Ok, so I basically feel new to the game again, the first thing I did was install this mod (cause it seem to have most of the popularity) I'm down with rp, and i have read some of the posts about it but i'm generally confused in the fact of people building "clans", specifics on who or how to be come a "pirate" and the taxing behind that.. also the Civilian ID ? was this all in the original game? Pardon my ignorance on the subject but I plain don't remember... Also did this mod increase the AI effectiveness? These guys use nano bots like crazy, took me forever to kill them at the same ranking level (even below that for that matter). Any other big changes that I didn't mention that you might reply with to make my life easier is greatly appreciated.
Someone shed some light on this for me, any help is greatly appreciated
Well I would start by looking through the server rules and then I would look through
the wiki if I were you. If you cant find the answers you are looking for there then ask some more questions and I will answer them or tell you where to find more answers.
To answer a few of your questions, MANY factions have been added that weren't in the single player game, and yes, NPCs are harder to kill than when you played before.
One more answer to your question is, the ID's are new. They replace your tractor beam and act as your tractor beam.
Clans, they are more commonly known here as factions. But for the sake of understanding, I will use the word clan. There are two types, official and unofficial. Official clans are a group of players that represent a npc faction. For example, the LN( ingame name is tagged [LN]) represents the npc faction "Liberty Navy". It is an official clan here on the server that is able to recruit through the forums, and is very well organized(or at least I hope they are). Another perk of being an official clan is that they can purchase their own system in which is for their NPC faction and their clan, in this case is Virginia if im not mistaken. An unofficial clan has the opportunity to become official. The details are located in the
Discovery RP Factions section.
Pirates, there are plenty of different ones. There are Corsairs, Rogues, Outcasts, a bit too many for me to list right here. Some choose not to be affiliated with a certain npc faction, and just gets a Pirate ID, which represents a general pirate. The most common technique to pirating is sitting along a tradelane and shooting it out, and "tax" traders to let them past. The most common tax is 2 million credits, or as most refer to it "2 mil r dai". Of course, you will want to read the rules thoroughly and the ID that you have to make sure you don't do anything sanctionable.
As for the AI, yes, they have been enhanced greatly compared to the "vanilla" freelancer. They are quite challenging and you can learn a good bit of fighting techniques by engaging them.
My recommendation would join a newbie friendly official faction so you can learn the ropes, and once you feel up to it, do your own thing. If thats not for you, there are plenty of ways to make credits in the game, including mining, trading, and misc. jobs provided from players in game.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!