OFFICIAL A New Faction Arises: Enter The Skjaldborg (in Elite Dangerous)

​

The official word is out: Frontier is now taking open requests for player created minor factions within the persistent universe of Elite Dangerous! This means that not only can we influence the political map directly, but we can even claim our own territory.

​

Forum Announcement:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/register-for-a-minor-faction.529123/​

Why have a minor faction in Elite Dangerous?

• A player minor faction is a way for established Player Groups to represent themselves in-game, pushing the agenda of their groups throughout the galaxy.
• Once you have submitted a player minor faction, and have it approved by us at Frontier, your player minor faction will show up in one of the three selected systems of your choosing. Your minor faction’s description will show up in a future update of Elite Dangerous.
• You will have to manage your minor faction's economy, influence, and other galactic threats! Take part in various actions: combat, performing missions, selling exploration data and so on; other Commanders will be able work with or against your minor faction and therefore, your minor faction will be subject to the actions and functions of the Background Simulation (BGS).

Our starting area is up for discussion, but it should be mentioned we already have a few strong candidates. Also keep in mind that we can expand to neighboring systems as we gain influence:

• EZ Aquarii
  • easy distance from new player starting area
  • well supplied shipyard & outfitter
  • few celestial bodies and stations, but above average mission board offerings
  • low player influence
  • owned by the Federation
• Ross 780
  • easy distance from new player starting area
  • well supplied shipyard & outfitter
  • variety of celestial bodies, but few stations
  • low player influence
  • owned by the Federation
• Rasalhague
  • relatively close to new player starting area
  • matches our historic roots from MWO
  • variety of celestial bodies, but few stations
  • low player influence
  • is an independent system

I have taken the liberty of registering our "Group" name just to avoid it being taken:

​

 

These are the specific guidelines for submitting a "Minor Faction"

 

Types of government to choose from:


Skjaldborg requirements for home system selection:

1. Needs to be within ~50 light years (Ly) from starter systems - this will help with recruiting new players.
2. Needs to be within ~25 Ly from a "High Tech" system that has a station with a high quality Outfitter.
3. Needs to be within ~25 Ly of an Interstellar Factors agent (for claiming bounties or removing fines)
4. Needs to be within ~25 Ly of a Human Tech Trader
5. Needs to be within ~10 Ly of a system with planetary asteroid rings for mining and bounty hunting operations.

Additional recommendations:

• Home system's allegiance is Independent or Alliance - this gives us the most leeway to do what we want.
• Has multiple stations for more contract opportunities.
• Has a wide variety of celestial bodies that can be exploited for resources.

Nice to have, but not needed:

• Planets that can be terraformed.
• Habitable "earth-like" planet.

 

Agree with Aspius

 

The "spread the word of borf" idea is nice window dressing, but to be honest, fashioning us as a formal "theocracy" of any sort seems like a pretty big stretch. Arguably, we are closer to a fraternity (like an Elk's Lodge). Furthermore, the "Word of Borf" came later and was the result of Chris being drunk one night and mispronouncing "Borg". It represents us being a "community", not a religion. If we need to get literal, here's Dihm's own words:

And before we just choose Rasalhague without any thought on the matter, remember that "fun" should be a factor too. Rasalhague is not a bad system, but we need to decide where we fall between what is "lore" and what is "fun". Do I need to remind us the trouble we got into MWO when we ignored that?

I'm posting all this here out of courtesy so everyone has an idea on the parameters we have to work with. Ultimately, this is an "in-game" decision, not a "policy" decision; it should rest more with the people that are actually involved in the game... to which you are all invited to be a part of.

 

I think there is something else that needs to be cleared up.

The discussion here is specifically about our "Minor Faction". This is not the same as our "Squadron" or "Player Group". These terms are important to not confuse:

• Squadron - this is our in-game organization with all the typical structures you would expect: rank structure (same as what we have for WoW and Warframe), ability to recruit new players, ability to advertise ourselves, can pledge allegiances to a faction and set objectives
• Player Group - this is simply what we officially register our community as to Frontier. The application includes our Squadron name, our contact info, and our website address. it exists simply to help Frontier keep track of who is linked to a Minor Faction.
• Minor Faction - this is the in-game entity that we create and can work for to spread their influence. In other words, when the Minor Faction is created, it is seeded into the game world by the devs and behaves similar to any other NPC faction. The only difference is that it is tailored to our preferences and we have some minor control over what directives it focuses on (mining/bounties/transport, etc). We cannot "join them" so much as work for them and gain reputation with them. As we work for them, it increases their influence and makes them stronger. Another way of putting it is the Minor Faction is the "political entity", but our Squadron is the military arm of the movement.

And here is something else to consider: whatever we write in our Minor Faction submission will de facto be "owned" by Frontier. That means we can't use anything that is copyrighted. That means while our Squadron and "Player Group" can be named Skjaldborg, the "Minor Faction" we create needs to be called something else. We can allude to things like the "Word of Borf" as a nondescript "a strange code followed by its members", but we can't explicitly call it by name unless we are okay with Frontier potentially copyrighting the idea (unlikely, but an important distinction in legal terms).

 

A "Theocracy" is literally a government ruled by priests in the name of a god(s). It is an oppressive form of government where there is no separation between church and state. That's Iran. We are not Iran. Do not ask me to roleplay us as Space Iran.

The Word of Borf is more or less a flowery extension of our motto which is "Be excellent to everyone". But by definition, it is closer to a "code" than a religion. And just like the "Pirate Code" from Pirates of the Caribbean, "its more what you'd call 'guidelines' than a set of rules". That's all closer to what makes us a fraternity, not a religion.

In practice, the closest thing on the list that fits us is a Confederation. A confederation is simply an alliance of independent entities bound by a central doctrine. In terms of nations, a confederacy is usually formed when independent states form a government & military for mutual protection, but each state governs itself on civil matters. It is less focused on a central authority than a federation, but more focused than a pure democracy. In "lore terms" this could be smaller clans forming under our unifying "code", the Word of Borf. In practical terms, our group admin sets the basic policy guidelines that all members must follow, but outside that narrow scope, individuals and groups organizing games are free to do as they please.

 

If we did go with Rasalhague, to mirror our roots, I think we should look at creating a Minor Faction that follows the early years of the FRR, not as a sovereign nation, but rather an independence movement:

For example, "Free Rasalhague Front" could be a good descriptive name. But, that's just one example.

There's also "Coalition" or "Movement" as good substitutes for "Front".

What needs to be considered is that currently in the Elite universe, Rasalhague sits right on the border between Alliance & Federation space, is currently "independent", but is being "exploited" by the Federation. I imagine there would be many locals not happy about being "exploited" by a foreign superpower.

But again, I'm not ready to commit to Rasalhague just yet until we've looked at all our options.

 

As far as I can tell the only effect to declaring an allegiance deos is determine where you can start as a home system. For example, if you declare for teh federation, you can't setup in imperial space. I know for certain it does not affect what ships you can fly.

The only benefit to declaring federal, imperial, or alliance seems that it allows you to improve your rep for both your minor faction and your declared superpower at the same time. But there are better areas that already exist if you are concerned about farming faction rep quickly.