Why Mortal needs a faction system (before Heven goes F2P)

[Sophisticus]

1. What makes Mortal so special​

I love Mortal for what it stands for: hardcore, immersive, skill-based combat, full loot PvP, no microtransactions, and especially its community collectivity, which is largely created by guild conflicts and their systems. Collectivity works best and strongest through cooperation and conflict. This is the only way to create a sense of “us” and “them.” The feeling of having a meaningful role in the collective, one that is associated with responsibility, identity, and meaning. Modern MMORPGs have completely lost this. Today, they tend to be more individualistic MMORPGs.
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2. The problem: Players without guilds are left out​

Despite my fascination with guild life, I don't want to be in a guild at the moment. There are many reasons for this, which are related to my real life. But I'm not here to talk about my real life. Nor am I here to suggest changing what is so special and brutally beautiful about Mortal! I would like to make a conceptual suggestion as to how guildless players can get a small piece of this collective feeling without undermining the “us-them” feeling of the established guilds. Perhaps this could even strengthen the influence options of guilds.
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3. Proposed solution: a faction system.​

Three nearby cities in Nave will form an alliance faction that every player and guild can join. The number of guilds that can be part of a faction is limited. The number of guildless players is not.

City factions:
1 Tendrim, Fabernum, Hyllspeia
2 Meduli, Vadda, Bakti
3 Moh Ki, Morin Kur, Toxai
4 Kranesh, Jungel/Cave Camp, Gaul Kor aka Lawless Faction (these will be a special faction)

Each alliance faction has a faction commander in its three cities, with whom you can register and thus unlock a reputation system with tasks. You rise in the reputation system by completing tasks. Non-guild players receive completely different tasks, rewards, and reputation than guild members.

The tasks for non-guild players can be small tasks, such as delivering materials or severed heads of bandits and other players from opposing factions to the faction commanders. The task system as it currently exists in the game could simply be integrated into the faction system. Non-guild players are rewarded with gold and titles. The more tasks are completed, the further the faction's sphere of influence spreads.

All faction members can also purchase a faction tabard and cape from the faction commander, which increases all EXP and material gains by X% when both are worn, but only within the faction's sphere of influence. The further the faction's sphere of influence, the higher the EXP gain.

When the factions' spheres of influence collide, a mass PvP event is triggered, which is marked on the map and in which everyone can participate. All members of the faction whose factions are in conflict hear a war horn sounding from a distance. This is intended to mobilize the factions.

Guilds that are members of a faction are considered as faction heroes. They have special-looking faction tabards and capes, which allow any non-guild player to see their higher status in the faction. Faction heroes have their own tasks, rewards, and reputation system with their own titles. As soon as two factions' spheres of influence collide, the guild masters of the guilds can trigger various events. Successfully completing these events also counts as tasks for the faction heroes, which increases their reputation within the faction.

One event idea could be that, as soon as the conflict between factions is triggered, the NPC faction commanders ride from the cities to the conflict area marked on the map in real time and fight each other there. The task for all faction members is to protect their commanders and kill the other one. They can be killed both on the way in their area of influence and at the actual conflict area. This would allow for battles in motion and assassinations by smaller groups. Perhaps by rogue clients? If a commander dies, the losing faction's area of influence is reset to its original state. This means that everyone loses their EXP bonus. And then the whole thing starts all over again.

Another event idea could be a faction meteorite that strikes the conflict site, similar to the Relic Event System.

Rewards for faction heroes (guild members) could include gold and titles, as well as a new skill line that grants abilities that provide strength or defense buffs for all faction and guild members. For example, “Battle Cry” increases damage dealt, or “Last Stand” provides a defensive buff for everyone that lasts for 1 minute. Faction heroes could also use these abilities anywhere, in guild wars at the outpost.

A faction would organize and coordinate itself via a faction chat. Faction heroes are marked with a special symbol in the chat.
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4. Conclusion​

Just before Heven goes F2P, there should be a systemic structure that includes guildless/casual/solo players (you name it) in the large mass battles. Not always, not everywhere, and especially not for the guild only mass battles, but for other things. This would give new players coming from Heven a preview of epic guild battles, guild politics, strategy, etc. Out of admiration and awe for the faction heroes, guildless players might even want to join a guild. The faction system could thus function as a transitional system. Guilds would gain more influence options, more players, and active abilities. This would keep new players in the game longer, which should also be a good thing for SV. I think if designed correctly, it's a win-win-win for everyone.
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ALMOST FORGOTTEN: the Lawless faction!​

There is enormous potential here. This faction could also get its own reputation and task system, but with a completely different focus: theft, smuggling, sabotage, or targeted assassinations could be possibilities. Here, the faction's VILLAINS could get the long-awaited Rogue Archetype skill lines
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This is just a suggestion, a basic idea. There are countless cool ideas that SV could come up with or that you could come up with. If you have any suggestions for improvement or a completely different basic idea for the problem, feel free to discuss it here.

 

[Emdash]

I said something similar. I really feel like players should be able to be citizens of a city and maybe they could allow for people to fight other cities as well. They could add in city v city raid content (not into the city, but there could be like an outpost to siege and get a reward if you can.) Guild is not for everyone.

I'd like to see there be a whole roster of positions per city. Mayor/King, Soldiers, Guards ( real people who would be tasked with protecting and could gain something from it,) Merchants... etc.

Another thing we agree upon: there is so much left on the table with MO. I hope they smooth shit out and actually start developing the game.

 

[Sophisticus]

I said something similar. I really feel like players should be able to be citizens of a city and maybe they could allow for people to fight other cities as well. They could add in city v city raid content (not into the city, but there could be like an outpost to siege and get a reward if you can.) Guild is not for everyone.

I'd like to see there be a whole roster of positions per city. Mayor/King, Soldiers, Guards ( real people who would be tasked with protecting and could gain something from it,) Merchants... etc.

Another thing we agree upon: there is so much left on the table with MO. I hope they smooth shit out and actually start developing the game.

I've already thought about faction outposts, but I think that would be too similar to the new guild outposts. The idea of faction ranks is very cool, though.
You could make the cities very player-driven. A bit like the node system in Ashes of Creation. And the Mayor of the City can ride a Dragon
Man, there are so many cool ideas, but it seems to me that SV can't do it. I guess they just don't have the capacity for it. But I think they're doing their best.

 

[pooternackle]

Only disagreement is your grouping of cities into the factions. Each city should be its own faction (except maybe Toxai and MK, since they are basically the same city).

 

[Sophisticus]

Only disagreement is your grouping of cities into the factions. Each city should be its own faction (except maybe Toxai and MK, since they are basically the same city).

That was actually my first idea, but I thought 3 factions would be easier to balance than 12.

 

[Sophisticus]

I would love to be part of the Lawless faction. To unlock the rogue skills, I would even join a guild XD

 

[Quinniki]

I think this would be a great idea. Something like this could bring more life to the game world and benefit a wide range of players in different ways. I was actually chatting with finegamingconnoisseur about a similar topic in another forum thread. We were discussing how cool it would be for NPC factions if they could also interact with each other out in the world. If you're interested, feel free to check out the replies in that post.

Spoiler

Evolving Myrland Spider Castes, A Lore and Gameplay Suggestion with Real-World Examples

Over time, I’ve found myself wondering how species in Mortal Online 2 might respond to long-term disruption, especially those that seem to have structured social behavior, like the spider colonies scattered throughout Myrland. I didn’t play Mortal Online 1, so I might be missing some context...

mortalonline2.com

 

[finegamingconnoisseur]

I think this would be a great idea. Something like this could bring more life to the game world and benefit a wide range of players in different ways. I was actually chatting with finegamingconnoisseur about a similar topic in another forum thread. We were discussing how cool it would be for NPC factions if they could also interact with each other out in the world. If you're interested, feel free to check out the replies in that post.

Spoiler

Evolving Myrland Spider Castes, A Lore and Gameplay Suggestion with Real-World Examples

Over time, I’ve found myself wondering how species in Mortal Online 2 might respond to long-term disruption, especially those that seem to have structured social behavior, like the spider colonies scattered throughout Myrland. I didn’t play Mortal Online 1, so I might be missing some context...

mortalonline2.com

Anything that would make the world of Nave function like it had its own beating heart and a mind of its own, where players are not the be-all and end-all center of the universe would be good for the game, in my opinion.

Those who have played true living, breathing world games like Distant Worlds 2, X4, Space Pirates and Zombies, and Kenshi would likely appreciate what a difference it makes, as opposed to static worlds where everything is scripted and predictable.

A key part about true living, breathing worlds is the way npc entities' activities and agendas were simulated. They actually went and did things in the background, for example, resources were gathered in real time by an actual npc, whether or not the player was present or (in the case of mmorpgs) logged into the game to see it. All their actions can be felt, and the world is impacted by them.

The Tagmaton invasion, I feel, is a perfect example of this. An npc invasion force progressively wiping out every other living entity in the game world and eventually closing in on the player, is something I don't think I've seen since the 1992 video game Star Control 2.

 

[Emdash]

Anything that would make the world of Nave function like it had its own beating heart and a mind of its own, where players are not the be-all and end-all center of the universe would be good for the game, in my opinion.

Those who have played true living, breathing world games like Distant Worlds 2, X4, Space Pirates and Zombies, and Kenshi would likely appreciate what a difference it makes, as opposed to static worlds where everything is scripted and predictable.

A key part about true living, breathing worlds is the way npc entities' activities and agendas were simulated. They actually went and did things in the background, for example, resources were gathered in real time by an actual npc, whether or not the player was present or (in the case of mmorpgs) logged into the game to see it. All their actions can be felt, and the world is impacted by them.

The Tagmaton invasion, I feel, is a perfect example of this. An npc invasion force progressively wiping out every other living entity in the game world and eventually closing in on the player, is something I don't think I've seen since the 1992 video game Star Control 2.

yea, I mean... assuming the game stays the same with all of the 'issues,' if they could flesh it out properly, it would mean so much. I really feel like cities need to be places where people can LIVE THEIR LIFE.

I will give an example. Back when I was in a guild for a short while and they had auto-mines, dudes were like sure go ahead and process the mats for us, and I was like aha, cool. I hated the idea of automines for many reasons, but like you said, the idea of creation of resources could be interesting. I still believe cities should generate resources, and if that came thru NPCs (that could possibly be prevented from doing their gains by another faction / city / bandit players...) that would be even better. Then the resources gained, which I believe could be whatever you sent them out to get, could be doled out to players (citizens.) Of course, someone could run a really corrupt city where they simply looked out for their own bros, didn't do anything to help the city itself (like protect it from PKing, help new players get mounts, etc...) but that would show over time and the players could rebel by preventing the npcs from getting their shit / taking it from them.

It really bothers me when I think about these ideas because they seem so obvious to me, and it seems relatively simple to me to implement. It's not EASY, but it could be done. Even if there aren't actual NPCs but there is just like a little outpost you build that, as long as it's there, the town gets the resources, and if it is destroyed or contested for x amount of time, they don't. P simple shit. Stuff like that would really drive the game.

I've long since accepted MO is a bad game in a lot of ways. I like the world though. I feel like if they put energy into making the world work, it would be a higher gain than all of this other content.

HENRIK I HAVE A VISION, TOO. I wish it was understood that the whole game is its own ecosystem and you can influence activity by what sort of things are happening on every level. If the game is stagnant, the design is off. Every level should be vibrant. GYs should be content, even, for some people.

Like imagine building an outpost in a GY and it becomes Halloween mobs + open pvp. Wew. So many examples.

TLDR cities need to be a pillar of the game. People moving out of the cities in MO1 was what killed it, imo.

 

[Teknique]

I don't think I've seen since the 1992 video game Star Control 2.

Although you consider us the enemy, these conclusions are flawed. We are your salvation. We bring you peace. A peace built upon actually being able to move your character and mouse.

 

[Dalam]

RvR is the way to go honestly. I remember back in the day when I was playing in a guild we sort of had this with the large alliances. So it was like player made realms.
The problem with this in MO is that so much stuff was made without this in mind, where each town offers something different. This would lock the tindremic empire people out of mounted archery and khurites out of superior metal lores and armors. They could also make war time/peace time where people can visit other factions territories.

Anything that would make the world of Nave function like it had its own beating heart and a mind of its own, where players are not the be-all and end-all center of the universe would be good for the game, in my opinion.

I don't know what the devs have in their code but it seems there is a basis for this in that the npcs have the same models and armor parts as players.