So I love Freelancer, Especially the Discovery mod. I remember when I first played Discovery how excited I was, and how much time I spent exploring. I had this feeling again when I started playing recently, and in a way I felt a little underwhelmed at times. I play a Junker, it’s my preferred faction, favorite story, and I enjoy it by far the most. Both times I started up Discovery the first thing I wanted to explore was Puerto Rico, home system of the Junkers, and unfortunately both times I was somewhat disappointed. Originally I expected that the system would be added to, but never was. For a home system it should be something that matches the Junkers (Think of the original bases). Heavy debris fields, clouds of radiation, things of this nature. Instead it’s somewhat of a boring system, made worse by its central location and it being a good idea to spend time there. In comparison its even worse if you spend time in Sigma 13 which is fitting, and an interesting area. With that said I would request an overhaul of the system, making it more befitting the Junkers.
I see different factions using different ships since I started playing again, but Junkers only every use the CSV (Even tho we have different ships available now). Particularly the Junker Guard seems VERY bland, and out of place. They fly the Eagle which could easily be replaced by the Recycler. Possibly the presence of Salvager patrols as well, much like I deal with when going into The Wilds territory haha. It feels weird flying Junker ships, without ever seeing NPCs use them.
This next part is the request of a Junker ship. With sigma 13 having The Wilds, and Hogosha constantly patrolling, it seems as tho the Junkers are in a semi-constant state of war. Given the climate of the Outcast/Corsair war it would be plausible that the Junkers would also worry about being pulled into the conflict. With that said the Junkers have no real offensive ship. The closest thing we have to a Capital Ship is the Pilgrim Liner, which lacks in any special combat purpose. I would find it realistic that they would design a Battlecruiser to serve as a defensive ship. The reason why I believe a Battlecruiser would be chosen is simply the fact that the Junkers have no real pure offensive ship, and would want a Capital Ship with higher maneuverability due to the areas they operate in Also the fact that Capital Ships are the biggest threats to Junkers. The style of such a ship would be a cross of Rheinland/Junker, information used from the Sigma 13 ship graveyard would definitely have a massive effect, as well as supplies received from Sigma 13 for the construction. I would be very happy to write a very lore friendly, realistic, immersive, and detailed description for such a ship, as well as I am sure I could find someone to design it. The addition of a Battlecruiser would give the Junkers end-game survivability, as well as an actual Capital Ship. If the Player Owned Bases come back, it would also serve to help Junkers defend against better equipped enemies. Junkers are supposed to be renowned engineers, and I think it’s time they show it off a bit.
Another thing that bothers me, and affects multiple factions, not just the Junkers is the Economy. As things currently are I don’t see too much purpose in smuggling beyond RP and enjoyment reasons. Simply I make more money doing legal trade. Given the risk of smuggling (Navy, and Police forces constantly patrolling and scanning, and the risk of pirates) the risk versus reward is just not well balanced. Literally out of all the people I know that smuggle, we only ever do it just to RP or get one over on the Navy. What once was a primary attribute of our faction is now not actually worth the time to do. I have heard a few times that you guys have thought about boosting the value of illegal cargo, and to be quite honest I don’t know why you wouldn’t.
Reputation is very important for a Junker, and is a major part of playing one. I found that killing Xenos lowered my reputation with IMG. This was very strange to me given the fact that the nature of both groups would make them hate each other. This also makes getting your reputations balanced as a Junker into a more expensive, and time consuming process and not in a good way.
To summarize I would request the following:
1: Puerto Rico being made more interesting, unique, and Junker friendly.
2: Junker Guard Eagles be replaced with Recyclers, and Possible Salvager patrols.
3: The addition of a Junker Battlecruiser.
4: value of Illegal cargo increased.
5: Removal of the reputation decrease with IMG from killing Xenos.
I want to thank you for the awesome mod, and reading this bit of feedback. As I asked other Junkers, as well as Junker friends who used to play I received a lot of the same response from them. “I don’t think there is a dev that plays a Junker” or “I have no idea what they have against us”. A lot of us just feel undervalued. Still even with these complaints I see a lot of Junkers, and players wanting to play as A Junker. With that said I think our faction needs a little more attention other than getting nerfed.
![[Image: d2nSEOC.png]](http://i.imgur.com/d2nSEOC.png)