The Antagonism System (AKA Antag)

[Ai Leen]

The Antagonism System allows for RPs to have a purpose and a life that cannot be simulated easily with the standard 'players attacking NPCs' system that most RPs employ. In essence, the Antagonism System pits two or more player factions against one another ICly, but cooperatively OOCly, to result in an engaging RP experience and story.

Core Value #1) Each RP 'world' gets its own subforum.

How it works: In application to the Gaia National Guard, each subfaction of GNG already has their own subforum. Under the Antagonism System, the subfaction and their enemy faction would have threads in this subforum. (Gaian Navy and Sushiperror's Imperial Fleet or whatever would share the GN subforum)

Core Value #2) Conflict resolution is done via Faction Leaders first, then up to Guild Crew second, to the Antagonism Designer if things continue to be unresolved.

How it works: Once both factions for a subforum have formed, they will choose a Faction Leader. Faction Leaders are responsible for the operation of their faction, and for negotiations with the opposing Faction Leader. If there's a problem, the Faction Leader attempts to resolve it. If the problem is with a player in the opposing faction, the Faction Leaders for both factions talk it over, find out where the wrong is, and fix it. If the issue remains a problem, the Guild Crew will assume control. If there's still a problem after that, I will step in.

* Note *: I (Ai Leen) am the Antagonism Designer. I am a former Moderator for Barton Town, and a former Gaia Online Omnimoderator, and before that, I was a founding member of the School of Dedicated Role Players. I am known for my impartiality, and known to be fair in my judgements. If that information is still not enough, then for the sake of the Guild, by participating in the Antagonism System, you agree that the Antagonism Designer's decision is final.  

[Ai Leen]

Success/Failure System

Core Value #3) A simple point system called the 'Sucess/Failure System' is put in place of each RP, to help keep the action going.

How it works: Each faction begins with 25 SF Points (Success/Failure Points). These points are assigned by the Faction Leader to characters. These points are used in conjunction with RP, to either force a success, or force a failure. Each time these points are spent, the points are payed directly to the other faction (Like giving the other faction money). For example: ASDF's Nida wants to break into the Lanzeraedi's flagship. Her Faction Leader assigned her 5 points, so she spends 2 points purchasing the right to break in. (ASDF S/F Points: 23 - Lanzeraedi S/F Points: 25+2) Lanzeraedi's Ian decides he doesn't want to let Nida in. He's been assigned only 3 points, so he spends 2 of them defending the airlock from break in. (ASDF S/F Points: 23+2 - Lanzeraedi S/F Points: 23+2)

As can be imagined, S/F Points can be very powerful. There is a hard cap on how many points a single player can have. It's expressed by this mathematical formula: (25/N)*2 - where N is the number of members within the faction. To get around this hard cap, characters can work together to contribute to a total pool of points. Tanasha of ASDF can work with Nida, giving a full 10 points to their effort. This would completely overwhelm Ian....but if he had help... ninja

Note: The number 25 may be adjusted at a later point.

Core Value #4) Story Breaks are the times when S/F can be redistributed.

How it works: Story Breaks occur during any prolonged lull in the RP. Only characters participating in the prolonged lull may receive new SF points. These Story Breaks can be anything from a coffee break, to a weeklong vacation on Isle de Gambino. If a character is participating in a Story Break, he/she is unable to react quickly to danger. They aren't being alert, because they're relaxing.

There are 3 concepts that need to be pointed out now: Remember that Faction Leaders assign points to each member of their group? Nida in the above example had 5. Let's say that after all the fighting was done, Lanzeraedi paid ASDF a total of 10 points. Nida only used 3 points, so she has 2/5 points.

ASDF Success/Failure Points
Unassigned: 10
Assigned: 22

During this Story Break, if Nida was by herself, she could regenerate back up to a total of 5 S/F points, because 5 is the amount of points her Faction Leader assigned to her. The amount that the Faction Leader assigns to you is your limit.

The second concept is: What happens when you take a Story Break with others? If the Faction Leader is not present, then the unassigned points are split among those present (up to the limit). So let's say there are 5 ASDFers total, all resting. Each of them is currently at 2/5 S/F points and there are 10 unassigned points. The points are split evenly: each would leave that rest break with 4/5.

The third concept is: What happens when you take a Story Break with the Faction Leader present? This one is simple: The same as above, but the Faction Leader can adjust everyone's SF point totals while everyone is resting. He can say "Nida, I see you needed more points in that attempt. Your new SF total is 7." And then turn to a computer operator and say, "You didn't get involved at all, so I'm taking 2 of your SFs and give it to Nida." The only limitation to this: The Faction Leader cannot touch SF totals carried by members not in the Story Break.