I personally think that factions, unofficial though they may be, should be banned from the server. Listed below are the reasons for me believing this:

1. This isn't a faction server, it is a vanilla survival server. If you want to play factions, find a faction server.
2. Faction activities can and do affect players who want nothing to do with them and instead want to play the game. This in turn lowers the quality of the experience on the server.
3. Certain factions on the server have already caused a degree of high school level drama between players, causing undue hostility and filling the chat with said drama.
4. There is power in numbers. What chance does the individual have against an army?
5. Allowing factions to form on a server is unlike allowing, say, PvP. If you don't want to PvP, don't enter the arena and don't walk out of spawn. That, however, does not apply to server factions.

I may very well be the only player who thinks this. If so, so be it, but I would welcome counterarguments.

I cant personally see that happening, and that is only because of the fact that we are a vanilla server. As the factions are unofficial, what are we going to do to ban them? We could add it to the rules, but that could cheapen the idea of being a 100% vanilla, do-as-you-wish(Bar-touch-the-spawn-bridges-or-im-killing-you), server. Thats my thoughts on it

The feasibility of banning factions had crossed my mind, as well as what constitutes a faction. Is a group of five players who simply share a base a faction? In my head they have to be doing faction things, extortion, bribery, bounties, etc.

Red army are hardly that threatening, we didnt ban apathy and they did a far better job terrorizing the server.

The way i see it, if you dont want the drama then dont get involved, unless you are being stupid the chance of being killed and raided by them are very low.
Their numbers will hardly help them find you any better so long as you arent stupidly hanging around the 1k mark of spawn.
You dont have to talk to people and if the drama is spilling into normal chat then thats staffs job to clean up.

Its the same as spawncamping noobs we can discourage it but ultimately its up to the players to use the random tp.
Its undesirable but nothing we can really ban since pretty much everything goes.
They have as much right to play as you do.

1) You're right this is a vanilla server. Here anything goes, and that includes the formation of factions. If you don't want to be involved with factions then stay away from them.

2) Faction activities can effect others outside the faction, but generally they're contained to their own ranks. If you don't want to hear about what what a faction is doing then grow up and ignore it or politely ask them to take it to private chat.

3) Yes, hostility is generated when groups of people come together, but if it doesn't concern you, then I don't see a reason to complain. Again, ask faction affiliates to take it to pm. I'm sure they won't take offense.

4) There is powers in numbers, that's the point of having a group. Most of the power is internal and doesn't reflect the majority of players at large. The random tp eliminates any chance of ambush at spawn. Even if a faction had 100 people and they wanted to hunt down one person, it wouldn't help locate bases on server this size. The only effective way to get base coords/locate an individual on this server is through espionage. So when in doubt, stick to the people you trust.

5) PVP can happen outside of the arena, it's just unlikely. This is the same for factions, you can come across them but it's unlikely.

If you have an issue with a faction (Red Army, Oceania, Elephantia, ect.) then how about taking the mature rout and talking to the individuals in said faction. I am aware there is drama caused by factions, but at the end of the day we are just a bunch of individuals playing on a game intended for children. None of this is meant to be taken very seriously, it's all one big game where people try to have fun, and the community on this server is one of the best I've ever seen. I can assure you any member of any faction will be willing to hear you concerns. If not, then talk to the faction leader. The players on this server can empathize with you, and would be happy to try and accommodate for your concerns.

If restrictions are placed on factions I'm ok with that. In fact I would love to hear more staff opinions on the matter so no one's fun is being impeded on this game.

If there were a way to ensure that non faction players would not get involuntarily involved with factions that would be great, since no one's play style would be impeded.

@Dice_Boken Ask faction members to keep their faction talk in pm, but whether you like it or not factions are here to stay. If you don't want it to impede your play style then ignore faction talk, and build your base far away. It is a very easy fix and it only takes two seconds to figure it out. I suggest, instead of impulsively creating a post about banning factions, that you think about the possible solutions first because it is a very easy fix.

if you don't like the red army, why get involved with what they do? you post things to get soviet to respond, If you don't want factions to be a thing then ignore them, simple... they cause no hassle so let um be!

@Dice_Boken If there were a way to ensure that non faction players would not get involuntarily involved with factions that would be great, since no one's play style would be impeded.

That's a bit like asking for an Opt out of PVP or Raiding.
Of course the drama isn't something you need to involve yourself in but I don't really see a reason why people shouldn't be allowed to kill or raid someone because the victim disagrees with factions play style.

@Janisdg I completely agree. My faction and anything associated with it won't effect anyone who doesn't get involved with it.