In Albion Online, a game with huge population (and has gone a long way into trying to balance them, also full loot on death) has 3 types of player groups, Clans/Guilds, Alliances and Factions (NPC city group). Clans/Guilds are made by players, and is usually a group of friends but is basically a player controlled group with ranks, etc. Alliances are a group of guilds, also controlled by players. Factions are tied to the cities, you "flag up" (add the faction flag before your name) and can fight all other faction members with no penalties, there are neutral objectives (some tiny castles, with a NPC boss) where you conquer and gain points with that city faction, to exchange for stuff. The Alliances system does not work too well, as it ends up with a couple of them ruling everything. The Faction (city) system does work pretty well, as when one is too strong, people join the other to fight them for points/loot, it's very common for a guild to join a Faction just to fight others.
In Cryofall, I think there should be Guilds/Clans, for groups of friends, and Factions not controlled by players, with generic names, the parties for people who want to share LP gain. People could join/leave factions with a timeout (like 24h), so killing enemy faction players gives you bonuses (maybe resources), with a buff to the underdogs faction (like buffs). If one Faction end up too powerful, not only they would not have the buffs, but would also not get the resources for killing enemy factions, this would make Guilds/Clans switch Factions to get the buffs/resources. Adding a few neutral objectives, like capture points, could switch the PvP from just base raiding/hotspots to areas not required for player growth (and keeping competition). If the strongest groups are focused on areas where they get something, including bragging rights (maybe a ladder for scored points), they wouldn't monopolize areas that are needed for new players to grow and be able to compete.
It could also be interesting to add "safe zones" for each Faction, like a small city or outpost with some crafting stations and a safe storage, you could exchange your Faction points for resources there. While I do like the base raiding system, I think it's very snowbally, if one group clean up the other's base, things only get easier from there. Down the road this could even make the need for wipes (a controversial but needed feature atm) less often, or even eradicated.
In Cryofall, I think there should be Guilds/Clans, for groups of friends, and Factions not controlled by players, with generic names, the parties for people who want to share LP gain. People could join/leave factions with a timeout (like 24h), so killing enemy faction players gives you bonuses (maybe resources), with a buff to the underdogs faction (like buffs). If one Faction end up too powerful, not only they would not have the buffs, but would also not get the resources for killing enemy factions, this would make Guilds/Clans switch Factions to get the buffs/resources. Adding a few neutral objectives, like capture points, could switch the PvP from just base raiding/hotspots to areas not required for player growth (and keeping competition). If the strongest groups are focused on areas where they get something, including bragging rights (maybe a ladder for scored points), they wouldn't monopolize areas that are needed for new players to grow and be able to compete.
It could also be interesting to add "safe zones" for each Faction, like a small city or outpost with some crafting stations and a safe storage, you could exchange your Faction points for resources there. While I do like the base raiding system, I think it's very snowbally, if one group clean up the other's base, things only get easier from there. Down the road this could even make the need for wipes (a controversial but needed feature atm) less often, or even eradicated.