I'm not actually vote for a couple of reasons:
- On one hand, there has been some good debates/points made and it is something important to your character, so keep on it
- On the flip side, as terrible as the event was, Steff is really of the opinion that 'harping' on the subject is preventing any meaningful progression for either side forward from the events
Now, as a player, if something strikes you as being important to your character, I'm not going to tell you otherwise. It's your character, grab that ball and run with it. I like what I see, even if I have gotten tired of the "I'm right, you're wrong" tone the arguments have taken as time has progressed. I'm just as guilty of the attitude myself, but sometimes I wonder if we do allow our characters the ability to compromise or even admit when they are wrong? Just my observation based on some of the arguments I've seen and at the end of the day, I want to see people having fun, but a part of me would like to see some characters being a little less 'rigid' and grow through seeing that maybe they were wrong on something. Of course, two sides to every story arguments can be made why someone sees their actions/side as being right.
My biggest issue, however, with the whole Coleile situation actually resides with CCP. I'm not sure how things were like before (i.e. I'm now just entering my 3rd month of play) and I've heard others talking about the various good/bad story lines that have come from CCP in the past. My actual issue is the events of Coleile are not something that would just go quiet. Even if neither side was willing to apologize, there ought to have been statements made by both governments...I could be wrong about it, but dreadnought fleet engagements are not something you just sweep under the carpet and pretend didn't happen...both sides lost a noticeable chunk of assets, yet no word or anything.
I can sympathize a bit with Ava from the point of view that because EM was involved in the action, and without anything from the actual parties involved, all the players upset with the event are jumping on the 'kick the apparent bad guy while they're down' wagon. I may have been guilty of this, I'm not sure. I understand, having been involved with the military in RL, the situation EM found themselves in...they received an order from on high to engage 'the enemy'. It's easy to sit back and say EM was wrong and should have refused the order and either held back or left the field, but then they would have been labelled traitors by the Republic...whether or not there'd be an in-game mechanic/consequence for that is irrelevant from a story point of view: EM, a group that strikes me as being loyal to the Republic, would no longer be loyal by refusing the order. They had no choice. From Steff's point of view, she has nothing against what EM did, they were called upon to support a fleet of dreds; as to whether or not they were told they would be going in force into Fed space and that they were going to engage anything that got in their path is another thing and even then Steff still doesn't hold anything against the EM pilots. Bad decisions were made all around and jumping down EM's throat solves nothing. Once the first shots were fired, EM again had no real choice in what they could do as now they were red to the Feds and were in a giant furball of a space battle.
So I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if it is developing your character and fun, stick with it. CCP should have had an idea what Coleile might do and there are enough real-world examples (admittedly on a much smaller scale) that to sit back and not have anything said for 3 months is disappointing and frustrating.