Quote:[b]HRogge wrote:[/b]It's the principle of the thing -weapons in your city walls (even your flying city walls) are defensive; weapons in an armored ship are offensive. It's a show of trust on the part of the convention. "Trust", not stupidity: That's why the Space Patrol has Section 9, to check if the weapons are defensive. Well, or they would if Section 9 existed. Which it doesn't, just for the record.
Please do not forget that the Venus Cities can fly interplanetary distances.
Yes, there are countless ways to take advantage of that loophole -but the kind of people to take such advantage would ignore the treaty anyway.
The main problem I find with the treaty and the inspections -which I agree in general- are that they seem to place the Factions a suspects as a starting point. Surprise inspections by foreign officers are the sort of thing you do to hostile nations under international sanctions, not to your allies. Your allies, you pretend to believe then when they claim they are following the rules (and use your spies to check it they are actually telling the truth)