Would it be plausible for us to equip our Traders with, say, Military or Trader ID's, then give any capital ships we may use, which will prefferably be few, one of the Special RP ID's being introduced in the next version?
Think that Using Generic ID's will be the way to go. Trader for the traders and fighter/bomber fleets and Military for the Gunboats. I also think that IC makes a lot of sense as "protecting trade" is their bread and butter. Just my $.02 but I do have to say that this group fits my play/RP ideas better than the others. Just need to let it continue to evolve and see where it ends up.
As Del said, we can only use one ID, so it looks like Freelancer, Zoner or Military, as Traders cannot participate in military operations. We may also be able to use LPI/LSF/LN ID's, but that would make us more house restricted and possibly send some Rheinlanders hostile.
ID: Zoner. Once 4.85 comes, nothing else that would fit would allow you to use any capital ship along with transports, unless you chose one specific lawful faction - which has its own issues I'm sure you've considered. Until then, Freelancer ID allows gunboats and transports. Military ID, IIRC, doesn't allow transports, so I don't think that's an option, and it seems to be going through some major changes in 4.85.
Naming: Your current tag system takes too much space, IMO. Here's what I'd go with:
[ATA]shipname - Transports and capital ships. Consider using different name themes rather than extra symbols; Azure Line Shipping, when we had more people around, divided its transports into two categories, one using blue names and the other using black. You could do something similar, perhaps famous businessmen for your transports and weapon inventors and manufacturers for the capitals? Just an idea.
[ATA]firstname.lastname - Fighters
[ATA]firstname.lastname.B - Bombers
Regarding the ID, it seems we will be using Zoner until 4.85.,then we will look through the IDs. Most likely we will not even consider applying to be official until then.
I see no major problem with the tag system, and it does make use of /fi easier, being able to invite just the fighters or traders etc. We will consider it, however.
IC:
- Reports of untagged Phantoms attacking our transports in Overkill packs consisting of a Destroyer and several bombers. The faction is now blacklisted, as well as hostile.
It's the Phantoms. If you live, they're either hostile to you or temporarily pretending not to be.
Returning to that annoying ID topic, the 4.85 ID changes got revised again. A few generic IDs got merged, and you get this:
Quote:Freelancer ID
Pilot carrying this ID is a Freelancer, who:
* Can trade and escort traders
* Can hunt pirates, terrorists and lawfuls across Sirius
* Can fulfill lawful and unlawful bounty contracts
* Cannot pirate
* Cannot use any transports with more than 3,600 cargo
Allowed ships: Fighters, Bombers, Freighters, Transports, Gunboats
Carrying unmounted IDs in your ship, as well as not equipping an ID, is a serious crime.
Looks like it'd fit perfectly, as long as your hearts weren't set on using advanced trains. So unless that cargo restriction's an issue (and hey, can't have everything), I think maybe you might finally have that matter settled.