Adding a political system

[Dyne]

Oh cut the bullshit already, will you?

For one, once again, I *did* present reasons why I felt it wouldn't work. Or maybe you just stop reading at the words "won't work" and ignore all the reasons why.

You presented little more than "wouldn't it be cool to be able to rule cities and have control over how people experience the game". And then left it to others to "fill out the idea" and make it workable instead of even trying to put in a hair of effort to that end yourself. That *is* lazy. You're asking people to endorse and stand behind an idea that you're not even willing enough to put more than a whimsical thought into before presenting it.

Amineri's post is *exactly* what your initial post should have been. Well thought out, thorough and shows a degree of effort beyond "gee, it'd be cool if people could be the rulers of a city... Hey, I'm gonna take this completely arbitrary idea to the forums so other people can develop the idea for me!"

Just read Amineri's post and keep it in mind for the next time you want to present an idea.

Ok, so if Amineri presented the same idea about having a political system, you are for it. So that means, adding a political system in the game could work. So I win.

[Dyne]

Bottomline is, I wanted a political system added, it doesn't matter how they come up with it. They don't have to take my ideas on how to go about it, they can take somebody else's and that's totally fine. I have my way, they have their way, either way it's a political system. How would you go about it?

[Dyne]

Don't be a cynic.

[Atoli]

You presented little more than "wouldn't it be cool to be able to rule cities and have control over how people experience the game". And then left it to others to "fill out the idea" and make it workable instead of even trying to put in a hair of effort to that end yourself. That *is* lazy.

No, that's how a forum works.
Many people share their ideas, and maybe something great is the result
I'm not all in for the idea of a political system, I already saw it destroy another game I once enjoyed.
But I think the basic idea is good, and could bring lots of fun to the players if executed right.

Btw, Dyne: Gosh, stop triple-posting already!
There's a button called "Edit"-Button out there somewhere, learn how to use it!

[Kallera]

But that's not your ideas isn't it? Exactly. All I had was the basic idea, and left it to someone else in the forums to add to it and make it deeper. That is called brainstorming. You were out of line for calling me "lazy" and expecting me to present the whole entire thing by myself. Even her ideas can still be expanded on by someone else, but it cannot be done with a bunch of negative nancies who all they do is say "no" all day.

how can we know what you are proposing to the game if it isn't clear what it is? I could ask for tonberries to be included but there are many ways how. Beastman tribe with Seraph as its primal, tour guides traveling to new dungeons to pawn serivces, popular plush dolls in Ishgard...

[Dyne]

Perhaps a more limited form of political system could work. Elections and voting .... well, that hardly works in the real world; it seems unlikely in a gameworld.

The first step to having a political system is creating a resource system ... and not just any resources, but resources needed on a larger-than-individual scale. The Grand Companies are being founded on just that principle. The efficient collection and distribution of resources in order to combat a significant threat. Clearly, Garlemald is technologically superior, and has a superior military. Thus the limited resources of the city-states have to be carefully marshaled to try and combat the threat.

I could see fortifications, siege engines, etc being made available. There are two ways to accomplish this: first, allow guilds (private companies) to create them -- second, have Grand Companies make them. Both options are viable and could co-exist (although likely the more game-effecting effects would have to reserved for the Grand Companies). Players can contribute materials and time to the Grand Companies to create these fortifications and siege engines, but how would they be deployed?

NOW we have a need for a political system. Distribution of scarce resources in service of the city-state. One idea occurs to me: Have two sets of members in a Grand Council (for each city-state). One set of members is drawn from the leadership of the private companies that have demonstrated service to the city-state. Another could be selected from the population in general (perhaps a lottery system, with ability to vote people out, or something similar).

The function of the Grand Council is to vote upon placement of fortifications and siege equipment to resist the Garlemald Empire's military advances. The devs would establish viable alternatives, they would be presented to the Council, discussion would take place, followed by a vote.

The result would then effect players' ability to fight in campaign-style battles against the Empire.

P.S. After I wrote this, it occurred to me that the beast tribes are another possible threat. Same concept could be applied there.

Thank you, those are very nice ideas btw. I hate it when people just say "That's just not gonna work, kill it". I am glad there is someone out there that knows how to be constructive.

[Gun_Anam]

I hate the idea of any individual influencing my gameplay. I'm sure many others feel the same way.

If there were a political system implemented I would want to have the choice to vote for an NPC. I'm pretty sure that 99% of the time the NPC would be in power and keeping things the way they are. Giving people the option of giving someone else more power than them or keeping them on equal standing, the majority will always choose to be on equal standing.

[Dyne]

I hate the idea of any individual influencing my gameplay. I'm sure many others feel the same way.

If there were a political system implemented I would want to have the choice to vote for an NPC. I'm pretty sure that 99% of the time the NPC would be in power and keeping things the way they are. Giving people the option of giving someone else more power than them or keeping them on equal standing, the majority will always choose to be on equal standing.

This is an MMORPG. Every individual in the game influences your gameplay. What do you think a linkshell leader is? You are not hunting that NM or doing those leves with your linkshell just because you felt like it. At some point, the leader had to organize it. It wasn't an npc that took the effort to make an event happen.

[Amineri]

I hate the idea of any individual influencing my gameplay. I'm sure many others feel the same way.

I completely understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are individuals that influence your game play, whether you like it or not. For one, Yoshi-P (the man!) is an individual that certainly has a big influence on our gameplay. Matsui is another. Perhaps that's not what you meant, however.

For my part, I'm more comfortable with designers having a bigger influence, because the designers goal is to create a game that makes money -- ideally this comes about by making the game fun for the players, so their motivations line up nicely with mine. The issue I generally have with player control is that another player generally does NOT have the goal of making others' play experience better, but to have fun in their own right. And when their idea of fun is "mess with" other players ... well, that's when things tend to get ugly.

[Dyne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y594VfpRWbA

Here, watch FFXI Hitler. Enjoy!