Just to clarify, they're not like the factions you may have heard of(dead orbit, new monarchy, etc...). More like tribal communities for bonus missions.

I know, you were very clear on what you meant. I still think that it's too many factions for right now. DLC maybe, possibly D2: Destiny's Revenge, but right now having the 5 factions is good, merely because we don't know if we're locked into a faction or not. If we're not, then there would be tons of missions right there. If we are stuck with one, then it all depends on how much playtime people can blow through to make minor factions sound reasonable.