Large factions how will/should they be handled

Will you have sub factions within factions.
Will NPC's be created who want to make their own?
Will you have rebellions at times?
Will the factions become so big nothing can stop them?

I am a guy who likes things to be a bit unpredictable. Hence why I love a generated sandbox!

That means having one game where one faction can act like a massive united entity and impose its will down on a large part of the galaxy.

That also means having one game where one huge faction splinters apart due to internal troubles, and watching or contributing to have that happen.

There are a variety of ways to achieve this, and so I wanted to offer some ideas.

Powerful NPC's (with ambitious or greedy AI settings) designed to break off from the main group with their own assets, when they think they are strong enough. They are either crushed or supported by the larger faction, depending on its temperament.

Certain NPC's who always have a priority 'create own faction' attribute. This comes just below repairing and refueling the ship, and their number one goal will always be to have a faction that suits their own personalities. Pirate/Merc/Empire/Trader etc.

Sub Factions such as fleets, traders, colonies, noble families, religious sects etc can arise within the main faction and hold power within it. They also have their own relation to the faction and the main influence on it is, how well they are protected and looked after.

Creating the occasional ingame rebellion, which the player can support, or can help the faction through it! You'd name the faction after the one that was splintered with a slightly different take on it. So Hades Federation is in a civil war with the Hades Consortium.

(Tried to search for factions but the word is too common - sorry if this idea is a duplicate).

Within a faction, AI actors on all levels (including faction leaders) could sort that out if you give them properties like

• Independence.
  Desire to do what they want instead of following orders to the letter.
• Regulation.
  Desire to have their own orders followed. The "Central Committee" approach can be good and bad...

A ship's captain and a faction leader would be the same thing. Both may be commanded by some entity and command others.

So if the captain gets an order that goes against his own goals, his Independence determines how likely he is to do something else instead.
The faction leader's Regulation determines how pissed he will get about that. =)
And the captain's decision can factor in the faction leader's Regulation stat in his risk assessment. =)

Looks like all my assets are going to have to have a self destruct hidden in them that only I can activate

"Oh, your rebelling, correct me if your wrong but I believe I call that burning! "

Jerek Adams wrote:Looks like all my assets are going to have to have a self destruct hidden in them that only I can activate :D

Spread the rebellion? Sure you will. All over the solar system.

Gazz wrote:

Jerek Adams wrote:Looks like all my assets are going to have to have a self destruct hidden in them that only I can activate

Spread the rebellion? Sure you will. All over the solar system.

Only if there is hope...

On another tangent, can a player "own" several factions?

Jerek Adams wrote:On another tangent, can a player "own" several factions?

Ooooo... Double agent!

DWMagus wrote:

Jerek Adams wrote:On another tangent, can a player "own" several factions?

Ooooo... Double agent!

Then the question becomes who are you really fighting, trading, or bartering with.

Jerek Adams wrote:Then the question becomes who are you really fighting, trading, or bartering with.

When you own a lot of general stores and employ a lot of people, then that becomes the question indeed. In Belgium we have Colruyt, and it's been said that if all Colruyt employees and their family buy at Colruyt, it doesn't need any other customers to turn a profit.

I think the key question about owning multiple factions (or whatever organisational structures Josh decides upon) is if you're the public or secret head of the organisation (I recall mentioning something similar here in the bit about "unaffiliated organisations").

This is potentially an incredible way to play politics in the LT universe, but I suspect the complexities of making it work are mental. Still, it's still a good idea to consider, since it would enable Palpatine/Sidious style gameplay.

Or pit your factions against one another to siphon wealth off sectors by positioning yourself to make massive profits!

Jerek Adams wrote:

DWMagus wrote:

Jerek Adams wrote:On another tangent, can a player "own" several factions?

Ooooo... Double agent!

Then the question becomes who are you really fighting, trading, or bartering with.

Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself.

DWMagus wrote:Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself.

ROFL!!!! My characters name must now be Moriarty‎!

Gazz wrote:Within a faction, AI actors on all levels (including faction leaders) could sort that out if you give them properties like

• Independence.
  Desire to do what they want instead of following orders to the letter.
• Regulation.
  Desire to have their own orders followed. The "Central Committee" approach can be good and bad...

A ship's captain and a faction leader would be the same thing. Both may be commanded by some entity and command others.

So if the captain gets an order that goes against his own goals, his Independence determines how likely he is to do something else instead.
The faction leader's Regulation determines how pissed he will get about that. =)
And the captain's decision can factor in the faction leader's Regulation stat in his risk assessment. =)

Yeah it would stop any area getting stale, (or into a stalemate) nice idea. Independence stat vs the order given. Another one is independence vs his current status. Status's like Broke, unable to trade, constantly getting damaged, or nobody left to fight for example could be some motivators depending on the personality. He might be like me, see no enemy factions and grow battle weary for a chance of pace!

So the actor would start looking for bell-bottoms, a headband, and a peace sign?

Gazz wrote:So the actor would start looking for bell-bottoms, a headband, and a peace sign?

Ha I was meaning change of pace
The opposite I suppose, what is the opposite of that anyway?