If you possibly have the time to read through this
really long thread,

your question can be answered in a lot of depth. I'll try to simplify the answer though to save you loads of time.
The following is RAWA's official explanation of of CAVCON:
CAVCON 5: Unlike some movies, which get the DEFCON levels backwards, CAVCON 5 is the best state. It means that donations are exceeding MO:ULagain expenses, there are a couple of months of MO:ULagain expenses in reserve, and extra money can be put toward server upgrades, bug fixes, new content, incorporating fan created content, etc.
CAVCON 4: This level means that donations are exceeding MO:ULagain expenses, and we are building a small reserve fund for future slow periods.
CAVCON 3: Donations are roughly equal to MO:ULagain expenses.
CAVCON 2: Donations are less than MO:ULagain expenses, and we're currently using the reserve fund to help pay for MO:ULagain expenses.
CAVCON 1: Donations are less than MO:ULagain expenses, and the reserve fund is empty. This would be A Bad Thing (tm).
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TOC#60089 DI#132103 MOULa is 