Factions

While there is no factional wars, siege weapons, territory controlling bonuses = there is no need in factions. While there is no need in factions = there are no factions.
Creating synthetics need in faction through adding some number bonuses (create a faction – get 1000 gold. Add 6 accounts – get 6000 gold) is NOT a good way for players. That encourages multi-accounting and macroing, giving advantages to those, who pays more. Curse of F2P itemshop games in P2P sandbox? Thanks, no.

No PvP = no sense in factions. _Currently_ there is no PvP in any form. Not combat, nor economical or crafting. So _currently_ there is no sense in faction.
Please, stop about talking about current time. It’s a beta, year before release, with only 0.1% of planned online count and 20% implemented features.

First of all, there should be a reason for people to form a factions. At the moment, only possible reason for creating faction in sandbox MMO i see is “territory control”, which sould give faction some bonuses over solo-players, acting at the same territory not controlling it. Which leads to need in suitable territory/factional warfare.
Possible territory bonuses i see (as examples):
1. Bonuses in harvesting yield.
- Formed faction build bastion near cave with gold ore getting +% gold ore yield for every of it’s members. On one hand, this faction will be interested in more fighting players to protect this claim, on the other it will not be interested in big amounts of miners in their ranks, because more gold means less price on it, neglecting bonuses. That leads to need of implementing diffirent “ranks” inside faction with ability to setup rights for each. Like creating “miners” group giving them, and only them, access to mine at factional territory.
2. Taxes.
- Formed faction claiming a cell. Every inhabitant of this cell (who built own residence) have to pay some kind of tax, depending on kind (type) of residents he has. So, you find a sweetspot with 10 houses in it (like around good cave). You build a bastion over it to claim that territory and resident’s having to pay you 100-1000 gold/day per each wooden house. Such kind of faction will need increased amount of fighting players to protect that sweetspot from other factions, intersted in claiming it. Also, some tax changing ability (with some borders) implementation would be nice. If some faction controls a claim and gets tax to max (1000 gold), players would like to leave that territory and build a house in next cell, controlled by a faction asking 100 gold/day. Also, residents would be interested in supporting controlling faction with low taxes, just to evade being over-taxed by invading faction, adding some depth of support warfare to factional wars.

That in turn valid only if there will be real need in placing down own residence and factional crafting buildings. Something like unability to create items, that require skill over 60% in any of NPC towns. Something like you need an advanced anvill and forge, created by other players (with masonry skill) being put in your house to be able to make those things.

3. Ability to craft high-end or high-quality products.
- Only factional advanced smithy can be used to make things, which require 90%+ skill. Additional crafting tools inside that smithy can increase max quality of final product for some %.

Currently you have no need in living out of any NPC town at all. You gain no bonuses from owning house of faction. That should be changed (IMHO) to encourage people be actually interested in territories away from NPC cities.

All money factional money sinks and efficency should depend on:
A) Territory a faction controls.
B) Buildings a faction owns.
C) Ships, siege weapons, defence structures, NPC guards, other yet-to-be-implemented features.
NOT amount of player accounts signed in faction. 1000 member faction controlling only 1 residence with 1 anvil in it is same in efficency, as 1 player owning same anvil (if not to talkabout harvesting, but pure crafting). Thus, that 1000 members faction should have same bonuses from that anvil and same amount of money it should pay for it. Thus, 1000 members faction should not have any other advantage over that solo-players except inner natural bonuses of good coordination and amount of working hands, that already makes any group having advatange over any solo player. Thus in turn makes “dull” factions of multi-accounts not viable. ‘cuz bots and multi-clients are not good in defending own territory against 5 coordinated fighters =)

Main money sink in sandbox open-PvP full-loot is equipment, that getting lost, damaged and consumed. Factional money sink added to that is a maintenance costs for all “factional” features. Every building, vessel or tool require maintenance in form of gold (Guard tower with 3 NPC guards of different levels for different pay) or in form of materials (Bastion requiring 100 stones daily, smithy requiring 50 stones and 50 wood daily, 10 riverboats requiring 100 wood daily). This way, factions will create real demand for materials on markets, not only in form of equipment for their fighting members, but in form of natural resources for their buildings.

That is why i am TOTALLY AGAINST any automatical-harvesting buildings, which currently are only sense in factions, which at release will make creating factions needed for getting resources for free. 130 cells of claimable earth? 1 month and you’ll have 130 factions of 2-3 members, controlling each for auto-farms and auto-mines. That how i see it. Not to mention zero prices for those basic resources on market.

And last, but not least. Self-sufficient factions are bad for economy. Natural resources, required for faction to be self-sufficient, should be unavailable to be owned by one. In any form. like iron and limestone nodes only to be found in opposite parts of world, making defences of two that far-away territories a very difficult task. Or in any other more suitable form. Good job there MO have made. In order to create high-end products you were needing resources from few different part of world, making trade really inevitable, which made traveling/convoy and following PvP a good part of game.

P.S.: Currently, there is not much to do in game even solo, except getting max skills. Lack of features giving fun, except skill-up (and prolly building own house/bastion). IMHO, this issue should be adressed before factional issue.

Well, main point of what i was trying to say was a way player would answer on question “Why would you like to be in faction?” Imho:
1.” Because i will get bonuses to X,Y,Z stats, material yield, NPC vendors with lower prices and buildings auto-producing materials for me.” – wrong answer.
2. “Because i will get opportiunity to take part in large-scale warfare, economy and crafting operations. Because i will be able to take part in major political/diplomatical events. Because i will be able to affect whole game atmosphere.” – right answer.

Crador, I think both of those options are the ‘right answer’. My favorite saying is ‘give the players the tools to make their own choices’.

For instance, with regards to faction tithing, give the factions the ability to tax members, but not required.

Having Vendors only for faction-mates OR, better yet, allow the option of setting 2 different prices on your goods everywhere (one price for everyone and a separate price for faction-mates, no matter where u sell your goosd) – this is another positive option for factions, but allows individual players the right to make these choices.

Per Wiz’s Comment: I find it interesting to offer penalties to having factions – just remember to balance that with positives to being involved with them as well. Some of the fore-mentioned ideas are plausible.