the focus of Starsector revolves around ships, exploration, and space warfare
with factions being more of a background, the frame to prop and define the ships
this becomes glaring in the players own faction, you can hardly differentiate if the player is just building a stronghold or actually establishing a faction
i mean there are corporations/guilds lore wise that holds well established planets as well as the independents, and yet the moment the players colonize a singular planet we are treated as equals with the established factions
rather than establishing a faction we are more akin to making a productive hideout, not to mention that there is barely any governance aspect for the player to begin with, having a single planet or owning half the sector make little to no difference
my suggestion is that at the establishment of a colony (Rouge Tier) the player would first have to pick a side / answer to either the Independent or the Pirates
the big factions treatment wont change until we formally establish a faction after a string of requirements are met
(while at this point the player will have a colony hard cap of 3, if you want more then have to progress your rank/recognition)
Ea.
-a chain quest from either the pirates or independents
-the recognition of 2-3 of the big factions (either via favor, bribery, blackmail, or a love letter written at the warhead of nuke)
-having a set amount of pop (10 -15 total)
-set amount of money
now what do you get for all that trouble? (Ruler Teir) now that you are officially playing at the same field as the Major faction you will have access to a higher colony cap, more agents, and more officers as well as an official army and navy
member those ruins? excavating them is the first step, then they can be upgraded either as an academy or a faction workshop, basically exclusive ship/weapon/wings blueprint for the player faction
can go as player faction building upgrades or out right new buildings (red planet eh? how bout blue, black or purple?) ea. black retains heat so it fix the malus from cold planet, blue cause it fixes radiation/toxic in the planet how? just trust the ruins science bruh, purple cloaks the planet, no inspection or pilgrims why? why not
you can also post bounties/quest at which the independent and pirates would react, a formal caravan escort for your traders, raid hitlist for your rivals, pay per kill order in the systems or sector wide, bounty for blueprints, Cinderelas missing shoe, our father that went out for milk
after all that what's next?(Sovereign Tier) to be honest am out of idea for this tier as for me none of the big factions are at this tier, other than the dominion
what you get? maybe a form of fix/forced alliance? they can vote on things but the final say depends on the sovereign should there be one
requirements
alliance count?
market count?
pop count?
special force count?
held system count?
a unification quest either via diplomacy, military suppression etc. basically a victory condition quest
this can also be implemented to starts where you are a part of a faction with some twist like establishing faction ranking which you have to climb all the way to being the ruler of whichever faction you started or joined, either pulling a coup, being the appointed heir, being elected, being the major stake holder, or being the pope or "a living saint"
you can either climb the ranks as either working for the faction or it's rival for a hostile takeover