-Bases of factions/clans should be far away from each other and the spawn point, to allow for territories to be claimed easily.-
-Freeform fighting system (no server rules about warfare).-
-Griefing, stealing, and murdering are allowed. However, your faction is responsible for your actions, and expect retribution. Immaturity will result in a ban.-
-Little or no activity outside factions/clans (to avoid independent griefers/spawnkillers/theives)
Factions/clans are responsible for their members' actions.-
-In war, fighting is coordinated and strategic. Members of factions/clans don't go off on their own raids or otherwise act without their commander's permission.-
-No combat logging. We understand that it often happens accidentally, but we can tell when it is done on purpose, and you will be punished for it.-
-New players research and register for factions/clans before joining the server. Unless they truly want to be independent and understand the dangers of being on their own, they should start out as part of a faction. This is a deterrent to spawnkilling.-
-Whitelist with extensive application, involving faction/clan membership status and how they plan on acting on the server.-
-Roleplaying is not enforced or discouraged. Factions should consider themselves nations, and act as such. If a faction wants to RP, go ahead. If you don't RP, try not to ruin it for those who do. Aesthetics have nothing to do with warfare, except maybe when used as intimidation. Build your structures in whatever style you want, and there are no rules about what you can and cannot build.
-Factions are allowed to keep their locations secret, to the best of their ability. Locations may be divulged as punishment.
-Factions are allowed by the server to build wherever they want, but be aware of the consequences of say, building inside another clan's territory. Main bases are recommended to be at least 5000 blocks away from each other, though locations can remain secret.
-Bans administered for hacking (including mods and x-ray texture packs), excessive harassment/negative activity, and immaturity.-
-Factions/clans can request certain players be banned.-
-Little or no plugins/mods. Possibly improved chat, most likely a plugin to remove experience from the game, as dropped XP orbs can ruin a server. Maybe one to allow players to turn off their nametag. Absolutely no teleporting. Factions will likely be able to set their own spawn points.-
-Neutrality for beginning factions/clans. Don't fight anyone unless they're prepared for it (officially a faction/clan).-
-Neutral groups must be established before being recognized as a faction/clan. They must have a base of some sort, and be inspected by a member of server staff. Recognition will be denied if the neutral group appears incapable of defending themselves and their property.-
-Recognition of a new faction/clan will be announced suddenly, and inspection of a neutral group should be a secret. This is meant to prevent other factions/clans from taking advantage of a newly recognized faction/clan.-
-Factions/clans can claim land, but only if they can protect it. No rules or plugins will protect if for you.-
-Neutral groups (unrecognized factions) can claim land, and are protected from attacks. They cannot claim land claimed by other factions or neutral groups. Neutral groups cannot be attacked and cannot attack. If a neutral group attacks anyone, their protection from attack will be revoked.-
-Players trespassing must be challenged before being attacked outside of war. If a player comes in peace, i.e. with a message, they must let it be known (maybe by throwing snowballs in the air, or something similar). War must be declared by a faction for these rules to be lifted. If a player is attacked without a challenge, the player's faction/clan is expected, but not required, to declare war unless the attacker is punished by his faction/clan and reimbursement is made.-
-Espionage can be used in or out of game, so be careful who you accept into your faction.
-Maximum faction/clan membership, to protect from imbalance between factions/clans. There will be a maximum number of members based on the average number of players in a faction/clan (total number of players divided by number of factions/clans). If a pre-existing faction/clan joins the server and has more than the maximum number of players, they will be allowed to keep all their existing members, but not allowed to accept new members until the maximum rises sufficiently.-
-Vocal chat for factions/clans. The server won't have one, but all factions/clans should have their own. Again, encouraged, but not required.-
-Factions/clans are allowed to kick members from the faction/clan.-
-Nothing will be designated to symbolize anything. Wars will not be fought over gold blocks, and cake will not be given more value as a trade item than it has as a food. I mention this because I have encountered a surprising number of people who think that certain aspects of real life need to be symbolized in Minecraft. They don't, and they won't be on this server.-
-Rules should be enforced ingame, not by plugins and mods.-
-Factions/clans should be considered the authority in the server, so don't go crying to mods/admins when someone attacks you. Talk to your faction. However, mods and admins should be listened to and treated with respect. They have authority when it comes to server rules.-
Wow, you're fast. It's been about a minute since I posted.
I don't think teleporting is a good idea, actually. I was thinking that it would save players time to get from the spawn point to their base, but I guess there are too many problems with that. I'll take that down.
I forgot about combat logging. The problem is, there's no good way to prevent it or prove it. I'll add that to the "problems" section.
I would be willing to join this faction, I think it should be focused around 4 major factions one for x+ x- z+ z- then you would need reasons for people to hold outposts to make the game interesting. Maybe you could create territorial bonus' that factions can collect weekly. Such as free gear or money.
Replying to your thread:
-What should the server be called?-
The Art of War: Factions
-Should factions/clans be called factions, clans, or something else? Not really essential, but I get tired of typing "factions/clans" all the time.-
Factions, Let them choose their own names
-Should there be any roleplaying? If so, to what extent? Should we consider factions/clans as nations but not have character roleplay?-
Role-playing to the extent where people don't build ugly houses and keep in style with their faction. Gamey tactics such as mob spawner's and such should be allowed. Maybe even faction skins.
-What is the best way to prevent spawnkilling?-
Spawn Protection. Or during war, make jails, where if you get killed during a war you get sent to the enemy prison till the raid is over. Then you get released. If the jail is full you are free to go back to the fight at your faction HQ.
-Griefing/stealing outside of war?-
Yes to an extent. Have the HQ out of bounds, but allow for Outpost sabotage
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?-
Server wide events? HQ raids, when a faction has lost all outposts, then all factions are allowed 30 minutes to try and siege their capital to destroy them once and for all!
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-
Yes, Too many to list
-Should we use a plugin to change the spawn point for factions/clans?-
Yes, at HQ, alot less walking. Read above about spawn camping ^^^^^
-What should we do about combat logging? How should we try to prevent it? How strict should we be? There are plenty of reasons why it might happen accidentally.-
3 instances of combat logging with in an hour and jailed for two days
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.-
10,000 from spawn, with outposts at each 2k, in a circular grid.
So each faction would start off with an outpost at 2k, 4k, 6k and 8k from spawn in their direction. As well as Two spawn points to each diagonal side of them. Such as they would form a 25% wedge at game start. I'd say give everyone a couple days to build their forces, and secure their fortifications. And when each faction gets 10 or so people then you would open up hostilities.
Allowing for two outposts to be seized each day, but only if 5 members from the defending faction is online. A seizure would be raising your flag at the top of the installation, preferably a central tower. Preferably surprise attacks should be allowed, but if more than 5 people are conducting the raid it should be announced prior to the engagement. A outpost has to be held for 5 minutes before switching complete ownership (counting bonuses). Of course we would probably want some admins to observe most outpost wars to make sure no one breaks the rules (1x1 towering, battle logging).
My idea for the final battle for the capitals would be a outpost system with in the HQ, 4 outposts have to be captured around the base (raising flags is the only way I can think of) and then one final outpost has to be taken, but can only be taken after the previous 4 have. This central outpost is also the spawn point for the faction, which may make it difficult to capture. After holding this point for 1 minute the faction is disbanded and its territory goes to the captors.
Once a faction is disbanded the players can either form a resistance against the new occupiers by creating enclaves past the 10k border, and organising a revolt. In which if 3 outposts can be taken by one resistance organisation they can be recognised as a faction again. But still do not have a HQ. They can then siege their previous HQ again after claiming 3 more outposts. Resistance organisations can be crushed if they go 7 days with out completing their objective to recapture 3 outposts. Then the resistance can be distributed between the remaining factions buffing their ranks. Alternatively if no resistance forms, the players can choose to join a new faction immediately.
In preparation of the server, a pathway of 10k should be created in each direction from spawn, and the outposts should be build by the admin/moderator before other players are let in. Then as the factions join they are given a day or two to make their HQ base.
Wow, you're fast. It's been about a minute since I posted.
I don't think teleporting is a good idea, actually. I was thinking that it would save players time to get from the spawn point to their base, but I guess there are too many problems with that. I'll take that down.
I forgot about combat logging. The problem is, there's no good way to prevent it or prove it. I'll add that to the "problems" section.
Theres a mod, Its like if your being attacked by another player if you log off and dont come back in like 10-20 seconds, It clears your inventory, you lose half your money, and the opposing factions gain dominance, look it up
You mentioned little or no Independents. While this is generally how the server should be, we should allow for small groups of independents to form if they are in a house of mercenaries. They would have their guild halls near spawn. But would be limited to size. Max 11 people per house.
Mercenaries
Structure:
A house of mercenaries would have a structure of 1 leader, 2 sergeants, and 8 soldiers. Each sergeant would be in charge of 4 soldiers during battle. But all would be ultimately under orders from the leader.
Job:
Mercenaries could be hired for protection of outposts, protection during siege, escorts, or raids. They would receive payment for their job, and it would be allocated to the members by the leader.
Restrictions:
1 mercenary house per 40 players in the game. As too many mercenary houses could severely unbalance game play.
The idea is to get existing clans to join, not create new ones. Hopefully, we will have lots of clans once the server gets established.
Like I said, adding any artificial value to anything ruins the greatest thing about Minecraft PvP. That is, that it reflects real life because all values are concrete. Outposts are important in and of themselves, when you fight wars strategically and not immaturely. Outposts are hubs for soldiers, so they extend your reach. This way you can protect more territory. Territory is valuable because you have access to all the resources in it. This server isn't meant to try and simulate an RTS game. It's Minecraft war. If you control more area, you can get more resources, and resources win wars.
I don't care a bit about aesthetics. That's not the point of the server. Mob spawners are very important to Minecraft war, why on earth would they not be allowed? Faction skins could be useful, but I'm not sure if they are necessary. I'll mention them, along with flags, in the OP.
I don't want spawn protection. That's not the best way of dealing with the problem, because spawnkillers can easily wait just outside the spawnzone. We need a solution that prevents or discourages spawnkilling at the source.
I like the jail idea, but it would be pretty hard to implement. Plus, I don't like putting rules like that on war. War is meant to be as freeform as possible. But there are much worse ways to structure war.
I meant the "griefing/stealing" question as an extension to the previous question, as in, how do we best prevent it? Outpost sabotage is considered an act of war. Doing so outside of war is considered grounds for declaring war. It definitely shouldn't be encouraged. However, if you do want to instigate war with a raid, nothing should be off-limits.
Server wide events? HQ raids, when a faction has lost all outposts, then all factions are allowed 30 minutes to try and siege their capital to destroy them once and for all!
See, this is the sort of thing I really don't want in the server. War shouldn't have rules (at least in MC). If a faction is forced back to their capitol, it shouldn't be considered an invitation for neutral factions to attack,let alone allies. There's no reason for that. And time limits will have no place on this server, except perhaps in punishments. And I meant more like the Olympics in real life, when all nations at war are required to declare cease-fire. We could have a similar, regularly-held competition between factions. Scheduled arena matches could be a good way to train and earn rare items such as diamond equipment, as well as a peaceful outlet for clan rivalry.
Plugins/mods:??
This server is supposed to be (mostly) vanilla. We shouldn't use too many mods or plugins. For example, we're definitely not using McMMO, and I'm starting to think we shouldn't have any economy plugins. In real life, things like not being able to attack certain places and currency aren't laws of nature. You can do whatever you want, there are just consequences for every choice. This is something I want to reflect in this server.
Your solution for combat logging could be viable. I'll add it to the OP, but leave the question open.
I'll let other people discuss distances. Like I said, I don't really know what they mean ingame.
Theres a mod, Its like if your being attacked by another player if you log off and dont come back in like 10-20 seconds, It clears your inventory, you lose half your money, and the opposing factions gain dominance, look it up
I don't really like that, because if you accidentally combat log, about 60% of the time it's not because of something that let's you get back on that quickly.
So each faction would start off with an outpost at 2k, 4k, 6k and 8k from spawn in their direction. As well as Two spawn points to each diagonal side of them. Such as they would form a 25% wedge at game start. I'd say give everyone a couple days to build their forces, and secure their fortifications. And when each faction gets 10 or so people then you would open up hostilities.
Allowing for two outposts to be seized each day, but only if 5 members from the defending faction is online. A seizure would be raising your flag at the top of the installation, preferably a central tower. Preferably surprise attacks should be allowed, but if more than 5 people are conducting the raid it should be announced prior to the engagement. A outpost has to be held for 5 minutes before switching complete ownership (counting bonuses). Of course we would probably want some admins to observe most outpost wars to make sure no one breaks the rules (1x1 towering, battle logging).
My idea for the final battle for the capitals would be a outpost system with in the HQ, 4 outposts have to be captured around the base (raising flags is the only way I can think of) and then one final outpost has to be taken, but can only be taken after the previous 4 have. This central outpost is also the spawn point for the faction, which may make it difficult to capture. After holding this point for 1 minute the faction is disbanded and its territory goes to the captors.
Once a faction is disbanded the players can either form a resistance against the new occupiers by creating enclaves past the 10k border, and organising a revolt. In which if 3 outposts can be taken by one resistance organisation they can be recognised as a faction again. But still do not have a HQ. They can then siege their previous HQ again after claiming 3 more outposts. Resistance organisations can be crushed if they go 7 days with out completing their objective to recapture 3 outposts. Then the resistance can be distributed between the remaining factions buffing their ranks. Alternatively if no resistance forms, the players can choose to join a new faction immediately.
In preparation of the server, a pathway of 10k should be created in each direction from spawn, and the outposts should be build by the admin/moderator before other players are let in. Then as the factions join they are given a day or two to make their HQ base.
Slow down a bit, you came out with two new posts while I was replying to your first one.
Factions will definitely not be told where to build anything. Territory layout is completely up to them. And I left number of members out of the requirements for becoming a clan on purpose. I happen to know of a clan that never included more than six people, yet was considered one of the top clans on PAoW. Becoming a faction depends entirely on how able you are to protect what's yours.
Again, no rules for war. If you are capable of it, go ahead and conquer a whole faction in one day. One rule I will consider is the one about having enough people online to be attacked. I'm not exactly sure how breaking this rule would be punished, though. A seizure is when you are the one protecting a position formerly held by the enemy. Nothing official or artificial. During a war, nothing needs to be announced unless you really want to. It's the defending faction's duty to be aware of an attack before it comes. This is one of the reasons for outposts and espionage. Ownership isn't official. You only own something if you can defend it. I don't care about 1x1 towering. Any advantage that you get from random aspects of Minecraft are completely allowed, because this is Minecraft war.
War in this server will have no system and no official objectives. Minecraft war isn't a sport. It doesn't need rules to regulate everything. As long as everyone plays with the right attitude, all of the basic war events you described will happen on their own. Factions can't be disbanded through war. Their territory can be taken from them, and they can hold a resistance to take it back, but there will never be any rules about what they can or cannot build, and there are no states of being for a group of players besides neutral groups and factions.
You mentioned little or no Independents. While this is generally how the server should be, we should allow for small groups of independents to form if they are in a house of mercenaries. They would have their guild halls near spawn. But would be limited to size. Max 11 people per house.
Mercenaries
Structure:
A house of mercenaries would have a structure of 1 leader, 2 sergeants, and 8 soldiers. Each sergeant would be in charge of 4 soldiers during battle. But all would be ultimately under orders from the leader.
Job:
Mercenaries could be hired for protection of outposts, protection during siege, escorts, or raids. They would receive payment for their job, and it would be allocated to the members by the leader.
Restrictions:
1 mercenary house per 40 players in the game. As too many mercenary houses could severely unbalance game play.
No. Sorry. I have no problem with factions doing this, but they would be a faction, not a group of independants. And there will be no regulations for how any clan should be set up. No faction should have to register as a mercenary faction, either. And there should be no independants at all. This is the best way to avoid spawnkilling, because both victim and aggressor would be part of a faction, and such an act would lead to war. Independants could do whatever they wanted and avoid consequences (until they get banned).
Although I usually work as an engineer and not a man of war in RP servers, I'm totally in on this. I'm super tired right now, so this is basically the crappiest reply I've ever written, and sorry about that. (I might come back and edit it later.) But yeah, I'll just join a faction and work as a builder for them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hello? Eat my tarts? In this cosmic dance of bursting decadence, withheld permissions twist all our arms collectively. But if sweetness can win- and it can- then I'll still be here tomorrow to high five you yesterday my friend. Peace.
Hmm.
This, good sir, sounds like an excellent idea.
I would be willing to help with whatever possible.
On the ideas of combat logging, I would suggest that if a player logs out whilst fighting, he takes half of his health as damage.
Spawn killing prevention= pvp protections at spawn, but not stealing. Griefing protection at MAIN spawn only, not base.
Yes, include a plugin to change spawn points.
Full griefing and stealing allowed outside of war. Factions may declare war because of this, but they will have to find out who did it. Neutral members that get found out to be griefing lose their protection. If a clan steals neutral faction's territory or attacks gets smited down by all other factions and admins and mods can have some fun attacking :biggrin.gif:
Faction bases should be at least 6000 blocks away, preferably 10000<
This is a really good idea. I think there should be like premaide mines and stuff so you have a reason to start fighting in the early days.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I beat two super hostile maps, see of flame 2 and spellbound, have to finish more. Plan to do inferno mines for lulz and win when it goes out. Have fun!
-Should there be any roleplaying? If so, to what extent? Should we consider factions/clans as nations but not have character roleplay?-Little if any.
-What is the best way to prevent spawnkilling?- A simple plugin that disables it. OR just make it against the rules and enforce the rules.
-Griefing/stealing outside of war?- Yes.
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?- No, detracts from the combat.
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-Few if any.
-Should we use a plugin to change the spawn point for factions/clans?-Factions plugin?
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.- 1000 x and z away (within that range). Make sure each factions knows the others' coordinates too.
Well, I like everything to be honest. I just want to say im a good writer, and if you ever need a lore/backstory of any kind, im your guy, just PM me basic things you want in it and I can write it for you. Need examples? Go to my account page and click topics, you can see backstories ive wrote for my own (dead) servers.
Thanks for all the positive feedback! It's great for a first-time thread. I was afraid no one would read it.
I've edited the OP, taking all of your comments into account. A lot of you said the same sort of things, so I can reply to most of you by making changes to the OP or posting once, like this. Please re-read the OP so we don't continue arguing about something that no longer applies.
A lot of you answered that the solution to spawnkilling is to set a pvp-protected spawnzone. I've played on several servers, and most of them had a protected spawnzone. These were the ones that had a problem with spawnkilling. The problem with a protected spawnzone is that spawnkilling can just as easily occur just outside it as at the spawnpoint itself. My solution to spawnkilling is outlined in the rules. This is why I encourage all new players to join a faction before joining the server, and why I discourage any independent players. If both attacker and victim are members of factions, the attacker's faction is responsible for his actions, and the victim's clan can expect reimbursement or threaten retribution. Letting people play independently means not having a faction to protect you or punish you for breaking rules or acting out of hand.
Also, I think most of you missed my point about combat logging. I'm not looking for a way to punish it, I'm mostly looking for a way to tell when it is done on purpose. It seems unfair to me to punish someone because they got cut off from the server or called away from the computer at a bad time.
Please note that I have NOT read all of the replies, so I may repeat someone.
Problems/Issues/Questions to discuss:
-What should the server be called?-
The name should be your decision but no something-craft, putting craft at the end of a word doesn't make it epic.
-Should factions/clans be called factions, clans, or something else? Not really essential, but I get tired of typing "factions/clans" all the time.-
Factions
-Should there be any roleplaying? If so, to what extent? Should we consider factions/clans as nations but not have character roleplay?-
From my experience RP is good for faction servers but if you take it too far it gets ignoring. eg) Having to knock on doors before entering
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?-
I think once every 3-4 weeks there should be a server wide war, 1 week before the war you can opt out. If you do opt out your faction can not log on for the war. If you don't opt out your faction will be entered. This makes it so players will be more active on the server. This will also ensure there will be no inactive factions.
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-
-Should factions be able to set their own spawn point by means of a plugin?-
Yes, but there should be a delay. eg) You put the command in then wait one minute for it to happen. You could just use the faction plugin
-What should we do about combat logging? How should we try to prevent it? How strict should we be? Remember, more often than not, combat logging is accidental. I'm not asking how to punish it, that's the easy part.-
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.-
Some people think that 100 blocks is far but its not, I think 5000 blocks is good.
Click here to go to the server forum.
Click here to go to the official server website.
-Bases of factions/clans should be far away from each other and the spawn point, to allow for territories to be claimed easily.-
-Freeform fighting system (no server rules about warfare).-
-Griefing, stealing, and murdering are allowed. However, your faction is responsible for your actions, and expect retribution. Immaturity will result in a ban.-
-Little or no activity outside factions/clans (to avoid independent griefers/spawnkillers/theives)
Factions/clans are responsible for their members' actions.-
-In war, fighting is coordinated and strategic. Members of factions/clans don't go off on their own raids or otherwise act without their commander's permission.-
-No combat logging. We understand that it often happens accidentally, but we can tell when it is done on purpose, and you will be punished for it.-
-New players research and register for factions/clans before joining the server. Unless they truly want to be independent and understand the dangers of being on their own, they should start out as part of a faction. This is a deterrent to spawnkilling.-
-Whitelist with extensive application, involving faction/clan membership status and how they plan on acting on the server.-
-Roleplaying is not enforced or discouraged. Factions should consider themselves nations, and act as such. If a faction wants to RP, go ahead. If you don't RP, try not to ruin it for those who do. Aesthetics have nothing to do with warfare, except maybe when used as intimidation. Build your structures in whatever style you want, and there are no rules about what you can and cannot build.
-Factions are allowed to keep their locations secret, to the best of their ability. Locations may be divulged as punishment.
-Factions are allowed by the server to build wherever they want, but be aware of the consequences of say, building inside another clan's territory. Main bases are recommended to be at least 5000 blocks away from each other, though locations can remain secret.
-Bans administered for hacking (including mods and x-ray texture packs), excessive harassment/negative activity, and immaturity.-
-Factions/clans can request certain players be banned.-
-Little or no plugins/mods. Possibly improved chat, most likely a plugin to remove experience from the game, as dropped XP orbs can ruin a server. Maybe one to allow players to turn off their nametag. Absolutely no teleporting. Factions will likely be able to set their own spawn points.-
-Neutrality for beginning factions/clans. Don't fight anyone unless they're prepared for it (officially a faction/clan).-
-Neutral groups must be established before being recognized as a faction/clan. They must have a base of some sort, and be inspected by a member of server staff. Recognition will be denied if the neutral group appears incapable of defending themselves and their property.-
-Recognition of a new faction/clan will be announced suddenly, and inspection of a neutral group should be a secret. This is meant to prevent other factions/clans from taking advantage of a newly recognized faction/clan.-
-Factions/clans can claim land, but only if they can protect it. No rules or plugins will protect if for you.-
-Neutral groups (unrecognized factions) can claim land, and are protected from attacks. They cannot claim land claimed by other factions or neutral groups. Neutral groups cannot be attacked and cannot attack. If a neutral group attacks anyone, their protection from attack will be revoked.-
-Players trespassing must be challenged before being attacked outside of war. If a player comes in peace, i.e. with a message, they must let it be known (maybe by throwing snowballs in the air, or something similar). War must be declared by a faction for these rules to be lifted. If a player is attacked without a challenge, the player's faction/clan is expected, but not required, to declare war unless the attacker is punished by his faction/clan and reimbursement is made.-
-Espionage can be used in or out of game, so be careful who you accept into your faction.
-Maximum faction/clan membership, to protect from imbalance between factions/clans. There will be a maximum number of members based on the average number of players in a faction/clan (total number of players divided by number of factions/clans). If a pre-existing faction/clan joins the server and has more than the maximum number of players, they will be allowed to keep all their existing members, but not allowed to accept new members until the maximum rises sufficiently.-
-Vocal chat for factions/clans. The server won't have one, but all factions/clans should have their own. Again, encouraged, but not required.-
-Factions/clans are allowed to kick members from the faction/clan.-
-Nothing will be designated to symbolize anything. Wars will not be fought over gold blocks, and cake will not be given more value as a trade item than it has as a food. I mention this because I have encountered a surprising number of people who think that certain aspects of real life need to be symbolized in Minecraft. They don't, and they won't be on this server.-
-Rules should be enforced ingame, not by plugins and mods.-
-Factions/clans should be considered the authority in the server, so don't go crying to mods/admins when someone attacks you. Talk to your faction. However, mods and admins should be listened to and treated with respect. They have authority when it comes to server rules.-
I don't think teleporting is a good idea, actually. I was thinking that it would save players time to get from the spawn point to their base, but I guess there are too many problems with that. I'll take that down.
I forgot about combat logging. The problem is, there's no good way to prevent it or prove it. I'll add that to the "problems" section.
I would be willing to join this faction, I think it should be focused around 4 major factions one for x+ x- z+ z- then you would need reasons for people to hold outposts to make the game interesting. Maybe you could create territorial bonus' that factions can collect weekly. Such as free gear or money.
Replying to your thread:
-What should the server be called?-
The Art of War: Factions
-Should factions/clans be called factions, clans, or something else? Not really essential, but I get tired of typing "factions/clans" all the time.-
Factions, Let them choose their own names
-Should there be any roleplaying? If so, to what extent? Should we consider factions/clans as nations but not have character roleplay?-
Role-playing to the extent where people don't build ugly houses and keep in style with their faction. Gamey tactics such as mob spawner's and such should be allowed. Maybe even faction skins.
-What is the best way to prevent spawnkilling?-
Spawn Protection. Or during war, make jails, where if you get killed during a war you get sent to the enemy prison till the raid is over. Then you get released. If the jail is full you are free to go back to the fight at your faction HQ.
-Griefing/stealing outside of war?-
Yes to an extent. Have the HQ out of bounds, but allow for Outpost sabotage
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?-
Server wide events? HQ raids, when a faction has lost all outposts, then all factions are allowed 30 minutes to try and siege their capital to destroy them once and for all!
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-
Yes, Too many to list
-Should we use a plugin to change the spawn point for factions/clans?-
Yes, at HQ, alot less walking. Read above about spawn camping ^^^^^
-What should we do about combat logging? How should we try to prevent it? How strict should we be? There are plenty of reasons why it might happen accidentally.-
3 instances of combat logging with in an hour and jailed for two days
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.-
10,000 from spawn, with outposts at each 2k, in a circular grid.
Allowing for two outposts to be seized each day, but only if 5 members from the defending faction is online. A seizure would be raising your flag at the top of the installation, preferably a central tower. Preferably surprise attacks should be allowed, but if more than 5 people are conducting the raid it should be announced prior to the engagement. A outpost has to be held for 5 minutes before switching complete ownership (counting bonuses). Of course we would probably want some admins to observe most outpost wars to make sure no one breaks the rules (1x1 towering, battle logging).
My idea for the final battle for the capitals would be a outpost system with in the HQ, 4 outposts have to be captured around the base (raising flags is the only way I can think of) and then one final outpost has to be taken, but can only be taken after the previous 4 have. This central outpost is also the spawn point for the faction, which may make it difficult to capture. After holding this point for 1 minute the faction is disbanded and its territory goes to the captors.
Once a faction is disbanded the players can either form a resistance against the new occupiers by creating enclaves past the 10k border, and organising a revolt. In which if 3 outposts can be taken by one resistance organisation they can be recognised as a faction again. But still do not have a HQ. They can then siege their previous HQ again after claiming 3 more outposts. Resistance organisations can be crushed if they go 7 days with out completing their objective to recapture 3 outposts. Then the resistance can be distributed between the remaining factions buffing their ranks. Alternatively if no resistance forms, the players can choose to join a new faction immediately.
In preparation of the server, a pathway of 10k should be created in each direction from spawn, and the outposts should be build by the admin/moderator before other players are let in. Then as the factions join they are given a day or two to make their HQ base.
Theres a mod, Its like if your being attacked by another player if you log off and dont come back in like 10-20 seconds, It clears your inventory, you lose half your money, and the opposing factions gain dominance, look it up
You mentioned little or no Independents. While this is generally how the server should be, we should allow for small groups of independents to form if they are in a house of mercenaries. They would have their guild halls near spawn. But would be limited to size. Max 11 people per house.
Mercenaries
Structure:
A house of mercenaries would have a structure of 1 leader, 2 sergeants, and 8 soldiers. Each sergeant would be in charge of 4 soldiers during battle. But all would be ultimately under orders from the leader.
Job:
Mercenaries could be hired for protection of outposts, protection during siege, escorts, or raids. They would receive payment for their job, and it would be allocated to the members by the leader.
Restrictions:
1 mercenary house per 40 players in the game. As too many mercenary houses could severely unbalance game play.
The idea is to get existing clans to join, not create new ones. Hopefully, we will have lots of clans once the server gets established.
Like I said, adding any artificial value to anything ruins the greatest thing about Minecraft PvP. That is, that it reflects real life because all values are concrete. Outposts are important in and of themselves, when you fight wars strategically and not immaturely. Outposts are hubs for soldiers, so they extend your reach. This way you can protect more territory. Territory is valuable because you have access to all the resources in it. This server isn't meant to try and simulate an RTS game. It's Minecraft war. If you control more area, you can get more resources, and resources win wars.
I don't care a bit about aesthetics. That's not the point of the server. Mob spawners are very important to Minecraft war, why on earth would they not be allowed? Faction skins could be useful, but I'm not sure if they are necessary. I'll mention them, along with flags, in the OP.
I don't want spawn protection. That's not the best way of dealing with the problem, because spawnkillers can easily wait just outside the spawnzone. We need a solution that prevents or discourages spawnkilling at the source.
I like the jail idea, but it would be pretty hard to implement. Plus, I don't like putting rules like that on war. War is meant to be as freeform as possible. But there are much worse ways to structure war.
I meant the "griefing/stealing" question as an extension to the previous question, as in, how do we best prevent it? Outpost sabotage is considered an act of war. Doing so outside of war is considered grounds for declaring war. It definitely shouldn't be encouraged. However, if you do want to instigate war with a raid, nothing should be off-limits.
See, this is the sort of thing I really don't want in the server. War shouldn't have rules (at least in MC). If a faction is forced back to their capitol, it shouldn't be considered an invitation for neutral factions to attack,let alone allies. There's no reason for that. And time limits will have no place on this server, except perhaps in punishments. And I meant more like the Olympics in real life, when all nations at war are required to declare cease-fire. We could have a similar, regularly-held competition between factions. Scheduled arena matches could be a good way to train and earn rare items such as diamond equipment, as well as a peaceful outlet for clan rivalry.
Plugins/mods:??
This server is supposed to be (mostly) vanilla. We shouldn't use too many mods or plugins. For example, we're definitely not using McMMO, and I'm starting to think we shouldn't have any economy plugins. In real life, things like not being able to attack certain places and currency aren't laws of nature. You can do whatever you want, there are just consequences for every choice. This is something I want to reflect in this server.
Your solution for combat logging could be viable. I'll add it to the OP, but leave the question open.
I'll let other people discuss distances. Like I said, I don't really know what they mean ingame.
I don't really like that, because if you accidentally combat log, about 60% of the time it's not because of something that let's you get back on that quickly.
Slow down a bit, you came out with two new posts while I was replying to your first one.
Factions will definitely not be told where to build anything. Territory layout is completely up to them. And I left number of members out of the requirements for becoming a clan on purpose. I happen to know of a clan that never included more than six people, yet was considered one of the top clans on PAoW. Becoming a faction depends entirely on how able you are to protect what's yours.
Again, no rules for war. If you are capable of it, go ahead and conquer a whole faction in one day. One rule I will consider is the one about having enough people online to be attacked. I'm not exactly sure how breaking this rule would be punished, though. A seizure is when you are the one protecting a position formerly held by the enemy. Nothing official or artificial. During a war, nothing needs to be announced unless you really want to. It's the defending faction's duty to be aware of an attack before it comes. This is one of the reasons for outposts and espionage. Ownership isn't official. You only own something if you can defend it. I don't care about 1x1 towering. Any advantage that you get from random aspects of Minecraft are completely allowed, because this is Minecraft war.
War in this server will have no system and no official objectives. Minecraft war isn't a sport. It doesn't need rules to regulate everything. As long as everyone plays with the right attitude, all of the basic war events you described will happen on their own. Factions can't be disbanded through war. Their territory can be taken from them, and they can hold a resistance to take it back, but there will never be any rules about what they can or cannot build, and there are no states of being for a group of players besides neutral groups and factions.
No. Sorry. I have no problem with factions doing this, but they would be a faction, not a group of independants. And there will be no regulations for how any clan should be set up. No faction should have to register as a mercenary faction, either. And there should be no independants at all. This is the best way to avoid spawnkilling, because both victim and aggressor would be part of a faction, and such an act would lead to war. Independants could do whatever they wanted and avoid consequences (until they get banned).
This, good sir, sounds like an excellent idea.
I would be willing to help with whatever possible.
On the ideas of combat logging, I would suggest that if a player logs out whilst fighting, he takes half of his health as damage.
Spawn killing prevention= pvp protections at spawn, but not stealing. Griefing protection at MAIN spawn only, not base.
Yes, include a plugin to change spawn points.
Full griefing and stealing allowed outside of war. Factions may declare war because of this, but they will have to find out who did it. Neutral members that get found out to be griefing lose their protection. If a clan steals neutral faction's territory or attacks gets smited down by all other factions and admins and mods can have some fun attacking :biggrin.gif:
Faction bases should be at least 6000 blocks away, preferably 10000<
-What is the best way to prevent spawnkilling?- A simple plugin that disables it. OR just make it against the rules and enforce the rules.
-Griefing/stealing outside of war?- Yes.
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?- No, detracts from the combat.
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-Few if any.
-Should we use a plugin to change the spawn point for factions/clans?-Factions plugin?
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.- 1000 x and z away (within that range). Make sure each factions knows the others' coordinates too.
I've edited the OP, taking all of your comments into account. A lot of you said the same sort of things, so I can reply to most of you by making changes to the OP or posting once, like this. Please re-read the OP so we don't continue arguing about something that no longer applies.
A lot of you answered that the solution to spawnkilling is to set a pvp-protected spawnzone. I've played on several servers, and most of them had a protected spawnzone. These were the ones that had a problem with spawnkilling. The problem with a protected spawnzone is that spawnkilling can just as easily occur just outside it as at the spawnpoint itself. My solution to spawnkilling is outlined in the rules. This is why I encourage all new players to join a faction before joining the server, and why I discourage any independent players. If both attacker and victim are members of factions, the attacker's faction is responsible for his actions, and the victim's clan can expect reimbursement or threaten retribution. Letting people play independently means not having a faction to protect you or punish you for breaking rules or acting out of hand.
Also, I think most of you missed my point about combat logging. I'm not looking for a way to punish it, I'm mostly looking for a way to tell when it is done on purpose. It seems unfair to me to punish someone because they got cut off from the server or called away from the computer at a bad time.
Problems/Issues/Questions to discuss:
-What should the server be called?-
The name should be your decision but no something-craft, putting craft at the end of a word doesn't make it epic.
-Should factions/clans be called factions, clans, or something else? Not really essential, but I get tired of typing "factions/clans" all the time.-
Factions
-Should there be any roleplaying? If so, to what extent? Should we consider factions/clans as nations but not have character roleplay?-
From my experience RP is good for faction servers but if you take it too far it gets ignoring. eg) Having to knock on doors before entering
-Should there be any server-wide events (i.e. Olympics or other competitions, Arena matches, etc.)?-
I think once every 3-4 weeks there should be a server wide war, 1 week before the war you can opt out. If you do opt out your faction can not log on for the war. If you don't opt out your faction will be entered. This makes it so players will be more active on the server. This will also ensure there will be no inactive factions.
-Should we use any plugins/mods?-
-Should factions be able to set their own spawn point by means of a plugin?-
Yes, but there should be a delay. eg) You put the command in then wait one minute for it to happen. You could just use the faction plugin
-What should we do about combat logging? How should we try to prevent it? How strict should we be? Remember, more often than not, combat logging is accidental. I'm not asking how to punish it, that's the easy part.-
-How far away should factions/clans be located from each other and the spawn point? I've never really gotten used to large measurements in Minecraft.-
Some people think that 100 blocks is far but its not, I think 5000 blocks is good.