All factions are grey in elite?

[kolpo]

Just watched some movies about the factions and it seems that they are all grey, elite doesn't have truly evil or good factions. Somewhat like the real world.

Federations: A democracy dominated by corporations and wealthy lobby groups, has unofficial low wage ''slavery''
Empire: An autocracy who can keep the corporations in check, the federation would be even worse if it didn't have competition, has official slavery
Alliance: Betrayed the human race but are the most free of them all, the members can use this freedom for good and bad

 

[Sapyx]

Those aren't "factions", they're "Superpowers". The "factions" in ED are the local system-based political parties and similar entities, many of which are affiliated with a Superpower as the "local branch" of that Superpower.
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But yes, the Superpowers in ED are all "shades of grey" - they were deliberately designed that way, so there wouldn't be one obviously "good" choice that the majority of players would probably join.

The Federation has the veneer of freedom and democracy, but the roots are corrupted by corporate power. Systems are nominally "free" to join and leave as they wish, but systems that "leave" will likely be resisted by the Federation Navy. It retains at its core a doctrine of Manifest Destiny, that it and it alone should represent the united hegemonic government of all of human space, and the fact that many people happily exist completely outside its rule irks them greatly.

The Empire is, of course, autocratic, and "imperialistic" in the conventional sense of being all to happy to use its fleet to forcibly assimilate non-Imperial planets, if the needs of the Empire require it. Imperial Slavery is often declared by pro-Imperials to be some kind of superior form of slavery, with protections etc in place to prevent the usual inhumanities which accompany more traditional forms of slavery. However, the end-result, from our point of view as interstellar cargo-haulers, looks much the same: a slave that is sold by its master is packed into a cryofreezer box, sold to a slave-trader and shipped to wherever the slave-trader wants to ship them to - even if it's outside of the Empire. The Empire also has a strongly humanistic, even extropianistic, attitude, particularly when it comes to eugenics.

Th Alliance is inherently split-personality, if not outright hypocritical, due to its nature: at the top level, it is "democratic" in terms of the member-states of the Alliance having equal representation in the Alliance Assembly. But at the system level, governments are free to rule however they please; democracy and dictatorship, communist and feudal state, all sit side by side in the Assembly. As a result, it is often seen as being just as ineffective at promoting freedoms and human rights as the United Nations on Old Earth, where the same situation existed up until WWIII. Any hopes that the founders of the Alliance might have had, that democratic ideals would trickle down and convert the non-democratic members of the Alliance, have yet to be manifested. This also means that there really isn't such a thing as "Alliance idealism", since the Alliance's existence is purely pragmatic and utilitarian, rather than idealistic.

 

[Sensei Jacksama]

Just watched some movies about the factions and it seems that they are all grey, elite doesn't have truly evil or good factions. Somewhat like the real world.

Federations: A democracy dominated by corporations and wealthy lobby groups, has unofficial low wage ''slavery''
Empire: An autocracy who can keep the corporations in check, the federation would be even worse if it didn't have competition, has official slavery
Alliance: Betrayed the human race but are the most free of them all, the members can use this freedom for good and bad

I like the way the political system is set up in Elite. There are good and bad points to everyone and depending upon your own personal belief systems depends on who you perceive to be good or evil. Though I think it's more accurate to say this person more or less alignes with my personal beliefs and priorities. I think this adds depth and complexity to the characters. Take Denton Patreus. To some hes a warmongering dumbass while to others hes a "patriot" and highly intelligent tactician who puts up a front of being a warmonger for the sake of duty to the empire. Aisling Duval. Is she really the proverbial blue haired khaleesi she portrays herself to be or is this a rude? If you read the books SPOILER ALRERT shes kind of a in person. Just saying. Lol.

Political issues are not one sided. Like in real life they are complex and have merit for and against. I'm glad the lore works this way. It's good to not have someone who you can look at and go he blows up planets and eats puppies for dinner. Yep hes the bad guy.

 

[Sensei Jacksama]

Ok so I just remembered there Archon Delayne. Idk much about him so I guess hes the objectively evil guy... but who knows maybee he does piracy so he can take care of his sick grandmother or something. Lol

 

[Hanerib]

Idk much about him so I guess hes the objectively evil guy...

More like sincere when you study what all other powers actually do... It's quite interesting position, very independent. A character like that could be very uncompromised about personal objectives.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

But yes, the Superpowers in ED are all "shades of grey" - they were deliberately designed that way, so there wouldn't be one obviously "good" choice that the majority of players would probably join.

Arguably too well - shades of very dark grey with any redeeming features they might have not talked about too much. Not a surprise that most players support none of them.

 

[Sensei Jacksama]

More like sincere when you study what all other powers actually do... It's quite interesting position, very independent. A character like that could be very uncompromised about personal objectives.

I can see the appeal in that. Straightforward what you see is what you get kinda guy.

 

[Havvk]

snip

Everyone knows that the Federation is still the "goodest" of the three, as they 1, will never betray humanity and 2, aren't into slavery and the like as the Empire is.

For as rampantly capitalistic and corrupt the government is, at least they care about the invironment and recycling.


So if you want some "good guys" Federation.

You want "bad guys" go Alliance. Empire is the most true middle-ground imo.

 

[Arkadi]

It's not grey. It's full of colors!

But of course this is the view of the rainbow press (aka GalNet):

Zachary Hudson, President of the republican Federal branch, smokes cigars, loves profit, says he protects the "free worlds", loves shotguns. On one hand he is known to pay bountyhunters best prices to fight crime. On the other hand it surfaced that he used military help from the Kumo Crew against outward threats, mostly the Empire and the traitor Yuri. Evil tongues claim that President Hudson is quite at friendly terms with Archon Delaine.

Felicia Winters, figure head of the Federal liberal branch. Sure, Felicia, I think she loves her cat. She is a political powerhouse, and takes lot of influence with her media-campaigns. Theire combat pilots are known to "stay frosty" at all times ... whatever that means.

Arissa L. Duval, The Empress - got to rule her Empire... seems to be pretty busy task. I think she is Zarek Null in disguise or the other way around.

Aisling Duval, the Empress sweet sister, loves to tend to Imperial slaves and builds them entertainment centers. Can't decide whom to merry. Some see a glimpse of hope for Federal-Imperial peace in her person.

Torval, the grumpy senator with a big mining business "employing" lot's of Imperial slaves, giving them milk and cookies each friday. Some say she also does business with Archons Kumo Burger franchise.

Patreus, the Admiral. Basking with his fleet.

Mahon, Prime Minister of the Alliance. He united farmers and miners of the outer rims. Alliance grew pretty big. Some call it the green giant. It's somehow neutral. Rumors won't fade that Alliance collaborated with the Thargoids in the INRA times. But that's just FedEmp propaganda, ain't it? Also it's well kown that Mahon loves donuts and bagles.

Parnav Antal: some call him the space-hippie, some call him the gangster of love...

Li Yong Ruy: CEO of Sirious Corp. Sells ships for a discount. What's not to like?

Yuri Grom: a Federal traitor who established his own power and at some time allied with the Empire. He likes gold and he started the trend to wear full grown beards in some parts of the galaxy.

Archon Delaine: Steals from the rich and keeps all to himself and his crew. Archon had a long going grudge with the Imperial Admiral, but since Yuri invaded into his teritorry focus shifted a bit, Archon envies Yuri for his beard quite a bit. Also he makes great burgers. Zachary Hudson get's a family pack each week.

Spoiler

The Thargoids:
they love barnacles, Meta Alloys and occupied escape pods and they like to build creepy surface structures. Also they are sending theire semi-organic probes throughout the galaxy, searching for new friends. They had some friendly contact with the now extinct Guardians, until the Guradians self-destructed by some kind of "skynet-incident".
They seem to be pretty peacefull, they like to scan things and watch ships drifting through space helplessly after using theire disabling force field generators. If you want to play with them, you just have to drop into one of theire instances. They announce where they set up shop for playful interaction through emissions from theire planetary structures.
Sometimes they like to crack open a starport. The mother drone frowns upon this as rude behavior. But the boys are just curious, they mean no harm.