Factions

[Steve Kort]

Ok as I see it Factions should only be organised groups that all follow that all have common rules, beleifs and are structured.  They have one ruler that runs the group.  A true Organization not things that sometimes work together in a large group.


I bring this up because I see certain things that should not be considered factions just a variety of different independent clans as they are not truly structured.

Bandits
Pirates
Heretics
Mercenaries (for the Most part but this could be if they structured themselves like the MV in Midgard USA)
Barbarians
Vikings
Celts
Nomads
Raiders
etc.

These things almost always are clanish and are very likely to fight each other as well as others.  I see them just being different types of independent clans each with their own setup and design and skill set but no real organization that backs them.   This could be something anyone could play with out attaching themselves to a faction.

[Steve Kort]

something you may not have consider is movement and things in the huge world of midgard is slow it took me over a year to simply move my clan from northern part of Midgard down to the southern continent. I did nothing but move that is extremely slow and boring with only 3 clans and 1 turn a month. I would never do that again with so few clans.

[Davin]

Ok as I see it Factions should only be organised groups that all follow that all have common rules, beleifs and are structured.  They have one ruler that runs the group.  A true Organization not things that sometimes work together in a large group.


I bring this up because I see certain things that should not be considered factions just a variety of different independent clans as they are not truly structured.

Bandits
Pirates
Heretics
Mercenaries (for the Most part but this could be if they structured themselves like the MV in Midgard USA)
Barbarians
Vikings
Celts
Nomads
Raiders
etc.

These things almost always are clanish and are very likely to fight each other as well as others.  I see them just being different types of independent clans each with their own setup and design and skill set but no real organization that backs them.   This could be something anyone could play with out attaching themselves to a faction.

I agree on all points!  If a player wants to end up playing like one of these (in the future), then perhaps we can work out a way that they can operate as an pseudo-faction (a particular flavor of Independent) in that way without having either the benefits or restrictions of a structured organization.  But for now, I think perhaps these should all be relegated to NPCs, don't you think?

[Davin]

something you may not have consider is movement and things in the huge world of midgard is slow it took me over a year to simply move my clan from northern part of Midgard down to the southern continent.  I did nothing but move that is extremely slow and boring with only 3 clans and 1 turn a month.  I would never do that again with so few clans.

Perhaps we can tweak movement rates to be more conducive for getting from place to place??

I'm hoping that we don't start out so spread out in the beginning so hopefully there won't be as much reason to move extra-long distances.

[Steve Kort]

Ok as I see it Factions should only be organised groups that all follow that all have common rules, beleifs and are structured.  They have one ruler that runs the group.  A true Organization not things that sometimes work together in a large group.


I bring this up because I see certain things that should not be considered factions just a variety of different independent clans as they are not truly structured.

Bandits
Pirates
Heretics
Mercenaries (for the Most part but this could be if they structured themselves like the MV in Midgard USA)
Barbarians
Vikings
Celts
Nomads
Raiders
etc.

These things almost always are clanish and are very likely to fight each other as well as others.  I see them just being different types of independent clans each with their own setup and design and skill set but no real organization that backs them.   This could be something anyone could play with out attaching themselves to a faction.

I agree on all points!  If a player wants to end up playing like one of these (in the future), then perhaps we can work out a way that they can operate as an pseudo-faction (a particular flavor of Independent) in that way without having either the benefits or restrictions of a structured organization.  But for now, I think perhaps these should all be relegated to NPCs, don't you think?

Agree.  My thought for a player that wanted one of these you just label them as Independent and then give them what ever the base skills that are decided for that type of NPC.   That way the clan has that sort of flavor.

[DreamWeaver]

Well you could always just restart the game with all the former factions and just open them all up to play and see where it goes from there.

[Davin]

Well..........

I suppose I could leave half the factions with nobody in them, but that sure doesn't sound right.  What kind of a game explanation might you come up with for factions without players, or worse, a faction with only a single player/clan in it?  And what would it do to the history?  And how would you then set up rules for new factions if they're not required to have a minimum number of players in them?

[DreamWeaver]

so what will you do if you start with just the 7 factions and say the Roder and Getham have No one in them, then what will you do then?

[Davin]

Well, I was hoping to limit them enough so that every faction had at least multiple someones, but I suppose I could just kill those off.  If enough people aren't interested in playing a faction, why start with it at all?  But if there were few enough wanting to play again that each faction couldn't be reasonably represented, then I haven't done my job and the restart won't succeed.

But you haven't told me your thoughts yet.

[Davin]

Ok.....  I give up.  I can't see any good reason why factions can't be empty (or nearly so).  They just won't grow noticeably and won't accomplish very much (just NPC play).  But I can't think of why that won't work from a technical point of view.  If you're willing to play in very inactive factions, then why should I stop you.

So, fine -- we'll spin up all the possible factions and let your clans choose how they want to play.

I would like to introduce the concept of "organized" factions (ones that have a shared set of goals and seniors to help direct them) and "disorganized" factions (just independent groups doing whatever they feel like).  Independents would be a disorganized faction (no seniors and no ranks) that players can play in and they can do whatever they feel like.  In addition, groups like Bandits and similar "general" enemies would also be called disorganized factions with no leaders or goals (other than making trouble), but I'd like to (at least to try out in the beginning) make those all NPC factions if we could.  These NPC factions would be used as enemies to all players (of at least one faction or another) and therefore someone is nearly always available to "fight".

Comments?