Discussion Faction Advertisements

[Valery Noble]

I've lately noticed that there haven't been a lot of advertisements for current or new factions, so I figured I'd make this thread to maybe spark some thought, or encourage people to go for it. The Braxant Covenant started not long ago with an LFG, and they've been off to a great start because of how they drew attention to themselves. I think the same can work with other ideas too.

I've seen a lot of people express interest in Mandalorians or Sith lately as an example, or maybe even some very different ideas. But a lot of people either don't know where to go, or don't really know how to pull people together to make their ideas work out. Right now, the map is quite empty as well, so there's a lot of opportunity to start somewhere if you want to take an idea really far. But even if you want to stay minor, it can help to advertise or bring attention to your group.

Post below if you want to share your own thoughts, or maybe if you're a new writer looking for a faction. I'd also be more than happy to help with tips for people who might want to become a Major Faction as well. It can seem scary to lead a faction or to start from scratch, but it's really not that terrible if you're passionate about an idea

 

[Darth Strosius]

I recommend vast amounts of propaganda posters with catchy wording.

 

[Valery Noble]

I suggest propaganda posters, but also taking initiative to reach out to people. I've brought a lot of folks into the GA just by responding to their LFG's or poking them when they made a bio for a character that would fit the faction

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Faction running has sort of been a big thing floating around on my mind for various reasons. Partly because I'm on staff of a MF, but more so because I've been considering making a minor faction, though I have no concrete ideas so far on what. Still, I've been starting to dip my toes into that process, and wow can it be daunting.

Still, I think I've come to appreciate the charm of existing in a galaxy with an ever changing landscape of who the players are at any given time. I love seeing factions pop up that are more than just "we're the empire again, or the Sith again," and I think the general sentiment is that new creative faction ideas are a pretty novel idea (especially in the wake of the recent success of the Braxant Covenant). So I guess for cohesion to the topic of the thread, advertisement isn't shameless, or at least it doesn't have to be. It's a way to show people what they can engage with, and I hope to implement some creative advertisement strategies when I finally figure out what I want my minor to be.

Let the propaganda flow.

 

[Darth Strosius]

From what I've seen in my time on the site as well as part of faction staff, the real trick when it comes to factions is straddling the line between unique ideas and systems and simple more traditional stuff.

Having one of a kind ideas and concepts is always fun to see but can often lead to a lack of interactions both internal and external due to a lack of variety. Of course this isn't to say that pandering to everyone is good, I've seen plenty of that back when every Major had a Mando clan of their own lol, but you do need some room for other unique characters and ideas as well. In my opinion, based off of what I've seen, its best to start with a simple and familiar foundation then add the more unique ideas onto that.

Take the SJC and the NJO for instance, one was more Jedi focused and led while the other holds a role more akin to what the Jedi Order of the Prequels. And the both of them were vastly different from the AC, yet they all have that common base of Jedi.

Or back when there were like four Sith majors, all Sith but with very different and unique stories and structures. Not to mention archetypes alone that form the basic personality of a faction overall.

NFU based factions are probably the most open and available as they can literally be anything. Criminal syndicate, Mando/warrior kingdom, imperial state, commonwealth, almost every classic government type is available and every avenue for story open.

The trick is to always have something more than "we play x type of characters" but also be just general enough to appeal to the wider writer base as well.

Addendum: Having a strong aesthetic helps a lot too.

 

[Jaqu'n Boiv]

Not exactly in the place to be crafting up a minor faction, especially with some missing IC parts for that, but I have been playing around with the idea of it. Might have shared this a time or two somewhere on the forums or in the GA Discord, but I've been cooking up the prospect of bringing in an organization made by a friend of mine back in SWTOR, and introducing it to the Chaos storyline.

To go into that a little more- Influenced by the Galaxy's Edge series of books (A really great read/audio book if you really like Star Wars and want a new, exciting perspective of Sci-Fi), the organization itself is a take on the same Dark Ops found in the story but with it being a spinoff of itself in the proper Star Wars universe. Basically think like special operators that are the one percent of the one percent of the one percent, sharper than the tip of the spear- That sort of thing, hardcore and mission first with some twists to make itself unique despite going by the same name from its inspiration.

I'd be down to talk shop with those that'd be interested in roleplaying in that sort of thing, whether people are familiar with the context or interested in learning more about Dark Ops (the SW kind I've had an inkling of recreating here). As for a sort of timeline as to when I'd be getting around to properly getting this thing rolling, possibly in the next couple months, more or less. At least after some IC buildup is done to help set the foundation and such.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Here are my two ideas for whatever they are worth:

To help current factions:

1. I think some type of check in might be helpful. It's very hard to tell which factions are actually active.
2. I think it would be a nice gesture if those that are graphically inclined helped some of our factions with graphics. We have a lot of factions that don't even have banners. It's not as attractive when your searching through them.

To promote new factions:
1. A brainstorming session where people come together and talk about what type of groups they would like to see
2. Again reaching out with graphical support to any groups we can

 

[Hild Valor]

On the suggestion above, maybe make topics in the Factions section where players can ask and get help with graphics, LFG for factions, ideas...

Or if those topics already exist, then a bump up?

 

[Kitter Bitters]

On the suggestion above, maybe make topics in the Factions section where players can ask and get help with graphics, LFG for factions, ideas...

Or if those topics already exist, then a bump up?

We have an art section here but a lot of times when people request graphics it gets ignored. On the one hand I get it. It’s not like we are paying artists and it’s a lot to ask people to just make graphics to help our community look better. It might even be too much to ask. It was just an idea that sparked in my head when I seen how many factions don't even have basic banners. As someone with only the smallest understanding of the open source stuff it’s really not my place to push it. It was just the first thing I noticed and probably the first thing guests notice as they scroll through the factions. The ones with banners do look more attractive and active.

 

[Chaos_Cat]

From what I have experienced the past few days I find my self with a lot of questions and not sure where to ask or who.
I gather there are multiple or different Jedi group factions for example?
How do those factions feel about one another as a whole for a standard?
Is it even something considered?
Do they work as Allie’s or is there contention between them?
As a new person I don’t understand teh abreviations / acronyms with out doing a little research. Theres two sections of the site labeled Factions and this is confusing. I think the one on the top right is for expressing what the factions are and what they do as well as who’s involved and so on.
the one lower on the board seems to be for faction requests? Or discussions?
so when I’m told to look at factions and if I go to the discussion section it’s a little confusing since I’m expecting to see something like what is at the top right. Maybe an extra word or two on one of. Them would make it more distinguishing for new people?
I have a lot of other questions but I don’t want to overwhelm any one.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Chaos_Cat

Aside from asking there really isn't too much of a way to tell how one faction feels about another really. You can always make some guesses based on what they are of course, Jedi factions tend to like other Jedi factions and don't tend to like Sith all that much for example. It varies slightly and it's usually a bit more complex so it's best to just ask in that regard if you're wondering about a specific faction relationship.

The acronyms can get a bit confusing yes, but you are spot on with the faction stuff. The top right button leads to the faction pages, the Faction section of the forums under Roleplay is for Faction threads. Basically, information from the top one and actual threads that those factions are in on the other one.

Never hesitate to ask questions friend! We're always happy to help!

 

[Romi Jade]

A couple of tactics i’ve used and some i've seen during my time on the boards (since 2015):

- Back in the day before the div boom (and still today of course) factions would do simple write ups, much like a lot of the LFGs you'll see etc. They can really help give folks an overview of the general idea behind the faction, and they honestly don't have to be super graphically/div inclined. But of course, if you want to go that route there's always folks in the art section who would be happy to help. Heck i'd be happy to help as best I can.​

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- Coming up with an aesthetic can really help, think of your faction major or minor as its own brand and your selling this idea to other writers -- What does it look like, feel like, what's the air that it carries, personality? Try to maintain that consistently throughout from the graphics to the stories etc, it can really help elevate things and keep it tight, and again it doesn't have to be super graphically inclined if you don't have the ability off the bat. However, with the Jakku Enclave I had a color palette, graphic direction, div design, fonts, etc that I put together beforehand and kept it consistent throughout to give the faction character, its own vibe.​

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- Content is king -- and just like with growing a brand (I'm using my marketing speak right now so sorry !__!) posting regular content whether it be threads, blog posts (this is a really good place to use for exploration), LFGs, advertisements, etc regularly helps keep it at the forefront of people's brain. The more you see something, and you check it out and its cool, the more inclined you'd be to take part.​

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- Think outside the box, obviously play to your own abilities, but for instance I've made faction trailers piecing together video clips, used comic assets from creating strips to covers to play up the star wars aesthetic, found thematic music for ambiance, built lore etc anything to play it up, and I mean really go all the way up!​

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- Also collabs! A lot of times other factions are open to collaborating on stories and ideas, for instance a minor faction like the Jakku Enclave played perfectly into the GA/NJO, SJC, Sith Empire/Order, and Brotherhood of the Maw because of the crossover. In fact they were the first to write with the Maw before they blew up and had a longstanding beef, something that played out over threads between certain characters and it was fun all around -- and this doesn't require any crazy big graphics either, just big ideas.​

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Nowadays, I mostly do the above with just my main character and I tend to prefer minor factions because of their flexibility and write with Majors as I see fit, but the advertising part has become my favorite part about running factions, and that's really all it should be, just fun ideas being thrown out there to see what sticks and resonates with people to entice them to take part in said fun.

I do work in the advertising/marketing field so I've always looked at it like that, and I've been a faction admin and faction owner before so if anyone wants to ever hit me up here or on discord to come up with some marketing ideas for their faction or whatever I'm around.