Guild based vs faction based

[Slamz]

What we see naturally though as a game evolves is that people abandon small factions in favor of larger factions because of the level of influence players have with larger factions

I'm not sure about that.

Joining a large faction may simply mean you are competing with a lot of other players for internal faction influence. It will probably become pretty tempting to set out into the wilderness and side up with the Tree People of the Elk Woods because you'd be a big fish in a small pond, whereas joining the Horde makes you a big fish in an ocean of big fish.




But it's also possible that factions are actually composed of factions. Orcs fight the Tree People of the Elk Woods and win, but the Tree People become vassals rather than being wiped out. They can still fight and grow in the name of the Orcs, but they're also still doing it in the name of the Tree People, as if they were a particular orc batallion.

And when the day comes when they get powerful enough or the other Orcs get weak enough, the Tree People may simply declare their independence and start a new war right in the heart of Orc country (perhaps after reaching an agreement with several other vassal states to do the same).