123101-remove-faction-barrier-page-2

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Look, it's not about PvP.  My biggest gripe is that I have longer dungeon queues on the dominion side, when I know people are online and playing dungeons on the exile side.
 
So, let's exclude PvP:
 
What are the advantages of splitting the faction, in a MMO?
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"the Dominion sending in their whole army and forcing the Exiles to surrender"
 
Yes, because that would go over so well.
I personally have been a fan of factions in most games I play. It's not a requirement at all, and there are valid points made by people who want them merged or removed, etc but when it comes to PvP I dont WANT to just be some mercenary/traitor/sympathizer/pacifist or to have it just a chaotic mess of mass murder. I want a reason to fight! Oh, this guy tried to steal my stuff? Sure, kill him, but why does he have 19 friends? What are they all doing here? Why are we here? I haven't read all the lore yet but from what I have since launch, I am very much liking the Exiles and am very very very very against Dominion merging/victory/etc. I want nothing to do with the Dominion on my side of the field, unless they're at the other end of my Telekinetic strike. I dont wanna ever see a Mechari or a Chua near me unless we're about to duke it out. It annoys me enough already that much of the RP community looks DOWN on having your character openly dislike the Dominion. I mean, honestly. Temporary Truce? What happens once the Entity is gone and the Dominion and the Exiles have decided to end that truce and are back at each other's throats? I don't see permanent peace happening, not after Arboria at least.
 
I spose you could say I'm on the side of the fence that enjoys feeling like a part of a team, which is how Factions are to me. That gives me a reason to PvP, to RP, etc. It may be that after years of WoW, factions are too ingrained into my brain. "For the Horde/Alliance!" has become "For the Exiles!/the Emporer!" (or whatever it is Dommies say). I started this game on a PvP server and I absolutely love Open World PvP. On a PvE server I will almost never work together with a Dommie unless its absolutely necessary, not in a raid, a dungeon, an adventure, or even just a quest. I will not dance with Chua, or flirt with Mechari, or have a snowball fight/konga line with a Draken. I remember back on Warbringer, the first time I ever did Scorchwing. We had a full raid group of Exiles and there were just as many Dommies there as well, and we fought each other while fighting scorchwing and the Tag switched back and forth several times until we killed them often enough that we got the kill and quite a bit of prestige, too. Where would that go, if the factions were gone? It's just...not the same when there's no purpose, no feeling behind it. 40-80+ random people fighting a big bird and committing genocide is nowhere near the same feeling of defeating your sworn enemies AND the gigantic monster bird...
 
Wow, I just fully realized how much I like PvP.
 :mellow: :blink:
 
I do admit there are advantages, population-wise, but it would, no matter how they tried to make it come off/tie it in, feel like a big defeat for the game.	
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On it's own? None.
There's not benefit to having factions or having no factions. The problem you are trying to address is a different issue all together.
I for example do not run pugs for dungeons or adventures. Almost nobody in my guild or alliance circle does. When we want to run dungeons and adventures, we always form a group on our using people we know and communicate over Teamspeak. And I know a few other guilds that do exactly the same.
 
Is this part of the problem, why Queue's are not popping? Yes, I think so.
Am I going to change this behaviour and use more pugs? No, I'm afraid not.
The reason is that I've grown tired or dealing with the trouble that comes from pugs:
Nobody talks
Everyone does things different
People keep disbanding after a wipe
In this case I say the problem is not the population (okay it partially is as there's not enough people to pug when we all play like this), but the partially the problem is people themselves.
The attitude of other people in pugs is the main reason why I and my guild + alliance do not pug. If we pug, then we really narrow it down to 1 or 2 persons max.
 
So my question to you Eclipse, which topic do you wish to dive deeper into?
Addressing the population issues
Talk about factions on a theoretical basis, leaving personal oppinions out of it
PvP
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			- forget it, not worth it-	
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Thanks but no thanks, i dont want chuas in my Raid or PVP Group.
 
There are many PVP Players left that are forced to play on the PVE Mega Server, merging them with the dominion would be another hit in the ball sack.
(no open world PvP)
 
Best thing look for a circle or guild and run with them.	
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Thanks but no thanks, i dont want chuas in my Raid or PVP Group.
 
There are many PVP Players left that are forced to play on the PVE Mega Server, merging them with the dominion would be another hit in the ball sack.
(no open world PvP)
 
Best thing look for a circle or guild and run with them.
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On it's own? None.
There's not benefit to having factions or having no factions. The problem you are trying to address is a different issue all together.
I for example do not run pugs for dungeons or adventures. Almost nobody in my guild or alliance circle does. When we want to run dungeons and adventures, we always form a group on our using people we know and communicate over Teamspeak. And I know a few other guilds that do exactly the same.
 
Is this part of the problem, why Queue's are not popping? Yes, I think so.
Am I going to change this behaviour and use more pugs? No, I'm afraid not.
The reason is that I've grown tired or dealing with the trouble that comes from pugs:
 
Nobody talks
Everyone does things different
People keep disbanding after a wipe
In this case I say the problem is not the population (okay it partially is as there's not enough people to pug when we all play like this), but the partially the problem is people themselves.
The attitude of other people in pugs is the main reason why I and my guild + alliance do not pug. If we pug, then we really narrow it down to 1 or 2 persons max.
 
So my question to you Eclipse, which topic do you wish to dive deeper into?
Addressing the population issues
Talk about factions on a theoretical basis, leaving personal oppinions out of it
PvP
 
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Having 2 separate factions limits the following:
 
Raid / Dungeon Finding
PvP 
Housing Experience
Player-driven Events
Collection of Rare Items / Costumes / Mounts
Player cohesion and friendliness (someone else is bad and you are good, therefore "screw dominion scum etc"
Limits the small roleplaying community
Crafting Proliferance, Gatherers, and the Economy
 
Demolishing the faction barrier would breathe life into this game of monstrous proportions	
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'Human sacrifice, Chua and Auren living together, mass hysteria!'
                              
                                                                   - Dr. Peter Venkman  
 
    I can see a system that places exiles or dommies on the opposite team in a PvP arena or battle ground match if there is a imbalance in the populatios queing at the time.  If there were a large number of dommies in a que waiting for a few exiles to get into a que, after a certain time some dommies would be swithed and find themselves fighting on the other team.  They can be considered mercenaries, guns for hire.  They would be able to chat with the other team mates and get the same rewards as anyone else.  it would just be team A and B instead of exiles and dominion.
 
I wouldn't tinker with the open world pvp for now really..              	
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Let's just take this part right here:  What are the advantages of having 2 separate factions?
You're right. It has no advantages. It has nothing but huge, massive disadvantages.  The ONLY thing that can be considered an advantage of a 2 faction system, is open world pvp.  This is something that I am firmly of the opinion that it is extremely lackluster in this game.  I think world pvp should be done away with in favor of warplots, entirely.  (As it currently is, save the population issue)
 
As far as the rest of your post, you really can't just bring up other things to steer away from the conversation at hand.
 
What you've suggested, is that having separate factions takes a backseat to the problem that you perceive to be the culprit, IE the lack of people queueing for pug dungeons.  You seem to believe that you, and others who prefer not to pug, are the reason.
 
Well, I don't believe that is the case.  I believe that it has been rare that I've personally ever NOT pugged a group, even if that pug was in /EntityLFM , a channel devoted entirely to looking for a group without having to queue into the dungeon finder.  You see, separating the factions divides the people in the Exile version of LFM, and the Dominion version.
 
It further divides people that aren't in the same timezone / general playtimes. One of the glaring disadvantages of separate factions, is the lack of people to play with in primetime.  Oceanics, EU on NA, etc often want to pug BGs / dungeons outside of PST/EST primetime.  Splitting the factions takes away that ability to queue ANYONE who is looking for group.  It further encourages all people who want to play in off hours into rolling on a specific faction etc, in order to find groups.
 
IMO, this is a very big problem for wildstar in general, and I think one of the biggest advantages of mixed faction BGs, however far off they are.
 
I think you do not only yourself, or me a tremendous disservice when you attempt to beat around the bush in your answer, but the other posters looking here for clear and concise information.
 
If you agree like you said in your first line, that splitting factions offers no advantages, then you need to simply state that, not look for a bunch of other problems and wrongly attribute them to X or Y reasons, instead.
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Having 2 separate factions limits the following:
 
Raid / Dungeon Finding
PvP 
Housing Experience
Player-driven Events
Collection of Rare Items / Costumes / Mounts
Player cohesion and friendliness (someone else is bad and you are good, therefore "screw dominion scum etc"
Limits the small roleplaying community
Crafting Proliferance, Gatherers, and the Economy
 
Demolishing the faction barrier would breathe life into this game of monstrous proportions
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It is however related to the problem at hand as you pointed out Eclipse.
There's many reasons why people do not enter the queue system some you listed yourself. So with the low population we have in WildStar, this does affect whether you will get queue's or not.
But let's put that discussion on hold for now and focus on the Faction System.
 
You don't just get to blame bad design on low population --- that's not how you fix problems. You fix problems with better design, and populated increases after that.  A thousand people using a bad system could potentially mitigate the flaws, but 1000x people using a good system is ultimately better.  Overall, your desire to only group with your guild and limit yourselves and others is a clear indication why the system, (a dungeon finder) isn't well designed.  What's the point of a dungeon finder if people don't use it for it's purpose?
 
You abused my answer to get your way in the discussion.
I said "on it's own". When you look at the factions themselves, taken outside the entire game context, then they do not offer any advantage or disadvantege. They are simply a means to drive the story your games revolves around. When applying this to WildStar, this means the Exiles vs the Dominion. You can only have a story like that in your game, if you are divided into factions. 
You could try the approach Final Fantasy did with having all players represent one faction, and the other faction being completely story driven through NPCs.
Nonetheless, you are dealing with 2 factions there to drive the story and conflict.
 
Splitting the factions offers tremendous disadvantages like I outlined before.  Further, if you want to play the lore card here, and say it drives the story--- you're just missing it.  If you follow the story at all, you know that Entity / Drusera / Avatus don't care whether you're dominion or exile, just like I don't, just like the majority of players do not.  Neither faction offers an advantage to the storyline, but splitting the factions severely limits it in just about every way.  From a lore standpoint--- the precedent is there for the factions to cooperate.  From a common sense and real world standpoint, it's practically a no-brainer.  Think about all the future engineering, development, and art time, mixed factions would bring to Carbine and Wildstar.  Olivar, we want to invest our 15$ or CREDD into a game that's looking to the future, and not afraid to shed its old and tired skin of the ideas of the past.
 
Now when we look back at the entire discussion and involve the rest of the game, there are some things that do not make sense.
The first is the bashing on Chua. You want to be all in the same faction, but cannot stand being with certain species of the "old faction".
This is an argument as to why we should have factions, to capitalize on the like/dislike of people and the races that can be played. Call it racism if you want.
The mere fact that people have a preference to play a specific race and dislike another is something you can use to fuel your conflict in the game and provide people a good story/reason to go at each other.
So this speak clearly for having factions.
 
I think Chua's are stupid, and I think Aurin are dumb.  I think Granok are cool, the undead are tired ass ideas, and Mechari are bland.  I think Draken horns look cool, but their animations suck.  Cassian and Human are basically the same thing, but with more bodytypes / skin colors.
 
You don't have to be a split faction to show race prejudice, and I think it's just a minority of people that say that and actually care, and a bunch of people just do it for fun.  I think this falls under the category of roleplaying.
 
This really depends on to many factors to use as argument.
I have around 40'ish people ready to raid in my guild + alliance guild, and I see many more guilds recruiting and raiding on Jabbit. I cannot speak of the NA servers as I've not played there for a while.
What I'm trying to say here is, that this is an argument based on personal observence, and we should be careful with using these.
 
Well, it's based on my anecdotal statements, as well as the sheer amount of development time that went into downscaling DS20, the release of drop 4 with smaller scale content, etc.
 
The same applies to Player-Driven events.
I will grant you that no faction barrier makes it easier for the opposing faction to join such events, but on the other side, it also encourages the opposing faction to create similar events.
Again, promoting positive competition between the two to see which faction can hold/organize them better.
 
Exclusion isn't exactly a good idea here.  I think you're just reaching for this one.  I don't see very many people agreeing with you, when you state that barring potentially half the playerbase from events "promotes more events."
 
Collection of Rare items/mounts etc?
I assume you are referring here to faction bound mounts etc?
I would use it as argument to simply decide on the faction.
 
It's gotta catch'em all, not gotta catch everything that's available in Red, not Blue.  Faction mounts, faction costumes, etc. I'm not limiting it to what's currently in the game, I'm envisioning this as a future forward way to increase collectables etc.
 
"Limits the small roleplaying community"?
In which way? Our roleplay with the guild revolves against having an enemy faction we need to deal with.
There's perhaps guilds that have friends on the other side, but with Addons like translator this language barrier can be overcome and both can still engage in activities together.
 
Nice, a workaround to something you admit is a problem!  Do you see how that works?  Just because your roleplay involves having an enemy faction doesn't mean that everyone's roleplay does!  How often have you seen in other games:  "X server, official home of roleplayers, etc!"  That sucks for roleplayers.  You want everyone to be able to pick their preferred race, be it chua or aurin or whatever, and then roleplay accordingly.  When you're playing pretend, it is much easier to pretend to war against all of chuas when you can actually be on the same server / faction / chat list etc with them.  I know roleplayers that like to craft, and wish they didn't have to always pick the most populous faction just to have people to craft for and with.
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But that only covers a small portion of the sheer amount of disadvantages a split faction system brings.
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I'm pretty neutral about the removal of factions, but I just want to point out that most of these things aren't true...
For raiding, pvp, instanced events I can agree with you, but for player driven content such as roleplay, world events is down to the players themselves, even if they were together there still would be a lack of public events because they are hard to organise :P
 
As for friendliness, I've had no issues with people being like that. Factions are meant to be like that.
 
Also, the CX and AH are merged cross faction so don't try and use the economy as an excuse ^-^
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All I can see from this discussion so far is that you think your opinions, Eclips, are fact. And for that reason I am not wasting my time replying to you in any other way than the way I am now. I disagree with mostly everything you've said. I wasn't going into detail with my reply because I didn't want to have a huge debate about it. Factions are not nearly as damaging as people are implying they are, and although they may seem to be cumbersome with the current population, they are also part of carbine's game and it is not up to us as players to dictate to carbine that their game philosophy "is wrong" and say the reason why is because "the majority" says so.
 
Like I said, I'm neutral on this discussion. I like having factions, but I'm also not opposed to them being removed and can see the advantages of both sides of the coin.
 
I also think people should stop using sweeping statements like "the majority of people think", when it's mainly your own opinion.
 
(Also, I don't think you read my reply properly. when I said the advantages of mixed factions in instanced gameplay. World events =/= roleplay as well)	
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All I can see from this discussion so far is that you think your opinions, Eclips, are fact. And for that reason I am not wasting my time replying to you in any other way than the way I am now. I disagree with mostly everything you've said. I wasn't going into detail with my reply because I didn't want to have a huge debate about it. Factions are not nearly as damaging as people are implying they are, and although they may seem to be cumbersome with the current population, they are also part of carbine's game and it is not up to us as players to dictate to carbine that their game philosophy "is wrong" and say the reason why is because "the majority" says so.
 
Like I said, I'm neutral on this discussion. I like having factions, but I'm also not opposed to them being removed and can see the advantages of both sides of the coin.
 
I also think people should stop using sweeping statements like "the majority of people think", when it's mainly your own opinion.
 
(Also, I don't think you read my reply properly. when I said the advantages of mixed factions in instanced gameplay. World events =/= roleplay as well)
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Sorry but I cannot agree with any of the answer you gave.
 
I'm not looking to bring you to my side. I'm merely using you as a prompt to develop good and coherent answers to questions a lot of people are asking. I feel like most of your answers to me are just far reaches in a way for you to promote your bias of your faction hate or whatever it is you like in this game.  I don't think you have the good of the game or the playerbase in mind here, and I think your motivations are selfish at best.
 
What I'm doing here is outlining improvements to the game.
 
Whether the dungeon finder is a bad design or not is a different discussion, can we leave it out of this?
Otherwise I fear we'll be jumping from topic to topic without talking about the faction thing.
 
You included the dungeon finder when you stated that your reluctance to play outside your select group was an issue with the game.  It very much relates, as it is very limited by the separate faction system, and it's design most benefits from removing the faction barrier.
 
The best part about improving the dungeon finder, is that YOU are still able to do whatever it is with your guild that you wanted, while others that previously chose not to play with your guild / don't have static playtimes / play in trough hours benefit from more queues.
 
I'm not going to addess each single answer you wrote out, but right now it comes across as you do not care about anything us PvE's like in the game and want to throw everything overboard.
You're talking about the "majority" not liking this. Can you prove this? Do you have any indication somewhere that people are absolutely opposed to having factions?
I also want to invest my 15$ every month in this game, and I'm buying CREDD as well, but I do not want to sacrifice the things I like either.
 
Can I use GW2, FFXIV, and other successful MMOs as a reference point to games where people don't mind being on one faction?  You see, FFXIV offers everyone to be on the same faction, but can join into companies to be a "different faction," to suit the games needs.  GW2 allows everyone to have the same things, while splitting them into generic PvP factions based on SERVER in open world pvp.
 
Other MMOs I've played circumvent the faction system with guild vs guild wars, or artifical faction grouping (forming alliances that oppose another).  This allows more player choice, and contributes to better game design.
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And yet no matter what's said or what anyone's opinion is, when you consider it twosides of a debate, Dual factions have far more disadvantages by a long shot than single player pool(non factioned).
 
There's without a doubt far more disadvantages than advantages in a dual faction system, that simply isn't up for debate.
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All I can see from this discussion so far is that you think your opinions, Eclips, are fact. And for that reason I am not wasting my time replying to you in any other way than the way I am now. I disagree with mostly everything you've said. I wasn't going into detail with my reply because I didn't want to have a huge debate about it. Factions are not nearly as damaging as people are implying they are, and although they may seem to be cumbersome with the current population, they are also part of carbine's game and it is not up to us as players to dictate to carbine that their game philosophy "is wrong" and say the reason why is because "the majority" says so.
 
Like I said, I'm neutral on this discussion. I like having factions, but I'm also not opposed to them being removed and can see the advantages of both sides of the coin.
 
I also think people should stop using sweeping statements like "the majority of people think", when it's mainly your own opinion.
 
(Also, I don't think you read my reply properly. when I said the advantages of mixed factions in instanced gameplay. World events =/= roleplay as well)
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So, seen as you have evidence and I do not, please provide it. I would love to see.
 
You are so condescending and this is the reason I did not reply in a detailed manner. I have stressed enough times I am NEUTRAL and on neither "side" and I'm not particularly bothered about whether we have factions or not. The only reason I replied in the first place was to point out that the things you "called out" wasn't really that affected by factions, it's player driven...
 
Thank you for the personal digs as well, that was truly called for.
 
EDIT: I also cannot believe you managed to take my post as an attack, I was merely saying that perhaps you should look at the other side of the picture instead of thinking your word is fact and better than other people's opinions. The reason I did not go into detail (and to be fair it would be wasted time, I did not once say your opinion was a waste of time, that is just how you construed it) is because there would be more reason for you to bring up things about me that are personal hatreds of me, instead of discussing the actual game. Instead of going on about my personal stance on trying to save a dying server, how about you keep to the discussion of factions.	
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You know you've produced well argued positions and arguments when the only thing the opposing viewpoint can do is pick out the word, "majority," in one of my many points, and then call it into question.
 
I just picture it as, "well, he's probably right about the other 8 points he's made, but since he used majority in a point that doesn't changes things 1 way or the other, I feel obligated to disagree with it, and leave the other stuff largely ignored."
 
I welcome your well thought out responses and statements toward the advantages of a separate faction system.
 
PS,  I'm not being condescending here at all, just because I have an opposing viewpoint.  Being condescending would be what you're doing, which is making comments without "wasting your time" with well thought out replies.
 
I'm being very respectful, and the opposite of condescending here, by giving you my time and effort into providing you with good arguments toward removing the faction barrier.	
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You know you've produced well argued positions and arguments when the only thing the opposing viewpoint can do is pick out the word, "majority," in one of my many points, and then call it into question.
 
I just picture it as, "well, he's probably right about the other 8 points he's made, but since he used majority in a point that doesn't changes things 1 way or the other, I feel obligated to disagree with it, and leave the other stuff largely ignored."
 
I welcome your well thought out responses and statements toward the advantages of a separate faction system.
 
PS,  I'm not being condescending here at all, just because I have an opposing viewpoint.  Being condescending would be what you're doing, which is making comments without "wasting your time" with well thought out replies.
 
I'm being very respectful, and the opposite of condescending here, by giving you my time and effort into providing you with good arguments toward removing the faction barrier.
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This is the exact reason why I wouldn't "waste my time" replying in this thread, because look what happened, lol.
 
Now, I'll leave it up to you to be an *cupcake* to someone else for correcting with their tiny opinion on something you said. I had nothing to say about the other parts because... I agreed? :O I KNOW OMG SOMEONE MIGHT HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BROUGHT THEM UP BECAUSE THEY AGREED. I'm sorry it was for ONE THING, and I'm sorry I agreed with the majority of what everyone is saying.
 
Do you know why I'm sorry? Because everyone has good arguments. Am I not allowed to have my opinion stuck in the middle, or do i have to apparently take sides? Was it worth the personal attack? No, it wasn't. I was friendly, almost silly in my first reply, you jumped on me like a freakin carnivore trying to rip meat off me. I wasn't attacking you. You're making sweeping generalisations, ofc I'm gonna call you out on it. It's not a strong stance to have in a "logical argument" as you call it.
 
Because I'm not. I'm out. If you're going to bring up my stance on something I feel strongly about, a completely different subject and be an *cupcake*, then carry on. I won't be replying from now on.
 
Here is my opinion, as I've stated several times : I'm fine with factions, I'm fine without.
 
Also: 
 
condescending
kɒndɪˈsɛndɪŋ/
adjective
 
having or showing an attitude of patronizing superiority.
 
 
 
Eclips, read your posts again man, and work out what it freakin means.	
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Sorry eclipse, but no.
The reason we try to call you out on "majority" is because as Sylqt mentioned, this is an opinion or interpretation without anything backing it up.
I'm with you with all other arguments you've brought for, in so far that I can put myself in your position and imagine what you're trying to bring across.
However the constant use of the "majority says so" is not an argument at all. Even when referring to forum posts, you're dealing with a minority as the biggest part of your player base will just play and never visit the forums.
 
And both of you (Eclipse and Sylqt) took a snap at each other. 
Let's just leave it at that and focus on the discussion please.
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This is the exact reason why I wouldn't "waste my time" replying in this thread, because look what happened, lol.
 
Now, I'll leave it up to you to be an *cupcake* to someone else for correcting with their tiny opinion on something you said. I'm sorry it was for ONE THING, and I'm sorry I agreed with the majority of what everyone is saying.
 
Do you know why I'm sorry? Because everyone has good arguments. Am I not allowed to have my opinion stuck in the middle, or do i have to apparently take sides?
 
Because I'm not. I'm out. If you're going to bring up my stance on something I feel strongly about and be an *cupcake*, then carry on. I won't be replying from now on.
 
Here is my opinon, as I've stated several times : I'm fine with factions, I'm fine without.
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OH MY *cupcake*ING GOD. I agreed because I CAN SEE BOTH SIDES AND AGREE WITH BOTH.
 
Jesus *cupcake*ing christ Eclips. You don't have anything personal? Yeah, really *cupcake*ing seems like it.	
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You still haven't produced any advantages to having a separate faction system, but that's okay right? Because I said the majority somewhere.
 
You see, here's the difference, and what you're missing.  "The majority says so," is not the right way to look at it.  The right way to look at it, is whether or not the system accurately functions well for the majority of the playerbase.  " I run a niche guild that only sees a small amount of the problems that the faction barrier provides," is a valid, yet minority position.  The playerbase doesn't all relate to your points of view, just like it may not relate to mine in regards to PvP.
 
But, I think, here is something that needs to be considered.  Wildstar isn't appealing to enough people.  There are people out there that will subscribe to Wildstar, because they can functionally pop queues, play with and against the people they want, etc.
 
Newsflash, you don't see people citing "not having 2 separate limiting factions" as a reason for people to leave the game.
 
Further, let me bring another data point to the conversation.  Dominion Warhound left, because the faction imbalance, low population of the server, etc, left Dominion Warhound in a state undeserving of 15$ a month.   If there were no faction barriers, the server Warhound would still be populated with people that prefer to use the PvP ruleset, because Dominion could supplement their group / raid groups, crafters, pvp groups, etc with members of the opposite faction. 
 
So Dominion Warhound left, causing a final exodus of Exile Warhound, resulting in the final nail in the coffin for the server.  Removing the faction barrier could have prevented, or at least delayed that much, much longer.
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I'm in favor of the faction barrier removal. In my opinion there are only two positive aspects to factions in a mmo.
 
 
1) Open world PVP
2) Story / Lore
 
However gameplay is more important than lore in my book. So being able to play with everyone (shorter queues) in my region is more beneficial than keeping parts of the lore untouched.
There are several ways Carbine could do this, though I don't think they're in favor of it. As we have seen in the past they're kinda slow to adept to some circumstances.	
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Luminai is in the same state. And many people left PvP for reasons other then the Queue's and "faction imbalance".
----
			
And lets tell Carbine to stop fixing PvP.... and just remove it from the game
 
Oh and seeing over 60% play MMO's solo...lets remove raids and any group content
 
Lets lets lets....just not	
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{| class="blockquote"
 
You're right. Both our versions are a minority, since we're discussing this out on the forum and so far only a handful of people have actually replied.
The rest either doesn't care and is happy they way it is, or they're simply not visiting the forum, which adds to the point: they're happy as is.
 
----
			
As it was brought up earlier, we don't have the raw data of just how imbalanced the factions are, or the opinion of the larger mass of players who don't visit the forums. 
 
So here is an idea. For a weekend, put the mixed faction checkbox in the lfg system. At the end of the instance, pop up the rating/opinion ticket like we did in beta. It would be a lot more simple to probably put on the ptr, but the percentage of people are actually on the ptr is not great.
 
Doing things this way is out of the way, but gets the opinion of the players who are waiting for queues, the people who would most benefit from the mixed party instances. 
 
If the majority likes it, we can go from there. If they don't, then we will finally know just where most of the playerbase stand. 	
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{| class="blockquote"
As it was brought up earlier, we don't have the raw data of just how imbalanced the factions are, or the opinion of the larger mass of players who don't visit the forums. 
 
So here is an idea. For a weekend, put the mixed faction checkbox in the lfg system. At the end of the instance, pop up the rating/opinion ticket like we did in beta. It would be a lot more simple to probably put on the ptr, but the percentage of people are actually on the ptr is not great.
 
Doing things this way is out of the way, but gets the opinion of the players who are waiting for queues, the people who would most benefit from the mixed party instances. 
 
If the majority likes it, we can go from there. If they don't, then we will finally know just where most of the playerbase stand. 
----
			I don't understand this constant, "Oh let the Dommies and the Exiles be friends crap. We are not  friends. We are not  buddies. This is part of the LORE; the STORY, that we are at WAR. 	
----
			And fight side by side with a dirty hippy aurin?! You crazy!!	
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My opinion on this is that I really don't care. I honestly want more pops and couldn't care less about lore, but I realize that some (many) people do care a lot about the lore, and quite a bit of effort seems to have gone into it.
 
But I'd guess the technical challenges at this point make it an unlikely change.	
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{| class="blockquote"
My opinion on this is that I really don't care. I honestly want more pops and couldn't care less about lore, but I realize that some (many) people do care a lot about the lore, and quite a bit of effort seems to have gone into it.
 
But I'd guess the technical challenges at this point make it an unlikely change.
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I'm surprised by the number of people who seem unwilling or unable to play a game without an 'absolute evil', or binary oppositions.
 
I am 100% behind a mix-up of the two factions. I don't want this for PVP reasons, I don't want it for PVE reasons— I want it for social reasons. I want to be able to visit all of the beautiful plots that the Exile players have built, and I want them to see what my Domside brethren have made. Improving queue times would be great, don't get me wrong, but it's not the only good reason for doing this.
 
So please, let's not steer this into "Don't let PVP prerogatives ruin my X". This faction divide problem encompasses more than just PVP or PVE.
 
Now I'll let myself have a moment of indulgence... if *I* were running the show ~puffs up~ I'd implement a World Quest chain that, through its conclusion, unlocks the option for me to participate in cross-faction events (PVP, PVE, plot visiting). From now on I have a very special checkbox that I can use when doing gameplay content, and am also able to select Exile plots when using the visit function in housing.
 
The caveat: Only players who complete this quest— Mercenary Days, something like that— can participate in cross-faction content. Simple solution, no? You don't want to see Chua in your Aurin? Fine. Don't do the quest.
 
As to the lore problem, I will cite two things to think about:
 
1. Lore is for the designers to make and change as they see fit, though of course precedence should be respected, even by its creators.
2. Lore should always, always, always be second-fiddle to gameplay in a mass market MMO video game. I'm not suggesting that lore is unimportant, or that you can easily break lore and continue on like nothing has happened (coughWoWcough), but I am saying that if you've got a gameplay problem in your game, you'd better not let lore stop you.
 
 
That's my 2-cents, hopefully haven't offended anyone.	
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I totally agree that the faction thing is overplayed and could be eliminated, even if it was only for pvp. But really PVE would work too. It reminds me of Everquest 2 back in the day big faction war until you realize you do all of the same stuff in the same zones, granted on a open PVP server that would make sense to have faction hubs but most of those servers from reading the forums are dying.
 
I'm open to this either way personally if there is a chance it increases pops of GF PVE or PVP i'm in. 	
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{| class="blockquote"
I don't understand this constant, "Oh let the Dommies and the Exiles be friends crap. We are not  friends. We are not  buddies. This is part of the LORE; the STORY, that we are at WAR. 
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{| class="blockquote"
I don't understand this constant, "Oh let the Dommies and the Exiles be friends crap. We are not  friends. We are not  buddies. This is part of the LORE; the STORY, that we are at WAR. 
----
			
I see no harm in removing the faction barrier for PvE and PvP that is instanced content. Factions only seem to be significant factor for open world PvP and there really isn't much in Wildstar advocating that mechanically and is more reliant on the players to conduct.
 
You can still have faction lore and allow the players themself to set the boundaries. If anything it opens up role play options for people and makes organizing events much easier alongside unifying your community rather than splitting it.
 
I feel that housing also suffers from this split too, some people create lovely houses and is shame that players can't visit homes of others because of faction. Protostar controls housing yes? So why is not ba nuetral zone by which enforced truce is in place or because it is Protostar property they can allow other people to view home as "showcase".
 
As Roleplayer I feel like I as player should be able to be trusted to put aside and or enforce lore of factions. One thing I notice is people are spouting very loudly about lore and emmersion. If lore is such major factor and should be followed strictly then I ask why can boss be killed multiple times? Why do monsters killed in open world by opposing factions give credit to both factions? Why is there a faction called CoGs running adventures that ahve Chua and Mordesh on same side if there is such opposition?Why does Drusera reach out to both factions?Why do we have PvE servers?
 
I could go on, but it reminds me of old argument of when people are upset that developers don't put in "hardcore" option for players when they make characters in MMO. You are very much  welcome to deleting/killing your character once they die. In that same respect why can players who feel they NEED(want) same faction only dungeon run, only run with people of their own faction and not mix? The game will not end because people completed instanced content with the oposing faction.
 
I only see lore being relevant to the open world. Honestly I can only think of my uncle who roleplay in instanced content and even he doesn't always do it unless he either bored or with group who will RP as well. Beyond him, I never see anyone roleplay in instanced content and I feel most people I have palyed with do not do dungeons anymore in character.	
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I was hoping that stepping a way for a few hours would give people time to craft good opinions on the advantages of a separate faction system.
 
I guess that there were none.  In fact, the only thing that I have to respond to unfortunately, is the backpedalling that went on when one realizes they are just arguing for argument's sake, rather than for a particular reason.
 
Oh well.
 
I look forward to the developer comment that states they're interest in removing the faction barrier, circa 2016.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Gameplay-story segregation means it's extremely easy to justify dropping the faction barrier for instanced content. Though even then it's not hard to come up with justification. "There's a big bad that's gonna kill us both. We'll team up temporarily to kill it." Okay, done.
 
This seriously needs to happen. @.@
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{| class="blockquote"
Ugh...it doesn't matter how many times someone suggests this, it doesn't make it sound any less awful. Especially when you would have to butcher the current story to make it fit. Because the Dominion's done too much to the Exiles to wrap it up in a simple "Oops! My bad!" conclusion. Which would have to happen in order to align the Exiles with them in the near future. Which is being suggested and is just shotty writing. Drusera is just a "Temporary creating an alliance for the greater good" plot device, btw.
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{| class="blockquote"
Well, the exile were pretty much on the run from the dominion and are making a stand now on Nexus. As far as I read the story presented in game, like the siege of Thayd and the large attack on Tempest Refuge, it still seems like the dominion is pushing hard. Maybe the exiles would be amenable to a peace treaty. The problem is then the large conflicts mentioned above run counter that narrative.
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{| class="blockquote"
As someone who got incredibly sick of all the times Heroes & Villains needed to team up for "The Greater Good" in City of Heroes:  No.  God no.  Please, Eldan no.  Screw that, no.
 
I just want ONE game...  ONE SINGLE game that doesn't do a "greater good" faction-work-together storyline.  Clear-cut factions are nice, and play well with knowing your enemy.
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{| class="blockquote"
So assume for a minute that I, like the majority of players, do not engage in PVP.
 
Who's my enemy?
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Dominion NPCs, things with red names, and the obvious pointing-of-fingers in the game's Lore.  I think that rebuttal is pushing the limit just a little, Esper.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You find me one Granok/Aurin who'd agree to a peace treaty with the Dominion.  Mordesh I bet could be swayed because their downfall was their own doing, but after the casting out from Gnox and the waste of Arboria, I think those dissenting voices would be enough to keep it from happening.
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{| class="blockquote"
Just one? I can get you a bunch. Sylphia Barkberry, and all the other C.O.G.S. that call me up. 
 
Now will the larger Dominion and Exiles ever have peace? I doubt it, but that does not stop the player from doing missions for neutral parties.
I'm not for forcing people who don't want cross faction parties to be in them, I'm just saying there should be an option for the people that do.
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{| class="blockquote"
I'm not for forcing people who don't want cross faction parties to be in them, I'm just saying there should be an option for the people that do.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
I feel that housing also suffers from this split too, some people create lovely houses and is shame that players can't visit homes of others because of faction. Protostar controls housing yes? So why is not ba nuetral zone by which enforced truce is in place or because it is Protostar property they can allow other people to view home as "showcase".
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You find me one Granok/Aurin who'd agree to a peace treaty with the Dominion.  Mordesh I bet could be swayed because their downfall was their own doing, but after the casting out from Gnox and the waste of Arboria, I think those dissenting voices would be enough to keep it from happening.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You find me one Granok/Aurin who'd agree to a peace treaty with the Dominion.  Mordesh I bet could be swayed because their downfall was their own doing, but after the casting out from Gnox and the waste of Arboria, I think those dissenting voices would be enough to keep it from happening.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Time heals all wounds.
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I agree with this 100%.  Derp lore.  We need que's to pop faster, end of story.  I couldn't care less if I was running a dungeon with Exile's or not.  The one case where faction should matter is in pvp que's.
 
 
I also would like to be able to talk cross faction without the use of an addon.  Game companies block cross faction communication to prevent smack talking but there could be a simple option to disable it if it offends you.  The majority of players would like this option, as it creates good, competitive emotion around pvp, which this game desperately needs.  And in a low population game, the last thing you want to do is limit communication.
 
 	
----
			What you could do(Carbine), is come up with some lore to temporarily make Exile/Dominion's in some kind of "truce" just for an excuse to let us group together until population improves.  And THEN, once population increases, make more lore to say we are at war again or something.  There are lots of ways to get things rolling again in this game.  This is one of them.	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
What you could do(Carbine), is come up with some lore to temporarily make Exile/Dominion's in some kind of "truce" just for an excuse to let us group together until population improves.  And THEN, once population increases, make more lore to say we are at war again or something.  There are lots of ways to get things rolling again in this game.  This is one of them.
----
			
Been watching this and sort of remaining voiceless about it because this topic has been discussed at length in several different media, but I'll give my $0.02 for a minute.
 
I like to take a realistic approach to dealing with the great faction debate because while the game may be a work of fantasy and many people want to dissociate video games (particularly Sci-Fi MMOs) from reality as often as possible, the fact remains that everything, even in this game, is taken from an aspect of our own humanity. Realistically, no civilization can survive as Red vs Blue (general comparison of 2 factions). Whether it's due to economics, a common enemy, or resources the outcome always ends up the same. Red has to facilitate relations with Blue and Blue must do the same with Red. It doesn't matter if at their core, they hate eachother's very being, when it comes to sharing land (even on the scale of a planet) and facing a common enemy (Entity *cough*), each side must do its part to ensure its own survival.
 
Generation gaps are an effective means to eliminate warring factions as well. This can be viewed at every single Red vs Blue scenario present on this earth. Generation 1 hates generation 1. Generation 2 hates generation 2. Generation 3 hates generation 3, but isn't sure why. Generation 4 is taught not to hate generation 4 because of generation 1. And so on. Remember, you aren't born to hate, you have to be taught.
 
So how does this apply to Nexus? Simply. The politicians of both Dominion and Exile hate each other, train soldiers, and fortify their walls in preparation for an attack (cold war) from the 'enemy'. They also realize that one cannot survive without the other. Combine that with the choice of individual players and we have money. If Olivar wants to continue to hate all Aurin, he can, and his faction condones that, but if he needs a shoulder to lean on after a rough battle against the Entity's minions, perhaps that shoulder could be FranBunnyFFXII's just to ensure his own survival.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Been watching this and sort of remaining voiceless about it because this topic has been discussed at length in several different media, but I'll give my $0.02 for a minute.
 
I like to take a realistic approach to dealing with the great faction debate because while the game may be a work of fantasy and many people want to dissociate video games (particularly Sci-Fi MMOs) from reality as often as possible, the fact remains that everything, even in this game, is taken from an aspect of our own humanity. Realistically, no civilization can survive as Red vs Blue (general comparison of 2 factions). Whether it's due to economics, a common enemy, or resources the outcome always ends up the same. Red has to facilitate relations with Blue and Blue must do the same with Red. It doesn't matter if at their core, they hate eachother's very being, when it comes to sharing land (even on the scale of a planet) and facing a common enemy (Entity *cough*), each side must do its part to ensure its own survival.
 
Generation gaps are an effective means to eliminate warring factions as well. This can be viewed at every single Red vs Blue scenario present on this earth. Generation 1 hates generation 1. Generation 2 hates generation 2. Generation 3 hates generation 3, but isn't sure why. Generation 4 is taught not to hate generation 4 because of generation 1. And so on. Remember, you aren't born to hate, you have to be taught.
 
So how does this apply to Nexus? Simply. The politicians of both Dominion and Exile hate each other, train soldiers, and fortify their walls in preparation for an attack (cold war) from the 'enemy'. They also realize that one cannot survive without the other. Combine that with the choice of individual players and we have money. If Olivar wants to continue to hate all Aurin, he can, and his faction condones that, but if he needs a shoulder to lean on after a rough battle against the Entity's minions, perhaps that shoulder could be FranBunnyFFXII's just to ensure his own survival.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Been watching this and sort of remaining voiceless about it because this topic has been discussed at length in several different media, but I'll give my $0.02 for a minute.
 
I like to take a realistic approach to dealing with the great faction debate because while the game may be a work of fantasy and many people want to dissociate video games (particularly Sci-Fi MMOs) from reality as often as possible, the fact remains that everything, even in this game, is taken from an aspect of our own humanity. Realistically, no civilization can survive as Red vs Blue (general comparison of 2 factions). Whether it's due to economics, a common enemy, or resources the outcome always ends up the same. Red has to facilitate relations with Blue and Blue must do the same with Red. It doesn't matter if at their core, they hate eachother's very being, when it comes to sharing land (even on the scale of a planet) and facing a common enemy (Entity *cough*), each side must do its part to ensure its own survival.
 
Generation gaps are an effective means to eliminate warring factions as well. This can be viewed at every single Red vs Blue scenario present on this earth. Generation 1 hates generation 1. Generation 2 hates generation 2. Generation 3 hates generation 3, but isn't sure why. Generation 4 is taught not to hate generation 4 because of generation 1. And so on. Remember, you aren't born to hate, you have to be taught.
 
So how does this apply to Nexus? Simply. The politicians of both Dominion and Exile hate each other, train soldiers, and fortify their walls in preparation for an attack (cold war) from the 'enemy'. They also realize that one cannot survive without the other. Combine that with the choice of individual players and we have money. If Olivar wants to continue to hate all Aurin, he can, and his faction condones that, but if he needs a shoulder to lean on after a rough battle against the Entity's minions, perhaps that shoulder could be FranBunnyFFXII's just to ensure his own survival.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Helping each other on the battle field.  Afterwords they celebate a victory together or console each other after a defeat.  A solitary moment is shared and they catch each other in a vulnerable state.  A simple touch leads to a bared heart, left exposed.  A feeling swells within them that was always there but never dared to be acknowledged, and before they can stop it they fall into each othes arms. 
 
The image fades to black.
 
Looking down on Olivar and FranBunnyFFXII, in bed, spooning after a night of heated passion,
 
'Tell me what your thinking...er..for science of course.'
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Helping each other on the battle field.  Afterwords they celebate a victory together or console each other after a defeat.  A solitary moment is shared and they catch each other in a vulnerable state.  A simple touch leads to a bared heart, left exposed.  A feeling swells within them that was always there but never dared to be acknowledged, and before they can stop it they fall into each othes arms. 
 
The image fades to black.
 
Looking down on Olivar and FranBunnyFFXII, in bed, spooning after a night of heated passion,
 
'Tell me what your thinking...er..for science of course.'
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
What the *cupcake*?
 
edit: inb4 some fanfict writer turns this into an Aurinxchua Rule 34.
 
 
...dear god why
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Fan fiction? 'Fifty Shades of Chua'?
 
And trust me there are already rule 34 pictures of Kit Brinny.
 
....I mean from what I've heard, from a friend, this guy I know,...yeah.'
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Oh i totally was aware of the kit rule 34, lol.
TBH...
I would totally commision ecchi pics of my Aurin from some of the artists on Pixiv, if I had the money.
I mean could you blame me? My Aurin's totally gorgeous.
----
			So that wasn't the intent of my post...	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
So that wasn't the intent of my post...
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Well, the exile were pretty much on the run from the dominion and are making a stand now on Nexus. As far as I read the story presented in game, like the siege of Thayd and the large attack on Tempest Refuge, it still seems like the dominion is pushing hard. Maybe the exiles would be amenable to a peace treaty. The problem is then the large conflicts mentioned above run counter that narrative.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
I can't see the dominion, pushing the exile, winning to turn around say "here we changed out minds" they are stubborn, proud and fierce. My type of faction. I can't see them just saying "lol team fire was turned on, sorry guys <3"
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
"So what do you say, 'Deadeye?'  Bury the hatchet and all that?"  Malvolio offers a hand to the grim gunslinger.
 
"I say you 'n your ilk can go crawl up the backside of a girrok and die there, fer all I care," Brightland replies flatly.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You know what's an even worse immersion destroyer?
An empty game.
 
Protip, you dont need dual factions to be immersed in a game, but you do need other people to play with in an MMO.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You'd literally have to delete Wildstar and remake its lore and voiceovers and cutscenes and questlines and EVERY SINGLE THING from the ground up to make the Dommies and Exiles get along.
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
As many people have already mentioned... COGS...
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You are overblowing it for no good reason. Why would you have to REMAKE EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE GAME (in caps) ? Have the players join the COGs or another 'neutral' faction made up for that at some point of the game (by the by: the writers are the ones who write the lore so they can come up with new things and they will be perfectly in line with lore. Shocking, I know).
 
There's literally no need to change anything existing in the game. Just add a quest after you meet Drusera, at some point. Players join this NPC faction dedicated to kill the Entity/Strain, and then they will join forces with the other faction players only at particular times. Where 'particular times' means "whenever the players choose to work together". If someone doesn't want to play with the other faction, then they don't work together with them. You can keep the same "Go throw a squirg at the enemy players for the lulz!" quests and all. There is literally no need to change anything that is already in the game.
			
				
	Edited March 5, 2015 by BusterCasey	
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{| class="blockquote"
Oh, look. The senseless white knight that doesn't think about what is being said or how it would actually work. Factions Must Mean Something and The Devs Have Better Things To Do!. Because there're lots of better things to do than fixing the population imbalance and issues.
 
Have the players join the COGs or another 'neutral' faction made up for that at some point of the game (by the by: the writers are the ones who write the lore so they can come up with new things and they will be perfectly in line with lore. Shocking, I know).
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Ok, so remake EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE GAME except for the C.o.G.s.
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{| class="blockquote"
You'd literally have to delete Wildstar and remake its lore and voiceovers and cutscenes and questlines and EVERY SINGLE THING from the ground up to make the Dommies and Exiles get along.
 
Absolutely terrible idea, to put it bluntly. Even if they DIDN'T do any of this and just left the quests and lore the same but made Dominion and Exile players friends, it would STILL take an incredibly high amount of programming work I'm sure. More than it's worth. Your idea is probably the best way to KILL Wildstar, not save it.
 
Gosh I just don't get it. How is it that so many people inexplicably think that programming is super easy and the Devs can just "herp derp flip a switch" and suddenly everything is fixed? Bug? Oh, just hit the fix bug button. Wanna change the factions? Lol, just pull the "make the factions friends again" lever.
 
In addition, I don't know what Wildstar you're playing, but I play with people every time I log on.
----
			Honestly, I'm struggling to see how this is needed other than the RPers wanting it since day 1.	
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{| class="blockquote"
Honestly, I'm struggling to see how this is needed other than the RPers wanting it since day 1.
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{| class="blockquote"
Do you even pay attention do my posts or do I have to post my CoGS screenshots AGAIN.
 
How do I know about game developement?
Because I've helped IMPORT an MMO from korea(Prius Online) and I played tech support help with the assistant producer of Prius Online as well.
We both came from Flyff(old game yeah) where we worked on optimization and technical issues with the game.
I've a general idea of how these games are supposed to work internally.
 
 
They would have to change a few things, but nothing serious.
 
A small retcon of lore post level 45 in grimvault, and Done.
 
Grimvault is where the strain comes into full force, this can easily be the catalyst after the drusera instances to throw people into the "Kay there's no more factions anymore" lore revamp. and from then on out, factions don't exist except for your NPCs and reputations, ect.
 
It's really that simple.
----
			i'm all for diversity, and i think it could add more to gameplay.  in all i think a "friendly" rivalry could still be fun between both factions. but let's just see what's going to happen.	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
You'd literally have to delete Wildstar and remake its lore and voiceovers and cutscenes and questlines and EVERY SINGLE THING from the ground up to make the Dommies and Exiles get along.
 
 
----
			
First of all stop comparing any MMO to WoW, unless it's p2p and have over 1M active users 6m after release.
 
Second lore-wise there is no reason to have dual fraction system. Except low lvl zones (and we can easily lock content from being mix-fraction before LvL50), there are few quests where you really fight another fraction. Trying to outwit another fraction is not direct combat, but rather preparation for future conflict (look at WWII and intelligence war between USSR and USA and both countries were allies) - and we can have some quests like that, without loosing much human resources, we can still have fraction members that are not accepting this alliance and therefore are occasionally attacking opposite fraction etc. We just need few words in lore about it.
 
Third it is easier to have good content, than having good content 2x. This is why there are so few different quests for exciles and dominion. This is why Grimvault is basically same zone just copied for another fraction. This is why we have one lore instead of dominion helping entity. This is why we have same classes for both fractions.
And yet developers still need to bring some resources for dual fraction content (ex. different resps/towns in Defile). Resources that can be just used to make game better.
 
It took over 6M for world first (and last) DS40 clear, not because instance was so hard (well bugged bosses have played some role), but because there was no guild that could sustain 40m rooster entire time. This is telling something about population and this is why, they have introduced DS20. I am 95% sure it wouldn't be a problem, if we had cross-fraction content. And being 100% honest there is no reason to not have cross-fraction dungs/adventures/raids. I personally have small problem with BGS or rather PvP in general, but since September real PvP in this game do not exist.
Just look what happen to VooDoo. They disbanded and most players have end game. I am sure most of them would stay, if they could join Enigma, but they couldn't because of dual fraction system. I am also sure Enigma would welcome more dedicated and experienced players and had their Avatus kill sooner.	
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Honestly strict factions are silly for a game where the activity and concurrency of the playerbase can be a hinderance if the population isn't large enough to support it. Even if it is large enough having strict mechanical seperation actually harms the palyerbase more.
 
Strict faction seperation only really seems viable to me for open world, but the rest should ultimately be up to the players themself to enforce.
 
I see far more benefit than I do harm
Role-play:
The potential roleplay possibilities rises and is more easier to organize. What roleplayer doesn't want more options!?Housing
Currently faction separation you hav eto level to 14(not hard, but still thats a wasted slot), if it were lifted I could visit openly
More sharing of creativ eideas
Gives players more ideas on housing plots to stage events between the two factions
PvP:
more queues for instanced pvpPvE:
more bodies available for queues
more bodies for raids(assuming they allow people to group via /invite as well or allow people to riad via lfg, though id prefer the former)
 
I see people saying that the story must be re-written, that quests must be overhauled, etc...
Yet the only quests that have the two factions actually going at it or encouraging it are the quests that involve you putting the squirglings on peoples heads. The toher quests that even hint at the faction war tend to be in locations where you wouldn't normally even encounter an opposite faction player, require you kill an opposite faction palyer, nor even have it as an option to add toward your credit.
 
The quests themselves once you start leveling into the more higher level zones like farside actually have Exile and Dominion bases right next to eachother and theres little to no fighting going on. It's always some "tense cease fire". I think the most action you'll see is the Dominion attacking Thayd  in Gelaras. The quests though in general don't give much of an aimpression of a war really, it feels more like a cold war where both factions are flexing their muscles but neither is willing to pull the trigger.
 
The open world does not really offer much encouragement for pvp as well. There are no RvR lakes, there is no faction controlled objective, no events, quests, or anything really pushing open world to be more than a player controlled event which the players already do on PvP AND PvE servers. This in turn reinforces the point that you do not need mechanical strict reinforcements beyond "flagging" in open world and can rely soley on the players to generate PvP in the open world, since that really is the only thing encoruaging it at this time.
 
Even then Open world does not effect the closed world, the instanced content by which you need other players. The faction divide playing a role in PvE content, and even battlegrounds, and warplots hurts the rate at which these things ar epossible and ultimately pushes people to huddle more toward one faction(in this case Exile). This is not to say that Dominion can't do content(because they do), but it is easier on exile side to get bodies than it is Dominion side for instanced content.
 
The story itself does not need to be changed much or at all and continue as it is. Story should be important and #1 in books, but in a vidoeo game it's secondary and just the setting of the world not the "end all be all". I roleplay in dungeons(even in pvp sometimes too) once in awhile, but I tend to do that with people i know and arrange things with them for story. I can't possibly see my MEchari tank being healed by an Aurin spellslinger hurting anyones immersion in wildstar that cares about story that much, becaus that person that would be bother could easily run with other people that want to be purists.
 
I'm not one to be harsh in most of my history of posting, but it feels to me that people latching on to Lore and story being the only reason not to loosen faction seperation are lazy and need their hands held. You see people all the time in their own faction making chua only groups that hate and despise other species, et twhen they want to do group content their characters story flies out the window and the switch it off to enjoy the game with their friends who don't paly chua or don't roleplay at all. In TERA, EQ, and even Guild Wars the story gave of something, but it was th epalyers who drew the lines and created and or enforced their faction.
 
To give a great example we can look at RIFT when they start lososening faction seperation by allowing people to do PvP and instanced PvE(dungeons, raids, etc) it helped them overall with queues and pvp came back again for defiant(on my server, since we were the heavier faction and queues were sparse for pvp). The world did not end and you know what it did for roleplay? made it hell of a lot easier to get some activities going between the two, especially sicne guilds could be cross faction as well. The only time  defiant and gaurdian couldnt really interact was if it was open world where you'd expect to kill the other faction.
 
Housing to me suffers the most from this seperation and it's very unfortunate. I suggested this months ago, but I feel like cross faction housing limits a potential aspect of paly that could really be fun.
 
Idea was to have housing give options to filter who can come in to your house, much like we have already. However in addition to the current filters add faction filters and even the abiliity to make your plot PvP, PvE, or take away option for flagging completely(nuetral). In effect you have just made player generated battlegrounds.
 
PvE, i see no harm from loosening factions. You essentially double your population and help your lower levels and higher levels with more possibility of getting groups and doing things together. People who don't want cross faction can take it upon themself to be pure.
 
There is nothing really more I can really say.
 
 
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The image fades to black. 
Looking down on Olivar and FranBunnyFFXII, in bed, spooning after a night of heated passion,
 
'Tell me what your thinking...er..for science of course.'
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Now, I know you've had the same views as I have on game dev...  and I do hope you're only calling it simple from a Lore perspective.  If Carbine works on Agile/Rally/Scrum like ArenaNet does, then the amount of time it'd take to actually DO these things is well above 6-8 months.
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Careful what you wish for...*gets out pencils*
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			Ummm... if I'm not mistaken, lore dictates that Exiles and Dominion are at war?	
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Ummm... if I'm not mistaken, lore dictates that Exiles and Dominion are at war?
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But some lore dictates them working together for the bigger baddie out there.
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 We'd be better off fighting for the right to go freelance.
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Ummm... if I'm not mistaken, lore dictates that Exiles and Dominion are at war?
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Factions are stupid, period.
Limits the story
Splits the player base(fine n the case of WoW, but not Wildstar as it currently stands)
Splits the entire world
 
It's also balls deep in the ugly pool when you have the same assets being used on both sides.
 
Fire=Hot
Water=Wet
Ice=Cold
Factions=Stupid	
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			Did a Crimelords of Whitevale today... So many aurin, chua, draken, granok, and human Thermock Hold Citizens all chilling and chatting...	
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Is there some sort of storywriting rule that i'm unaware of that says once enemies always enemies? 
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But some lore dictates them working together for the bigger baddie out there.
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Did a Crimelords of Whitevale today... So many aurin, chua, draken, granok, and human Thermock Hold Citizens all chilling and chatting...
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I really cannot stress enough the slippery slope that is The Greater Good trope.  I want my factions at war.  Clear cut sides are a boon.  When CoH delved into co-op content, literally every story was "for the greater good."  6+ issues of "for the greater good."  Want your villain to be a villain?  Sorry, it's "for the greater good."  Making both factions a muted gray and tossing out the reason for their original black/white ways is a good way to dump on the lore and stagnate the story.
 
The only way this wouldn't homogenize the factions is if each one was fighting the "big bad" for different reasons, not to work together.  Dominion wants to harvest Strain to make a virus that only affects those without Highborn blood; Exiles want to eliminate the Strain entirely.
 
I don't want to play a faction-divided game only to have the factions mean nothing at level 45+.
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I don't understand this constant, "Oh let the Dommies and the Exiles be friends crap. We are not  friends. We are not  buddies. This is part of the LORE; the STORY, that we are at WAR
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