Harvester vs. Zoner war & Zoner House

[Gemini893]

I'm going to repeat myself from another thread because I feel this warrants a full discussion. I don't know who came up with this idea but I seriously don't see how it could have been thought out thoroughly.

I still don't like the sticky situation created by the Harvester / Zoner war.

1. Zoners have always been neutral. Creating an enemy for them just for the sake of giving them an enemy could, at least, be done more carefully.
2. Corsairs are allied with The Order who is allied with Zoners. Corsairs and Zoners work together closely for mutual survival even though there is no official alliance. This is learned through talking with NPCs in any Zoner bar. For Corsairs to openly ally with the enemy of a friend would effectively kick all Corsairs off Zoner bases and put them, at the very least, in the unfriendly side of neutral.
3. Anyone who argues "Corsairs are more powerful and can do what they want" does not fully consider the dynamics of diplomacy.

The U.S. is more powerful than just about any other country in the world, does that give it the right to, for example, attack French ships on a whim? No. While the French deserve a slap in the face for their haughty and idiotic attitude toward US citizens, it would cause a diplomatic nightmare with the rest of the planet.

Let's not forget that Zoners also have 2 classes of battleship, a destroyer, and now a gunboat. Zoners are quite a powerful military faction in their own right, if they choose to be. You're pulling them out of their neutrality and setting a precedent for Zoners becoming a House. Because you give Zoners an enemy, you give Zoners reason to come together for a common defense. This will result in a Zoner Navy, Zoner Police, and possibly even a Zoner Intelligence Agency to defend Zoner interests. That's what having enemies does. You can't expect Zoners to remain a loosely affiliated bunch when they have a common enemy. That would neither be role play nor realistic.

And what happens when Zoners cross Corsair space to engage Harvesters? Corsairs are friendly with Zoners and allied with Harvesters. Are they forced to choose sides? If they choose Harvesters then they're kicked out of Zoner bases. If they choose Zoners then they must break ties with Harvesters, and that puts Harvesters in a difficult place of finding equipment, etc.

This whole Harvester vs. Zoner thing needs to be thought out better, or eliminated.

That part about a common enemy pulling Zoners together into an organized house is not OORP, it's realistically what would happen in realistic circumstances. Look at Iraq and Iran. They fight each other, but sometimes combine forces to battle Allied troops. Also consider the US doesn't really like either nation and yet we used to give Saddam Hussein money to combat Iran because the US government thought even worse of Iran at the time. Common enemies make strange bedfellows and the Zoners WOULD, very realistically, pull together and form a House, Navy, Police, and Intelligence agency.

Rolls and vessels of each Zoner Military faction:
Zoner Police: Patrol Zoner space around and near to Zoner bases and Freeports. Enforce the 5k no-fire zone.
Allowed ships: Fighters, Bombers, Freighters, Prison Liner, Transports (no more than 1000 cargo space)
Allowed Guard ships: Fighters, Bombers, Gunboats

Zoner Intelligence Agency: Locate and keep track of Harvester threats and movements when said threats are outside of Zoner systems and to evaluate the threat level at any given time. Can also (upon request, not upon a whim) assist Police to enforce base security and the Navy to secure systems from invasion.
Allowed ships: Fighters, Bombers, Prison Liner, Freighters, Gunboats
Allowed Guard ships: Fighters, Bombers, Gunboats, Cruisers

Zoner Navy: Defend Zoner systems from Harvester invasion and, occasionally, venture out to hunt Harvesters.
Allowed ships: Fighters, Bombers, Freighters, Prison Liner, Gunboats
Allowed Guard ships: Fighters, Bombers, Gunboats, Cruisers, Battleships

I was kinda lazy here, I copied allowed ships to be the same as their Liberty counterparts. This might or might not be the best way to go, but I figure generic Zoner and generic Zoner Guard can handle the Transport ships. I also did not cover the can and can not parts, just the role play of the factions.

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