Forget FA and Imagine a board game. something like Risk.
GW will be a tab (or a separate part of the client), displaying a board game like that.
That game is persistent : You don't need to start a new game and ask for friend to join : It start and can go on for days, weeks or months.
You can join in when you want. The amount of players at the same time is unlimited.
Think of it as a MMO-board game
So, the map is basically a galaxy, with planets and sectors. It's divided in 5 (one per faction), with probably a empty space in the middle.
You start by selecting a faction : You can't switch once chosen.
Some planets are linked together. Some planets are gateways to other sectors.
The goal of the game is, for your faction, to conquer a certain amount of sectors.
- You win a sector when you own a certain amount of planets in that sector.
- You win a planet when you have a certain amount of victories on it.
Some planets are more important than others (for example the ones that allow to jump to another sector).
On top of that, while winning points, you earn credits. With these credits, you can build defenses on the planets.
IE. all the civilians will be on your side, or your shields stronger, or you spawn with a mini-base.
If a faction is run-over (his home planet/sector is conquered), they become "slave" to the faction that conquer them :
That faction is fighting for their master with only their technology, but their master have access to both technologies. After a certain amount of victory (proving his loyalty) a slave player can become a master.
That's for the board-game aspect.
For the FA aspect :
When you fight for a planet, you actually play a FA game. Each planets will have a set of maps and gametype.
Don't think of it as a deviated ladder : It's supposed to be fun for everyone.
IE. if you have a attack bonus, the defense can be to win a survival game.
It can be 2vs1 (with big advantage or not), labwars, civilian defense, no air, any kind of strange but fun rules.
It's not supposed to be fair (because of the bonus on each planet) : It's supposed to be fun, each game will be different.
If you like 1v1, it's up to you to attack planets proposing that type of fight. If you like teamgame, same. If you want to have random fun, you will have it !
