I'm participating in this as much as I can, with as much goodwill as I can muster, but I do confess that I still expect that it will just turn out to be CCP doing their best to wreck the State some more.
I know that some of my fellow Caldari RPers were encouraged by statements such as "we understand that the factions haven't been portrayed fairly" and etc, but I would suggest that they consider the distinct possibility that CCP thinks that they've portrayed the Caldari too well.
As well, I would have them note that CCP has constructed the fiction such that, no matter the efforts on the Caldari side in FW, the consequences of our fighting are portrayed as bad for the State. For example:
When FOOM took some of Black Rise for the Gallente, then lost it -> CCP lore states that the Fed conducted a scorched earth retreat, leaving BR a wasteland.
When Caldari took all systems -> Megas foolishly invested in those systems, then lost everything when systems were retaken 8 months or so later -> recession in the State. No positives for the State.
When Gallente took all systems -> more trouble for the State, Megas suffered more losses, etc. Caldari Prime situation becomes more precarious, Heth consolidates power, begins campaigns against State citizens on the ground.
Since we've taken most systems -> Tibus Heth going (more) nuts and killing State citizens for fun and...well, not profit.
Gallente get rock concerts and continue to plan the retaking of Caldari Prime.
I think it needs to be clear to Caldari RPers that we should not be expecting positive outcomes for our faction. It may happen, but prior history and current story suggests that we have been and will continue to be the designated villain, continuing to perform standard villainous actions for the benefit of the heroes of the setting. I'm not trying to be negative, so much as I want to caution against enthusiasm. Even if we somehow get rid of Heth, our faction is not going to be portrayed positively, and the most we can hope for by our actions in FW is to constrain CCP from a litany of continual defeats in the news, due to incongruity with in-space actions.
