whaever

 I am all for newbs fighting...I will happily sell stuff to both. This is a war game. Anyone opposed to war should be in an alliance dedicated to peace. Also war and attacks should only be sent to those who wish to engage in them. Those who wish to remain at peace should be given the option, though I ask you to remember, this game puts all of us together on a map. This means there will be mix ups, players who cross, ego clashes and all manner of human reactions to the condition here. 

 There are more things found in Heaven and earth and Illy Horatio, then are contained in your philosophies. This is a changing game, evolving and becoming more then it was. All should be careful to own their words, and deeds alone are the measure of all.

I don't think you're hostile toward me, although I thought it might be possible you were arguing against a slightly less nuanced stance than I was taking because it would be easier to disagree with.  I wasn't even convinced that this was the case -- I merely entertained the possibility.

And the "rules" for such noncombatants would need to be evolved by the community through discussions like this.  For example, I am close to coming to a decision that I am going to limit Ryelle to two cities -- with the caravans available in those cities, I am able to assist as many new players as generally appear in global chat, and at the same time hopefully it will be unlikely that I will be perceived as a threat to anyone.

"Rules" about noncombatants could include the degree to which they can freely express themselves without being considered to have provoked a war and would likely be determined on a case-by-case basis within some broad guidelines.

Whether or not non-combatants could maintain armies for the purpose of competition in tournaments or completion of (yet-to-be-released) military quests is another question.  Whether they could attack inactive players with those armies could also be an issue.

Certainly noncombatants would be giving up a lot in order to receive their "protected" status.  Probably not many players would want to make those sacrifices.

If anyone is wondering why Rill is in mCrow if I wish to be a noncombatant, I am there to seek further training in order to better be able to advise new players in this important aspect of Illy.  If it were determined by the community that it is inappropriate to have an alt in an alliance that can participate in war, that would be something I would have to think hard about in terms of Rill's future.