Drunkard's Walk Forums

Evangelia had a good long meeting with Dynamistress of the Liberty FORCE tonight and there's some interesting news on the coalition front. The LF have been approached by another SG -- apparently an established and active group -- with the idea of forming a "closed coalition" of ten SGs that will sort of permanently link together, and not coalign (? what is the verb form, anyway?) with any other groups. Members of the coalition will basically treat other coalition members as if they were their own SG; the idea is basically forming in effect a super-sized SuperGroup.
The other group is part of a small coalition of four groups, and the LF has invited us to go in on the deal with them. I like the idea, it sounds like it has potential, but I wanted to throw it up for general consideration.
-- Bob
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Visit beautiful Boston, proud successor to Seattle as
"City Most Scared Of Its Own Shadow

I have no issues with it from a administrative sense, but from an RP sense how does that work?--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

I'm fine with this and willing to see where it will take us. I too am curious about the RP aspects.-Logan
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"Wake up! Time for SCIENCE!"
-Adam Savage
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Sounds interesting. Lets give her a go, maybe make a few new friends along the way.When engaging, nothing beats a full frontal.
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In the epic rage of furious thunder
legends create their tales
when the twilight calls and the dark lord falls
our glory will prevail

How does this effect those we are already in Coalition with? Example, Writer's Workshop and the other one.... Bughouse?
The way I understand Bob's statement is that all 10 of the SG's will be coalitioned with each other. 10 is the maximum coalitions allowed to my knowledge.
As an aside, I honestly haven't seen a lot happening with the coalition channel. Maybe I'm playing at the wrong times, but there seems to be no conversation on it, no asking for aid, no hey how's it going. I guess I'm asking is it worth it? Or playing Devil's Advocate? Things that make you go Hmmmm?
My two cents worth. -Cindy

The idea is to try and encourage a greater amount of interaction and, to a lesser degree, roleplaying. As for the other groups, I didn't bring them up, but I'll mention them to Dynamistress (or Brightsky or the other liaisons can do so, too). If there are still slots available I don't see why we can't bring them along.
Traffic on the coalition channel has been spotty. But how many of us put out a general hail there when we log in? I know I'm guilty of ignoring the coalition chat even when I don't have my hands full with something else. Maybe we should all get in the habit of giving a high sign there when we connect.
-- Bob
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Visit beautiful Boston, proud successor to Seattle as
"City Most Scared Of Its Own Shadow

Can someone refresh my memory? If Group A is in a coalition with groups B and C, but they are not in one with each other, what happens when they try to talk on the Coalition channel? Who can go in whose base?
If group B and C are not auto-magically allied with each other, creating a single coalition where all SGs must have a mutual relationship or one built around a 'core' SG would be like having a larger, decentralized SG. You could share the cost of base functionality and teleport beacons if it was well-organized, or have some fun with different SGs built around RPed history, themes, origins or even OOC schedules.
Is the 10 group limit going to be rigidly enforced--there may be a technical reason for it, I don't know--or is that just their ideal size?
Long as it's a friendly, inclusive thing rather than an exclusive 'club' I'm for it. After all, Legendary is full near to bursting, and SGs just aren't big enough for people who like alts! There are also a couple of people I'd like to hook up with the Legendary, but they have their own small S/VGs and bases already and don't want to abandon them.

Most of those questions I can't answer, Render -- I'm way too new to the coalition experience. Hopefully someone else knows the answers.
"Exclusive"? Depends on how you define it. Once the "circle" of groups is set up, I think the idea is that we won't enter any other coalitions. But that doesn't mean the members can't team up with folks from outside the circle. (Just that you should give preference to fellow coalition members when looking for teammates and the like.)
-- Bob
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Visit beautiful Boston, proud successor to Seattle as
"City Most Scared Of Its Own Shadow

Quote:

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Can someone refresh my memory? If Group A is in a coalition with groups B and C, but they are not in one with each other, what happens when they try to talk on the Coalition channel? Who can go in whose base?

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When someone from A uses the coalition channel, both B and C will hear it.
But when someone from B replies, only players in A will hear the reply. C will not. For people in C, it will seem like A is talking to an imaginary friend.
In other words, unless the links are completely closed, you're gonna hear lots of partial conversations. Like half a telephone.

Quote:

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Is the 10 group limit going to be rigidly enforced--there may be a technical reason for it, I don't know--or is that just their ideal size?

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There is a technical reason for it. There is a maximum limit on coalition partners. I am not sure what that number is - it may well be 10. That sounds about right.
...
Due to that numerical limit, it would not be a good idea to ask for Writer's Workshop to be included in this coalition plan with other RP SGs...the reason being, Writer's Workshop isn't really a full-blown concern. It's a very small roster, and the characters in it are all occasional alts.
When people speak of forming coalitions of this nature, it's usually between active groups. Writer's Workshop is not an active group. Sorry, Fox, but...it needs to be said. It'd use a slot, and coalition slots are limited.
It isn't the considerate thing to do. Assuming we want to join this thing. We might not...I think, depending on the nature of the coalition, there might be an argument against it. More later, at the end of my post.
I don't know who or what the Bughouse is, so I can't comment on that.
Anyway.
On the subject of large RP SG coalitions, I know the people who lead the Shield of Paragon coalition on Virtue, which is exactly the sort of organisation we're discussing. Maybe it'll help if I explain it...
The Shield was started by the Silver Guard SG, and includes a couple of themed groups spun off from them (ie, Teen Machine, The Reciprocators) ... but it also includes a lot of SGs with independent history - including The Dawn Patrol (Yes, the group mentioned in official story stuff. The devs gave them permission), The Mighty Brigade, and others.
One of my alts, Light Errant, joined the Guard last week - like I said, the leaders are old friends, so it was pretty much inevitable.
The Shield coalition seems to be a rather active concern. It definitely works, no question. Coalition chat can be a very active place to be. The rule is, it's all in-character, all the time. So that nets you RP, and damn good RP at that. Usually it's mostly 'So-and-so signing in', and 'Hey guys' sorta stuff... but occasionally full-fledged conversations break in...sometimes with really good RP mini-scenes and exchanges.
Now.
That said, I do have a slight concern here, signing up for something like this. Here's the argument against:-
I have no idea what terms this new mega-coalition is going to be formed on. However, from what Bob said, I assume that a stated goal is RP. It's entirely possible that they might be talking about a serious RP alliance.
The thing is, though...The Legendary isn't really an RP SG. Most of us RP. Some of us do not - not at all. And even those of us who RP, not everyone does it all the time. The collection of players we have is far more casual with regards to such things than, say, well, Liberty F.O.R.C.E. itself.
As I've noted, the rule in coalitions like the Shield of Paragon is that you RP, and you stay in character on coalition chat. Which isn't to say OOC discussions aren't allowed - but we're talking lots of (( brackets here )). It is, in short, an environment that is prejudiced against people who don't RP. Which isn't fair to some of our folks.
Arguing that we shouldn't join something because they RP too much...is probably a strange assertion for me to make. 'specially 'cause you all know I'm a major RPer. o_o But, well...yeah, okay, most of us RP. Sure. But I know we've got some people who don't. Maybe only a couple. But still, is it fair to them? And in any case, the Legendary was formed with the original mandate of a utility group, rather than an RP collective.
I don't know, though. There are coalitions out there with somewhat laxer approaches to RP than what I've outlined, and if so, then there's no problem. I really don't know what kind this will be, and what level of approach they're taking. I don't have enough data.
I'm just saying...
-- Acyl

I've got no problem kicking it from coalition... it's not like I can't get a hold of folks via Global anyway.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

Or via the Legendary channel, Foxboy. That's always an option, too, provided the folks you want to reach know about it and have it set up.
On the other fronts, I'm going to duck into my email in a moment and ask Dynamistress to join this thread, so we aren't talking solely from speculation.
-- Bob
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Visit beautiful Boston, proud successor to Seattle as
"City Most Scared Of Its Own Shadow

Hi all... Dyna here.
Up front, I want to say that the closed coalition concept is still just in the "thinkin' about" stage, even by the group that approached me (which was the Zenvious Foundation, by the way).
Bob is right in that coalition chatter has been low. (For that matter, our whole group seems to be suffering from an excess of real life intrusion, these days.) I would encourage everyone to at the very least say hello on the coalition channel when beginning patrol. I've been guilty of not doing that very much, myself, and will make the effort to change.
Acyl accurately answered Render's questions, and yes... 10 is the maximum number in a coalition. I'd like to address Acyl's concern, though...
Yes, Liberty FORCE is very much RP-oriented. That's not to say that we don't have our moments where double-parentheses aren't flying all over the place, for we certainly do. But RP is what we love.
I also have to assume, along with Acyl, that the coalition will be RP-oriented, but I only assume this because I know the Zenvious Foundation is (and they know Liberty FORCE is). Nothing, however, was specifically mentioned to me along these lines.
Now, I totally respect that some members of The Legendary are not so inclined. But I suppose I don't really see how this is a problem. What do these players currently do when a group is engaged in RP? Whatever that happens to be, it would probably be just as suitable with the closed coalition.
I see it in much the same way as I see PvP. Some are into it, some aren't. I'm one of the latter. So when my group has the occasional PvP event, I simply find something else to do.
Anyway, that's my two cents on the closed coalition. I would, however, like to mention that Liberty FORCE is planning to step up its involvement with other groups in coalition, and we hope to be seeing more of The Legendary. We'll send invitations over the coalition channel, of course, but please feel free to stop by the FORCE's website and get a public access pass? We're at libertyforce.guildportal.com/
Take care.