Back to regarding next timeline, something I've been aching to see properly explored is how the entirety of the galaxy would handle a power vacuum. Seemingly with each timeline or major Star Wars RP set piece in forum or tabletop, it is either in the frame of the films or something immediately reflecting their themes. AKA "two warring factions of near-equal strength duking it out," or "Big Bad vs the Underdogs". In the case of this past timeline, we did both!
What'd be a fun change of pace would be "main factions" starting out relatively weak in the beginning of the timeline and its plot. Aforementioned power vacuum would allow Indies to grow in power, and likely catch up to the primary factions, forcing begrudging alliances, bargains, etc in order to make any considerable headway. With the talk of limiting the number of characters someone can play, perhaps keep it to one FS per player, to give that sense of Jedi/Sith aren't all over the galaxy just yet, replenishing their numbers after nearly both were entirely eradicated. These themes of lawlessness in the wide expanse of the galaxy would draw some constantly fluctuating faction lines (or areas entirely devoid of faction allegiance). While the fledgling New Republic would be trying to maintain order in their expanse, a Jedi is sent to act as a defacto law-keeper on a planet in the Far Rim until an Alliance garrison shows up.
Keeping in mind that Star Wars is a space-western-fantasy King Arthur Heroe's Journey, these are all things that could fit, but push the envelope enough to explore beyond the "faction v faction/empire v underdog" storytelling that seems to alternate its way down the Star Wars timeline.
The tricky thing about a landgrab over independant worlds scenario, is that we don't...really have a system in place for managing planetary conquests when there is no opposing side. I ran into that issue earlier in the timeline with the Bogan - we set up battles and asked people to participate if they wanted to NPC the opposition, and eventually we won those battles because literally noone signed up. So framing a whole setting around that could be...problematic, to say the least.
Maybe have something like quickbattles? You talk it out with a moderator who wins, loses, and what the losses are, a long post is out up for the conquest, and maybe a cool down is given so people can't just bull-rush through them?
That, or scrap conquests for unaligned planets. Maybe make it more open ended in those scenarios, so it can be completed through like a mission pack, or find someone to rp the diplomacy.
What about making larger main factions, but weaker main factions. I am thinking more of "Fall of rome" type stuff. For instance we start the main factions to the point were they are overstrectched. Way beyond the point to were they can protect themselves. They are literlly so big and large that it has weakned them.
Then we let the independent factions take there pick, they attack on there terms, when the main factions are so spread thin that they can not defend their own territory's. Do you know where I am going with this?
So that way we can still have the main factions, and the people to help role play the defenses. But the NPCs avalible to the main factions will be limited/nonexistant. So that gives the independent factions a much needed advantage and some breathing room to pick and choose what and where they want to expand.
I don't want to make it sound like I'm consistently shooting down the idea or anything, so just before I start I want to sort of make that disclaimer. It's an interesting idea, for sure, and I'm more than happy to explore the possibilities of it. Part of the reason why I invited speculation is that I want to see what you guys come up with on your own to sort of see if we can work any of these ideas in to what we're working on at the moment.
I think the idea of quickbattles is an interesting one, for sure, but it's also somewhat problematic. From my experience, one of the biggest things people expect from main factions is major battles. The problem with introducing quickbattles or skirmishes over unaffiliated worlds is that the timeline both becomes largely automated, and it's also something of a landgrab. Even with cooldowns introduced, it means taking a lot of the RP out of the RP. The reality for main factions really is that all of the other stuff - training, missions, diplomacy etc. is really just fluff around battles, which are the main reason for a main faction's existance - because they drive the timeline, get new members involved, advertise the factions and just generally breathe life into the timeline. We've had periods of peace, or even just ceasefire periods where battles aren't happening, and generally speaking, the site as a whole tends to suffer when that happens.
I just feel like quickbattles, while an interesting idea, and definately something that can happen on the side, especially for independant factions, aren't particularly ideal for main factions because they rely on battle activity so much. Just my two cents.
EDIT: @Mr.BossMan - That's...actually not bad. I will say this much - we're looking at reducing the scale of the conflict, so that we don't wind up with 3/4 of the galaxy belonging to one superpower or the other, but we're sorta trying to do it in a way that will make it consistant with canon portrayal of larger governments. I'm trying to be vague here, because this is all obviously still prone to change as discussions continue, but I will say this much - we definately want to nerf those galactic conflicts so they are more consistent with what we see in canon, and the realities of how a faction like the Republic truly operates (as opposed to how we've been pretending those factions operate in RP) is definately on the table as a matter being discussed.
@Omiya My issue with pre-Republic is that with that there is no sense of urgency. The story in that timeline would be sluggish until we get a few years in and things accelerate. My whole push for post-OT/post Imperial collapse is how the galaxy would have fractured when its superstructure goes "poof". First Republic, again, would have too many empty variables in the New Canon. I am looking at it when the EU is discarded. With the New Canon, the Dawn of the Jedi/First Republic has nearly no starting point. It would require a lot of world building on part of the staff and player base, or just cherry-pick things we liked form Legends. Even then, it has so much empty space that it permits almost too much of a void that can be exploited. Even then, the exploration component you want with the First Republic setting, while it could be fun, would be extremely constraining/easily exploitable. Like, I want to re-reroll my Cathar Jedi next timeline. In what you are proposing, however, I'd need to wait until someone discovers Cathar before I can roll my Jedi. So I'd have to make a character to find Cathar just so I can play my "main", or wait for someone else to find it?
Now, this may be a stretch, but I'd go so far as to say that seeing the Jedi/Sith not hand-holding with another faction would be a welcome change. Both sides of the Force would be recovering in the wake of the Empire. The Sith and Jedi both seeking Force-Sensitives as they pop up on the grid, serving their interests rather than being subservient to the wants and needs of the Republic or Empire. To see the Jedi actually act as guardians of the galaxy (hehe) and Sith as their antithesis driven by unfettered ambition would be like a cold sip of champagne. Imagine the tension of a New Republic garrison establishing itself [forcefully] on a Far Rim world and the Jedi needing to stand against the Republic for a change, rather than heedlessly obey the beck and call of the Senate, because what a Senate says its people needs is rarely synonymous with what the people truly require.
Again, spitballing. This is what I would think as fresh and fertile grounds for original RP, rather than the recycling of Legends plots for TOR/Pre-Republic settings.
Possibly the most effective thing I've seen implemented in the entire time period I've been a member here is the "abbreviated" battles that have happened the last few months. Narrow focus, one on one fights without a grand scope or scale and with a strict timeline in place to keep things on track. Manaan, Bestine, whatever the other one was... I have honestly been blown away by how smoothly those battles went compared to how drawn out and ugly past inter-faction conflicts have gone. I like this new system- smaller, more regulated, more frequent battles as opposed to the grand conflicts of days past.