OK, so I made a few mistakes, ticked the wrong people off, and found myself getting shot at by any ships belonging to the Alliance on sight.
I knew that the rep system had some problems and was going to submit a ticket. After all, I'd been doing missions for an Alliance faction, and my rep was dropping through the floor like mad with the master faction. But then I found some posts on what exactly gets you dinged on rep. As it turns out, I've been a bad, bad boy.
In the first place, it turns out smuggling is actually illegal. Smuggling for a faction is one of my favorite ways to make cr. There's always excess cannisters of goods floating around the USS that's worth collecting. But I was having an off night and got nailed twice by scanning cops. (Once after an interdiction. Talk about embarrassing.) But that was okay. The station faction who put me up to the jobs was happy as a clam and my rep shot up to friendly. They got their goods and I paid the fines, which were usually not so bad I still didn't make a profit. So why then after turning "Friendly" with the faction did my rep with the Alliance go "unfriendly"?
Because big Daddy Alioth doesn't like it when the kids break the rules. I was breaking national laws, not just local ones. (Buncha hypocrites. How many times am I gonna have to smuggle for them to rank up, huh?)
Anyway, to compound my error once I saw I was unfriendly, I decided to go kill some pirates to let off some steam. I headed off to an anarchy system and went to pick on one of my favorite punching bags, the Sobek Boys. Cleaned their clocks, racked up a bunch of bounties for Empire and Fed, but curiously, no Alliance bounties. Huh. Look at that. Alliance is now hostile across the board. So I checked the faction list, and it turns out... the Sobek Boys are Alliance.
D'oh.
So that was kind of a bummer. The one faction that I had actually put any kind of work into backing now had me listed as public enemy #1. Any Alliance or Alliance faction ships now shot at me on sight. I couldn't approach any Alliance stations without getting killed, except for orbitals who shook their fists at me. That is, except for the stations where I was already friendly. They only became "unfriendly." But I could dock, and they still gave me missions. At least I still had friends.
So... What to do? I could erase my save, but that would blank out all of my stats as well, not to mention my ships and bank account. I could go Fed, but those guys are no fun, and the Empire just isn't my style. So, I set about to see if through good works and persistence if I could salvage my rep with the Alliance.
And tonight, after turning in a series of "goodwill" missions, I looked over on the right hand panel to see this:
Took two days to do it, but I was thrilled to see it could be done. And if I got back to "unfriendly" that means I can work my way back up the ladder and get back into their good graces, and maybe, finally my Allied home station will turn green again.
If anybody finds themselves in the same boat, here's what I did:
I have to admit at first I was annoyed that I had to go through all of this, but it was my fault for being careless. But when I turned it into my personal mission to come back from the dark side in the Alliance's eyes, I really started enjoying it. There was something personal at stake in salvaging my reputation with my home port, and how that got even stronger after doing a whole lot of missions for them. It's still not green yet, only "Neutral" on the big faction board, but when I dock it still shows "Allied." That counts for something.
So... TL;DR: it is possible to kiss and make up with a faction after they turn hostile.
I knew that the rep system had some problems and was going to submit a ticket. After all, I'd been doing missions for an Alliance faction, and my rep was dropping through the floor like mad with the master faction. But then I found some posts on what exactly gets you dinged on rep. As it turns out, I've been a bad, bad boy.
In the first place, it turns out smuggling is actually illegal. Smuggling for a faction is one of my favorite ways to make cr. There's always excess cannisters of goods floating around the USS that's worth collecting. But I was having an off night and got nailed twice by scanning cops. (Once after an interdiction. Talk about embarrassing.) But that was okay. The station faction who put me up to the jobs was happy as a clam and my rep shot up to friendly. They got their goods and I paid the fines, which were usually not so bad I still didn't make a profit. So why then after turning "Friendly" with the faction did my rep with the Alliance go "unfriendly"?
Because big Daddy Alioth doesn't like it when the kids break the rules. I was breaking national laws, not just local ones. (Buncha hypocrites. How many times am I gonna have to smuggle for them to rank up, huh?)
Anyway, to compound my error once I saw I was unfriendly, I decided to go kill some pirates to let off some steam. I headed off to an anarchy system and went to pick on one of my favorite punching bags, the Sobek Boys. Cleaned their clocks, racked up a bunch of bounties for Empire and Fed, but curiously, no Alliance bounties. Huh. Look at that. Alliance is now hostile across the board. So I checked the faction list, and it turns out... the Sobek Boys are Alliance.
D'oh.
So that was kind of a bummer. The one faction that I had actually put any kind of work into backing now had me listed as public enemy #1. Any Alliance or Alliance faction ships now shot at me on sight. I couldn't approach any Alliance stations without getting killed, except for orbitals who shook their fists at me. That is, except for the stations where I was already friendly. They only became "unfriendly." But I could dock, and they still gave me missions. At least I still had friends.
So... What to do? I could erase my save, but that would blank out all of my stats as well, not to mention my ships and bank account. I could go Fed, but those guys are no fun, and the Empire just isn't my style. So, I set about to see if through good works and persistence if I could salvage my rep with the Alliance.
And tonight, after turning in a series of "goodwill" missions, I looked over on the right hand panel to see this:
Took two days to do it, but I was thrilled to see it could be done. And if I got back to "unfriendly" that means I can work my way back up the ladder and get back into their good graces, and maybe, finally my Allied home station will turn green again.
If anybody finds themselves in the same boat, here's what I did:
- Worked out of my friendly station and took any mission I could that would not run the risk of breaking the law. No more smuggling! (for now)
- Found a couple of independent stations where Alliance factions were offering jobs and took every one of those that I could. I think this was key. Supporting one Alliance faction certainly helps, but spreading the love around seemed to produce even better results.
- Put an emphasis on charity work. Need food cartridges or personal weapons in your donation plate? I'm your guy.
- Paid attention to the most common charity items they wanted. I made a point of filling up the cargo bay with extras any time I stopped at a station that had either. Whenever I got to home base, I docked, and sure enough another charity mission would pop up and I'd already have the goods. I'd fly off to do another mission, still holding the extras, and when I got back, oh look! They need more non-lethal weapons. Step right up, there's plenty to go around...
- Made damn sure not to fire a shot at any vessel if they were REMOTELY affiliated with the Alliance, even if they attacked me or interdicted me or made fun of my paint job. This was something I was not used to doing. If I saw a bounty on the KWS, it was go time. I learned to be a lot more selective now.
I have to admit at first I was annoyed that I had to go through all of this, but it was my fault for being careless. But when I turned it into my personal mission to come back from the dark side in the Alliance's eyes, I really started enjoying it. There was something personal at stake in salvaging my reputation with my home port, and how that got even stronger after doing a whole lot of missions for them. It's still not green yet, only "Neutral" on the big faction board, but when I dock it still shows "Allied." That counts for something.
So... TL;DR: it is possible to kiss and make up with a faction after they turn hostile.
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