After many thrilling adventures last night aboard the ISS Hermaphroditus, I have a few thoughts concerning how factions work, or might work.
I realize that the faction mechanics are probably mostly placeholder, but as they stand, the seem a little odd. Why does fighting off attacking pirates sour my relations with all other pirate fleets? If I want to turn to piracy, do I have to have enough pirate cred?
So I'm suggesting bounties. I'm sure they're something the devs have already considered, but I just wanted to point out how they could be used to elegantly model faction relations and pirate/privateer status.
How it might work:
- Every fleet's (including the player's) status with each faction would either be 'in good standing' or a bounty set by that faction.
- Instead of salvaging credits from enemy ships' computers (btw, does this sound like identity theft to anyone else?) the player would earn any bounties placed on the defeated fleet, redeemable for cash at an appropriate faction's base.
- Attacking a faction's fleet while in good standing would cause them to place a sizable bounty on the attacker, which would then grow slowly as they destroy ships and cause more trouble. There could be plenty of other ways to offend a faction, too. For example, a faction like the Hegemony, considering itself a keeper of the peace, might place bounties on those who attack fleets in good standing with that faction.
- pirates and privateers would be independent, like the player, but would have bounties on them from faction's they've attacked.
- When confronted with a hostile faction's fleet, a player with enough cash (and/or uncollected bounties from said faction) would have the option to buy their way back into good standing.
