Why a naval-treaty roleplay needs historical incentives

Would a server event in which participants represent the Washington Naval Treaty powers produce a useful negotiation?

Not without recreating the historical incentives, because players would otherwise make maximal warship demands with little reason to compromise.

The proposed event assigns participants to powers at the Washington Naval Conference and asks them to negotiate limits. Modern players do not share the governments' original financial, diplomatic, and strategic incentives, so the exercise is unlikely to reproduce the historical settlement. Without those constraints, participants can demand very large, fast battlecruisers and refuse compromise. A useful arms-control simulation needs historically grounded objectives and costs alongside national labels and ship specifications.