The current Violet structure appears to work fairly well in terms of giving players stuff to do and meaning to logging on, but I feel that it seems very redundant at times. Since the Violet restructure, there have been 7 approved charters, with only 1 really being different from the others (the greywitch guard) I have the personal opinion that the chapter system makes little sense when Violet Orders in the past had one unified heirarchy with all members naturally flocking to different patrol squads. Nowadays, you have different chapters, but as an outsider looking in I don't see a Warden or a Vigilant, I just see a regular Violer Guard. I'd like to play the nostalgia card by referencing the time around 2016 when there were thematic charters like the Crimsons, Vigilants, Hammers, and Halberds. While there were charter wars that ultamately saw a single Violet order return, I think this system suceeded in creating a thematic identify for each group. You had the Violet sucessors, the Velheim enforcers, the Religious legacy, and the corrupt zealots. There was redundancy, but in the end you knew what each group was about. I don't see that much with the current Violet Guard. With my background presented, I'd like to suggest a return of certain niche groups that cater to the player needs right now. The Witch Hunter Order comes to mind when looking towards the Greywitch Guard, which would be a good option compared to the Azure Order which is more conservative in who they employ. The Crimson Inquisition would work well for the Holy Law enforcement, and could be modified to fit with the current atmopshere regarding religions and heretics. The Violet Order iin turn would combine all the chapters into one body, with each group's ranks making a 1:1 transition. The desired outcome would be to have more variety in charter groups and potentially some competition between charters over jurisdictions, not to the extent of the charter wars, but showing some conflict in rp.
The issue with combining the Violet order into a single division, meaning without the chapters, is that a lot of players avoided it due to not wanting to serve a single person. In other words, the chapters offer different leadership that certain players would feel more comfortable being under or would make more sense to serve under ICly. I.e. a Viridian would likely not fit into the Wardens, a more crude individual might not fit into the Shields, etc. I would agree that many of them don't outwardly come off different but that comes down to either the leaders failing to adhere to their initial theme or perhaps it was due to the new structure and city. I.e. the Wardens took over the idea of the Rangers in patrolling the wilderness, but what point is there to do that when nothing is out there currently. Tldr; the chapters exist to essentially allow more people into the guard and the various chapters are failing to portray themselves differently one way or another. I would not be opposed to backing returning to separate charters entirely but I know there were a lot of headaches with that system.
I think it's possibly to have cultural themes while under one hierarchy. An example I know of was under the Typhonus Bluesteel Order. It was ran by a New Regalian, yet the majority of the (active) guards were Velheim who had a strong preference to their own leaders. The ranks were acknowledged by every single guard, but there were still subgroups that focused on a certain niche that would patrol together. You can still be loyal to a theme while being under the same leadership, and I'd argue that themes are more prevalent when there is not chapter name to differentiate. Adding on to the point about bringing back chapters, I'd like to see very few charters, like three, in total with a specific objective. Examples: Violet Order would remain the standard state law charter that acts as the standard, acting much the same as it is now. Witch Hunters as the anti-aberrant squad that would do the sewer hunts and the "high fantasy" work, allowing player duos (mage and mundane) or solo acts (Darkwalds) to engage in the dirtier work for the state. Crimsons would be the holy law moral crusaders that enforce religious laws but also keep everyone from being degenerate. Less about cuffing and arresting (if any), more about public humiliation. Like the Confessors of Volkmaar, but less about beating people to a pulp and hiding behind masks. Something like this I feel would give most players an option to pursue, using the organizations that have existed on the wiki to provide a thematic atmosphere to get involved in.
