Wild West Ruleset Update #2: Rebellions

[Tefka]

REBELLION RULES

• Rebellions allow Minor Factions to claim or neutralize Major Factions’ territory.

TARGETS OF REBELLIONS

• A Major Faction’s third completed Dominion in a month is vulnerable for 10 days after the Dominion is submitted in the Map Update thread.
• Any hex belonging to a recalled Major Faction is vulnerable to Rebellion.
• Any Dominion not completed by a Major Faction within 30 days.

HOW TO DECLARE A REBELLION

• Any Minor Faction or group of Minor Factions may launch a Rebellion, so long as they have been Minor Factions for at least 10 days.
• To declare a Rebellion, a Minor Faction Owner must make a clearly labeled OOC thread in the Roleplay Discussion forum and tag the Owner/Admins of the Major Faction being attacked.
• Any other Minor Faction may join the Rebellion by posting their intention in the same thread.

HOW TO END A REBELLION

• A Rebellion ends 10 days after the creation of the OOC thread.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Once a Rebellion nears its completion, the SWRP Chaos Staff Team will assign an RPJ. Unless defeat is conceded, the RPJ will decide the victor based on the following criteria.


The following will not be considered when judging an Invasion.

• Person vs Person Duels. The amount of duels won or lost in an Invasion does not contribute to either faction’s victory.
• Objectives. The amount of objectives won or lost in an Invasion does not contribute to either faction’s victory.
• Non-Player Characters. The actions of NPCs involved from either side in an Invasion does not contribute to either faction’s victory.

The following will be considered when judging an Invasion.

• Legitimacy. For what reasons does the rebellion have to exist in the first place? If the story makes sense and the reasoning is airtight, this shouldn't be a problem. If malicious meta intentions are afoot, however, legitimacy can be a make or break moment for the Rebellion.
• Teamwork. The amount of teamwork each faction exhibits over the course of the Invasion will contribute to victory, including its organization, cooperation with the faction's members, and how it executes its vision for the Invasion. This also includes members from opposing factions working with each other, rather than against each other, to provide entertaining role-play.
• Story. Does it make sense? How exciting is it? Are the factions trying to weave a purposeful story or put up points on a scoreboard? This should not include the reason for the Invasion, but rather the story that proceeds once the Invasion has begun.
• OOC Drama. Negative drama instigated by either side, publicly, can negatively impact a Faction’s chances for victory in an Invasion.
• Entertainment. The value of entertainment provided by Factions in an Invasion can positively impact a Faction’s chances for victory in an Invasion.
• Effort. The amount of effort put into the Invasion by each faction participating will positively impact that faction's chances for victory. This includes, but is not limited to - active writers participating, quality of writing, and responding to your writing partners in a reasonable time.

MAJOR FACTION RECALLS

• Planets belonging to a Major Faction that has been recalled by the SWRP Staff Team may be targeted by Rebellions.
• A Major Faction may remove itself from the list of recalled Major Factions by winning a minimum of two Rebellion threads that target hexes within its influence cloud.
• A Rebellion against a recalled Faction’s territory may not be declared complete until 10 days from the start of the Rebellion.
• If a Major Faction requests to be removed from the map they are counted as a recalled Major Faction (not a Minor Faction) until the next map update.

 

[Tefka]

Takeaways

• We're simplifying the hell out of Rebellions.
• Rebellions are our main tool against Recalled factions and allow Minor Factions to perform actions against the map.
• We're keeping the Battle Royale aspect but forcing Minor Factions to exist for a minimum of 10 days prior to being able to launch a rebellion.

 

[NightSister]

 

[Tanomas Graf]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

I'm interested to hear more about what factors into the legitimacy criterion. It seems a bit vague from what has been described here, broken down into a binary of either 1) if the story makes sense, etc. or 2) malicious meta intentions, but these aren't mutually exclusive. If the story makes sense (or is at least arguable) does malicious meta intention matter? If there is no demonstrable malicious meta intention, will there be as much emphasis on the story making sense? What factors into a determination of a story making sense? Past actions by the minor faction, geographical location of the minor faction in relation to the contested territory, motivation, something else? Will minor factions be asked to justify their intentions, or will it be inferred from the narrative of the thread itself? Can an assumption of "legitimacy" be refuted by the major faction being rebelled, and if so, how?

 

[Kenrath]

I have two question that relate to each other.

Why only 10 days to complete a Rebellion?

On the note why do Minor factions Rebelling a Major faction have the time limit start with the posting of the OOC thread but Major factions fighting recall have 10 days from the start of the IC thread to retain Major faction status?

 

[Tefka]

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

The question more pertains to the Judge overseeing it, and the purpose of having Victory Conditions. I hope this answer will answer all of the above.

Victory Conditions are meant to give a wide berth to the Judge when it comes to making their Judgement, and no Judgement would be the exact same. They may reach the same verdict, and in most cases, are meant to - or come close. The "rule of law" here gives more power to the Judge's authority and unbiased view of the thread. Legitimacy, Teamwork, Effort, etc... all of this is just a guide for the Judge's sense of fairness.

The Administrator of the Invasion/Rebellion, which we've recently been assigning specifically for Invasions (and likely Rebellions too, when they come back) is there to help keep the Judge on the right path and answer any questions they may have in accordance with the "guidance" of the Victory Conditions. Did the First Order make a proxy faction to Rebel another Major? Let's assume yes, and all Judges are aware. This won't affect legitimacy - unless information is given to the Judges that specifically spell out malicious intent (ie, I hate this person, I hate the FO, I just wanna ruin their faction, etc.) A lot of what can and would be put in the section of Legitimacy would also fall under OOC Drama, but Legitimacy is there to help and remind us that the two can go hand in hand.

It isn't meant to undermine roleplay, but it is there to keep player's OOC actions in check.

 

[Malok]

Yes. Please.

Keeps the land grabbers in check and culls the inactives.

10/10.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Do these rules also apply for factions going minor voluntarily, or only for those recalled by staff?

[member="Tefka"]

 

[Malok]

[member="Darth Abyss"]

If a Major Faction requests to be removed from the map they are counted as a recalled Major Faction (not a Minor Faction) until the next map update.

Edit: But note the above rule hasn't gone into effect and that the current rule, until updated, only addresses traditionally recalled factions.

 

[Raziel]

On the note why do Minor factions Rebelling a Major faction have the time limit start with the posting of the OOC thread but Major factions fighting recall have 10 days from the start of the IC thread to retain Major faction status?

Thank you for spotting this. It will be clarified.

Why only 10 days to complete a Rebellion?

One of the largest pieces of feedback I received on Rebellions was that people didn't want to spend 3 (and previously 4) entire weeks on a massive slog to defend the hex. The two largest ones reached close to 1000 posts which also makes them an enormous effort to judge.

The intention of the new ruleset is to make the map more dynamic and less toxic/stressful. We want to alleviate the stress of a 2-week 150 post dominion being followed by a 3 week 800 post Rebellion.

Nothing in these rules will prevent people from continuing the story in a Dominion or a Rebellion or an invasion once judgement has been passed.

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Raziel"]

Oh ok. I think the time period is too short but I do understand where you are coming from.

I also think the duration for both examples should be based on the same thing. Either the start of the OOC thread or the IC one. My personal opinion the IC thread.