The Yrkanis Shield nonsense plus some other recent discussions I have had or read have brought to mind a proposal for a change to the game. If you insist on having your faction war then I think it's time to escalate it. I think the city/town guards should get involved too. It's time they started faction KOS too. Hasn't each civilisation chosen a faction? Then why do Yrkanis guards allow the enemy to wander their streets? Or Dyron's guards allow pro-Karavan into town?
It could be done along 'traditional' lines (Matis + Tryker = Karavan, Fyros + Zorai = Kami) or, better still, Nevrax could even run a referendum (like the Fyros one) to allow the people to choose sides - Kami, Karavan or neutral. That would truly allow us to impact the story.

If a race chooses neutral, the guards just do civ fame. If they choose Kami or Karavan, the guards KOS the 'other' faction. Neutrals can come and go at will. It would give neutrality a better impact than the half hearted (and down right poor in EP2) attempts have done so far.
Whether the choice was made by a vote or traditional lines, perhaps the capitals could be slightly different and allow anyone who wasn't PvP enabled (i.e. they come in peace) to enter. Only problem then is what happens if the flag is turned on once inside. Can the patrolling guards attack, or are they like the tribe patrols?
Another method of implementing it would be for PvP to affect fame. After all, if a Fyros goes around repeatedly killing Matis homins, shouldn't they have bad fame with the Matis? So the other option would be you lose civilisation fame when you kill a member of that race - be they NPC or player. When your fame drops low enough - you're a notorious Fyros/Matis/Tryker/Zorai killer - the guards don't tolerate you being in town.
I don't want this war, never have, but if it's going to be forced upon us then lets see some REAL consequences for taking part. Let's up the ante a bit.
Discuss.
