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[Euld]

I'm probably jumping the gun here since Brink just came out, but in the description there's apparently yet another tired 'ol two factions system in it.  Thank goodness it isn't an MMO, but seriously?  Are we Americans so dead-set in our two party ways that we can only comprehend issues as having two opposing parties?

[ein]

Yes.

[Vector]

I'm probably jumping the gun here since Brink just came out, but in the description there's apparently yet another tired 'ol two factions system in it.  Thank goodness it isn't an MMO, but seriously?  Are we Americans so dead-set in our two party ways that we can only comprehend issues as having two opposing parties?

It's not an American thing, it's an "everyone likes dialectic arguments" thing.  Seriously, look it up.  It's very interesting.

But yes, I'm very tired of it, too.

[Neonivek]

What is kinda funny is despite the fact that "Dune 2" had three factions (Five if you count the freemen and emporer)... The Ordos were rather the odd ones out. They just felt "there" rather then a seperate faction.

[Gunner-Chan]

...

It's an FPS. With customization options. I'm more wondering why everything needs to be overcomplicated and we can't just say "These are you and these over here are the guys you shoot". This only has anything to do with politics if something is seriously wired in your head to equate anything with politics.

I guess we can complain about most sports too since it's team A or team B.

[Max White]

Two parties are easier to balance then three, or four, of seven. Especially if your not just doing the age of emperors and making each race a clone.

But hey, Star Craft II still has some shiny on it, and it had three parties, maybe four... More if you go into the internal politics rather then just the playable races.

[Vector]

Eh, I think the weirdness is that it almost looked a little bit like it wasn't being advertised as a straight-up FPS, kind of like a Bioshocky thing but not.

In any case, that was how I ended up feeling about it.

[Criptfeind]

Every fraction you add on adds that much more work, or takes that much more away from the other fractions. Thus many single player games.

Games that have multi player have the same issue, but they can not having simply one fraction. So they go with two to offer to most enjoyment (or least work) so you can PvP but not make the game crap.

I am sure after that it is a series of diminishing returns in quality.

Oh man. Max. You got me. I only read Vectors new post before I hit the go button.

[TherosPherae]

I guess we can complain about most sports too since it's team A or team B.

^This.

Also, I am fully up for switching sports to incorporate 5 teams at once per game. I might actually watch it if that happens just to see all the crazy strategies that pop up.

Because then it'd be more of a strategic situation, and less of a "Throw it to whatever guy isn't going to get the hell kicked out of him" situation.

[IronyOwl]

It's not an American thing, it's an "everyone likes dialectic arguments" thing.  Seriously, look it up.  It's very interesting.

While I haven't looked it up, I'm quite aware of it. I'm also aware that some study suggested that humans might not intrinsically be able to recognize numbers higher than 2- apparently toddlers know of 1, 2, and "many." I'm curious if that's related, or if people just prefer things as simple as possible.


In any event, the question really becomes what more factions would provide and whether they'd be worth the cost. In this case, it sounds like they've got pretty elaborate missions for both factions, so piling on more would give a serious drop in quality somewhere. The current factions also seem to be "establishment" and "rebels," which are pretty elemental and recognizable. You could certainly cram more in there, but you'd lose that basic feel and have to start getting a lot more specific, which the setting might not accommodate very well.


Also, NINJAS EVERYWHERE, MAKIN' ME REDUNDANT.

[Gunner-Chan]

Every fraction you add on adds that much more work, or takes that much more away from the other fractions. Thus many single player games.

Games that have multi player have the same issue, but they can not having simply one fraction. So they go with two to offer to most enjoyment (or least work) so you can PvP but not make the game crap.

FACTION. Not fraction. And yes this too. It's already hard enough to balance two opposing groups while making them different enough to be worth it.

[Neonivek]

Two parties are easier to balance then three, or four, of seven. Especially if your not just doing the age of emperors and making each race a clone.

But hey, Star Craft II still has some shiny on it, and it had three parties, maybe four... More if you go into the internal politics rather then just the playable races.

Heck they originally intended it to have four but chose not to because they didn't want to balance it.

The same applies to Warcraft three with the "Demon" faction being removed because they were concerned about balance.

FACTION. Not fraction

Actually wouldn't fraction technically work too?

[Grakelin]

I can't believe this is even a complaint.

[Neonivek]

I can't believe this is even a complaint.

I mean there are games out there with one faction just altered slightly.

Such as the Civiliation series before 4.

[Vector]

While I haven't looked it up, I'm quite aware of it. I'm also aware that some study suggested that humans might not intrinsically be able to recognize numbers higher than 2- apparently toddlers know of 1, 2, and "many." I'm curious if that's related, or if people just prefer things as simple as possible.

Well, there's also the fact (sort of) that the "normal" brain can only count up to 7 at a glance; similarly, memory for things you've heard (before being moved into long-term-ish memory) is seven seconds, while memory for images is 3-4 seconds.

The one-two-many theory is also corroborated by the "dual" tense in Old Church Slavonic and Arabic, i.e. there's I, We (two people) and We (more than two people) and so on, and so forth.