<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=275524.msg13657754#msg13657754">Quote from: Aiden on 08-11-2017, 07:29:29</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">That is some meta gaming bull shit<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Funny you mention meta-gaming: that’s the other elephant in the room. In our PMs, there was a lot of talk about whether to simply pose this to everyone for a public vote. Vonandi, I think you were in favour of doing so, but if I'm mistaken then I do this with profound apologies!<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The original rationale for the merger was to try and equalise the game balance so that it was fun for everyone. Zaer has been a shrewd tactician and a fantastic roleplayer, so full credit to him (especially for the latter), but there’s no getting around the fact that Clan Gunba started the game with some<em>stunning</em>advantages: double (or even quadruple) the number of players, and exclusive access to ultra-rich neutral ground that nobody else could reach. It’s nobody’s fault, but due to a variety of OOC factors, they’re basically six or seven turns ahead of everyone else.<br/><br/>Forming the Aka-Shiro was intended to provide some meaningful options for the other factions: you’d then have two mega-Clans each with 4 players, both of equal territory and military, set up in a nigh perfect deadlock. In fact, they would’ve been so evenly matched that the involvement of the other Clans would’ve easily tipped the balance of power. In short, it was intended to bring everyone back to the forefront of the game, so that factions like Krai and Hachisu could act as kingmakers rather than just being landlocked in the distant corners.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, that’s basically gone out the window. Even if the merger goes ahead, we’re not getting the extra players, so it’s nowhere near even anyway: Gunba still have double the actions / skill stars of the next most powerful Clan. On top of that, the absence of a critical player is now being treated in a way that<em>Gunba</em>gains a tactical advantage via the civil war option, which defeats the entire object of the exercise. Again, none of this is aimed at Zaer directly (and definitely not our long suffering GM, who's displayed a saintly degree of patience with the complexities we've continually created), but I'm honestly worried this'll become a one horse race due to a vast disparity in game conditions.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Back to the point - the question of whether to side with Gunba has been hounding the Aka ka for some time. From an IC perspective, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t: they’ve been generous allies, it’d confer huge strategic advantages, and while Takeda has his share of foibles (e.g. cutting deals with criminals), that’s not such an issue given Aka ka’s own ancestral footings in banditry. However, from a<span class="bbc_u">metagame</span>perspective, it sort of felt like we’d be bullying the rest of the map by siding with the winning team. It would’ve essentially short-circuited things into the endgame by forcing the northern half of the map to ally up against the shambling behemoth that was the Aka-Gunba (something which the Hachisu rightly prophesized, which was neat... but anyway).<br/><br/>Much as I disapprove of metagaming, I honestly feel that ship has long since sailed: whenever a player joins or leaves, it confers a massive and completely arbitrary (dis)advantage anyway, which is how we ended up with this conundrum. It’s nobody’s fault, but we shouldn't pretend these OOC bombshells aren’t impacting the game setting. So, in the interests of everyone actually having fun, here’s my<em>unofficial, completely unauthorised, voluntary and non-binding</em>question for you all:<br/><br/><strong>What would you like to see, in terms of making the roleplay more interesting:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Aka ka joins Clan Gunba, setting the stage for a massive east vs west showdown in the near future. This makes it a 6v6, with ~25 territories for each power block asusming the new Oshiro joins an eastern alliance rather than Aka-Gunba. </li><li>Aka ka merges with Oshiro, and eventually splits from Gunba: This turns it into a 4 v 2(?) v everyone else. It’s kind of messy now the merger doesn’t work as originally intended, but if you want a longer game, this is still the way to go. </li></ul>