Family System Revamp!

by Revan

Back to Common Grounds.

Ixion2010-08-22 21:06:26
It's also frustrating that the non-trivial benefits (such as a GM equivalent seat) will pretty much never happen unless honour gains are fixed.
Xenthos2010-08-22 21:10:07
QUOTE (Ixion @ Aug 22 2010, 05:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It's also frustrating that the non-trivial benefits (such as a GM equivalent seat) will pretty much never happen unless honour gains are fixed.

Now, that one I do not see as an issue.

I don't think that should ever have been a benefit of the family system.

At the same time, if that wasn't a benefit, maybe gaining honour would be allowed to be a bit easier. unsure.gif
Ixion2010-08-22 21:19:02
QUOTE (Xenthos @ Aug 22 2010, 05:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Now, that one I do not see as an issue.

I don't think that should ever have been a benefit of the family system.

At the same time, if that wasn't a benefit, maybe gaining honour would be allowed to be a bit easier. unsure.gif


I wouldn't mind that either. Doing everything possible (literally every possible honour gain we've won or been doing) and yet not gaining much is pretty crappy when the top fam can sit on its laurels from their top fam gains.
Gregori2010-08-22 21:22:09
Also, if there is to be an influence bonus for the top family, it should be an org based thing. The top family in each org gets said bonus for being the top family in the org.
Casilu2010-08-22 21:46:45
QUOTE (Gregori @ Aug 22 2010, 02:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Also, if there is to be an influence bonus for the top family, it should be an org based thing. The top family in each org gets said bonus for being the top family in the org.


I think that is a brilliant idea. No, really. That would be awesome with each family trying to wrestle power from each other for bonuses. Especially in combo with some sort of reset.
Nariah2010-08-22 21:51:17
Consolidated Family Ideas:

  • Smaller houses (members>=4?) allowing themselves to count (possibly with a lessened weight) toward larger ones
  • Be able to OUST/DISOWN people from the family for all families
  • Able to bequeathe something (manse, clan, whatever) to the family, similar to the way items/manses/clans/etc can be deeded to guilds
  • No council seat, but instead some other perk; possibly a slightly heavier vote weight.
  • Family members being able to FT PROBATE family members
  • The ability for a single sibling to be able to BLOODBOND into a family if they are progenitors (similar to the above idea for adoption)
    I think we already have that one, right?
  • The ability for already established siblings to BLOODBOND into a family founded by their siblings.
  • Thresholds for Banner house/Lesser house/Great House being lowered slightly.
  • Allow for members outside of a given organization to increase family honour through leadership positions.
  • Resetting Honour {once|annually|biannually|{once|twice} a decade} but giving the highest ranking ones a small boost to begin with.
  • Decreasing the cultural impact Most honourable house confers on the score. (500 to {100-200}).
  • Children choosing which parent to go with in the case of divorces.
  • Alternate set of requirements to become a Great House (such as historic families requiring less members).
  • Marrying types being able to elect not to leave their family when marrying.
  • Children being able to follow their parents if the parents found their own family, the Family Head would perhaps have to allow this.
  • Add more ways to gain honour, especially for Lesser Houses.
  • Being able to adopt without everyone being required to be there at the same time (for active parents).
  • Small perks for families to be bought with gold/credits.
  • Allow for the case that only one parent considers the child should the other be inactive. Can requite twice the time and/or approval of the family head.
The last one is especially important because:
  • When your spouse suddenly stops playing, your only option if you want to continue adopting children is to divorce and marry another person.
  • If you didn't marry into a family, this is perfectly fine but if you did, you find that when you divorce someone you sever ties with said family and go back to your old family, or none at all.
  • This prevents you from further propagating a family name which originally wasn't yours.
  • In a sense, you become a dead-end for the family and for most RP purposes divorcing your husband to marry his brother or divorcing your wife and marrying her sister is quite out of place unless of course you develop a storyline for it.

Nariah2010-08-22 21:54:19
QUOTE (Gregori @ Aug 22 2010, 11:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Also, if there is to be an influence bonus for the top family, it should be an org based thing. The top family in each org gets said bonus for being the top family in the org.

I'm actually working on a proposal that includes something of the sort. Continuing on with Basin-wide family fight over supremacy based off the fairly neutral and accessible to everyone means of gaining honour, but also adding an Org-only set of 'honour' and ranks and whatnot. It's a longer proposal though so will be posting it later.
Llesvelt2010-08-22 21:58:21
I actually rather like the seat in the Commune/City thing for big families. Very flavorful, I think.
Xenthos2010-08-22 22:00:25
QUOTE (Llesvelt @ Aug 22 2010, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I actually rather like the seat in the Commune/City thing for big families. Very flavorful, I think.

That's... way beyond flavour, actually. It's a huge mechanical impact, too.
Gregori2010-08-22 22:04:45
QUOTE (Nariah @ Aug 22 2010, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Consolidated Family Ideas:

  • Be able to OUST/DISOWN people from the family for all families - Yes please. Having some player join your family as an alt with the intention to screw it over because of OOC malice and being able to do nothing about it is a major annoyance for a family.
  • Allow for members outside of a given organization to increase family honour through leadership positions. - but only make it half as effective as their primary org.
  • Resetting Honour {once|annually|biannually|{once|twice} a decade} but giving the highest ranking ones a small boost to begin with.
  • Decreasing the cultural impact Most honourable house confers on the score. (500 to {100-200}).
  • Children choosing which parent to go with in the case of divorces.
  • Alternate set of requirements to become a Great House (such as historic families requiring less members).
  • Marrying types being able to elect not to leave their family when marrying.
  • Children being able to follow their parents if the parents found their own family, the Family Head would perhaps have to allow this.
  • Add more ways to gain honour, especially for Lesser Houses.
  • Being able to adopt without everyone being required to be there at the same time (for active parents). - Make it you have 1 game year for the other parent to reject the adoption, instead of requiring both parents to be there at the same time.
  • Small perks for families to be bought with gold/credits.



While I don't disagree with the other things, those are the ones I approve of the most and the bolded ones especially.
Nariah2010-08-22 22:09:31
It's a collection of ideas from all old threads that I could dig up by the way. Listing the ones that people most agreed with.
Eventru2010-08-22 22:20:33
Family honour is supposed to build up over time - while I agree it's too difficult to accrue honour as-is (and we've broached the topic many times before up here, and every time we scowl at it and say, 'well, if we fix some of it, we ought to just fix everything...' and then all run away crying, 'not it!' because of just how rigid the family system is), I'm not (personally) fond of the idea of it resetting occasionally. it'd be a bit difficult to justify, honestly.

Some things I've always wanted to see (which may or may not be jumping points for brainstorming et al) was some sort of tangible bonus for historical families, families picking a given 'race' and accruing a bonus related to how many they have of that race, maybe something akin to the current 'essence to patron for honour' thing but for the associated city (so for power, gold donated to the city, etc).

My only comment would be the likelihood of bonuses/benefits for having people in unassociated orgs (ie d'Murani in Celest/Glomdoring/whatever) is very, very small - in memory, there's actually a penalty for members leaving the associated city. There may or may not be a penalty to come (I've really no idea) for having family members in unassociated cities (or at least cities directly in opposition with your attached city). It makes very little (actually, absolutely no) sense for La'Saet to gain honour because Thoros is the GM of the Ur'Guard. In fact, it seems like they should be losing honour for having an ur'guard family member.

I liked the idea (personally!) someone threw out about encouraging inter-org family competition - though is the player base in each org really big enough to support that? It seems to me like it'd only really be an attractive option if there were 3+ Great Houses in an organization. I'm not sure there's even one great house per organization currently!

I also think lesser houses should be encouraged to link themselves to a Great House - be it honour by association (Great House Talnara gained 50 honour last weave, Banner Houses Mesard and Dekoven each gain +5 honour (1/10th the great house's)) or something of that nature. Ideas? :x
Estarra2010-08-22 22:25:09
QUOTE (Nariah @ Aug 22 2010, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Consolidated Family Ideas:

  • Smaller houses (members>=4?) allowing themselves to count (possibly with a lessened weight) toward larger ones
    Not sure I know what this means.
  • Be able to OUST/DISOWN people from the family for all families
    Once you're in a family, the record is there for life but I believe (not sure) that family heads of Great Houses can ostracize a family member (making that person inactive).
  • Able to bequeathe something (manse, clan, whatever) to the family, similar to the way items/manses/clans/etc can be deeded to guilds
    Not sure about this.
  • No council seat, but instead some other perk; possibly a slightly heavier vote weight.
    Slightly heavier vote weight may be doable.
  • Family members being able to FT PROBATE family members
    Not sure I understand what this means.
  • The ability for a single sibling to be able to BLOODBOND into a family if they are progenitors (similar to the above idea for adoption)
    What idea for adoption? In any event, adoption and birth are the same thing (either way, you're the child of your parents and are in there for life).
  • The ability for already established siblings to BLOODBOND into a family founded by their siblings.
    I don't understand this.
  • Thresholds for Banner house/Lesser house/Great House being lowered slightly.
    Doable.
  • Allow for members outside of a given organization to increase family honour through leadership positions.
    Doable.
  • Resetting Honour {once|annually|biannually|{once|twice} a decade} but giving the highest ranking ones a small boost to begin with.
    Not sure.
  • Decreasing the cultural impact Most honourable house confers on the score. (500 to {100-200}).
    Doable (but not sure).
  • Children choosing which parent to go with in the case of divorces.
    Maybe.
  • Alternate set of requirements to become a Great House (such as historic families requiring less members).
    Maybe.
  • Marrying types being able to elect not to leave their family when marrying.
    Maybe.
  • Children being able to follow their parents if the parents found their own family, the Family Head would perhaps have to allow this.
    Maybe.
  • Add more ways to gain honour, especially for Lesser Houses.
    Maybe.
  • Being able to adopt without everyone being required to be there at the same time (for active parents).
    Don't really like that. At some point, everyone should be able to be there to go through the paperwork (if they're really interested in being in a family, they should find a way). Again, "adoption" is irrelevant in our family system. Either you're children or not (which could be RP'ed as adoption or birth or whatever).
  • Small perks for families to be bought with gold/credits.
    Don't know what this means.
  • Allow for the case that only one parent considers the child should the other be inactive. Can requite twice the time and/or approval of the family head.
    Don't really like this. I want there always to be two parents.



The last one is especially important because:
  • When your spouse suddenly stops playing, your only option if you want to continue adopting children is to divorce and marry another person.
    True. That's not going to change.
  • If you didn't marry into a family, this is perfectly fine but if you did, you find that when you divorce someone you sever ties with said family and go back to your old family, or none at all.
    Not sure of the point here.
  • This prevents you from further propagating a family name which originally wasn't yours.
    Eh?
  • In a sense, you become a dead-end for the family and for most RP purposes divorcing your husband to marry his brother or divorcing your wife and marrying her sister is quite out of place unless of course you develop a storyline for it.
    Eh?
Gregori2010-08-22 22:25:37
QUOTE (Eventru @ Aug 22 2010, 03:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I also think lesser houses should be encouraged to link themselves to a Great House - be it honour by association (Great House Talnara gained 50 honour last weave, Banner Houses Mesard and Dekoven each gain +5 honour (1/10th the great house's)) or something of that nature. Ideas? :x



Mesard is a great house not banner tongue.gif and there is at least 1 org with multiple great houses in it.

Edit:: And the system right now punishes you for more than you gain and for more things than you gain honour for. If you don't have a reset and come on it's not a far stretch for Lusternia to put in a change with no RP justification, then you will just have what you have now. one family eventually with a lead so far ahead of the pack that the system is worthless to compete in. Demigod changes anyone?
Estarra2010-08-22 22:26:50
Would people like simply to get rid of the family honour system?
Tekora2010-08-22 22:28:31
Please change it so people who have rejected a family that they founded can bloodbond into a new one. I just left my inactive family to try to bloodbond into someone else's and found out that it's impossible for the founder/progenitor of a family to do that, even if they've rejected the family they founded.

Now I need to spend 10k gold to rejoin my old family only to have it continue to sit idle.

Edit: Actually, scratch that. Make it so Founders can DISBAND a family that they've founded. That'll solve the problem even better and not leave tons of unused family trees lying about in the database.
Eventru2010-08-22 22:29:42
QUOTE (Gregori @ Aug 22 2010, 06:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Mesard is a great house not banner tongue.gif and there is at least 1 org with multiple great houses in it.

Edit:: And the system right now punishes you for more than you gain and for more things than you gain honour for. If you don't have a reset and come on it's not a far stretch for Lusternia to put in a change with no RP justification, then you will just have what you have now. one family eventually with a lead so far ehad of the pack that the system is worthless to compete in. Demigod changes anyone?


It was an example. smile.gif And Serenwilde has more than one, as does Mag, but I don't think Glomdoring has any. Nor does Celest, or Gaudi, or Hallifax for that matter!

A one-time reset, sure, but continual resets every 6 months just strikes me as silly. But, again, that's just my opinion.

Edit: And there's also a hard cap on how much honour you can get, which would prevent one family from going 'above and beyond' the reasonable range (it's not far past the council seat slot, either)
Estarra2010-08-22 22:30:28
QUOTE (Tekora @ Aug 22 2010, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Please change it so people who have rejected a family that they founded can bloodbond into a new one. I just left my inactive family to try to bloodbond into someone else's and found out that it's impossible for the founder/progenitor of a family to do that, even if they've rejected the family they founded.

Now I need to spend 10k gold to rejoin my old family only to have it continue to sit idle.


I think this is the biggest, most valid complaint of the family system. (It's also the hardest to fix!)
Gregori2010-08-22 22:30:29
QUOTE (Estarra @ Aug 22 2010, 03:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Would people like simply to get rid of the family honour system?



Personally I would rather see it just gotten rid of and some minor perks be added to Families for achieving certain landmarks.

10 people in family you become a House
20 people in family you become a Banner house with FT
30 people in family you become a Great House with FT and some perk
and so on.

Edit: I think it should have been kept simple from the start instead of turned into a convoluted mess that has been nothing but frusteration for most involved, players and admin alike.
Casilu2010-08-22 22:30:39
QUOTE (Estarra @ Aug 22 2010, 03:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Would people like simply to get rid of the family honour system?


I think the honour system is a great idea and I think that many people feel the same way, they just don't like some of the little issues that certain families are unable to be caught, so what is the point? That would be the main idea to have a reset and make the most honorable family in a certain org matter.