(01-31-2025, 09:23 AM)jammi Wrote: People are welcome to use this thread to explain how they'd like a cover system to functionally work.
Okay, I'm going to expand on the discussion yesterday.
I've been of the opinion that other players should always be able to treat someone per their IFF.
Because contrary to what some people say, the IFF and not the ID is the actual inrp element. Sure, some IDs are obviously "official" and would be visible inrp, like corporate or military identifications.
But there are others that obviously aren't actual inrp identifying markers, like Pirate or Wild, or Nomad for that matter. There's no such thing as a "Wild ID" in roleplay, that's a gameplay mechanic. Then there's borderline cases like Freelancer, which could be perfectly legal up-to-date formal civilian papers - or it could be someone born off-the-grid with no documentation at all.
The IFF meanwhile is what characters actually see; that's the association match their computer determined for a target, and that's how they should treat them.
These changes only strengthen that more: Players should be treated according to their IFF only. Anyone who has an IFF not matching their ID is doing so very consciously and should live with the consequences, so to speak.
My GC IFF Freelancer carries this IFF because she is affiliated with the GC, and I could have no complaints if she is consequently treated as such. If I wanted not to show this allegiance, I'd change my rep accordingly.
A Gaian should be allowed to shoot a Planetform IFF Freelancer. Whether they're a full employee or not, they obviously work for that company in some capacity.
And a BMM should be able to pirate an undercover BIS that's flashing IMG IFF. If the agent reveals themselves the BMM could believe them and back down, but they shouldn't be obligated to. That's a risk the agent took when setting up their cover.
I think it's important here to leave that agency to the other player.
I totally agree with this. I've always thought that the ID is what you are, and the IFF is simply what others see of you, your open declaration of intentions, so to speak.
That way of seeing it fits perfectly with this new mechanics. Thus, there will be factions that cannot show others that they're anything different than what they really are, and also there will be other factions, like the ones with Intel or Wilde ID, that will be able to impersonate others due to their characteristic of being based on going undercover. And then freelancers, pirates, etc, can use the IFF to show their affiliations.
I think the ID should show who your loyalty really is to, and the IFF is what you want to show to others. So yeah, inRP you should be treated based on what your IFF shows, not your ID. Of course, in the case of undercover characters, there should be ways to discover them, either through actions they carry out inRP that were incompatible with maintaining their cover, or through some game mechanics like the scanner mentioned above, or whatever else.
