' Wrote:Ah yes... that's an understatement - Admin endorsing of "official" factions in this way would be the nail in the coffin for independent players. And all those questions are tough ones....
From what I've seen, they already do endorse official factions in this way. If they didn't, RM, KNF, LN, and LSF wouldn't exist in their current forms as representing then entirety of an NPC faction, but would be something closer to the QCRF, representing a particular branch or fleet among the larger faction. The latter, I think, is much better than the former, as it does leave freedom for independent characters without them having to come up with strange RP reasons for why they exist yet don't work for the player faction which represents, supposedly, the entirety of that NPC faction on the server.
As it stands, the rules of Discovery support the creation of independent lawfuls, and the rules support the 'rights' of independent lawfuls. However, in practice the lawful player factions seem to have complete control over 'their' space, not only for such things like determining what is/is not contraband and enforcing the 'obvious' laws (pirating players or NPCs, hauling cardamine, etc.), but also for banning entire IDs from 'their' space, ordering around independent members of the local lawful factions (and everyone else), and generally enforce whatever 'laws' they like in whatever way they like. At the moment, it is quite obvious that the Admins support this, so their answers to Hyung's questions are likely going to be just as obvious.
So, yes, the role of independent characters seems to be dying, with the exception of Zoners, Junkers, and BHG... And who knows if that'll last?
