Most factions arent consistent though.
Nor does that necessitate a player being incapable of beating them, a faction could spend twice as much time and get half the output just as easily as they could beat a player too.
Maybe your exposure to faction servers has given you unrealistic ideals as to what a normal faction is.

@TheDunmerRaven Well anyone can be wealthy. Danny for instance.

Yes, which is kind of the point i'm focusing on, a player can certainly beat a faction in wealth.

@TheDunmerRaven How exactly are you defining powerful?

We have focused on wealth for this but its sort of impossible to define.

@Mabzino now you're just being unrealistic lol "the majority of time with enough effort"
i don't understand your first line, one player playing 16 hours a day and farming better than the faction just won't happen
"a better farm" >good faction (if not better farm will have more people farming their multiple farms)
also faction can have players trading to villagers and farming at the exact same time, not possible on 1p

It was an unrealistic scenario in response to another unrealistic scenario.
Your whole argument hinges on the assumption "It wont happen".
Which is unqualfied, A single player can easily build a bigger and more efficient farm than a faction that can outdo multiple players.

I dont understand what the issue is with the idea that a player can > Faction

I think thats rather unrealistic.
Its like saying one player playing 16 hours a day and farming far better than the faction.
They could farm 3 times as long and still be behind if the player obtains a better farm.
Ultimately players can beat factions, not in every circumstance but the majority of the time with enough effort.

Mending has made the game far too easy tbh.
There is no actual effort involved in gathering the resources for armour beyond the first set now.
If mending where uber rare and not available from villagers then msybe itd work, but its not.

The irony of arguing about arguing.
Still i dont see the harm in some discussion.

The behaviour you are describing is beyond a good faction to imo.
At least in a vanilla setting, there is no reason one player cant gather more than a group, it may not be likely but its certainly a possibility.

@Zabolca why does it have to be a faction? could not an individual person become more powerful than a faction?

@Mabzino not really

@R4iscool1 Sure they could, there was certainly people in 1.8 who were more powerful than most of the factions at the time in terms of wealth and facilities.

Dont change the goalposts.

@Mabzino a player again won't be trading items to villagers for 10-20 hours a day
a very good player can't compete monetarily with a good faction

Thats an unqaulfied assumption, its also based on the idea that the faction will do this also yet another assumption.