dropping Faction Tags

[arvg]

I have noticed that there is a trend of factions that deal with risky business (traders and pirates both) that have dropped faction tags from their ship names in order to avoid A. Traders avoiding them. B. Being hunted by pirates.

I've run across both sides of this... and I wonder at the pros and cons to this strategy.

Pro... makes it easier to get the business done.

Con... makes it harder, if not impossible, to prove faction numbers.

Someone, recently, pointed out that seeming rise in "indie" server population. Now running about, as I do, scanning and scrawling my little notebook of ships (yes that's right, I spot you I write down your name and faction ID in a note book so that if I spot you again I know who and what you are) I find that this isn't really the case most of the time. A lot of these new indie ships seem to be faction vessels that have dropped their tag... I wonder at this.

Right or wrong, and I am not passing judgment, what's your experience with this phenomenon?

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[Bobthemanofsteel]

Personally, I don't see the point of joining a faction if you can't feel proud to be a member of it. To feel like you're a part of something.

Who cares if you get pirated? Get over it. For things like the Wilde, I understand that mentality, of not wanting to get ganked. But otherwise, I wear my Faction tags like a badge of honour, not a target.

[Malexa]

This seems to be a stupid move, if you are not an admin-approved-ID faction, since you can't keep an eye on the activity level. And even for ships like the Wilde, its a lot more work for the Admins to keep track of them.

Also the non tagged ships lose all their Faction rights ingame. Since they do not have visual markings of the associated official faction.

And to avoid pirates or the law with that.......uh my head.

It's a roleplay server where people actually log on to have player interactions.
There is not the slightest reason for any non admin approved ID faction to drop their tag.

For Phantoms, Keepers, Wilde, it surely makes sense in terms of RP.
For the rest not.

Malexa

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[<span style="color:#FFCC00">The Mandalore's Office</span>]

[arvg]

that is my thinking as well... it would create a total night mare... but then if you are a miner (for example) what faction rights do you need? you generally want to be as low profile as you can be to escape notice.

It is perplexing to me, I mean, I'll catch them, eventually. I already have a nice little list going. It's becoming necessary as a pirate to do that... but should I have to, is the question.

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[Exsiled_one]

It's in the challenge;)

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<span style="color:#33CC00">I AM GIVING AWAY MONEY TO CREATIVE MINDS*</span>

[Stoat]

I find it a little annoying when this happens, but in the end it has little overall effect. You get to know those to avoid and those to target, regardless of whether they have the tag or not. It makes finding them in the players list a little more difficult, but that's it.

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My Stories

[Guest]

Only other downside I can think of is the fact you can't really use mass-groups invites anymore, that, and the fact they lose the respect a tag usually gives.

[Sprolf]

Keeping them:
Easier to roleplay and find roleplay.
People know who you are.
Easier to count activity.
Easier to /fi.
People metagame and log off when they see you.
People metagame and log on when they see you.
Shows pride in your faction.

Dropping them:
Harder to find roleplay.
People have no idea who you are.
It's easier to do dangerous things.
Admins get cranky when counting your activity.
Making a group is annoying.
People can't metagame by logging on or off.
People think your faction is inactive.
When they find out you've dropped tags, they think you're pansies.
Shows little faction pride.


In my opinion, people dropping them usually emphasises making money as more important than RP, or perhaps PvP as more important than RP. I'll never let my factions drop their colours, because that's who we are. Come hell or high water or pirates, we'll keep our tags, because without them, we're... like a bunch of stealthy powertrader creditwhores or miner-farmers.

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[Treewyrm]

I dropped tag for my scorpion gunboat for a test a month ago or something. For several days I was just flying around, I didn't look for a fight. Nobody was hunting my character, no annoying people chasing you because of the tag. So far I stumbled on pretty much only RP, one time with those post-harvesters (SMA or something) and other time caught up with Joker and his thug crew - fun times. Curious. Test continues. Should it prove as successful as it was so far the "Keepers." prefix will be a history as far as I'm concerned.

[Tovig]

For restricted faction, yes, it could be nice but for the open factions, I don't see the point. We wear a tag because we want to belong to a group, be different from indies.