Yeah, cliquey is a word for it, but I think that players have precious little time, and that they want to get the most out of their characters. The best way to do that is to have them interact with their friends, family and lovers. You know? It wouldn't make a lot of sense to spend time and effort on a thread with a character that they might not have any chemistry with (good or bad). I think that's what the OOC is for - plotting and matching characters into interesting scenarios/groupings. At the same time, I hate cliques. But this isn't just a school, it's people's lives and jobs, so I think it's less 'cliquey' and more 'functioning units'. Lol. Doctors, techies, professionals, Los Dos workers, youngsters, family units, aimless wanderers. There are lots of groups that've just kind of happened. XD
And I was thinking along the same lines about the plot; how another attack might be a little draining at this point, but we've all worked hard to get to 'this point', and you came into the game right when the last attack was starting up. So I can see how you'd want to see something different. I dunno. Blah. I almost want to just say 'it happened' and focus on more personal/uplifting things. But I think big threads (sentinels) with lots of interactions would be better for making bonds between people who normally wouldn't interact.