<Hand Claps and Whistles>
Bro, it's even WORSE with those folks BECAUSE they can't, don't, or have the desire to fight directly.
Sorry whut?
Game has a couple of aspects - There's the knuckle draggers punching on in the back bar, and there's some folks playing chess upstairs.
PvP has such a tiny effect on the BGS that it's kinda pointless to engage in it, except as skill building.
Alliance CMDRs are everywhere in open.
Currently I am helping liberate a fairly toxic Fed system and it's FULL of hollow squares. I've seen a couple of outsiders, but mostly it's "o7 Comrade" and "Tally Ho".
Your notion that we are not "fighting directly" is horse manure.
You just don't have the wit or resources to figure out what we are up to until we're finished.
Are the Alliance "cowards" because you can't find us to kill?
What's your timezone?
I'm UTC +9:30 - Do I have to get up at 5:30 AM so that we can meet?
Does it have to be shieldless unmodified sidewinders so that it's a contest of equals?
Or do you need me to be in the T-9 and you can have the engineered FDL?
Do you think if you cost me a rebuy or twelve that we would fail to liberate this system?
Your flags will burn on GalNet again!
As for OP:
The Alliance purports to be an alternative to agression and interference from federal and imperial domination, but ultimately, I see no real difference.
The Alliance is an outgrowth of the Federation. Alioth and other systems of the Caker Rebellions were colonised by the Federation, but often governed or occupied by the Empire. The people of Alioth suffered genetic experimention under the Imperials, and exploitation and corruption under the Feds. (source: Alioth tourist beacons).
Your freedom to choose your pledge, and your inability to see difference are your privelige. "Blaze your own trail" means you are shielded from being part of of the political landscape. You will not see difference until you make a choice and stick to it.
It is funded through the same donations and economic structure of excise trade between systems, engaged in the same enfrcement and coercion techniques with assassinations and intelligence missions and ultimately, simply a 3rd party which offers nothing that is not already attributed under to the big two.
Vectron has dealt with this, but worth reiterating that the lack of difference in missions is not due to "The Alliance being the same" it's due to Frontier's insistence that "Choice should not have consequence"
By this I mean that everyone has the opportunity to do the same things, no one misses out on content. So they will not prevent you from being both King and Rear Admiral. Supporting one team does not mean that you miss out on assassination missions.
Therefore, rather than fuelling any alternative or difference from the problems it suggests are apparent under the federation and/or empire, instead, the Alliance is merely adding to the problem by creating a 3rd such mega-power and removing the opportunities and independeance for those who vie to remain outside the machinations of all such
That's a valid point.
But again - it is our privelige as free CMDRs to choose who we support.
Choosing to remain "outside of politics" requires wealth and economic stability, which requires certain types of governance. Which requires engagement with politics. The view that "There is no difference among the political parties" is a privileged view usually favoured by conservatives. Seeing difference and agitating for change is part of the progressive (or even revolutionary) viewpoint.
Outside of PowerPlay, The Alliance governs not even a tenth of the systems that the Imperials and the Feds govern. We are not a "third power on equal footing" we are just the biggest grouping of Independent Systems. We might have grown by 250%, but at the current rate of system flipping, it would take 30 years to catch up to the Federation. Our dominance of PowerPlay and our growth in system governance is due to the organisation and dedication of our CMDRs. And therein lies the real difference.
