- Joined
- Nov 3, 2013
- Messages
- 728
- Reaction score
- 206
So, who are you and what do you want to do?
Hi there everyone, I'm Kiser, former Jedi AFL and someone who likes to try new things from time to time. I've recently had a lot of time to think up ideas for the next timeline now that I have a steady, secure job, and the one that interests me the most is forming a "citizens' republic" independent faction, run by weighted democracy by its members, as I believe this could lead to a dynamic, exciting faction filled with great plots, good characters, and of course tons of political scheming, intrigue, and possibly murder! Just putting up an interest thread after talking to some people who liked the idea and would be happy to participate.
What does this look like (OOC)?
It will be a democratically run faction in which members will have weighted votes, based on citizenship status(rank), of which there will be four. Each succeeding rank will have more voting power when it comes to making decisions: a rank one, character, will get one vote for example, two for rank two, three for rank three, and finally four for rank four. One's citizenship status will be a combination of their character level and the amount of work they have put into a faction, e.g. a level one character might, for example, have more voting power within the Republic than a level two character if they have contributed a decent amount more, at least until the level two character starts contributing more. This way, people will benefit from both being active on the site and participating in the faction when it comes to voting. The faction leader will only be able to vote to break ties, as to not unduly influence the outcome of the faction, although AFLs may vote commensurate with their rank.
There will be an OOC constitution detailing this further, and some votes may require a 2/3rd's majority in order to go through if it is something that affects everyone (e.g. a declaration of war on another player faction, etc). People may vote on pretty much any aspect of IC policy, such as diplomacy, war, economic policy, research priorities, where, when, and how to expand, whether to publicly fund a news channel, law enforcement (ban or make spice legal), etc, which will all be listed in a thread. Basically, everyone will have a say and everyone can propose a motion, which will be able to pass after a certain amount of time and enough people voting on it. People from other factions can lobby members of the faction in an IC manner to get votes to influence the Republic's policy as well, e.g. if you have a Hutt character, he might do well to try meeting with various influential citizens of the Republic to try and get tax breaks, subsidies, or to secure exclusive economic rights to a given commodity etc, a Jedi diplomat hoping to get the Republic to allow a temple within its borders might do the same, etc. Diplomatic proposals can also be brought before the faction both ICly and OOCly as well to be voted on. This allows for a large level of interaction between members of the Republic and other factions.
In addition, other players may also live and own property as non-citizen affiliates or contractors within Republic territory if approved by a vote, for example bounty hunters who want to take up Republic contracts or be protected by its laws, Hutts seeking to store money away from the prying eyes of their Supreme Mogul, etc.
What does this look like (IC?)
The form of government, once we establish it, will be a citizens' republic, whereby one only gains by serving the state in a bureaucratic, diplomatic, economic, or military role. Citizens enjoy lower taxation, voting rights, better healthcare, education, and the full due process of the law initially. It will be secretly influenced by a shadow council(us as players) who either act directly as politicians to influence the Republic or who use other means to influence votes and policy such as acting through intermediaries or NPC candidates who vote for their interests etc.
Non-citizens may live in the Republic, but they are not given voting rights or any special subsidies, and have more limited (though still extant) legal rights along with full property rights (to help commerce), though this can be changed by legislation later.
How are we going to start this off?
The faction will, according to the new rules for Indie factions, start out with just our characters and the equipment they have at the start of the timeline. I’m thinking once we know more details about the timeline of territories and other factions, we pick an area of the galaxy/planet a bit away from other people or NPC factions with room for expansion and decent resources, and work on establishing funds, credibility, support, and military assets on a certain world, and then overthrow the current government in a coup/revolution (more of a "dark side" approach ) or force a democratic referendum/compromise (more of a light side approach) to secure power, then decide what we want to do from there. There can be a ton of reasons for your character to want to join, from pursuing their own interests and personal political power to being a democratic idealist to simply wishing to find some sort of refuge from the chaos erupting elsewhere in the galaxy. Really, almost anyone can join up-that is the great thing about this kind of democracy, it is everyone with a whole variety of competing interests trying to make things work without (openly) slaughtering each other thanks to the social contract.
How will we avoid the "Republic always fails" trap?
This is an excellent question to has been brought to my attention, but one that I believe I can answer. In the past, the Republic main factions have always tended to, well, not have that much dynamism or activity. I believe that this stems from the fact that, despite the best efforts of some characters to give them moral complexity, they always ended up being becoming the default "good guys" one way or the other, and oftentimes without the Jedi, which did not help matters either. Sure, you could have them make some questionable decisions from time to time, but they could really never become as morally grey as criminals or "evil" as the Sith. That, coupled with the fact that they were not democratically run factions, led to a decline in interest over time. I believe that this proposal goes a long way to addressing those problems: this Republic will become whatever its members want it to be. Want to turn it into a militaristic authoritarian democracy oppressing non-citizens and hellbent on galactic conquest? Go ahead. Want it to be neutral, seeking to profit off the warring sides, switching its allegiance as necessary? Sure. Anything goes, so long as you can get enough people to vote for what you want to do. I believe that this direct involvement from members and the flexibility an Indie faction affords will allow us to keep a fresh, vibrant roleplay going at all times.
Please post your interest or any other questions/comments/concerns below in the thread!
Last edited:
