G
Gypsy Keja Mimi
Guest
"Where are the faction vendors?" I heard someone at the bank say as I made my way through the crowd around West Britain Bank.
Faction vendors? I knew what they meant, but it had been a long time since I had seen them. I slowed down a bit to see if I could overhear if anyone answered the questioner, and it wasn’t long before someone did, but it wasn't the answer I think they were expecting.
The person who answered seemed angry about the question, and through the shouts of people selling things and buying things I caught very little, but it definitely peaked my curiosity. Where were the faction vendors?
As a reporter it’s my job to find out the answer to such things. So I began a little investigative work. I knew they had something to do with factions, but I had no idea how factions actually works.
For those who do not know what a faction vendor is, because they are new or never travel to the towns in Felucca, groups of faction vendors can often be found in certain Felucca towns. They generally sell boards, bottles, ore for ingots or reagents. At certain times in the shards history these vendors have been plentiful and the resources they sold very cheap. But these vendors did not exist long and disappeared. Every once in a while someone comes upon one of them tucked in a corner somewhere with the resources for sale, but often the prices are now inflated, or they are put where it is impossible to access them.
If you already know this information, skip this paragraph, this is just a short "Factions 101 Primer" for all of those who do not know this. Eight cities in Felucca have tall pillars in them. You might have seen them before and wondered what they were. They are the stands on which a sigil rests. Each sigil is a different color and look like Modain's Defeat Coin. There are four separate factions: True Britanians, whose base is Lord British's castle (if you have ever wondered why you can't go in there in Felucca, that is why); Minax, whose base is along the east face of the mountain where Shame is located; Shadowlords, whose base is found in the Yew Crypts; and Council of Mages, whose base is found in the Parliament building in Magincia. You can not enter a base unless you are one of these factions, so if you are exploring along and hit an invisible wall somewhere, this is most likely why. At each base are eight pillars which hold the sigils after they are stolen. Once placed on these pillars, they must be held inside that base for 24 hours without anyone else stealing them. If a sigil can be held inside of any faction base for 24 hours, the faction who owns it owns the town it belongs to for 3 days. It is a bit more involved, but basically, one of the advantages to "owning" a town, is that that faction can then place faction vendors. The prices of these vendors’ resources are then controlled by the faction. Some factions are generous and make their vendors available to the shard if they so choose to use them with very good discounted prices. Other factions choose to hide the vendors and/or keep the prices high, only setting them low enough for their faction at certain times to buy in bulk. It is all a choice of the individual faction and guilds on what they decide to do with their cities.
When I began researching factions, I didn’t know half of that information. I only knew that I was as curious as to where the faction vendors were as the person I had overheard.
As I began asking around to find some information, surprisingly I was contacted by the Guildmistress of YAD, TorAnn, who offered to tell me a bit about factions. We spent some time talking, and then I went to do an interview with her and some of her guildmates.
This interview was done a couple weeks ago, but I had to hold the information I obtained then because a change of strategy was in the works. At the time of the interview I first did with TorAnn, along with her co-leaders Lao T'syn and Daemon DeMort, their guild YAD was part of the faction Shadowlords. Due to some technical game mechanics they had decided to move their faction to True Britanians. As I was holding this article waiting for them to make the move, they found out that True Britanians could not hold any more members, so their only option was to move to Council of Mages. This involved another wait, and again I held the information, they wanted the change of faction to be a surprise to Minax, who is the faction that currently holds all of the towns, and who has held all of the towns for as long as most people can remember.
This is just some highlights of my interview with TorAnn and the others from YAD:
Gypsy Keja Mimi: So, tell me a little bit about who you are and what you are trying to do.
TorAnn: ummm.........
Devorious: Kill Minax
Lao T'syn: Trying to get Sonoma some cheap regs - with a real community effort, BUT all we get is demands for vendors and low turn out to defenses. *sobs*
Gypsy Keja Mimi: I think most people don’t even know what a defense is. I am hoping to change that for you.
TorAnn: We are trying to give Sonoma back to Sonoma and (get it) out of the hands of Minax. Vendors for all...The fact that Minax hides the faction vendors is what started YAD. We want to give the vendors back to Sonoma and let everyone enjoy the lowered prices. It shouldn't be just for the "special" people. And we have been in this for several months, now it is the vendors and a more personal thing.
As I spoke to the members of YAD, I found out many things. Due to the fact that it is a war, and they have to keep things hidden from other factions, I can't tell everything for obvious reasons, but they were candid and honest with me and allowed me a look into what they do and how they do it. I thank YAD for their trust in me.
The interview I had left me intrigued. The more I knew about factions, the more interested I became. Here was a group that obviously needed help in a big way. They could not have a tougher opponent
TorAnn: Minax... has GREAT group tactics and on top of that...has the best gear
Lao T'syn: The enemy has ALL the best gear all the scrolls, all the stats, best PCs AND they are good, so...a lot to overcome
TorAnn: Our opposition couldn't be any bigger, but with numbers and hard work it can be done. They have held Sonoma captive for about 2 years if not more. It's time to end that.
Lao T'syn: We need #s (more people). Nothing but (that) will beat them. Even if they go to different factions, start their own guild, do their own thing
TorAnn: I would LOVE to see all factions active and play them the way they were meant to be played
Lao T'syn: The so called Rpers could have a hay day RPing factions. Think about it, they can control a town.
TorAnn: Town fighting, not gate fighting.
The more I found out the more I wondered... how hard is it to do? I really wanted to give people who didn't know about factions a true look into what factions is all about. In order to do that I made up my mind, I was going to have to join factions in order to fully research my story.
Now anyone who knows me know, I have been in Sosaria for about 4 years. I existed before there was a Trammel, and I wasn't very good at the start, and when Trammel was born I definitely quickly embraced the new ruleset. I have never been afraid of Felucca. I traveled there if the occasion warranted it, but I did not go out of my way to go there. I would visit friends there, report there after becoming a reporter, do champ spawns, mine, chop wood, shop, but not every day or even every week. And yes I have been killed and looted there, and that part didn’t bother me, I have had worse happen in Trammel. My hesitation was not because of death. My hesitation was "could I, a PvM player who has little to no interest in PvP do any good in factions?"
In the end, I decided... In order to do this article justice, I was going to have to find out. I spoke to TorAnn and made arrangements. I thank her again for trusting me and agreeing to do this experiment. This little gypsy 'Trammie' was going to join factions.
To be continued....
</p>
Faction vendors? I knew what they meant, but it had been a long time since I had seen them. I slowed down a bit to see if I could overhear if anyone answered the questioner, and it wasn’t long before someone did, but it wasn't the answer I think they were expecting.
The person who answered seemed angry about the question, and through the shouts of people selling things and buying things I caught very little, but it definitely peaked my curiosity. Where were the faction vendors?
As a reporter it’s my job to find out the answer to such things. So I began a little investigative work. I knew they had something to do with factions, but I had no idea how factions actually works.
For those who do not know what a faction vendor is, because they are new or never travel to the towns in Felucca, groups of faction vendors can often be found in certain Felucca towns. They generally sell boards, bottles, ore for ingots or reagents. At certain times in the shards history these vendors have been plentiful and the resources they sold very cheap. But these vendors did not exist long and disappeared. Every once in a while someone comes upon one of them tucked in a corner somewhere with the resources for sale, but often the prices are now inflated, or they are put where it is impossible to access them.
When I began researching factions, I didn’t know half of that information. I only knew that I was as curious as to where the faction vendors were as the person I had overheard.
As I began asking around to find some information, surprisingly I was contacted by the Guildmistress of YAD, TorAnn, who offered to tell me a bit about factions. We spent some time talking, and then I went to do an interview with her and some of her guildmates.
This interview was done a couple weeks ago, but I had to hold the information I obtained then because a change of strategy was in the works. At the time of the interview I first did with TorAnn, along with her co-leaders Lao T'syn and Daemon DeMort, their guild YAD was part of the faction Shadowlords. Due to some technical game mechanics they had decided to move their faction to True Britanians. As I was holding this article waiting for them to make the move, they found out that True Britanians could not hold any more members, so their only option was to move to Council of Mages. This involved another wait, and again I held the information, they wanted the change of faction to be a surprise to Minax, who is the faction that currently holds all of the towns, and who has held all of the towns for as long as most people can remember.
Gypsy Keja Mimi: So, tell me a little bit about who you are and what you are trying to do.
TorAnn: ummm.........
Devorious: Kill Minax
Lao T'syn: Trying to get Sonoma some cheap regs - with a real community effort, BUT all we get is demands for vendors and low turn out to defenses. *sobs*
Gypsy Keja Mimi: I think most people don’t even know what a defense is. I am hoping to change that for you.
TorAnn: We are trying to give Sonoma back to Sonoma and (get it) out of the hands of Minax. Vendors for all...The fact that Minax hides the faction vendors is what started YAD. We want to give the vendors back to Sonoma and let everyone enjoy the lowered prices. It shouldn't be just for the "special" people. And we have been in this for several months, now it is the vendors and a more personal thing.
As I spoke to the members of YAD, I found out many things. Due to the fact that it is a war, and they have to keep things hidden from other factions, I can't tell everything for obvious reasons, but they were candid and honest with me and allowed me a look into what they do and how they do it. I thank YAD for their trust in me.
TorAnn: Minax... has GREAT group tactics and on top of that...has the best gear
Lao T'syn: The enemy has ALL the best gear all the scrolls, all the stats, best PCs AND they are good, so...a lot to overcome
TorAnn: Our opposition couldn't be any bigger, but with numbers and hard work it can be done. They have held Sonoma captive for about 2 years if not more. It's time to end that.
Lao T'syn: We need #s (more people). Nothing but (that) will beat them. Even if they go to different factions, start their own guild, do their own thing
TorAnn: I would LOVE to see all factions active and play them the way they were meant to be played
Lao T'syn: The so called Rpers could have a hay day RPing factions. Think about it, they can control a town.
TorAnn: Town fighting, not gate fighting.
The more I found out the more I wondered... how hard is it to do? I really wanted to give people who didn't know about factions a true look into what factions is all about. In order to do that I made up my mind, I was going to have to join factions in order to fully research my story.
Now anyone who knows me know, I have been in Sosaria for about 4 years. I existed before there was a Trammel, and I wasn't very good at the start, and when Trammel was born I definitely quickly embraced the new ruleset. I have never been afraid of Felucca. I traveled there if the occasion warranted it, but I did not go out of my way to go there. I would visit friends there, report there after becoming a reporter, do champ spawns, mine, chop wood, shop, but not every day or even every week. And yes I have been killed and looted there, and that part didn’t bother me, I have had worse happen in Trammel. My hesitation was not because of death. My hesitation was "could I, a PvM player who has little to no interest in PvP do any good in factions?"
To be continued....
</p>
