Consider your views as it is on unofficial factions.
You see somebody flying by with a tag you've never heard of, you're inquisitive. You ask them, more often than not you'll get, "Teh [MLPH] are the Master Lord Prime Hackers!" or something equally rediculous. And in-game, they don't know the pecking order or much else beyond server rules. Sure, sometimes you get people who introduce themselves to the forums, but usually its some weird guy you've never seen who goes about his business in Group Chat and not much else.
Think now, on the LN or the BAF or RM. You see them and know that they are official. That they are primier RPers. That they are senior members of this community and are note-worthy characters by their own processes of trial and error.
