is that not just diversifying the options for factions on-server and increasing the potential for interesting conflict tenfold, though?
and if thats the collective cop decision then let them? if they wanna go into an uneasy alliance with rebels (people who are littered with individuals that would just want to kill them) then they can
Not really, no. In reality, all you are getting is just different flavors of rebels. It's like the current faction of blacksuits we have right now. Due North, Orsted, and whatever the other one is are all the same in reality, but the main driving force behind these groups is the motivation of fighting the combine. If you remove the majority of the combine, you are just left with a surplus of rebels that split up into vaguely different groups.
The whole gimmick of 'oh my gah friendly cop!!' will eventually wear off as you are now left with a swarm of rebels that you need to entertain with your small amount of admins (at best you'd have like 4-5 on lol)
You also ignore the fact that by making the combine only OTA and Synth, you essentially kill off the majority of routes you could take with it. Want a loyalist cop experiencing downfall rp? Nope, you get to sit in the outlands with le epic rebels now!!!!
Want a city merchant who's loyal to the combine and must tow the line as the world crumbles down around them? Nope you get to sit in the outlands or get converted now!!!!
Want a combine official who's struggling with the fact that their past deeds will come to them, and they can only do so much as they throw whatever they can to defend their city? Nope, transhumanized.
If you want an actual narrative then man up and start making actions matter. Rebels rush the city and take control of it? It's canon and will affect the next map. Did a shelling happen? Cool, start spawning zombies and head crabs and increase the amount of zombie Wl players in the area. You can create a narrative by keeping the competitive aspect by making the world actually reactive and alive and not screwing over a good chunk of the playerbase by forcing them into a "GO OTA OR ROGUE" situation.