Staff Hybrid Support Mandate Rewrite

[Tefka]

Hybrid Support
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." -Gandhi
Strength: This Major Faction can perform up to 4 Junctions a month, and does not require another Major Faction to join its Junction threads for completion.
Strength: This Major Faction may designate up to three hexes outside of it's Influence Cloud that count as a Major Faction Capital hexes. These hexes must be listed on the Mandate page and can only be changed every 60 days.
Weakness: This Major Faction cannot gain hexes via Dominions.

This Mandate has been altered. Previously, it's Dominions could be joined as Junctions, and this created a lot of confusion for our RPJ's who were verifying these threads for completion. To correct this issue and make things easier, the mandate has been re-worded in a way that the Hybrid Supporting Major Faction is now forced to use the prefix "Junction" for all threads it completes to gain hexes monthly.

This, however, does open up the Major Faction to the naming conventions the Junction rules require, ie naming the Major Faction it's Junctioning with - if it chooses to do so. However, I'm sure there will be some forgiveness here, so make sure to speak to a Staff member if there's issues/questions.

Due to this early rewrite of a mandate a Major Faction currently possesses, we will be permitting that Major Faction (First Order) to change it's Mandate as of today if it wishes to do so. No other Major Factions are exempted from the 60 day rule.

 

[Ryv]

Strength: This Major Faction may designate up to three hexes outside of it's Influence Cloud that count as a Major Faction Capital hexes. These hexes must be listed on the Mandate page and can only be changed every 60 days.

1. Does a faction with this mandate require permission to designate other hexes under the control of other factions as capital hexes?
2. Can they designate neutral hexes?

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

So, would this affect ongoing doms and junctions?

 

[Tefka]

Ryv you're questioning the only part of the Mandate that didn't change, so your questions don't really belong here, they'd belong in the Questions forum. This Mandate has existed since before Christmas.

Dresden Verbrennung

Negative. All current ongoing threads this affects, once they're finished, just link this thread in the map update thread and work with the RPJs on clearing up confusion.

 

[Ryv]

Ryv you're questioning the only part of the Mandate that didn't change, so your questions don't really belong here, they'd belong in the Questions forum. This Mandate has existed since before Christmas.

Dresden Verbrennung

Negative. All current ongoing threads this affects, once they're finished, just link this thread in the map update thread and work with the RPJs on clearing up confusion.

I unironically hate you, bro.

 

[Tefka]

I unironically hate you, bro.

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

Given the higher post count expected of Junction threads and the fact that they can all be rebelled against, the supposed benefits of this mandate seem dubious at best. For a faction that wishes, for the time being, to focus on storytelling and development of relationships both within threads and outside of threads, it makes the prospect of continuing on in such a manner exponentially more difficult. While I appreciate that the original wording might have caused confusion, this rework completely changes the nature of the Mandate, rather than simply clarifying the language. We would appreciate the chance to sit down and shape it into something more amenable to all sides, but as it stands, it's difficult to see how this presents any of the traditional benefits associated with Mandates. It's more work and more risk, with little reward.

 

[Tefka]

Dresden Verbrennung

Only 4 Rebellions have been updated in the last 6 months.

If my numbers are correct, 10 Major Factions doing roughly 3 Dominions a month leaving one open - that's 10/month x 6 = 60 Rebellions. For the sake of the holidays, let's remove a month - so, 50 rebellions. And let's ignore the small period when Junctions got introduced.

4/50 = .08, or 8%. Ignoring Mandates that have cranked up the heat on Rebellions, you still stand roughly a 92% chance of not having a Rebellion launched on each Junction. And with the OOC 'good grace' you're showing the Galaxy by helping some Major Factions meet their Junctions hassle free, I'm just going to assume the community's bias and push that number even higher.

Personally, I hope a Factory number nerd comes in here and shows me some stats that cranks it down or tells me different, because honestly playing Solitaire will only ever last for so long. Narratives, aesthetics, other cool words that describe what 'having fun' means aside - you are in a big wide Galaxy and you'll only get so far until someone else in that Galaxy messes with you.

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

There's an 84% chance that you'll come up on an empty cylinder when you play Russian Roulette, but I bet you wouldn't take those odds. No one sane would. Not even a crazy person is going to spin and pull 4 times, then do it all again next month, not unless they have a death wish. You keep playing the odds long enough, and eventually you're going to have to pay up. That argument is a nonstarter, especially with the amount of work that goes into Junctions. Not even the strongest of death wishes is enough motivation for someone to sprint up a flight of stairs each and every time they get the itch to pull the trigger.

You and I both know that this "good grace" only lasts as long as it takes for someone to get offended or see an opportunity and decide to do something about it, and relying on the cooperation of other factions with their own goals, motivations, and agendas can only work for so long.

There were any number of ways to clarify the original wording while still retaining the spirit and intent of the Mandate. The First Order is still more than willing to sit down and come up with a way to fix it that benefits not only us, but anyone else who might end up in our shoes in the future. The galaxy is a big place, and there's always going to be space for people to have an idea, grab their friends, and run with it. Work with us. Or at least, if you're not willing to work with us, don't polish a turd and try to sell it back to us as chocolate.

 

[Tefka]

This is a ruling issue, not a Faction issue. The First Order is not at fault, they just happened to be the Faction that drew the "my mandate got altered" straw right now.

Not even a crazy person is going to spin and pull 4 times, then do it all again next month, not unless they have a death wish. You keep playing the odds long enough, and eventually you're going to have to pay up.

Right, because "I may have to defend a hex from a Rebellion" equals "aiming a real loaded gun at my head for fun."

Just gonna start quoting past me so I don't have to waste the energy on these rebuttals. Serious conversations can be had, but let's stick to actual facts and not go all Kermit the Frog waving arms in here.

This is an example of extreme hyperbole, and this sort of extremism serves only to inflame conversation and represents that you are not a person who wishes to make solutions, but dwell in a fictional representation of the current circumstances.

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

This is a faction issue when the issue at hand affects the faction in real and substantive ways. If you find my taste in metaphors distasteful, then allow me to lay it out straight. 8 percent odds of a negative consequence occurring with no real discernible reward and a whole heaping helping of extra work for the trouble are bad odds, no matter how you slice it. When you have to repeatedly roll those odds, over and over, they are going to come up against you sooner or later. And since we're not working with impersonal dice but rather people who are absolutely ready and willing to use the chance to further their own agendas, the actual odds are much higher than 8%. Over a long enough timespan, they go up to 100%. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. And for what? An extra hex and a doubled post count? That's not a good deal, no matter how you want to try to present it.

Now, if we're quoting past selves:

There were any number of ways to clarify the original wording while still retaining the spirit and intent of the Mandate. The First Order is still more than willing to sit down and come up with a way to fix it that benefits not only us, but anyone else who might end up in our shoes in the future. The galaxy is a big place, and there's always going to be space for people to have an idea, grab their friends, and run with it. Work with us. Or at least, if you're not willing to work with us, don't polish a turd and try to sell it back to us as chocolate.

If you're willing to send someone over to discuss in good faith, I'm sure my colleagues would be more than willing to hammer out a resolution that's favorable to everyone. The offer still stands. If you're not, then there's no point in further discussion.

 

[Tefka]

Your colleagues and you are welcome to post suggestions in the Ask Questions & Submit Feedback forum.