Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Figured I'd throw out one more idea.

I would change what is currently called "Race" and instead call it "Nationality" and I would make it changeable. I would also decouple nationality from bloodline. So it would be possible at character creation to make, for example, a Khanid pilot who is a Gallente citizen and got his pilot's license from the Federal Navy Academy.

In addition, I would allow new players to choose to be citizens of the so-called "pirate" factions. As shown in the Eve novel "Burning Life" these other factions have fully formed native populations of their own, with their own cultures and history. I don't see why they couldn't produce capsuleers as well.

And if a player chooses to be a citizen of one of these "pirate" factions then they would not be attacked by NPCs of that faction, but would be susceptible to attack from other factions' citizens (as well as independent pilots) the same as the NPCs of those factions are now.

Furthermore, Empire factions would no longer allow citizens of opposing factions to enter their space without a passport. If a pilot enters opposing faction space without a passport they will be marked as free to kill by anyone (except those with the same citizenship). Even allied factions would still require a passport, but it would be cheap and have a long duration. Passports would be immediately revoked if the pilot's standing drops too far.

Citizenship can be applied for and will be granted if the pilot has sufficient standing with the faction they are applying to. They can hold multiple citizenships if the factions in question are allied with one another. Pilots can also choose to be independent, with no citizenship.

Passports will obviously cost money and will only be valid for a limited time. Cost and duration can be commensurate with the pilot's standing to the faction they are applying to. Sufficiently low standing can result in complete denial of a passport.

As with most of my ideas this proposal is about making Eve feel more like it could be a real place with believable situations, and interactions. It also allows players to side with the pirate factions if they choose. They can become citizens of Sansha's Nation and fight for them in incursions.

If CCP were to go down this route I'd also suggest removing all NPC corps/stations from opposing faction space. No more Amarrian corps operating in Minmatar space, for example.

I'd even go so far as to get rid of CONCORD and instead have the faction navies take over the duties that CONCORD has now. Of course, the faction navies only "protect" their own citizens (and those with valid passports), within their own sovereign space.

And since I'm talking about changes to character creation, I'd also propose that the Ancestry choices be removed. Ancestry has no effect on any game mechanics, and there's no reason to force a player to choose one of only three possibilities. However I would recommend that the background information in the ancestries be saved. I know most of them are already in Evelopedia.

I throw these ideas out there as food for thought and maybe sparking someone's imagination. Maybe a dev will read this and think of something that can actually be implemented. I'm not interested in trying to convince anyone to agree with my ideas. This isn't some official proposal that I need to defend. It's just an idea I thought I'd share. CCP can take it and run with it or not.

The problem is... while you may think it's a good idea, others may not. I certainly do not as I feel it is unnecessarily complicated and restricting compared the current system we have. I do not relish the prospect of being automatically "banned" from one faction's space simply because my character is of another faction and I doubt many other players would either.

Now granted... the current system DOES effectively "ban" players from certain areas of space... but only if they take certain actions to warrant it (e.g. join Faction War, doing too many anti-faction missions, etc). If a player is careful to avoid doing things that will lower their faction standings, they can move to whatever space serves their interest more. And this is FAR more "friendly" of a system.

Now as far as the "officialism" of your idea... you posted it here. That makes it "official" in a sense. It is here for others to see, analyse, and support or reject it. And being someone who has lurked these forums for as long as I have I can say with good certainty that the DEVs want people to flesh out their ideas and give reasons why it will be good or bad. Giving an idea "because it'd be nice" in a universe that affects so many people without any real forethought is only asking for trouble... and you will be mercilessly trolled for it.

Well, I see no problem with throwing ideas out. If others don't like the idea that's not a problem. To be honest I really don't care what other players think. I'm aiming my posts at the CCP devs who read these forums. If my ideas can spark an idea in their heads than great. If my ideas fall flat in their minds, that's fine too. I'm no worse for it either way.

And nationality just means what faction a person is from. It's not restricted to planets. The Gallente Federation is a nation, therefore if you are a citizen of the Gallente Federation then your nationality is Gallente. Simple as that.

You should. Because whether or not CCP likes the idea at all, it is still going to have to run through a gauntlet of player feedback.
And I think CCP would rather not be directly involved in an idea until it has been explored in all its glory and horror. In fact, they prefer to have players dissect and rip apart ideas as it is the players that will be the ones affected and/or abusing it. That's why you never see DEVs post in this section.

Now I ask again: why do you think this would be a good idea over the current system?