Zoner No Fire Zones Update

[Dane Summers]

I wrote this: With sovereignty comes responsibility.
This is very obviouse in RL! A big power gives a damn about some other powers sovereignty if responsibility is denied or ignored. 2 Namedroppings get you right there in its center in real: Afghanistan & Al-Qaeda. We all know...
If you know USA, you know what happend next was inevitabl.
Its "natural" to the bigger to treat a to bold thumb nose into a bloody nose eventualy. You better dont push!

I didnt really understand some of this - the grammar was kinda mulched.

But heres my take on this, and my pair o' pennies in regards to how this relates to freelancer, Zoners, and Freeports.

One - Space is pretty big - So is Sirius. Freelancer is kinda double edged in realism - by one hand, its not realistic - on the other, we try to approach its setting from a realistic perspective.

So, from a realistic perspective to Sovereignty - heres what i gather...

Space, being big, is also full of non-life supporting nothing - ships must take their means to support crew life with them, with only a man-made hull of metal to protect against a violent death.

Ports are way-stations of life-support in an otherwise barren and inhospitable environment. With the space between planets what they are, and the spaces between House Territories being what they are - a Port can save your life.

Think of it like the age of sail - in those days, navigation was flawed, seawater cannot support life, and without wind, you will die. Crossing vast stretches of water was a tremendous risk of being lost, sunk, or stranded.

Space, in its own way, is very similar.

So, now i come to Freeports.

Imagine your the captain of a trade vessel deep in space, away from law and order, with damage to your ship, life support on the fritz, and an engine only half working - you've got a crew of 300 to think about, and they are all looking at you with hope.

Now, lets say your trade vessel is a smuggling vessel, and your not in deep space, but in house space.

On both occasions, a Freeport is a blessing.

Now, lets say that Freeports are the waystations between Governments, that, out of the goodness of their hearts, will shelter and support your trade vessels when they need it - keep up communication lines through hostile space - and act as nice neutral zones to conduct clandestine business.

In the end, the House Governments and lawful agencies rely on Freeports just as much as the common space-fairing citizen. they aren't going to roll in and take over anything (referencing afghanistan) - they want to continue to keep this resource, that they don't have to pay for. Space Stations cost a lot of money to keep in place, and Freeports are not paid for by Houses - its a win-win for house governments - and what they lose, is not that much in truth.

What people really dont get, is that a Freeport is FREE - it can be the angel that saves you from asphyxiation in space, or a the savior when you've been trapped in a sabre cockpit, and you really need to take a leak. Or your little freighter is out of rations except for synthpaste, and you really want a cheeseburger - or you need to meet a terrorist agent to discuss secret funding against your enemies.

And a Freeport isnt going to search your cargo hold, dont care what your carrying, what your bounty is, and you can sit down next to a bounty hunter (while your a corsair) and have a burger & a coke together.

Oh yeah - and i gotta imagine that house ports charge you some sorta docking tax, trade tariff - while i imagine freeports not doing so.

Just my take.

Anyway - as for the NFZ - i have no opinion. its there to fix problems, i trust you guys know how serious those problems were, and that this is the right fix.

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[Dashiell]

Good change lads.

Altough I'll miss the bickering-with-zoners rp (all in good spirit, mind) in Delta as 30 ossies run to FP 11.

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[n00bl3t]

I did,I read the entire thread,however,if you will get docking rights restriction if you shoot Zoners,in or out,of NFZ,why not remove the entire thing completely?Or is that the same?I don't believe you guys would let a guy who pirates you off,especially if the guy has access to your Freeports,Planets and other bases.
Btw.If a Zoner brings smuggled stuff to a Freeport right in front of an authority,will you let the authorities bash the Zoner?Or will you protect him and possibly get KOS'd?Also,what happens if a Zoner brings anti-<insert criminal faction here> commodities to your freeport and do it front of the <insert criminal faction here>,will you let the guy who kills the Zoner off,or will you FR5 FR5 FR5?

Enforce No Fire Zones?Riiiiiiighhtttt.I think you enforce No Fighting Zoners,kill a Zoner around Freeports,FR5,kill a Zoner elsewhere,FR5.

We've always been free game. Doesn't mean there won't be consequences for your actions though.

Nothing else to say.

So then why have the NFZ at all anymore?

It isn't the NFZ everyone is used too, but it is still a NFZ; just in a different form. Zoners occupy space that other factions lay claim too. This NFZ serves as a protective shield for Zoners and Zoners alone. Gone are the days of the NFZ protecting the mortal enemy of our neighbors.

This change was agreed upon by most of the indy Freeport admins, OSI, TAZ, and the Omicroners. Each Freeport is allowed to modify its own NFZ, so you will see some variation in them.

Rephrase Daedric's post in your head Kaiwren, until it addresses your question.

Altough I'll miss the bickering-with-zoners rp (all in good spirit, mind) in Delta as 30 ossies run to FP 11.

Just for the record, we will not miss it.

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Anything I say is not intended as offensive, and to try and deliberately misinterpret it as such would be an attempt at trolling via misrepresentation.

It's not a conspiracy, it's localised bias. They're not intelligent enough to form a conspiracy.