Major Faction "Map-Game" Opt-Out

[Josh Dragovalor]

This idea was spawned by reactions from a number of writers to invasions from the last couple of months, who have claimed that their faction being forced into invasions is very taxing on their muse. This has been said by members as well as even faction staff, in select factions I am in. As it is right now, a Major Faction cannot operate with the advantages it does (Being able to operate ICly as a higher profile governing body, the fleeting advantages, etc) without being forced to play the map game, having to dominion in order to gather territory to keep from being wiped off the map by invasions that the faction has no choice in the matter of.

There are people and factions who like to play the map game, and there are those who do not. It's simple as that. But as it is, the only way for a Major Faction to escape the map game, if they wish to be more plot-based and not be bothered by forced invasions, is to go minor and forgo the IC as well as OOC advantages that come with it. Unfortunately, the status of Minor Faction does not fit all factions and what they ICly seek to do, or represent. I find it troublesome that people and factions who wish to plot a certain way are forced between a rock and a hard place, and to see writer muse suffer as a result.

What I would like to suggest, is the ability for a Major Faction to opt out of the map game entirely, or start out that way for a new Major should they wish. They would drop enough planets that they would have the same amount as a starting Major, enough to run a governing body story if they wish for example, or for Major Factions that play a "protection" storyline, enough to say they have a number of planets under their protection. They would keep the perks of a Major, including the fleeting size numbers.

Opting out would mean that the faction is completely immune to being invaded, and their territory will remain static, as a Minor Faction does. The drawback being they are unable to do Dominions, or Invade other factions planets. Skirmishes would still be possible, as well as acting as an ally for another faction in their own Invasions with the usual rules applying. This would allow for a faction to keep it's Major status and continue to roleplay the faction as normal, without having to worry about being forced into an invasion. This would be ideal for factions that wish to focus more on the plotting and storytelling side of Chaos, who do not wish to be pressured by the map game as it is.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Can't play the map game, don't go major.

 

[Kael Rose]

If you own planets you have the ability to lose planets. Great power, great responsibility and such. If you have a "major faction" that has a planet and can't lose it then you're taking away the opportunities of other writers to use that planet in their stories.

Hard pass.

 

[Jaedan Fray]

You have my vote, Josh Dragonsflame, this is (supposedly) roleplay, not an endless competition. Maybe yours is the best approach or maybe not, it is true that something must be done about it whatever it is the case.

 

[Krayn]

But what happens when you have twenty odd invasion less majors on the map? How do you make a fluid moving territory game out of that? You can't. It'll just make a static environment that will get boring fast.

 

[Ria Misrani]

Map ≠ Story

If you're not interested in the map game as a writer, then don't participate in it. You can write stories without having to get involved in the map game, especially if you find it taxing or draining of your energy and muse. Yes, this is a hobby and yes it's supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun with the map game, they don't play it. Take a break, write private threads - detach yourself from it. You are responsible for you, and the stories that you choose to involve yourself in. No one is sitting here telling you that you *have* to do anything related to the map.

Lastly, as a major faction - the map is you and you are the map. You cannot have space on the map without the risk of getting invaded or rebelled. It's part of being a major faction.

If you don't want the biscuit, don't risk it!

If you want the biscuit, risk it!

 

[Delilah Keyes]

I mean, there's already an answer to this- don't go major.

 

[Evoros]

Obviously there's the fleeting advantages and added relevance, but the difference between a major and minor faction is that the major faction takes part in the map game. If you can't handle invasions, go minor.

 

[Darth Ferus]

So a no risk high reward where people can lock a planet they want and prevent anyone from influencing it in a way they don't want, promoting the idea of cliques and hoarding planets.

Bro, this is a terrible idea. This would allow a small group if people to take a planet like Coruscant for themselves and prevent anyone from doing anything to it they don't want.

You might as well make your own board at that point

 

[Enyo Typhos]

If you don't want to play the 'map game', don't go major. Once you're on the map, you've painted a target on your back and are inviting someone else to stop by and wreck things.


Stay a minor faction or run a company. A number of faction concepts actually work better as minor (e.g. criminal organisations). You can have plenty of fun and don't need to bother with planets, gaining or holding territory. Not like being a major faction gives you much in terms of actually tangible benefits.


It would also be bizarre if this or that planet on the map was magically immune to being invaded because a faction wanted to have a 'safe space', but still insisted on painting a section of the map in its colour.


It's like Belgium telling Germany in 1914 'sorry, dear Kaiser, your goose-stepping, Pickelhaube wearing ruffians can't invade us. We're a safe space!' I'm sure the Belgians would have loved to do that. It would have spared them quite a lot of trouble.

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

I would rather see limits on how many hexes a given major faction can claim. Somewhere around 10-20 would probably be good. That way there should be room for a large number of major factions, and still see some dynamism to it.

 

[Voices of The Deep]

[member="Krest"]

Well Said~​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

As a proud owner and writer of the Silver Jedi, I have to state that this idea has come from Josh alone and not a Faction wide thought.

I won't have this a thread where people think the SJ are looking to change the rule-set after an invasion loss and attract the "go Minor or go home" kind of comments.

With that said, carry on.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

I echo what everyone else had said.

Don't like the heat? Get out of the kitchen.

#HellsKitchen

 

[Darth Prazutis]

I echo everyone else's words.

The map game is a gamble, a game of risk if you will. You toss your name into the hat or deal yourself into the game and hope for the best. For some reason the saying "I've got skin in the game" comes to mind. You invest into the expansion of your territory and a multitude of things can happen. You can have everything like the One Sith achieving complete domination of the Core and most of the Mid Rim at its height or you can lose it all and end up with nothing. It's essentially the game of empires and as they say empires rise and fall and the scope of the map changes, and as this happens so does the story.

The bottom line being if you don't want to deal yourself into the game fold your hand, cash your chips in and go home.

 

[Briah Song]

I can see the appeal of no map game, but there is equal if not greater appeal in it existing for me. It adds a very spontaneous and fluid element to the whole board. I can understand the strain it may cause on writers, but at the same time it can offer lots of chance for development too. The unpredictability of the whole flow of the board-wide game makes, for me, my experience on Chaos more worthwhile.

"Omg the so-and-sos have fallen under the hand of thingamjigland? Whoa, what'll happen next?!"

All things act through natural evolution, unpredictable and spontaneous in its restless wake. Such is Chaos.

 

[Tefka]

I really do appreciate it when Staff doesn't need to weigh in.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

The major faction opt out option for the map game is called a minor faction.

I find it troublesome that people and factions who wish to plot a certain way are forced between a rock and a hard place

No one is forcing anyone to go major. No one is forcing anyone to participate in invasions either. If you do not want these things, do not do them. This is all very simple. I don't understand how or why this wave of "but what if we tweeked the rules for very speshul major factions that don't do things major factions do" keeps coming back.

They would keep the perks of a Major, including the fleeting size numbers.

Opting out would mean that the faction is completely immune to being invaded, and their territory will remain static, as a Minor Faction does. The drawback being they are unable to do Dominions, or Invade other factions planets. Skirmishes would still be possible, as well as acting as an ally for another faction in their own Invasions with the usual rules applying.

Do you not understand that there is no quantifiable difference, rules-wise, for a major faction with three hexes and a major faction with twenty hexes? You are literally suggesting the creation of an entity that can show up in invasions to stack the odds against mutual enemies and start as many skirmishes as they want - basically with unlimited resources - and other major factions have literally no way to meaningfully retaliate against them. What IC reason would there be for a faction like the GA to not invade and occupy the planets of a smaller faction like the Metal Lords if the Metal Lords kept skirmishing them?

Most ideas get better as time goes on. They get a little more refined. This one gets worse every time I hear it.

 

[Darth Metus]

There is nothing stopping a group of writers from forming a minor faction and writing stories on a planet(s). You don't have to be major to form the story of a planet.

Examples: Carnifex has written the story of Panatha extensively. Yet, he doesn't own the planet via influence cloud. Kesh and Solan Charr is another prime example.

If you don't want to be major, don't seek exceptions so you can have your cake and eat it too. Either prove yourself worthy of the map or go minor, it's that simple.

 

[Lethia Morow]

Roleplaying is about creating a story.
And do you know what the heart of any good story is?
Conflict. Whether that conflict is internal (a Jedi's struggle with her Dark urges, for example) or external (such as a war for territory) doesn't matter. What matters is that there is tension, that there is suspense and drama. The major faction system is there for those people who wish to be part of a story whose conflict could reasonably include warfare, gaining and losing territory to other sovereign states across the Galaxy.

As countless people have said before me, if your faction's story doesn't involve those things, that's perfectly acceptable.

But we call factions like that Minor Factions.