Self given titles

[McNeo]

Joe kills more people in his Guardian than with the Durango, his dread.

Its opinions like this that cause people to call me Joe whenever I log on the Durango.

Self-given titles, though. Thats a sticky one.

Of course if some dude just proclaims to be an admiral because he bought a battleship, he'll be laughed at/shot down/both. On the other hand, a new player might see a member of a high command/respected indie anywhere and go 'why do I have to take orders from him? what has he done to earn his position!?', when they have done a lot in their own rights for their respective NPC factions.

It all depends on the experience you have of those players, the character representing the player and whether or not you choose to give your respect out for things that they've done which have never in any way, shape or form, affected the way you play.

This is why factions are generally given limited power to enforce some things around the place, since some do not give their respect out for much at all. Of course you will always have people wanting factions to have more of this power and people wanting factions to have less power.

I think the balance is generally fine now, though I do think that its a bit restrictive when it comes to weapons and ships.

@Harcourt: One could say that a battleship commanders rank should be an Admiral, in logical terms...