Petty and Clan RP, House Competition and much much more

[Quirk]

I'd like to introduce a couple of concepts here for use in the now long-running small clans vs Houses debate, and map out some of the reasons behind my current dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Two definitions of phrases I'll be using later.

Petty goals RP.

I define "petty goals" RP as RP that arises out of the desire of an individual to achieve some end chiefly benefiting that individual as opposed to any organisation they represent, whether that individual be a noble or a pauper. A high-ranking Kadian merchant having an item of jewellery stolen for personal use would fit into this category; a starving elf pulling a scam to fill his belly and quench his thirst would fit likewise; an struggle between two House guards for the favour of a noble and promotion would be a third example.

Clan goals RP.

I define "clan goals" RP for the purposes of this discussion as RP that arises out of an organisation as a whole seeking to achieve some goal, or from a PC representative of that organisation seeking to further that organisation's interests. A Merchant House opening an outpost in a hitherto untouched territory or expanding their facilities in a certain area would fit into this category, as would competition for contracts between mercenary outfits, negotations and skirmishes between tribes for hunting rights, and many more things.

Following so far? Good. Here comes my first assertion:

a) Clan goals RP, in the sense I have just defined, is all but dead on Armageddon in most imm-run clans. Where it exists it is rarely directed by PCs. Most RP seen in Houses is petty goals RP.

That is, I think, a fairly bold claim, and may require some explanation. I do not count "spying" as clan goals RP in its proper sense, as spying is merely the gathering of data to make informed decisions with. I count only goals that are designed to bring clear benefit to the organisation as a whole rather than solely one individual in power.

b) Most Houses have no clear path to improve their position. Either they already hold a trade monopoly or they are constrained by the balance of other forces in their city too great for PCs to have significant control over.

This breeds a corollary:

b) ii) Most PC leaders in such Houses are hence extremely limited in what clan goals they can reasonably set. Many on realising this are frustrated. Others are content to indulge in petty goals RP, and accept that they will not have a large impact on the House they are part of.

I would strongly argue that the current situation with the Houses leads to the neglect of clan goals RP. Why is this a bad thing? Well, there is no real reason to have the Houses if they do not provide any extra opportunities for RP. Petty goals RP is perfectly attainable for any independent, and more opportunities are available for such RP when no steady income is assured; all that steady income does is reduce the harshness of Zalanthas. Indeed, with nothing but independents (something I am *not* suggesting should ever be the case) small groups would form naturally and provide a measure of clan goals RP not found in the current Houses.

c) Little or no competition exists between imm-run clans. Each large clan maintains some sort of monopoly, and the only resource that remains to squabble over is people.

There is a very little room for competition between the Houses. Arguably Kurac could have something of a conflict with Salarr or Kadius over what precisely constitutes "desert gear", but if such confrontations go on, they go on at such a secretive level as to be invisible to even the lower-ranked members of those Houses. Kurac, incidentally, appears to me to achieve clan goals oriented RP on a level unmatched by the other Houses, and I'd like to mention it as something of an exception; I'd suggest that its enduring appeal to players has a lot to do with this.

d) House trade monopolies, misunderstood by players, result in the wiping out of many a promising player-run clan, as well as reducing the pool of potential recruits for such clans by luring away craftsmen with the promise of a steady job and regular meals.

I'd single out Salarr and Kadius particularly as clans in a position to have a highly negative impact on emerging player-run organisations. I do not blame the players in such clans particularly, although they often hunt down PC groupings of a size far smaller than many NPC concerns; without having the authority to set goals to expand the clan's monopoly, or having goals set for them from above, likely they latch gladly onto something that seems well within their purview - maintaining their monopoly - and rejoice in the brief but exciting RP that results from the might of their House coming down on the upstarts.

e) Such House conflicts as do exist rarely touch the rank and file of PCs working for the organisation beyond perhaps making them aware of the feud.

What do all those House guards do all day? Certainly they very seldom have much to do with furthering the needs of the House, and only occasionally even get to help with the petty RP goals of their noble.

f) Elves, half-elves and lower-class humans are left out by the current emphasis on high-class social circles.

I chucked this one in just for good measure, but I think it's still relevant. Again, I except Kurac from this charge. Employment at the lowest level of the Merchant Houses is open to them, but little else; a group of elves will find few poor or desperate enough to deal with them, because of the number of higher-class PCs.

It's been a long post, and I don't want to muddy the waters by proposing such solutions as I've been considering just yet; however I would like to see what people feel about these assertions, whether they consider them truthful or not, and would like to hear what statements others might have to make in turn. This isn't really meant as a thread for suggesting solutions; it's a thread for defining the problem so we're all agreed on what it is before we come up with any ideas.

As a last point, I'd like to contrast this little quote, showing how far things have changed in the last few years - would anyone consider it still to be the case?

6) Despite all of this, there are virtually no limits to what can happen,
barring the ludicrous. If your character sets up a mercenary company,
he/she may one day lead an army of loyal soldiers on an assault of one
of the great city-states. As a magicker your character may one day become
a fabled elemental being. Burglars may reach levels of affluence beyond
imagination, and merchants may likewise become so rich as to own their
own merchant house and dominate the world's economy. The limits are
truly whatever you can imagine occurring.

Quirk

[crymerci]

Generally, PC merchant family members, nobles, and templars are the lowest-ranking people in their tier of leadership. I think it has to be this way, at least to start, otherwise you run the risk of power-hungry newbies to these roles taking advantage of any greater liberties.

However, it would be cool if more of these people were allowed to progress further and accomplish more.  It does happen, but it doesn't happen automatically. Sometimes they fail to jump through hoops for their superiors.  Or sometimes they anger their superiors by taking on powers which don't belong to them.  And sometimes it's just hard to convince the ooc powers-that-be that it is a good, or necessary, goal for them to set.

[Tamarin]

Clan goals RP, in the sense I have just defined, is all but dead on Armageddon in most imm-run clans. Where it exists it is rarely directed by PCs. Most RP seen in Houses is petty goals RP.

I fully agree.  Having recently had experiences with clans dealing in military, mercantile, espionage, and political endeavors, I came to realise that there are simply no goals.  Every task I was ever given was a short term one - gathering materials, guarding a noble, training day in day out, eavesdrop on conversations, etc.  To put it bluntly...dull.

Most Houses have no clear path to improve their position. Either they already hold a trade monopoly or they are constrained by the balance of other forces in their city too great for PCs to have significant control over.

Already I want to jump in and provide my solutions for these things, but again I agree.  Does Salarr or Kadius have any motivations at all these days?  No.  The dealings with the commoners are just sidenotes in comparison to the huge deals they strike with the noble houses, which bring in 85-95% of their income.  They are rich, and by virtue of being rich, they will continue to become rich.  It is a vicious circle that means a lack of goals, because they have already achieved the desired goal.  To become rich.

Little or no competition exists between imm-run clans. Each large clan maintains some sort of monopoly, and the only resource that remains to squabble over is people.

This has been said many times.  For a harsh world, there is little open hatred between competing clans.  When you sit down in the trader's or the sanc, and watch a pair of nobles from oposing houses talk, it is always very cordial and they even seem to like one another, even if that is not the case behind closed doors.  That is one aspect of competition, however, and there are no doubt many others.  There are so many factors that go into this point: the uberness of NPCs (meaning you can't walk into your competitor's store and crack some skulls); the constant deaths of PCs (who wants to deal in the comodity of people when they keep disappearing?)...and others.  This whole thing ties back into the lack of conflict that exists -- there -has- to be more.  Conflict is the essence of intrigue in this game, and without it, the game is boring.

House trade monopolies, misunderstood by players, result in the wiping out of many a promising player-run clan, as well as reducing the pool of potential recruits for such clans by luring away craftsmen with the promise of a steady job and regular meals.

The houses do have some effect on this, though I don't think it is the only reason why smaller player-run groups (i'm hesitant to call them clans yet) tend to disappear.  For one, players are greedy, and if they notice that a merchant has been going out alone to gather resources, you better believe there's going to be a dead merchant corpse in the wilderness very soon.  Another reason is groups need a base..somewhere they can safely store goods.  Being an independent, I know that its a pain in the ass to have to carry ever posession you own on your person.  Being part of a group can only compound this, because I don't think the resources brought in within a group increase proportionally to the number of members.

Such House conflicts as do exist rarely touch the rank and file of PCs working for the organisation beyond perhaps making them aware of the feud.

Yep.  The one exception I'd say to this statement is the Byn, as the "leaders" of the clan (i.e. the sergeants), have very strong ties to their underlings, and as such, they tend to discuss their problems.  Then again, the Byn is a very simplistic organisation.

I'd like to add a final thought to all of this.  Have you ever retired a noble or house merchant or anything of that sort?  I know it happens frequently, and that in itself is a -strong- indicator that there is a severe problem.  If things were interesting, and PCs had longterm goals, perhaps independent of IMM influence, people would not retire.  At least until their goal is accomplished.

[Petra]

I'd like to add a final thought to all of this. Have you ever retired a noble or house merchant or anything of that sort? I know it happens frequently, and that in itself is a -strong- indicator that there is a severe problem. If things were interesting, and PCs had longterm goals, perhaps independent of IMM influence, people would not retire. At least until their goal is accomplished.

I tried making a post about this but it didn't seem to receive the attention I had hoped it would.  This above quote is the point I was trying to make.  I'm not trying to say nobles should be pampered by the staff and their every whim catered to, but I do truly think that if more of their needs were taken care of, you might find less retired nobles.  I don't think it's fair to just write it off by simply saying "Oh, well some people can't handle the role.  Fuck them."  And, no offense dear staff or players, but some of you have come narrowly close to saying exactly that.  

It should be assumed when taking a noble role that you won't be entertained 24/7.  That there will be downtimes.  You have to get used to that real quick.  The restrictions are huge.  Most of what a noble does is virtual activity (attending balls hosted by the NPC Houses, mingling with your NPC relatives, being bathed and pampered by NPC servants and slaves, etc.)  Most of what a hunter does is backed up by the code (reading footprints in the ground to track your prey, hunting them down, skinning them, selling their hide to PCs or NPCs, being able to leave the city of your own accord, etc.)  A noble has many restrictions which means that, by and large, unless there are players online when you are, you won't be doing much else but just sitting there.  As long as you are made full aware of the above beforehand, you should have no problem sticking with a noble role for longer than a week.  I'm of the impression anyone who has taken a noble role is aware of this beforehand.  So why are they retiring faster than the blink of an eye?  Is it really fair enough to just say "They can't handle it, so fuck them mother fuckers"?  

I don't know if I have a solution to offer, but I do think it's a problem that needs remedy.  Noble and templar assassinations notwithstanding (because it's always fun when someone manages to kill one off  :twisted:), I think these are roles that should tend to be long-lived more often than not.

[Bardex]

Some clans aren't city clans. Some clans, that aren't city clans, have very wellwritten documentation and guidelines. I'm in one of them. I'm the only PC in it right now too and my character isn't a "clan leader." I have no PC clan leader. But it doesn't stop me from supporting the clan goals and having fun doing it. My clan does have goals and a wellrounded philosophy, set of moral guidelines etc. etc. etc. I like to think that I follow it well and do a pretty good job of it, I haven't had any imm comments or criticisms so I have to think I'm doing okay. Maybe my clan is an exception to the rule. Ive been in house clans and I knew there were "backstories" that the lower ranking members didn't know about or only were slightly involved in and kept in the dark on the big picture. But that isn't to say these "big deals" don't happen. I know of a bunch of big plotlines that my characters were involved in and weren't told the details about.

This is fine to me because it made sense that "need to know" was applied at the time. But I think it made me feel a lot more useful when I knew that there *was* a bigger plotline that my character didn't know about. Knowing that I was contriuting as a player to something bigger. Even though knowing this was IC info that maybe I shouldnt know about as a player. But if I didnt know about it and only saw what my character was allowed to know I wonder how much enjoyment I wouldve gotten out of my character's place in things? I didn't know what the big deal plotline was, only that one existed. And that really did help. A lot.

[Seeker]

Excellent post, Quirk.

Staying with trying to avoid discussing solutions, but focusing on the issues you raised at the top of the thread:

a) Clan goals RP, in the sense I have just defined, is all but dead on Armageddon in most imm-run clans. Where it exists it is rarely directed by PCs. Most RP seen in Houses is petty goals RP.

I think "all but dead" may be too harsh. I think "static" is probably a better term.  Certainly the single largest clan goal is to survive.  Not that exciting, but it explains a lot of the behavior the larger Houses.  The large Houses want to go going on, and are not interested in risk without tremendous potential benefits.  The upper level NPCs (under IMM-control) know this, and steer House actions accordingly.  Limiting on player actions?  Yes.  Realistic?  Absolutely.

I agree that most RP in clans is petty goals.  But, from everything I have read, players insist time and time again that they wish to drive their own plots.  Not have it mandated to them from a Clan IMM..

b) Most Houses have no clear path to improve their position.  Either they already hold a trade monopoly or they are constrained by the balance of other forces in their city too great for PCs to have any control over.

and the following corollary.

What I see, rather, is the -goals- of a large Clan being perfectly well laid out, but the manner and method  for a PC to accomplish the Clan's goals being very open.  It is the ability of the PC leaders to set these paths that offers some creativity.  I have seen more than one player have remarkable success pulling off some very interesting role-play, entertaining PCs and spinning plots, working within the framework and driving a clan forward,  without having a stitch of authority to change or alter their clan's goals.

c) Little or no competition exists between imm-run clans.  Each large clan maintains some sort of monopoly, and the only resource that remains to squabble over is people.

I only partly disagree.  The competition is not so much over whether Salarr can sell armor that is so ornamental that it infringes into Kadius's luxury monopoly, or whether a silk facewrap is desert-gear or not.  Those things occur, but do not affect any but a small handful of players.  

The real competition is all about -prestige-.  When thinking about a clan or watching a clan in play which one do you envy or fear?  Certainly that is partly an OOC perception, but that is where the real battle is.  Which clans beg for people, which turn away recruits?

d) House trade monopolies, misunderstood by players, result in the wiping out of many a promising player-run clan, as well as reducing the pool of potential recruits for such clans by luring away craftsmen with the promise of a steady job and regular meals.

If you have a player-run organization that doesn't sell spice, make arms, or sell finery as their stock and trade, I can't see this being an issue.  And PCs will play where they choose to play.  An interesting player-run clan will hold players because it is interesting RP.

e) Such House conflicts as do exist rarely touch the rank and file of PCs working for the organisation beyond perhaps making them aware of the feud.

And some other characters will never get to enjoy the awesome RP in the barracks, the crafting hall, the Diplomatic tables, the shadowy allies or the battlefield.  Nobody gets it all.  And feeling that your character is part of something bigger than himself, even if he has no clue what is -really- going on, is not always so bad.

f) Elves, half-elves and lower-class humans are left out by the current emphasis on high-class social circles.

I am not sure that there -is- an emphasis on high-class social circles.  They certainly exist, and they seem active, but there seems to be a bunch of mangy tribals, lone hunters, d-elfs, 'rinthers and scumbags still around.  

I can't answer this except to suggest that if everyone is dressed in flashy silks and slippers, a good starving, amoral bastard should find dirty work to do pretty easily.

As to the last quote from the help files...  I agree with you that it does seem very unlikely that any PC could become a fabled elemental being, single handedly dominate the world's economy, or attack and defeat a city-state with his own band of hand-picked, hand-trained soldiers.


Seeker

[Flaming Ocotillo]

I feel Quirk's post is an excellent summary of the current state of the game. There have been many times that I've pondered how to express similar opinions into words, but Quirk has taken the time to write his own, and write them well. Thank you QUIRK for taking that time.

Needless to say, I agree with all of Quirk's points mentioned in his original post, and feel as though a shadowy veil has been lifted from my eyes. Each point mentioned was stated so clearly and concisely that I can finally trace the root of my disatisfaction with playing in most clans. No longer am I plagued with the doubt that I'm just an anti-social gamer who enjoys being a loner PC, with all the benefits it brings. I see now where I've felt that clan play was lacking, and Quirk has opened my eyes to it fully.

How many others reading this post have felt the same way I have? Felt that there's little appeal to joining a clan? Or did you perhaps settle with Kurac as a compromise because of its exceptional nature compared to other clans? I think Quirk has done us all a service by really focusing on the core of our issues.

I look forward to reading other opinions on the subject.

[Quirk]

d) House trade monopolies, misunderstood by players, result in the wiping out of many a promising player-run clan, as well as reducing the pool of potential recruits for such clans by luring away craftsmen with the promise of a steady job and regular meals.

If you have a player-run organization that doesn't sell spice, make arms, or sell finery as their stock and trade, I can't see this being an issue.  And PCs will play where they choose to play.  An interesting player-run clan will hold players because it is interesting RP.

While I wish to refrain from jumping in on every point and arguing my view until I've seen a few more posts giving a range of opinions, I'll just list here a few crafting skills which would put you into competition with the big Houses.

Armor_making (Salarr)
Bow_making (Salarr)
Cloth_working (Kadius)
Club_making (Salarr)
Dyeing (Kadius)
Feather_working (Kadius)
Fletchery (Salarr)
Floristry (Kadius)
Jewelry_making (Kadius)
Knife_making (Salarr)
Leather_working (Everybody)
Spear_making (Salarr)
Sword_making (Salarr)
Tent_making (Kurac)
Wood_working (Kadius)

This, not too remarkably, covers most of the skills available to crafters. I would venture to suggest that finding oneself in competition with a big House as an independent is hence not staggeringly unlikely.

Quirk

[Bestatte]

Heh Quirk don't forget soapmaking. I was on one clan once, wanted to introduce a line of specialized soaps. I was told "We aren't the Bath and Bodyworks of Zalanthas" and then informed that our clan would be in competition with Kadius if we introduced soaps. Which is, IMO, preposterous since Kadius doesn't make or sell soaps.

But don't even try to come up with something original, because -someone- will insist that you can't do it because it would infringe on another House's territory.

[jmordetsky]

*takes a deep breathe*

Dismantle the god kings and knock down the city states

Set up smaller feudal territories ruled by the remaining noble houses/Templars and outposts and caravan camps run by merchant houses in their places.

Make them constantly fight for influence, repel the constantly raiding tribal factions etc, etc

Zalanthas sans uberpowerful ultimate power wielding god kings would create a world that was really filled with conflict.

*joe the radical steps off of his pulpit and gets back to work*

[Quirk]

*takes a deep breathe*

Dismantle the god kings and knock down the city states

Hey hey. The solutions can wait for another day. Let's not derail the problem discussion thread just yet.

Quirk

[Tamarin]

sarahjc, if you're not careful, I'm going to steal your boyfriend from you.

[jhunter]

I have to agree with pretty much everything Quirk stated...*sigh* Dammit.

[jmordetsky]

Same here.

I have to agree with pretty much everything Quirk stated...*sigh* Dammit.

Unfortunately I agree.

[sarahjc]

I think most do.

[Anonymous]

*takes a deep breathe*

Dismantle the god kings and knock down the city states

Quiet you, are you trying to give away our secret plans!?!  Thats it, no soup for you!

On a non-derails note, I tend to agree with alot of Quirk said.  Some clans will give you alot of freedom, but most of the time you just fall into a stock role of some sort without much freedom to change anything.

[Tamarin]

Why does everyone think that was a joke?  I think its a wicked idea...*sigh*

[SpyGuy]

Why does everyone think that was a joke?  I think its a wicked idea...*sigh*

Work on it ICly.  I don't think its any secret, look at the timeline, that in some places there are people doing stuff like this.  They aren't very successful, but if a few good players got their act together and worked on it maybe there would be a bit more conflict in the streets.  Revolution is a very common thing in the real world, its not that hard to see a few enterprising individuals getting mad about templarate oppression.

Personally, if I saw an IMM led revolt I'd be very saddened, IMM cooperation is needed but ultimately the game should (and generally seems to be) player driven.  That current clans are stuck in a status quo is a different problem in my mind.

Note:  This isnt an attack on Uberjazz's one line post, just a response to what I saw as a possible interpretation.  I agree, it would be a wicked idea  :twisted:

[Sanvean]

I disagree with your assertions and here's why: in the past few years I've seen a number of clans reach the levels of success you're saying aren't possible, including establishing mercenary companies, a start for a new House, and two schools. (As well as at least one person becoming an elemental - I think I've seen five of these in the course of my time on the game.) All of them player driven and organized, and which wouldn't have come into being without the players who got them going and kept them running.

Can you do this in an established merchant or noble house? Probably not, although I can think of at least one clan that has had a PC in an extremely high position. The thing with established houses is that PCs often forget that there are literally hundreds of VNPCs in there, all equally ambitious and even when that PC rises in power, they tend to overlook the virtual world. I would not want to have someone become head of a noble house, for example, unless it's over the coruse of long, long play where they've demonstrated they can handle the responsibility and take that virtual world into account because 9 times out of 10, I see even the best players overlook it.

While there's some jostling for power between established clans, their positions have been consolidated over hundreds of years. It's going to take a great deal to wipe out a merchant house, for example, and not usually something that would be to the advantage of existing powers. This seems like an unrealistic goal to me, although things along the lines that you mention, such as "A Merchant House opening an outpost in a hitherto untouched territory or expanding their facilities in a certain area would fit into this category, as would competition for contracts between mercenary outfits, negotations and skirmishes between tribes for hunting rights, and many more things. " do seem more realistic and are along the lines of things that I have seen played out. I've also seen people make changes to merchant houses although it took effort, thought, and creativity as well as an understanding of how the trade monopolies worked.

I think there's a difference between clan goals like "I'm going to rise in power in my clan", which is doable, and "I'm going to lead my clan to eradicate several other clans and take their lands," which is not. It's my experience that when you try to get players involved in plotlines at these levels that they end up either expecting to influence things in an unrealistic way, or they feel that they are being dragged into something they don't want to participate in, but would rather go craft or hunt gortok.

I wouldn't mind seeing more espionage, more petty rivalries, more sabotage, etc, but I think to expect this to take place at the clan to clan level is unrealistic.

Clans aren't for everyone - some people like the structure they provide, while others prefer to go solo. This is why both options exist and why there's a wide variety of clans, including a large number of player created ones.

[jhunter]

It seems to me Sanvean...that you are saying exactly what Quirk said...just worded differently.

Can you expect to ever do any of these things in a coded clan? Probably not.

Which is what the terrible drawback to playing in coded clans are...eventually any role in them...becomes dull because you've reached the limits of what you'll ever be able to accomplish within the clan...and it's not even hard to reach that point.

As you stated a few do break free...very few...which means your chances no matter how well you rp are between slim and none.

Chances are greater that you will end up stuck in a rut with the coded clan because of this, which is the problem with the coded clans.

There's always this...don't rock the boat attitude which I can see, but I don't think should always be the case.

[jmordetsky]

Why does everyone think that was a joke?  I think its a wicked idea...*sigh*

Thought about it, then expanded on it in the consolidation thead linking it to here...I think really, they deal with same feeling amongst players...didn't want to derail this too much, cuz it has it's own important points.

[Petra]

I think it's difficult to keep the virtual populace in mind when there is little to no interaction with them, and rarely any reminder that they are there.  I don't propose the staff waste time by constantly nagging PCs with a reminder of this in-game, but it's easy to understand why this happens.

I think it would be ideal if the PCs (along with a very finite per centage of the virtual house populace) were pooled together in one individual "unit".  This way you can battle statements like "We have no employees, we need to hire some."  Obviously the House has employees at all times, it just needs players.  In this case, someone could actually say "Our unit has few employees, we need more," and actually mean it.  It might also help lessen the necessity for players to always remind themselves of this virtual presence that they never ever see nor are ever reminded of.  So, you can climb the ranks of your individual unit and compete mainly with the other players, but to climb the ranks of your House is a different story.

[Sanvean]

I don't think we're saying the same thing at all. Quirk says:

As a last point, I'd like to contrast this little quote, showing how far things have changed in the last few years - would anyone consider it still to be the case?

help armageddon wrote:
6) Despite all of this, there are virtually no limits to what can happen,
barring the ludicrous. If your character sets up a mercenary company,
he/she may one day lead an army of loyal soldiers on an assault of one
of the great city-states. As a magicker your character may one day become
a fabled elemental being. Burglars may reach levels of affluence beyond
imagination, and merchants may likewise become so rich as to own their
own merchant house and dominate the world's economy. The limits are
truly whatever you can imagine occurring.

I would argue that this is still quite true and in fact is still the case.

[JollyGreenGiant]

You are not important in the scheme of things.
Life will go on without you, and most likely (except in rare cases here and there) will not be changed in a huge way because of you. You are not a unique or beautiful snowflake. You are a very small fish in a very big pond. Life of a large clan (houses, merchant houses, tribes) will probably never rely solely on its PCs. Repeated... life goes on without you.

I wanted to bring this quote over to this thread, because it's vastly important.  People can and do effect changes to the world, yet these changes are few and the changers rare.  Is this as it should be?  Absolutely.  If you don't believe that there are PCs making a difference in Armageddon presently, I would put forward Ayun Iskandar as a prime example of something conceived and created by a PC, with the support of his clan Immortal.  Unfortunately, if you don't know what Ayun Iskandar is, you'll have to find out IC; the point is, the PC in question put forth a great effort to see his concept made into (virtual) reality.

As Archimedes noted, only two things are truly necessary to move the world - a lever long enough, and a place to stand.  When I read threads like this, my personal perception is that people understand that it is very difficult to change the world of Armageddon, and that rather than putting more effort into changing things, they'd rather lower the bar.  Rather than discussing it at any more length, I will simply say that I would be disappointed to see that happen.  You are not important in the scheme of things.  It should be and is possible to rise above that simple assertion, yet the stark existentialism of Zalanthas is part of its appeal.

On conflict - whenever I see people saying "there isn't enough conflict", I take that to be saying, "not enough pkilling going on."  No, I don't think the two are equivalent, but yes, I think that quite a few Arm players consider them to be so.  Pk is common.  I see it all the time.  You know what I haven't seen?  A bard who gets hired by a noble House, gains the favor of the nobles, and then proceeds to compose and sing satirical ballads about other Houses and nobles.  And you know, I don't actually think I'll be seeing that sort of thing.  It takes a bit of time and effort to set up, some planning and forethought to carry out well, and it won't result in instant gratification.  But... I'd be willing to be proven wrong.