Regarding Faction flagships.

[jammi]

Now then, I've been a faction leader for a long time. Longer than a lot of factions have even existed here. Due to the faction in question being Bowex, I've never really had much power to abuse or controversy to deal with - trade factions are neat like that. However, it has given me an insight into the real role of faction leaders that few people seem to appreciate.

Our job isn't to marshal indies, fill out tomes on the forum or instigate little intrigues against other players which we feel might give our group a little more 'power'. No. A faction leader's real job is to ensure that all their members are having fun, even if it's at the expense of their own. That means coming up with events, subsidising bonuses out of your own cash flow or investing time in training or group sessions. Going above and beyond to make sure your friends and faction-mates are getting the most out of their membership.

Because of this, I can soundly say that flagships and things in a similar vein aren't going to help at all. I don't want incentives for myself and my trusted lieutenants / high command. We're in our current positions specifically because we already have an incentive to play and enjoy doing it. Bonuses for factions shouldn't target the top tier. They should be aimed at the members themselves, from the bottom to the top.

So using trade factions as an example - a special ship for me (maybe some kind of war-freighter gizmo) would be neat but silly. It only rewards one person of many, and the person who least needs it at that. A FLHook based plugin that gave ships with your tag a cargo hold bonus or a commodity sell price buff would be excellent though. This targets the entire faction's playerbase instead of just the "elite", granting a real incentive to play.

Now then, this also touches on one of Ben's points, of all types of factions being treated as one. Yes, factions should all be treated the same so far as activity goes. It's a raw minimum for a reason - if you can't sustain that, you shouldn't be hogging a spot. Despite this, there are massive variations between groups - trade and PvP based groups specifically - which means certain rights or perks simply aren't applicable and don't make sense.

I could write a list of faction rights which were intended for PvP based groups and have no practical application for less military minded factions. Something to replace these rights would be splendid. Perhaps draw up two lists; combative rights and non-combative rights, and allow each faction to pick which one they wished to abide by, alongside their justifications for their decision.

EDIT: For the tl;dr: Factions consist of groups of amazing people, and if there is going to be a reward or incentive given to the group, it should affect all the members and not just the person who's sat in the swivelling leather chair at the top of the pile. I know for a fact that Bowex has an absolutely brilliant team, and if I received a 'flagship' and they went without, I'd be doing the them and their investments in the faction a massive disservice.

Can't be asked to cut out the relevant bits. Flagships really won't help factions as a whole.

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