At the moment, there are some properties that are more sought after than others.
Primarily, this is Guildhouses and Ships.
These properties can be retained within the same faction for literal years, and unless DMs actively enforce activity levels, can languish largely unused except as storage.
My suggestion is that these properties be put onto an actual Auction system.
WHAT COULD THIS LOOK LIKE?
All guildhouses (other than settlement leadership properties, like District Houses) and all ships (other than flagships, which are settlement controlled) would go onto a bidding system, where every 4 IG years (1 RL year) or whenever the owner lets the lease lapse or releases their ownership of it, it is up for Auction
This would then allow individuals to bid ON BEHALF OF A FACTION, with ownership of the property to go to the Faction Leader whose Faction places the highest aggregate bid.
This would obviously be shaped by IC restrictions (no UDers owning property in Cordor, and vice versa), but these properties would not be subject to eviction by settlement authorities if within the domain of a settlement, EXCEPT WHERE THE FACTION LEADER IS MADE AN EXILE OF THAT SETTLEMENT, AT WHICH POINT THE PROPERTY IN FULL GOES UP FOR AUCTION. Furthermore, if a property is within the domain of a settlement, none who are exiles in that settlement are eligible for any faction they are part of to have bids made on their behalf.
The property, once secured by a Faction and transferred to their leader, would then remain the property of the Faction Leader, even if they leave said Faction for the period of the lease, or until they let it lapse or release their ownership of it.
All unsuccessful bids are lost, and all coin bid on the property being paid to Waterdeep/Amn/Gracklstugh/insert NPC faction here.
In order for someone to take a quarter in said property, they would need to be part of the same Faction as the one that won the Auction, EVEN IF THE FACTION LEADER LEAVES THE FACTION. If they then left the faction, their quarter would be released.
The exile of the Faction Leader, even if they have left the Faction, would result in the property going up for Auction.
Should the Faction leader release their ownership of the property, all quarters within it are similarly released when the Auction period is complete.
WHAT DOES THIS SUGGESTION DO FOR THE SERVER?
- It provides an ongoing gold sink for factions, ensuring that they cannot just turtle in their property, and removing gold from the economy.
- It makes it much more difficult for any single Faction to control multiple Guildhouses/Ships, and gives a chance for newer Factions to get established.
- It reduces the likelihood of a single Faction becoming inert for too long, as doing so would see them lose their property within at MOST 12 RL months.
- It provides motivation for players in a Faction to log in and be active, if for no other reason than to accumulate gold to pay for their next property bid.
- It promotes Factional roleplay (your leader matters, your relationship with them matters, etc.)
- It gives Settlement Authorities more control over sought after properties, and makes evicting the occupants of a Guildhouse more viable, as at the moment when the main property lease owner is evicted, it rolls ownership to another quarter owner.
- It should increase diversity in ownership of sought after properties, helping to build the number of Factions in Arelith, and therefore also the playerbase.
POTENTIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SUGGESTION
- Settlement authorities can abuse their power to remove Factions from properties.
- Factions can throw gold at problems and keep others out of the system, because it is literally a "highest bid wins" situation.
- Properties outside of the domain of Settlements are less controlled, and so are more likely to hold problematic Factions.
- An established Faction focused on roleplay could be replaced by a Faction focused on making gold, resulting in a more grindy feel for the server.
MY RESPONSE TO THESE POTENTIAL RISKS
- Settlement authorities abusing their power is simply roleplay, and if a Faction is removed in a way they feel is unjust, they can respond politically. If it is being done for OOC reasons, such should be reported so that DMs can address it.
- Throwing gold at problems is literally how a large number of situations are resolved, and this is, by definition, how gold sinks work.
- We want space for problematic factions, as otherwise everyone just wants to sit around and sing kumbaya.
- Roleplay factions can make political alliances to get resources to secure properties, or have grindy Faction's leaders exiled, removing them from the possible pool of bidders.
I know this suggestion is far from perfect, but it could alleviate some of the current issues with the more sought after properties.
Thank you for your consideration.