispute with one.

You geniuses basically created a pre-WW1 situation in the RP. In the decade(s) before the Great War, practically all of Europe, and to a small extent, Asia and Africa, had built up a web of treaties and alliances. Tensions that normally got soothed by small conflicts started building up. Everyone was antsy, but everyone had their hands tied. Fast forward to 1914. Princip puts a bullet in Archduke Ferdinand's neck. This ignites a political firestorm that ends with Austria declaring war on Serbia. Russia mobilizes against Austria, and afterwards against Germany. Germany then mobilizes against Austria. As the web of alliances begins to experience cascade failure, the rest of Europe slowly falls in, along with parts of Asia and Africa.

The RP is in a state similar to the world in July of 1914. All this tension and instability is straining the web to the breaking point. Old differences are resurfacing. Everyone is mobilizing and sabres are rattling. The Resurgent Axis? Well, the RA might just be the RP equivalent of the Archduke being assassinated, the small spark that lit the first few flames of the fire. And the chaos with Cattira and Dragonfire might just be the rp equivalent of the relatively small scale fights early in WW1, before the fecal matter really hit the fan......

I've been staying out of these treaties not just because I like to maintain my ability to do what I want or need. I've made sure that when this all erupts, I will be in a prime position to stay clear of the impending storm until I am ready to get involved, rather than being forced in early.