Here are my ideas as to what I would like to see happen. Please keep in mind this is just a first draft & I am looking for constructive ctiticism. Also keep in mind I am no dev, so to you people that do not read threads or posts just skim them, this is not what WILL happen. This is what I WISH will happen.
1. Clans should be open to ALL players.
2. Choosing to go Clan comes at a certain stage in your character's career. At a certain level you choose to slide over or go up. For EXAMPLE (I am no dev & I know some people halfway read a post then run with it) if the rule is, let us say at Level 26 you have unlocked the Clans you can either stay as an IS pilot & go up one level to 27 or maybe even two levels to 28 as a bonus for staying IS ( I think this is how it is done in Star Trek: Online where after reaching a certain level, you can choose to stay as a Federation player or become Klingon.)
OR
slide over to the Clans but remain at level 26. Your career as a clan pilot begins at Level 26.
3. The first player to become a Clan pilot for a clan does NOT become the Khan. Let us face it, there are a lot of unskilled childish idiots who start a clan, take the title of Khan & rule stupidly with absolutely no sense of what they are doing. In fact I think NO player should be able to rise to Khan or saKhan; those positions should be held by two devs. Four original invading clans means eight devs. They do not even have to fight, as normally most Khans do not see action on the field often. If they do, power to them, but it is not a requirement. They are there as admins, managing the day to day affairs of their respective Clans. They issue orders & updates to their subordinates.
4. Once a player chooses to go Clan, he/she enters "sibko" mode until passing their Trial of Position. (credit to Galaxy613 who recommended this here:
http://mwomercs.com/...5594#entry15594 )
In sibko mode you & your other sibkin go through CLAN training (yes hardcore this is not the Nagelring with pansy *** IS training) & at the conclusion of said training, each cadet takes a Trial of Position. As much as I hate to deviate from the canon (may the Great Father & the Founder forgive me) I have to take into account the realistic application of the Trial for a Clan that is just beginning. A Clan is a pyramid with a huge base & a small apex.
The size of mechwarriors (enlisted men) is far superior to that of officers. This is realistic & accurate. The Trial of Position has two cadets facing 6 opponents, so each cadet is facing 3 mechs as opposition. Now since the only people who will have any rank at this point will be the Khan & saKhan, I would advise we either reduce the number (TEMPORARILY) to 2 opponents OR use the Steel Viper approach & have the cadets fight each other.
In either scenario, a kill grants the cadet, warrior status & placement within the Touman. I think we could even probably employ the ransom aspect of Clan Trials where the higher the rank attained, the greater the ransom that can be requested. Just a thought, we can expand on that some other time.
5. After successfully completing their Trial, the cadet is placed in the touman as an active warrior. At this point that particular Clan only has an Alpha Galaxy & players will be funneled into different sub units within Alpha. If Alpha becomes full, ONLY at that point will Beta become unlocked etc. etc. From the time a sub unit becomes active, their reputation goes live. So obviously the first set of people coming into the Clan will be going into Alpha but as I suggested once Alpha becomes full, other units can be opened so naturally, Beta would be next. So suppose at some point in the game, a particular Clan has 3 Galaxies & from how the players perform, Beta Galaxy is the most elite. Warriors from Alpha & Charlie Galaxies can apply to transfer to Beta. However this will not be done via paperwork. This will be done via a Trial. I will restrict this to the same rank however. A Mechwarrior can challenge a Mechwarrior, a Star Commander can challenge a Star Commander etc. etc. So in keeping with the Clan mentality, you have to fight to get your spot & fight to keep it. So someone of the same rank can challenge your legitimacy of being in a certain unit or even sub unit. If a specific sub-unit performs well & they are being recognized for their talent the same rules apply.
I want it to not just be Clan by the looks of it but by the feel. I want you to become jealous of your brothers & sisters pushing each other & yourself to do better:
OR
have the IS barbarians tremble at the sight of us:
6. As a Clan mechwarrior you have access to light mechs only with a spendable currency I call Access Points. Since traditionally the Clan warriors did not have to buy their mechs or have it handed it down to them they did not have to use the salary they were given towards that but for other purposes. In my proposal Clan warriors get paid in Access Points equal to that of mech tonnage. So once a cadet passes his/her ToP he/she will receive a payment of 20 Access Points enabling them to unlock the lightest of the light mechs, the Fire Moth (Dasher for your spheroids).
Accomplishing goals earns one Access Point so as they go along, they can accumulate quite a few. How this would work is, beginning as a Clan character you are at, let us use my earlier example & say Level 26. At Level 26, you shed your IS character & become a Clan cadet. After passing your ToP your get bumped up to either Level 27 or 28 (whatever), in addition to receiving the Access Points. So you receive your 20 AP & unlock the Fire Moth at which point you are broke. Now as you begin fighting as a Clan warrior, you have the opportunity to not only level up but receive AP. As you progress, & your level increases other mechs become unlocked.
So when you started, you only had access to the Fire Moth (which is 20 tons). At a certain level, the Locust IIC (25 tons) becomes unlocked. If you have attained 25 AP from the time you started to now, you can choose to spend the 25 AP to upgrade to a Locust IIC immediately or you can horde your AP for a later upgrade whether in that same weight class or higher. This would mean the choices you make would have direct consequences on your future. I also think leaving this choice in the players hands would give them a real sense of how important it is to analyze the situation, weigh all the options then make the best decision they can.
So I get the Locust IIC unlocked & I have managed to attain 25 AP. Do I take the Locust IIC now or hold out for 5 more AP in order to get the Kit Fox (Uller) for 30 tons? Or do I even unlock any more mechs in the light class? Maybe I hold on until the mediums become unlocked...... Keep in mind that once you have the AP to get a specific mech & you choose to take the mech you are broke & are stuck with that choice until you regain sufficient AP to get another.
7. Players will get promoted one rank at a time. So it will go Mechwarrior=>Star Commander=>Star Captain=>Star Colonel=>Galaxy Commander. Now getting back to the lore, by the time you reached the Star Captain rank, you should have participated in a Trial of Bloodright & won your Bloodname. Warriors without a Bloodname will NOT be allowed to go higher than Star Captain. On average there should forty Bloodnames available per Clan (obviously some will be more & some will be less). My recommendation regarding Bloodnames can be found here:
http://mwomercs.com/...6241#entry96241
Why will attaining a Bloodname be so important? Well for one, the honor it bestows speaks volumes about your character. It allows you to pursue higher ranks but more importantly, gaining a Bloodname whether you are as low as a Mechwarrior or as high as a Star Captain, will give you access to & the ability to vote on, the Clan Council. The Clan Council votes on all matters regarding the Clan whether major or minor.
8. As I stated earlier, my view is that NO player should be Khan or saKhan of a Clan. That means that the highest rank you can achieve will be Galaxy Commander. (the Oathmaster & Loremaster will be decided by a vote of the Clan Council) This means that getting Galaxy Commander should be at the highest levels. I also want to emphasize that this is a Clan which means that when you achieve whatever goal you set for yourself, you cannot then just rest on your laurels.
All newly appointed officers should remain unchallenged for a month. I think that is sufficient time to ascertain how somebody is performing. If it is believed that they are not performing as well as they could & it is to the detriment of the Clan, an IMMEDIATE subordinate can challenge them to a Trial of Possession for the rank. That means that a Mechwarrior CANNOT challenge a Galaxy Commander for his rank, he can only challenge HIS Star Commander. If the subordinate wins, then the ranks, roles & responsibilities are reversed.
I would suggest giving the superior officer who is successful, the ability to claim a prize of his own (as is allowed in the lore). Nothing as severe as expulsion for the loser, but perhaps transfer from the unit & since the only person who can challenge that officer is his immediate subordinate, a transfer means the loser would now have to fight his way back into the unit. This will make people think twice about challenging their superior for their position as they have to face grave repercussions should they fail. This should also discourage people from trying to take ranks from people maliciously, at least in theory.
9. Fighting as a Clan warrior affords you better training & tech however there are limitations.
Clan warriors begin with a certain number of pilots at their disposal. A batchall is issued. Once answered, the warriors then bid amongst themselves to determine who will be doing the actual fighting. A Clan warrior engages one enemy mech at a time. If however, another mech fires upon him he is free to return fire. A Clan Warrior will not assist another warrior who is engaging an enemy unless that enemy fired on him to begin with.
CoffiNail's "claim button" idea could work here:
http://mwomercs.com/...6334#entry46334
So there you have it, my first draft.