' Wrote:The artifact trade is run by the corsairs. A large portion fo the profit from that trade gets back to the corsairs. <-- The smuggler/trader gets 6-10 mil in a single trip. Yes Corsairs get funds by the smuggler "purchasing" the artifacts ... but the smuggler/trader "sells" the artifacts to Manhattan's black market ... thus ... the smuggler/trader makes a profit. And he DOESN'T have to be a Corsair to make this profit. Same goes for the cardamine from Outcasts. A smuggler/trader is moving goods ... without them ... nobody makes money. If you take a look at the over-the-road trucking industry in the US, you'll notice that a large number of these trucks are independent of the company they are pulling freight for. So ... a smuggler/trader is NOT tied, allied or bound to any specific faction ... unless they so choose to gain an IFF and ID that says they belong to Republic Shipping or whoever.
Likewise, the outcasts run the cardamine trade and recieve the majority of profit from it. <-- See comments above.
No money is getting to liberty with either of these goods - in fact, money is being -taken- from liberty by the smugglers who sell the contraband there. <-- The contraband peddlers on the streets of Manhattan are making a profit off what they sell to the citizens of Liberty. And yes ... its a net gain for ALL involved in the smuggling of artifacts and cardamine. Corsairs, Outcasts, the smuggler/trader in the middle ... they ALL profit. But NOT all the money goes back to Corsairs and Outcasts.
If the order npc's dont do their job, the player has fixed his/her rep to achieve that effect - and that is against server rules, and sanctionable. <-- Not true ... you are taking this to an extreme sir. IF ... and I repeat ... IF ... the smuggler/trader has an Outcast ID and IFF ... he's enemies of Corsairs ... NOT necessarily an enemy of Order. Read the infocard ... you'll see that Outcast are not listed as enemies of Order. And just because you are allied with Corsairs doesn't mean you share their enemies and allies. Now ... the reality is that smugglers like mine do not have an IFF ... they are unaffiliated. And they bear the generic Smuggler ID. So ... I don't "work for" anyone but me. So my reputation with Order is NEUTRAL ... and is perfectly within role play to be so. Now ... if I understand the way contraband is setup in the game ... NPCs respond when they actually "scan" the smuggler/trader. If they don't scan ... they don't know they're smuggling. And if they do scan and demand you drop the cargo ... and you don't ... then they go red. Now quit trying to make some rule up that doesn't exist. There's no rule that says a smuggler carrying cardamine through Omega 100 is illegal and sanctionable. Maybe in your head it should be ... but reality says ... YOU have to secure your borders. Now get over it and do your job instead of calling on admins to do it for you.
In a normal house system, a smuggler might be able to hide the fact that he's carrying contraband - thought it's very unlikely, even one unit of cardamine will get scanned by NPC police/navy and you'll get attacked for having it. Most smugglers in house systems fly through open space to avoid such patrols - they dont take any such precautions in omicron 100, they simply fix their rep and fly straight past battleship Isis like nothing is out of the ordinary. <-- Omicron 100 has no trade lanes ... so they are by default flying through open space. And there's PLENTY of open space to avoid patrols and bases. If they happen to pass by Isis and don't get scanned ... who's fault is that? Again ... the Order is more concerned with the Nomad infestation than a small time smuggler. If you want to take the Order beyond what the traditional plain vanilla story line says ... you'll have to enforce it yourself. But the Order really doesn't care about contraband as much as the houses do ... with exception of course to Nomad ships/equipment and artifacts.
The difference here is that omicron 100 is -not- a 'standard house system'. Nobody is allowed in that system except order tagged and ID'd ships. A smuggler is not order tagged, and not order ID'd, and as such should be hostile to all the npcs and bases in that system - if they arent, they're OoRP. <-- The restriction on Omicron 100 is player faction imposed ... not server rule imposed. If you want to control the system ... you have to enforce your own created rules. You can't force the game engine to enforce your role play. The ONLY OORP vessels in Order space (Omicron 100 or Minor) would be those who are "specifically listed" in the Order enemy list. All factions and individuals NOT on your enemy list (as written on the infocard) are neutral. If you ... as a faction ... declare them hostile ... then YOU have to enforce that faction rule. But it is NOT sanctionable for them to pass through there. No more than Kusari can call on the admins to enforce their anti-engine component exportation rule. And Omicron 100 is no more special than Virginia, Vespucci, Puerto Rico, Cassini, etc etc etc.
EDIT: I notice you chose not to respond to my question concerning your letting those "setting up" their characters pass through without a challenge. Make em take another route to Omicron Delta.
