Something To Consider

Well I hate to say it but it's pretty much fact now that BioWare have failed on the faction front, Daniel 'whats-his-face' doesn't know jack s**t about Star Wars beyond the movies, and it's looking more & more likely that I'll be playing Warhammer: Age of Lightsabers. Oh how the mighty have fallen! /picard_facepalm

Right before anyone starts throwing a Leroy Jenkins and kills everyone, I'd just like to say that this thread is purely about speculation & ideas for the guild future.

So.....here are my ideas and plus points to each faction with the information we have thus far:

"Experience The Full Power Of The Darkside"

Hell lets face it, the Sith are feckin' kewl and I guarantee most of the people here played KotOR through the dark side first. Who doesn't want to have a Sith alt at some point? But seriously joining with the Sith makes perfect sense in a way. They're more likely to hire the contract killers and assassins among us and they won't get in our way if we do something dastardly. Also the early Sith 'toons' look considerably better than the Republic at this stage of development. Another reason is that in my ally-whoring adventures, strangely most of the Sith guilds have been freindlier and more mature than that of the Jedi. To round things off and this is the most important reason, the high percentage of the guild are Bounty Hunters to be.

"I'll Never Turn To The Darkside"

Somethings tells me that being part of the Republic will give us more freedom. Call it a hunch if you will but I do. Obviously the republic aligned planets have ALL the cool planets. Coruscant, Alderaan, Kashyyk... the list goes on. Now if they feck it up like they did in WAR and I can't visit these places without getting nuked, I won't be a happy spacer. The other thing (as this is interesting to me as a player) is that I'd like to be 'the bad guy in the good place'. I've never experienced that before and it truly intrigues me. I have to wonder how many other of the 10,000 Jedi would be thinking the same? Something tells me it 'might' be a slightly original choice .As before I'll address my biggest concern, losing some of my most loyal members (you know who you are!). I'll be damned if I'm losing such a vital organ to this guild so I'll do my best to stop this from happening!

Solutions

Now here's the tough part so if you have any ideas please leave them below, but PLEASE remember that this is all speculation.

1.) I double up the guild to 40 members and create a sub-guild for another faction, that is lead by another leader of the guilds or my choosing. This leader will be a joint leader and will work in tandem with me, but will run ALL of that guild factions activities. They may use this site of course as we're still the same guild but different sides of the fence.

2.) I choose a faction and we stick with it. Those that are happy with roleplaying their class as a different class can still play that role and we see how it works out. We keep the most important aspect of our characters interaction and move with the game.

3.) We start 2 different guilds and make an alt in one anothers guilds. This way we can keep the same players and not have to deal with the rest of www.swtor.com! I know it sounds elitist but ya know I'm right!

They are the options that I can see so far at this point. Also I'm going to make this a poll I think. Choose which of the options 1, 2 or 3 you like most.

What I'd like as a response from people is for people to respond in the same format. So for example:

Pros for being Sith
Pros for being Republic
Pros & Cons for the options given.
Extra Ideas

Let everyone have their say first and ONLY then we'll discuss it in detail.

Thanks!

p.s. If Blood Bowl is this difficult I'm going back to Mario.

Uh oh...Mandatory reply!

Alright, let's do this.

The Sith Empire:

I'm all for it. My character fits best into the Sith faction so I'm a big proponent of it. It depends how Bioware let's everything work but RP wise it gives characters a lot more leeway because we're not, really, constrained by any laws or ethics. I love Dark Jedi and their awesome anarchy. Reminds me of Fallout in a may the best man win, anything goes way and that's how I like the world to work (Messed up? Totally.). And I'm already working on a Dark Jedi alt. And, yes, I play every game as evil the first, fourth, fifth and seventh time through. Even though I know we'd end up being on the losing side--following lore--in game I think, statistically, factors are weighed in the Sith's favor. And the fact that Bounty Hunters will be exclusively Sith doesn't make it seem like we have much of choice, largely. Another thing, I feel like the Sith will have the most intriguing storylines, for instance, WhoTF is the dark emperor? And let's mess up Tython!

The Galactic Republic:

You make a great point about those worlds but I have a strange suspicion that we'll all be allowed on most of the worlds, because the Treaty of Coruscant just lays out worlds that are under Sith or Republic control, these worlds may just have higher probability that we'll get into a fight (RP-wise: Great.). I have a suspicion that, like Sure thought, there will only be Republic Special Forces and Commandos and that would suck for my character (Sorry Harly!). But we could mess up Korriban!


Option One:

I like this option more than Option three because we still stay as a neutral organization that simply has two sects. I think that it is a pragmatic notion with the doubled occupancy, but simply wouldn't be possible with the limit of twenty. I would be happy with any of the options and they're all great choices.

Option Two:

I voted for Option Two just because I think it's the most practical. I know I'm not the one that would have to do it, but changing a neutral character just so slightly that he stands on the other side of the fence would not be that difficult (for me; to each his own). We stay as a single tight-knit group and don't have to break up in any way. We can actually have some solidified information for recruiting which will make us lose some applicants, sure, but we will gain many others--It's strange but simple rules (like our twenty-member cut-off) can be enough to turn some people on a guild; a guild that is willing to recruit anyone gets no one.

Option Three:

This option would work but I feel like it would end up creating distance between both sides. We all will always have a main character and, personally, I will end up having so many alts that it will be hard to distinguish them and give them all attention, and if any would be in another guild I wouldn't be able to give it the credit that it deserves. That's why I'll always be a one guild-guy. Again, I'd be happy with any of the three options.

Extra Stuff:

Don't have much to add but I figured I'd put this in just to be comprehensive. Whatever the guild chooses, I support one-hundred percent but my choice is Option Two, following the Sith Empire. Hope to see everyone else's response and contribution.

DARK:
Cool light-saber colours, funky black outfits and the tendancy to be evil soab? sounds good to me! Seriously though, playing on the Galactic Empire side might very well lead to more interesting missions, not to mention RP scenarios of our own making - granted it will be a little more challenging, but thats half the fun right? There definately is something appealing about taking the darker path (Quicker, easier...more seductive. LOL!) and it would be great fun to see a group work together not so much becuase of the fact they are all friends, but becuase they are all afraid each other are going to stab one another in the back at any moment!

LIGHT:
Lets be honest, these guys are larger than life, bonafied HEROES. Even Han when you looked beneath his swagger was doing it for all the right reasons. Playing on the rublic side will almost definately go against the flow (I can see a LOT of people playing Sith), and will probably make our charaters all the more memorable. We'd probably be the underdogs initially if we went republic, but then - who doesnt love an underdog? On another note brining things slightly closer to home, this was our inital plan if we couldnt go neutral and I've grown a little accustomed to that.

Option 1:
This is a nice idea and would keep us together in a group, though it would take special care to keep things even, especially in RP events outside of what the game tells us we can do - if we have 40 members and 35 attend an event Galactic side leaving only 5 to attend the Republic one on the same day, we could have problems. Nothing that couldnt be worked around, but we'd need to consider it.

Option 2:
Practially, this is what we should do. Yet somehow something doesnt feel too right about it; too constricting maybe? I dont know. Its not something I can exactly answer, more of a 'searched my feelings' kinda deal. On one hand it could disable some of our choices in character creation and progression, but on the other hand that very focus could allow us to do "more with what we have", so to speak.

Option 3:
BH has pretty much said everything I wanted to say on this option. It sounds good in principle, but I want to try to limit my SWTOR characters as I have a horrible habit of making up alts and never giving them due attention (I have 50 characters in WoW...only 5 are over 70th level, hence the rest are surplus) Speaking from a personal standpoint I think this wouldnt work too well for me.

Before I say anything about the respective choices, I have chosen Option 2, however, I'm completely neutral of which side we're going on.

Dark side:
I put this point forward to Sureshot before I joined the forums, I tried to tempt him to the dark side. The points I made are similar to what he has just said. Sith are much more likely to hire bounty hunters, as the Sith don't care much how work is done. Republic would rely more on themselves. As such, I think we'd get more buisness with the Empire. It's also not too late to turn around, we could gather plenty of Sith allies. I was quite bent on my character being a Republic Commando, but I've made the decision that if we do go Sith, then I'd be a Bounty Hunter and start from the point that Skursir left.

Light side:
We are right now, on the Republic's wavelength. We have gathered two or three allies now and it would be a shame to give it up (some may remember by facination with the GTC). We must remember that even though I've decided I can go either Sith or Republic, others cannot (Nex being a strict Jedi for example). We should not say that the Republic will get all the cool worlds, they might not. Coruscant was sacked, so it could be neutral, as may Kashyyk. I would like my character to be a Republic Commando, but hey-ho, I can go either way. The bad in the good place is also an interesting concept.

Option 1: No
Point and straight. I would not like this to happen. The guild would not have the same feel to it if there were 40 members running around. 20 is a much better number and we should stick with it. Also, we'd be splitting up, for instance, Nex and I may roll Republic for example, but Lunar and Black Heart may go Sith. We'd be splitting up and may lose contact (worst case scenario - friends). It would also be confusing, having one guild one side and the other on the other. I just don't see this happening.


Option 2: Yes
The best option. Why? We keep 20 people, we know who our allies are, who know who isn't and we know what we're doing. Sacrifices may be made, but in the end, we'll find ways around this (but please, we can't let people drop out because of our faction decision). Think about it, it would be much, much easier and straightforward. We won't have two seperate bases, we'll have one and it will be famous. We won't and can't split up, so this is the best option to go about this. I strongly support it.

Option 3: Ehm... Nah
It's a good idea, and we'd keep our famous 20. But, there would be more confusion, how would be go about separating ourselves? What time would we be on one server and what time on the other? Who are our allies? I'd like to keep our mains on one side. I honestly would like Skursir to meet Creed, Nex and everyone else's mains. I think that if we split in this way, then we may not have that. I think this is a bad idea personally, but it would work better than option 1.

Extra Stuff
Whatever happens, we must find a way to keep the guild together and not split up or go into confusion. We will find a way, though it may take some digging. And, we must not have people drop out of the guild because of our choices (especially not our core members).

- H2Woah

Empire Pros
Fits better with the original concept of the guild. Most characters can easily be adapted. Other established guilds are more friendly. Cross-guild rp more likely. Dedicated BH storylines. Good guy/bad place scenario.

Republic Pros
The guild is more unique here. Richer game world: more Merchants/Crafters vs all BHs/Darths? Some guild characters not binned or completely rewritten. More variety in cross-guild rp contracts? Bad (or shifty) guy/good place scenario. Everyone won’t be Mandalorian .

Solutions: My thoughts
1) This doesn’t really address the current problem. We’re bigger but still split. It just means that those guild members whose faction preference is currently in the minority possibly continue using and chatting in the forum but aren’t playing the game with the friends they’ve already made here. They can do this anyway.
2) Some of us may have joined this guild because it presents the edgy, interesting alternative to it’s Republic counterparts. The dirty face behind the respectable mask; a cool shady nest of possibilities at the heart of the Republic they’re excited about playing/creating. Others might prioritise playing through the scenarios specific to their beloved Bounty Hunter fantasies whatever the faction. Either way, if we choose option 2 and the guild ends up with the faction we don’t want to play (remember, we now know factions don’t just represent a set of ideals but will almost be separate game worlds), we’ll each have a decision to make and we could loose members. But the guild remains whole, cohesive, tightly knitt and strong.
3) I think part of this is a good idea. I’m not sure about the new guild part but I think we should all register an alt with the other faction straight away (or switch their current main to an alt for future play if you’re sticking with the guild come option2). Get our character names registered early and perhaps in the future we can play guild “Alt nights” or “Alt weeks” or whatever to see how the other half live. I’m sure we’ll all be trying it out anyway. So long as it doesn’t take time away from main guild commitments.

Extra Ideas
One of my faction worries isn’t so much a good/evil concern, but a lawful/chaotic one. In my role playing experience, playing alongside chaotic characters inevitably leads to conflict and a ruining of fun for everyone (Player A: “What did you do that for? What did that achieve? You’ve completely ruined what we were trying to do!”. Player B: “I just felt like it. Stir it up a bit!”. etc). Now I’m not saying anyone in our guild is that stupid but I see far more Empire and Sith characters talked about on SWTOR and on Wiki pages conceived with evil/chaotic rather than evil/lawful alignments. It takes a very mature and skilled role player to pull off chaotic. In-game play and even cross-guild role play (I think we’ve all seen that even trusted mature guilds have some prats amongst the ranks) will expose us to this problem more in the Emipire 'game-world' than the Republic if indications remain unchanged.
You might think I’m just blowing smoke here, but how many of us were attracted to this guild for reasons of mature gaming? I can deal with numpties running around playing lawful Jedi badly, but fools bouncing their “well random” Siths about 'mixing it up' would aggravate me no end.

I am as annoyed at this as you are SS. This is really turning into a WAR clone which doesn't bode well. I was hoping for some "freedom" in this game in the faction or class concepts but they are failing me each update. I guess they have a completely different concept of SW world then i do... I don't blame them. But i want to play this game damn it. Gve me something...

Being Sith:
Hmmm... Well Dark side is the cool side for sure. Its true i went through Kotor as DS most of the time. I love playing the bad guy and i love the feel of no laws or regulations binding me to do anything just like BH said. But...

Pros? Not many. It is the Dark side. It has all the cool badass characters (bounty hunters, assassins probably to), Dark cloaks and other cool gear. It'll probably have some cool storylines to. I also presume the population will e larger on the sith side.

Cons? Those are more apparent. "Mandalorian" flood of characters, kids playing the evil bad guys are rally completely and totally annoying.(Salazar anyone?) We can expect so many of these. Being a shady guild in a bad place? There will be allot of evil guilds out there. ALLOT! I don't feel like being another assassin/merc guild thing. Even if a shady one- there won't be the "good guys that need a helping hand" to rp with on this side.

Being Republic
Well republic are the good guys. The heroes. I'm sure this side will be epic on every step Large cities, lush places to visit, characters we know from the movies (Han, chewie and lando type of characters) will be there. The storyline will be epic i am sure...

Pros? For us? Being a shady guild in a place that NEEDS shady guilds. Lots of "good" guilds will be there that'll need our "services" RP wise. Playing bad/shady people in a good place has always been more fruitful of role-play to me then the alternative. I still also stick with my "mirror" characters theory that says that the characters will be cloned along the factions when it goes for game mechanics. For example Jedi- Sith, Bounty Hunter- Scoundrel or commando. So it won't be that hard to RP your favourite character on either of sides. We don't know much about characters though. But i am sure much cool is coming to the light side to!
Cons?
Well the kids playing the good guys tend to be as annoying as the bad ones. Probably a smaller population wit the lack of the "cool" factor... The Jedi flood that can dominate the roleplay on the server making our guild type a hunted minority (is that a bad thing?). And... They are not as COOL as sith. Also... most of us are bent on playing Bounty hunters which are clearly on the sith side only for some reason.

Pros & Cons for the options given.
1) No. Seriously as good as this sounds on paper, this kind of change always ends up in a guild split and both parts going their own way. As it seems both of faction will be separated with a wall... It will be hard to set a common thing within them.

2) This is the simplest solution. It seems we will have to choose a side whatever we want it or not. As it goes now it all depends on classes they will give us to choose from. We know we have the all favoured Bounty hunter on the sith side. That makes the sith a strongest one for most of us to choose. But i have a hard time seeing this guild prosper on the sith side. A shady guild amongst other dark and shady guilds doesn't leave enough room for good roleplay IMHO. And i still believe in mirror classes... So we'll see.

3) This idea is not good either. Sure it'll work. But how fun it'll be to log onto your favourite alt and see noone in the guild because all of them are playing THEIR favourite toon that clearly is on the other side? I've been there and i've done that. This doesn't work.


Extra Ideas

The problem we are facing is so forced upon us with this shitty game mechanics they chose its making me sick. I was really hoping for something like AoC factions system. Especially with the Treaty being in place. Peace should lead to a "mix" of both factions and interests in a common soup of people. Not a split and a wall between the factions.

I still have some hope for this kind of world where your faction doesn't go before who you actually are... Why wouldn't a republican senator hire a bounty hunter if he needs one? Good guys need bad guys to. And bad guys need good guys... There has to be a mix in the society or the society becomes fake...

What i feel strongly about is if we have to choose. I would choose Galactic republic for this type of guild. Don't get me wrong. The republic sucks but if we want to be mercs and shady people we need someone to "hire" us. Do you see that happening on the sith side where all we will find is bad and shady people? *sigh*

Dark side:
As mentioned above the majority of our players will be Bounty Hunters so it makes the most sense. Plus Sith are more likely going to go rogue than a Jedi would, thus it wouldn't feel out of character to have Sith backup when on a hunt.

Light side:
We have allies already that are more than likely going to be Republic and it would be a shame to lose them. The Republic also appear to have the better planets. I'm also expecting them to get the smuggler class which also seems to be a strong presence in our guild already, so there is a good case on that front. Plus I'm expecting the Republic to be outnumbered and I always find it more fun to be on the weaker side due to the sense of a challenge.

Option 1:
I would say no to this as I'd be worried that it will eventually lead to a split. Some people will just find one side more enjoyable to the other and as such I'd expect them to eventaully give up on one side and pick one permanent spot.


Option 2:
This is my favourite option. I always trust the choice of Sureshot as to what's best for the team. The force is strong with that one!

Option 3:
Like option 1 I would be worry of a permanent split and it would be hard to keep up with who's who.

Extra Stuff
I'd prefer if we stuck together and I'm sure everyone would agree that Sureshot will make the best decision. Option 2 is the clear favourite for me.

As we have 7 posts (the majority of the guild) and 9 votes, I think we should start discussing. Though I think it's obvious that Option 2, the choice of staying in a single faction is most popular (by almost 90% of votes) and I think it's what we should and probably will, do.

This does mean though that we're going to have to think very hard about what faction we choose and everyone has put forward valid and interesting points. Though to me, it looks like we're all very neutral about which faction we choose, and as such, it will be difficult to choose a single faction. Perhaps we should wait until more info come? Right now though, here are the current ideas:

SITH:
+ The Dark side (and bad/evil in general) may be quite attractive
+ More likely to hire Bounty Hunters as they are more loose
+ We're not constrained be many (if at all) laws or ethics
+ Sith have bounty hunters (most of use want to be BHs)
+ Many Sith Guilds are mature (barring Salazar)
+ Sith artwork looks very good at this stage (BH armour)
+ Possibilities for very good storylines (who's the Emperor?)
+ Black clothes, armour, cloaks + Red Lightsabres
- There will be many Bounty Hunters to compete with
- Many children badly roleplaying the bad guy (ex. Salazar)
- Shady guys in bad place (cliche)

REPUBLIC:
+ Bad guy in good place scenario
+ Better planets? (Coruscant/Tython/Kashyyk)
+ A more original choice (not many BHs)
+ Possibility for shady places (ground level Coruscant)
+ Heavy contrast witht the heroes (such as Jedi)
+ Chance to assassinate Jedi and "good" PCs
+ Sense of challenge as the Underdogs
+ Our allies all on the Republic side
- A huge swamp of Jedi (some badly roleplayed)
- May be restricted by laws (we'll be a hunted minority)
- No current word of bounty hunter or anything shady