My ID allows me to Fly a 3800 cargo ship

[pipsqueak]

Well i have bben around long enough to know all the trouble merc's caused. Just look and see and you will note we joined forum about same time,but i have played since 4.83. I myself also do not power trade. My biggest ship is my Junker guard Salvager. I also do not change ID's. I pick an ID when i start a char,and work on it.
Back in 84 i was 1 of those voting to loose the merc ID altogether. It is abused all to hell. Personally i think a MERC/BH/Navy/Police,and a few other's should not be able to use transport's at all, Just freighter's.

Same here... I joined the forums after almost a year of playing here. {\JG/] itself did pretty well on the RAW server before that for a couple of years and having the group move here was like pulling teeth in those days.

If you have been around so long, ask around about how [\JG/]'s rp has been in the last 2 plus years. I may be one of the last few active members but I will finish as a JG merc when ever that may be. If you read the ID of the merc and the JG rules of engagement (written almost two years ago, prbably one of the reason for me creating an ID here), you will find a lot of very strange similarities.

I will help you understand my rp as a merc since you see merc ID as irrelevantt.

My JG ships are "helpers". They do not rob, they help in robbing. They do not take bounties, they help in collecting them. I stay neutral because if my employer is out of action, I disengage.

As for why I need a transport ship, I have been hired in the past by pirates to collect the loot dropped by this new breed of miner looters, after they are killed. I get a standard fee for running "their" cargo to Narita. They also hire me to sit next to a tradelane just in case a trader does not pay and they have to blow him up. I do NOT fire on the trader and do not assist in pirating. Traders generally pay when they see a transport sitting close to them. In the past escorts have turned on me for sitting close by and I am in need of a transport that is more fortified than a pirate transport that can take a few more hits than a pirate transport. I also need some thing similar to a pirate transport that is civilian in nature.

My transport has also been used as a decoy by more creative traders to distract pirates. Trust me, taking a cargo of cosumer goods and running it a trade lane ahead of a miner not only advises the miner of upcoming threats on the tradelane, I can also "get caught" and pay them a a little fee ( aka distract them away from lane)while the miner flies by (small fee for a miner and very good rp).

Last but not least, my fighters and bombers are used to provide balance in fights that are very lopsided. meaning if I see three gunboats taking on one fighter, I will offer my services to the fighter since he is a clear underdog (fighter has to acccept). If fight is even, I do NOT interfere.

This may not be the rp for all but it works for me and I have decent friends now on both sides of the law.

You can see that I differentiate my rp as a merc from general freelancer IDs and for that reason merc ID needs to stay.

---