nobody wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:02 pm
I have so many questions.
- The new faction will have rules and laws, their own set of ideals, and Shadgard will have its, though perhaps made a little more rough around the edges by contrast (I'd expect additional anti-nether RP for example), but how civil will the conflict be? Will there be rules of engagement, so to speak?
Shadgard was always supposed to be a sort of rougher frontier town. They definitely are intolerant of sorcery and nether, and they tend to banish people showing any signs of affliction like nether-corruption, infestation, the canim condition, and so on. Their justice is often of the frontier variety. Being survivors in the Lost Lands, they figure it has to be. I like to think plenty of people on Shadgard are decent folk, but it's also a small survivor outpost in what is essentially a very harsh post-apocalyptic world overrun with all manner of horrors, both human and otherwise. A beacon of tolerance, kindness, and slow methodical justice, they cannot afford to be. Not to say that some Shadgardians don't fight to improve in these areas (there -is- that little mine-turned-church run by those people who champion compassion and all that jazz).
As far as civility and rules of engagement: It's a pretty nasty place out there and not much exists in the way of oversight or anything. That said, I don't want this to be a gankfest - which is why I'm trying to provide specific opportunities where CvC can be focused on, like the capturing of resource sites. Give the CvCers specific things to do and places to do them. I think both sides will agree that engaging in such activities is just business. But randomly mugging or murdering people on the roads just because they're not on your team, that would likely end up in bounties posted and other consequences. Because free-for-all random no-interaction CvC gankfest is absolutely not what I'm going for here.
- Since no third/neutral town is planned, are we saying goodbye to Porto D'esilio, or will it be the home of the new faction, or will it be re-introduced as a sad ruin of a town (either like New Emberlight, more of an outpost, or like Terueka, overrun and no longer habitable)? To be clear, I'm not against sad ruins, they're delightful.
Access to Porto has already been cut off (the ship is no longer ferrying passengers between Porto and New Emberlight). It will remain as the capitol of the Republic of Exiles for lore purposes, and be accessible at various times for events and such. I can't promise it will never be destroyed or something, but I don't see any need to do so now in order to implement factions.
- I love that NPC factions will also be in the mix, would it be correct to assume that no PCs will be able to join those other factions?
Probably not, just because that adds to staff workload real fast. It's already going to be a handful managing two player factions - getting players involved in even more factions actively involved in ongoing events would be an increasingly heavy lift. Some loose tolerances might be achieved, and while I love this kind of thing myself as a player, from the GM side of the curtain, having players want to join every antagonistic faction you put out there does start to get overwhelming.
- Presently the best items on the market tend to not stick around for very long, in part because they're not being mass produced (I believe that is desirable). For example, one cannot simply buy a crossbow. How will items like that, which rarely touch the markets factor into smuggling?
Probably not much difference from how it is now? The smuggling system should ensure goods will remain available to both sides despite the faction split. Hmmm, we might need some way to communicate requests cross-faction, though.
- If you go the neutral market route, that would prove a valuable tool for traitors/sympathizers. Will extensive selling to neutral markets become an offense (IE, penalized faction standing)?
I don't think I'm going to go with the neutral market, but if I do, I don't think I'd want to penalize anyone for using it.
- You might also consider a 'black market' type of opportunity for crafters, where they can sell wares that they know will go to the other side.
Not a bad idea, though I think the smuggling thing will pretty much cover this.
- I love the ESP zones. It will make things complicated for rescuing failed missions in enemy territory, making those attunements more valuable for sure. Would you consider extending attunements so that the gray channel is limited depending on area but the faction attuned channels are available everywhere? I don't know if I'd even want that, but it would deal with the issues noted above just as well.
Hrrrrm. That's something to think about, though I'd have to come up with a way to make it work with the ESP lore I have established for the basic idea of regional ESP zoning.
- Are the factions intended to be static (like guild and class) or will they be able to change over time? If it is intended to be static, will that become a part of character creation?
While I could see someone potentially switching factions with a *lot* of both time and effort, it is intended to be something you start out choosing. Maybe have a little mini starter "quest" where you decide which town you choose to throw your lot in with in order to survive in the Lost Lands. Or I could just be lazy and make it a character creation option. Might be better for a phase 1 implementation.
- How will the Shadgard/Not Shadgard faction dynamics interact with societies?
The proposed Harbingers society would certainly be more appropriate for Notshadgard. Members of the anti-nethrim society would struggle in Notshadgard since Notshadgard makes casual use of sorcery and nethrim. Tse Gaiyan would have similar issues since Notshadgard accepts infested residents as long as they've shown they have it under control. I think those would be RP scenarios rather than automated ones. I wouldn't expect the problematic combinations mentioned above to last very long before their factions kicked them out, though. Hmmmm. Something to continue considering.
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shoryuujo wrote: ↑Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:03 pm
I've certainly felt a fair bit of anti-farmer sentiment, even if Acarin here is half joking.
Have you felt this from anyone other than Acarin? And I believe he is indeed joking - farming isn't of interest to him clearly, but I've not seen him push in any way to get farming removed or nerfed or anything like that. I do occasionally make exasperated comments about how there are so many people who are farmers (I've occasionally threatened to rename the game COGG: The Farming Simulator), but I promise you I'm not against them or the farming system. I did code and implement it in the first place, after all. And I'm excited to do even more with it!
I'm just trying to figure out if I should consider now or soon ditching the farm
If you're happy farming now, keep farming. As I mentioned in a previous post, there's nothing forcing farmers to get personally involved in the faction conflict. And there's a reason the farms are tucked away in secluded areas behind their towns: so they're not being constantly messed with by antagonists. You can continue farming away even after all this faction stuff is implemented just as you are now. Anything this faction stuff affects should be new implementations (rare resources, etc.), not existing ones.
It could be interesting, factions. But Is it an opt-in, opt-out for life?
There wouldn't be any way to opt out of choosing a faction, if that's what you're asking. But as mentioned, being a part of a faction does not require going out and fighting the other faction. If you want the peaceful farm life, stick around your farm and don't stray too far from town and you'll be fine. Which is already the case, really, since there are already plenty of nasty aggressive murderous hostile creatures and NPCs out of there waiting for wanderers to waylay.