There was
some recent concern that it might become impossible to claim bonds and win a war against the controlling faction if you were hostile to that faction and couldn't land on a base. The worry may have turned out to have been unwarranted, but this trial shows you don't have to make claims to win.
As one of those people with that concern, I think it's still highly warranted; my original concerns were not related to whether there was any other way to win war or not.. Pre-3.3 when combat bonds were the only thing that counted, Hostile rep was a game-breaking issue in that regard.
Now, when completion of zones, scenarios and missions all count, it's no longer game-breaking, but simply makes no sense at all. Especially note, I have no problems with the inaccessibility of missions if hostile; it
makes sense that you can't base operations out of the holdings of an enemy.
I get the sentiment from Dav in the livestream that Combat Bonds are designed as an "Every player wins a prize" caveat, but the effect of combat bonds being applied by handing them in is entirely the wrong trigger. It's completely irrational that, for two factions in a conflict, if:
- Faction A has a high conflict zone cleared, and has 20 enemy ships killed in the process; competes with
- Faction B has a high conflict zone cleared, and has 20 enemy ships killed in the process, and a mercenary gets paid for it
... that Faction B is the winner, and that it's not a draw. Whether a person redeems their bonds should have no bearing on the outcome of the war; it's of total personal impact only. If any action needs to count in that "Every player wins a prize" outcome, it should be the kill, not whether they receive payment for it. Whether you get paid for an action or not has no bearing on whether that action happened or not, and it's impact on relevant factions.
(Tangentially; My more extreme opinion on this is that redeeming combat bonds should
hurt the faction who you claim it from; likewise if you claim bounties, and that the game should feature a "withdraw claim" option. This would bring it inline with how missions work; Take the full reward for lower influence, or sacrifice a good portion of that reward for higher influence)