Admin Notice: Factions

[Jinx]

something to keep in mind:

originally, official factions - or factions in general - served but one single reason: - to gather like-minded players under one banner and create a community.

back then, that was reason enough to create or join a faction.

what factions have become is a bit twisted and perverted... - it seems people believe that factions have become / or have to be some sort of beacon for roleplay.

instead of creating community, they seem to focus on installing additional rules ( ranks, restrictions, ingame-laws etc. )

and communion has become some sort of "hope to raise the ladder to enforce power" - or of a faction does not support that, it hardly offers something else but the very same that non-members can get. ( in other words, it does not offer a refugee for the like-minded )


traditionally, the general rules must apply to everyone. factions that are exempt from the general rules that must apply to everyone have failed in the past, mostly due to creating an unfair estrangement between the "normal" player and the "special members" - without justifying why they d be exempt.
that means that (most) factions cannot remove any general rule, but in order to be different, they only add to the rules.

todays factions either do not do anything different to non-members; or they have stricter rules, which are possibly meant to add "realism" or act as an artificial ladder of challenge - do good and you are rewarded.

especially the "do good and be rewarded"-system may be flawed for it has become either "be cool with your higher ups and you are rewarded, no matter how you do ingame..." or "just be active, pleeeeaaase...and you will raise in ranks"

in short, official factions really offer little that non-members can get. - and what they can offer, they often don t focus on enough - community.

some time ago i wrote that the half-life of a faction is probably rather short, - i still stand to that. a faction needs to re-invent itself over and over ... putting efforts into "member-care" all the time in order to survive and show positive reinforcement.

* * *

when asked "why are you a member of [insert name] faction?"
the answer should be like "cause i am with friends" or "cause this is exactly the role i want to play and there are people who support me that way"

it should not be "cause i have more rights than non-members" or "so i can show others the way" (you are not a tutor after all)

the difference is - the positive reasons are centered around oneself and/or involve those that enjoy the same treatment... it should focus on similarities not differences.


- ask yourself that "why did i join the faction? - i mean really and honestly... what are my reasons"

- "why should this player, who is not a member, join my faction" - keep in mind, a faction is community of like-minded .... there are players who have potential and all, but are different not to fit in. sometimes a "non-factionized"-player is a greater asset than one that was forced into a faction.

- "if i can only add more rules, what can i do to GIVE a member something he cannot get without membership?" ( really, if you cannot answer that one - you are lost ) - again the answer should not be "i give you power over others" - that is negative reinforcement.

- "what are the reasons to have an "official" faction - if the rules to keep the status have become a chore?" - be honest to yourself... keeping the status for the sake of the status? or cause there is a real reason.

in the past, some unofficial factions have shown a great deal more community - or rather if you compare them with fire, some official factions seem to burn on a minimal flame without much excitement, some unofficial ones had burned with a bright flame ( yet a much shorter lifetime )

* * *

faction leaders need to ask themselves that:

- what were the reasons we made that faction? ( go back and read your own faction creation )

- contemplate on your IDs lore. a faction usually needs to fight a loosing battle. - their greatest goal/ambition is to fight for something they cannot possibly achieve - achieving it means to make the faction obsolete ( think of gaians gaining full and legal control over gaia )

do not twist your lore around too much or you may not recognize it anymore.

- do you know all your members? - what is it that every member wants, do you know why they joined? - can you give it to them? or were most of it just ambitious but rather empty promises.

- if you cannot offer players what they want - it is not a sign for their unwillingness. it is a sign for them being different to what the faction stands for ( or you ). - remember, a faction is a group of like-minded players.

a faction can adjust to that by inviting different players and making compromises - but one must take care not to estrange members by inviting players who do not fit in. not fitting in is not a negative stigma, treating different players equally is a social skill however. - putting their differences to both sides benefit if possible.

- finally: a faction that disbands is not necessarily a sign of failure. it just means that the type of players who want to join such a faction have become too rare to carry on. do you really expect a group of like-minded players to stay together for years in a game that offers only limited change and novelty?

* * *

postscript:

if factions were a bird, they would be a "Kakapo". if factions had a condition it would be to be aware of dwindling numbers. if factions reacted naturally, they d do what the Kakapo does: play to their strength.

figure out whats the right strength and whats the wrong strength. (if you don t know the Kakapo, it is a chapter in Douglas Adams "last chance to see" report. - a bird that acts according to its instincts and nature - and yet does everything wrong ) - read it up... its funny and tragical.

---

Shipdesigns made for DiscoveryGC