Going to mention them all, so need a second post as well...
I went with IC in Liberty. There are just too many of those trader factions to choose from. Other Lib based factions can have pretty interesting RP if they choose so.
Planetform is one of the most boring ones. Nobody really cares about them. The only ones who are even remotely interested about them are Gaians.
Kusari: Hogosha. Just plain unappealing. I really don't know why.
EDIT: Take a look at the part 2 having Rheinland and others
http://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23596
I really thing that all the factions in Freelancer are well balanced. Only lack of players makes some of them less appealing while some are overflooded.
That was actually pretty tough to choose. Except IC. They don't really seem too fun in the context of the game to me. They seem like they should just be doing paperwork.
hm - i don t think all factions are equally attracive. - some are meant to be "part" of sirius, - but do not offer the same to a player that other factions offer.
for example, the corsairs offer the classic pirate stereotype - carebean style sort of. then we have the hessians. - they are supposed to be the 3rd largest pirate organization.... but they offer a lot less to a player. - mostly due to the absence of a pirate archetype. - same thing with the bundschuh... a late medieval farmers movement in germany. - its not really something you can roleplay as easily as the corsairs. - yet its an interesting faction to deal with - just not as funny to play as the more obvious factions.
another non RPish reason for a faction is the attractiveness of ships. - if one faction has a boring RP background, but offers superior shipdesign and stats, - it will become popular, while another faction might offer a vast amount of roleplay - but bad ships... henceforth they won t be popular.
I agree with Jinx here.
But even some of the least interesting factions do give you something to play with. The potential is there, but it's harder to dig it up.
Planetform, while maybe looking "lame" could be very interesting if the gaian would attack it:). And also considering the fact that the planet is in a warzone:)
Synth, Hogosha, Planetform.
Kishiro, Bowex and Cryer were the ones I selected. As for Interspace Commerce, in my view they have one of the most interesting roleplays available, particularly given their seedy dealings with many different criminal organisations. But they don't have any of their own ships/weapons etc.
DSE, Hogosha, and either Gateway or Bowex. I went with Gateway.
Universal is FTW, they support the Xenos.