First a little background info on the old the Slavers Union, a faction which I had started almost a year ago. The premises was simple we flew Prison Liners (Closest approximation to a Slave Ship in game) and we would pirate any trader hauling people. It was allot of fun and we had a very unique role in that we were average, extremely flawed humans who choose to sell the flesh of our own kind. Badguys by choice rather then alien diferences in thinking.
It was a nice jaunt into the darker side of Sirius and the number 1 question I have been asked since I have gotten back is, will I be forming the Union again? In terms of establishing a full blown faction, I am afraid the answer is no. I simply cannot dedicate a full commitment to leading a faction. All is not lost however because I have a bit of an offbeat concept...
I am considering re-establishing the Union but it will take a new form. I would like to change the landscape of the server by instituting the SU as the first official role-play group. When you read the Council of Zoners RP thread you are basically reading a thread in which players are actually role-playing the Zoners NPC Faction. I want to shape the new SU into a lose collective of slavers who operate in a similar fashion.
This union exists to provide slavers with a community to interact with and deal with mutual threats accordingly. Members of the faction with be able to work with (Or against) each other in writing the role-play of slavers as well as raiding Traders hauling human goods.
The Slavers Union will be devoid of leadership; well it will not have a command structure anyway. If someone is in charge it is because they role-play a commanding figure who has gained influence over other members either through in game conversation or in character role-play on forums. Nobody in the union needs to take orders from another, but smart members might choose someone to listen to. Back stabbing and Open conflict between members is a critical part of the role-play.
The mechanics a like this, the Union will have a complete open door membership policy. Any player can become a part of the group if they meet a simple set of criteria.
1) The character that they use in game must bear the {SU} tag
2) like in a faction they agree to fly ships from a group ship list (this list will be loose when compared to others)
3) They provide a full biography (250 word min) with their membership request.
The membership request is then reviewed by other members and feedback is provided. You are brought into the Group by one existing member endorsing you.
NPC faction tag and ID is going to be in air until 4.85s release. There is a chance that there might be a Slaver ID, but that is not guaranteed. Until then the Slavers Union will continue to hide behind the Junker ID. With either ID, union ships must fly a Junker NPC tag since it is the closest fitting tag available. (Just like the SCRA must fly a Xeno NPC tag)
Ships are a very free form area; the only restrictions are that the ships must be logical for a pirate to own. (Ie nothing obviously lawful) Rouge pirate ships and the civilian line are strongly encouraged, although other pirate made vessels could be justified. All trade ships are an option as long as they do not use cargo pods. Internal bays only so that the product can breathe! (This pretty much excludes trains or the barge). The largest logical cap for a slaver to fly is Gunship. Anything bigger and you are begging to be hunted by the law.
Members of the role-play group with have their own dedicated forum site where they can submit and see new member applications, discuss barter rates (SU used to trade Cardi for captured pilots), post the biographies of ships and characters and hammer out the details of role-play stories which will be kept on the main discover forum for everyone to read. It will have two groups interested parties who are other players coming to read our discussions, and members who all will be granted moderator privileges.
In the rare event that a member brought into the group is mis-behaving and tarnishing the name of the group, a no confidence vote can be cast. A no confidence vote can only be cast by the player who endorsed the mis-behaving player, or by a group of no fewer than 3 other members. The matter is then put to a vote and the players fate is decided.
What are the thoughts of this so far? There are obviously a bunch of things to be ironed out with this plan but it allows the SU to exist without me getting a second job with running it. The other alternative is someone else making and running it as a faction.
Rather interesting idea. But it will stay dead untill new mod trade system is in place. Since trade roues and drop off points are unknown as it is for now.
More seriously, I never thought either slaves are really part of FL community. As far as I know, they'd probably be raided by pirates in the farer borders of civilisation (Harris and Kurile for instance), and would be sold in pirate asteroid base. what are they used for then? they dont seems to need that much domestic workforce; for one, droids, which seems quite able, can be stolen, programation rewritten and used for same with much less trouble and probably higher efficiency.
Which pretty much reduce the captive to either expendable hostages, sexual toys, maybe experimental lab mices - nothing reasonably needed in large amount to the point of requiring a 2nd party hauler.
While I do like the concept of slaves and slave traders (I actually used to have a story related with outcast slavery, I dont know how an independent network would exist; for one, the pirates themselves would transport them instead of asking help from junkers, and since theres no need to smuggle since slavery is forbidden in all 4 houses, SU isnt exactly required.
But thats merely my personnal view of Freelancer slave concept.
I've got a character in the works that may or may not be able to be in the Slaver's Union, if you do start it up again. I'm currently struggling with the ID choice.
Junker seems like the perfect choice, but I'm gonna take a bit longer to decide.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."