Your posted reasons for not being able to join a faction did not show a disabillity to join, but a disinclination. If you don't want to join a faction, that's ok. But don't say you cannot, as that is not true. So far the reasons I have seen for not joining a faction are as follows;
1) Inabillity to interact and cooperate with the leader.
2) Disinclination to fly any ship that cannot mount the top of the line weapons or has payload restrictions.
3) Time constraints
4) Disinclination to be punished for violations to roleplay
5) Unwilling to play a character of that faction
Now reasons three, four, and five are rediculous. If you have the time to roleplay with others when you are not in a faction, then you have the time to roleplay with others while in a faction. There are no duties that eat into your time anymore than being an independant does. And if you are unwilling to roleplay a Junker then don't get a Junker ID. If you do, and don't roleplay it according to the faction and faction ID you are going to be punished. To many people are tired of players not following rp and are snapping screenshots for the admins left and right.
Reasons one is a personal reason, and probably the only reason that's been quoted that is not an excuse. If you cannot get along with the faction leader and there is absolutely no chance of amicable roleplay within the player faction because of this, then yes, don't join. Remember, I've never once said that being an independant should be illegal.
Reason two is a mostly a mechanics issue, people are to concerned with pew pew, and not concerened enough with playing thier roles. If you are a pirate, living on the fringe, struggling to make repairs, and living from heist to heist, you aren't going to be flying top of the line ships using top of the line weapons. Not every character you have can be a pirate king or fleet admiral. As I've said, when you fly through a system and there are more capital ships and special/restricted ships, then there has been a breakdown in role play. When you design all your characters so as to use only the best, then you are violating the spirit of the game. You are designing roles to meet the mechanics you want, rather than using mechanics that fit the role.
Time is not a genuine reason? I am unwilling to be punished for role-play errors? Ship choice, as highlighted by the previous words, is quite simply a choice. A character only has to be role-played based on the ID, and the current NPC faction's role-play. A faction's role-play need not be followed. (There was a ruling on this, can anyone confirm it?)
Your experience is vast and varied to make such deductions that playing an independent character of an NPC faction and a a character of an official faction are the same. If you think the playing time and activities are exactly the same, then explain why people join an official faction or perhaps why there are official factions? (You are wrong, but please continue.)
If anything, we should be tired of tosspots whining about independents when an untagged player just happens to be more skilled and kills them, then lobbying for more and more restrictions, when it is obvious they understand very little, if anything at all, of the independent situation, since they are either not independent, or as an independent, they do not own a capital ship.
You also asked how many "special" ships I had in your previous post. I answered, albeit not too specifically. Any specific response you have to that?
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