Hello, Elder Pandasecret here, reviving an old idea of factions/clans (inspired by a recent post on General).
Purpose of a faction: Group of players who want to distinguish themselves from the rest or other groups of players, by play style, community, ideology, or other binding factor.
Use of a faction: develop team spirit within the game, and through closer communication, better team synergy.
Implementation: Since there is no in-game tags or physical change that can be made, factions will be forum based. Temporary examples of this include: ESG 06 teams, mods vs comrades, etc.
Note that being in a factions does not mean always having to ally with them or always fighting them - it should only encourage team spirit. It would also a good idea for clans to "adopt" newer players to try and get them into the game.
Can be probably integrated with tournaments somehow.
Current idea between mathwhiz9, nojo34, and I is to set up a separate forum just for faction activity (such as determining who's the leader, and making evil schemes) while the current forums will be used to notify the factions of events, games, tourneys, etc.
No faction may have the same color as another, and it is advised that faction members put their Faction name and position in their forum signature.
For sake of consistency among factions, here is a recommended hierarchy:
Fleet Admiral [FADM]: Select individuals who can disband a faction if deemed inappropriate, and regulate the faction forums.
Admiral [ADM] (leader of faction, can promote or demote anyone to any rank, can override votes, can declare war/peace on another faction, must have a Captain, +Captain abilities)
Captain [CPT] (adviser to Admiral, kick all except Leader, promote/demote any player up to Commander, can assume position of Admiral if Admiral absent for one week+ Commander abilities)
Commander [CDR] (able to demote Lieutenants, promote/demote any player up to Lieutenant, + Lieutenant abilities)
Lieutenant [LT] (Set up polls, invite new players, + Ensign abilities)
Ensign [ENS] (basic member, can make posts, voting right if allowed by leader, can leave faction)
Recruit [RC] (in trial before becoming accepted as Ensign, can only comment)
Current Fleet Admirals (chosen for now to help set up Factions):
Pandasecret
Nojo34
Mathwhiz9