Unofficial Factions on Discovery Forums

[Athenian]

I read the replies with interest. Obvioulsy players feel strongly about this rule. Enough to make ten posts about it in one case.

I think some players are mistaking an inherited policy (policies change to suit facts, such is life) with some malicious intent. The policy predates my time as admin. It affected me when I ran a pretty successful unofficial faction.

Now it is being reviewed, but clearly it has become enmeshed with some larger underlying grievance between official and unofficial factions and the players who have chose to opt for one group rather than the other.

Why are only official factions currently allowed to recruit (in theory at least)? I imagine it has to do with the fact that they have opted to claim greater status. There aren't many things that official factions can do that unofficial ones can, and it could easily be said that being official often kills off factions. However, in certain circumstances official factions carry more weight than unofficial ones, however these powers are clearly defined and carry responsibilities. One of which is a requirement that you be active. The criteria for this was changed recently, and has caused several factions to be removed from the official roster.

Which factions are merely filling up space that is available? It would be nice to know in what situation a faction would feel capable enough to request that the official faction step aside and make way for more.

What toys have people got that others don't? If you mean that approved proposals entail access to unusual stuff, I think that it must be said that access to these "toys" is pretty easy to get. Becoming official requires a handful of members, a laughably low level of activity and a few weeks on the server not irritating folk. (The kind of folk who let others know when they are irritated). However, the one ID rule obviously must be part of the issue here as well. But if an unofficial faction is fulfilling the role of an official faction, then what does it becoming official serve? In our experience, an ability between players to negotiate and share power has led to all manner of poor form. Hence the one ID rule - to prevent many factions from harming gameplay.

I posed the question about what being official means to people in order to find what others think. I have a pretty good idea that it has something to do with visibilty, power, commitment, an intent to contribute to development, a belief in one's superiority - a whole host of stuff.

Let inactive official factions die?
No need to shout. They can and do die.

Is there any one in particular you think should be "encouraged" to die sooner rather than later?

Most faction feedback posted by players up to now has been so subjective that it becomes impossible to establish if a faction is misbehaving or not. Chastise a faction for overpowering opponents? Not on my watch - the game we play is a spaceship game set in a violent future. The new posting guidelines in the faction review section of the rules forum set out clearly what manner of behaviour is open to public scrutiny. I suggest anyone with any concrete grievance against a particular faction post there, rather than make vague assertions.

Hi there...
I am the CEO of STO

an un-official faction that will be looking for official status soon....

however.. from experience I can tell you that un-official factions do not need a hiring forum..
What we do need is a place to post our faction concepts to refine and get feed back from those that have made faction. This would allow us to toss out our initial concept -- redraft it with the help of those that have done this many times.. and maybe not be turned down when we get players and apply.

To that end -- I am asking if this forum is a place for such?

-Cpt Gorva - CEO of the STO - Poseidon

You can post a faction description and ask for information etc before applying. It's interesting to see an unofficial faction state that it doesn't need a hiring forum though...

I suppose having a new sub-forum of one's own is considered quite a boon for factions, which would make allowing any other faction to recruit possibly feasible as a measure to compensate. Within reason, I mean, you couldn't just have factions spamming recruitment threads.

Footnote: At present, many people have been creative in maintaining message dumps for themselves (something one would associate with official groups), so I think there may be more flexibility here than many of you think.

---

Former member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"
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