Factions

[Dem]

How do you feel about them? What sorts of factions would you like to see? What are your thoughts on reputation over alignment?

 

Personally, the multitude of factions and the reputation mechanic was one of my favourite features of NV and I'm glad this seems to be something akin to that. I would like to see everything from religious orders/sects, to merchant guilds, to mercenary bands and everything in between.

[Manbearpig]

In New Vegas I was a big Caesar's Legion supporter and I liked having a faction that on the surface was very jaring but once you got to know them you saw that there was a necessity to their actions. Every faction had an element that was relatable and it made the fighting not a good vs evil thing but rather idea vs idea. Good vs Evil can be interesting but I found it refreshing to see a conflict of ideology rather than morality in NV.

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I'd like to see some different religious orders that you can back if there is different gods.

[Entropious]

I loved the various factions of the Planescape universe. Rich, diverse, quirky and definitely interesting, as well as having real, believable goals, not just "conquer the world".

[Sarog]

I love faction mechanics. I'd much, much rather have reputation mechanics for factions than shallow, polarizing morality bars. Without knowing the cultures, conflicts and themes of the world it is difficult to think of what factions to hope for, but I'm a sucker for martial orders, both religious and secular. Just so long as their ideologies are suitably complicated and interesting, and the act of choosing between factions is difficult and rewarding.

[molarBear]

i liked the factions in planescape: torment but not that much. i mainly became a member because of additional quests and one or two special items.

[Entropious]

Basically, three types of organisations can be created while retaining plausability:

- Those based around common economic interests (like guilds).

- Those sharing common beliefs (religions).

- And, finally, those having a socio-philosophical and/or political agendas (clubs, cabals and so forth).

[alphyna]

I love PS:T factions, because they have the most important quality: diversity. Not in the "lotsa quirks" way, no. What I mean is this:

 

I think it's boring and oversimplified when all the factions can be brought together in a single table. Imagine the world with a certain political problem (say, elves are at war with dwarfs) and the idea of gods. So you get a 2x2 table: pro-elf believer, pro-elf atheist, pro-dwarf believer, pro-dwarf atheist. It's logical, and that's what I hate: real life doesn't work like this. Oh, and I'm oversimplifying too: all the "choose your own deity" systems also work like that. In that case to choose a faction you only need to perform two steps: choose if you believe in god and then choose, which one. Boring.

 

In PS:T the factions are interested in different matters. The Sensates want to experience the world, the The Xaositects want to be random, the Godsmen want to make the world a better place through hard work (oversimplification once again, but you get my meaning), the Indeps want to be independent. Sometimes their beliefs clash, but mostly they don't, and that's the interesting part. Your character is rarely extreme, most likely he just leans to one side. But what if you are an independent and chaotic guy who wants to experience the world? It's not the "this god is for the angry people and this one for the calm" choice; it's about priorities. If made like this, factions have to be convincing. The choice has to be hard, and it can only be achieved if the factions are not really mutually exclusive in their views, only technically, so that you have to think really hard as to what's more important for you: experiencing the world or pure chaotic fun.

 

Oh, and also: obviously I'm against being allowe to enter all factions at the same time, TES-style. It removes the choice completely.

 

Also I don't care about quests and loot. I want to join the faction because I agree with them, not because they give me a hammer.

[Entropious]

Exactly, I much prefer joining the faction has a plot-based reward rather than an item-based one.