Guild based vs faction based

[Slamz]

You have to have an odd number of teams at the small integer end. This let's the players compensate for imbalances in population that are unpredictable at the design stage or that shift through the life of the game.

I was thinking that if you had a larger number of teams (say, 12), then faction politics would become a much bigger factor.

That is, with 3 teams, faction politics only extend as far as temporarily ganging up on the more powerful team.

With 12 teams, there's a lot more room for backroom deals, alliances and backstabbing. You could also think about giving players more direct control over the team (almost as if they were guilds, perhaps with an elected leadership). I don't think you'd want players leading fixed teams if you only had 3 teams, but it might be more acceptable if there are 12 teams (and some feasible method of switching teams).