Minor Faction WE DON"T DIE!

[Bao Quayan]

Bao Quayan

Alright...thank you very much for some real advice.

I mean, everyone was giving real advice, most of them were just being snarky or recommending you try other things. I just gave you a wall of text of my perspective of your offerings, which I explained why I wasn't buying your stock.

 

[Darth Immortuos]

Growing a major is like playing slots. You can strike out for what seems like a long time. Maybe even get discouraged, but eventually you will hit a jackpot. You wont know what it will look like or when but it will happen.

Here is my advice. Carry no expectation on Chaos Heath Valhoun . Do not compare yourself to the "Progression" of other minors or majors. Dont look at the map game and the "End game" of it either.

Your faction isnt dead or dying. IT was never alive. Its practically waiting to be born. Infinite potential.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

Heath Valhoun

I'm going to be straight forward with you here. The way this started did not earn you any points, and likely discouraged more people from joining your faction that it helped drive in. However, the place you come from with this, isn't necessarily a bad thing, just the way you presented it. There's no denying your passion nor your investment to this group you want to build interests from the community into and make into something more than it is today.

Here's my suggestion that might help you out a little bit:

While submissions inside the Factory and the Codex are wonderful things, I think the best way you'll be able to motivate members of the community to give your faction a chance is to simply role-play. Let people see what the Elysium Empire is all about. Not by you showing your submissions to the Factory and the Codex, nor by your recruitment posters you put out there either. But by writing your story, and that of the Elysium Empire in the Role-play forums. Find yourself a few writers to start off and build a strong foundation with. Make it a consistent thing and show the community as a whole you're not only sticking to this idea of yours by way of the Factory and Codex submissions, but through the narrative and story being pushed by the faction.

This isn't something that is going to happen overnight, and it's certainly something that is going to be extremely frustrating at times, especially early on (talk to any Major Faction Owner or any person that has built one from the ground up; they'll all tell you the same). I have a feeling that once you lay that solid foundation of IC RP in addition to the backstory you've already put together, that you'll start seeing more and more interests.

Finally, from what I mentioned at the start of this post, the way you come across in your OOC interactions, such as this, can also do a lot to effect the grow of your idea for a Faction here. And it is a lot easy to lose interests from negativity than it is to gain interests through your other interests. Just part of human nature that so many of us in the world remember the negative circumstances that we face more so than the positive moments.

 

[Srina Talon]

Heath Valhoun

IMO a lot of writers offered solid advice and options in this thread. Inherently there were just some notions that it seemed like you didn't want to hear, regardless, the truth of the matter.

I've never started my own faction so I don't really know the exact pressures of being a MFO but I've written in a lot of stories and I've seen a lot of factions evolve, rise, and fall over the past few years.

At the most basic level my suggestions fall in line with a lot of the others.

1.) RP is King. Some people my scoff at public threads but I think they're an amazing way to put yourself out there. If you're having trouble gaining traction try reaching out to other factions and see if they'd be interested in a dedicated bad guy/good guy to tell stories with.

2.) Learn the line between being "open" to what members may want versus having a solid foundation and be careful how you come across. It's okay not to know exactly what your dream is. You can work on that (usually with RP) and others that have been participating in your faction.

3.) Advertising/Aesthetic are all well and good. Keep trying to develop that but don't let it overcome content.

It was mentioned above but really don't worry about comparing yourself to other groups. Take an open, friendly, and polite approach while remembering the number one reason we're all here: Fun.

Have fun with it. When others see you having fun and enjoying it - You'll be more likely to attract a group to storytell with. Most successful Major and Minor Factions that you see today aren't built overnight.

Give yourself a little time and patience. Have fun. It'll work out.

 

[Thaelius]

Everything they said.

Literally everything the people before me said. You cannot throw a temper tantrum and expect people to join your Faction cause' it doesn't work and it'll never work. Period. Second, I've been a Major Faction Owner. I've been a Major Faction Admin and I am currently a member of the EE's Staff, so I know how you feel sometimes. But hey, Factions evolve and change, but in order for that to happen you just dedicate yourself to making a story that's interesting and worth telling.

Just my two/seven cents

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I'll start by saying I hope none of this comes off rude or mean. I genuinely want to help. This is my perception of the faction. It has a lot of codex stuff and a lot of "lore building" but .... so what? What does that offer ME as a roleplayer? It's basically like a video game where I'm given 10 really cool items... but there is no plot to the game so what do I do with those items? Sure I've got an awesome sword... but if I have no idea who I'm supposed to stab with it what is the point?

If you want to write a book then world building is great, but this community isn't about that. Sure we offer unique submissions but the core of the board is stories told collaboratively together with other writers. A lot of the factions running around were not born out of Codex submissions. They were born out of a story that a group of people were telling. The codex stuff came latter to enhance the story. You could run an entire faction without a single codex or factory item. It's not about the stuff... it's about the stories.

I don't see what is different about this faction that I can't get in any other Imperial faction... or any other faction on the board to be honest. Sure you mentioned having a King and a senate... and that's great from a world building perspective... but again I could care less about the world you've built. It's the same with the unique currency. Who cares? Yes it's neat and it's really a nice tidbit, but it's not enough to build an entire foundation off of. Those are fun little extras but ... they might play one sentence in my post. What do I put in the rest of the post?


So to that end I guess my question is what is the story you guys are telling? What are you doing?

 

[Rose Ann Lovely]

i mean i think building something up from the ground as a roleplayer is cool but as a lot of others said you need direction. if you have a group of even just 100 what happens when they each pull a different way as your saying. its falls into one hot chaotic mess.

 

[Heath Valhoun]

Rose Ann Lovely

We have a direction. We are a monarchy, we have a constitution, and we have a military. We have a backstory. We have objectives: I've made several articles to show it, and it's on our faction page. We want to stop the Bryn, destroy the many Imperial factions, snuff out the Agents of Chaos, and finish the CIS (Because we are formed by Imperial decedents that remember the old CIS)

And that base idea won't go away. It won't collapse if people want change because change is slow. At the same time, isn't this Chaos RP? Isn't it supposed to be chaotic? It'd be awful boring if everyone had to stay on one path to join a faction, right?

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Rose Ann Lovely

We have objectives: I've made several articles to show it, and it's on our faction page. We want to stop the Bryn, destroy the many Imperial factions, snuff out the Agents of Chaos, and finish the CIS (Because we are formed by Imperial decedents that remember the old CIS)

Do you have any current threads where you are pursuing those goals? Maybe if you link those people might want to get involved in them?

 

[Lucien Dooku]

idk man. i've seen some of your articles and stuff and just from my perspective as a writer,

it really doesn't have anything that truly stands out compared to most of the current majors out there. It seems like this is more or less your own personal project that you're pretty heavily invested in, which is not to say that it's impossible for you to ever reach major, its just more-so you don't really have any distinct branding.

Right now you're a minor, and there's tons of minor factions out there and probably a good handful who are actively aiming to be majors sooner than later. Your faction doesn't really stand out imo, despite the investments you've made into it since creating it. My best advice would be to readdress your objectives maybe? They're aight, but like, they're all pretty basic in the grand scheme. Nothing really drives me to want to make a character within the Elysium Empire, because all those things you listed are really not that interesting in the grand scheme of some other stuff out there.

Make yourself stand out more with your objectives, yknow? Be unique, to a degree. Give your faction that schtick that makes it not just psuedo-imperial faction #5.

My next piece of advice would be to, well, learn how to suck it up. And I mean this in a non-facetious way, just to put it out there. If you want to be a major, or just someone who's trying to direct people through the creation of narrative, you're going to have to learn how to not come off how you did in that first post. It doesnt do you any service to drawing people to want to come under your faction's umbrella and have you represent them as a community.

And finally? Approach criticisms with an open and transparent mind. Alot of stuff posted here [ mine included, probably] will probably come off as blunt or somewhat snarky [hope mine doesnt] but you should still want to read between the lines if at all possible, you dig? There's some gold in here that would really help you improve as someone capable of leading a faction into some form of positive success/gain if you just pay close enough attention. If you lead a faction on chaos, there will be criticism thrown at you in one way or another, that's just the name of the game.

Anyway, that's all i got man. Heath Valhoun

 

[Srina Talon]

Heath Valhoun

You're missing the point and getting off topic in your own thread. No one insinuated that everyone needs to follow one set path like good little ducklings. Infact - They said the opposite.

The way you phrased your opener doesn't give anyone the sense that you've got a fully fleshed out faction on your hands.

I'm going to give you the best piece of advice you're going to see:

Articles/Advertisements are not a substitute for content that the community can sink their teeth into. Especially, when filled with passive aggressive jabs. Advertising has a time and place but that is not going to hold the same weight as an epic RP Thread that runs with your chosen narrative.

Write. If you want this to get off the ground? Write, cowboy. Write and keep writing. ​

 

[Unblessed]

Heath Valhoun

You would be hard pressed to find anyone that got into Tolkein by reading The Silmarillion first. You have a Silmarillion. Now write your Hobbit and LotR.


But I caution. Not every endeavour is a success in the way you want them to be a success. Some are sucessful in the lessons they teach you, but successful all the same.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Sometimes you can do everything right without ever making a mistake and still end up failing.

All of the world-building, backstories, and themes in the world won't convince someone to join a group if they don't see a way for their characters to participate, unless the draw is strong enough to get someone to make a new character.

And that's just the people who don't feel they have a reasonable way to participate as members. Other people might not be as compelled to join because they haven't seen anything that has really drawn their interest, and asking people what would be interesting is actually a bit more counterproductive than you think - you have to be the creative power behind your vision, especially if you're the person running the show. The faction is your baby, you've got to grow it and understand how to keep the spirit of your idea in place while still innovating in ways to attract people to tag along.

You also need to show longevity, not in the vein of perseverance but that your faction is going to continue to draw people in - especially newer writers to the site - long after the initial honeymoon period you'd experience upon going major or getting well known. While I don't particularly care how long something is going to last, I know people who try to stick with something that they can rely on being around in six months so they can tie characters to those factions.

And lastly, factions are more than tropes and themes. They need personality and reputation, a certain expected behavior and general attitude, that comes to mind when the name of the group comes up. The more familiar and consistent with this that a faction is, the more likely they are to have people decide to either join up or make a character to do so. Factions are, at the end of the day, only important because people tend to build their characters around them. If there's too much uncertainty in what kind of RP you'll be getting out of a group then it's less likely to entice people to risk tying their characters to it.

tl;dr:

• Come up with a basic starting storyline for the faction, a goal if you will;
• Try to be creative and innovative on your own - don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to, but don't rehash old story material and themes if they don't enhance your faction's RP;
• Work on building a core following, something to show to people that your faction can last long enough to invest their time in;
• Build up a reputation that sets you apart from the other factions in a way that enables people to get a good idea of what your faction is and what they can expect out of interacting with/joining it.
• Don't be afraid to learn from this attempt and either adjust how you approach this or start over with a new idea.

 

[Tefka]

 

[Caltin Vanagor]

The one-piece of advice that I could give you that fits this situation the best is simple:

Right now you are the CEO of a corporation, you are at the top. You have an idea for your direction, great! You have an idea of your foundation, wonderful! You have pieces to the puzzle, but the last piece is a "round hole" and you are using a "square peg". What I mean is, anyone who is a part of your faction is looking for your leadership, they are looking for your vision, and your direction of where you want it to go.

Yes, I know you have all of that already and have repeated it until you were blue in the face. All of that is pointless when you repeatedly ask "What do you want from us?" "What do you want us to do?" Asking for suggestions is one thing, that is natural. What you are doing? That is being the CEO of a corporation and running it like a shift supervisor. If you want help with the direction, great a creative team if you haven't already, if you have the people that want to be a part of what you are doing then they will help you.

What you are doing right now is not the way, it's chasing your tail.

 

[Jax Thio]

I mean you need to look for a way to distinguish yourself from the other factions. I took a quick look over your faction and it's just the same old take over the galaxy kind of faction. Why should a person join yours when there's other factions that are more interesting and compelling? The GA has the NJO and political turmoil as well as potential slice of life threads. The SJO focuses on training and commradare, the CIS focuses on independence and maintaining it at all costs and the Sith Empire focuses on the dark side and trying to stave off infighting. All of those while nothing new, gives a unique spin on their conflicts and events making them engaging.

You need to find ways to stick out if you decide to stay on this path. What does your Empire have that everyone else doesn't? If they do have the same thing, what twist can you put to have people hooked?

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

No slight on ya brother but you’re just not fit to take up a leadership role at this point in time. Doesn’t mean you never will be, but for right now you’re just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, it slides right off and you’re wondering why. You clearly have a lot of energy and passion for doing stuff but focus that where it matters, the writing.

What you’re doing now is endearing to nobody at all.

All I can suggest is what others have, scope out some other groups, see how they do things, what draws people to their stories, participate in them yourself. More than anything, get some enjoyment out of the hobby. I can’t imagine smashing your head against the wall over why no one likes your ideas is fun at all so just let out a breath of air and write to write, that’s why you’re here yeah?

Show people what you can contribute.

Not every idea will hit and that’s fine, anyone who has been around for any length of time can tell you that they’ve run through ideas that themselves or other people weren’t satisfied with. It’s all about mindset.

This isn’t everyone ignoring your faction or ideas because they don’t like you, this is all a lesson to be learned. If anything this can all give you a grasp of why things aren’t working out and let you improve growing forward.

 

[Enlil]

If the faction goes under, it's because of a lack of interest. Don't take that personally, take it as a learning experience. Go minor, see what the site might take interest in by watching, getting involved, and waiting for the right opportunity. Believe me, something will come up- just right now, there's plenty of places to write politics, so the market is saturated and you're trying to compete with a monopoly.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

We talked about this privately but I hadn't seen this.

What others have said is right, this stomping your feet right here and refuting people's claims with buzzwords [Like I told you they were] is not how you build a Faction or prove to anyone that your Faction is unique or worthy of investment.

Its like Srina Talon said, its about writing and importantly effort.

I know all about grinding and putting in the blood, sweat and tears to make your idea become a real viable Faction, better than many if not most but a select few. I never did this and never would have, like others have said its not endearing.

You gotta stop feeling entitled to the success just because you've got Faction 101 down. But, I also think what some others have said about reputation and leadership is correct. If you want to be able to make something of yourself, independently - you've got to grow.

This isn't the way a Leader acts, my friend. But its alright, the internet has a short memory and the people laugh reacting to everything or just being snarky don't have anything worth listening to. Ignore them.

Sit back, breathe and recognise that maybe you are not ready. And the only way you ever will be is to recognise it now.

 

[Fatty]

Heath Valhoun if you listen to no one else, I sincerely hope you listen to Tathra Khaeus . Since the beginning of the site I've always dreamed of people role playing as a species I've created, and this man up made enough people do it to make a Major Faction that contends with the biggest ones there are.