How to make official factions better?

[Caelum]

- restrict access to bases (through some sort of flhook thing I guess), i.e. LPI locking down Manhattan.

Might be prone to exploiting (unless only by official faction members or something...iunno), but very fancy.

- post in game news items

Like, a sort of custom "newspaper" item, with new ones every once in a while?

- allow factions to have one/some custom ships

Unnecessary, I'd say. Rather have more for specific, very well RPing, long-standing community members (on a single char or something), personally.

Another question. It's been discussed before, stations switching ownership occasionally based on official events. I think it was something about trade routes/patrols having to be altered that made it impossible.
Hence, have the stations be in new systems, or somewhere in current systems where patrols don't pass by, and make the trade goods very specific & generic (eg only buys oxygen, food supplies, things like that, and only sells other generic stuff), that's not faction-specific, but simply something any station needs?
Just another idea.

EDIT: Oh and Alex, edited my other post to clarify something, didn't see you guys' ninja before I posted:P

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