Your Esponiage points were well said, because people will screw over other people just for the fun of it. I will completely disagree with you in regards to AI or NPC elements being anywhere expect in a base defence type role. Instead it makes more sense and keeps truer to the Dev's image and is more fluffy if they simply add more structure. They are balancing out power/over populated factions with the 'nids. So yes Space Marines could have a huge population advantage and take an early lead, they will then have to deal with massive 'nid infestations away from the front lines that could criple them if not dealt with. They will let players decide who they want to play as, then balance with 'nids should it become one sided. This way, particularly in main PvP conflicts they dont have to render and take power away from the game to create NPC characters everywhere, plus having to constantly balance Faction NPC poplations and controls. As you said in your other post, people are basically trolls. So adding in the struture will clear abilites and limitations, with prerequisites as outlined above with limit this. Reference: Lord Executioner(Assualt skills), Master of the Marches(Leadership/Tactical skills), Master of Relics (Devisator skills), Master of Rites, Master of the Fleet, Master of Recruits, Master of the Libirium(Libby), Master of the Forge(Techmarine), Master of the Reclusium(Chaplain), Master of the Apothocarium (Apothocary) Each of the above having different requirements and only being able to do certain things. Ego stroking and kiss asses are a fact of life. People will do this, i doubt you could ever stop it lol. However you create the following type roles above that you need to do very specific multiple requirments to even be eligiable for, add in a limited amount of votes in a Strike Leader minimum rank and it shouldnt be a huge problem.
EVE has it more than most, because of the incentives. A player can cause absolute mayhem because leaders control and influence a lot (alliance dissolution, resource access, etc.) The incentives may not be that high in EC. Faction leaders may not have access to resources of the faction or strike forces to spend. They can't split apart their factions, or dissolve strike forces remotely. They might be able to set some daft objectives, but we don't yet know if the other 9 council members would simply overrule that. If you have to put in phenomenal amounts of time and effort just to have one moment where you go "hah. I asked you to capture an outpost at the back lines of space marine territory!" only to have the faction leaders go "wow, all those months to waste just one of our objectives for a couple of weeks. Hope it was worth it" and vote you out...I dunno, not sure how many would bother.
Voting is silly, although I will admit i cannot at the moment come up with a better solution, but if voting is implemented the largest clan will have all of its members in charge due to simply numbers. This could lead to a lot of strife if there are any opposing clans not getting their voices heard.
This is why I think public voting for the War Council is a terrible idea. Should be picked by members of the war council and overseen by the Devs.
I'm primarily concerned with what happens to non-clan members. While it is generally 'better' to be part of a clan, I've generally avoided clans due to my desire to not be bound to some overall group I don't actually know. I don't mean to say I'm not going to listen to the faction leader because I don't like him/her, but I think guilds are constrictive to a gaming experience. Just my view, don't take offense, I respect you and your clan's (you may be whoever applies) sovereignty, because I'm sure you're all good friends and what not, but sadly my friends don't play games that I do.
If it was possible I would prefer my leaders be chosen based upon martial prowess in the game rather than popularity, but seeing as that would garner a lot of scrutiny I doubt it will be implemented.
Not if, as planned, only clan leaders can vote. So, subject to a minimum threshold for creating a strike force, the leader of the largest clan has no more say in the faction leader than any other clan. And its the faction leaders they elect who will ultimately elect the council, further removing it from the problem of "My guild is biggest, so I get to vote myself and my lieutenants onto the council". Its by no means perfect, but as ideas go its a pretty decent solution.
I had a nice post regards this in the german part.... But I do not feel like translating, too much work.... I just leave the german version here if someone is eager enough to translate:
The problem with any democratic system of voting is that it essentially comes down to the mob rule (which is why, for example, many countries, such as the US, are not actually democracies, but republics). The way votes, if that's the system they decide to use, would have to be handled would be in a way so that it's impossible for any one particular group of players to control the votes. Even if it's only done by clan leaders, you can be guaranteed that there will be people thinking of ways to either cheat the system (have a lot of people make shell clans to be "leaders" and get extra votes), or for a lot of clan leaders to be brown nosing each other and all choose one person to be a sort of "figurehead" for the group of leaders that will control all the decisions (basically a group of leaders that aren't the war council controlling the faction leadership position rather than a single player with the war council elected separately). So, if they intend on electing players into faction-controlling positions, I think it would be ultimately best left up to the devs and be based on some sort of actual skill + an interview or review type selection. Maybe even a tournament of sorts, where all clans may participate towards an objective or compete against each other in some way to determinate the clan with the best leadership. Also, something I mentioned before, you have to remember very few clans are actually ran by one single controlling figure. It's almost always a leader with a group of "officers" that all throw votes for different things and make decisions within themselves. Of course, this is an incredibly flawed system, because it creates unbelievable amounts of drama between players if there's a schism in the "officer council" since they don't like their imaginary authority challenged. Another reason that a voting system can go horrible wrong.
