ELIMINATOR'S PROFILE

That's really cool. It's interesting to read and makes the world feel more alive. Are you going to be adding all this information into the game itself (like in books you can read when examining bookshelves)? And will the player get to go to all these countries in the completed game, or just a few?

Hmmm...

FFVII's AVALANCHE were most like terrorists.

Xenogears' pirates were pretty much ex-royalty and high-class figures kicked out of their own empire to become pirates.

Suikoden's stars are outlaws and weird people, mostly joining together for gameplay reasons, but some have their own reasons. I'd say this group is the closest thing to an all-out rebellion.

FFXII's group was kind of confusing. They were a resistance but became one major player and pretty much became an all-around "alliance".

That leaves FFVI's Returners. I think this is the closest to "resistance force" for a couple of reasons. First off, they weren't that big an organization --they comprised of only a few people scattered here and there, with inside sources within the capital. They weren't that powerful, and their hideout was some shabby cave with no defense. They also had little technology compared to the empire so they had to rely on staying hidden and anonymous most of the time. Actually, now that I think about it, they were pretty weak, really.

One example I could think of is Front Mission 3's rebel forces. This was a huge organization situated pretty much everywhere and had control of many cities, fighting against the corrupt Chinese government. These guys were not to be messed with, and although they seem like the "good guys," at one point their leader makes an immoral choice (as seen from the main character's perspective) for the sake of winning their battle. The main character disagrees with this and dumps them to continue pursuing his own goals without their help.

Think about these and ask yourself some of these questions: How big do you want Ragnarok to be? How powerful, in terms of technology, weaponry, and manpower? How do you want to present them as a whole? The FM3 basically tells you that these guys are in it just to beat the opposing side, no matter what the circumstances are. You could have Ragnarok pull some things that question right or wrong, that the main character might not condone at all. I notice that in all the examples you listen and I commented on (besides the SaGa one and the Deus Ex one as I haven't played them), the resistance/rebellion is pretty much progressed when the main characters do something for them, making them entirely driven by the player character (winning the war in Suikoden, killing their archenemy in Xenogears, etc) and really don't do anything when the main characters are not helping them. You could have the main character work for them, but they can function entirely without his or help.

I never said it was original, I said it would be a neat addition.

This is one of the coolest, most original demos I've ever played. I downloaded it a while back, but I never really had the motivation to get past the first part (before the chase). Played it recently and enjoyed every minute of it! I died like three times on the train though. I'm really hoping you finish this.

Mass Effect came to my mind as well, especially when relating it to my last paragraph there. I believe FF12 had something similar with the Occuria, but I don't even remember the story of that game.