State of the Alliance | UPDATE

[Zark San Tekka]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBewKu80Mg[/youtube]​

STATE OF THE ALLIANCE UPDATE​

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Hello again all. A week ago I came to you with some concerns about the state and longevity of the Galactic Alliance as a major faction. Before I provide you with an update on where staff is at in our internal deliberations, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who contributed feedback and showed an interest in our continued future both in this thread, on discord, and in private. Special shout out to ORC staff for reaching out promptly to provide morale support and help brainstorm, even if you guys are kind of crazy (an ORC/GA war was considered).

I know you guys were excited for some potentially big changes, and they're still a'comin one way or another, but in the short term staff has decided to hold off on making a final call on the Alliance's long term future until the new year, and in the meantime we'll be attempting some things big and small to tip the odds in favor of making a decision based on what is most fun, not one made because of lack of choice to do otherwise. We'll go down the list together, and keep in mind none of this is set in stone as of tonight, much depends on your continued feedback and ideas.

WAR: What is it Good For?

One of the more universal concerns brought up in the past week has been the pvp drought the GA has faced over the past few months, and the challenges an Alliance at peace brings to generating interest. We have heard you, and I am pleased to announce tentative plans for a December invasion of Sullust by the First Order. This is in very early stages, so practically all of the details still need to be worked out, but we are also planning on lifting First Order ally restrictions so that any may choose to team up and attack us and vice versa upon faction approval.

I hope I'm not being over dramatic when I say much of our future will be determined by how this thread goes, but I would like to clarify that this is not a binary win things stay the same lose we go nomad/minor scenario. Staff will be looking at how much this thread invigorates the GA base and encourages hope for things to come far more than we'll consider the actual invasion judgment at the end of it all. A loss would not necessarily mean leaving our space, just as a win wouldn't necessarily mean staying put.

Project Little Things(TM)

In the meantime, just because we're considering some radical changes in the future, doesn't mean we can't use this wake up call as an opportunity to take some other more proactive steps now. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on proposals for a few initiatives that bring some changes to the way things work a little on an organizational level, as well as rebooting one old initiative from days gone by because its about time we did. These are smaller less amazing steps that may all be for naught if we decide in the end to go in a different direction, but in the short term they're hopefully useful for the way things are now.

The Amount of Subgroups is Too Dang High!

I'll be submitting a proposal over the next few days to dramatically overhaul our subgroup database, mostly aimed at simplification. While I'm not planning on erasing any units from IC existence, some of the groups probably would work better as codex entries, and in the meantime the clutter is only serving to artificially segregate our membership from interacting with each other.

Maybe in the days when we were the biggest kid on the block as far as writers having all these groups was necessary, but I'll be advocating we shift to three meta-groups consisting of Military (Army/Navy/Starfighter Corps), Jedi (NJO/Independent Forcers), and Citizens (Politicians/Agents/Civilians). Our most popular subgroups would fold into these categories as unique rosters, and over time we would institute a system of applying for the addition of more groups if there are actually enough interested writers to fill them.

Democracy Now

One of the more surprising things to come out of the past weeks as far as I'm concerned was how a few of you were such strong proponents of rebranding ourselves and staying where we are. For the true Republic diehards I'll start with the bad news, we are not going full Republic. The good news is, we're kind of a Federation already! The faction's super official name is the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (which nobody really uses but me lol), and while I understand for those of you around from the beginning its difficult to think of the GA in terms outside ragtag group of militant lightside rebels, the bones for more politically themed RP are there for development.

That said, its one of the more underutilized aspects of the GA, and because you're right in that we could start acting a little more democratic, I will also be working on a proposal for the creation of an IC branch of the Alliance government known as the Quorum, an elite council of GA Governors elected by the Governorate at large, who through a clear majority can challenge decisions made by the Triumvirate Council. This branch would consist entirely of player characters (no we will not hold ooc elections, it will be first come first serve with activity checks should we manage to fill it).

The Great Codex Crusade

We'll also be looking at re-implementing the faction's planetary development project, searching for volunteers to help develop GA planets that interest them, maybe write a codex entry or two. I know this type of initiative is something easier said than done, as the past has proven, but while it may not take off we think it would be better to provide the framework to help out on parts of the GA you find cool if you want to. A lot of people want to help, but they don't know how, and having planets that feel alive and distinctly us can go a long way towards drawing in new interest to the Alliance.

The Zark Dynasty Resurgent

Over the next few days, we'll be taking steps to go through the formalities necessary to transfer faction ownership from [member="Keric Dynt"] to myself. Keric served us long and admirably, but given that the Alliance crown is one which burns out brains the longer its worn, he has agreed its time to pass on the mantle while he can still remember the names of his children. Meanwhile, I have made the terrible amazing decision to reassume direct control.

In addition to this change, we're also taking on some new staff. As of right now I am pleased to welcome [member="Aryn Teth"] to the GA admin team, and over the next week we may or may not add one or two more new faces as there has been some last minute interest. Thank you for everyone who reached out, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Aryn as well as others down the line can bring to the table.

DON'T PANIC

So what does this mean for me right now, oh Zark the Wise? Great question, for the moment it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot aside from an assurance that we are not imminently abandoning ship. Sit tight and wait to provide feedback to Project Little Things(TM) proposals, and in the meantime post to the Widek dom! Post to the skirmish! Post to faction threads! Make your own faction thread! Just keep doing GA things, basically. As we get closer to December, staff will have more details for you on Sullust Showdown, but for right now light up the magma cells and get hype, as the youth say.

 

[Aela Talith]

One of the more universal concerns brought up in the past week has been the pvp drought the GA has faced over the past few months, and the challenges an Alliance at peace brings to generating interest. We have heard you, and I am pleased to announce tentative plans for a December invasion of Sullust by the First Order.

Why is the solution to our lack of PVP being invaded?

Wouldn't it be better to be the invading party? Our activity is already so low that in our current fighting skirmishes there is barely any activity. Being the 'victim' party doesn't sound like a great idea.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Staff determined that due to our current mandate, we would actually have a better chance of doing well in a defensive invasion. As it stands, going on the attack would reduce our ally limit from unlimited to zero. Basically, because our activity in the current skirmish is so low, we determined an offensive invasion just wasn't as feasible.

The other reason is to set up IC cause and justification for us to go nomad/minor if we wish. It would make a lot more sense to make such a move if our capital planet had just been hit. This is something staff is trying very hard to avoid having to do, but we're just trying to plan ahead for potential worst case scenarios.

A third, and debatable reason, is that I don't have a ton of faith for some of the older GA members to bother showing up unless their stuff is threatened. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Zark"]

So you don't think doing an offensive invasion against a foe in a no risk to us scenario would bring that activity up? Like say by striking at the brand new Sith Faction in the north whom just attacked the home of the Jedi and one of the most important planets we have.

If we're trying to avoid going minor then having our capital hit isn't exactly the best tactic. Sullust isn't even really at the heart of our territory anymore, like, we own Fondor, Coruscant, and Kuat which are way bigger economic power houses. I get the idea of setting it up just in case but that can be better achieved through other means like say internal political discord between planets. Not to mention that past invasions with the FO have been incredibly rough for both sides. It just feels like we're being set up to lose.

As for your last point, that's incredibly insulting. I am one of those 'old members' and I've posted more to recent skirmishes and faction threads than most other members. Did you ever think that such an attitude drives away said members? Because it certainly makes me not want to post.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Fighting the Sith was a possibility that was considered very closely, but in the end a decision was made to honor the deeper history of interfactional conflict between the First Order and GA, and do our part to resolve that storyline which has been very much left in limbo. I also raised the idea of economic troubles as a potential alternate to such an invasion, but in the past week when I've been collecting input from the membership a large scale conflict was thought of as a better idea.

If I felt we had the numbers to strike at the Sith, I would advocate we go that route, but if the skirmish is any indication I'm not sure an offensive thread would accomplish anything more than frustrate the other side. And you're right, in a lot of ways we are being set up to lose, and that is because as I have made very clear over the past week, if nothing changes we are about to lose.

As far as my last point, it is what it is. I'm sorry if you took it as an attack, it wasn't really intended that way, and I think given I'm aware of your presence in every pvp thread on Chaos at all times you can be pretty sure I wasn't referring to you specifically. What I meant to say, and probably should have worded a little less flippantly, was that a lot of the people who were present for our previous invasions aren't writing for the GA anymore, some have even expressed disillusion with the map game entirely. I only meant to say that I respect this choice, but those who make it must be willing to accept the potential consequences.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Zark"]

I am no stranger to running a struggling faction, even at it's 'height' TRE barely had the membership of half the factions that surrounded it, but we still went on the offensive.

Obviously we eventually went minor and it's a decision that cannot be taken lightly, but being set up to lose is an incredibly shitty feeling and honestly I'd rather not take part in it. I love PVP, as you yourself have said, but this feels like the outcome has already been pre-determined and seen to, which in that case...why bother?

I understand your statement of 'if nothing changes we're about to lose', but this isn't the change we need in my opinion. We're inviting a faction to attack our capital at a point where you yourself had admitted we're at our weakest.

Not to mention we have had, as a group, a terrible time interacting with the FO in the past. Obviously I have nothing OOCly against the First Order or it's members, but it got bad on both sides the last...what, four times around? Why would members like myself, who participated in those invasions, suddenly be turned around and hyped for once again going through those hoops when we already have other issues that are making us feel iffy?

 

[Zark San Tekka]

[member="Aela Talith"]

I suppose I just don't think of it in quite the same terms. I said before I get why it seems that way, but we weren't planning on framing this idea as the Fall of the GA unless that's what we decide to do OOC, merely a dire IC circumstance under optimal OOC conditions for us, with enough at stake (our capital) to generate the kind of renewed interest we are looking for. I can see how it could be thought of as inviting someone to kick us while we're down, but we only thought of it as a potentially great thread idea.

As far as prior history with the First Order, I assumed that enough time had passed and people had had a chance to reflect on how things were handled, and that people would be willing to try again. I also have some concerns about how fair it is to our newer members to cut off future IC interactions with another faction simply because those who have been around for a long time had some bad experiences. As someone who lived through those experiences, I hope you can appreciate that in the end I did my best to eliminate those type of concerns from the equation as far as my vote on what to do.

I guess that may not be the answer you were looking for, that it simply didn't occur to us that you wouldn't be hyped. But its the one I have for you at this time. :/ And its why I'm posting all this stuff now as opposed to the day before terms are dropped, so we can have these conversations! So thank you for raising your concerns, I assure you they are absolutely being taken into consideration.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Zark"]

I understand that it wasn't your intention and of course I don't believe you have done anything out of malice, I simply personally believe that no matter how you attempt to frame it the result will essentially be the same.

Your concerns for new members are noble, and understandable, but by the same shake you're not really being 'fair' to those older members either. Like I agree that it's silly for people to expect to never RP with a whole group of people again but when you're trying to revive a faction and one of your biggest draws is an invasion...why make it with a group of people who historically things haven't gone well with, especially considering the wealth of other opponents available(TSE, TGE, ME).

I just honestly don't believe that this is the right thing to do, especially at this point in the factions lifetime. I know you're trying your best, but for me it's just not what is needed.

Respectfully, I likely won't participate in this invasion because it just feels wrong.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

The continued existence of this faction after any invasion will depend on how well we get along with the other parties. I, as a writer, had to deal with all three of the GE, FO and SE, albeit with different factions, and the FO is the more salt-intensive of the gang, while the GE has only one writer that has any significant amounts of salt.

What to expect IC from the enemy writers, however, will depend on the target:

• GE will be heavier on non-dueling
• FO has more duelists but still feature significant fleeting/grounding
• SE will be very lean on fleeting/grounding

[member="Aela Talith"] I understand your concerns, and, once the ownership nomination process is underway, I will throw my ring in the hat. Which would mean changing our mandate as well as going on the offensive.

 

[Ciana Teigra]

[member="Zark"]

I share Aela's sentiment that are better targets for drumming up activity through PvP. Given the way that the FO/GA war went down, I really think the best route is sticking to the cold war track with the First Order. Maybe coordinate on some more interfactional threads revolving around espionage and proxy conflicts?

If the staff still goes through with this invasion, then perhaps change the target to something other that Sullust? Going from a tentative peace to a capital world invasion just seems like too big a stretch. An outlying world that the FO covets, like Lothal, would make more sense.

All the other changes look good to me. As I enjoy playing a government characters, seeing the GA mature into a more democratic organization would be nice.

The one measure that will help the GA more than anything else is having an active and personable staff, regularly recruiting and spearheading efforts to maintain member retention. Adding [member="Aryn Teth"] was a good start on that front (congrats, by the way).

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Zark"]


Per the site rules, a hex containing a capital planet cannot be invaded by another faction unless they have occupied a neighbouring hex.


FO territory is not adjacent to Sullust.


'1. Each faction, upon creation, will name one planet as it's "Capital". Factions may not invade the hex containing the capital planet unless you have occupied a neighboring hex.'

 

[Zark San Tekka]

In light of the concerns raised by membership and, you know, site rules we were previously unaware of, staff is reconsidering our options regarding Sullust Showdown at this time.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

At the risk of being the new guy speaking out of turn, why not try to create some cooperative threads that might help to create more interaction between us and the First Order?

If skirmishes are not getting a lot of activity, why not see if we can't jointly develop ideas for a dominion (we help out in a FO dominion and invite them to do the same with one of ours). This could involve elements like a First Order fleet observing Alliance movements, as either a normal patrol or under the guise of war games... which could lead into potential for PVE or PVP objectives that serve for lore building and benefit both sides no matter the outcome.. That could even work for hexes for either faction that have nothing in them or a world like Ketal that's literally between our two influence clouds.

Just a thought from the peanut's gallery.

 

[Kiyron]

[member="Zark"]

Good to see you back at it again.