NPC Farming is not the way!

[Grin]

Oh, if only there were GMG depots that worked... FL tag would be so much easier...

Personally, I really think this tag thing is the most ridiculous thing we have to deal with. For new players it is almost impossible to understand. We have countless incidents of OORP behaviour as a direct result of this.

What I would like to see would be that when I buy a particular ID, it sets my relationships with all other factions to those in the main game itself. ie. If I buy a Corsair ID then Outcast npc ships will attack me on sight. Also, Outcast players will see immediately that I am an enemy to them.

The only tweaks to be sorted then would be the RP-caused inter-faction ones. The basic and most obvious ones would be done.

It would be so nice to see any pirate ship automatically attacked by npc BS/Des/Fighter/Bomber ships when they dare to enter a lawful space. Much more realistic than finding yourself being pirated by an Outcast Gunboat right next to a Navy battleship that does not attack the pirate. This has happened to me and it makes the rp ludicrous. I also hate to justify, as a lawful character say, shooting down police/navy vessels or blowing up storage depots to adjust rep.

ID-whoring, such as a trader being pirated who then lands on a planet and buys a different id to make the pirate friendly to him could be easily sanctioned, surely? The places where the IDs could be bought could be made more limited and closer to proper rp locations. A bit of thought about this would make it much harder to abuse.

I believe this would make the game more believable, easier for new players to get going and allow experienced players to concentrate on the cleverer aspects of role playing. In short, the benefits would outweigh the costs.

Can it be done? The reason I think it may be possible is that we all automatically get reps that show Admin as hostile, so why not sort out the others?

Once the basic reps are set as per the in-game factions then the player can use the game mechanics (bribes and shootings etc) to polish the final result that reflects the rp for all the factions.

Thus: If I join TBH, I get a Corsair rep, which means I automatically get all the normal in-game faction reactions to the basic Corsair. Now in roleplay, for example, lets say that Benitez are currently arguing with TBH. I must roleplay my antagonism to the corsairs in that other faction, even though they are Green to me on radar. They are still corsairs, still my brothers, but we are fighting. It happens. What I don't have to do is go OORP to bring all the faction reps into line.

Sorry I've gone on about this, but I think it is important. If it has been discussed before, I apologise. I do find it hard to find a lot of things on this board...

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BAF|Lt.Jay.Smith - Templar, BAF|Lt.Jay.Smith. - Challenger, HMS-Hardy - Indy Gunboat