I doubt this will ever be implemented, but in a game that so heavily rewards (and almost enforces) playing alts, I'm surprised there isn't some kind of cross faction guild system, or some way to link cross-faction guilds. All it would require is a simple cross-faction guild chat. That would be the only perk needed. It wouldn't change the way people group, the way they run together, or even guild banks (I think a separate one for each side would be fine). All it would change is the chat system.

I say this because I am an alt-leveler. I get bored easily with the repetitiveness of endgame. I started out Rep, but I found that I like Imperial story lines far more. And I think many people would be more willing to level cross faction alts if they could socialize with their guild while they do it.

Is there a downside to this that I'm missing?

And why exactly would this idea be so bad?

The main reason why I'm not playing any of my rep toons anymore is because I can't chat with my guildies while doing so. It's not like the OP proposed that imps and reps should be able to quest together.

This is such a bad idea for a story driven MMO that they will probable do it.

Why would it be bad? It would be absolutely nothing other than adding the ability to chat with your guild regardless of the faction. I understand how it would affect RP guilds, but they can always choose not to be cross-faction. You might even be able to expand on your RP experience, like trying to turn and recruit Sith for the Jedi.

Give me a solid reason why it would be bad. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'd just like to have a reason why you don't like the idea.

Give me a solid reason why it would be bad. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'd just like to have a reason why you don't like the idea.

WZ exploiting where you can tell your mates in guild chat what the other side is doing.

WZ exploiting where you can tell your mates in guild chat what the other side is doing.

Valid argument.

WZ exploiting where you can tell your mates in guild chat what the other side is doing.

well at the moment the "workaround" for this is to stay in guild voice chat which is far from perfect but does achieve the same end.

this would also allow the "WZ exploit" so I'm not convinced that is a good reason to not do cross faction guild chat.

I was utterly against it intially.

However since legacy I think it's probably the best idea for the game.

well at the moment the "workaround" for this is to stay in guild voice chat which is far from perfect but does achieve the same end.

 

this would also allow the "WZ exploit" so I'm not convinced that is a good reason to not do cross faction guild chat.

You could also work around this by disabling the chat while in a WZ.

And why exactly would this idea be so bad?

The main reason why I'm not playing any of my rep toons anymore is because I can't chat with my guildies while doing so. It's not like the OP proposed that imps and reps should be able to quest together.

The reason it would be a bad idea is because this is a story driven MMO and the republic and Empire are at war. How good of a story would it be if you were fighting a war with your friends against your friends?

I guess they could have the trailer for crossfactions guilds being a jedi and sith fighting a battle then stoping the fight for a lunch breach and having a few beers together at the local cantina.

The reason it would be a bad idea is because this is a story driven MMO and the republic and Empire are at war. How good of a story would it be if you were fighting a war with your friends against your friends?

 

I guess they could have the trailer for crossfactions guilds being a jedi and sith fighting a battle then stoping the fight for a lunch breach and having a few beers together at the local cantina.

It might be story-driven, but that doesn't mean that everyone that plays is an RPer. And sometimes you just want to talk to your friends. If you go along with this reasoning, than there would be no way to play more than one faction on the same server, because you yourself hates the other side so much that you simply refuse to play them. And there are plenty of instances along the storylines of of Imp characters that I help out the republic. My bounty hunter isn't fighting a war against the Republic. She's just getting paid. My Agent spends more time arguing with Sith than fighting the Republic. My Sorcere hates the republic, but that doesn't mean that I do. So, I don't think it's as black and white as you're explaining it. But that's just my personal opinion.

It might be story-driven, but that doesn't mean that everyone that plays is an RPer. And sometimes you just want to talk to your friends. If you go along with this reasoning, than there would be no way to play more than one faction on the same server, because you yourself hates the other side so much that you simply refuse to play them. And there are plenty of instances along the storylines of of Imp characters that I help out the republic. My bounty hunter isn't fighting a war against the Republic. She's just getting paid. My Agent spends more time arguing with Sith than fighting the Republic. My Sorcere hates the republic, but that doesn't mean that I do. So, I don't think it's as black and white as you're explaining it. But that's just my personal opinion.

I just done see how they can say its a story driven game but then say they want you to play both sides of the field and then support it.

I dont agree with characters of both factions on the same server

I dont agree with legacy from one faction to another on the same server (which goes along with above)

I dont agree with cross faction GTN or being able to mail items to your cross faction alt.

I dont agree with them making HK-47 require you to have a chacter on each side

If you want to stay in contact with your friends thats what vent/mumble is for and that will fix your problem.

The story argument against it doesn't really have any weight in a game where "realism" liberties are taken in support of game mechanics, e.g. lightsabers do not one-shot people.

Cross-faction guilds would be a very good addition, particularly as there is extensive emphasis on playing both factions. This is even more the case with the future release of HK-51, which requires that you have characters of both factions on the same server to obtain one.

Yes to this idea. I agree it's surprising that BW pushes for playing alts so much yet gives no support for building a community across those characters. I liked how in Final Fantasy XI you could join any city faction, play any class all while still keeping your friends list/ignore list/ guild mates.

It really killed my enjoyment of the game trying to play republic and not having my crazy guild chat with me. The most effective and simple solution I think is just make community stuff like guilds/friends list ect all account based and not character based.

From the story perspective this would be really, really hard to do. I mean, the two sides are AT WAR! (Star WARS and all...) There may be guild stories that make this work, but from the point of the overall game's story, it would be pretty rough.

From a logistics perspective, it would be nice to have all my characters in the same guild, Empire or Republic, with all the characters from my guild. It would at least simplify communication between those who are playing Empire and those playing Republic at any given time. Much, much easier than flipping to the other side to see a) if anyone's on and b) if they want to do something (op, pvp, hardmodes, whatever).

In all, for the convenience, I wouldn't mind seeing this.

I just done see how they can say its a story driven game but then say they want you to play both sides of the field and then support it.

 

I dont agree with characters of both factions on the same server

I dont agree with legacy from one faction to another on the same server (which goes along with above)

I dont agree with cross faction GTN or being able to mail items to your cross faction alt.

I dont agree with them making HK-47 require you to have a chacter on each side

If you want to stay in contact with your friends thats what vent/mumble is for and that will fix your problem.

1) You don't have to have characters on both factions. You can simply chose not to. That's you're prerogative. If they chose to come out with cross-faction guilds, it would also be your prerogative not to join one.

2.) See #1.

3.) Game economy will take precedence over RP principles every time. My server has had a thriving GTN ever since it switched over. At least they gave a semi-viable story-driven reason. Damn those Hutts.

4.) I agree with you on that one.

5.) I like to keep my internet friends at a text-based distance. It makes me uncomfortable to physically be talking to someone over the internet. I find it creepy. But apparently I should have an undying hatred for anyone who plays Republic scum anyways, so why would I want to talk to them....

I'm surprised this have not been implemented yet, seeing as BW wants us to roll alts and experience all the various stories and on both factions.

They should give us the player base the option, a general cross faction chat as well so you can keep in touch with your friends and guildies on the other side.

As far as PvP goes, if premade ranked teams of the same cross faction guild plays against eachother they wont get anything- picture it as training only.

From the story perspective this would be really, really hard to do. I mean, the two sides are AT WAR! (Star WARS and all...) There may be guild stories that make this work, but from the point of the overall game's story, it would be pretty rough.

I agree with you on that one. But I don't think it's any worse, story-wise, than trading between factions (the GTN) and sending items to cross faction alts. BW already seems to have broken the cross-faction barrier, so why not take it just one step further?

I agree with you on that one. But I don't think it's any worse, story-wise, than trading between factions (the GTN) and sending items to cross faction alts. BW already seems to have broken the cross-faction barrier, so why not take it just one step further?

Oh, I'm there as the rest of my post says. I wouldn't mind the feature in-game.

Story-wise I guess the Hutts, a neutral, cash-hungry faction, took over the GTN. Makes some sense.

Sending items cross-faction within your account is a quality-of-life feature for players.

I would love this. Many times that I am on the republic side of our guild but almost everyone else is empire side, and even though I am mumble that doesn't mean everyone else is and I would like to at least say hi to those guildies that I can't see or hear. Star trek online used to have this, even though the federation was at war with the klingons you could create a chat channel and both factions could use it. I thought it was awesome it was a great way to talk to everyone no matter what side they were on. And story wise just because people are at war with one another doesn't mean they don't talk to each other.

I'd like to add that my guild has a similar setup. The majority of our guild is based on the Empire side, but we are growing our Republic side. I'd really like the opportunity to talk to my guildmates on the other side while building up my republic characters. Not everyone always gets on mumble.

*Sigh*

I hate it when things get moved to the suggestion box. Nothing even gets talked about here.