Defectors

[Dusty Lens]

I think you should switch first time your ship gets destroyed...

What he said.

Del's character within the XA is a defector from the Liberty Navy. If he were to come to us in a Guardian I would agree that's good to go, until it finds itself destroyed. Then it's off to the Eagle factory.

[timmychen]

Oh. I just seem to remember Tenacity getting sanctioned for defecting to the Order but keeping his Liberty GB..

[Xoria]

You should ask yourself "Who do I need to convince that this situation is good roleplay?" If I were doing it, I would want to convince the leadership of the factions involved (in this case, the Outcasts and a couple of the lawful factions).

In the end, it comes down to the believability of the story, and the credibility of the player creating it.

If you spend a month or few roleplaying as an Outcast who is increasingly cast out by the Outcasts, followed by his eventual defection, all of this chronicled well on the forum and known by the "powers that be" within the Outcast factions, then the story is much more believable than something that someone writes in an hour or two and posts followed by a Cryer tagged/ID'd Sabre the next day with only an hour with the character on the server.

Even then, you are going to get harassed all the time from people who know nothing about the story and just think you don't know what you're doing. So if you can't handle lots of hostile criticism when you interact with other players, then this is not a good idea to try.

From a practical standpoint, think about how hard it is to get replacement parts for cars/machinery/equipment when the thing is no longer in production, or is only produced somewhere far away. If you are driving a BMW in the middle of Africa, and it breaks down, how likely are you to find the right parts easily? Flying a ship is not so much different. The lawful corporations/governments do not produce Sabres, so how would your character get it repaired when it gets damaged? Where would the hull panels come from? Where would the electronics come from? etc. Would you really want to take a Ford to a General Motors dealership for repairs?

Then there is the "battlefield" to consider. If American soldiers in World War 2 captured a German tank and started driving it around, how long would their life expectancy be if they encountered American tanks? Even in the futuristic world of Freelancer, a Sabre on scanners is going to scream "hostile contact" to lawfuls no matter what the IFF is when the other pilot's life is at stake (which in roleplay, it is) so why should they believe the IFF isn't stolen/hacked somehow, and why should they believe a "defection" story over comms instead of shooting first and asking questions later? That lawful pilot knows that at some point, the pilot of that Sabre had a very good reputation/relationship with wicked pirates in order to buy that ship, and why would an underpaid military pilot risk his life just because some Sabre pilot is claiming over comms "I defected, I'm a good guy now!" At best, the Sabre would find itself "arrested", interrogated, and held for investigation over and over again. On the server, that will mean: lawfuls blowing you up or turning you away much of the time, no matter how good the story is.

In the real world, defectors don't keep wearing their former uniform, or using the tank/plane/ship that they defected in. The hardware gets confiscated by the government, and the defector gets pensioned off after extensive debriefing. Defectors aren't allowed to join the other side. How can you trust someone who has already proven themselves capable of betrayal?

So you should ask yourself : is all this really worth it?

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[blubba]

I seem to remember some time ago (Aug/Sept '07) someone flying around as an Outcast defector. Helped once or twice against them but always ran away when it got too hairy. It was because if they lost the ship, they had to change it. I think it might have been a lady though I honestly can't recall.

I also seem to remember they carried a single unit of cardamine at all times. A nice touch I thought.

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[Jinx]

defectors are the exception of the rule. - thats what makes interesting roleplay. it should of course not be done to achieve the strongest gear in the best faction around - but it can do a good character none the less.

there are many ways to do stuff like switching sides, with or without ships. - switching to a civilian / generic ship takes you to the safe side, but staying with a faction specific ship - while showing a good RP with it can be a lot more fun / entertaining - for all those that are involved.

all in all, you should allways think of it as an opportunity for the old, aswell as the new faction. - RP events don t allways need to be huge or epical, - sometimes they can be very private and small, - that doesn t make them less important. if you work your story out - especially ingame ( since thats where it starts and ends ) - and back it up with a nice little story written here on the forum, i don t see a problem.

but whatever you do, - you must be aware that there are allways people that either don t understand the RP you show or do not like your ways - and when they report you for ooRPness, it will be on you to justify your RP.

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[Tenacity]

I wouldnt count on it. I used to have a character named Virago that defected from liberty to the order, keeping his liberty gunboat, and got sanctioned for it.

Best to just switch to your new faction's ships.

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[Jinx]

@Tenacity:

well, you have been sanctioned, but that doesn t mean its justified. - anyway, one is indeed on the safe side when one has switched to the new factions ship. - and there is allmost allways someone that loves to report unusual stuff.

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[DarthCloakedGuy]

Hold on, waitaminute. Sure the person won't be able to repair the Sabre at a base, but what about Nanobots? Sure, they're expensive, but wouldn't they repair the guy's ship without him having to find spare parts?

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HISPANIANS, FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF HER PEOPLE
A Plea to the Outcasts (PG)
CHARACTERS:
LR-I.Got.Nothin', LR-Empty.Pockets, and LR-Dead.End = "Lash" McDaggit of the Liberty Rogues.
SMUG~Eat.My.Exhaust = Jane Terraman and Bob McAdams, smugglers of the Liberty Rogues.
[H]Cj.Martino.Perez = Martino Perez, self-declared Counselor of the Hispanians.
AVATAR MADE BY SPIRIT! THE AWESOME.

[Xoria]

Nanobots do not repair guns, electronics or the other "guts" of the ship. They just repair the hull armor. They do you no good after your ship is blown up too...

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[mjolnir]

Some people had Rped use of civilian ships, agreed with the faction that sells them, and have been sanctioned for it... some people have been sanctioned for using the original ships as defectors...

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This has nothing to do with you Zapp, I don't mind you flying Wrath.. even though I awaited some nicer story after it got destroyed. It's just a general rant... as usually

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Igiss says: Martin, you give them a finger, they bite off your arm.