How did this get brought up in a thread about a random instance, when, as is my understanding, you cannot actually predict WHEN the mega ship scenario will even appear?
And why are we still talking about the BGS as an entity that should only be affected by special people who believe a faction belongs to them, when in fact they are just helping influence it by actions?
A faction is not designed specifically to be 'owned' by any group of people. The game has been designed in such a way that one or more players can 'adopt' a faction, in which they choose to help improve their states and eventually expand. However, they do not have absolute control over it. Other people can have an effect on the state, deliberate or not, and that is entirely up to that player to do so. Of course, some people wish to defend the faction THEY have chosen to adopt, which (not usually coincidentally) happens to be a faction that another group of players has adopted. This is good, this is gameplay. Once could even argue this is similar to player based objectives... but it isn't.
What I'm getting from all the threads and opinions, is that once a group of players have decided that this faction is the one they're going to represent, then they alone have sole control over it, and therefore any attempt to undermine their control from outside of Open must be classed as unfair. Except, this isn't really the case, because NO faction is 100% owned and run by a group of players. IT never has been, and it absolutely never will. You could think of those choosing to interfere with that faction via Solo or group play as infiltration or behind-the-scenes manipulation, by a group of people you'll never actually meet. After all, anyone is free to choose who to ally themselves with, for any reason, because the game does not have player owned factions.
The bottom line, is the BGS system is not completely player driven. This is not EVE, and thank the deities it isn't. The game was never designed to be EVE, and it will never be so. 100% player owned factions will never exist in this game, no matter how much people try to twist and manipulate other's way of thinking. It makes no difference if you believe otherwise, because at the end of the day, the BGS is working as designed, and is exactly how it should be. State change by influence, not 100% player manipulation. Remember, if you do nothing, eventually states resolve themselves, and that wouldn't happen if it was 100% player owned.
This horse has been beaten so badly, it resembles pastie filling. Leave it alone.