A Synopsis of the Meeting to Discuss Factions

The topic of the meeting was the breakdown of groups into factions, which would later be classified as the lowest level of an alliance. The general idea would be specific subject categories, much like schools. For an easier understanding of divisions, terms such as pirate, fighter, thief and mage were used. BE KNOWN THESE ARE NOT CLASSES (such as other games). Current players of MD are not required to choose a faction, but they can come together to create them. The factions, as well as the quests, objects, roles and progression, are going to be made by the current players. Anyone interested can submit a guild, but a proposal requires a good plan, purpose, and methods of how to handle newcomers, internal structure, and names/roles. In addition, you must have a minimum of one, and no more than three, RPC’s. Within a Faction, one alliance may exist as sort of a nobility group. This starting faction decision will also decide where new players start off in MP2 and what storyline they would follow as a newcomer.

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To start there will be 2-3 factions(when 3 requests are deemed cohesive and well thought out enough) and all new players will be redirected to 1 of the 3. Factions will not be based on the land but the section they represent. That being the case your homeland for the faction is up to you. One RPC will be selected to lead each faction. This leader will be given control of the factions’ abilities/spells so as not to have them scattered about many people. However, any other leader can demand use of the ability. However, NO RPC can be forced to use any power; Mur is very strict about that. Faction ideas should be posted in the RPC section to allow discussion.

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The meeting then went to a few player-based examples of factions. Grido took the floor to discuss his faction in Golemus, which would run on a teacher-student basis. There would be two RPC leaders, Akasha and Grido, as well as three professors and two teachers for each of the 5 subjects. The subjects would be fighting, history/archives of the land, science and tech, and quests. New players would start in one of the five subjects of their choosing. Once a player had passed a subject, he would be able to teach a new player that subject and then choose a second subject to start on. It is required that every player help a new player get their footing. Teacher/student would be available in their tag. This would be based in GG on the principle of teaching. However, there would be sections such as fighting and questing to keep people entertained.

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Once you have the wish, or starting image, you can have tools, some on the RPC’s and some hardcoded into the HQ. On a side note, this will work perfect for MP2 and its illusion stage, because illusions can give many things and not unbalance the game. You will also be able to distribute such things as illusion points. These could be used to unlock more illusions, which would allow for more interesting combinations. RPC’s can already edit objects and scripts but I Mur will also assist in area modifications for factions to be set up. You will have many tools at your disposal; perhaps a treasury to hold inventory items and other things. Factions should be perfectly integrated. RPC’s are limited to one faction for now, and competitions will be integrated at some point. Please do not depend on Mur, for he has a limited time for everything, so the RPC’s need to know their role. For players that are not looking to be in a faction, have no worries. Such “lone wolves” could be integrated into quests and faction activities.

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Rewards can test the limits of the imagination. There could be spells to give creatures as a quest reward rather than requiring recruitment, as well as role rewards such as apprenticeship or turning into a master. Each faction will be able to have their own set of rewards pertaining to different skill levels. This is why one lead RPC is crucial. Mur does not wish to change hundreds, only a few. Do not give out all the rewards at once; start gradually so that newcomers get a feel they can accomplish something. Later, give quests of increasing difficulty, but have alternates in case it proves too challenging for some. Rather than have them give up, give them a second path! Player specific advancements or rewards must follow the philosophy of “what are the wishes of the player that I am catering to?” When people see the registration page they think, “I would like to be a pirate”, or, “I would like to learn about magic”. With this in mindset, one can motivate the new players to listen to what you have to say. Again, you must stay on top of the wishes of your faction with such things as a role to play or a quest for a unique item. Always think about what will keep this person “alive”.

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Eventually, there will second level factions for older players, or people who already proven their worth. So to clarify, the first levels will be on the registration page, the second level will be an in-depth type of promotion, and the third level will be the current guilds and alliances. Ideally, a player will experience all that a faction has to offer at about 200 days old, if not older.

So, Mur says, “Get creative!”