Up till now, player choices made in the game have had little or no concequence to their progression. You can be allied with all factions without penalty. You can murder an NPC and either just pay off a small fine or grab a Suicidewinder.
Now that the latter example is going to be curtailed by the new C&P system, what about the former?
What if running missions for one faction could actively reduce your standing with another (in the case of the Empire and the Federation perhaps resulting in your rank in their navy being reduced as your rank with the other increases)? Suddenly what missions you take and where start to matter to the player's progression through the game. If applied correctly with the right balance of positive and negative effects, such a change could make things like Power Play far more meaningful to a larger proportion of the players (especially if the BGS and PP were tweaked to make them more engaging and enjoyable).
For example low standing with the Feds could mean you had to pay more for goods at their stations while a higher standing could lead to you getting better prices for selling at their stations. A high standing with a faction could lead to their security services turning a blind eye to minor crimes where as a low standing would see the security services crack down harder on you (for example perhaps making it easier or harder to smuggle goods in or out of stations).
At the moment your standing with a power only decreases if you don't run missions or sell goods in their stations for a while and never drops below 75% once you've reached that level. You can simply run a few missions for the Empire, then go run a few for the Feds and they'll both love you more. To me, this doesn't "feel" right. It should be difficult to keep your standing high with all factions due to their animosity towards each other. Why should the Feds trust a player enough to promote them to Admiral when that same player has been working so much with the Empire that he/she is running around in a Cutter? Or vice-versa if he/she is running around in a Corvette? This simply isn't how things work in reality. In reality if you work your way to a position of trust with one faction, their opponents should view you with suspicion and act accordingly.
Obviously this is only my opinion and a suggestion based on that. But I'd be interested to hear what others think. Does this make sense, and if not, where do you think its not feasible?
Now that the latter example is going to be curtailed by the new C&P system, what about the former?
What if running missions for one faction could actively reduce your standing with another (in the case of the Empire and the Federation perhaps resulting in your rank in their navy being reduced as your rank with the other increases)? Suddenly what missions you take and where start to matter to the player's progression through the game. If applied correctly with the right balance of positive and negative effects, such a change could make things like Power Play far more meaningful to a larger proportion of the players (especially if the BGS and PP were tweaked to make them more engaging and enjoyable).
For example low standing with the Feds could mean you had to pay more for goods at their stations while a higher standing could lead to you getting better prices for selling at their stations. A high standing with a faction could lead to their security services turning a blind eye to minor crimes where as a low standing would see the security services crack down harder on you (for example perhaps making it easier or harder to smuggle goods in or out of stations).
At the moment your standing with a power only decreases if you don't run missions or sell goods in their stations for a while and never drops below 75% once you've reached that level. You can simply run a few missions for the Empire, then go run a few for the Feds and they'll both love you more. To me, this doesn't "feel" right. It should be difficult to keep your standing high with all factions due to their animosity towards each other. Why should the Feds trust a player enough to promote them to Admiral when that same player has been working so much with the Empire that he/she is running around in a Cutter? Or vice-versa if he/she is running around in a Corvette? This simply isn't how things work in reality. In reality if you work your way to a position of trust with one faction, their opponents should view you with suspicion and act accordingly.
Obviously this is only my opinion and a suggestion based on that. But I'd be interested to hear what others think. Does this make sense, and if not, where do you think its not feasible?
