Limiting the amount of Factions you can join

[Tefka]

Today I'm going to try to sell you on something, something I've tried to sell you on before but we wouldn't have any of it. I'll be honest, it's a bit of a doozy. It limits your creativity a bit, it'll cause a massive change in how we perform our day to day business, and even after we do it - it won't solve all of the problems a change like this would aim to solve.

But I think it is the first big step in the right direction.

Let's put a limit the amount of factions we can join.

Today I got a PM that shares a lot of the same concerns I share, and honestly there's not much I can do about it from a legal standpoint without the help of the community. Cliques - we all know they exist and there's nothing we can or should do about them - and monopolies can sometimes be a problem. A lot of the same members that are a part of one faction are a part of another.

It's like saying the Germans, Italians, and Japanese were all the same people during World War 2. It just isn't realistic, because we know it's not possible. But here, it is. Only the character changes, only the writing changes. But in the PvP arena, those emotions stay the same, your feelings towards other writers stay the same, and I'll be one of the first to say that almost none of you are strong enough to separate the difference.

I don't think I could, either. But I don't really face those problems, myself.

I've played a lot of PvP games lately and you can't be on someone else's team under a different name at the same time while you're on your own team. But you can here.

I just can't stress enough how I think that, for the betterment of the community, we should at least try this method. Here's some facts:

1. We know this proposition is not a clear answer given you can make as many characters as you want.

2. I've been on both sides of this issue in the past, but I'm willing to give it a go now.

3. If we limit the amount of factions you can join, Major Factions can start imposing post count limits on characters to join Invasions as another possible stall against alt-brigading.

4. Monopolies will form and fall as they will, but I think this might help spread it out and reduce the occurence of monopolies.

5. This won't go to vote yet, be it community or admin, until we collect more opinions.


So let's hear your opinion!

 

[Coren Starchaser]

I approve

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Are you suggesting a limitation on the writer-level, the character-level or is that still up in the air? [member="Tefka"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

[member="Tefka"] - Is what you propose a ruling that limits, OOCly, a writer themselves from joining any number of factions? Like... Say you have 10 characters spaced out between one writer, are you saying this idea would limit the writer to involving themselves, and those 10 characters, in like only 3 or 5 factions, instead of having each one in a different faction or divided upon amongst however many the writer wishes or something?

I just want to make sure I am understanding what is posted above, before I formulate and toss in my opinion.

 

[Tefka]

[member="Darth Carach"]

Any account- FJ, RPJ, CJ, writer, character, founder; even Admins, could be limited to joining only 3 factions (minor or major).

I would not differ between the different groups and the limitation would be equal for all.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

[member="Tefka"] - I would be OK giving this a chance. Worst case is it doesn't work and we go back to how things are now...

 

[Garrus Garon]

I support this idea.

 

[Rusty]

[member="Darth Carach"]

Any account- FJ, RPJ, CJ, writer, character, founder; even Admins, could be limited to joining only 3 factions (minor or major).

I would not differ between the different groups and the limitation would be equal for all.

It's early and I haven't ingested sufficient amounts of caffeine to truly be considered awake, so please forgive me confusion.

Does this limit each individual writer to three factions, regardless of the number of characters they have at their disposal? Or does this mean each individual character can only be a member of up to three factions? The first would be lovely, though I imagine it would be a hard sell. The second seems to be a minor inconvenience at best for folks trying to keep a finger in every pie.

[member="Tefka"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

[member="Tefka"] - No. In no way shape, form or iteration is this acceptable or ok. And honestly? If this becomes a rule, i'd probably begin looking for other places to post in. Not trying to be dramatic, but that would be a HUGE over-reaction to what I frankly feel is paranoia and dramatization by an exceptionally vocal minority here on Chaos.

This doesn't address the problem, at all. All it does it put a nice soothing ointment over an itchy, burny rash, to use a metaphor. All it does in truth is pander to fear and drama and calm paranoia. This won't fix any 'clique' or dispel any toxicity or other issues. All it will do is further concentrate and distill those issues.

The polarization and cliques will most likely be *fed* by this, and you'll have smaller newer groups unable to form, stabilize, or do anything, because no one will want to 'waste' one of their precious three faction slots on a fledgling faction that doesn't have shiny toys and restricted materials and such. I hate to sound like a naysayer or doomsday preacher, but this right here could very well be a huge force behind stagnating the sites makeup and scene.

 

[Tefka]

It's early and I haven't ingested sufficient amounts of caffeine to truly be considered awake, so please forgive me confusion.

Does this limit each individual writer to three factions, regardless of the number of characters they have at their disposal? Or does this mean each individual character can only be a member of up to three factions? The first would be lovely, though I imagine it would be a hard sell. The second seems to be a minor inconvenience at best for folks trying to keep a finger in every pie.

[member="Tefka"]

Honestly, I would try to aim for limiting people to 1 or 2 factions per character, but I feel like 3 is a solid number to get approved when testing the waters.

But the latter is what is being aimed for. Right now, it is almost practically impossible to impose the former.

 

[Darth Ferus]

I can't say I'm a fan of this. It would be the death of alts, and the death of minor factions. If you can only pick three on all accounts, your alts wouldn't be able to choose outside the three factions you've picked.

There's an easier way to limit this. One character only in invasions.

 

[Placeholder 0133]

I approve. Focusing things is what's needed -- I've been opposed to people joining more than two or three factions since I joined the board, especially if they're directly opposing. It just isn't a good idea on a massive board like this.

 

[Sibar Laval]

I give my approval

 

[Beowoof]

I think this got some strong support before but we were told it wouldn't happen...

I'm in favor. Although I'd prefer to limit the major factions to one and the minor faction limitations be a little more flexible.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

I'm open to giving it a go. At worst, it doesn't work and the policy goes away. Never hurts to try.

 

[Rusty]

Honestly, I would try to aim for limiting people to 1 or 2 factions per character.

But the latter is what is being aimed for. Right now, it is almost practically impossible to impose the former.

Gotcha, thanks.

I'm not convinced that would change a whole lot, though I can't help but giggle at the frustration of someone with 50 some odd characters trying to go through each and every one to check the appropriate factions. But, hell, maybe that would encourage folks to stick to a more manageable number of alts.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Whoops. Though this was a limit per account, not character.

Character I approve.

 

[Tefka]

Perhaps the ruling could include that only one of your 3 can be a Major Faction?

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Honestly, I would try to aim for limiting people to 1 or 2 factions per character.

But the latter is what is being aimed for. Right now, it is almost practically impossible to impose the former.

Limiting a character account to a set amount of factions is something entirely else than limiting a writer to being able to join as many factions as (s)he pleases.

I am not sure it would actually do much to solve the complaints. Mostly because, I think, they stem from a situation where one writer can have different alts in different factions, but have a natural inclination towards one faction - causing friction and the perceived notion of favoring that faction, which can hurt the other.

Meaning that this would not necessarily fix the issue these complaints are coming from.

That being said. I don't see an issue with trying it out and seeing where the dice lands.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

If we're limiting per character the number of factions, this absolutely makes sense... If a writer can choose only 3 factions board wise no matter how many characters... Then... See above post...