With Regards to the IMG Gunboat

[Jinx]

well, the albatros ID card states that its actually really a deep space exploration vessel. its defensive power and offensive capabilities are just there to fend off aggressive contacts far from any resupply base. - it also states that its rare in the ID card, as far as i remember.

but yes, no matter what.... its one of the 3 only battlecruisers, which makes it at least the 3rd most powerful cruiser in the game ( when we think of battlecruisers to be essentially cruisers )

the gunboat however - i m often surprised how many factions claim to have a right to fly it. some of them "exploit" the fact that its a rather neutral gunboat - cause the players do not wish to take a side by choosing a rogue gunboat for example. ( a generic pirate would rather use a rogue gunboat, i think )

for all - we gotto keep in mind that the IMG is just that ... the independent miners guild. - that implies two things. - they are miners ( workers ) and they are a guild ( that means, a rather tightly knit community - unlike the zoners, that are ... NOT a guild, but only a group of people that are defined as zoners... the definition of the zoners comes form other people. - the definition of the IMG comes from themselves )

it would be easy and plausible if the IMG cut any foreign sales of their gear, cause - unlike the zoners.... they are primarily miners, meaning they make their primary profit by mining, not by selling equipment and trading commodities. - zoners are different, - zoners trade, but they do not really produce commodities. they build ships - and make a profit with them... but zoners also don t sell their ships to anyone. - they sell the kushan ships ( zoner developements ) they ( will ) sell the zoner gunboat freely, but anything bigger ( destroyer or juggernaut ) is zoner only. - the juggernaut is not even given to their closest allies - so zoners don t make money with "everything", too.

now a problem with IMG gear is that there is no IMG faction - just like the BHG. no faction that claims to be THE faction. - that is a blessing as well as a curse. it allows much more freedom and a lot more roleplay opportunities than in factions that claim to be THE faction. - but it also allows more exploits and free interpretation.

a little rule would be to look for at least the most present playerfaciton - in case of the IMG, that might be the =CR= and ask them. that is not a registration or anything, its simply communication - and a good backup for any player that wishes to fly a ship that does not scream his faction ID. - in the case of a generic faction, that is quite important - as a generic faction does not tell anything about what the buyer is going to do with the ship.
just yesterday i saw a BHG bomber for example. - it was piloted by a mercenary who admitted that he HATES BHGs... - funny thing he is flying one of their ships then. - the rules say he can, but the RP is at the very least questionable. - so i think its hard to make a general rule about who can and who cannot use IMG gear. - it can be decided from case to case... unless you re an ally of the IMG or IMG IDed.

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Shipdesigns made for DiscoveryGC