I)Making a faction
•Don’t make factions hastily as in don’t make a faction just to make a faction
-These factions rarely last long and the few that do are almost never effective
•The application to make a faction can be found in the Join/Create faction forum thread
•Joining other factions can give you good insight on how to make one successful and what to avoid in making one
•Make sure when you make a faction that it is with people you trust
-If you don’t like playing with these people then you probably shouldn’t be making a faction with them
-Go out in the world of Battlecraft and get to know some people who you find you like to do things with
A)These people are who you want to start a faction with
II)Naming a faction
•Once you find enough members it is time to name your faction
•faction names need to be something you agree on
•Make sure the faction name isn’t offensive and is simple, one or two words will suffice
•Acronyms aren’t suggested as the faction name but can work
•Don’t get caught up in how ‘awesome’ or ‘fearful’ your faction name might be, a faction will be known and respected/disrespected by the actions that faction does on the server
III)Communication
•There are many ways to communicate with faction members in-game and keeping communication up is crucial to a faction’s survival
-faction Chat Channels
A)Personal chat channels for your faction in game- be able to talk to faction members without bothering or being heard by others
-TeamSpeak (TS)
A)Goodtimes has provided the server with a free TeamSpeak server
B)It is free to download onto your computer
C)Here you can talk to other faction members with a microphone
(1)Server Address- 65.27.204.171:9987
D)Ask an admin to make your faction a personal channel with password protection
-Skype
A)This is another option much like TeamSpeak but some people tend to like it more
B)This is just something to choose apart from TeamSpeak and isn’t necessarily better or worse
C)It is free to download onto your computer
IV)Recruiting
•Once your faction gets started, you will want to open recruiting so as to increase the size of your faction
•faction Thread
-Make sure that you make a thread with useful information about your faction, things to include might be
A)faction description
B)Requirements for applying (if any)
C)faction application
D)Ranking system
•faction Application
-A faction application is used to get to know more about the person applying than just an in game name
-An Application should include general information about a person as well as
A)Any former factions
B)Skill with redstone, mining, scouting, pvp, etc
•When recruiting members remember you don’t have to just go off what the application says, screening people is an alternative
-Talk to people in game, such as other faction members, to see what they might know about them
-If they have been in a former faction, see why they are now leaving and what they were like in that faction
-You can find good and bad things about people this way, making your decision to bring them into the faction more informed
-Remember your faction members are an extension of the faction as a whole, they will represent your faction’s image so I would suggest recruiting people wisely
•faction Rules
-Make sure your members know the rules of your faction and those of the battlecraft server as you won’t necessarily be held responsible, but having your faction know to hold rule breakers isn’t a good thing
-Make sure that when a member does break a rule to be understanding, everyone makes mistakes and a small infraction does not necessarily mean a member should be crucified for the action
-More importantly know when to kick a faction member, just because the staff keep him on the server doesn’t mean you should keep him in your faction
V)Ranking System
•Having some form of organization is important for your faction to survive
•If a faction leader is to take a break or have real life knocking on their door, having someone to temporarily pass the torch to while their gone is necessary and if you think that won’t happen to you than think again
•Ranks let others know who to look to for information and answers to their problems
•You don’t want your ranks absolute, as in this one person does thing one thing his/hers whole life, ranks are there to show leadership and trust and not to force someone to play the game for you
-Recruits won’t mind mining for iron if an officer is seen pulling up his/her sleeves to do it as well, remember you aren’t a slave driver so don’t act like one because recruits come to you by choice and can leave just as easily
VI)faction Base
•Every faction needs a base, a place to call home or a focal point for the faction
•Don’t put your base less than 1,000 blocks away from spawn, the portals, trade town, or any other major structure that is frequently used on the server as your base will be found quickly
•Think of your surroundings when looking at base locations as water and ice can become your friends in camouflage as well as mountains and deserts as people tend to walk around these due to the hassle of hiking the terrain
•When considering the base also consider one of its most important parts- the location
-In Minecraft, you have three main base types as others can be put into these three as subcategories
A)Air
(1)Pros
(1st)A base in the sky can be easily protected as you can make its entrance controlled by one access point
(2nd)Air bases can also be easily expanded on as there is nothing to impede its spread
(3rd)If you have p-blocks it becomes easy to see if a mistake is made in your protection fields as dirt towers and bridges will be easily seen
(2)Cons
(1st)Everyone and their brother will see it
(2nd)Falling is an issue for the dimwitted
(3rd)Expect to get little done if you are a small faction as you will most likely be attacked constantly and hardly ever left alone to actually build
B)Above Ground
(1)Pros
(1st)Looks nice
(2)Cons
(1st)Easily seen
(2nd)Can be infiltrated from above and below ground
(3rd)Defense will be a priority
(4th)The bigger it gets the harder it becomes to find intruders inside
(5th)Most access points possible
(6th)P-blocking from bedrock to skycap is the only sure way to make entering the base controlled
(7th)Not as easy to see people coming
C)Underground
(1)Pros
(1st)Hard to detect
(2nd)Favors small factions
(3rd)Easy to maintain
(4th)Easy to make
(2)Cons
(1st)Difficult to expand as you will always need a pickaxe
(2nd)Multiple access points as people can just mine into your base
(3rd)If p-blocked, some resources may become unreachable to you
(4th)Lava and water can become hazards underground
-Another necessity of a base is a vault to store your faction’s valuables in so having someone who is familiar with redstone is invaluable
A)Look to the many redstone guides on the website and expect to be watching a lot of YouTube to gather a decent understanding to properly make a vault if no one in your faction is good at it
-Mob spawners are excellent sources of miscellaneous items you would rather not go out and collect such as arrows and require no redstone to make so consider them a luxury
VII)faction Shop(s)
•If you so wish you can decide to pool your resources together and make a faction shop to start making your faction some battlecoins (the currency of the server)
•faction shops are ways to make easy money but also make sure who to trust when allowing them rights on the plot
-You don’t want to have someone making money on your faction’s plot and then take that money from the faction
•DON’T put items in the shop at ridiculous prices or in chests that aren’t on sale at all as you will log in to find all the items missing and the shop plot reclaimed by the staff and in extreme circumstances, all your battlecoins wiped from your account
•If you are going to but a shop because you keep getting raided than don’t because maintaining faction shops take work to be successful and to attract customers and your faction’s base will still get raided
VIII)Spies
•Spies are more or less used in Battlecraft whether or not people hear about it so think of them as like an ugly truth
•Great spies will help a faction raid the vault and never be suspected
•A good spy could go undetected gathering information such as:
-Base cords
-Base vault combination
-faction’s true intentions (if they are under question by say a wary ally)
-faction members personal storage locations
-Spies can also simply be there to open the door when there faction comes to raid
•A scary factor about a spy is the fact that they could be someone who never had the intention of becoming one
-They become spies after an enemy faction approaches them upon being accepted by another faction on the forums
-Upsetting a member may make them susceptible to start spying for another faction after promises of being welcomed into their ranks
•There are ways to combat spies but none are necessarily fool-proof
-Manage the information of who knows the vault combination, perhaps instead make it to where only 2 maybe three senior members should know
-Keep the base’s cords hidden for a period of time so as to get to know them more before letting them know
-Talking to someone on Skype or TeamSpeak can give you a better feel for the person you are inspecting
-Give them a ‘false base’ and wait to see if it gets attacked quickly thereafter or see if some items go ‘missing’
-Most ways to try and prevent spies have to be proactive, laziness is not affective
•If you have a spy remember that they can turn on you as well
-Spies that become unhappy with their faction emerge themselves fully as a member of the faction they were originally spying upon
-Double Agents can exist so be careful as to who you choose to become a spy for you
-If they like what they see in another faction than you may not see them again and find that faction soon to be on your doorstep
•Spies are tricky so be very careful when using them because if they are found out you will have a very unhappy faction coming to raid you and a very bad reputation
IX)Keeping a faction Together
•This issue can be very controversial
•Keeping a faction together takes determination and to a degree, dedication
•Objectives are an easy way to keep a faction together
-Building this certain type of buildings
A)Some people just like to enjoy themselves building and like to find others like minded
-Fighting people or even specific people
A)A common enemy brings many people and factions together
B)Many people’s bloodlust can’t be sated solo, they want friends to continue their conquering
-Collecting resources or trading together
A)Some people just like to mine and become economical power houses
-An easy means of communication
A)Getting to know people makes it more enjoyable to play with those people and stay playing with them
•Find common ground with others and expand on this to make your faction not only appealing but also sustainable
•Be fair in the faction
-DO NOT favor someone over another affect your judgment
•Try and make sure the people in your faction is taking care of, not the faction itself
-If your faction members are satisfied, then they will have no reason to leave
•Always be respectful to others, outside and inside the faction
-Make nothing personal
-If your faction has internal conflict then you will have a hard time progressing and as a result have a drastically less chance of surviving
X)Leadership Characteristics
•Leadership can be viewed in many different ways
-The wiki definition is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task
•Leaders take charge and get things done
•Just because you aren’t the faction leader doesn’t mean you can’t lead as there are many opportunities to do so
-Raids
-Strip mining
-Events
•Leadership skills are NOT easy to attain and some people go there entire life without acquiring them
•Leaders should be (this is not an absolute but more of a sort of guideline)
-Calm
-Collective
-Tactful
-Patient
-Decisive
-Fair
•There are be many types of leaders and I have classified a few for reference
-The Imposer
A)Good with keeping and maintaining current faction rules
B)Will generally keep things as they are, unyielding
C)Let everyone know who is boss, can be seen as an ass
D)Won’t take risks
E)Tends to stay away from change, good or bad
F)Can get others motivated towards a specific goal
-The Contractor
A)Takes risks
B)Likes change
C)Can be swayed with enough push
D)Can been seen as indecisive
E)Has a hard time getting others to work towards a common goal
-The Boss Man
A)Strong with imposing current rules
B)Weak with change
C)Yielding
D)Generally no conviction
E)Tends to not be a risk taker
F)Can get others motivated towards a specific goal
-The Futurist
A)Can impose rules well
B)Has determination
C)Makes risks
D)Tends to have an idea for the future but isn’t quite sure on how to achieve it or get others to assist in achieving that goal
-The Shy Inventor
A)Will make and take risks
B)Has determination
C)Accepts change well
D)Can be a pushover
E)Can’t motivate others well
-The Indecisive Surgeon
A)Gets others motivated
B)Accepts change
C)Makes and takes risks
D)Clear on the rules
E)Doesn’t have their own self-motivation to see things through
•As you can see there are flaws in all leadership types so don't try and be a perfectionist because that will never end well
-All you can really do is determine what flaws you are willing to accept
XI)Recruiting More Members
•Exclusions, giving rewards, or being the best won't get you the most people
-Try and not use a reward system for bringing people in as it will show you are desperate for anyone and willing to overlook some rather unsettling pasts and it will also make it more likely that your faction will just be used for the reward and then left in the dust
•If we figured out what attracted people to a group we would have done it already
•What we can do is try something and see if it works, if it doesn't work than we tweak it until it does but faction applications are not the sole thing to put someone in the door
•faction's actions more often than not will put them on the map for better or worse
-factions talking in chat, insulting someone or being respectful to another who might not be showing them respect
-faction's history, what they have done leading up to what they are now
-If a faction has ever been in a bad spot, how did they react to it? If they crumble or rise above it?
•Get yourselves out there more and make sure the server knows who you are as your actions WILL decide who will want to join you
-If you want to be a pvp faction than for god sakes raid some bases
-If you are a builder faction than post some pics of awesome buildings on a forum thread so people know that what you claim is true
•Don't be a Nazi when it comes to people getting in trouble as it happens to EVERYONE and you don't want to be known as a hypocrite if you kick someone for doing something you did a week earlier
•When major infractions are brought to light however- distancing yourself from that person as quickly as possible will be the better for your faction
-Just because someone in your faction cheats doesn't mean your faction as a whole does and so separating those people from the faction quickly and very loudly will be beneficial to you
-People will get through the cracks and beating yourself up over it shouldn't happen
•To sum it all up, faction recruitment is all about image so if you want pvpers than go pvp and if you want positive people they be a positive faction
•You yourself will have to do something to make sure people know of your exploits as little know factions rarely get anywhere unless they do something
XII)Defensive Measurements
•This section will probably be one of the most changing sections in the guide as there are always new ways to defend one's self
•Let us be clear NO defense is impenetrable and you should start accepting that right now because the only way you could completely protect yourself is if you put yourself in a hollow cube and p-block it with no doors and that is illegal so DON'T DO IT
•With traps don't concentrate on killing someone but instead concentrate on wounding them and being the most annoying sonofabitch you can be as you want entering into your base to be a pain in the ass event
•There are a good amount of defensive measurements that we shall try and put into categories
-Redston
A)Pros
(1)Hard to neutralize
(2)Complexity opens possibilities and can confuse enemies
B)Cons
(1)Once the trick to bypass it is discovered the trap can generally become pointless
(2)To keep it effective the trap requires constant changes and upkeep
(3)Takes up one of your redstone locking mechanism slots (you are allowed only 2 in a base)
C)Examples
(1)Arrow dispensers
(2)Mazes
(3)Locks
-Pistons
A)Pros
(1)Quick to make, simple
(2)little to no upkeep
(3)Hard to disable, just something people have to deal with
B)Cons
(1)Not a high amount of kills, more of a frustration tool
C)Examples
(1)Push people off the side of a platform
(2)Have a constant moving piston machine, pushing people around a room in frustration
(3)Have your entrance hidden by a piston tunnel
-Lava
A)Pros
(1)High kill count
(2)Simple yet effective
(3)Idiot effective
B)Cons
(1)Idiocy goes both ways when making it and if you aren't careful you can easy kill yourself during construction
(2)Too much is illegal so don't go overboard use in moderation
(3)Collection is a pain in the ass
(4)Can be countered with water
C)Examples
(1)Lava pits
(2)Lava tunnels
-Water
A)Pros
(1)Easy to make, simple
(2)Frustrating for enemies
(3)Makes attacks slowed
(4)Little to no upkeep
B)Cons
(1)Low kill count
(2)Can be countered with lava
(3)If not done correctly it can be used as a way to get to your base quicker
C)Examples
(1)Water holes causing drowning
(2)Lakes of above ground water to push people back
-Gravity
A)Pros
(1)Little to know setup
(2)No upkeep
(3)Almost impossible to counter depending on what it is
B)Cons
(1)Depending on the trap, can easily be countered by water
(2)Not hard to avoid unless placed carefully
C)Examples
(1)Holes to bedrock
(2)P-blocked zones where taking fall damage to proceed is required
XIII)Raids
•Raids are the attacking of a person or persons' base and not themselves
•Raids on average:
-Happen at night (both in-game and in real life)
-Be between two specific factions currently at war
-Never be scheduled so don't even try to anticipate it as they begin and occur randomly
-Are fast and hard, they come quickly and without warning and the first few moments will determine whether you will be able to repel them
-Include many persons and rarely an individual as solo raids rarely succeed
•Raids are somewhat hard to organize and almost impossible without some form of communication (especially those that aren't through voice communication like TeampSpeak or Skype)
•For attackers their main object is to locate the main vault as quickly as possible and break into it and during these first moments are when raiders need to realize they can be very vulnerable
-First entering the compound as you have no idea where anything is and how the base is set up
-Finding the vault as this is where the defenders will most likely be concentrated around and your raid party isn't necessarily together
-Breaking into the vault and stealing the loot as your raiders will be focused on getting as much stuff as possible and not as focused on who comes through the door
•Attackers
-Keep each other in sight until your team feels comfortable knowing where everything is as getting lost can easily result in your raiders being picked off one at a time
-If you're in the raiding channel, keep communication to crucial pieces of information as useless chatter might drown out the important stuff
-Rarely split up as a unified force is much stronger than a divided one
-If you have a raider who got left behind and is surrounded always keep in mind that going back for him can result on more team members deaths which means more loot can be lost
-Speed is key, this is a raid not a skirmish so get in grab the stuff and get out is crucial
•Defenders
-As with attackers its crucial for defenders to have good communication to repel the raid
-Never go off alone, if you separate than do it in pairs
-Figuring out the size of the raiding party and who is attacking is important so you know whether you are heavily outnumbered and how skilled the players are compared to you
-Raiders want to get in and out as quickly as possible so hindering their every advance is beneficial as it will give you time to think on what to do and on rare occasions can result in a raid rage quit
-Holding the entire base against a raid is very unlikely to happen so instead of trying to rest the base back instead rally your defenders at a choke point making it difficult for the attackers to advance
-If the vault is raided and the base captured than the last thing you want to do is feed the raid more armor and weapons from your corpse, concentrate on getting any hidden items away from the base and simply wait it out is sometimes your best option
XIV)Alliances
•Alliances are defined as is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests
•There are two common types of alliances
-Military Alliances
A)Formed with the goal of better protecting each other and/or the destruction of a common enemy
B)Between 2 or more factions
C)Promise to come to the protection of a faction within the alliance when the said faction is under attack
D)Focus on one specific faction to destroy
-Business Alliances
A)Formed with the goal to corner a market and/or mutually increase one's wealth
B)Help each other outbid and undercut other competitors in the market
•Alliances can disband just as easily as they are formed
-If a faction within the alliance feels that the alliance is counter-productive it will leave
-You must be sure to keep all acting factions in the alliance within the loop of operations as in the alliance is there for your benefit so work with others to achieve your goal
•Alliances can disband for many reasons
-A faction is unsatisfied with how things are proceeding, they feel that more can be done without the alliance
-Suspicion of other factions sow the seeds of discord and make every attempt to move forward on a goal challenged and put to a stand-still
-The goal that originally brought the factions together is either altered or achieved
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