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[Arkon Sarain]

So recent chats have got me wondering about what you can do as a player of a character loyal to a particular faction/ideology to encourage other players to take up the other side?

For example Arkon is an Amarr loyalist but that doesn't mean I (the player) want his RP and the RP of the Amarr to continue without conflict or failure. So I would love to see more Blood Raider RP (particularly of a nuanced kind), more Minmatar RP, etc. Because the conflicts, the diversity of reactions within factions from moderate to extreme, and all that will only enhance my own enjoyment of the RP.

There is nothing fun (at least to me) about writing in a world where I get to direct everything exactly as I see fit.

But the problem is how do I encourage other players to take up the other side of things? Or should I even be doing that do you think? It is just something I have been puzzling over as to whether it is feasible, good, or what really, and would love to hear other's thoughts.

-A

[Silver Night]

I've taken the easy way out on this one (turns out, when you are a Sansha loyalist it isn't hard to find opposition), but from my experience engaging with people, and also letting people know (even getting in touch OOC!) that you would be happy to have an enemy or three. I used to have some really great people on the other side, and it definitely enhanced how much fun I had.

[Silas Vitalia]

Do the things your enemy faction dislikes, in a semi public, and more importantly, challengeable way to courage interaction.   Don't have an outcome predetermined, but act to 'set the stage' for things to develop.

If you are a pvper, wardec, challenge, do mean things in their backyard

If you are an event pvper, come up with events or scenarios they can effect

If you are a forum pvper, try to be someone they love to hate

Have fun!

[Lyn Farel]

All the things said above, in conjonction with RP storyarcs like I-RED. Thinking myself to organize one at some point, will also have to contact OOCly some RP groups or corps for that purpose....

[Arkon Sarain]

Cheers for the responses I will definitely keep an eye out for what I can do.

But to extend the question a bit what can the whole community on one side do to help encourage the other side of things?

[Nissui]

...what can the whole community on one side do to help encourage the other side of things?

A good deal of this will hinge upon how much you want to derive your RP from in-game/IC resources.

This community is generally supportive of new folks and there is no shortage of comments/threads voicing encouragement for players of underrepresented factions. "Good to see more Thukker/Jin-Mei/Khanid" comments and threads, for examples. I think it can be a little rough for less established players of these small factions to get a foothold, outside of finding the odd comrade onto which to latch. It can be especially difficult relying solely on the IGS or TQ client. Often these characters struggle and frequently fade back into the ether.

On the other hand, there are established and active players who may be physically isolated in the cluster, or slightly insular as a matter of maintaining a group narrative. Rather than trying to grow new representation for antagonistic (or at least nonaligned) factions, engaging these enclaves can probably yield quicker results.

Which kind of springs back to the original point. I'd reckon that most of these groups would be easier to reach in-game, and perhaps more amenable to an organic development of interaction. At the same time, laying out a coordinated effort to engage participants en masse might be easier using a board like this one, and seems to have paid off in the past.

[Ava Starfire]

I'd love for someone to promote the minnies, damn sure didnt work when I did it.

[Arkon Sarain]

Thanks for the awesome responses they have been very helpful, I have managed to lend a hand to someone trying to grow the GalRP scene OOCly in-game because of the advice - hopefully I can continue to do that and help out other scenes.

I'd love for someone to promote the minnies, damn sure didnt work when I did it.

It was actually Minmatar RP that made me think about this particular topic. As I play an Amarrian character and yet in around 3 months of being active I haven't IC or OOC engaged with a Minmatar character/player. I have interacted with characters of Minmatar ethnicity in other factions of course, but not once have I encountered a Minmatar who is active within their own circles so to speak.

At first I put this down to the fact that I was Amarrian and so unlikely to cross paths with them. But after awhile this didn't gel as I was having no trouble meeting all manner of other character archetypes that probably are far more in the minority than a Minmatar character... or at least I would have thought.

Hopefully I can find a way to help the Minnie RP scene too.

[ValentinaDLM]

I'd love for someone to promote the minnies, damn sure didnt work when I did it.

I would actually like this very much myself, Minmatar RP seems kinda dead to me and it would make things much more exciting and vibrant to have more of it.....and Val is finally kinda okay with Minmatar culture but she is too busy trying to kill Ushra Kahn and fantasize about the Master's abs to really say anything meaningful about it IC.

[Nissui]

Yeah the Republic as a player faction and the Minmatar FW scene seem to have had very strong RP core in the past, but were mostly quiet by late 2014. Miz + Havo had a storyline I think to bring an offensive into Amarr territory (possibly more pirate than Republic loyalist, not sure), and Resprox also had a remobilzation campaign IIRC.

I could be totally wrong here, but for the years preceding my time in EVE, the issue of slavery was a huge motivator for conflict between Amarr and Minmatar RPers, so much so that that core struggle sort of burned itself out over time. Slavery posts seemingly became tiresome since the same arguments were rehashed, but there was a kind of void left in factors to motivate Minmatar RP. Some potential conflicts, like tribal tradition vs Republic (Gallente) influence were internal, providing no real reason to shoot Amarr. So the struggle sort of defaulted to FW, and when I unsubbed I think there was still RP there, maybe from Gradient?

Amarr has always seemed to me to be the strongest faction in terms of RP, but my window in the RP community was short. People frequently lamented the torpor of Gallente RP, which seems mostly political with some FW as well. Caldari RP has been pretty well-defined and never seems to have gone inactive, but remains perhaps mainly 'internal'.

I'm out of the loop obviously, so I'm not sure how you could utilize your Amarrness to boost Minmatar RP, but I have every confidence that it is possible.

[Arkon Sarain]

What I had in mind was similar to what I am presently doing with GalRP. Aedre is running a channel called Federation OOC which is an attempt at creating a place for a community to coalesce for anyone interested in GalRP, similar to what has been tried (successfully as far as I can see) with the Amarr community and Imperial OOC. The assistance I offer is mostly OOC there, I chat to people, make them feel welcome, be social, and any GalRPer I know or see I promote the channel to. Though naturally this has lead to some exciting IC interactions, which is one of the aims of the channel generally.

I feel the OOC approach is easier as I, as a player, am not restricted like my character is. Arkon wouldn't talk to terrorists, heretics, etc. etc. but Arkon the player? I will chat to anyone

Certainly I would be more than willing to try and help in a similar manner a Minmatar or Republic OOC channel As when any aspect of RP grows it improves the community as a whole, it contributes to the sense of a living, breathing, and real universe. In my opinion anyways

[Honourblade3]

[Rinai Vero]

I think one of the most important simple things is being knowledgeable about the lore of the "opposing side."

For example, I didn't really participate on the IGS much until the "Uprising" storyline aka the prelude to the Battle of Caldari Prime. I'd thought about my character and her mixed Caldari / Gallente heritage often in the past, and as a result I'd probably read more Caldari related lore than Gallente.  So, when that topic started blowing up in RP, I started posting on the Gallente "side" of things... but almost all of what I had to say tried to evoke Caldari themes.

I at least tried to approach it differently than "Grr Your Inferior Culture" and present something that would give the Caldari players I was interacting opportunities to explore the bits of Caldari lore I found interesting or underrepresented.

[Ava Starfire]

I think the problem is that people read the description of Minmatar, go "Oh cool! Lone wolf biker rebels!" and roll with that, and many become pirates, work for other factions, and other such "anti republic" angles. There arent a whole slew of "Anti Empire" Amarrians, and there certainly are a teeny minority of ones who preach abandonment of everything Amarrian, yet, that is precisely what the plurality of Minmatar ethnicity characters tend to do. If everyone in minny society was a "lone wolf", it wouldnt be a tribal society; it would be, well, exactly what RP depicts. I did midsummer events for the past 2 years, big Minny-centric parties. The first one had an OK turnout of maybe 20 people, I think 2 or 3 of whom were Minmatar. The second? I think 8 or so people came, and zero of them were from my own corp... and I think I had one other matari attendee this year, and one or two the first year. How many people show up when PIE throws a party? Oh, keep in mind, those two events are the only remotely Minny-oriented RP I had, save the odd short conversation in Summit with a person curious about religion.

I'd love to play eve again. I miss it. But I know all it would do is frustrate me, as everything about Minny atm just sucks. And frankly, I lack the resolve to try and "fix" it anymore. I've been trying for a long, long time. Suerte to whoever decides to pick up that torch.

A tribal society (and hence, RP) tends to only work if, you know, more than 1 person is involved. It grew lonely.

[Arkon Sarain]

Rinai I agree entirely with reading more than just your "character's" lore, it also has the positive effect of making your own character's positions more nuanced and realistic I think.

Aww Ava I am really sad to hear that Minmatar culture fascinates me, I think I agree that the description at the start paints them in a poor light - not to mention I think when one hears "tribal" we have a tendency to confuse it with primitive, which is certainly not accurate. Indeed I have always felt socially the Minmatar mirror the complex socio-economic structures, and government, of the Iroquois.

Also I was going through the wiki and I noticed that the Minmatar Republic is the only empire out of the four main ones to have no 'Demographics of X' article. Which really disappointed me as it is a major oversight, I assume that there is more detail given in Source but I don't have it.

For the record Ava if you do want to dip your toe back in EVE I would be delighted to help however I can OOCly, and even ICly Arkon is a Kor-Azorite so you know he can talk to foreigners and heathens without frothing at the mouth hehe XD