Wow, 8 pages... lots to read through. Sorry for the delay, I've been at work for over 9 hours now -_-
First I want to state... this group would not be admin-approval only for rep alteration. We would not be 'friendly' to the npc nomad and wild factions, and thus would not have access to the same ships or be able to land on those bases. The idea is more for a wild-like faction, based heavily on human hosts and human ships, with a nomad light fighter here and there.
Also, going 'against' the keepers/wild probably wouldnt fit, I've been thinking about this pretty much all day and come to the conclusion that, while we're still hostile to those factions because of lack of rep altering, this group would likely still work with those when they happen to be in the same space. This group may be disconnected from the mindshare as a whole (explaining their non-altered rep), but when in close proximity to keepers/wild they are temporarily reconnected and work for those groups.
Now... what I think I would go on for the background is that this group is made up of nomad-LIKE creatures, but they arent genetically the same. While the nomads themselves were created to defend and patrol Daam K'vosh space, these 'nomads' (ill think up a different name for them later) would have been created as 'caretakers' for the inhabited worlds of the k'vosh - meaning they have less combat abilities, explaining the use of light fighters but no higher grade nomad ships. As 'caretakers' of the k'vosh homeworld(s), perhaps recently awakened by BMM/OSC activity on gaia, they would be angered at the destruction of the environment and become hostile to the source of that destruction - that description would fit perfectly with gaians, as they both fight for the same thing: perserving the natural environment. Since the gaians fight for the same goal, these 'nomads' would find an allegiance with them, and due to the curious and scientific nature of the gaians it's possible that some of them would allow themselves to be 'infected' by the 'nomads' as part of the alliance. The faction would end up using a small selection of ships, primarily including gaian ships (civilian series, gaian gunboat) to generic and nomad ships (nomad light fighter, maybe borderworlds line ships). Weapons would be a mix of gaian/corsair weapons.
I havent worked out the ID yet - gaian ID would fit (will definitely use the gaian tag if I go with the above basis) but a pirate ID may be better for rule purposes.
Primary enemies of the group would of course be mining and terraforming groups.
I just think a lot of the arguments i've seen pop up in this thread are thinking that this group would have access to keeper ships and weapons - and it wouldnt. Plenty of players Rp as 'indy' nomads (nomad LF's) or as infected individuals, without being in the admin-approved factions. The only change here is that we'd be implementing some new background and RP along with that, and instead of having an indy here or there we'd have several clumped up into a group working together.
Quote:"they wont lemme into the keepers, so imma make a NOMMIE FAKSHUN!"
Well technically it'd be "they wont lemme into the wild, so imma make a nomie fakshun!"
I've spoken to both keepers and wild in game quite a bit, I had an indy nomad for a while and worked directly with several keepers for a long time. I know how they work, I just want to throw my own spin on things, and try to bring at least a little bit of life to the least-active house in the game (bretonia). Initially the idea was aiming at a bretonian-wild group, and it would still be similar to that concept, but more involved with the gaians and a slightly different role from standard nomads/wild.
Other replies...
@"Renegade groups" comments:
Renegade groups, unfortunately, do not work well here. It's been proven with several attempts, including large factions like the 522nd. There arent ID's, bases, weapons/equipment, etc. to support such groups, and they destabalize everyone else's RP far too much to really be acceptable. The 522nd was a fun idea at first, but it quickly descended into a few liberty capwhores sitting in connecticut or new york all day chatting away OORP and blowing random passersby away with superior firepower. I really dont think the faction is working like it should.
That said, this group wouldnt be renegade, the keepers/wilde/etc. would not be their primary enemies, and when keepers/wild/etc. are present these 'nomads' would actually be subservient to them (i.e. take orders).
If it's Bretnoia Wilde (Gaian Wilde, etc, anyway bretonia house as a whole) I'd say stick to bretonia ships for most of the part and/or generic ships, just add nomad cannons/blasters for visual distinction. Regards the light figher, well, I'd say pause it for a while and introduce via RP means rather than from startup. The rules and ID conflicting sitautions can possibly occur, in fact there be plenty of them, talk to admins first, that's simply how you gotta handle it, I did the same back when I and others used Lane Hacker ID in absence of Nomad's content infrastructure. As for the nature and origin there is a space about it left in lore infact, new stuff that could be used actually, but again - not till 4.85 as it's all interconnected and heavily related. After that - we'll see. Meanwhile consider infrastructure for them, still need to get weapons from somewhere, dock and repair and such. Case point with Gamma/Primus is that they were pretty much neutral thus giving kind of a possibility to use as a base. There however it's something to think about ahead seriously. Tons of other things to take care of, but these are primary and most controversial ones to be solved..
I dont see why the nomad LF would be a problem, plenty of players use it who dont even RP nomads or nomad-like creatures.
It's more likely that the group would be -lead- by a small number of those ships, while the rest of the faction would be 'infected' individuals (perhaps willingly). As for docking and such, if we go with a gaian-aligned background and clear things with NLH (marburg srsly needs to post here) then we can use islay as the primary home base for the group.
Weapons, as I said, would primarily be civilian, gaian, and a small number of corsair weapons (corsair weapons would probably only be used on non-nomad-LF characters, while the nomad LF's would stick to gaian and civilian). Ships would, as you say, be generic - civilian CT line, the gaian gb in 4.85, and the nomad LF.
As for naming... I'm still trying to find potential tags, but what about Dryad/Dryads? In greek/european mythology, Dryads were forest spirits/nymphs that were generally tied to a specific area (like one forest or even one tree) and were tasked with the protection of that area from unnatural forces.
I would steer away from Corsair weapons though. Gaians may be friendly with them, but it doesn't really fit. People would immediately be drawn to say: "PvP purposes" as well.
Tenacity, as you want to be gaianish, have you had a chance to discuss this with Marburg, his Gaian has an interesting fascination with Nomads, and he would probably be a good person to discuss ideas with.
The reason why not to bring LFs straight away is that it would rile up much uproar, you know, the "omg nomadzorz, bring more caps!" stuff with base camping. Just put later when you get sufficient defenses and players to deal with that. Keep low profile for the beginning, saves nerves and unnecessary "holy wars" with battle of Endor syndrome.
Well yea, talk to Marburg, see what can be there.
Nomad blasters/cannons could be acquired from keepers actually, provided the necessary allied status, since we don't know where to put them and sell en masse to vendors after a good patrol day. That would make their use and origin fairly legit in terms of RP. They're environment safe. RoHS compliant.
Names. I'd suggest celtic and/or slavic mythologies to use as a basis for ships tags/names.
As there are no wilde/nomad npcs in Bretonia it's not like rep will be an issue since you'll not deal with it anyway.
Still, ID/rule conflicting situations, as regards what is a viable target, what is not, etc, etc. Traders, bounty hunters, etc.
Quote:Tenacity, as you want to be gaianish, have you had a chance to discuss this with Marburg, his Gaian has an interesting fascination with Nomads, and he would probably be a good person to discuss ideas with.
I know, that's why I said "Marburg srsly needs to post here".
Quote:The reason why not to bring LFs straight away is that it would rile up much uproar, you know, the "omg nomadzorz, bring more caps!" stuff with base camping. Just put later when you get sufficient defenses and players to deal with that.
It's an unlawful group related to the nomads, it doesnt matter if we fly starfleas, nomad LF's, or admin battlestar 2's, people are still going to capwhore us. I'm not too concerned with it - most of the BPA/BAF players I've seen stick to bombers/VHF's, so we'd be fairly even against one of the primary armed enemies we'd go up against.
Quote:Nomad blasters/cannons could be acquired from keepers actually, provided the necessary allied status, since we don't know where to put them and sell en masse to vendors after a good patrol day. That would make their use and origin fairly legit in terms of RP. They're environment safe. RoHS compliant.
If you're referring to the class 10 blasters and cannons, those can be acquired from pretty much any faction in the borderworlds =P We dont need to have keepers provide them.
Now, if you're talking about the actual nomad guns sold in iota/99... well, I dont think the admins (or yourselves) would like us using those weapons without having admin-altered rep. Of course, if you're willing to work out a deal, I'd much rather have real nomad guns on my nomad LF than to be stuck using gaia's saviors. Up to you.
Quote:Names. I'd suggest celtic and/or slavic mythologies to use as a basis for ships tags/names.
Right now I'm really liking the sound of "dryads" for the name of the creatures. Where the keepers use a Keepers.Name tag, we'd probably use Dryads.Name. Dryads, being forest spirits, also very closely fit the "planet caretakers" role I've got in mind - as less combat oriented variants on the nomad design. Since the daam k'vosh were able to create nomads for defensive purposes, it isnt a far stretch to say that they created additional offshoots of the nomad species for other tasks (such as caring for their homeworlds or "gardens" like gaia).
Quote:As there are no wilde/nomad npcs in Bretonia it's not like rep will be an issue since you'll not deal with it anyway.
True, occasionally a wilde will peek into the area since bretonia borders the omega systems, but npcs wouldnt be something we have to deal with. A large amount of nomad background was placed in the bretonian area during the sp campaign though - sprague's artifacts, primarily. It also has the nomad 'lair' in newcastle as a point of interest, and gaia itself can be related to the daam k'vosh / nomads without too much (if any) retconning, due to it being considered a relatively 'special' planet compared to others.
Quote:Still, ID/rule conflicting situations, as regards what is a viable target, what is not, etc, etc. Traders, bounty hunters, etc.
If we go with either gaian or pirate ID's, we can openly attack Bounty Hunters, Bretonian Police, and Bretonian Armed Forces. It's true that we still have to demand cargo or money to attack traders and such - but if we go with a large portion of 'infected' characters then it can be worked in that the supplies and cash gained from that kind of piracy are furthering the gaian cause, rather than our own - since we'd be direct allies to them.
I dont intend this to be a pvp whoring or pirate-whoring (new term, yay) faction. The intent is to help spice up bretonia by adding an interesting and (in-RP) menacing threat. Of course, since our access to ships and weapons is severely restricted, we wont actually be a huge threat, but we'd still be giving the BPA and BAF an interesting new opponent to fight.
EDIT:
Now really... one of the reasons i'm doing this is because I want to bring back my indy nomad. I stopped playing the character in favor of my junker/order characters, but it was a fun thing to RP and the ship itself is fun to fly (if a bit weak/helpless, mine never had any guns). Back when I first had that indie nomad (Nomad.Loki) my aim was to join the keepers, that didnt work out - and I was left without any real focus for the character which got boring pretty quick. Without a goal, any character or RP is going to die out - I'm just trying to bring that RP back with a new focus. Of course, the new character wont be the same nomad, but something entirely new - just using the same ship and similar RP / communication.
Quote:If you're referring to the class 10 blasters and cannons, those can be acquired from pretty much any faction in the borderworlds =P We dont need to have keepers provide them.
Problem with that is that those are harvested, puts you into rather bad position if you try to buy them. Wilde agents in disguise could supposedly buy those but they don't - that doesn't make much sense. Best way to have them is from those the weapons has originated from, but obviously not via harvesting - that'll be a big no-no. No harm to NPCs. But yea, if you kill some human carrying those - sure.
Lasers (i.e. "true" nomad weapons) however are not, at least not until this whole idea regarding the faction proves to be going right way and stable. They are heavily regulated and can't possibly fall into third-party hands who technically in terms of RP couldn't use them anyway (i.e. being re-sold, as it's more of a matter of trust than anything).
well, I figure the level 9/10 nomad guns that the keepers/wild use are probably off limits to anyone not in those factions, unless you're willing to trade. For now I'll probably stick to gaia's saviors until something can be worked out.
EDIT:
Btw, if anyone wants to contact me (i'm going in-game right now) my Xfire tag is Tenacity1
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