Indeed Drake, I can't imagine the point of inputting a guard system for the purposes of maintaining some manner of lolwut powerbase in an internet spaceship game as opposed to working to enrich the local environment with something unique.
Or maybe that's the mindset that we had when we were working on Tau-45 (To be added in 5.39, when we get it fixed.) and I don't fully grok the mindset associated with wanting to keep such things for private use. If you're looking to buy the system to "own" it I suggest keeping your credits in your pocket, it's just going to cause heartache down the road.
Player factions get the message dump, they get the recruitment thread and they represent a broader opportunity to guide the faction through example. Shooting people down for not obeying your law of the land seems anethema to what I perceive the purpose of official factions to be.
Player factions -are- get togethers. They provide you with a chance to carry on with a group of mates doing what it is that you want to do. That may just be one man's position, but it's always worked for me. I've had a blast enjoying that playstyle and I've never had to "guide" anyone else beyond inviting them to fly with me and setting on a suggestive word or two. If they were prats, we ignored them and carried on.
Finally, Freelancer isn't falling off of the shelves anymore. Keep pushing people away and it'll be really easy to keep that guard system to yourself.
