@StevenSharif had this to say about alliances in node wars:
I believe that the position we're in now from a design perspective is that certain war scrolls and war types will induct alliances as participants of the declared war, but not all wars will, so that is predicated on the war scroll used.
I think that is a good starting point, but I would like to see it fleshed out more.
From the attacker side, declaring a node war that automatically flags their allies as well is a ballsy move if they don't clear it with the allied mayors first. I think it should still happen upon declaration, but the allied mayors should be able to break the alliance after the declaration is made. This unflags that node, breaks the alliance immediately, and it puts a big negative dent in the inter-node relationship between those two former allies, who are now on a path towards being able to declare war on each other. So it's something to do very cautiously.
On the defender side of things, if they are the target of a node war that includes allies, their allies should also be able opt out of the war, breaking the alliance with the defending node, with all the negative consequences that entails.
If the defenders are the target of a node war that
doesn't automatically include allies, and the defending mayor deems the war unwinnable alone, they should be able to push the big, red "CALL ALLIES FOR HELP" button. However, should they do that, the attacking node will also get that button activated for their side, allowing the mayor to decide if they should push it.
When this button is pushed, there are two ways to go about it.
- It's opt-in for the allies. They can choose to ignore the call to arms, but while not joining the war won't break the alliance, it should still hurt the inter-node reputation by some amount.
- Allies are joined automatically, and they can then break the alliance as if they were forcibly joined from the beginning.
For the sake of variety, I would prefer option 1 I think, where it's an opt-in system by the allied nodes.
Thoughts?