Brief Summary of the Factions?

spookytooth · May 27, 2014

Ok I confess I didn't really play the later versions of Elite - just the first original on a BBC B. Sooooo, in as few words as possible, could some kind soul(s) summarise the Factions please, because if I've got to ally myself with someone, or feel politically motivated for some reason, I'd just like a really basic idea of who's who, and what's what - if that's at all possible of course

Thanks in advance!

Jorlin · May 27, 2014

spookytooth said:
Ok I confess I didn't really play the later versions of Elite - just the first original on a BBC B. Sooooo, in as few words as possible, could some kind soul(s) summarise the Factions please, because if I've got to ally myself with someone, or feel politically motivated for some reason, I'd just like a really basic idea of who's who, and what's what - if that's at all possible of course

Thanks in advance!

I think some Newsletter explained a bit of this...

Ok, found it: http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=f72c0f91b2#Galactic%20Power%20Blocs

Andrew Sayers · May 27, 2014

spookytooth said:
if I've got to ally myself with someone, or feel politically motivated for some reason, I'd just like a really basic idea of who's who, and what's what

You don't have to align yourself with a faction, but yes a lot of people feel quite politically motivated

As well as Jorlin's link, you might also like Progress Diary 1 from last year.

Cody · May 27, 2014

Andrew Sayers said:
You don't have to align yourself with a faction...

<nods> Indeed - many of us will be independent, in one way or another.

spookytooth · May 27, 2014

Thanks guys - that's answered my questions perfectly! I just needed to get some sort of general feel for how things lay and who or what I might be dealing with.

Keybuk · May 27, 2014

Federation is archetypically the USA, perhaps at its most republican, capitalistic, best.

Empire is all of the glory of Ancient Rome, provided you're rich and powerful.

Alliance is a little more of the post-SW Rebel Alliance "New Republic"

JughedJones · May 28, 2014

Keybuk said:
Federation is archetypically the USA, perhaps at its most republican, capitalistic, best.

Empire is all of the glory of Ancient Rome, provided you're rich and powerful.

Alliance is a little more of the post-SW Rebel Alliance "New Republic"

That's pretty much how I read it. Seems like there's only one 'good guy' faction here. I was thinking it would be a little more nuanced than that.. but whatever. I suppose we're here to provide the nuance.

Cody · May 28, 2014

<grins> I'd expect an Imp or a Fed to be along shortly to explain any 'nuances' - ho-hum.

insanephoton · May 28, 2014

I guess you're assuming that Alliance is the 'good guy' faction. Most likely it's just as corrupt as the other two but lacks strong enough leadership for ruthless actions. In other words the Alliance is boring and ineffectual unless you attack it.

Imagine planet X has an uprising, here's how the three powers might react if it belonged to them.

Empire: Eliminate the traitors.

Federation: Hey look at those mineral deposits, let's buy them out and evict them.

Alliance: Hey guys, these people are really upset. Maybe we can get them around the table to discuss their grievances over some tofu.

Slopey · May 28, 2014

spookytooth said:
Ok I confess I didn't really play the later versions of Elite - just the first original on a BBC B. Sooooo, in as few words as possible, could some kind soul(s) summarise the Factions please,

There were none in Elite. There were Imperial/Feds etc in Frontier/First Enc etc however.

In the PB, there will be Federation/Eranin (or other non Fed) etc and that's about it.

You can swap allegiance on the fly, and it's transient - jump out, jump back, you can pick again, and there's no history/status/rank/levelling for factions implemented yet.

JughedJones · May 28, 2014

insanephoton said:
I guess you're assuming that Alliance is the 'good guy' faction. Most likely it's just as corrupt as the other two but lacks strong enough leadership for ruthless actions. In other words the Alliance is boring and ineffectual unless you attack it.

Imagine planet X has an uprising, here's how the three powers might react if it belonged to them.

Empire: Eliminate the traitors.

Federation: Hey look at those mineral deposits, let's buy them out and evict them.

Alliance: Hey guys, these people are really upset. Maybe we can get them around the table to discuss their grievances over some tofu.

Yup... like I said, sounds like there's one 'good guy' on that list.

Keybuk · May 28, 2014

JughedJones said:
That's pretty much how I read it. Seems like there's only one 'good guy' faction here. I was thinking it would be a little more nuanced than that.. but whatever. I suppose we're here to provide the nuance.

The Alliance is no better than the other two, a little more liberal and idealistic ... put it this way, I live in San Francisco; it's a liberal, idealistic city ...

It can't get anything done.

And the city's idea of liberal values is that recycling is so amazing, it should be illegal to put trash in landfill bags.

Keybuk · May 28, 2014

I'm not mentioning anything about INRA

Darkmatter · May 28, 2014

Slopey said:
You can swap allegiance on the fly, and it's transient - jump out, jump back, you can pick again, and there's no history/status/rank/levelling for factions implemented yet.

That's a good thing. I tend to shift my political allegiance depending on if I feel good (mankind is great) or bad (mankind is crap) about the world from day to day. I would expect my behaviour in the game not much different.

Jorlin · May 28, 2014

I'll try to do it like in other games before: loyal to noone.
Mostly not the best choice but i will give every faction a chance to earn my respect

Jon Jaymes · May 28, 2014

I should think the faction rankings will be a little more controlled than in Frontier or FFE. So I imagine that if you start allegiance to one faction and gain rank with them, that may prevent you gaining rank with another - at least I hope that is the case.

But as was the case in the older versions, the more missions and higher rank with one faction will open up more and better missions for that faction. I assume that other factions can 'see' your allegiance and this will affect the way they react to you, especially their military.

I am Empire all the way.....

Jon Jaymes

Andrew Sayers · May 28, 2014

JughedJones said:
Yup... like I said, sounds like there's one 'good guy' on that list.

Their goodness might make a bit more sense in context. The Alliance didn't exist in FE2 (set in 3200) and was a 20-year-old minor power in FFE (set in 3250). By the time of ED (set in 3300) they've grown to rival the two main powers, so they must be doing something right.

Jon Jaymes · May 28, 2014

Andrew Sayers said:
Their goodness might make a bit more sense in context. The Alliance didn't exist in FE2 (set in 3200) and was a 20-year-old minor power in FFE (set in 3250). By the time of ED (set in 3300) they've grown to rival the two main powers, so they must be doing something right.

Seems to me as just a catch-all for all independent systems wanting to join a club and have a navy to help them out.

Most systems out on the frontier will be truly independent, and I feel many will be run by single system based corporations. These types of systems will offer many of their own missions which will probably not affect or be affected by faction allegiance.

Jon Jaymes

Andrew Sayers · May 28, 2014

Jon Jaymes said:
Most systems out on the frontier will be truly independent, and I feel many will be run by single system based corporations. These types of systems will offer many of their own missions which will probably not affect or be affected by faction allegiance.

That's true, but riddle me this - with players constantly pushing humanity to colonise new worlds, how will Frontier keep the main power blocs from becoming tiny irrelevances engulfed by a sea of independent systems? And how will they make the process interesting to all their different types of players?

spookytooth · May 28, 2014

Jon Jaymes said:
Seems to me as just a catch-all for all independent systems wanting to join a club and have a navy to help them out.

Most systems out on the frontier will be truly independent, and I feel many will be run by single system based corporations. These types of systems will offer many of their own missions which will probably not affect or be affected by faction allegiance.

Jon Jaymes

Well this appeals to me more than the other two options - especially like the summary of the first paragraph. It appears to me after listening/watching the 1st Dev Diary vid that the Alliance are likely to support most kinds of trading - IF you choose your sectors right, without having Space Cadets pulling you over demanding to see your credentials. This fits in nicely with a "frontier" theme to me, rather than a stiff, rigid, probably completely corrupt hierarchy, instead of one that's maybe only locally corrupt. Plenty of trade opportunities there I see! :smilie: