Proposal: ID changes for 4.87

[Karst]

Then your proposal is to completely restrict Freelancer and Pirate IDs to civilian technology (IE no fancy ships and weapons)? That would also be a drawback, especially where gunboats are concerned.

No - it's perfectly fine the way it is now. Freelancers don't have access to the largest transports, cruisers, or battleships, and using faction ships and guns means lower power and possibly trouble with the factions that own them.

Side note: Regarding gunboats; I wouldn't have a problem if freelancers/pirates couldn't fly faction gunboats unless they gained inrp permission to use them since it seems very unlikely that they'd be able to acquire them otherwise.
However, this was removed to curb oorp faction leader decisions I believe, which is understandable, and it's problematic anyway since not all factions are officially represented.
Higher nerf on gunboats might be an option, but that would unjustly punish players that roleplayed with the faction that makes them to gain access. I see no simple solution here.

This is leading away fromm the threads topic - but to me "freelancer" is the name of a single player game and for singleplayer the concept of freelancing and total independence works very well. For multiplayer where each of our actions influences the gaminig experiance of others - in order to stop people who only care about their own fun and give a wet towel about other peoples fun IDs and rules are needed.
So far the generic IDs (ok, not the miner one) have the freedom to change their allegiance with a line of text or if neccessary with as little as a /droprep command. This is absolute freedom of where to go and who to work with and whatever.
Furthermore, generic IDs have the nice possibility to mix and match to cater to their playstyle or simply pick between the (most of the)most powerful options, so they are mechanically superior, too.

The special case of the pirate ID is that it is as easily misused for bad player behaviour, this is a rp server and as is every pirate can simply demand 30-50 mil from anyone without fear of going over the top ruleswise and go and shoot everyone up ( or simply do the former /l1 10 sec of waiting /l2 pew pew combo)

Faction IDs simply add atmosphere to the game, help to orient in the player-player interactions without being prohibitive and at least try to curbstomp the worst offenders.

Summed up: generic IDs offer you absolute freedom of choice even within one gaming session, perfect equipment and are easily misused - while having absolutely no drawback at all. This is unfair to all factionized players who use waht they are given to make the best out of it. Less Freelancer and more Factionlancer is needed if you ask me.

Also- i want to emphatize that by no means all generic id players/chars are bad in any way- there are great ones out there, sadly they have to pay for the misbehaviour of others ( as everyone, too)

Some points here: I don't see how you can claim that freelancers have superior technology. That is taken care of by tech nerf - if they mix & match different faction ships and guns, they will suffer the consequences: reduced power, and possible inrp issues with the factions.
They have more choices, of course, but not necessarily better ones.

More factionlancer is fine; but this should be achieved by improving factions, not by limiting freelancers and pirates.
The basic principle of a freelancer being able to choose their allegiance (or lack thereof), area of operation, and general occupation should remain.

About the pirate ID specifically: Yes, there are people that abuse it to lolwutpirate.
But how is this any different from any other unlawful ID?
80% of all lolwut Pirates I see aren't generic Pirates. I daresay generic Pirates are more often non-lolwuts than several unlawful factions, specifically Outcasts and Hessians.

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