To All liberty citizens

[Rudo]

In response to my gripes about the LN, everyone kept telling me to join the faction and see what it's like, and how hard it was to be in there.

I decided to bypass the red tape and made a Navy indy in an Avenger instead. Lt..Victor.Ortega. Maybe you've seen me.

I play an Advance Recon & Surveillance Pilot, so I'm more apt to communicate for the sake of intel gathering and minor diplomacy, than to "Engaging criminal" upon seeing a red IFF and run in guns blazing.

I'm acting out my vision of a Navy pilot, more concerned with external threats such as the Order and Nomads and possible Rheinland belligerents than internal threats like Rogues and Xenos, which are more the domain of the LPI in my opinion. Not that I don't engage Rogues, Hackers and Xenos, but they have to be actively performing criminal acts rather than simply being on my radar. Enough unlawfuls oblige me by attacking on sight, so many that I'm rarely short of work. Definitely a choice alignment if you like good RP opportunity with lots of action.

The other reason I went indy rather than faction was because this way I get some distance from the faction pilots. While my actions don't shine on them, theirs don't necessarily shine on me either. I also get to play my version of what I think a Navy pilot should be without having to adapt to a particular mould. Finally, I figure if I'm any good at my role, recognition as a legitimate pilot of the Liberty Navy will come in due time anyway.

So far it actually hasn't been bad. I roleplayed with an LR pilot (favorably), flew around space and looked for smugglers, and I've actually had to step out of fights because they got one-sided and I wasn't needed. When I called for backup because I was faced with a gunboat, [LN] and a pile of bored capwhore indys showed up in overwhelming numbers within a minute.

Is there some handicap to playing the faction I don't know about, or am I just jaded from constantly fighting multiple targets on my own? I'd imagine you get many private messages from whining traders and hate tells from gang-molested pirates and such, with the conspicuous [LN] tag and all... but anything else?

Maybe I've just been playing on good days.

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