[haloboy100]

you can safely blame the humans

humanity has one big problem: One human can be smart and reasonable.
A lot of humans are just dumb and aggressive animals.

Want proof? Just watch the news or read some history books.

I agree.

I really don't see how their could be a war that lasted as long as 14 years between the Terrans and Vasudans...despite the big amount of effort i think was put into the rest of the Freespace story, i think the 14 year war was just put into the story for no reason by to have something to do in FS1 until the shivans came. The conversation i think was put there just as a story holder for people that really want to look into the Freespace story, like us here. However, this is just my theory.

Heading into the conversation, what i think happened was some kind of form of cultural misunderstanding in a different sense. Since the terrans and Vasudans couldn't understand each other, when the first translation device was invented the first phrases or sentences could of been mistranslated, resulting in violence. There is also a possibility of some crooked participants. Some crooked violence-loving Terran or Vasudan could of said things to provoke a conflict. That theory is very unlikely, it does match what Vidmaster said, and I'm just throwing out ideas for discussion.

[Hades]

you can safely blame the humans

humanity has one big problem: One human can be smart and reasonable.
A lot of humans are just dumb and aggressive animals.

Want proof? Just watch the news or read some history books.

I agree with that.
There is proof of that EVERY WERE.

[BlackDove]

And also, look at you, the polarizing leader of distinguishment.

[NGTM-1R]

After a point, the war probably just acquired its own form of inertia. Too much bad history to overcome, and neither side needs to end it enough to make the kind of concessions necessary. It's not a high-intensity conflict most of the time probably; there are long, months or even years long, periods of skirmishing broken up by intervals of major action.

There probably came a point after several years where the two sides realized that they were too evenly matched. They simply didn't have the resources to defeat each other absent the other guy making a major blunder, and they grew cautious lest they make that major blunder themselves. Every once in awhile one side or the other gets it into their head they might have an advantage now, only to discover in the actual event it wasn't enough of an advantage.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Hmm...I'd like to see how the Vasudans' Savior-class destroyer looked like, though. But if you ask me, from my read-up at FS Wiki, it seems that both sides started blundering once they gained the upper hand.
I was thinking that the only way for all Terrans to unite is for some other alien race to threaten their very existence. Similarly, the Terrans and Vasudans formed an alliance because another alien race threatened their very existence.
I would think it's safe to assume that, if there was yet another alien race that threatens the existence of the Terrans, Vasudans and Shivans (yeah right), all of them would unite.

(...and it goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...) 

[BlackDove]

See, that's the thing. It's why the whole thing is so interesting in the first place.

It's exactly BECAUSE Shivans wouldn't commit to such a pattern.

[haloboy100]

The shivans would probably end up killing everything and having the galaxy to themselves I vote Carl as king of the new empire!

[IceFire]

See, that's the thing. It's why the whole thing is so interesting in the first place.

It's exactly BECAUSE Shivans wouldn't commit to such a pattern.

Bingo!

The Shivans are somewhat unique as a sci-fi alien enemy in that they defy conventional understanding of how an enemy should operate.  Their motives are either ambiguous or completely unknown.  The tech rooms say that the Shivans don't care for planets, only subspace nodes, with very few exceptions.  They are obviously aware of planets and their importance but don't consider them strategic objects that need to be occupied or conquered.

The Terrans and Vasudans can logically ally because they are, despite some differences, largely similar in having an obvious social hierarchy, history, technological knowhow, industrial bases, and a similar technology level.  They even seem to have similar levels of aggression to humans in the story...they seem quite capable of all of the same things that humans are including suicidal attacks (HoL), civil war and strife, and fighting desperate battles.  But the Shivans...none of those things. Just pure xenophobic destructive rage.

Force of nature...thats what the Shivans are.  Technological force of nature.

[karajorma]

And then just when you think that you have them pegged mix Bosch into the storyline and make it even more confusing.

[haloboy100]

And thats what leaves to the huge cliffhanger in freespace 2 concerning bosch, and why people scream for a freespace 3!