This does happen between guilds, actually. Many of them hold elections for leadership and make or break alliances with other guilds. It's been the source of plenty of PvP conflict over the years.

Play the game and get involved. :)

This is more a suggestion post than a roleplaying one (even though it is about roleplaying).

I think it's a cool idea... but, like so many cool ideas, runs into the roadblock of developer time. The amount of time it would take to finalize a concept of how a nation-based ranking and/or political system would function inside of VO would be enormous, and the amount of time it would take to be "programmed" and tested would probably be 10 times that..

If you haven't played VO for years and kept up with the changes and actually seen how slow even minor changes take, you wouldn't know this.

This is not to say that it's a bad suggestion, just one that is unfortunately impractical... and will likely just fall into the bin with the rest of 'em.

Faceof you can change your name, but you can't mask your words.

He isn't Faceof.

By the way, i AM game user, and really good one and more than just INVOLVED ;)

You might have playing a lot lately, but it's painfully obvious from your posts that you have barely scratched the game. Those suggestions are the kind that someone who doesn't fully understand the game nor its community would make.

No way you're Faceof. He is the sweetest carebear ever. Not a day that goes by would he refuse to hold a newb by hand and show him the ropes. In contrast, you seem to enjoy attention towards yourself and your "suggestions" a little too much. So far you have all of the hallmarks of an individual with an overly exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Get up on the wrong side of the bed today, Joyless?

Lol, so I have your attention now.

Why did I react the way I did? I'm not impressed with the way you offed ARF. Now, his ass is not normally the kind I would kiss, but this time I agree with him.

Okay, so you claim that you're not new. I want to ask you: have you joined and participated in any of the player guilds in game? I find them quite satisfactory to my thirst for role-playing - all of that voting and alliance-making shit you named is possible through them.

I understand that's not exactly what you're asking for. You want some kind of in-game system that keeps track of all of this, along with a path of promotions for your character within your faction.

KNOWING that developers have little time and budget

Bingo. BINGO! What you are asking for would need an almost complete revamp of the game. I realize you might not have any background in software engineering, computer science, or maybe game design, and not be fully aware of the process and time involved in implementing such a huge new feature.

I mean, it all sounds great on paper and I would be in favor of it if it's possible. HOWEVER it's an utter waste of time to discuss if it's not realistic at all given the available resources. Especially if there is already something in place that we can use and work with, aka the player guilds.

You think I hate you? Nah, not at all. I just want you to make better quality posts and think a little harder before posting them. If you want to continue posting in a narcissistic manner, be my guest - I won't bother you any more.

And should be nice idea introducing a short intro video clip after starting apllication (on PC and Android), a shortened version of the game backstory.

I do agree that it would be great to have a summary of the game backstory somewhere, so that people are not forced to read the whole thing to get the gist of it.

Joylessjoker: http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/16/12715

That condensed back story has been available for aaages

that's a trolled condensed back-story...a kind-hearted troll but a troll nonetheless. A nice little video clip would be cool. I'm quite surprised someone with an animation background hasn't done this already. Maybe 5 minutes or so of a serious and historically informative video clip would go further than you think to keeping people around. The back-story is amazing and it would definitely engage newer players.

You got that right, Darth Nihilus. It's too troll-y but still a fun read.

It took several months for a team of about 8 people to make this cute animated video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOhiWY7XmoY

It's a very involved process, more than you might suspect to make something that's this short. I'm sure there are shortcuts that one can take, and not being a perfectionist helps. However we also want something that's spectacular and worthy, to keep people interested.

I think a doable compromise for now is a link from inside the game menu leading to an abridged text version of the backstory.

People don't like to read? Take in consideration that it's not a new idea. Almost all RPG games involve a lot of lore and backstory, hence a lot of reading. Skyrim, anyone? Besides, reading is good for you, kids! Try it at home more often.

Reading is really healthy, too! Having a nice back-story video could also be used as advertisement. I think it might be something worth investing some thought in.

The backstory is pointless unless it has real in-game applications that REQUIRE understanding of it. I never read the backstory because I just wanted to fly space ships... the only backstory related thing that seemed helpful to know was that serco and itani were at war.

The problem is that the backstory is just a loose guide to explain why the universe is setup the way it is... it has no bearing on how people are supposed to behave in game because our directive is pretty much "do what you want".

It could give some structure to newer players looking for a little more direction. It'll give them something that they think they need to be doing, which some newer players need a little more of.

Backstory:

Humans explored the Solar System, then had a war fought using robots and bioengineering. It was nasty. Afterwards, society looked down on science and especially genetics and cybernetics, which were banned. The scientists refused to let their knowledge die, so they kept it alive in secret. Society rebuilt, discovered a wormhole, went through to a system they named Sol-II, and colonized a planet. The wormhole collapsed, stranding the colonists.

Some of the colonists (peaceful descendants of the banned sciences) came out of the closet and started getting shit done, augmenting themselves and building construction animals (think Bronto-cranes from Flintstones, with cybernetic implants). Some of the other people got freaked out, and then there was bigotry and segregation. The hateful anti-science people called themselves Itani, and the peaceful pro-science people called themselves Serco. Eventually the Itani attacked the Serco settlements. The Serco retaliated. Hard. They killed all the Itani except for a few who escaped the planet in an experimental spacecraft, and took over.

The Serco society shifted from peaceful scientists to nationalistic roid-raging warriors. With no proper enemies left, they started bullying the neutral farmers who hadn't participated in the war. Meanwhile, some of the neutrals started going over old Itani plans and figuring out how to build spacecraft. They called themselves The Propeller Group. As the bullying got worse and the space tech got better, the neutrals migrated into space and gave the planet-bound Serco the finger. The Serco shrugged, renamed their planet Serco Prime, and continued doing whatever Serco do for a while. They eventually decided one planet wasn't enough, so they struggled into space and started colonizing others. The neutrals mostly ignored them, since they'd risen beyond the need for planets.

Meanwhile, the Itani explored the wormhole network and found a new world to settle, realized they'd been assholes, and became peaceful monks instead. They expanded through a bunch of systems, and eventually some explorers headed back to see what was up with the Serco and maybe apologize. The Serco didn't accept their apology, and lots and lots of war happened. The Itani were completely unprepared at first, but a mysterious group called the Order of Akan saved their asses a few times until they pulled their heads out of the dirt and started making combat ships.

While all that was going on, the neutrals were exploring and eventually became the UIT. They had some nasty corporate wars, but TPG managed to wrangle them eventually. They also found the backdoor to Itani space and started trading with both sides, including selling the Xith armor they'd figured out how to manufacture.

At some point the Serco and Itani got bored with war, so they each picked a champion and set them to fight it out gladiator style. The Serco picked a huge guy, but the Itani picked an old scrawny Jedi, so the Itani won. Somebody in the audience shot the Jedi after he'd won, however, so everybody decided to just ignore the whole mess and go back to having a war.

Eventually the Order of Akan popped back up, now with cloaking tech, and started bombing Serco worlds. The Itani refused to let the Serco into their space to hunt down the Order of Akan.

And that brings us to Today.

Very nice...

The story confuses me more than just thinking its a war going on.

Even something done with the game engine would be nice. I mean if Ghost's video had more story to it, it would have been a nice place to point newer players at.

http://youtu.be/o05w4wCojzE

Dude hell yes...Ghost's video just inspired me...new project!!!