Well I've seen several threads like these over the years since we started and few of the suggestions usually get used or come to pass but they are always fun to try and make improvements. I'll divide mine into bullet points.
This one is I don't even know. We shouldn't do that, we have a history and past yes we don't appeal to everyone but we have been one of the longest running factions on the board. We've survived throughout the years because we embraced what we are which is a place to write stories, be accepting of new members and members wanting to make an effort at a fresh start with their character without ooc drama or politics. Rebranding and renaming ourselves was done once when we joined with the Sanctum out of respect for those writers and to show it more as a union of faction.
The writers were all great people, funny and helpful but they also didn't care we worked to include and make them welcome. They left and formed their own faction and aside from Jon/Jorus and Bounce/Zak few have ever stuck or come back around. By rebranding ourselves we actually lost members and the main benefit was the Republic was on a kick of wanting to exile anyone who didn't agreewith Kiskla... this helped us since we welcomed the members. When we returned nearly two years later tot he Silver Jedi Order from being the Silver Sanctum we lost the members who didn't want to be a jedi order.
Rebranding, and ignoring or trying to get away from the past of a faction has generally failed and killed a great deal of the faction. The factions that have done it like the Old CIS who went through several name changes, the old atrisian empire that lost members when they changed. It is a ploy that doesn't work, if you truely want to rename a faction and it is key to you staying or participating then honestly you should go and make your own original faction to have it the way that you want. It is simply a tactic and thing that doesn't work on chaos since nothing is forgotten if it values the narrative you want to push.
I am not really certain who is on staff, honestly the only one who ever seems to be around and talk to people.. is Asaraa. Which if one person is going to have the burden of running the faction they are going to burn out. It is a burden and one of the reason why I never went for faction owner instead preferring to be admin for coci or thurion or sorel. A good admin team can take much of the stress off and can work to organize and build up what is happening within the faction. So I don't have much in this area... mostly just have a staff you can rely upon and trust. Sorel got politiced out of being the owner and run off the site because she trusted the wrong admins.
Anothe rmain thing is.... exclusion, the SJO and all groups do this we have cliques within the faction we all have it and we all do it. Those trusted writers we only want to rp with because they will respond to us or go along with us. WE all do it but staff is supposed to help the faction. If they are able to they should try and welcome new members and see what they can do, help out members for improving their capabilities of writing and rping instead of marking them off as not interesting enough to interact with. Gives a great deal of admins being unapproachable.
We don't do many of them or when we do they are parties/gatherings/welcome new member threads... but what about the members who have actually been here and looking for things to do? We have some classes sometimes which the instructors or the students stop posting into and then they flounder. We do constant parties or the few faction threads we do that are events are just a rehash of a previous one with a slight twist. It is hard to come up with original works, I know it and you know it. Everyone has done something but this faction has been around long enough that we really have done a great deal or seen certain situations crop up.
Examples of recurring faction thread scenarios
Oldy But goldy the planet is against us. THis scenario has been played several times and always on the capital of the planet with the locals somehow being incited to attack the silver jedi. USually forgotten except the times when it is needed to be used as proof that we are evil evil evil people who control the worlds. We've done it several times, we continue to do it and usually in our backyard to the point as jedi we ic;y should have had to move to respect the denizen's of said world.
Almost monthly parties, something strange and while not always terrible we have had some things develop from them.... a new party every month for new members and allies doesn't do much. they go on until the next party is posted up, welcoming new members while the older one and ones who just joined get very little to do. Yes it is great we get cool graphics but it kind of makes us seem more like a one trick pony.
So and so is darkside and now coming back... a little strange but this is a chaos staple more then just a thing fo the SJO. Someone goes darkside and we praise their decision, their story line of being bored with being a jedi because they couldn't do this or that feasibly. Then they return a few months later to mostly it being glossed over and never acknowledged. They barely show any remorse and seem to have gotten bored with being darksiders. Something that has and is supposed to have a dangerous effect on the mind.
Someone is coming after me. "Please help me, someone from my past has returned and I need to do a big thread for x then for y and finally z" except you barely get past x thread because well the situation can be resolved a lot faster by pooling the skills of the jedi participating. Get the right combination of jedi characters, rangers/soldiers/characters with equipment or skills and a problem can be handled... So why does it fall apart, because the things are prescripted and handled as only a few people or person being able to advance the plot with their actions failing to stop.
THose are a few examples of what we do, there is always more and we have played out a great deal of scenario's that are always slightly changed. We do it in doms with copy/paste objectives. It happen's making original or watering down scenario's that could be epic.... or worse exacerbating a scenario. to cause drama intentionally for story purposes and create conflict for the sake of conflict. An example for it is Antar dominion. planning and ideas were to have conflict between the ranger's... the new ranger's encountering the old rangers.. except the old rangers in legends canon barely numbered in the thousands and followed helping the jedi. THey wouldn't really be at their world because they traveled around. They changed and adapted to the world or jedi temple they were helping so conflicting views of "what a ranger is" would be as useless as jedi arguing "I'm more a symbol of virtue".
THis will tie into most of the stuff but direction wise I have seen the term "evolving" with the inclusion of jedi using the darkside to be cool little edgelords.... that is kind of sad. The base ideals of the jedi aren't good enough so you are the chosen one, the one who can use the darkside without consequences and without problem.... just like hundreds of others who do it or even more previously. Few play up that it is the darkside and dangerous so walk a razor's edge because you can easily fall. The je'daii barely do this and it is a constant thing in the comics and books depicting the je'daii.
We don't really do anything for new members, we welcome padawans, we offer them to have masters sometimes but there are only a few active jedi who want padawans. We lack a basic knowledgeat times, techniques of the force that a youngling would be taught before even being assigned as a padawan is rarely taught except by one or two jedi and seen as a surprise that they know techniques that were easily common knowledge.
In terms of our equipment.... we have a wonderful group that use the factory, we have ship and equipment makers, we have people who enjoy the codex. We have the talent but we also foster them competing instead of contributing with each other in the same faction. INstead of trying to get them to work together in unity, sure we've had meetings between the businesses and talks about what they can contribute but then.... it isn't given much as the projects never seem to be followed through on. The armory is a mess at times with half information and missing sections.
THE MEMBERS:
Our members continue to be a great group of people honestly they are. the one swho really want the edge and combat usually filter out after they have realized the faction prefers writing stories instead of just mindlessly attacking everyone on the map. WOrking with allies and other factions is done where we have worked on things but the nature of chaos is that the ooc dictates friends and allies so it is a constant effort to make someone happy with praise and blowing smoke they are amazing in this or that.
THankfully and sadly I stopped worrying about what someone on the internet thinks and as an admin in the faction I didn't really care about fostering allies who required we always help them without getting help from them. I am an ass, I have no illusions, I make no apoligies about that. I will be honest to most people and tell them when their acting terrible and I expect the same for myself. DOn't always get it or I'll get "the piss taken out of me" which makes no sense, does little to answer a question as it is usually done trying to shame for a previous thread. Sadly my previous threads made the character and my experiences on chaos. Why feel shame at them?
Hmm where else... we have a creative team kind of... honestly its members are great but when feedback has been given if it wasn't "this is great" then it has been heavily disregarded or nothing comes or it and you get scenario's like the current nature attacking the silver rest thread where you can undo most of the threat with two five year olds. Stereotypes and tropes exist for a reason. Pre-scripted events are also important which happens more often even though there is events to make a song and dance.
I think that is all of it, I had to cut out a few parts because I am not above ranting and attacking. So I cut out a few things going into specific details or problems. I enjoy and love this faction, I want it to continue to expand, to grow and be better. I have been here since the founding of the faction... one of the few who has remained here. I will always support it and always want it to be strong but I am not above pointing out some of its flaws... it is something you should do with the things you like because can't just blindly accept everything. There are issues with the SJO but most of them are simple and not something that can be changed by rebranding and becoming something new. THat would be a waste and seems more like just wanting to have the ability to go "look my faction is big and powerful" without doing any work since inactive members can't express disappointment or leave a faction.
Alright I am about see about getting ready for work hopefully this is helpful.
