- Defunct -

[Vogel]

- This was just a concept thread. -

Yeah, it's me again. Stubborn as usual. Since the New Switzerland idea fell through for a large number of reasons (lack of player base in Gallia, repercussions on Gallic lore, lack of support from the powers that be, etc.) I've conjured up something else. Something much smaller, and much more possible, but still crazy nonetheless.

We have the Smokeones and the Cartel and the Outcasts and the Corsairs and the occasional transports run by the Rogues and the Hessians and all that crap...

... So whatever happened to the other people? The underworld "tycoons" so to speak? Must every unlawful group pin its hopes and dreams on Spanish colonists and a bunch of drunk Rogues and Mollies?

I say Nay.

What about the upstarts? We have random non-affiliated pirates, so what about the other branches of crime? What I propose here is something that I believe should have existed a long time ago but never has, a group that gives a good in-RP reason to fly those dinky little freighters for spare change as profit. I'm talking about an independent, non-faction-aligned smuggling ring, flying all around Sirius no systems barred with the motto "Anything, Anywhere".

I'm talking about the Fold.

Now here's the deal: the Fold is an independent group with no direct House or faction ties. Its primary purpose is to give people who want to smuggle anything and everything a place to be, to cooperate, rather than mope around alone for a few runs, get bored of it, and quit. The question is what could possibly be done with this group that would give people a reason to stick around with it, put effort into it, make smuggling fun? Here's my solutions:

- Make an organized group that can coordinate smuggling routes and provide assistance and intelligence to all smugglers operating under the banner, all the while interacting with lawful and unlawful factions/groups alike, in the server and on the forum in an RP setting (the given, the baseline objective)

- Make this group the best damned smuggling outfit ever devised, using every freighter, tactic, weapon, and dirty trick in the book, from changing your ship's registry codes to running into junk fields, powering down, and playing dead among the scrap. Our mission isn't to fight, it isn't to extort, it's to smuggle, make it big, and ultimately RP the daylights out of the idea of being a Smuggler

- Make this group a wholly self-contained endeavor in which the profits of the individual smugglers are the only source of capital: instead of drawing on the bank to immediately buy the meanest smuggling ship on the block and then getting bored with it, members start small, real small, and work their way up. In the meantime, a small percentage of their earnings would go to a group pool to be used for the explicit purpose of furthering the group's development. We're talking small-time cash here any way you look at it: an average run would net maybe two million bucks, and a weekly cut towards the pool would most likely amount to a bare half a million. The entire point here is to play on what RPGs do best: have a reason to work hard for something. Start from scratch, like a Sirian smuggler would, do the runs, get shot at, make it home, cash the credits, upgrade your ride. All of it. In time, the group would rival the likes of the Cartel and Smokeones themselves (provided we don't die first).


I mean, I look at Star Wars (yes, boo and hiss at the heretic) and I look at characters like Talon Karrde and Booster Terrik. They're the heads of massive smuggling organizations, but they're not aligned with anybody but themselves. Their resources are endless because they were hard-fought, and by that I mean a lot of blood, sweat, and engine exhaust went into running and gunning to get that money. Freelancer has a lot of potential for this: to my knowledge no group is an all-smuggling non-aligned outfit; players either carry illicit stuff in trains to powertrade or ferry Cardamine, Artifacts, and Slaves like every other Tom, Dick, and Harry Outcast and Corsair. It's time for something more than that, even if it doesn't net a lot of money, even if you're restricted to flying little freighters.


I have a lot of ideas behind how all of this would work that I'm not saying. Mostly because they deal with how to smuggle like a Boss and I don't want to be bleeding secrets. But that's the gist of it.

Who would be interested in this?