Okay, first off, I'm one of the Republic Delenda Est people, but I'm gonna pop up yet again with some solid advice that will probably be outright ignored like the last times.
First, and let me be clear,
IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT FACTION LEADERSHIP SAYS, IF THE FACTION OFFICIALLY VOTES TO DO SOMETHING, THEY NEED TO SIT BACK AND LISTEN.
When a call for leadership change happened in the Mando faction a while back, Faction Staff (I was Faction Staff at the time) decided to hold a vote because, at the end of the day, the faction leaders are the equivalent of Public Servants and, much like politicians in a Democracy, need to listen to their constituents/faction members. A vote was held to determine if the faction wanted a change, which they voted for. We held nominations and the nominees were narrowed down based on who was and was not seconded, then voted on until we had a faction leadership change to what it is now. Faction Leadership not listening to Faction Membership is one of the many, many reasons this faction is dying. Moving on.
Second, cut the drama. Yes, all factions will have drama. It's inevitable for everyone that drama in the OOC will come about at some point. However, it's the Faction Staff's job to negate it or, at least, minimize it all while staying out of the middle of it as much as possible. Is it possible to do? Generally, yes, it is possible to meet such a goal. Is it hard? Yes, it is, but so is being something like a President of a country or a CEO of a company. You want to build something, it's gonna be hard work. Quell the drama, be watchful of those who cause it, and know when to step in
rationally and
rationally handle the situation with fairness and tact, not heavy handed flailing that this faction is famous for (and, yes, I'm just as guilty of that during my time as Republic FO which is why I state it. I learned the hard way, so I'm passing that knowledge along).
Third, be inclusive. Too many times do I see the "Us or Them" approach to things in here and, yes, you see it elsewhere. The Mando faction was guilty of it for a time, but we grew out of it after we realized how harmful it is for a faction. You have people here and there who would love to be a part of this place and be something bigger than themselves, but when they try to they're told things like "Well, you're a Sith writer primarily, so bugger off" or "Well your alt is with the Mandos/SSC/GA/Purple Unicorns/Happy Go Lucky Car Club, so we can't trust you so we're going to tell you no, you can't bring your Jedi Master you've written for 20 years and instead we're hiring Jedi Padawn D'erp the Great with three days experience and four reports under his belt." Include people, work with people, and stop with the Meta OOC paranoia and you might, just maybe, attract a few more folks this way who would like to help because they're good people, it makes sense for their characters, or both.
Next, put a spin on things. Wanna know the biggest thing that the Mandos did that caused a huge spike? They
reorganized. They let people decide just what their clans would be. No more generic "yep, we're all mandos and do the same mando things" and instead gave free license to pull from Real Life cultural sources and even let people make up new ones. One guy has a Celt-like theme for his clan, another (mine) is founded primarily along Viking lines. Others pull from Mongolian themes and even Greek concepts and yet others yank ideals out of Roman vibes. You want activity, start spinning and reorganizing.
Lastly, my suggestion.
I'd suggest a change in leadership, but that would either do nothing, put people in power that would exacerbate things, or (more likely) be blatantly ignored and probably earn me a ban from the faction. Instead, I suggest this:
Faction Leadership, take a few days and look through some history books or at least Wikipedia. Research the kark out of famous Republics through human history and see what caused them to work, how they became so popular, and try and pull out ideals from their culture. Once you do that, see if there's some way to incorporate those ideals into a new spin on the Republic and stick with it while adhering to the advice I listed above.
Faction Members, stop talking, start doing. I see maybe a dozen folks or more griping and groaning and moaning in the back room and maybe... a half dozen people actually
doing something. A few Mandos had to toss in old Republic alts they dusted off to
help you guys out. You've got people puppeteering entire armies and causing problems for you guys because not enough individual PCs are in the fight. When outnumbered and faced with a vastly superior force, do you think the Spartans at Thermopylae spammed report buttons against the Persians? Did the Polish at the Battle of Wizna call out favoritism against the Germans? Did US Marines at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir huff off and refused to fight because the Chinese because the felt the Chinese were powergaming?
Look at each of those instances. Each is decked in glory and laurels because they stood, fought, and accepted the outcomes no matter if they won or lost, lived or died. Step above yourself, step up and become a part of something greater than one person can ever be. Set aside differences and come together to stop the drama, fight fair, fight well, and fight for something, because if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
