Factions

[wcsherry]

Mort has already said it, but yes. When EFUA was conceived within the womb that was the collective DM team's brain, we had decided collectively that we didn't want any factions like the Spellguard. We did not want to see any factions like the Watch with 70 soldiers in NPC form that could keep that peace and had a stranglehold over who did what to whom. Of course, these sort of things are up to you guys, as you have seen, EFUA is the ultimate sandbox. Whether you live in absolute chaos and anarchy or within the confines of a well defined government is up to the players.

Moving on to the next bit of this discussion, which is more on topic, I lament that certain situations in the always dreaded real life have come into play and have kept me away from a faction I adore and enjoy running quests for. I will be the first to admit the faction (Forgotten Flower) I spent a great deal of time on isn't as ideal as it could be, and that it would flourish a great deal more if I was around to make that happen.

With regards to the past, it seems we all suffer from a fondness for it. Few probably recall the state of EFU factions in their infancy, though I can more or less describe it here. Ganden the super Tigereye spent his time more or less beating up Watchmen. Wesh Shields the evil watchman arrested people and tried to butcher them in jail. Elves wearing masks and matching uniforms of black pretended not to be drow by taking on atrociously obvious human names. Benito Delgado bumbled about trying to arrest citizens for casting illegally. Things were not defined, because the players had not given the factions the richest and most interesting history that can evolve.

Lastly, I will just say, that regardless of whether or not people do decide to join DM factions, or not, a great deal of fun can be had by instantly obtaining a large group of allies to work with against another group of enemies when a faction is joined. Interfaction conflict is as brilliant as anyone can ever write about, as is lobbying for NPC affection over a peer. The DM factions give opportunities for both of these things, and regardless of how anyone may feel about the creative properties and the complexity of any story or history any faction has on EFUA, I can assure you that these basic principles that are the foundation of any good story will always be there.

[chrijone]

lol

[Letsplayforfun]

I don't join npc factions as a general rule.

Not that i don't find them appealing, i don't like being reliant on NPC bosses.
Maybe i'm wrong with the EfU module, because it certainly is a lively one.

From another point of view, i must say i don't find the current factions clear in their mainline-public goals. The Watch was a city guard faction (plus more). Spellguard was a mage's guild (plus more). Seekers sought the surface. Montezzis were despots. The loons were thugs. Etc.

Those clear mainlines are things players and characters can relate to. But if you ask me what the Fleet is about, or the Malatesta, or others, i just can't say. Now i read that some apps are being rejected, and it kinda fits since i guess we don't know what to app for, what you are looking for to be approved.

Other factions are so secretive that some folks i chat with lose patience to be sought out IC.

Now i certainly am NOT saying the current factions have no interest, or have no depth in them. That would indeed be insulting and unfair, since i don't even know the factions.

They seem just ... cloudy? from a player perspective.

[RIPnogarD]

Maybe one day we will even see NPC’s starting the correspondence letter threads asking to meet with PC’s they heard about and may want in their group. Now wouldn’t that be a switch. Not to mention this would give the players an ego boost that they were asked instead of having to beg on their hands an knees and finally get accepted after their fifth app. Honestly, admit it, certain types of groups like a real Stygian would say “SPY!” Kill him!” They wouldn’t trust anybody ‘trying’ to get in. They would only accept those they thought they could trust and tested or checked out with or without that PC’s knowledge.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playing here and all that but most of my PC’s are either too smart, to stupid, to sneaky or just don’t have the alignment or deity to be begging for acceptance.

[Violent_Man]

I met very few faction PCs.
All I met were incredible.

This just for people who are on the fence about applying for one!

[UnholyWon]

I joined the Seekers with a character that was going no where, and ended up have one of the greatest times ever and one of the funniest death endings (I can't remember the DM that pulled this unusual tricks out of their bag, but kudos again).

I would encourage people to join factions. My last character tried to get his followers to join as many factions as possible so he could have his pulse on all of Sanctuary with an unlimited fountain of information flowing to him. He was reasonably successful at infiltrating the Montezzi's, Spellguard, the Crone, the lingering Ubel rebels, the Shadow tribe, and maybe the Watch, maybe.

I think its extremely important for people to be involved in factions, especially if you are playing an evil character (that isn't hell bent on supreme overlord dominance, usually results in overkill PvP). If your willing to got the distance and sit on a character and play puppeteer, then hell yeah!! My hats off to any one player that can do that without making a shit load of enemies and being involved in tons of PvP.

Players playing good characters its even more important to be apart of factions. How else is are they going to fight evil, if your not inside your outside, and the walls you have to go through or climb are usually a pain in the arse. Get in the faction and weed out the evil, the quickest process is just PvPing the basterd and being done with it (Digressing, over the week I saw one of the most, for lack of a better word, shittest PvP's I've ever seen, I've been apart of a lot of PvP. I was very much appalled at the roleplay, and the action itself but whatever.), and having a nemesis isn't that bad of a thing. Most evil can't live without a good guy or woman.

I want to join a faction, I just don't know which one. They all look like fun, but I'm having a hard time creating a character for one of them.

Malatesta looks great because I could build a theives guild within the group and branch from there.

First Bolt looks fun, a air genasia would be a blast to play there.

The Armada needs something crazy, like a half-dragon fighter or something of that nature. Charismatic and dangerous, the leader they've been hiding.

The Druids need a were-something in their group, I don't know.

The elves need a freaking peace keeper and civilized leader, someone with the brass bells to knock their own people and put the fear back into them.

People app up, subfaction or mini factions can be created within factions, it could be a goal. Laters!!

[Joe Desu]

I think there is a rush to judgement, give it time and people will come to DM factions.
 
I think people will join in due time, but perhps are still trying to learn the server before committing to a faction.  Perhaps they want to know "everything" so they can be better at what they end up doing.  
 
Also I think that we got the impression from the beginning that we should be out there creating our own factions so people are trying to see what they can do with a grassroots org. before exploring another's idea whether it be PC or DM.
 
I happened to be in a PC faction upon creation and it is great being in the Ithilcuea.  I spent two years in EFU either as an Archibald or Spellguard Associate.  Factions are fun indeed.
 
I have written a few apps up but never sent them in as things changed by the time my character was IG ready.  When my character dies I will most likely choose an existing faction.  Why, because I do feel that there is enough information around that tells me what they are about, and what kind of group they are, and they all look good.

[Xorisai]

I say this as a newcomer to EFU:A who only played in the last few days of EFU.

I think Letsplayforfun hit the nail on the head.  The goals of the NPC factions are totally opaque to me.  The Watch, Spellguard, etc. were - as far as I could tell from my short time there - integral organs of Sanctuary, that served defined purposes in the community.  The Armada and Fleet specifically seem almost incidental to the Ziggurat, like they just happen to be here but their main business is elsewhere.

Now, they may have deep concerns with the Ziggurat and plans of their own - now that I've read this thread, I'm sure they do - but none of it is evident in the least.  My current character has had contact and even done a service for the Armada and the extent of her knowledge of their goals is "they want money."  As for the Fleet, it just doesn't seem very congruous to me that PC "Crewmen" spend all their time walking around Ymph, as if membership as a crewman on a ship is a mere formality.  All I can think of is "extended shore leave."

I'm not saying a lot of thought and effort didn't go into their design; I'm sure it did.  It's just that little of it is evident at this point, even for characters that have had some PC and DM interaction with them.  It doesn't really inspire me to create characters for factions that, as far as I can tell, have little relevance to the community and few observable goals besides making money.

In time, I'm sure the goals of these factions will become more well known and their ties to the community proper will be stronger.  Until then, however, I feel I'd rather play characters that are involved with the development of "Nebedzzos" than members of factions that seem almost totally peripheral to it.

[Badandexiled]

Factions that are there now, are for the setting. They may seem normal human folks, mercenaries or such without much of stuff you would think of interesting.

Here is the thing.

Are you playing a role in the setting? If so, wouldn't you think why, where and how those factions came into knowing about the people there. Why are they there, along poor ruins which clearly only hold refugees that have no valuables. Why?

Another thing is, if you're a random guy ending up there, isn't there a good chance to get the hell back home? Or maybe you are the guy that simply was looking for riches and fame, well isn't a known mercenary group a good way to get started?

I mean, it's not everything what you see. There's so much more than a punch of dudes in different coloured armors, standing about boats.

As for me, hell, I'd happily take a paying job in a mercenary group as a half naked refugee. Perhaps I get my chance to have higher authority in the setting of these random-portal-popping-maniacs. I also agree, that you can't go there to say it doesn't seem like anything special. C'mon, do be honest and tell me that you for sure knew what the heck was behind spellguards or watch when efu started. They were guards that had gathered to defend a refugee stronghold. Spellguards were like war wizards. Awesome, spell using officers.

None of you had much more idea of what they were before matters started to develop and open up. I dare to say this all. I dare to think that people have come lazy and expect awesomness from the first step.

[p00d33m]

Why people do or do not join DM factions!?

Perhaps I am the worst player to say that, because usually I am not able to play and I almost can not remember the last time, also my timezone makes things difficult not to mention my fantastic english, but I will give a try anyway.

IMHO time right is an important key Lado. The server, we are experiencing a big change, although many of you like to say that nothing has really changed...which is kind awkward.

In the past I have thought and abandoned my willing to be part of a DM faction many times. Do not understand me wrong, they were and I believe the new ones are also, awesome.The thing is for certain new players as I "was", having trouble to find time to play and to adapt to server, turned out easier to let things flow and twice I ended in a player faction like the Sentinels. So let the characters "live" to find their goal.

Thanks to the DM factions my chars many times got in the middle of plots and events that I still do not have a freaking idea what was, and guess what that was fine to me. It was entertaining and made me feel part of the whole story, also I got some friends in the process.

Of course there were less clouds as someone said over the factions goals, but in the other hand wake up "peons", they are giving you a great opportunity in my point of view to craft and throw light into that so people should for sure join DM factions, and again give people time to understand that and to choose which one. And soon we will have to call attention to the positive and negative side of being in more than one faction DM or PC.

Last days as some of the DM crew know I have sent PMs because I do want to come back, even with a wife work and a ps3, and to me DM factions could put me right on track playing as I imagine that they are indeed the center of most plots, so I would have more quality time playing.

Sorry ... think I said too much =) hope it added some value to the topic.

[I can has fun?]

Just to put in my two cents:

I join factions on the basis of the in-character decisions and concerns of my current main character. That is my only criteria for joining a faction. I don't care who runs it, whether it's DM or PC based, or whether or not we get loot. If it doesn't have a rich history, I am going to do my best to give it one.

I've had some difficulties with factions in the past based on my misconceptions about how they work, and I can understand why some people would get frustrated with one type or the other. However, the best policy still seems to be to join on the basis of IC decisions, or on the basis of concept compatibility in the case of an unmade character. That practice always seems to yield the best and most rewarding results for all parties involved.

[Jayde Moon]

It seems to me that, with the exception of the Maletestas, the quote/unquote "DM/NPC Factions" that I have seen exist are 'outside' of the Zig.  Certainly they are related and certainly they have a vested interest in the goings on in the Zig and will want to influence them as much as possible.

However, I think that one of the very intriguing things about EfU:A is that it IS a clean slate and the players have a very real chance to really do their own things.  I think what a lot of these guys are trying to say is that you have created for them a real excitement to see what THEY can come up with and what THEY can create.  How can they make something lasting that will really rock the history of EfU:A in te years to come.

To say "I became the Stygian Armada's leader's right hand man" is awesome sauce.

But how much more appealing might it be to say, "I founded that faction two years ago" of a faction that is thriving and really making waves on the server?

People really have that chance.  And while it's like the lottery and only one or two people will have been able to make that lasting impact when the dust settles, the chance for that exists NOW.  Almost equally for everybody.

That is a very exciting thing, I think.  In the end it's not because the DM/NPC factions are boring, one dimensional, recycled... they are none of those things and I don't think anyone meant to put so harsh a judgment on them.  But right now, players want to take the opportunity that the DMs have given them to make their own mark on the server.

Snotty wants to make his own band of Merry Men out in the woods.  With fair DM support and player interest, he could very well start a full on town out in the woods with its own government (likely dictator for life, Snotty's PC :) ) that eventually the people who live on the Zig have to take seriously and create diplomatic ties to.  And how cool would that be to be the player who arranged that or one of the original players who started it?

It isn't too hard to see the appeal that trying to set up a viable and successful player faction at this stage of the game has for many people.  As some of these pull ahead and others begin to see their own ideas fizzle out, interest in joining an established faction (NPC or player) will begin to rise and that's what will start happening, I think.

DMs don't give up hope and despair.  At least you know your faction is gonna make it through the dry spell.  The lottery is not so nice to the others.  :)

[Ladocicea]

There's a lot of posts in this thread (Hating on NPCs etc) that make me think people didn't actually read the big announcement telling you exactly what my DM faction was about.

I did explicitly say that PCs will shape and mould it and eventually take it over and call the shots for the entire faction themselves. It's a total blurring of the PC/NPC faction line.

Now I'm confident the same could happen in any other faction, given the right conditions (Look at Barrister Fawkes becoming sheriff of the watch). But I can assure you it WILL happen in my faction, as a design feature.

[I can has fun?]

If this government thing works out, Galleous Albedos will become like Fred Bresley for this server. That's really about as awesome as it gets.

[Oroborous]

1) Factions aren't really making an effort to recruit or make themselves known.

2) Most the factions are incredibly boring from a player angle. What I know about them as a player, makes them dull. I'm sure they're more interesting when you're in the know, but I'm not.

Stygian Armada (mercenary sailors...maybe slavers. Dull. No known goal.)

Fleet (Seekers as sailors. No slavers to fight. No way to seek. Dull.)

Malatesta (Sembian castaways. No known or stated goals. Dull.)

Stewards of the Ark *I do know more, but here's what players know that I talk to.* (Druids. No known goal, maybe protect jungle cats? Dull.)

Archaeological Society (Maybe the most active faction due to the lack of an application. We dig up dead stuff. I can't see that being fascinating for many though. Overall, we probably seem dull too.)