Isn't factions supposed to be something that brings the roleplay back? Why did the Roleplay ever end? Politics, roleplay, what have you. They never left. The only thing that did leave was the crutch that players used to push for their roleplay, instead of doing it for themselves. Matt has been Overlord for how long? He's suffered how many challenges? He's gotten through each of them and still sits as Overlord, and for a good while now hasn't had any challenges. The change meant that the skill of the Overlord reigned supreme instead of hunkering behind a wall. There's still politics in DoS, there's Renegades who will step in against Overlord tests, there's the ability for the Overlord to drop a Loyal to Renegade. There's much that can be used for politics. There's more wheeling and dealing with an Overlord who can be challenged at any time compared to one who hides behind a wall.
Loyal Wall is basically a means for a cluster to stay in power to the point where the Overlord, over cycles, would only be challenged by Warlord Tournament winners. In a way, it became a Mini-Archmage Tournament. There were no incentives to challenge a loyal, because there would be a test, and then you add SoA into the mix. Renegades were scarce, and it seemed that OOC and IC loyalties made sure the status quo was kept.
Claire Farron wrote:In light of a lot of the discussions centering around inclusiveness of newer duelists, I'd be wary of returning to something that pushes them out or whathaveyou.
Not even two months since then. I'm also wondering where the same voices who spoke up against exclusion and how new players are feeling as if it's already hard to achieve rank, let alone title, are.