Bear in mind, of course, that this is a restriction only on my own vote, as but one of many voting managers. To answer your question, though, I will not oppose requests for existing designs, even if they are against my criteria, because management has already supported them (i.e. Drasek Cale's recent request for an Origin-class vessel, which exceeds my 250 meter limit but of which I approved anyway because management had already approved it on a prior occasion). I don't like it, but it's only fair.

My reasons are twofold; 1.) To encourage the use of canon vessels, as you surmised, primarily because A.) they are adequate and abundant, and B.) Corellia's request for the Kor Vella-class vessel has proven to me just how nightmarish the moderation of such things can become (note that my post on that thread--past 1 AM--suggests that I had been discussing the fine details of the ship with Karath for "several hours," which also involved frequent references back to the earlier request for the Kruus-class vessel because that ship was held up as a justification for more armaments on this ship; in all, a dreadful, dreadful, dreadful experience).

2.) Related to this, I've found lately that the requests of original designs have essentially been intended to introduce far more firepower into the RP than is reasonably available with canon ships. This is how we've ended up with a Neimoidian ship larger than everything in the New Republic's fleet (with the exception of the Lusankya which, along with all other Super Star Destroyers, have traditionally been prohibited in the RP), and a Corellian ship that is essentially a fleet unto itself and was approved largely on the basis that we had earlier approved the Neimoidian ship.

I find it's easiest to simply draw the line somewhere, rather than having to spend hours nitpicking each specific design and being accused of bias. 250 meters seems reasonable to me because it approaches the lowest threshold of a frigate and no ship of that size or smaller can realistically have enough firepower to serve as a substitute for canon Star Wars ships. I think that covers that, however I confess I don't think I understood what you mean about governments and third parties. If I haven't addressed that point, please rephrase and I can take another shot at it.

Jace Varitek

Jace Varitek
Manager/Administrator from January 2003 to Present
My recent posts here, pre-2009 archives here

"When my information changes, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"
—John Maynard Keynes

Furthermore, a dancing Wookiee: