Make one friend.
Collect at least three new enemies!
They are:
The 2+ other factions in the system.
Any major powers allied with them.
Example from my local area (names changed to protect the guilty):
The Tinkerbell system is an anarchy, and has two outposts. The far, far out, outpost is 400,000 light-seconds away, and a source of rares. The close-in outpost is owned by Queen Tinkerbell, and has outfitting, gold, and lots of stuff. Tinkerbell is also Fed-friendly. The far outpost is owned by a near piratical corporate group (Nyborg Systems), who are independent. They have the rares.
So, at first you have two choices- access to repairs and outfitting, or access to rares.
There are two other factions in system. One is a cross of Greenpeace and Occupy (GreenWar), and is aligned with the Feds. The other is the Gold Pirates, who are less competent than The Ice Pirates, and are independent. But, they somehow have Anaconda's, Python's, and Fed Dropships to throw at you, if they get mad at you. How Robert Urich gets them is a mystery...
So, if you ally with Tinkerbell, you get rep with the Feds, access to a near-starport, and police craft. Theoretically, GreenWar should leave you alone, since it is Fed-friendly also. Sounds like a deal.
Unfortunately, GreenWar will interdict you as well, because Tinkerbell has a 90%+ controlling faction in the system. GreenWar, of course, wants to knock Tinkerbell down. Blowing up a GreenWar ship annoys the Feds. This, in turn, annoys Tinkerbell, until you do a *lot* of missions/trading for them. which annoys the other factions. Especially the Gold Pirates, and Nyborg.
GreenWar, The Gold Pirates, and Nyborg are also all sniping at each other. Take a job from any of them, or kill any of them, and you will find a SJA Death Ship flight from another faction after you (for doing work for the other guys), or the original faction, for killing one of theirs. The nav beacon, and the resource points are filled with all factions, trying to backstab each other.
Annoy the Feds, and you will have two factions after you. Lots of the scum interdicting you have Alliance and Empire bounties on them, so if you cash those in, the Feds will look at your increased rep with *their* rivals unfavorably.
See why a lot of players with big reps (positive/negative) might just clean save?
Also, the insurance costs are going to be out of control. We just might see a resurgence of small craft (Adder or less), after the clean saves, as players try to remain as neutral as possible. Trading will get lots more dangerous, with commerce raiding by opposing factions. This will not be "piracy", this will be more like unlimited submarine warfare.
It hurts a lot less to lose $8,000 in the cargo hold of an Adder, than to lose millions in the cargo hold of a Lakon.
Scorecards in the online store, anyone? You will need them to keep all the players straight.
Collect at least three new enemies!
They are:
The 2+ other factions in the system.
Any major powers allied with them.
Example from my local area (names changed to protect the guilty):
The Tinkerbell system is an anarchy, and has two outposts. The far, far out, outpost is 400,000 light-seconds away, and a source of rares. The close-in outpost is owned by Queen Tinkerbell, and has outfitting, gold, and lots of stuff. Tinkerbell is also Fed-friendly. The far outpost is owned by a near piratical corporate group (Nyborg Systems), who are independent. They have the rares.
So, at first you have two choices- access to repairs and outfitting, or access to rares.
There are two other factions in system. One is a cross of Greenpeace and Occupy (GreenWar), and is aligned with the Feds. The other is the Gold Pirates, who are less competent than The Ice Pirates, and are independent. But, they somehow have Anaconda's, Python's, and Fed Dropships to throw at you, if they get mad at you. How Robert Urich gets them is a mystery...
So, if you ally with Tinkerbell, you get rep with the Feds, access to a near-starport, and police craft. Theoretically, GreenWar should leave you alone, since it is Fed-friendly also. Sounds like a deal.
Unfortunately, GreenWar will interdict you as well, because Tinkerbell has a 90%+ controlling faction in the system. GreenWar, of course, wants to knock Tinkerbell down. Blowing up a GreenWar ship annoys the Feds. This, in turn, annoys Tinkerbell, until you do a *lot* of missions/trading for them. which annoys the other factions. Especially the Gold Pirates, and Nyborg.
GreenWar, The Gold Pirates, and Nyborg are also all sniping at each other. Take a job from any of them, or kill any of them, and you will find a SJA Death Ship flight from another faction after you (for doing work for the other guys), or the original faction, for killing one of theirs. The nav beacon, and the resource points are filled with all factions, trying to backstab each other.
Annoy the Feds, and you will have two factions after you. Lots of the scum interdicting you have Alliance and Empire bounties on them, so if you cash those in, the Feds will look at your increased rep with *their* rivals unfavorably.
See why a lot of players with big reps (positive/negative) might just clean save?
Also, the insurance costs are going to be out of control. We just might see a resurgence of small craft (Adder or less), after the clean saves, as players try to remain as neutral as possible. Trading will get lots more dangerous, with commerce raiding by opposing factions. This will not be "piracy", this will be more like unlimited submarine warfare.
It hurts a lot less to lose $8,000 in the cargo hold of an Adder, than to lose millions in the cargo hold of a Lakon.
Scorecards in the online store, anyone? You will need them to keep all the players straight.
