The New Beginning of the BPA

[Incindre]

Not too long ago the Bretonia Police Authority was left, by Jovial, in my hands. I’ve tried my hardest since I joined the faction a year or two ago to make it prosper but I have found it very difficult to maintain the values that the faction was founded on and still get a large enough player base to keep the faction alive.

Now for most factions people only need put in an hour or two each week and there are enough members for there to be an almost constant presence in space. E.g. it’s very rare not to see a BAF or LPI player in space because there are so many of them.

This is a problem for smaller factions however who must make much more regular appearances and for longer periods of time to retain the standard of “active”. We in the BPA have reached an all-time low of active players. I was the most active in my time prior to my role as faction nanny; there were still about four other players that popped on from time to time but only for short pieces. (Yes Dii I do know what it feels like, but I persevered).

Now due to constraints in real life and the acquisition of several new games that I have been playing it is difficult for me to retain the activity of days past. This is where I hoped I could pass the mantle on but the BPA is facing several severe problems which have made that very hard.

Firstly: Most of the original members have moved on.
The original creators have gone, so have Sleipnir, Baconsoda, Pieguy, Jovial, Or Shevach and a number of others who were old hands in the BPA. A greater number remain in the BPA Skype channel but have not deemed to tell us of their inactivity.
The rest have either gone missing or are finding RL too restrictive to do the work of an entire faction.

Secondly: Our new recruits.
Having been threatened with removal from official faction status and the coincidental departure of a few long term leader type persons a recruitment drive was organized.
We got about 15 applications; 5 are missing having made only a few appearances, two have left and one hasn’t been seen at all. We only had one active recruit and he left due to having no one to fly with.

Thirdly: Discovery and Police factions in general:
The BPA was set up on a series of guiding principles, one of them was to keep a more peaceful force designed to steer situations to a non-eventful conclusion where, hopefully, Mr Pirate went on his way knowing that if he ever came through Bretonia with a hold load of slaves again his cargo would be confiscated and his ship possibly destroyed. Missiles were not to be equipped as somehow it was decided that they were too OORP for a peacekeeping police faction (ignoring the fact that Bretonia Police NPC’s have missiles) and the only ships allowed were Hussars, Clydesdale’s (if you were in the Commerce Control Division) and a Challenger should you enter the Special Response Division.

Now Discovery is a good mod but there are severe faction balance problems. Bretonia is apparently the best place to Role Play within Sirius but all we get over there are PvP whoring idiots who spend all their time camping Dublin and lapsing into OORP. I have a theory that people only come to Bretonia to hassle miners in Dublin or to join the BAF and fight the Kusari.

People are now obviously only interested in as many blue messages as possible and flying the most powerful ship possible.
As far as a job is concerned, there is no reason for any member or future member of the BPA to be inactive considering the vast numbers of smugglers, pirates and illegal miners that flood Bretonia daily (and this isn’t mentioning the swarm of Corsairs that plague us from the Omega’s).
However, Bretonia is stagnating, the same thing happens again and again and again. Pirates come and gank Dublin while absolutely nothing (that we can handle effectively) happens in the rest of Bretonia. The BPA cannot really do much against the lol-hordes of the Molly’s system until we get member levels up or make some changes. The BAF have also taken control over the two systems where something actually happens (although this something is the dreary repetition of Kusari destroyers sitting at Leeds and Indians shooting anything that moves in the gold filled Dublin system). When something does happen outside of the BAF’s marshal law operated systems the BPA cannot do much and there are thousands of Armed Forces people rushing to the scene anyway making our job slightly pointless and boring.

There is no place for the BPA’s original principles any longer if we wish to survive as a faction. People are attracted to either Military factions or strong pirate factions, to contend with both, in game and in numbers, requires one to become more like them.
This is a disgusting concept for a self-confessed RP addict, I am obsessed with a deep and detailed Role Play and enjoyed the original BPA system. I dearly wish that following the route of the other Police factions and becoming a slightly nerfed military wasn't necessary... but it is, both to maintain a handle on the criminals running rampant in Bretonia and to draw more people to the faction.

I would like to apologize to any ex-members of the BPA who are convinced I am murdering the faction but to be honest you didn’t seem to care to much about keeping it alive when you were actually supposed to be active.

Now that Sprolf is gone I do not think that I’ll have to apologize to the Pirate factions of Bretonia. Don’t have a whine in any case; simply think of this as a challenge.

Unfortunately this is necessary to save the faction that I love.

As of now any members of the BPA will be able to pick between a Hussar or a fully kitted out Paladin Heavy fighter. Seven Templars have been purchased for the express use of preventing Corsair raids and will be made available on shared accounts to the BPA members. There will be a bolstered force of SRD bombers as well.

With the ability to use more powerful weaponry and ships I hope that this will bring new members which can push into Omega 3 to create a stronger buffer zone and spend time mopping up the dirt in Dublin.

Any post in the Message dump, showing proof of a criminals destruction, arrest or crime prevention of any sort, will be reviewed and a monetary sum or “Commission” as we are calling it will be paid out to the Officer in question (does not apply to uneventful patrols).
This value will range from 250,000 credits to 2,000,000 credits depending on the case.

So yes, basically we will be acting as a meaner police force bent on protecting the other side of Bretonia and halting the flow of contraband through our borders while the BAF deal with the Kusari front.

I know a number of you will not like this, but if your faction was dying, wouldn’t you try everything to save it? I’m not happy with what has to be done, but it has to be done none-the-less.

But don’t think that we are becoming PvP whores; the history of RP within the BPA is too long ingrained. I love role play more than flying these days and I intend to maintain the highest level of RP possible within the faction.

Any ideas to make this ailing police faction more appealing would be greatly appreciated. If we can’t make this work soon I’ll have to pull the plug on something that has taken up vast amounts of time and dedication from a variety of people.

The BPA has so much potential; it just needs good people to help it on its way.

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Currently Retired

Signs and Portents

[Disparagess]

This interests me.

I'll very much consider joining, hopefully by the end of this week if I have the time. (Though if I do, don't pay me. I'm rich enough:P)

A problem I can see is will Hussars/Paladins (As I can see, bombers won't be common) be able to take on the growing force of pirate gunboats?

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WARNING: Do not watch all of my avatar UNLESS you want to waste over 2 minutes of your life.
Add me on skype: Disparagess

[Sturmwind]

Writing an app and studying Bretonian RP atm.

[Chase]

It's sad to hear that you feel the need to lower the "standards" which you've held so high. I've always been hesitant on joining the BPA for two reasons. First off was the AFO period. Being able to fly three missions with a very inactive faction is a difficult thing. The only other real reason was my want to stray away from being in TOO many factions.

I fly on my indie BPA all the time, so considering the fact that you need active members, I'll throw together an application!

Edit:
Oh I forgot to add my two cents to the changes. I don't think that you should add templars. Light fighters ARE the sign of police officers, and it should be stick that way. I understand the need to have shared bombers and that's a good thing, but adding Templars as a starting option is a little OORP in my eyes.
The bonuses are an awesome idea, and being in Gateway) as well; if the BPA needs a few credit transfers every now and then, we can definitely arrange something to help with the paying. (Others from BMM and Bowex will do the same, I'd hope)

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Golden Chrysanthemum | Gateway Shipping

[Dashiell]

I find it -such- a waste that police factions are dying out. basically, because the navy/military does their job. Can you blame them? no. because pirates fly more powerful stuff than the rozzers can throw at them. so people join the guys with bigger guns.

also, bretonia...

80% of the action is in either Dublin or O3. the rest of the systems are dead as a doornail. that's such a waste. the RFP is suffering from the same symptoms.

my suggestions ( I hope they are somewhat usefull)

- let the BPA enforce the blockade, not the BAF

- Let the BPA patrol Dublin with more capabale fighting ships ( a neccesary evil, I fear. people just hate to lose...) Dublin needs a lwaful presence badly. The BAF simply cant always be there.

- escort any and all traders within Bret space. I know for a fact that the Bowex boys would love some company during their trip through bret-land.

- try to rp more cop like things. pull people over for 'speeding', fine them for having broken taillights. rp an accident with a lane and a crashed transport. get a prison liner and use it to transport prisoners. just throwing out some ideas here.

and lastly, 'share' tasks with the BAF. the BAF isnt always around, so the BPA would be able to fill the gap, as is it true the other way around.

I wish you and your players luck.

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[Tomtomrawr]

I am truly sorry that you had to make such radical changes to the BPA.

I only see one BPA member at the moment. A Kusarian woman (can't remember the name as it is Kusarian -_-) in a Hussar. Now when I see this Hussar I'm normally flying a bomber. So I'm screwed.

When someone in the RFP wants a Wraith or a Bergelmir or a Fafnir I ask them this: "If we use the same ships as the Rheinwehr, what makes us different?" Few have Wraiths, and nobody has a personal Bergelmir. We have no Fafnirs at all.

What I'm trying to say is that if you resort to using the same ships as the BAF then you're not different. However I can see why you struggle so much, because you have no Police alternative such as the Mjolnir. To be honest, I wouldn't even bother with the RFP if we didn't have that ship. So my first suggestion on how to help the BPA is to get a decent ship just for the BPA. I'm not saying that the Hussar is bad, because if you can fly it then any VHF or bomber is completely screwed.

My second suggestion is a painful one to suggest. It affects all Police factions.

Remove them.

Remove any trace of them, and simply have them as an RP that stays on planets and stations. Then everybody can focus on the Military and be happy. But there are problems with that, because people still want the Police RP.

So maybe not even have official Police factions, but have a few people (who want the Police RP) get those special Police sort of rights (like pulling people over for speeding) with the Police ID restricted. So no player factions for them, but still a small presence.

However, the idea of removing them entirely would probably satisfy most people. I sighed when I typed that.

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[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.

Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.

[Cannon]

I do have a unique 'power' in mind for police factions. It probably won't help but I'll try to get it finished soon.

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

Old Avatar #2 | Old Avatar #3

[Stoat]

I think the use od Paladins is a good idea for the BPA. There are only a couple of BAF lads that fly them (as far as I've seen) and it'll give you added firepower.

The problem the police forces face is that they can't actually arrest anyone, unless the person is willing to play along with an arrest. In my time in the BHG I can count the number of people that have played along with being arrested on the fingers on one hand, and I've tried to arrest a large number of people myself. It's a shame that game mechanics don't allow for arrests to be made, that the only option is the blue message.

I look forward to finding out what Cannon has in mind, and wish the BPA all the best.

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My Stories

[qwertypp7]

Just so happens that I have a fully kitted out Paladin that I haven't used in ages.

I may well apply.

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Dublin Miner: I am Gallic admiral earning money in Bretonia.

True story...

[Chico]

I would imagine using Paladins would certainly augment the BPA's arsenal although I do like the idea of Hussars.
Perhaps something like armoured transports could be integrated, as a BPA gunboat/contraband confiscator
Anyway, I would very much like to see a faction like this get back to it's feet. Good luck to you.
I may even be able to find you some work...*cough*...gringo.

One question I would ask, is Omega 3 part of your jurisdiction really or is it, like certain other parties, looking for an excuse to PvP in 'just one more' theatre?

@ Stoat:- Arrest people in Hussars?
I've seen a train get stopped and trampled on by a small group of angry Legionaires and a single Correo. If you do get an armoured transport, I imagine several Hussars and it would seriously dent any smugglers ambitions in the vacinity.

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