The Galactic Alliance

[Collector]

Greetings all,

While the official chaos discord announcement gave our current GA staff this weekend to gather their bearings, they have unanimously expressed that they would rather move forward with the MFO nominations as initially announced.

In this thread, please provide your nominations for who will serve as the GA's next MFO. For any nomination other than yourself, I will require a post formally accepting or declining the nomination.

Hopefuls, this is your opportunity to present why you believe you will be a good fit for the position. While the rest of the board is watching, only votes of those who are currently active within the faction will be counted. This is defined by those who have made 10 or more faction thread posts within the last 6 months.

This nomination process will remain open for 48 hours.

 

[Feridade Parthi]

I'd like to nominate Marek Bancroft given that he seems to have a somewhat cohesive plan for the faction in the Discord. I also strongly urge any other serious candidates to detail their visions/plans going forward as well.

 

[Lander Stalwart]

Marek Bancroft Seconded in solidarity with Soundwave. I saw you senate posting, clear direction and activity is something I can get behind.

I salute Fal Gore. May he one day arm the orphans again.

 

[Marek Bancroft]

I'll gladly accept Feridade's nomination.

I've been making my plan rather transparent, if i'm given the chance to take the reigns of the GA and decide its course. I believe that it's important to come out of the MFO vote swinging with a factional direction right out of the gates, rather than be accepted as MFO, get a team together, and then put the effort into developing the concept of a plan.

I plan on avoiding all of that, to be quite frank.

The factional direction that the Galactic Alliance will be taking under my leadership will be one that's heavily-focused around the idea of this massive bureaucratic system that has expanded past its reach, and is now being faced with the imminent, overwhelming threat of a resurgent Galactic Empire striking from the Deep Core, is effectively and imminently put on the throes of not just decline, but its destruction.

The narrative is one of a legacy coming to its end while being faced with the internal pressures of a government struggling to maintain itself while being pressed by hostile forces on all sides, and inevitably succumb to the pressures that will shatter it as a state.

From the ashes of the fallen alliance, the faction will restructure and consolidate into the Rebel Alliance. Aesthetically speaking? OG Rebel Alliance. Senators will be given the opportunity to take part within a senate-in-exile of sorts, forming the Rebel High Council that directs the insurgent rebellion in their efforts to keep the fight going against the Galactic Empire at a smaller, more focused scale. Senators will also have the opportunity to utilize their position post-collapse to serve as diplomats, power brokers and lobbyists on behalf of the Rebellion as well, which I hope to facilitate by maintaining solid cooperation with the various light-side factions that are present on the map currently. Decisions will be made with the intent to have the narrative driven in-character where they can, to give that importance to those Senators who are serving an important function within the Rebellion at that point.

The NJO will also be restructured into less of a massive Order and more character-focused with a much smaller scale than what it was before. The details for the NJO will be fleshed out a bit more, but I'm actively working on it with the team i plan on building up to make sure that we're gonna cook out a fire narrative to match everything else.

And of course we'll have your average grunts, ship captains and the every-day rebel personnel who'd keep the rebellion at float. Andor-styled operatives, aesthetic and themes will also be a big factor alongside the OG rebel aesthetic we plan on adopting as well.

The idea is to narrow down the faction's skirmishes, invasions, etc. from the grand-scale conventional armies of the former Republic and do something alot more similar to how Black Sun handles its invasions. Small scale, character-focused conflict that reflect the realities of being a fledgling rebel faction that's alone in the remnants of the Core, fighting the good fight against the Empire.

In essence, a Western Roman Empire-styled collapse leading into a Classic Star Wars story of Rebels versus the Empire. (With the assistance of the migratory faction mandate to give us the ability to move around the GE's boundaries and strike at them, build up the insurgency and our resources, and in general utilize the expanse of the map for narrative purposes.)

I hope this conveys my desire to not just come in with a solid plan out the gates, but a willingness and confidence in my ability to give the Galactic Alliance a dignified end-game style collapse, to avoid the alternative of our members being burned out by an inevitable series of invasions that won't provide even a modicum of the amount of potential story for your characters that i've got planned.

It's bold, it's new, and it's a massive change than what the status quo has been. But I don't want to offer the status quo, because clearly that's not been working.

I'll leave it at there for now!​

 

[Starlin Rand]

I am nominating myself for MFO.

I think I speak for many GA writers in that while I don’t know what exactly I want, I do know what I don’t want. I didn’t want another term with Valery as MFO, as it would just be more of the same. I didn’t want Amelia because she was barely a GA writer. I didn’t want Ghost because… well, you know.

I actually like a lot of Shawn’s plans for the GA, but I have one major gripe with making him MFO, and it’s the same reason I didn’t want Valery. He’s part of the “old guard” of writers from back when the GA and the NIO first formed, and while a lot of you weren’t around back then, I was. I recognize all the old themes and ideas in their writing. Again, more of the same stuff that’s already been done before.

We’re in a difficult position as a faction. It seems like a lot of people feel like we’re stagnant, but there’s also a lot of resistance to change. We need to be willing to try something new, without going overboard and forcing a narrative without proper setup.

I think that a transition into a rebel alliance would be healthy for the faction and a logical step forward. However, I want the GA to continue to fight its enemies. If we lose all our territory in the process, then we can become the Rebel Alliance. Giving up territory without a fight wouldn’t be fun and wouldn’t make sense narratively. Instead I suggest we stimulate RP by rolling with the constant invasions. I get that not everyone wants to be in constant invasions, but you don’t have to warpost in an invasion thread. You can be a spy, a diplomat, even just someone caught in the middle. Anything, really. We can use that freedom to expand our stories and find ways to implement all facets of the GA into our plotline.

There should be no “main character” of the faction. IC leadership should be decided through IC elections and character development. If I become MFO, I’m not going to make any of my characters Chancellor or Grandmaster. Nor will I add my personal friends and favorites to the admin team. I'm willing hear out any anyone who expresses an interest in developing the faction and is an active writer for the GA.

Most of all, we need consistency and clarity. In leadership, in identity, in themes. If we can rally behind a common vision, then we can not only survive this, but also usher in an exciting new chapter in our faction’s history.

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

I support Starlin Rand for MFO


I want to make it absolutely clear that I have nothing at all against Marek Bancroft but Starlin is, in my opinion, one of the single best writers on the site. Highly imaginative, with an intuitive grasp of emotional storytelling and character development. I have written with this writer continuously for years now and their work has never been less than amazing. Everyone should give Salamander a look because they are very practical and I learned quite a lot from writing with them.

They are pragmatic, level headed, and imaginative. They write in the best interests of the plot and the characters involved. And I absolutely believe if they became MFO the faction could go in new and interesting places, even if it ends up being a managed decline in some ways should more invasions not go the way we would like. They absolutely deserve your consideration at least, before considering other candidates. Bancroft's ideas are great, and if they succeed in the nomination then I feel they would do a pretty excellent Job but Salamander could provide angles in storytelling we might not consider otherwise.

 

[BB-DD]

Question for candidates:

What efforts will you make to clean up our faction forum? It is highly out of date.

What do you plan to help reduce burnout since this faction is looking at a long invasion season against GE?

Am I correct in understanding that both of you wish to turn our faction into a rebel alliance? How will this change how this faction rps and relates to other factions under your leadership?

Thank you!

 

[Amani Serys]

Pretty sure I'm not eligible to vote in this stuff anymore, but Starlin Rand is prob the only person I'd trust enough to get me writing in this faction again. For whatever that endorsement is worth.

 

[Marek Bancroft]

Question for candidates:

What efforts will you make to clean up our faction forum? It is highly out of date.

What do you plan to help reduce burnout since this faction is looking at a long invasion season against GE?

Am I correct in understanding that both of you wish to turn our faction into a rebel alliance? How will this change how this faction rps and relates to other factions under your leadership?

Thank you!

Both the faction forum & discord will undergo drastic changes, mostly to clean things up, update information and lists as needed to match the present state of the faction, and also to reduce clutter on both the faction forum & discord side as well.

Regarding burnout, the key to the faction's revitalization and success will be centered around intense efforts to not just establish cooperation, but also making collaboration with other major factions an important pillar of how it will operate. The Rebel Alliance will be inherently tied to the Galactic Empire, similar to how the current state of the GA is tied directly to the GE as well. We can choose to fight against the tide & commit to a total war-style scenario (think the hyperspace wars, the Imperial-Sith wars etc.) that most likely will lead to an inevitable burnout at some point. It's kinda just how things go, regardless of whether you're winning or losing, but that path is both antithetical to the direction I plan to take, and just not optimal to providing our members a place where writing good, solid story arcs is key.

I choose to ride the tide, instead of fighting against it, whether for pride or an inability to detach ourselves from the "pixels" we assign importance to on the map.

Story is everything on a collaborative roleplaying board, after all. The Rebel Alliance will have no choice but to cooperate with other major factions to ensure everyone's on the same page & all sides are getting the time allotted to craft a collaborative factional story without worrying about burnout, or the risk of a surprise invasion when we're not expecting it.

I can say with decent confidence that I have a solid working relationship with plenty of the faction staff across other factions already, and for those who I don't, I won't hesitate to reach out and build the rapport necessary to facilitate cooperation.

Lastly, you are correct. That was my intention from the start, which i've been fully transparent about in both the Galactic Alliance Discord, and the rather extensive breakdown of the factional narrative & direction I laid out a few posts earlier.

With that in mind, i'd tell you to give what I wrote a read-through, as I'm pretty sure I answered that question more or less rather extensively, in regards to how things will change.

 

[Tefka]

Starlin Rand

Do you have 10 posts in the past 6 months across your characters, in GA threads?

I see you have very little IC activity, if any at all, on Starlin Rand.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Tefka

Sycorax Laveaux - 4 faction posts
Eloise Dinn - 6 faction posts
Starlin Rand - 1 faction post

 

[Amani Serys]

Actually I've got a couple questions. Different for each of ya.

The details for the NJO will be fleshed out a bit more, but I'm actively working on it with the team i plan on building up to make sure that we're gonna cook out a fire narrative to match everything else.

Can you be transparent about this 'team' you're already planning on building up? Nothing wrong with getting ahead of the curve, but given you've only just become an eligible part of the faction as of yesterday, it comes across as lot like an Amelia 2.0 situation waiting to happen. Are we going to get a team full of new people who have barely written in the faction in years (or at all) suddenly making all the decisions? I also saw you made some comments in the discord the other day about selecting the Chancellor yourself, suggesting a writer who is currently a leader in another faction. This is after people were already pushing for a proper election, so that didn't exactly inspire confidence from me either.

Instead I suggest we stimulate RP by rolling with the constant invasions. I get that not everyone wants to be in constant invasions, but you don’t have to warpost in an invasion thread.

I agree there needs to be a stronger emphasis on how this faction makes the most of invasions, but we need something better than just 'take the constant invasions on the chin and hope for the best'. Folks don't want to just get spammed nonstop and hear a 'go us!' from the sidelines the whole time. Do we have any cohesive vision for the invasions? What if the opposing faction doesn't want to play nice? How do we make these invasions worthwhile?

 

[Jand Talo]

Question for both MFO candidates:

Do you intend to take GA minor?

If the answer is yes for both, I reserve this post as a MFO nomination for myself.

 

[Tefka]

Tefka

Sycorax Laveaux - 4 faction posts
Eloise Dinn - 6 faction posts
Starlin Rand - 1 faction post

Looks legit, we take those, thanks.

So that puts all MFO candidates, prior (pepw) and current, at 10ish posts.

 

[Starlin Rand]

What efforts will you make to clean up our faction forum? It is highly out of date.

Not gonna lie, every faction I've ever been in struggles to keep the forum consistently up to date. This is Chaos; people come and go without giving due notice and things change faster than anyone can keep up. However, I will update it on day one and will continue to check in on a semi-regular basis. The GA could stand to keep most of its information on site rather than exclusively on Discord.

What do you plan to help reduce burnout since this faction is looking at a long invasion season against GE?

I agree there needs to be a stronger emphasis on how this faction makes the most of invasions, but we need something better than just 'take the constant invasions on the chin and hope for the best'. Folks don't want to just get spammed nonstop and hear a 'go us!' from the sidelines the whole time. Do we have any cohesive vision for the invasions? What if the opposing faction doesn't want to play nice? How do we make these invasions worthwhile?

Frankly the GA needs a culture change with regards to invasions. Too many writers seem to view them as a chore rather than another opportunity for roleplay. The best way to do that would be to have a clear faction narrative driving each of our invasion threads, which is what I will be laying out in my answer to your next question.

To use another faction as an example, I think the GE has a good invasion culture. Their channels are full of people talking about how best to collaborate with their characters and their leadership does a good job of hyping up the faction storyline. It keeps people from getting bored or having low muse because they are the ones driving the story, not a forced narrative where a select few writers are emphasized at the expense of others.

In short, we need to take the reins of our invasion storylines. We are letting our opponents dictate the story without resistance.

Am I correct in understanding that both of you wish to turn our faction into a rebel alliance? How will this change how this faction rps and relates to other factions under your leadership?

Yes, I plan to turn the GA into a rebel alliance. But I want the shift to be gradual rather than a hard, out of character pivot.

My vision for the Rebel Alliance wouldn't be too different from the current GA's structure. There would be a government in exile, with Senators trying to help their worlds survive imperial occupation. Making deals and alliances, and coordinating a resistance behind the scenes. I would rebrand the SIA into a clandestine guerilla force fighting for freedom. The GADF is still leading the front lines like the OG Rebel Alliance. The Jedi will have scattered and splintered into various enclaves; they must learn to overcome their differences, put aside old grudges, and work together to restore democracy. We will change our mandate to reflect a mobile resistance force, constantly on the move and striking the Empire wherever we can.

This narrative shift also opens up a whole new niche for writers to explore: civilians, smugglers, any independent actors who would fight to live under a democracy rather than an autocracy. Rebellion presents an ideal opportunity to expand and evolve our roleplay.

Do you intend to take GA minor?

No.

 

[BB-DD]

Starlin Rand just a follow up question,

So if we slowly become a rebellion, would that only happen if we lose more invasions? Lets say we get on a wining streak and beat GE to a pulp. We stay GA or? Basically I'm asking are we going to let the story guide us?

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin Rand just a follow up question,

So if we slowly become a rebellion, would that only happen if we lose more invasions? Lets say we get on a wining streak and beat GE to a pulp. We stay GA or? Basically I'm asking are we going to let the story guide us?

Pretty much, yeah. All signs point to a rebel alliance being the natural next step of our story, but if our writer base changes course, we can confront that as a group when the time comes.

My biggest point, my campaign slogan if you will, is to not force anything. I want to give the power of choice back to the writers rather than decide what happens in a private chat and expect everyone to get dragged along.

 

[BB-DD]

Thank you everyone for answering my questions. I really appreciate it!

 

[Marek Bancroft]

Can you be transparent about this 'team' you're already planning on building up? Nothing wrong with getting ahead of the curve, but given you've only just become an eligible part of the faction as of yesterday, it comes across as lot like an Amelia 2.0 situation waiting to happen. Are we going to get a team full of new people who have barely written in the faction in years (or at all) suddenly making all the decisions? I also saw you made some comments in the discord the other day about selecting the Chancellor yourself, suggesting a writer who is currently a leader in another faction. This is after people were already pushing for a proper election, so that didn't exactly inspire confidence from me either.

I'm not sure how active you are in the discord, but those comments about the chancellor were made off-handedly during the discussions regarding narratives/plots, and were actually quickly walked back in favor of something more cohesive and set-in-stone. In fact, as of today, within the discord there's been discussion between myself and others where I've specifically stated that the Chancellorship will be voted on, for one. Two, I myself have no intention of running for it, and three, I intend to really make the decisions made within the narrative have a solid effect on the storyline of the GA, and hope to weave that seamlessly in with the greater plot direction of where the factions going.

So I hope that clears confusion up on that bit there.

As for my team, I've been extremely transparent that I'm coming out the gate with not just a concept of a plan, or spending my time focused on doing things the conventional way of waiting until we're set-in-stone to put stuff into motion. My "team", whenever I've stated that, is currently null and void lol. It consists right now of Me and Kyric, who's been assisting me with storyboarding the narrative for the faction that we plan on jumping on. if/when the MFO vote comes in and its in my favor (presumably).

Outside of that, i've been brainstorming with some friends and theorycrafting ideas, but I'm not planning on jumping into GA with a team of people who don't have any interest in ingraining into the faction, or a history of being total outsiders.

This won't be another Amelia 2.0 situation, at all. I plan on coming into the faction & seeking out assistance from members who are currently there right now, who want to come in with fresh ideas & the fire to burn them onto the board.

But I also fully intend to extend a hand out in every direction in order to pull in the writers who GA has consistently lost out to drama, to salt, to creative differences, and to be quite frank, chased out by former GA administrations over time and made to feel that their efforts & time invested into the faction mean nothing.

The Galactic Alliance will be what it has always been, since the time both myself and many of the founders who created it were around: An inclusive faction for all and not just some.

I don't believe that's compatible with how previous faction teams have handled things, nor does that make this an Amelia 2.0 situation either.

I hope that clears up confusion.

Question for both MFO candidates:

Do you intend to take GA minor?

If the answer is yes for both, I reserve this post as a MFO nomination for myself.

And no, we're not going minor. We'll be a Major Faction that operates similar to a Light-Side Black Sun, in regards to the scale at which our faction operates. Smaller-scaled, narrative-focused threads where you know everyone by name and face, rather than the faceless cogs of the bureaucratic machine that's been the modus operandi for the past few years of the GA's operating vision.

 

[Aris Noble]

As I see both mentioning rebel vibes I'll hit you both with a question on that:

Why? It's no secret that Valery has created the Hidden Path, which is advertised as a Rebel Andor vibe faction. A not small portion of the GA left to join the Hidden Path, so it feels very much like that plan is just "Well Valery did it, so why don't we?" I am for certain one of those writers who left, and this idea just feels like copying someone else's homework because it worked.

What will make the GA rebranded as the Rebellion different that will interest the people who already left for the same thing?

The Galactic Alliance will be what it has always been, since the time both myself and many of the founders who created it were around: An inclusive faction for all and not just some.

With a faction that gets as large as the GA, what does inclusive for all actually mean? A place where people can write whatever they want even if it means completely going against their fellow writers and the stories they're trying to write? Being willing to help people have their characters fit so they don't feel the odd one out?

What steps will you take when the inevitable "I'm Palpatine the 3452th" comes in to handle it? Everyone wants to say they'll be inclusive to all, but how exactly are you going to make that a reality?