But in all seriousness, your suggestions have been pretty much the sort of thing I've done, tried to do, and have the best potential for yes-only. The success of the yes-only game will lie strictly on staff and players.
@Nein said:
I've been in factions (spheres, I guess?) where a friend circlejerk was in charge, voted themselves into positions of power and faction leadership/sphere admin, and used it to benefit themselves. Oh sure, they generated RP - mainly for each other. Everyone else was invited to participate as handclapping peasants to observe their greatness, or have the privilege of being beaten or downdressed by their characters. OOCly, they dangled rank, XP and advancements over the heads of everyone else in the faction and if they didn't like you or you questioned their behavior, you either had to allow yourself to be publicly humiliated ICly and OOCly across the game, self-flagellate or be content to be a low-ranking peon cut out of most scenes.
Unless brought up, there is no system to perfectly mitigate the risk of unfairness. For each clique like you describe - which I don't deny is A Thing - there is a story about staff alts running a sphere, or favoring their friends, or being completely rudderless because no one cares to be in charge so they just... float up there where nothing ever happens.
Also let's not neglect to mention that it's extremely difficult to sufficiently discount partiality in such issues. Is it a clique that's taken over the Carthians or is it a very good group of players, generating a ton of roleplay? That often depends on whether you are yourself included or you're watching this from the outside in - or, in some cases, even if you like those people (or their leader) which can paint your perception. So from a game-runner's point of view what would you rather have, a group of say ten players enjoying themselves immensely or a handful of dissatisfied stragglers finding reasons to feel miserable?
I am by no means saying charismatic assholes haven't ran spheres to the ground like this! Not at all. Only that even if you do have staff authority to act on this, as administrators in traditional games do, it's not easy to know who to listen to or what the best course of action is.
I insist this system does it better though for a simple reason: that by empowering and coopting factions to the players, they are given the incentive to do something there. It's for them to do with as they will. The Carthians aren't a staff-controlled thing As Described In The Wiki where they're squattering, it's theirs. They can do whatever the fuck they want within the sphere and game's greater context. Try to run it as a democratic utopia (and fail utterly because you're all bloodsucking fiends pretending to be fair) or a fascist regime (and clash with the Prince's cronies who're worried this might be a hotbed of insurrection). Whatever it is, creativity usually flows better when it's the least restricted and characters do what they should do best; pose, and let things grow from there.
Maybe. In theory. But that's the intention.