Phantoms exist. I put up with them. I would like to see some kinda opposite of the Phantoms, maybe preachy-priest vigilantes, like Reverend Ray from Call of Juarez (No relation to Del).
I've actually met Phantoms and left peacefully quite a few times. Admittedly that is usually in a Liner or something else with a large hull, and them in a fighter.
PvP "whores"? Can't give them that title, after all, killing transports is hardly a PvP encounter, more a case of target practice (especially with the way transport defences went...). No, they just hate traders (the players, that is).
Personally, I dislike all "imported" factions (including Wilde and CR), as they break away from the "vanilla feel" of Freelancer (something this mod claims to be all about...at least on the "Welcome to Discovery" item...(pah, isn't that a good lie?)).
The real problem with the Phantom mindset is not the "I'ma kill you all" (NB: if you're an "I'ma kill you all" faction, whining that people should stand off and talk to you is...silly...you're out to kill everyone. You really think the law enforcement is going to have a nice chat with you?), it's the "I'ma make it easier for myself" attitude. I once tried to make a "neutral" unlawful (not on either side of the Corsair/Outcast war, not too heavily restricted in ZoI), and found that it doesn't work...so they made a faction just to do that (by the way, might want to tone down the "we love your enemies" aspect to other pirate factions...).
Many unlawful factions even have under the table dealings with lawful factions, which could be compromised by having madmen on their bases, and many would chose to fight those madmen anyways. "Pirate" or "unlawful" does not mean they are depraved, vicious people with no sense of decency, they would be just as revolted by the activities of these beings as the rest of the house populations.
In closing, as terrorists, Phantoms are a good step below "terrifying". Flying up behind a fighter, going "Silent but deadly" then losing the ensuing battle doesn't make the other pilot fear you, but rather see that you are beatable. A wise man once said "a defeated soldier goes to war then tries to win, a victorious soldier wins first, then goes to war." Chose your battles better, know when to hide and when to engage in a descriptive RP with the system (good RP can be scarier than actually killing someone, as the killing fear lasts but seconds, "verbal" fear can last minutes or hours).
it would be cool to see the Phantoms integrated into the Freelancer lore a bit more. ingame rumors and such. i do like the idea of them having a nemesis themselves, though i'd suggest using a pre-existing faction instead of a new one....like the Order, they seem to fit the most to me.
they do seem a bit removed from the game. adding ingame references (perhaps they were the force behind some of these wars going on) and maybe even some hidden bases (dockable capships) would be nice, surely they would need a certain level of logistics instead of flying all the way back to the temple after each raid.
' Wrote:Oracles would be something like Reverend Ray, really. Then again I may be wrong, point is its just another faction. Nothing to be meepy about.
Reverend Ray is more a vigilante, 'Ridding the world from the Devil', 'Performing the work of God' etc. Oracles are more a peaceful preacher, spreading the influence of 'the light', and to some extent worshipping the Nomads, whereas a Ray-style preacher would probably see the Nomads as the Devil's handiwork.
But this is all theoretical. Mayhap we should try and actually do something about it?
if the Phantom Nemesis (sounds like a starwars movie) is a new faction, they could be extremist like you say. the Phantoms are most likely one of those things some believe exist and some don't. which could work against a faction who are striving to rid the Sirius of them. whole governments denying the existance of the phantoms would certainly frown upon a vigilante force operating in their territory further developing their diplomacy
' Wrote:instead of flying all the way back to the temple after each raid.
They don't need that, because they can dock pretty much anywhere. They can even kill individuals of those factions, and still dock on their bases. Pretty neat, huh.
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Mephistoles