Bonjour, hallo, hello, et cetera.
I adore the games of Jeff Vogel, and have played them for around six years. In terms of the Geneforge series, however, I have as yet registered only the first game (which I have completed a number of times, achieving what I believe to be all possible endings).
The first Geneforge, of course, involved three factions (namely, the Obeyers, the Awakened and the Takers), and a slightly larger number of endings.
Geneforge 2, as far as I can tell from the demo, seems to have four factions (the more the merrier, eh?), namely the Takers, the Awakened, the followers of Barzahl, and the Shapers. I do not, of course, have any idea about the number of possible outcomes, but I assume that it is fairly large.
Geneforge 3, however, seems to have only two factions, unless the serviles themselves form one independent of Litalia (which seems somewhat unlikely, given the information inferred from the dialogue with Hanna in the Greenwood school). It seems vaguely possible to be a doubting Shaper, questioning beliefs but remaining anti-rebel, but I am not certain that such an approach could be sustained throughout the game.
I have three questions:
1. I am I correct to surmise that there are only two factions in Geneforge 3?
2. If so, why is this?
3. How does the number of endings in Geneforge 3 compare with the number of endings in Geneforge 1?