A Guide to Minor Factions and the Background Sim

[_trent_]

So I checked out the updates made to the first post and the thing that jumps right out at me is that testing shows that Combat missions no longer increase influence during war/civil war states.

This is good to know as I was starting to think our faction was doing it wrong during the last couple of wars we've engaged in. It's also rather worrying to know as it makes me wonder how exactly we are supposed to prevent our faction from losing influence in every other system during wars?

We've tried handing in combat bonds to our other systems. We've tried bounty hunting in our systems, only shooting our rivals ships and only handing in our own vouchers. We've tried combat missions. We've tried destroying our rivals' ships. We've gone down to surface bases and shot their skimmers. It doesn't seem to matter what we do, we drop by approximately the same percentage each day in all of our other systems. The percentage dropped seems to be linked to the population level of the system.

Has anyone had any success keeping their influence up in their other systems during times of war? Genuinely interested.

 

[dm0815]

So I dabbled with the BGS a bit and pushed a faction at the fringe of the bubble towards expansion state. Problem is I know from where they expand, but can't tell which system they chose. I checked the factions list in the nearest systems, but they are not listed. Do they immediately show up in another system or does it take them a while to do so?
They haven’t many places to go as the sector is quite unpopulated. A few inhabited systems are in reach however. The galaxy/system map is somewhat unreliable, too. Is it worth it to visit some stations and look for them, because the system map needs some time to catch up or should I continue to comb through the galaxy map, because I haven’t searched thoroughly?

(Frontier should add missions which require you to travel to the new system. Some weird “expansion themed” missions do spawn, but they have apparently random destinations. Or they should downright write it into the local news papers ...)

 

[goemon]

So I dabbled with the BGS a bit and pushed a faction at the fringe of the bubble towards expansion state. Problem is I know from where they expand, but can't tell which system they chose. I checked the factions list in the nearest systems, but they are not listed. Do they immediately show up in another system or does it take them a while to do so?
They haven’t many places to go as the sector is quite unpopulated. A few inhabited systems are in reach however. The galaxy/system map is somewhat unreliable, too. Is it worth it to visit some stations and look for them, because the system map needs some time to catch up or should I continue to comb through the galaxy map, because I haven’t searched thoroughly?

(Frontier should add missions which require you to travel to the new system. Some weird “expansion themed” missions do spawn, but they have apparently random destinations. Or they should downright write it into the local news papers ...)

1. expansion will happen at the end of the active state.

2. you'll find the system in the news section in any station they are present.

 

[dm0815]

Ah okay. I thought I could actively do something to support the activity. So I need to sit it out and could bolster their newly found home when the expansion state ends or I could do some work in the expanding system to raise influence as they will take an influence hit afterwards.

Thanks for clarifying it.

EDIT: That explains why they still sit on 75% influence. I expected an immediate drop, because they are expanding ...

 

[raeat]

Go to the Expanding system. Open your navigation menu. Scroll past the in-system stuff.
Make note of the first few inhabited system names and for each one ask these questions:
(1) Is my faction already there? If not, next question.
(2) Are there seven factions there already?
The first "no" to both of these questions is your expansion target.

 

[Starwolfe]

Does anyone know if getting fines still costs influence for a controlling faction?

To catch up, I have done some tests - so far fines don't affect the influence. They may affect a state however.

The only bounties I have tested so far have been murder, and I know that works.

 

[Walter2]

Go to the Expanding system. Open your navigation menu. Scroll past the in-system stuff.
Make note of the first few inhabited system names and for each one ask these questions:
(1) Is my faction already there? If not, next question.
(2) Are there seven factions there already?
The first "no" to both of these questions is your expansion target.

You don't have to go to the system - all this can be done through the appropriate System Map. The only reason to go to the system is to find the Pending states.

 

[Ben Ryder]

Hello Wise Ones of the BGS

There's beena bit of chat about Anarcy systems (mostl folk wanting to seethem as cool places like the were in 1984). However there seems to be different takes on how they ae handled in the BGS.

Some folk say they are prone to lock downs and other say doing stuff like killing their security ships as no effect because murder is not a crime. I wantto get in to a bit on anarchic stuff with a small player group of mercs. So can someone help us on our fist steps with an Anarchy PMF. Will killing Anarchy security ships cause lock down and influence loss in an anarchy controlled system?

Many thanks to all you Knowers of Things.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Not sure about wise, but I like anarchy.

Anarchy systems go into lockdown all too easily, though murder isn't a crime. You can't do anything to counter the lockdown, as they don't offer bounties for bountyhunting.

 

[MottiKhan]

I haven't tested it recently, but killing anarchy NPCs in their systems did lower their influence a while back. I think it was circa 1.4 the last time I was involved in taking an anarchy faction down though.

 

[SaliVader]

Does anybody know the effect on target and source faction of generator destruction missions? (The ones that ask you to destroy a planetary settlement's generator).

 

[goemon]

@ben doesn't matter, whether you shoot system security, pirates or traders of an anarchy faction - all will lead to the same influence loss, and to lockdown/civil unrest.

probably most effective is going bountyhunting, and to cash in other local factions bounties as well. just don't cash in superpower bounties in a station controlled by that faction.

another take on this would be to sell stolen goods additionally to destroying their ships - black market trade will also harm their influence.

 

[Bonzodog]

Just started my own thread about this but do any of you guys have an active Discord chat for the BGS?

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I started a thread recently on the problems anarchy factions in the BGS: Anarchy In The UK

 

[Sentenza]

Just started my own thread about this but do any of you guys have an active Discord chat for the BGS?

https://discord.gg/KDWFwcY

 

[Ben Ryder]

I started a thread recently on the problems anarchy factions in the BGS: Anarchy In The UK

It was your thread that got me thinkng aout it. See if the player minor faction is going to be Anarchy then I'd really lie ot know how to help safe guard the m ad also what things would do them the most harm. My take on Anarch as far as ED goes is that it's just a rubish satte of affairs, disorganised and without order / reglaution. NOt lk eAnachy in a political sense or a philospical sesne just really rubbish government so Anarchy might not be the most appropriate type for the PMF.

Anyway's if folk can give me asteer on Anarchy factions and how they diffr fro others as far as the BGS is concerned that woudl be great. I know nothing. SOrry about the typing, having a band hands day.

 

[raeat]

You don't have to go to the system - all this can be done through the appropriate System Map. The only reason to go to the system is to find the Pending states.

To get the ordered distances from the expanding system in your navigation menu, you have to be in the expanding system. Is not so?

 

[Starwolfe]

It was your thread that got me thinkng aout it. See if the player minor faction is going to be Anarchy then I'd really lie ot know how to help safe guard the m ad also what things would do them the most harm. My take on Anarch as far as ED goes is that it's just a rubish satte of affairs, disorganised and without order / reglaution. NOt lk eAnachy in a political sense or a philospical sesne just really rubbish government so Anarchy might not be the most appropriate type for the PMF.

Anyway's if folk can give me asteer on Anarchy factions and how they diffr fro others as far as the BGS is concerned that woudl be great. I know nothing. SOrry about the typing, having a band hands day.

Anarchy just have the worst deal.

They tend to open up Black Markets, and do not enforce any bounties or fines in the areas they control

This means two really negative things;

1) Murder is free. The upside is local-area control "could" be easy in the aspect of nuking enemies to impare influence is free, but the reverse is also true - their own ships are free game. Its even worse now that Anarchy is mysteriously fielding security ships...

2) Black Markets hurt their own influence. Its a common state for any Black Markets, but since the main point most want Anarchy is for them, its quite counter-productive for the faction.

Those two points alone really kick them in the guts. On a more technical stuff - outside the extremely short prohibited list, making things like slaves and proper weapons legal - the minor faction operates akin to any other minor faction. The only noteworthy exception is the group tends to hand out otherwise illegal and murderous tasks for missions, as opposed to the more law-abiding factions.

That, in a nutshell is why they really aren't a good idea. You can't rationally expect to take over a system and keep it under control when your own ships are under fire and your own Black Market undermines your authority.



FDev coudl fix Anarchy in the BGS in just a couple easy steps too.

1) No longer spawn security in Anarchy. This would end the major Achilles heel to the faction.

2) Make the main market in Anarchy ignore the Stolen status. This would make the Black Market non-consequential since the majority of stolen goods would then be positive for the faction. Heck I would argue remove BMs from them entirely...

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

2) Make the main market in Anarchy ignore the Stolen status. This would make the Black Market non-consequential since the majority of stolen goods would then be positive for the faction. Heck I would argue remove BMs from them entirely...

I had an annoying situation today. I'm currently in Imperial space, so blackmarkets are few. But I had some Crom Silver Fesh that I couldn't sell. I accepted a mission to a surface base did have a blackmarket, go there and the blackmarket wouldn't accept my Fesh, as it wasn't illegal, yet the base didn't have a commodity market.

 

[Starwolfe]

Hence that solution. Would be so much easier if that was the case...