Backstage - OOC Forums
EVE-Online RP Discussion and Resources => EVE OOC Summit => Topic started by: Silver Night on 28 May 2010, 21:25
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I wanted to start a thread to discuss alternative factions people might participate in (or even start). This would be beyond the main Pirate and Empire groups.
Not so much sub-factions of the big ones (Ishukone, rather than State, for example - might be good for another thread) but rather independents (Syndicate, EOM, Khanid, even smaller?), or ones people make (or made) up entirely themselves. If you wanna discuss in depth a particular sub faction, please feel free to start a thread about it seperately, too. :D
If this thread spawns a couple of other threads, I would call it successful.
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The Khanid Kingdom, Ammatar Mandate, Syndicate, Thukkers, and SoE all fall into this category, but unless I'm mistaken each of them has enjoyed at least some representation in the EVE RPosphere (new term?) and several seem to have dedicated, if small, followings.
Also, EoM, as you mentioned. ORE comes to mind. Mordu's. Rogue drones? Of course, Free Intaki a la ILF. Information dealers like Nikita Alterana's new InOps corp.
Some brainstorming on new splinter group ideas: new and exciting forms of Amarrian apostasy, the Amarrian church within the Republic, alternative interstellar police force, radical environmentalists, cults of personality, the free (and aggressively investigative) press, boiler room group out to crash markets for fun and profit.
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For some reason i always felt somewhat attracted to doing a surviving splinter of the Lazari Dromitus, a small piratefaction that got either totally destroyed by the republic or scattered.
From Firetail description:
The Firetail is modeled off a fighter frigate known as the Shamrock, a design used by a small, now-extinct pirate faction known as Lazari Dromitus. The blueprint found its way into the hands of Matari military forces after a raid on Lazari Dromitus's headquarters succeeded in killing its leader, thus beheading the organization and scattering its remnants to the four winds. It has since been improved upon and upgraded, and the Firetail is now a mainstay in most Republic Fleet patrols.
The above is as far as i know the only mention about them in Eve.
We also have the ecco terrorists/fighters from the lvl 1 furrier mission, various rebel groups and such. All ot those are mentioned in just one misssion/missionseries mostly.
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Astropolitan Front was (supposed to be, at least) a corp of political thugs and demagogues working to incite CONCORD into tearing itself loose from the Empires and establishing its own exclusive hegemony in extraplanetary inner cluster space.
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There is also Zor's group The Seven and also a famous merc family mentioned a few of the missions.
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Achura independence movement. Has been tried not sure if there's any life left in it...
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I've always wished there was some Syndicate RP corporation, portraying a group of capsuleers working for a City-Station chief.
Would be interesting to interact with them.
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Achura independence movement. Has been tried not sure if there's any life left in it...
Was met with too much resistance to keep the fun in it and retain members. IIRC Jen and Blake are still doing the YTZ thing but not actively pursuing the independant Achur thing. Also, I forgot to pay the alliance bill.
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I have always been intrigued by Friends of Nature (FON) which is an environmental preserving group that you encounter in the Gallente high sec COSMOS constellation.
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A number of terrorist groups such as the Bloody Hands of Matar, Brothers of Freedom, etc could be considered 'alternative factions' and have enough members running around to claim some kind of independence. The Cult of Tetrimon have survived their banishment long enough to potentially represent a more "evolved" kind of mini-faction due their long period of independence.
There are potential survivor groups, remaining True Citizens or descendants of Immensea for example, either carrying on their legacy or banding together simply to benefit from mutual support in a hostile cluster.
In some cases geographical, political, or other differences make part of an organization (e.g: a colony, a monastery, a station, a division, a department) hold such a greater concern for it's own members and their shared plight than the rest of the organization to effectively make them a faction, institutionalised, rogue, or otherwise.
No doubt there are independent corporations, families, and communities out there making their own way. From the corporation that's looking to dodge empire labour laws by living off the books to the small asteroid colony who bought themselves from their parent corporation and now work as a community surviving on import and export.
There are entire sections of space colonized during the clusters gold rush period, and likely since, that are largely independent of the empires. Leaving endless room for lone colonies on the brink, coalitions between neighbouring worlds, warlords, kingdoms, pirates, and businesses.
Not to mention the myriad places people settle and develop into factions, the cracks in society, the less well administrated worlds, travelling caravans (besides the Thukkers), anywhere that non-mainstream thought can set down roots and form cults, gangs, lobbyists, etc. Even the separation of the upper class of society, or even the ruling class, can lead to them forming their own ideologies that in time become factions.
The possibilities are limited only by your definition of "faction" and your willingness to explore something a little unusual.
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The Sebiestors also have a nomadic tradition, and I'd surmise the Vherokiors do, too. No reason that some of those nomadic groups couldn't have evolved into something somewhat apart from everyone else, too. :)
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In some cases geographical, political, or other differences make part of an organization (e.g: a colony, a monastery, a station, a division, a department) hold such a greater concern for it's own members and their shared plight than the rest of the organization to effectively make them a faction, institutionalised, rogue, or otherwise.
No doubt there are independent corporations, families, and communities out there making their own way. From the corporation that's looking to dodge empire labour laws by living off the books to the small asteroid colony who bought themselves from their parent corporation and now work as a community surviving on import and export.
There are entire sections of space colonized during the clusters gold rush period, and likely since, that are largely independent of the empires. Leaving endless room for lone colonies on the brink, coalitions between neighbouring worlds, warlords, kingdoms, pirates, and businesses.
Not to mention the myriad places people settle and develop into factions, the cracks in society, the less well administrated worlds, travelling caravans (besides the Thukkers), anywhere that non-mainstream thought can set down roots and form cults, gangs, lobbyists, etc. Even the separation of the upper class of society, or even the ruling class, can lead to them forming their own ideologies that in time become factions.
The possibilities are limited only by your definition of "faction" and your willingness to explore something a little unusual.
Kaito, this is very much the kinda stuff I was looking at. I mean, there are so many possibilities for groups at nearly every scale and level. Did you have some examples of stuff people might use? I'll try to come up with some myself.
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Order of Tetrimemnon (or however it's spelled, I usually pronounce it, "Tetrimon") for the Amarr.
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Even the separation of the upper class of society, or even the ruling class, can lead to them forming their own ideologies that in time become factions.
Part of the storywork I did on the Gruesome Threesome involved their having roots in two sub-factions of Gallente culture:
1) the Garouni Remnants - what was left of the noble class of Garoun after the Empire went south, and
2) the "Old Meritocrats" - Gallente who entered into business and social partnerships with Caldari during the expansion prior to the first war, and supported their side during that conflict. A number of the more radical ones wound up in prison/dead, others went into exile (figured it was a decent explanation for the random Gallente agents who turn up in Spacelane Patrol's roster, among others :P), but the majority remained in the Federation. Hmm. I had a more detailed writeup of these guys in my files, but it looks like the Penguin of Computer Upgrade might have eaten it. Dex, you wouldn't happen to still have a copy of it? It'd be in your Chatsubo mail.
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Also, one could feasibly regard each Syndicate (http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Intaki_Syndicate_(NPC_corporation)) station as at least a sub-faction.
Each Syndicate station is an autonomous entity, but they cooperate on security and information issues.
It might prove interesting to try to spin out the implications of that setup...
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Also, one could feasibly regard each Syndicate (http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Intaki_Syndicate_(NPC_corporation)) station as at least a sub-faction.
Each Syndicate station is an autonomous entity, but they cooperate on security and information issues.
It might prove interesting to try to spin out the implications of that setup...
I rather depend on each (or at least some) Syndicate stations being their own microcosm of the entire cluster (with perhaps different proportions and power structures, but still, quite a mix) for the Syndicate Files stories.
I'd actually been thinking about it a lot, because I make up quite a few little groups for the current story (The Relic).
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Did you have some examples of stuff people might use?
Many survivors of the empire of thinkers and philosophers crushed in Feythabolis by the Angel Cartel found themselves operating within the cartel or enslaved to it after the war. The 'Feythabolis Few' and their descendents may be torn between the desire to bring down the cartel and the desire to make lives for themselves, but all are part of a tight network. Some are pilots, some are home-makers, some are in the higher levels of the organization, and some shine shoes with open ears. What they salvaged of their traditions and culture is important to them, as is their history. That and a hatred, passed down at mothers knee, of the Angel Cartel.
Harad's Shield are a military splinter faction from the Imperial Navy all members of which, having fled the field of battle, can never return home. Originally forming around the fleet commanded by Harad Kador, who personally led a valiant rear guard effort to allow his forces to retreat from a devastating heretic ambush, Harad's Shield seek out their fellows and fight the enemies of the Empire. In time their existence has become a poorly kept secret that remains one due only to a tradition that for centuries has had every official report made regarding the group classified with no one quite sure why. Though the reports are gone the rumours remain and those who come home to their families and empire saved from defeat by an unknown armada of Amarrian design often offer up a prayer in the hope that someday Harad and his followers will find redemption.
The colony on the world dubbed Lufuris was colonized by Caldari and Gallentean settlers who went missing in action shortly before the war. When conflict broke out priorities shifted, the search was called off and, thanks to the disruption and change in government, never restarted. The spirit of co-operation between the stranded colonists led to team oriented and eventually corporate structure overseen by a democratically elected government. Having lost little in the way of knowledge and skills in recent times the people of Lufuris became able to travel the stars once more. Sadly the world they left behind is gone and they find their homeland divided and at war with itself.
Only Nefik wanted them. The lost people, those who played and lost and those who just got played. The lowest rung of Caldari society, the unemployed, the disgraced, and the deficient thought they had nothing left until Nefik. Nefik went by many names and offered many things but for most, in time, it was something they thought they'd lost forever: the pride of doing valued work. Somewhere between the back-alleys of Toril and the slums of New Sorat Nefiks following had become an army. This wouldn't be quite so troubling to those who have begun piecing things together if it weren't for the fact that Toril and New Sorat aren't in the same region of space.
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there was some group I thought I remembered hearing about a while back called Black Spiral Dancers, and I couldn't remember where I saw them, just that I was pretty sure they were from eve and had a pretty kick ass sounding name.
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Based on existing resources:
Quafe-affiliates (most popular single product in EvE?)
De novo:
Caldari-Gallente 'masonic-style' orders (cross-racial), related to secret small-scale agreements made during the Caldari-Gallente war.
Descendants of an explorer family.
Multitarist revolutionaries (similar to communism, but in space and from all races)
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there was some group I thought I remembered hearing about a while back called Black Spiral Dancers, and I couldn't remember where I saw them, just that I was pretty sure they were from eve and had a pretty kick ass sounding name.
The only Black Spiral Dancers I know of where/are a renegade werewolf tribe from the first incarnation of the tabletop RPG Werewolf. Having been corrupted by it's agents they served the spirit of entropy, the Wyrm, with the destruction of Gaia and her realm as their goal.
Of course given that the publishers of that game are now a part of CCP it's possible that they've recycyled the name, but I doubt it.
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Temko Mercenaries. I don't have any PF to cite but they are a bunch of Gallenteans working for Wiyirkomi or however you spell it, in the Caldari COSMOS area of Gallente space. How you would find any canon on them is beyond me though.
Also, some of you probably remember those weird Medusans or whatever they were called that hate the SOE and fly stealth bombers exclusively. Not sure what they were about either.
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Temko Mercenaries. I don't have any PF to cite but they are a bunch of Gallenteans working for Wiyirkomi or however you spell it, in the Caldari COSMOS area of Gallente space. How you would find any canon on them is beyond me though.
There are also the Cyber and Psycho Angel folks running around in Ani (the Minmatar COSMOS area). I wouldn't doubt there's a writeup somewhere. Myyona? You there? Did you look at these guys at one point?
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Caldari-Gallente 'masonic-style' orders (cross-racial), related to secret small-scale agreements made during the Caldari-Gallente war.
While I didn't incorporate 'masonic-style' anything into it, I've played a fair bit with a Civire (mostly) - Gallente mafia that quietly runs at least one of the habitable planets in Mies.
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The Illoren too, since I mentioned those Medusan weirdos. It would be nice to see some serious aurora hounds post up all those little splinter groups that showed up at events.
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Temko Mercenaries. I don't have any PF to cite but they are a bunch of Gallenteans working for Wiyirkomi or however you spell it, in the Caldari COSMOS area of Gallente space. How you would find any canon on them is beyond me though.
There are also the Cyber and Psycho Angel folks running around in Ani (the Minmatar COSMOS area). I wouldn't doubt there's a writeup somewhere. Myyona? You there? Did you look at these guys at one point?
cyber angels? Do link
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My friends and I have a small alt alliance <Sewn Together Wrong> that we have a lot of fun with.
A while back when w-space was first introduced there was an EVE news article about small cults believing that Heaven could be found through wormholes, so we decided that perhaps we might believe Hell could be found the same way. :twisted:
I had the idea for a 'left hand path' demonic cult ever since I started playing EVE, however, I haven't been able to find any major or minor groups in the PF that really fulfill this other than references to things like Molok The Deceiver. I figure that with the Amarr Empire's extreme fundamentalist stance on heresy, there might be some straight up sacrilegious groups out there who worship the opposite of the Amarrian God, unlike EOM or Blooders who don't venerate Hell.
To outsiders, our group claims to simply wish to show people pain and suffering to prepare them for eventual eternal damnation, but behind closed doors, I figure there's quite a bit of full blown demon worship. In true evil style, our own members don't always get along with each other, often plotting against one another, but religion and thirst for power usually make us work together enough to keep us from killing each other.
Sure we occasionally partake in network TV drama style RP, but we have a fun time and we get some nice pewpew.
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The Khanid Mashtori (I don't know if they "technically" qualify.
They are a group of elite bounty hunters that answer only to the Khanid lords etc.
I actually have made a corp based around them recently, but due largely to alot of RL commitments I haven't been able to develop them much, and as its stands I think I will be holding out as a one man show for now.
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Also these small things like "doing it wrong". Caldari dissidents wanting democracy. Gallente royalists. Amarr megacorps. Religious Minmatar. There could also be potential for "international" co-operation. Say, your political faction in the Brutor Tribe does support the creation of tribal aristocracy, and you meet with Caldari and Gallente royalists. Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar worshipping together in their new church. Cluster-wide multinational megacorps. Amarr activists working with Caldari dissidents to free slaves. (Shorter route to the State due to the highway gate.) And so on.
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Also these small things like "doing it wrong". Caldari dissidents wanting democracy. Gallente royalists. Amarr megacorps. Religious Minmatar. There could also be potential for "international" co-operation. Say, your political faction in the Brutor Tribe does support the creation of tribal aristocracy, and you meet with Caldari and Gallente royalists. Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar worshipping together in their new church. Cluster-wide multinational megacorps. Amarr activists working with Caldari dissidents to free slaves. (Shorter route to the State due to the highway gate.) And so on.
These are great. I especially like the idea of a Gallente faction trying to revive the old empire, seeking heirs, forming a legitimate lobbyist front, reminiscing over the times before all those other inferior races polluted Gallentean purity... Lot of potential there for interesting conflict oriented RP.
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I wanted to start a thread to discuss alternative factions people might participate in (or even start). This would be beyond the main Pirate and Empire groups.
Not so much sub-factions of the big ones (Ishukone, rather than State, for example - might be good for another thread) but rather independents (Syndicate, EOM, Khanid, even smaller?), or ones people make (or made) up entirely themselves. If you wanna discuss in depth a particular sub faction, please feel free to start a thread about it seperately, too. :D
If this thread spawns a couple of other threads, I would call it successful.
KPV's recruiting for all of the Khanid Kingdom fetishistic needs people out there might have.
The fun bit is trying to figure out where the line is drawn between Caldari and Amarr: Have the subjects begun to see the Kingdom as more important than the King, for instance?
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Also these small things like "doing it wrong". Caldari dissidents wanting democracy. Gallente royalists. Amarr megacorps. Religious Minmatar. There could also be potential for "international" co-operation. Say, your political faction in the Brutor Tribe does support the creation of tribal aristocracy, and you meet with Caldari and Gallente royalists. Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar worshipping together in their new church. Cluster-wide multinational megacorps. Amarr activists working with Caldari dissidents to free slaves. (Shorter route to the State due to the highway gate.) And so on.
I like all this. Figure that groups that are opposed to, if not the fighting, then at least the way that the empires are paired up might fall in there too, and/or make alliances with some of the groups you mention.
Minmatar who feel like the Republic is becoming a subject of the Federation and Caldari who think the Republic would make better allies than the Empire, and people in the State and Republic both who feel like the financial semi-dependence they've established with their respective partners (of the impression thereof) is a mistake (disclaimer: this is somewhat the RP line I take with Silver).
Feddies who are more nationalistic and feel they would be better cutting off a lot of the ties with the Republic, whose immigrants, after all, are probably takin' their jobs!
The Empire, I have trouble seeing the angle. Though I could see a relationship between factions in the Empire and Gallente royalists.
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Checking Amarr corps, the following have presence in "foreign" systems:
Ducia Foundry (risk takers, including armed mining expeditions in 0.0, Zoar subsidiary)
Imperial Armaments (#1 weapons manufacturer in the cluster - quantity over quality though)
Joint Harvesting (one of the largest raw material companies in the cluster)
Nurtura (Agricultural megacorp, privately owned, one of the largest exporters in the Empire)
All of the above (at least if you count that Ducia is essentially owned by Zoar & Sons) are megacorps. Joint Harvesting and Zoar & Sons (who apparently have swapped shares with Khanid Innovations and thus share a link to Lai Dai, too) are up there with the big ones. (About the size of biggest of the big if subs don't count, about the size of smaller State megas if subsidiaries are counted.)
Zoar & Sons (counting Ducia Foundry) is a "traditional mega" offering everything. They'd be there with other corps, competing of the market share with their "exotic" Amarr products (plus the fact that even if their exports fail, they have a huge market base at home in the Empire). The others, however, are amongst the biggest of the big on their fields and do likely make a big impact cluster-wide. You could handwave Amarr stations in the Republic as relics from the time when the Republic was part of the Empire, but you can't handwave Amarr stations in Lonetrek as relics of old. So, you could indeed have Amarr (wearing their business hoods to match the suits of those fashion-conscious Gallente) doing large-ISK business in the Federation.
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How about anti-Federation Gallente. I mean, anti-Federation like they think it should be dissolved, or at the least much more loosely administered. Systems-rights!
It would be, I think, a sort of precarious position to hold, but I could see it attracting a following (well, in a place as big as the Fed, anything might.)
- Why should the member 'states' have to shoulder the cost of a vast Federal navy, when it is mostly used to defend the 'fat cats' and politicians in the core few worlds?
- With the right to vote being taken away in the contested areas, the argument could be made that the Federation is show it's 'true colors', too much centralized power, locals should be able to govern themselves (also, attached 'slippery slope' argument)
- How can a bureaucrat in Villore know what an average Jacques in Solitude needs?
- Any time there is something about a new law being passed, it could be viewed as interference from the bloated central government
- In regards to the Caldari invasion and the Titan, 'core worlds' brought it on themselves, and see point 1 (and also below)
What I'm not sure about is how a group like that would handle the ideas of nationalism and how they would view the Caldari. I might be describing two groups here, in fact (there is a big difference between wanting the federation dissolved and simply wanting more local autonomy).
On the Caldari, I could see some Caldari group funding and promoting a group like this, on the sly, since whichever type it is, the ultimate result of any success of theirs would be a weakening of the Federation.
Also, it seems (from the whole thing with Intaki (http://www.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=3727&tid=4)) that member states already exercise a pretty big degree of autonomy. Still, there are always going to be people who are dissatisfied. Plus noone likes taxes, and presumably there are taxes. There is also the fact that the centers of Federation governance are (literally) astronomical distances from the fringes.