doesnt seem quite fair...

[Jinx]

so - a faction that is neutral ( or in that case hasn t got any dealings with another faction, like BHG to junkers ) but does appear red would stilll show certain troubles in the past. not in between the factions as large - but rather a personal thing. the factions remain neutral allright, but that particular BHG or junker might have had too many battles with the other side and thus appear hostile. ( nothing wrong with that at this point, roleplaywise )

another aspect is. is it roleplaywise to actually go for each other in the first place? - BHG is a highly organized group, not a bunch of troubleseekers. they don t act cause they "hate" another faction, but cause they get payed for it. they are a lawful group - but enforce the law on a rather - lets say.. doubious way, unlike police LPI liberty for example, which is a private organizsation, but not after profit.
would a BHG attack a junker just cause its there? - why should he - no money involved, unless there s a bounty on that particular junkers head. i d consider is highly UNPROFESSIONAL.

junkers on the other hand seek riches where others don t expect them, - namely in junkfields. the point of that is. they seek loot with little to no resistance. ( junk can hardly fight back ) - they might be unlawful, but they are no murderers. its the same distiction like a criminal that would take a hostage and kill for gain and one that is a thief but tries to avoid a confrontation with the authority AT ALL COST.
so - would a junker lurk at a jump hole / dock to ambush and ask for tax? - i don t think so, their best weapon is their tractor beam along with good sensorts and eyesight to spot valuable stuff thats laying around. ( transports are rarely laying around - unless they are abandoned )

thats my interpretation why those 2 factions are not hostile towards each other by default. now back to the topic of someone of a neutral faction ( or rather ignored faction ) being red. well - it might be a bit like homeless ppl ( junkers - sorry for that comparission ) and police ( BHG ). the junkers might remain rather "invisible" to an organisation like BHG - untill - well they proved to be a threat - which is .. killed one of them too much.
so in my opinion - it does make a roleplaying sense to go by the con colour, (too). regard the initial ID carried in the first place as a marking stone - but also keep the con faction in mind.

example:
me being a zoner - we do not have any enemies. so what do i expect when i move into a major pirates home system? - basicly - i expect them to : a.) tell me to remove my ass out of their home system - just like the zoner guards would prolly tell THEM to do when they entered omicron 54... or b.) to charge a heavy fee for travelling through their system..... or c.) to tell me they would attack if i denied a or b. thats sort of what neutral means to me - i m not attacked on sight - but it doesn t make me invulnerable. now if i appear RED to them - i CAN expect them to attack on sight! - cause it means - i gave a damn about the faction in my past ( i m red to outcasts ) and took down a few too many of them or their allies.

i m not really what you d call neutral anymore - uh?

does the same work for corsairs, too? - no
zoners are neutral to corsairs as they are to outcasts - but the basis is different - roleplaywise. while the zoners just don t have much contact to outcasts, they basicly ignore each other. ( outcasts focus rather on corsairs than on those nasty zoners that run freeports ) corairs happen not to ignore zoners though. it is said they the zoners are tolerated there not cause the corsairs love them so much - but cause they fear retrubution. the zoners are a passive - but not to be underestimated faction. hard to believe they would actually team up. but they provide the omicron systems with valuable stuff, too and offer a place to dock to everyone.
to cut it short - when i move through corsair space - i would not expect them to charge a tax or leave their system, cause the corsairs are a lot closer to zoners - still neutral. they sit around even on freeport 15 in omicron 54 - and their allies are the zoners allies, too ( the order ). zoners NPCs move freely amoung corsair NPCs ( they don t in omicron alpha in outcast space )

result:
its roleplay - and not "only" con colour and ID tag. i suggest to read up the faction you re trying to imipersonate at that moment and at least make up your mind whats the basic idea behind the faction. (liberty rogues, rather the mindless criminal//lane hackers, high tech freaks with a habit of taking down TRANSPORTS but not cap ships or fighters//Gaians, political terrorists that use crime rather to finance their attitude//bundschuh, political terrorists that would hardly go against anyone else but rheinland - etc etc etc)

ps.: sorry thats been a long post - lol

pps.: original post was about unfairness of that battle. killing NPCs to loot up batteries and bots. if those NPCs are kill on sight for the one killing - no problem. regard them just the same like a player ship; doesn t matter to me what purpose they are put to ( that is letting the fighter loot ) - what i find doubtful is - to run a battleship to assist one fighter. - who in their right mind would do that - considering it would costs a fortune to do that. ( roleplaywise ) - only if the battleship "happens" to go that way anyway and just ... stumbled into a scene where an ally was fighting an enemy.

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