Good post and it brings up a lot of valid points. I'm a SOL role-player and really I have rarely taken part in wars. But I do have to say, the general lack of conflict (or at least the absence of a sense of conflict) going on around the map has even begun to seep into our communities as well. While SOL people rarely take part in conflict itself, having it going on in the background does also affect to flow of every day things.
Overarching story lines shape what we talk about over tea, the type of events we put on, the way we RP within our communities and honestly one can only talk about the weather or how so-and-so's kid is doing so many times before it grows stale. Gossiping about what nations may fall to another, hosting events where we learn how to make emergency kits in case of evacuation, talking in hushed voices about when soldiers may descend on our homes is fun.
As a leader in a community that thrives on SOL roleplay I have found myself having to insert some sort of conflict into our village just so we have something to interact with. While getting raided every day isn't the most fun, it at least gave us something to do and sorta rally around; with the crackdown on conflict rules I can't remember the last time we got raided or bandited. Even Halflings love a good world-changing war every now and then, and it feels as if the days where those actually happened are behind us.