One can easily roleplay while completely abiding by the lore that has already been written for Freelancer. Roleplaying doesn't mean that you're playing a 13-year-old catgirl admiral; it means that you're assuming the role of your character, and taking into account their desires and personality. You're thinking through how they would personally act in a particular situation. I feel like most faction roleplay takes the individual into account far less often than, say, roleplaying a freelancer or a pirate, but it's still there. Even on the most basic level, one character is still going to have different opinions on how a faction should be run from another one.
I personally do come from a background of tabletop roleplaying and other mediums that were heavy on character interaction, which Disco is, admittedly, less focused on than any other roleplaying environment that I've been in. I do feel like it's still roleplaying, no matter what way you look at it. I suppose the difference would be between whether the way you steer your faction is based on your character's thoughts or your own.
So, when you're leading a faction, do you think about how your character wants the faction to develop, or are your motivations based on the metagame and your own personal thoughts and feelings? The way you seem to describe "loreplay" describes the latter; portraying a faction in the way that you personally feel like it should be portrayed. I myself dislike playing in that way, but I'm not about to tell someone that they can't. It's just that I feel like it's a much more fulfilling experience when your character's feelings are taken into account over your own.
![[Image: VuqlNAR.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/VuqlNAR.gif)