EVE General Discussion

The one thing I feel that Eve has always been missing is a robust NPC faction system. Frankly, this isn't a big problem for the game, because not many MMOs focus on this aspect of PVE. The last MMO I played that had a compelling NPC faction system was Everquest. The system there encompassed how the NPC faction would view you, and you could raise or lower any single faction in the game thru different actions. In a purely PVE server, the system was less noticeable aside from where you were kos or not by the NPCs in a particular area. However, on the original PVP server Rallos Zek, this added a huge gameplay element. This element of faction standing mattered in PVP because EQ added the extra element of how NPC factions would react if YOU (your in-game character) were attacked by another player by the NPCs aggro'ing on the offending player. For instance, a player that was viewed "dubiously" (one step above kill on sight) would not be attacked by the NPC faction unless attacked first, however they would not come to your aid either, due to your poor standing. Compare that to a player who was viewed "kindly" (the best rating you could get) when attacked, the NPCS would come to your aid.

I believe that EVE has generally duplicated the first part, while forgetting/ignoring the second part. My idea is for EVE to adopt a faction system in which a player can align themselves to specific NPC factions in such a way that they are considered a "member" of a particular faction by the NPCs of said faction. This is achievable by adding a "protect"/"ignore" feature, similar to CONCORD within all NPC controlled zones. If, for instance, I obtain a positive standing with the Angel faction, all Angel faction NPCS should not auto aggro me (unless I fire first on them, or another Angel aligned player), and if I obtain a 5+ or 7+ or 10 standing (whatever is balanced) they should come to my aid, if nearby. As an example, I have a standing of 10 with the Angel faction, I'm parked in an Angel rat camp, and they will not attack me and view me "kindly" as my historical actions have proven that I am their friend and ally. In comes unsuspecting rat farmer who plans to attack my NPC allies, so I attack, and on his return fire, the Angel NPCs move to defend me. In such a situation, this "defend" action should remain a kos flag on the player for the angel faction for a period of time, similar to empire space "kos" flags.

The second way this NPC faction alignment system is implemented would be thru the Factional Warfare system. Just add additional Militias for NPC factions that don't have them yet. You should be able to join any pirate faction's Militia, or any secondary empire factions (i.e.: Thukker, Khanid, Ammatar, etc) with similar faction standing adjustments based on the faction's likes and dislikes. Obviously, if you choose to align yourself with the Angel Cartel, you would be KOS to everyone in empire, but aligned neutrally to all other pirate factions. An important feature would be, that to join any particular faction’s Militia, you would need to have a positive standing with them (even a +.01 would be enough, although perhaps a higher or lower requirement for entry would be “balanced” when considering different NPC factions), and upon joining the Militia you would have immediate faction adjustments (as you do now) which can be changed and repaired normally at a later date, if one chose to quit the militia.

Here is a detailed example of how joining a non-empire faction militia, the Thukker Tribe, would affect your standings:
-The Thukker tribe is viewed good by Thukker and Minmatar Republic.
-It is viewed neutrally by CONCORD, The Interbus, Sister Servants of EVE, The Syndicate, Angels, and Serpentis.
-It is viewed bad to terrible by all other factions.
So, in joining the Thukker Tribe militia, one would be protected and allied with Thukker and Matar NPCs and players; treated as you would be normally (outside of Milita affairs) by CONCORD, The Interbus, Sister Servants of EVE, The Syndicate, Angels, and Serpentis; and KOS to all other factions NPCs and players. As I mentioned earlier, the system could be either a simple positive standing requirement to join, or have a more varied requirement for entry by requiring a higher or lower standing before they will kos or defend you, based on the nature of the faction (i.e.: Empire factions will protect you for a larger faction gap, while pirate factions might always kos, you unless your standing is very high with them).

Essentially, the concept I’m attempting to put forth is one where faction standings matter in the larger sense of pve and pvp within NPC controlled systems. It would allow for RP possibilities, and would allow for rewards, in regards to play style, when focusing on a particular faction standing. It would also widen the scope of “empire/soft pvp” and not affect player alliance pvp too much. The only major change is that it might open a few currently hard to access NPC controlled areas (like Curse or Syndicate) to a few more players (which I see as a good thing).

TL;DR
1: Allow faction standings to be meaningful; meaning if you have high standing with a faction, they will not only not kos you, but will also defend you if your faction standing is high enough. (Angel NPCs rats will not kos you, and will defend you if pvp erupts nearby; if your factions standing is high enough).
2: Allow a person to join any faction's militia (including pirates and secondary empire factions like ammatar and thukker) and be opposed and aligned to the different militias based on the individual faction's likes and dislikes.

Let me know your thoughts.

tl;dr but i have always said we should be allowed to join sansha angel guristas etc. and be allowed to play against the players

Anyone else care to share their thoughts?

This is a pretty cool idea as it assists the game's overall immersion factor in reducing the static nature of NPCs a great deal. I definitely would like to see this idea or something similar making it into the game.