A open letter to Clan and Omni

[Sumokan]

Greetings,

Speaking as a neutral all this talk about clan fighting for "freedom"
and omni work "ethic" leaves me perplex. I invite both sides who really cares about neutrals to state what as a org or side is to do to be more neutral friendly. Neutral haters stay off this thread and if you must, please make a separate thread on why you should be not neutral friendly if you want to vent. Some suggestions would be.

1. Invite neutrals to uber loot raids.

2. Use diplomatic means to get back mines originally held by neutrals.

3. Help defend neutral territories.

4. Use political pressure on rogue guilds who are not neutral friendly.

I just want to know who are the true friends of neutrals are, please do not speak as individuals. Only responses from org reps has any bearing or merit.

Sincerely, Sumokan of Elite Operations

[______________Jypsie]

While it is in the intrest of Omni-Tek that the Notum continues to flow, neutral organisations should realise that they would benifit greatly from employment within the Corporation. Under Corporate employment, you would benefit from our security.

While you choose to continue operations under your indepedent ownership, you choose to continue the cost and risks of your own entreprenuership.

Division 9 respects Independent Operations, and will attempt to protect them from terrorist attacks; difficulties in current system to alert us have risen.

Things would be much better if you would simply op into the Corporation.

[CarLBanks]

Yes and you get a great Dental and Life Insurance Plan.

Neutrals, You chose to be Neutral so you also chose to not get alot of Benefits. Omni-Tek has great cities and you can even get a Token Board and higher XP Bonus

[Kithraks]

OOC Note: Most of the things you mention like super boss raids and massive tower fights involve the "uber" guilds. It is admirable to attempt to put an rp spin on things like diplomacy and "if we care about neutrals" but unfortunately many uber guilds have been less than RP friendly. Political pressure dosen't work for them. For those guilds that will take up the RP offer they lack the resources to host the large uber raids you mentioned and they lack the sheer manpower to defend the towers for you.

[_____________Daetona]

ooc~

I remember seeing you at at least one or two Tarasque Raids, Sumo. I assumed you had contacts to know about, and participate on some higher-end raids... hrmmm.

I'd suggest you speak to Catalyste about this, she's a Neutral ( despite people's best efforts to get her to come over to Omni, *chuckles* ) and does a lot of raiding with Omni-Tek people... not to mention, incredibly friendly, and always helpful... Cat rules. =)

Best of luck

[Fixerben]

haha, havent seen Omni at Tara since last week. Arion has won 3 since then . Sumokan, I may be able to invite you on some high level raids. But your low level members wont be of much help at such events.

Let me know if you wanna come

[Quamander]

OOC:
Omni has problems with getting along with itself atm, not including nuetral relations, although most omni stear clear of nuetral notum towars and we do respect nuetrals, we have to get along with eachother before we help out others.... Atm on RK 1 it would seem the Clan is more a close nit corperation and omni is the pact of misc. rebels fighting agianst the larger power and agianst themselves.=p

[_____________Daetona]

OMG !! No Omni at Tara for a week !? Wow... and we had run of that place for about 2 solid months...

*Goes to kick some people in the rear to get them moving*

[Jereziah]

I think one of the problem is that guilds choose to look the other way when wrong is done, like if a Clan or Omni guild attacks neutrals, everyone else pretends like they didnt see anything. Then when the time comes for neutrals to strike back, the same people rally to the offending guilds defence, waving their banner of Freedom and Justice, saying "If you attack Clan/Omni, you attack us!".

It seems self-policing within the factions is non-existant. You all claim you cant do anything, why is that? Doesnt really matter how little you can do, you can always do something. Like, dont buff them, dont defend their bases, dont invite them to raids, dont invite them to teams...

Saying you cant do anything is a weak excuse...

/J

[_______________Viray]

Greetings,

Speaking as a neutral all this talk about clan fighting for "freedom"
and omni work "ethic" leaves me perplex. I invite both sides who really cares about neutrals to state what as a org or side is to do to be more neutral friendly. Neutral haters stay off this thread and if you must, please make a separate thread on why you should be not neutral friendly if you want to vent. Some suggestions would be.

1. Invite neutrals to uber loot raids.

2. Use diplomatic means to get back mines originally held by neutrals.

3. Help defend neutral territories.

4. Use political pressure on rogue guilds who are not neutral friendly.

I just want to know who are the true friends of neutrals are, please do not speak as individuals. Only responses from org reps has any bearing or merit.

Sincerely, Sumokan of Elite Operations

Being Neutral friendly doesn't mean any of this, none of this is being friendly. This list is more like... like a request. This is what you are requesting of Clans and Omni-Tek alike to be deemed Neutral friendly.

The friendliest thing Clan or Omni-Tek could do is pretend Neutrals don't exsist.

As I had pointed out to me so many times before, Neutrals are not a faction. You want any of the above to come true, join a side.

Until then you are just playing spectators with the inability to truly participate in the conflict that is present.

It took a long while to realize that, but in all honesty it is the truth, without a Side you are just here and aren't really involved in it.

As for Whisper's Edge I will simply state for your knowledge and benefit, Rule #3 of our Code of Ethics...

3. Never attack Clan or Neutral guards, citizens, or militia ((NPCs or players)) without provocation. ((For Role Play purposes, Clan and Neutral mobs in missions may be considered criminals or enemy. Neutral unnamed mobs in wilderness areas may also be considered enemy or criminal.)) Agreed upon arena duels and combat training are legitimate exemptions. If Neutral or Clan militia are accidentally fired upon in a political zone, every effort must be made at restitution (credits, med and nano kits, ect.) and a sincere apology offered. Any friendly fire incidents will be reported up the chain of command to keep the leadership informed of possible unfavorable press.

I think this is about as Neutral friendly as an Org should be... now as for the pity/quilt trip laid out below...

I think one of the problem is that guilds choose to look the other way when wrong is done, like if a Clan or Omni guild attacks neutrals, everyone else pretends like they didnt see anything. Then when the time comes for neutrals to strike back, the same people rally to the offending guilds defence, waving their banner of Freedom and Justice, saying "If you attack Clan/Omni, you attack us!".

It seems self-policing within the factions is non-existant. You all claim you cant do anything, why is that? Doesnt really matter how little you can do, you can always do something. Like, dont buff them, dont defend their bases, dont invite them to raids, dont invite them to teams...

Saying you cant do anything is a weak excuse...

First there are those among the Clans that are shunned and not looked favorably upon depending on thier crimes, self-policing does occur, not on a scale we would all like, but it does occur.

We don't have to do anything, You are not a Faction. You are not a Side. You position in this conflict is NULL. You are a handful of people that have no side, believe and do as you wish that is a given right, but expecting a Faction that has a stake in a conflict to pity you or feel guilty for a self choosen position is just about as weak as you can get.

When Clans commit acts of unesscary and unproveked violence I believe a number of people speak up, that does mean you hear any of us probably not, but we do speak up and do what we can to make right.

However as for Towers... setting up and defending a tower is a right that every Org has. Does this mean all Orgs can and will do so? No. Just being an Org does not entitle you to a Tower.

Does having a Tower and not having a Side in a conflict between two people mean you should be bullied into submission by a much larger force? No. What was done and has been done by some Clan Orgs is and was wrong, but thats all the past.

Unfortunately it seems that you cannot move on.

[Bionitrous]

What does 'The One' have to do with the supposed 'conflict'?

What happens when the Shadowlands is opened and we have both Redeemed and Unredeemed Neutrals who don't give a poop about the nonsense on Rubi'Ka?

The piddling political squabbles between the pee pee compairers on Rubi'Ka are only one part of life on Rubi'Ka. A waste of time to most citizens judging from what I've seen.

There are some of us who simply refuse to be manipulated into getting ourselves killed over something that just doesn't matter.

But, I ask again: 'what does any of this have to do with killing The One'?

Rubi'Ka's struggle between Omni-Tek and the 'Clans' is a failure. This failure has been witnessed up and down from many angles. The very meat of this communication forum is fact of this. We'd rather discuss a robot embargo or pie creation that waste our breath on some silly political posturing that can't gather steam no matter how much hot air is pumped into it by the powers that be.

Seems those behind the scenes can't seem to let go of their little fancy and let the conflict die the death it should. On old Earth you didn't have the Republicans and Democrats shooting each other. They might not have liked each other owing to their differing political views. But, that didn't mean they could have a round of golf together. I have a feeling there are one or more parties who get off on perpetuating the nonsense on Rubi'Ka.

Doesn't it all seem petty? Aren't there more important things to worry about than blowing off some guys head? We'll see when the Shadowlands portal is finally opened if the rumors of one's inner self having more import than one's Identification Card are true.

As for me, I harbor no ill will towards someone because they have a CoT or Omni-Tek logo on their ID card. I REFUSE to let some idiot behind a desk in some ebony tower or flouting his supposed 'power' from tell me who I'm supposed to go kill or have over to dinner. That's a waste of the terraformed oxygen I breathe.

Sumo's trying to deal with prejudice. He's also apparently trying to make friends. An overture is the first step towards opening new friendships. While he may be overconfident that he can overcome the prejudice that the less enlightened may harbor, he at least has some balls. He's willing to ask us all to step aside and look at each other and not let those cloistered policy-makers decide who we can and can't be friends with.

What exactly are you all hating each other for, anyway? I forget. Or is is time to make up another story about how <Clan/Omni> killed your dog? Don't we all get tired of hearing that after a while. Go mix up a pitcher of margheritas. It'll cure any prejudice (for a few hours at least.)

[cellestron]

Sumokan,

Things getting a little boring in borealis again eh?

First of all, any discussion regarding alliances with neutral orgs will *not* begin with you. After all, weren't you the one that felt the need to personally threaten Monlight when she joined the Clans?

It is sad that you led Elite Operations down this path, but you will have to deal with the consequences. And not as "neutrals", but as a guild.

But then again, isn't that supposed to be the wonderful thing about neutrals? There is no "neutral" friendly. There is "Circle G" friendly, "IR" friendly, "Healing Hands" friendly, etc, etc.

Members of BDS have helped Neutral orgs in the past, and have also, in the past, attacked them(once). We have not started any violence against neutrals in months, and yet we are still "hated" by you and your guild. We have, however, assisted in the defence of Neutral orgs as recently as a couple of days ago.

I do not hate you, or anyone in your guild, but you and your fellow guildmates are simply too belligerent and arrogant to deal with.

Jereziah,

"I think one of the problem is guilds choose to look the other way when wrong is done"

I see......

So did EO "look the other way" when you killed me as I was stuck in my Yalm?

I guess they "couldn't do anything".


Bionitrous,

I don't think Sumokan is trying to overcome anything. All I see are more attempts to try to "guilt" Clan and Omni guilds into assistance. But, hey, prove me wrong.

Hate?? I'm sorry but I do not hate anyone here, including Omni-Tek. In fact, the only real "hate" I have noticed is coming *from* neutrals, not directed at them or anyone else.


To EO,

I know MANY Clan members who have gone out of their way to help neutrals. I have the highest respect for many neutral orgs. I would be more than happy to invite neutrals to raids, if I thought they would actually come. My advice.........Drop the attitude, put away the "persecution" complex and maybe you will
get somewhere.



(all above is IC)

[_______________Viray]

OOC:
(( Sumokan's post is hardly about removing a prejudice as it is simply a hope to gain something for Neutrals from one side or another.

However I completely agree with the aim of your post Bionitrous to say that no one should be able to tell you who you can and cannot see just cause they wear some faction tag that isn't yours, but if you want to see fresh life breathed into this world and the conflict renewed seeing those with a different faction tag as the enemy is the only way too do so.

The probelm with Rubi-ka now is that you have Omni-Tek folks running about screaming that they aren't evyl, that just cause they are Omni-Tek doesn't mean they hate Clanners.

You have Clanners running around banging on Uber Mobs and Camping Spawns cause the "phat lewtz" is bigger in their eyes than any scrap of story.

Why is there no conflict? Where is the story? Cause we the players killed it.

How can FunCom ever hope to push a story through the world of Rubi-ka when the majority of players don't care or won't except their role. You try telling people that the side they choose is the Evyl one, and see how many people tell you that you are wrong.

Shadowlands is going to be an utter nightmare, and I hope that for the sake of reviving the story, for the sake of drawing the line in the sand that we need... they make you choose one side or the other. That way the story can come back... cause in the current state of "I am on X side, but I am not X." it just won't work. ))

[Bionitrous]

((FunCom should drop the Omni vs. Clan stuff and focus on making the players happy. These boards have never been so vibrant as when it was Clan vs. Clan or EO vs. Clan.

Omni vs. Clan in a forced enviroment based on some fixation by a guy in Norway isn't working. I'm saddened to see so many people leaving and and this particular forum to be slowly losing life. Omni vs. Clan doesn't work. It's too cut and dry. It's tired. It's boring. 'Cowboys and Indians' was fun when we were 4 years old. If I want that, I'll go fire up Team Fortress Classic.

That being said, and with the understanding that most players don't really give a damn about the 'conflict' that is being force fed upon them, is why I call exclusionary practices 'prejudice'. The game has seriously devolved since the unfortunate introduction of Notum Wars. When once we were all having fun and the 'Omni Scum'/'Dirty Clanner' jibes where all part of roleplaying, today they simply hurt. Not as much fun anymore. What makes it worse is we don't really care. It's FunCom forcing us to kill people that we infact like. It's not a pleasant scenario.

This is why I'm pinning my last hopes on the Shadowlands. I'm hoping that people of like mind will naturally migrate to whichever faction suits their personality. At such time, I'm sure I'll be more or less aligned with you Viray. But, this time, it'll be because of who I am and not because of some godforsaken application form. I expect to find likeminded Omni's and Clanners and Neutrals all tending toward the same faction in the Shadowlands.

Finally, I'll be able to enjoy the game.
))

[_______________Viray]

(( Thats the probelm Bionitrous everyone has chosen a side, and seemingly for the Advantage/Disadvantage it gives them instead of the position it puts them in.

What is going to be the difference between Redeemed and Unredeemed? I have already seen the post of "how cool Unredeemed look..." by Clanners and Neutrals alike.

Cut and Dry is what we need right now Bionitrous, not this wishy-washy "I am Omni-Tek but I love Clanners."/"I am Clan but I support Omni-Tek." drivel that we have now.

Neutrals want to have some say, well they can't. They aren't a side or a faction. They are just spectators, thats a big basis of my decision to join a side... to properly join the conflict, to have choosen a basis from which to pump life back into the game both Story wise, and for the sake of these boards that a lot of RPers got really vocal to save.

We need to draw that line in the sand and pick a side. Those that don't want to pick a side... should simply take the position they choosen and watch the events unfold, as they are meant to.

Hate to say this but the basis of Shadowlands is going to come down to that application form, the only factor up in the air is what of those not aligned with a particular side? What of the Neutrals?

I hope that Shadowlands has an area to explore no matter your faction, but at the Gateway to go further into the realm is a nice Bright being for Redeemed and one dark evyl looking SOB for UnRedeemed with the appropriate Clan/Omni-Tek applications so you can proceed into the world of "light" and "dark"... we need to erase these spotty shades of grey.

And for all those that feel the Clan or Omni-Tek heart beating in their chest, and don't join cause of 'uber-doods' or 'phat lewt whor3z' your just making us one person weaker in the fight to change all of it...))

[Dabblez]

/ooc

The players have not killed the story, its the story itself that is lacking in passion. There is just no reason for this conflict. The emotive incidents of the conflict go back 200 years (if not more). I can tell you there are not many Britons who still bare a grudge with the Americans for the War of Independence, still fewer Americans who are grateful to the French for supporting them at the time.

The defacto partition of Rubi-Ka leaves plenty of space an notum for everyone, this is spelled out clearly in the timeline And with Omni due to leave at the end of its lease anyway this partition is even less contentious. As for the Notum Wars, from a story point of view, just does not make any sense at all. No society that I know of has ever run with a legalised claim jumping system. Its sheer madness.

In a fantasy setting you can get away with the simplistic, me dwarf, you goblin, I will slay you mentality. A science fiction setting tends to bring a more sophisitcated and modern mindset with it. Me Omni, you Clan is just doesn't cut it.

To bring passion back to the conflict, FC would have to make one of the sides (probably Omni) be involved in a series of really big, horrible, unjustifiable deeds. But you then have an immediate problem. There is maybe 10% of the player population who are fascinated by the dark side of human nature. Most people in roleplaying games tend to gravitate towards the side of the good guys for a number of reasons, including the fact that by the rules of popular fiction good guys normally win in the end. But with 90% of the player base, the heroic underdogs struggle against the cruel evil oppressors would turn quickly into a laughable walkover.

Personally, and I know this is a minority view, I would choose to make the Official Story a player vs environment conflict, with a fourth mob-GM based faction mean and powerful enough that we all have to unite and fight it (cyborgs, cyborgs, please let it be the cyborgs!). Yeah, its corny, but I don't think we will ever have a satisfying story until one of the factions is under the storyteller's (Funcom) complete, directorial control.

Even better if after six months of Cyborg adventures we have a climax in which the borgs are defeated, followed by a few months of clam and then a brand new storyline with a brand new opponent. My vote would go for the 'Lobstermen from the Deep', but that might just be pushing it .

[Bionitrous]

/ooc

Savoy underscores my sentiments. I've stated going back as long as two years ago that the ultimate conclusion of this story/game really has to be one in which the majority of the players are united against an outside force. To have one of player-inhabited 'sides' lose would be tantamount to inviting white powdery substances to show up in one's mail at FunCom HQ.

It's just not fun the way it's set up now. The game's not enjoyable. I have to go out and take away from the efforts that other people have spent hours and hours trying to achieve? Just in order to satisfy some God complex that some game designer has? That's not human nature. As Savoy points out, most people are what we'd consider 'good'. I include myself in that lot. Now, I'm not about to put the hurt on anyone in this game unless I suspect that hurting that person's character is hurting the character of a person who's a schmuck.

If you spend 14 hours to get a Breastplate of Spiritual Rites and I manage to kill you and have loot rights on your corpse, I'd rather quit the game than loot that off your body. It doesn't matter if you are Clan or Omni or Independant. Why would I hurt another person who spent Real Life hours to achieve something in his pastime?

That's why the 'conflict' and PvP in general works in Team Fortress Classic, Unreal Tournament, Quake III, and all the rest: you don't have hours and hours of Real Life commitment put into your characters. If you die, so what? Anarchy Online used to be like this to a degree and PvP could be enjoyable. Now, it's a cesspool of people hurting other people. You destroy what people have built and you hurt their characters. They are hurt then and they hurt the next day. It's an actual pain and you are stealing away what someone has built. That has soured a large percentage of the population of this game. These forums (all of them) are getting reaaaal slow. Mebbe summer will pick them up. But, I've noted the decrease in interest in the forums coincided with the harsh realizations of what the 'artificially' increased hatred in game has brought upon us.

Nobody every wants to be led like a goat with a bell around their neck.

If they make me pick a Rubi'Ka side when the Shadowlands is released, I'll just cancel my account and quit for good with a big middle finger pointed eastward over the atlantic. I don't think this is the case from what I've heard. My heart will determine my 'side' if any. When you enter the Shadowlands, what you do and who you kill and how you act will shift you one way or the other.

Just so you know, Viray. You can start characters in the Shadowlands without ever having been or chosen Clan or Omni. You'll find your place eventually. That's a good thing. None of this utter false black and white horse crap that nobody buys into anyway.

The Good people should stick with the Good people and the Jackasses should be saddled with the Jackasses. If they have any original tricks up their sleeves, FunCom can easily ensure this will be the end result of one's journey through the Shadowlands. Under such a scenario, I would have no problems harming a person who tended towards the other faction, because I would know right away that they did not hold the same beliefs about how one should comport oneself (as magnified by the anonymity of the Internet).

FunCom can do this easily through the vast quantity of Quests they say they have in store for us in the Shadowlands. They can implement Quests that I would find morally distasteful that any of the (probably) close to 50% of the playerbase who are Jackasses would have no problem undertaking for whatever Uber item may be offered. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do whatever vile request were made and would hope that as we continually tested ourselves we would find ourselves side-by-side with people of like mind.

All this regardless of the petty and trivial political squabblings of a Rubi'Ka that will be of trivial import once the reality of the Shadowlands is revealed.

Shadowlands for me represents and opportunity for FunCom to address the cow dung artificiality of the Clan/Omni struggle on RK proper. So many Omni players pout 'but, I didn't realize I was supposed to be bad' well, shame on FunCom. But, more importantly, look at the situation they can offer in the Shadowlands. There'll be no need to tell you if you are supposed to be good or bad. You'll determine that for yourself as you discover your 'Shadow Breed'. See? One fatal flaw of the original Anarchy Online addressed. We may still only have two major 'factions'. But, the right people will be apported to each by default. The whole Neutral Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Good, mumbo jumbo that so many long for will take care of itself.

I shudder to think that if I were Clan, I would be charged with killing some guy's girlfriend who was 2 months into the game and went Omni because that's what her boyfriend played. I'd hate to cause her to log off in disgust because of the credit cost of the towers I destroyed, the disgrace of causing her to have a corpse decaying in a field, or whatever ... simply because of her ID card. I mean, what if she were one of the truly cool people still in the game?

Wait till shadowlands. If she's of like mind as me, we'll be on the same team regardless of what our ID cards are.

As Savoy said, most people want to be Luke Skywalker. Well, that's cool. Shadowlands can hopefully accomodate this as well. But, not if it takes the flawed game approach that Notum Wars brought where they have to artificially keep the balance of power in order to keep their subscriber base (and Stagnate their story as well, owing to the same financial considerations). If 80% of us want to be the 'good guys', then that ought to be allowed. Just entertain us. That's FunCom's job. Not to try to force 50% of us to fight the other 50% of us.

UO did very well with this. You had maybe 5% of a server population being the feared and reviled 'Dread Lords'. They were the bad guys. You knew they were the bad guys. They did bad things. You felt no remorse wiping them out and they felt no guilt for their vile deeds. It worked. It also provided a true avenue for role-playing the 'bad guy'. Unlike Marlamin's gallant, yet inevitably incosequential, efforts to play the 'bad guy'. Then damn 'reds' really made you want to hurt them.

In the grand scheme of all this, the Neutrals will find their place in the Shadowlands. You got a thermometer going from 0 degrees Celcius to 100 degrees Celcius. Freezing to Boiling. OK, where do you sit? You got 100 options unlike the current situation where you got 3. On today's Rubi'Ka, you'd call every Neutral 50 degrees Celcius. In the Shadowlands, they might be 25 or 75. Hell ... Mr. Clanner might end up at 50 degrees based on his actions. Whaddya do with an egg that's stuck in water that won't boil?

[Aimes]

((While I agree with most of the posts here I belive that the conflict does not have to be against some outside force, but rather it can be acheived with the current sides though a simple redefinition. When I made Shuldrich Omni I was expecting to be a bad guy, I was expecting to see Omni-AF gunships strafing Tir and viral weapons being used against Athen. Amnesty, it would appear, was not on my agenda. If FC wants to see more of a "natural" 50-50 split within the population they should make the choice have very serious and clear consequences. The following are simply two ideas that perhaps might work in this regard.

1. Redefine Omni-Tek's stance in the war. I thought OT was supposed to be the bad guy in this mess, if that's the case, why aren't they indescriminantly slaughtering clanners left and right as the OT war machine rolls north instead of acting more like UN peacekeepers than an amoral and inhuman corporate juggernaught?

2. Make OT a more "rewarding" side to play. Currently the benefits of being an Omni are some nice looking armor, and slightly lower prices (which doesn't matter all that much at higher levels.) Give Omni some nice stuff and you'll see plenty of people who will join despite Omni-Tek being evil simply for the worldy reward of having lots of cool, exclusive junk to play with.

I applaud the efforts of folks like Marlamin and Bliqz in their quixotic quest to keep OT the bad guy but the fact remains that without FC injecting some effort and clarity into the storyline the actions of a few dedicated players, while a great effort on their part, simply won't cut the mustard and people will loose interest in the game. I also understand that FC is concentrating on getting SL out to the public, and as such, doesn't have the time or manpower avalible to keep the story moving at a good clip. However there is a difference between a slowing down and a complete stop, and while I'm not asking for a story addition every other day the occasional update would be most welcome. As it stands the players are what is keeping the story alive.))

/tirade

[Bionitrous]

Originally posted by Shuldrich
[BGive Omni some nice stuff and you'll see plenty of people who will join despite Omni-Tek being evil simply for the worldy reward of having lots of cool, exclusive junk to play with.
[/B]

IMHO, that's exactly what you don't want FunCom to do. Rather, it would be better in my opinion to allow those who don't want to be the 'bad guy' to get out more easily and go Neutral and from there Clan if that seems appealing.

One thing I do agree is that Notum Wars has hosed the game. Instead of offering PvP for the sake of PvP, it put the benefits squarely in the PvM playfield. Bonuses to all kinds of crap and worst of all the demi-God 'XP bonus' that makes people go Clan even if they don't give a crap about what the Clans are fighting for. I'm hoping that the Shadowlands skill budget and items makes these stupid towers more of 'perks' they were supposed to be, rather than the overpowering game imbalancers that they are now.

But, back to the point. Why would you want someone on your team who wasn't there because they believed in what you believed in, but rather were there only for the loot? That's the situation we have now with the Clans. 90% of them could give a rat's ass about Justice or clearing Rubi'Ka of oppression (well ... if there ever really were any 'oppression'). They just want Token Boards, XP bonus, Tarasque Loot, Merc Loot, etc. Loot/XP whores in other words. These people should really be Neutral. Because politically, that's what they are. No real belief system. Yet, they get rewarded in-game. Meanwhile, the Neutrals who have values that often (but, not always) take the moral highground are punished by some guy over in Norway.

I'd rather see the population of Omni-Tek players settle at whatever percentage of Anarchy Online players are truly drawn to being jack-booted thugs. Those who don't mind being the 'underdog'. Those who have to rely on help from Omni-Prime (ie. GM's) to make sure they aren't run over by the Rebels.

I also would prefer to see a way to get the fake-Redeemers out of the Clan ranks. In my mind, there are so many Double Sun token boards that should just crumble to dust as the bearer has no intention of living up to the tenets that lie behind the Council of Truth symbol that adorned the application he or she signed. I cringe everytime some loot whoring level monger gets his 1000 token board without ever having thought why he was allowed to wear a goat head and I'm not.

If you ask me, were a true faction system installed into the AO we know and one's action had accountability, I'd lay odds that we'd have 5% of the population still managing to keep their OT jobs and 10% would still be fighting for Justice. The remainder would be doing missions or killing mercs or compairing their pee pees in Camelot every 18 hrs.

[____________Marlamin]

Can only agree with Shuldrich I wish Omni truly had the Man power to enforce their laws.. Unfortantly we dont Clans outnumber us easily at any given time. Most of our benefits are total crap. Clan n00bs are richer then Omni n00bs. Clans have more powerful Guards, I could go on day but I wont.

My vision when I first became an Omni was that Omni-Tek was something in style with the Magi-Tek Empire in Final Fantasy 6. Unfortantly I was proven extremly wrong. I'm bored on fighting over pointless land.. I only hope FunCom will make Shadowlands more AO and less EQ. In my eyes this game has lost its soul.