Post by Jackie on Feb 2, 2024 1:51:28 GMT -5
FACTION UPGRADES AND UPDATE
Goals: Provide a separate form of expression not of a character, but of a group. With that in mind, there are very select things I would like to establish with this suggestion-
1: A defacto 'Leader' elected or put forward. This isn't to say every faction has a straight-up king that makes all decisions, but for the purposes of some mechanics, it may be easier to call upon the 'Leader's' voice for decision-making. We can throw around the idea of faction voting for decisions that aren't the heat of the moment, but some AT-related calls I'd recommend defaulting to the singular leader rule. How Staff want to set this up is up for them to decide.
2: Cost-benefit structure. Like how General and Optional traits are balanced not only to other species or characters but also the cost of only getting to have a select few active at a time. I think this is the easiest way to balance for and keep the 'flavor' of faction upgrade reminiscent of the characters themself. It's not about obtaining every bonus possible but flavoring the faction mechanically around its goals and style of operation.
3: An option/benefit for Solo. We need to decide earlier if there is some 'Solo' version of the faction upgrades someone can take. Not every character concept works for this, and it'd be barring a lot of character options from participating. I might not get around to fleshing out this third select thing in the first part of the suggestion
4: Respec options available. This is self-explanatory. Costs and cooldown TBD by staff.
5: Cooldown on making and joining Factions. To avoid abusing mechanics for certain threads and ATs by hopping into factions last second, I'd impose a hard cooldown on being able to leave and join another faction after the first. Perhaps offer a cooldown bypass option like the respec, but make it expensive as to be an option less desirable.
Introduction:
Factions, both new and old, will have the option to benefit from a new FACTION UPGRADES system. From a list of many, a faction will be able to work towards 1 Main Thesis and 2 Minor Theses. The cost of which is TBD, but may include a mixture of zeni and xp expenditure that The Faction Itself Can Donate Towards. This gathers in a pool, which is then divided up and put towards a Thesis when the faction notices it meets a threshold for a new one or can upgrade. These Theses work in levels of 1-2-3, in sequence, with the next level costing the faction more and more cumulative zeni and xp.
I will start with some suggestions below. Note that there SHOULD be more options than what is provided. This is merely to give rough ideas of what these theses could entail.
Main Theses
VANGUARD (I, II, and III)
Once per 9 months/6 months/3 months, a member of this faction that has other members currently participating can join a Conquest or Carnage AT at any time after the join timer runs out while also treating the thread as if it was in their Home Region. This bars anyone new to the faction that joined after the AT's creation. When they enter the thread this way, they only start the conflict with 0/1/2 KP.
MERCENARIES (I, II, and III)
After an AT ends, and this faction's side wins, participating members can reap 3,000/5,000/7,000 extra Zeni. Last-minute loyalty changes to game this, as determined by grading, will consider the mercenaries as having lost.
EX-MILITARY (I, II, and III)
Choose a planet. Gain that planet's minor thesis (EARTH-BASED, for example). Every time you level up this main thesis, level up the thesis you chose. You're not allowed to level this chosen minor thesis up naturally using the Faction Pool. In addition to this, members of the faction joining ATs centered on the planet chosen are prepared. They can start the combat's first round with a free 2MP momentum boost. This doesn't halt MP generation.
Minor Theses
EARTH-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Earth by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Earth. At level 3, members of this faction can carry an extra item into threads on this planet thanks to Capsule Corp!
PLANT-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Plant by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Plant. At level 3, members of this faction have an additional +10% total damage they can take when on this planet!
NAMEK-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Namek by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Namek. At level 3, members of this faction have an additional +10% total damage they can take when on this planet!
ARCOSE-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Arcose by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Arcose. At level 3, this benefit extends to all space travel, as well as members of this faction can take an additional +10% damage in a single attack before taking critical damage!
KONATS-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Konats by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Konats. At level 3, members of this faction can carry an extra item into threads on this planet thanks to prosperous industry!
SUPER PALS (I, II, and III)
At level 1, ATs in which at least two faction members preside are able help deal with each other's threats. Once per thread per faction, a member of this faction can take the place of another faction member as the target for a non-homing technique. Treating it as if it targeted them and thus can be responded to both offensively and defensively. Can be declared on either character's turn. At level 2 and 3, gain a second and then a third use of this. Multiple uses can be combined on the same turn for selecting multiple techniques.
EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/3 months/2 months, a member of the faction can treat any AT as if it were in their home region. Allowing them to join despite Conquest restrictions. The cooldown begins the moment the faction declares it's use and the character joins.
HETAP STOCKS (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Hetap. This Hetap goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
SENZU REFINEMENT (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Senzu Bean. This Senzu Bean goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
BOTTLED MIRACLES (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Sacred Water. This Sacred Water goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
JUST A DISTRACTION (I, II, and III)
Whenever an AT is started, this faction can get involved and invoke this thesis, preemptively making a split thread. This follows standard split rules, and is considered part of the same AT, meaning it cannot post past the first rotation without the join timer passing for the Main. A member of this faction starts the thread and they invite up to two other enemies to join them OOC. Members who start and those invited start with an additional +2MP. Outsiders not invited may attempt to join the split on the Main's first post order, as normal. If nobody outside the faction or allies is able to join the split after their first round attempt or refuse, the split is forced back into the top of turn order on the Main after the second rotation with this +2MP bonus intact. At levels 2 and 3, increase the number of faction members that can join this split at the start up to two and three, and the number of enemies that can be invited up to three and four. ATs can only have, to a maximum, two of this thesis active. This thesis has a three month cooldown.
Goals: Provide a separate form of expression not of a character, but of a group. With that in mind, there are very select things I would like to establish with this suggestion-
1: A defacto 'Leader' elected or put forward. This isn't to say every faction has a straight-up king that makes all decisions, but for the purposes of some mechanics, it may be easier to call upon the 'Leader's' voice for decision-making. We can throw around the idea of faction voting for decisions that aren't the heat of the moment, but some AT-related calls I'd recommend defaulting to the singular leader rule. How Staff want to set this up is up for them to decide.
2: Cost-benefit structure. Like how General and Optional traits are balanced not only to other species or characters but also the cost of only getting to have a select few active at a time. I think this is the easiest way to balance for and keep the 'flavor' of faction upgrade reminiscent of the characters themself. It's not about obtaining every bonus possible but flavoring the faction mechanically around its goals and style of operation.
3: An option/benefit for Solo. We need to decide earlier if there is some 'Solo' version of the faction upgrades someone can take. Not every character concept works for this, and it'd be barring a lot of character options from participating. I might not get around to fleshing out this third select thing in the first part of the suggestion
4: Respec options available. This is self-explanatory. Costs and cooldown TBD by staff.
5: Cooldown on making and joining Factions. To avoid abusing mechanics for certain threads and ATs by hopping into factions last second, I'd impose a hard cooldown on being able to leave and join another faction after the first. Perhaps offer a cooldown bypass option like the respec, but make it expensive as to be an option less desirable.
Introduction:
Factions, both new and old, will have the option to benefit from a new FACTION UPGRADES system. From a list of many, a faction will be able to work towards 1 Main Thesis and 2 Minor Theses. The cost of which is TBD, but may include a mixture of zeni and xp expenditure that The Faction Itself Can Donate Towards. This gathers in a pool, which is then divided up and put towards a Thesis when the faction notices it meets a threshold for a new one or can upgrade. These Theses work in levels of 1-2-3, in sequence, with the next level costing the faction more and more cumulative zeni and xp.
I will start with some suggestions below. Note that there SHOULD be more options than what is provided. This is merely to give rough ideas of what these theses could entail.
Main Theses
VANGUARD (I, II, and III)
Once per 9 months/6 months/3 months, a member of this faction that has other members currently participating can join a Conquest or Carnage AT at any time after the join timer runs out while also treating the thread as if it was in their Home Region. This bars anyone new to the faction that joined after the AT's creation. When they enter the thread this way, they only start the conflict with 0/1/2 KP.
MERCENARIES (I, II, and III)
After an AT ends, and this faction's side wins, participating members can reap 3,000/5,000/7,000 extra Zeni. Last-minute loyalty changes to game this, as determined by grading, will consider the mercenaries as having lost.
EX-MILITARY (I, II, and III)
Choose a planet. Gain that planet's minor thesis (EARTH-BASED, for example). Every time you level up this main thesis, level up the thesis you chose. You're not allowed to level this chosen minor thesis up naturally using the Faction Pool. In addition to this, members of the faction joining ATs centered on the planet chosen are prepared. They can start the combat's first round with a free 2MP momentum boost. This doesn't halt MP generation.
Minor Theses
EARTH-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Earth by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Earth. At level 3, members of this faction can carry an extra item into threads on this planet thanks to Capsule Corp!
PLANT-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Plant by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Plant. At level 3, members of this faction have an additional +10% total damage they can take when on this planet!
NAMEK-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Namek by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Namek. At level 3, members of this faction have an additional +10% total damage they can take when on this planet!
ARCOSE-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Arcose by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Arcose. At level 3, this benefit extends to all space travel, as well as members of this faction can take an additional +10% damage in a single attack before taking critical damage!
KONATS-BASED (I, II, and III)
At level 1, members of this faction can reduce the time they travel to Konats by half. This stacks with Turbo Drive, reducing travel to 3 hours. At level 2, this bonus is now granted when traveling away from Konats. At level 3, members of this faction can carry an extra item into threads on this planet thanks to prosperous industry!
SUPER PALS (I, II, and III)
At level 1, ATs in which at least two faction members preside are able help deal with each other's threats. Once per thread per faction, a member of this faction can take the place of another faction member as the target for a non-homing technique. Treating it as if it targeted them and thus can be responded to both offensively and defensively. Can be declared on either character's turn. At level 2 and 3, gain a second and then a third use of this. Multiple uses can be combined on the same turn for selecting multiple techniques.
EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/3 months/2 months, a member of the faction can treat any AT as if it were in their home region. Allowing them to join despite Conquest restrictions. The cooldown begins the moment the faction declares it's use and the character joins.
HETAP STOCKS (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Hetap. This Hetap goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
SENZU REFINEMENT (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Senzu Bean. This Senzu Bean goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
BOTTLED MIRACLES (I, II, and III)
Once every 4 months/2 months/1 month, a member of this faction can join an AT with a Sacred Water. This Sacred Water goes away at the end of the AT if not used. Cooldown starts when the faction declares its use and the character joins, but is refunded if the item is not used.
JUST A DISTRACTION (I, II, and III)
Whenever an AT is started, this faction can get involved and invoke this thesis, preemptively making a split thread. This follows standard split rules, and is considered part of the same AT, meaning it cannot post past the first rotation without the join timer passing for the Main. A member of this faction starts the thread and they invite up to two other enemies to join them OOC. Members who start and those invited start with an additional +2MP. Outsiders not invited may attempt to join the split on the Main's first post order, as normal. If nobody outside the faction or allies is able to join the split after their first round attempt or refuse, the split is forced back into the top of turn order on the Main after the second rotation with this +2MP bonus intact. At levels 2 and 3, increase the number of faction members that can join this split at the start up to two and three, and the number of enemies that can be invited up to three and four. ATs can only have, to a maximum, two of this thesis active. This thesis has a three month cooldown.