Faction Activity - January

[Mímir]

.....

I really hope you don't play as an indie if you truly think like that. You make it sound like every indie player in essence is out to exploit the system/game/rules. In my experience few people really think like that, and they're evenly split on factions and indies.

Factions as well as indies could benefit more from figuring out ways to bridge the gap. A lot of indies like to follow structures in their roleplay, and sometimes just need a helping hand of the non-condescending/non-trolling sort. There are a lot of casual gamers who like to roleplay, who likes to write/read stories, and read the general lore of the game, but also likes to be able to just log on and off whenever they feel like it, and only play for pure recreation rather than ever feeling it as a chore.

So to be pro-active:

- How about Navy/PVP factions all create secondary fleets like BAF| did? It will let factions keep control over (some) indies, it will set rp and oorp structures that indies can follow, and people could have fun together. Modern games like BF4 and Planetside 2 features a built in chain of command, and players adapt and benefit to working together under leadership really fast - the space setting of Freelancer screams for fleet combat, so I think that (casual fleet action - in roleplay of course) is a shame to miss out on for everyone. It would be a good way of integrating factions and their indies better, and it would be up to factions themselves how much/little effort to put into it. The main thing is that indies will be in the loop in terms of roleplay and on a leash in terms of in-game actions.

- Figure out alternatives to the activity timer, it seems like quantity takes precedence over quality, and that the need to clock hours can lead to chore-like situations. I don't know how the new system works in regards to challenging factions on the same ID, but there is no point clinging on to the spot if you aren't having fun with it and have to push yourself to play.

- Give factions something. A beacon you can put on fighters so capitals can jump straight to your location, the ability to construct a titan of sorts, a ship that can decloak nearby enemies. Some unique gameplay gimmick or item/ship that can promote group work, and support the official factions' leadership role be it an overpowered flagship (or tradeship/barge or mining ship for non pvp factions) or a command module of some sort.

My (indie) 2 cents.

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