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[Vasili Kerensky]

As a new player, I've seen the following in FP:
- Almost all factions are inactive
- The only activity has to do with defence on JF-attacked worlds
- No one dares attack Clan worlds
- JFs attack, a pug defends and gets stomped 19 times out of 20
- No fun if you're not JF, you give half an hour to get creamed and score some points

Clearly, FP is 'structurally and functionally challenged' to put it in polite and politically correct terms.

I suggest the implementation of two more modes of FP that will be period-specific - as the lore background foundation - and will open up more avenues of faction activity.

Mode One will be the War of 3039, where only IS factions will be available and 'mechs will be allowed only 3025 tech. I was going for 4SW but that would exclude FRR. Perhaps one 'mech in the drop deck will have the option to be equipped with advanced tech, since there was use of experimental 'tech in that war. In any case, this is an excuse to allow only oldtech IS 'mechs to participate.

Mode Two will be the Revival Trials, where the Clans fight each other for the right to be included in the invasion of the IS. This mode will obviously demand Clan factions and 'mechs exclusively.

Mode Three is the existing FP.

The implementations of three modes of Faction Play shall require minimal work on behalf of the developers. Everything is designed and coded already. You only need a little tweaking and more server space. In order to avoid overpopulation of one mode and abandonment of the others, I propose that the game cycles through the modes in one of two ways:
Either have only one of the three modes open each week, or
Provide point bonuses in one of the three modes each week as an incentive for players to populate it.

I believe that it will get players more involved with the game and add variety in gameplay and drop deck design. Also, I believe that more factions will become active thanks to this. Lastly, way I see it, development work for this will be minimal.