Adding a political system

[Dyne]

I'm a poli sci major with ambition to run for office some day, but I've never even thought about running for office in game, I wouldn't want to let people down in game if I had some real life obligation to do. Doesn't meant I'm anti this system I like the ideas, my only problem is if the population dies further later on or something like that, it may just be the same die hard people in a position of power, and it wouldn't shift around like it might if there were more people.

If the game is dying, then what the heck, the developers will just let players do whatever they want. Just like in ffxi you can probably hit max level in 2 weeks or less now. You just make do with what you can with whatever time you have left before they shut the thing down.

[Preypacer]

Thanks, but no thanks.

Would work fine and I'd be all for it in an MMO designed entirely around PvP and/or other forms of direct player competition for territory control; like TERA, or Lineage 2. I played Lineage 2 for years and loved the siege and territory control aspect of it. However, L2 was also designed 100% around that concept, from the ground up. TERA is designed entirely around that concept 100% from the ground up. It works in those games because the games are, at their core, about direct player competition and influence in that capacity.

FFXIV is not.

Given that FFXIV already has established lore, established rulership in each city-state and a storyline that revolves around different nations all dealing with a common foe, it would seem extremely arbitrary, tacked-on and out of place, frankly. FFXIV's setting is not based around the people of Eorzea in constant competition for control and influence over entire cities, ever trying to wrest control away from each other.

I think influence over regions, like how they did it in XI with Conquest for example*, is more appropriate in a setting like XIV's than a direct competition system. It was a system that allowed people to get control over a region in the game, and brought with it a number of benefits.


*To those who are frothing at the mouth and seeing red because I referenced XI in a XIV thread... I don't care. It's a relevant comparison. Deal with it.

[Elkwood]

I would like to be able to run as ruler of a country, change taxes, build buildings, make campaign promises (Free Chocobos anyone?) stuff like that. In order to do this, they can set it up so the person can only rule maybe 4 weeks, and another election can run again before their term is up. The person would need as much support from their linkshell as possible and maybe build quite a good reputation with everyone in the game so they can get enough votes, or they can resort to bribery and maybe rule with an iron fist if they want to. Voting booths can be placed in the adventurer's guild.

So you ask, Why Dyne? Why would you want this to happen in this game? Are you crazy?

Yes, I am crazy, but the answer to the later questions is that I would like a very involved community of gamers. There are already a handful of gamers that you already know quite well in your servers, and I would like that reputation to be significant. In ffxi, most people knew the good, very skilled players, as well as the best linkshell leaders, and they also knew the bad ones. They also remember those random acts of kindness made by certain players. If this forums are any evidence, most people want some drastic changes in the game, and their opinions are being voiced out with a passion.

I wouldn't say, do this now. I want the devs to fix the game and make it fun first obviously. But, I do want this planned sometime in the future.

This bombed in Terra and it would Bomb here as well

[Amineri]

IMHO, if governments and political systems are established, then they should be designed around service of the player to the community. NOT about self-aggrandizement and "shits and giggles" for a person elected.

Also, I fail to see just what the purpose of establishing player-run political systems would be? What function in the game world would it fill? Ultimately, I think the next step (after Grand Companies) is the player-run private companies. The private companies are (quite likely) going to have a role to fill within the Eorzean-Garlmald conflict, and I'm sure there will be plenty of politicking within them. What about starting with that before trying to create city-wide or server-wide dictatorships?

[Dyne]

IMHO, if governments and political systems are established, then they should be designed around service of the player to the community. NOT about self-aggrandizement and "shits and giggles" for a person elected.

Also, I fail to see just what the purpose of establishing player-run political systems would be? What function in the game world would it fill? Ultimately, I think the next step (after Grand Companies) is the player-run private companies. The private companies are (quite likely) going to have a role to fill within the Eorzean-Garlmald conflict, and I'm sure there will be plenty of politicking within them. What about starting with that before trying to create city-wide or server-wide dictatorships?

Yeah, it can be designed around a service to the community also, like allowing certain options to be available for your city. Like free chocobo travel for everyone, in return you pay a little higher taxes. However, someone can hate paying higher taxes, then take away free chocobos when they win the election. You can become a righteous ruler or a very bad one. It's all about role playing. The main purpose of player-run political system is exactly that, role playing. It's something that people could only dream of doing in real life. It would also promote loyalty to your nation and competition with other nations. How you make that happen is up to you, playing nice or playing dirty, it's your choice. In the end, it gets the community involved.

[Amineri]

Yeah, it can be designed around a service to the community also, like allowing certain options to be available for your city. Like free chocobo travel for everyone, in return you pay a little higher taxes. However, someone can hate paying higher taxes, then take away free chocobos when they win the election. You can become a righteous ruler or a very bad one. It's all about role playing. The main purpose of player-run political system is exactly that, role playing. It's something that people could only dream of doing in real life. It would also promote loyalty to your nation and competition with other nations. How you make that happen is up to you, playing nice or playing dirty, it's your choice. In the end, it gets the community involved.

There are a couple of positive aspects to player-run political systems.

First, they can increase the immersion factor of the game. I couldn't say with certainty for ALL such attempts, but in my experience, they tend to end up not working all that well -- they end up creating more frustration for more players then they do enhancing the fun.

Second, they can provide an opportunity for players to give back and contribute to the rest of the playerbase -- yes, I'm actually saying that I feel that such a system should NOT be about the people elected, but about the rest of the players. That is, an elected person is elected not to have fun, but to sacrifice in order to make everyone else's game more enjoyable.

Locking certain races out of cities (racism), levying massive taxes, destroying building, or raising monuments to praise oneself are, to my mind, EXACTLY the types of things that shouldn't be happening. Fun for the few at the expense of the many is not a good recipe to maintain a healthy subscription base.

My 2 gil

[Preypacer]

Like free chocobo travel for everyone, in return you pay a little higher taxes. However, someone can hate paying higher taxes, then take away free chocobos when they win the election.

Wait... "they get chocobos for free.. but just have to pay higher taxes". So in other words... they're still paying for chocobos, just indirectly. Brilliant! Keep 'em coming, Dyne... You're really hitting it outta the park with these well thought-out concepts to support your idea.

You can become a righteous ruler or a very bad one. It's all about role playing. The main purpose of player-run political system is exactly that, role playing. It's something that people could only dream of doing in real life. It would also promote loyalty to your nation and competition with other nations. How you make that happen is up to you, playing nice or playing dirty, it's your choice. In the end, it gets the community involved.

OH... So now it's really all about Role Playing.

Funny, for the past several pages, it's been all about being ruler of a region and all the perks that power brings with it. All the ways you can influence other people's gameplay.

Someone calls out the problems your previous sales-pitch could bring, so - on a dime - it now becomes "all about Role Playing".

It's amazing watching you jump from one foot to the other, morphing and changing the idea from one thing to another based on who you're replying to.

It's also undeniable proof of just how ill-conceived and poorly thought out this pet idea of yours really is.

[Dyne]

Wait... "they get chocobos for free.. but just have to pay higher taxes". So in other words... they're still paying for chocobos, just indirectly. Brilliant! Keep 'em coming, Dyne... You're really hitting it outta the park with these well thought-out concepts to support your idea.




OH... So now it's really all about Role Playing.

Funny, for the past several pages, it's been all about being ruler of a region and all the perks that power brings with it. All the ways you can influence other people's gameplay.

Someone calls out the problems your previous sales-pitch could bring, so - on a dime - it now becomes "all about Role Playing".

It's amazing watching you jump from one foot to the other, morphing and changing the idea from one thing to another based on who you're replying to.

Roleplaying being a good leader or a bad leader is what I'm talking about to make it that much more understandable for you.

[Preypacer]

Roleplaying being a good leader or a bad leader is what I'm talking about to make it that much more understandable for you.

No, it makes it clear that you have no clear idea of exactly what the system is, what kind of experience it's aimed at or how it would actually fit into the game's setting.

It makes it clear that you are willing to change your perspective, and how you pitch the idea, to suit who ever you happen to be responding to. For one person it's a BLT on Rye, for another it's a Ham Sandwich, for yet another it's a Hot Dog. Reading through all your posts in support of it for the last 7 pages or so, there is no consistency in how you're explaining the system. It changes almost from one post to the next.

It makes it clear that you have put no thought into the system, how it would play out or how players would affect or be affected by it.

It makes it clear that your thought process goes only so far as "I want to be able to rule a city and control stuff" and everything after that is "fluff that someone else can figure out.

Perhaps if you took more time to think the idea through, think of the ramifications, how it would fit into the gameworld, what abuses might be opened up by such a system, how it would affect how people experience the rest of the game... not to mention elements of the game that aren't even in the game yet or things SE has planned that we don't even know about yet... Perhaps if you set out a defined and consistent set of rules, restrictions and benefits that didn't change depending on who you were talking to and what their objection was... perhaps then your pet idea could be taken a bit more seriously and warrant serious discussion.

[Dyne]

Wait... "they get chocobos for free.. but just have to pay higher taxes". So in other words... they're still paying for chocobos, just indirectly. Brilliant! Keep 'em coming, Dyne... You're really hitting it outta the park with these well thought-out concepts to support your idea.




OH... So now it's really all about Role Playing.

Funny, for the past several pages, it's been all about being ruler of a region and all the perks that power brings with it. All the ways you can influence other people's gameplay.

Someone calls out the problems your previous sales-pitch could bring, so - on a dime - it now becomes "all about Role Playing".

It's amazing watching you jump from one foot to the other, morphing and changing the idea from one thing to another based on who you're replying to.

It's also undeniable proof of just how ill-conceived and poorly thought out this pet idea of yours really is.

I am merely throwing out ideas of possibilities of what you can and cannot do as leader. Instead of being a bitch, why don't you come up with ideas on what you will do if you are ruler of Uldah?