Should official factions have more power?

[Friday]

Power is a relative thing.

I voted yes, but the nature of this power should not be in the setting of rules.

To my mind, the greatest power an official faction should have is naming rights.

This is something that has been excluded in the past. Some have argued that Vanilla faction names should be open to all who wish to play it. I disagree.

I speak from experience in the Gas Miners Guild. At first we had a group of indies called GMG|Ronin. They are finding their way, developing themselves and making their own choices. But carrying the GMG tag those choices reflected on more than themselves, they reflected on the 'official' GMG.

But after some choices, they decided to drop the 'official' tag and call themselves Ronin - and you know what, things have never been better!

They have the freedom to develop their own style of RP, we have increased communication with them - and other players generally know where they stand.

What is in a name one might ask? Nothing and everything. The boon and bane of the official faction should be to uphold and advance the name of that faction. Independent characters have the chance to onfluence this by their good works - but to gain the honour of the faction tag one should be prepared to join the official faction.

THAT to my mind is the one power any official faction should have. Not ships, nor equipment, not RP because there are rules for that - but the name.

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