revision of the ZONERS faction - to avoid yearly discussions

[Doc Holliday]

I've been reading through this thread and I see little that is new so, take it from someone who is a devoted Zoner for a few reasons that I won't get into.

-People say the Zoners shouldn't have cap ships. It has been said that it is because of them that Zoners are on occasion being harassed by the Corsairs or other factions. The three I have are Med Force ships and armed for defense only. I'm blessed to have never fired a shot with any of them in anger and hope that it stays that way. Anyway, my feeling is that if the Zoners disarmed, the Zoners as a people would cease to exist and become little more than slaves to their occupiers who, since there would be no resistance, would probably never leave. I mean, why should they? They have what they want and no one will force them out.

Ideally....Zoner diplomacy in keeping Corsairs at bay would be to stop supplying them with food and goods that they otherwise cannot get sufficiently through piracy.

Unfortunately, this never seems to play out inRP, since via game mechanic limitations, Corsairs don't have to pretend they are starving.

This has been RP'd before. When the Zoners were pressured, they decided to stop shipping food. What was the Corsair response? Getting other friendlies to do it, namely, Hogosha, Junkers and even some RP with the Farmer's Alliance.
My point? They'll get it if they want it....from somewhere to include via piracy.

-It is said that diplomacy doesn't exist. If that's the case then my character doesn't either. Doc Holliday is more than a doctor, he has an established lore here in Disco as a diplomat. Veteran Corsairs, SCRA and others know this. That said, the Council of Zoners and the old Zoner Alliance never existed. Those were the two ill fated attempts at a central Zoner government.
And people got their way with that. Most of the Zoners are now small factions (TAZ, Pheonix, OSI) or small individuals, just like the player base wanted, each having it's own problems, friends, diplomacy and yes, even enemies.

-People have said that Zoners MUST have enemies! I say B.S.!!! If the Outcasts, Corsairs, Mollies, house militaries and others don't have enough people to shoot at already, I feel sorry for you. Zoners left the houses to be free and through afore mentioned diplomacy with groups that house authorities deem "undesireable," they have been relatively successful. Sure, a little food here and some consumer goods there keep rumblings to a minimum to include that occasional credit or two.

Yes, there are a lot of players who don't have a clue as to RP a Zoner. They fly cap ships in house space and/or instigate trouble. I've even seen a Zoner pirate which IMO is a total oxymoron.
In short, if you are more of the PVP type, DON'T play a Zoner. Zoners are the hardest to RP since you need to be good at it.

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