concerning factions and their influence

[Mímir]

The bottom line, which has been made several times already, is that factions need something, a hook, a bonus, some incentive for people to join and stay. It's only logical to look at the most popular attraction (capital ships) and think "Hmm I wonder..."

Sorry, I have tried saying it nicely, I have tried to appeal to common sense and now I tried raging and none of it works. How do I reach out to you*?

Again I'll try with the common sense: How would it be an incentive to join your faction to be able to pilot a ship you all despise people for piloting? Where exactly is the fun in that for me (and for you - do you really want members who you don't like and who don't like you and only are there because that's the way it has to be if they want to play the game the way they like to play it?), when I can just go play another game where I don't have to join in on this really odd way of group-thinking? Please let go of this idea.

It is true that capital ships can destroy snub fights, but that is mostly via botfeeding which some say isn't even an issue at all. Speed makes it easy to get away from the cap if you don't feel like fighting it, so there's that. Most capital ships are balanced to die horribly as well, we all know that, so it is faster and easier to remove an annoying enemy Battleship than a Liberator. I really don't see the issue. To add to that, some official factions are downright infamous for botsharing from caps to snubs and think that is a totally ok way of playing the game, so what exactly is limiting caps to only official factions going to solve?

*"You" as in traditionalist/conservative "faction players" - my other rant wasn't directed at you, it was at that all to familiar PoV you put forth which some other people also have constantly written down in posts over the last 4-5 years.

@Katherine:
I read Mimir post and he didn't come with a solution or an idea. All he did was bashing official factions for being lazy and unpopular but not even a suggestion on how they could become popular. I've seen people like this for years coming and going... hell, I've been one of them, bashing official factions for God knows what but never coming with a solution.

I have many ideas for solutions, the problem is that none of these ideas are what people want to hear. I have been here for long enough to know that posting progressive ideas changes even less than these discussions.

To the point though: The main issue is lazyness/lack of creativity in terms of what to offer players and how, and I think that is fair to point out - especially when people seem to feel entitled to determine how I and other indies are to play the game.

Edit: Found some more that I would like to comment on:

To the general indy, looking into official faction recruitment, it comes across as a list of instructions and/or limitations.

While I totally understand your sentiment, I have to point out that factions themselves choose how to form their recruitment. Some of them put the limitations right up there at the front because A) They are masochists or B) They take everyone else for total idiots / have a fundamental lack of trust in co-players they don't know in advance. They could make it sexy, but they don't - maybe experience have proven that this is the best way to do it, and that is alright. I am just saying some factions are doing a bad marketing job and they should look at that first before trying to limit everyone else.

Regardless of how small that list is, even if it is just spending time to write an in-RP app, it is still something more to do that an indy does not. And in return? Hehe, well, with 'balance' all indy's are to be given free access to their faction's (Read - "their ID's") tech.

For me, writing an application for a character to fit into a faction with pre-given guidelines is far, far, far easier than writing a story for one of my indies.

As such, they gain nothing special in return but a couple of letters/symbols prefixing their name. And some minor prominence in the highly elitist social structure of disco. Oh, and some responsibility.

Flying in the faction should be what you get in return. Yes, I said that. That feeling of pride when you tag your ship, move up through the ranks, when your character starts to unfold and his/hers opinions actually start to matter, the fun of flying with other people, increased success rate in combat, increased profits when trading. People generally treat you with more respect, they roleplay with you were they wouldn't in an untagged ship. Other characters will be tied to your character through the faction, and you get a more immersive roleplay experience - your character seems more "real" when it exists in the minds of other players. There are so many rewards, but some players have been all too busy selling the downsides of playing in a faction that they forgot to advertise the extremely positive ones. At least that's my feeling of the situation, and that's a suggestion to part of the solution: Be a little bit positive.

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