Can one be both Federation and Empire?

[ProTankerDestruction]

I am looking to collect all the ships in the game but one thing worries me. People talk about their allegiance to Federation or Empire but never both and if that was the case of only being in one or the other then i would not be able to get all of the ships in the game. I understand that that would be a problem logically speaking but I still want to get both faction's faction specific ships. So have they decided to follow the logical route or gone with the opinative 100% route?

Tanks for the answers. :3

 

[EUS]

Yes, you can rank up in both, even at the same time.

 

[BDelacroix]

I am allied with both, though if you are a PP pledged player, you still show as hostile in other territory.

 

[Jmanis]

Very easy to do both. Most people talk about being aligned to one or the other though, coz people like to pick a side.

 

[CMDR Nick]

Yep - there's no logic to it. No sense. No lore or sensible politics. You can serve all sides. (With no real reward from any.)

Instead of working on these difficult, but readily expandable aspects, FD introduced a middle tier of politics called PowerPants which no-one actually understands.

 

[Kristov]

I am currently a Viscount with the Empire as well as being aligned with ADL for Power Play, and I'm a Chief Petty Officer with the Federation and working on Ensign while doing the CG currently(went from Midshipman to CPO just running cargo missions and charity missions, not a single combat mission).

You can rank up with the big 3 by simply doing the faction based missions, combat being one of the quicker and better paying mission options, without joining any faction in Power Play. Just check the Bulletin Board for missions from the factions who are associated with the major power you want to rank up with, Empire/Federation/Alliance.

 

[Witcherman]

Unfortunately...yes.

It would be nice if you had to chose a side but unfortunately it's all just window dressing.

 

[Para Handy]

Allied to all three - Admiral - Duke

Have to nip back to alliance and empire space every so often to get back up from friendly but it only takes a little while each (have to go there to cash in bounties anyway*).




* Cos we can't cash bounties in remotely but we can join in a CQC session from anywhere in the whole universe.

 

[DJ]

Shudder... your notion... it's like bangers 'n' custard

 

[h347h]

Sadly people will QQ about being able to choose only one side. If you made it permanent or even merely just difficult to defect there will be village idiots protesting in mass on the forums and so forth. So now modern game design has become pretty watered down. Catering to a less hardcore crowd seems like it is a more profitable business model as well.

Though I do think being a mercenary for any side fits in with the theme of Elite. You also have to understand that you are not part of the core military structure for either faction. Just the auxiliary. Which means that they are going to exploit you just as much as you might try and exploit them. Once you start paying attention to the missions a good majority of them are asking you to do some not so legal stuff. Stuff that the normal military might not be able to get away with. Having CMDR auxiliary pilots is like having a roll of toilet paper for those times they don't want to get their hands dirty. They also give you an opportunity advertise for their preferred ship company, aka faction ships.

 

[Sapyx]

The "rank progression" concept migrated pretty much unchanged from the earlier Elite games (FE2/FFE), where it really was just all about getting the title - there were no rank-locked ships back then, all you needed to do to buy a Courier was turn up at an Imperial-controlled starport with a shipyard where one was for sale. It was explained in the manual that you could rank up with both powers at the same time and neither power really minded, because they weren't actually at war with each other and the navy ranks weren't in the "real Navy" anyway.

 

[The Wallet Inspector]

The "rank progression" concept migrated pretty much unchanged from the earlier Elite games (FE2/FFE), where it really was just all about getting the title - there were no rank-locked ships back then, all you needed to do to buy a Courier was turn up at an Imperial-controlled starport with a shipyard where one was for sale. It was explained in the manual that you could rank up with both powers at the same time and neither power really minded, because they weren't actually at war with each other and the navy ranks weren't in the "real Navy" anyway.

Yup, the system makes little sense. I am sure there is some odd lore explanation to justify the lack of development with regards to the great powers, but maybe it is something for a future update, like with Powerplay.

- - - Updated - - -

The "rank progression" concept migrated pretty much unchanged from the earlier Elite games (FE2/FFE), where it really was just all about getting the title - there were no rank-locked ships back then, all you needed to do to buy a Courier was turn up at an Imperial-controlled starport with a shipyard where one was for sale. It was explained in the manual that you could rank up with both powers at the same time and neither power really minded, because they weren't actually at war with each other and the navy ranks weren't in the "real Navy" anyway.

You also got some exclusive missions. I understand that explanation, but it would be of little comfort if war broke out. Seems like it should not be called navy/military, probably something more benign .

 

[IronGremlin]

It's actually the auxiliary navy you rank with, ad is called out, though not terribly noticeably, I must admit.

There is nothing overwhelmingly immersion breaking about holding a collection of merit badges from different countries militaries as a mercenary.

Rank locked ships make somewhat less sense, but I like to pretend that it's a reflection of "knowing a guy who can pull a favor" rather than a literal reflection of rank.

 

[Jypson]

Unfortunately...yes.

It would be nice if you had to chose a side but unfortunately it's all just window dressing.

I would agree with you if ships weren't locked behind certain ranks. I gotta fly 'em all! I wouldn't mind if I had to pay more for a 'black-market' ship because I don't have the rank, but to lock it out entirely by choosing a side, no thanks.

 

[clinton]

If I recall correctly, in FFE doing missions for one side would make you lose 50% of those points for the other side. So you could rank up with both navies but it would take twice as long. I think that would be a good thing to introduce.

You should probably be able to go negative also. Lets say you gain 200 points for the Federation, you're then -100 for the Empire.

Although, that negative number should be hidden.

Lets say you're 200 for the Federation, and -100 for the Empire. You then do an Empire mission worth 20 points. Because you're got a negative real rank, your standing only goes up by half.

So your Federation rank is then 190 (50% of -20 = -10), your real Empire rank goes up to -80 (+20) but your effective Empire rank goes up to 10 (50% of +20 = +10).

This will allow someone to rank up at half speed with a new navy, even if they've got a shocking record. But they must "pay back" that negative record before ranking up at normal speed.

In the above case, after the player does 200 points of Empire missions, they'll be ranked at 100 points for the Federation, and 100 points for the Empire. So they've done 400 points of missions but only got 200 points of credit total.

Like I said, because you're only losing 50% with the opposing navy, you could rank up with both sides, but it would take some time.

 

[CMDR Starschulz]

It's like double dipping. you can do it, but its filthy.

 

[CmdrJacks]

I remember in FE2 gaining reputation with one side lost you reputation with the other. The trick would be to rank up to the point of bombing secret bases then defecting and building rank again. Then you'd go off to the independent systems and play the two sides against each other. That story arc was created by the player and it kept me going for more than a decade. I'm doing the same thing in this game, even though I don't have to.

 

[Daeron]

The question itself is proof of something amiss. For if everything was perfectly well, it would not need questioning in the first place. The answer is sadly not what it should be, in a more optimal reality. Even a virtual one.

 

[OnePercent]

You aren't part of any faction with the exception of pilots federation so the answer is pseudo yes, considering that aligning your self with any powers have any meaning in the first place, apart from money.

 

[Schmack]

The ranking/allegiance/alliance system seems out of phase with Powerplay and with itself actually. You can be a high ranking officer of both sides, as if no one would know, and yet if you make some pledge, the entire galaxy knows right now and they don't even have a pledge scanner.