Generic IDs - Indie Traders/Smugglers

[beander2]

I don't agree with the generic ID's because it removes you from RP alot of the time, sure be an "indie" trader all you like. The Military ID is not used much as their is no Sirus military, the pirate ID is used so someone can buy a BD Gunboat, mount all Dragonfly turrets then go pirate in Liberty and Rhienland etc.

The trader ID is a little more complex in that if you do want to be an indie trader, you should have no IFF at all. If your a trader thats easy to manage, I dont really have anything against the trader ID as much as I do against the other generic's. I think the smuggler ID is just absurd, smugglers should not be carrying an ID that labels them a little bit dodgey, think I'll keep an eye on him next time he's around.

Disagree a bit on the Pirate ID - for the Federalists, it's come in handy as a way to distinguish us from the Mollys, whose tag we have to use. I'm running into a lot of situations where for legitimate RP, I need concessions that people rail against and assume "everyone" abuses. Not everyone does.

I'm good with no tag, but often a tag is obtained to lock oneself into a rep in order to avoid accidentally acquiring another one.

Agreed on the smuggler - that's a bit silly, though I can see the rationale from a game mechanics perspective.

Overall, I'd say our rationale for ID/tag usage should be driven by proper RP and not by potential for abuse. Easier said than done, I know.

In my opinion the problem is not with the ID itself, it is the fact that 95% of the traders in disco are independent, that is not in anyway realistic, I would imagine (in my non-scientific opinion) that the proportion should be much closer to 75%affiliated 25% non-affiliated. As it is now, there is very little rp going on with traders because they are all independent, a huge portion of the factional rp is gone, because so few people want to use trader faction id's.

As far as what "should" be, I don't have a percentage preference as long as the RP's good. Otherwise, I'm in complete agreement here, though I really don't have an expectation for people to use trader faction IDs without being in a trader faction (if one exists, of course).

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Sir Alisdair Buchanan, KBE ~ Gateway)Trafalgar