Coming out of the honeymoon phase with the server, I see a couple of things that could be done to add a bit more spice. I have been thinking about past days and the good concepts from my previous server that seemed to work: Turn Viscara or some other planet into a “community hub.” As I understand it, this would involve giving each faction a place there, including the “official” ones and the fully player-driven ones, once they reach a minimum size. The idea is to “pull” people out of their bubbles (we tend to do this nowadays because social media has taught us to do so; there are enough resources to read about that phenomenon) and make encounters between factions more likely. Ideally, this would happen in a friendly manner—it’s a small server, and we are all friends OOC, and IC conflict can spice things up and lead to interesting RP. The goal is to make DMs less needed for “something to happen,” as much as I love the overall story development and wouldn’t want to miss it. I mean this as an addition to it with a second “player-driven narrative.”
Create a bit more “roles” in the factions aside from ranks. I have only spent my time in the Jedi one, so possible ideas are things like actual contacts with cities or a certain player settlement, “emissary” roles in that case. Another could be to oversee the faction’s storage and resources and make sure it’s known what must be acquired. Yet another role could be a person or people who ensure everyone is trained in case of an attack, meaning not just techniques but more importantly tactics and structures, so that everyone knows what needs to be done in emergency. Another one could be, helping initiates find their way in the place and create training plans for them and help finding needed lessons, such basic lessons for all, could be also created as a planned player event. The same applies to working outside of it. I am sure players of each faction will come up with a lot of ideas. This can also be a very much part of the “player-driven” narrative.