Raven's Talon Loadout

[Derkylos]

Personally, I like gun/gun/Paralyser/Sidewinder(or Cannonball, I'm not quite sure which to go for here)/gun/gun on my fighters, with all guns being either faction class 9s, or Flashpoints (not as bad as some might say...and the projectile is awesome)...but that's due in part to my inability to hit things with guns.

Note that you will have a hard time soloing a gunboat in a VHF...GBs/GSes are designed to kill fighters, after all.

As for mounting IMG guns, expect Outcasts to take a dim view of a Raven's Talon with Vampires on it...

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[pchwang]

I'm not sure your point, since if all gun infocards do not overtly say only certain factions can use them, that means you really can equip any gun you want.

Fact is, he's making a neutral mercenary with a ship that is open market. Zoner and civilian guns are neutral. IMG guns are not, since the IMG has enemies.

Well, I'm trying to say that you can't compare the infocard material for the Nyx with the material for the IMG guns. Which is what you do here:

The Nyx and others are overtly IMG, as are their weapons, so why would they be free for all to use?

The infocards for the guns follow a strict layout, that for the Nyx does not. Despite the infocard for the guns being "overtly" IMG, there is also no content in there to stop him from using the gun, such as in the Nyx infocard. In fact, that is no gun infocard that has content going beyond what was described in my previous post.

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[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<

Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?

[Orin]

Well that's just the thing. If the argument is that no gun overtly states "only x faction can use this gun", we already know where that goes. Faction built weaponry is and has always been considered faction specific hardware. If you're not of that faction or of a faction allied to that faction, you very well might be in violation of RP rules. In that sense, every single faction built weapon in the game besides Zoner ones might as well say something along the lines of the Nyx infocard. They might not exactly state it, but by usage, they're essentially identical.

Of course, this here is a mercenary. A mercenary can use anything he wants. You can very well fly a Nodachi with Krakens if you want (and I do, though I have pages of RP behind that), but you only should if it fits your RP. If this fellow's mercenary works for the IMG in his RP, then using Vampires fits perfectly, but he hasn't said that. If it's a neutral merc, he should not be using faction weaponry, which is exactly what IMG guns are. Simple as that.

[pchwang]

There is no such thing as a "neutral" mercenary, unless that mercenary takes no jobs whatsoever, or sees little or no action. The minute he takes a job, he's going to be on a blacklist. Do you think Fritz Hessian is going to be forgiving once he finds our friend taking jobs for Juanita Corsair? That is why the Neutral ID(God knows if it exists anymore...) was restricted. There are no neutral characters in discovery. The fact that he wants a neutral mercenary and the fact that he is new shows that he doesn't know what direction to take his character in yet.

Weapons do not define the RP of a character. The mercenary's actions define his alignment. What guns he chooses to use come after events ingame through roleplay. By telling him that he can't take missions against the Kusarianese because he's mounted IMG guns because its not what IMG mercs do, you're not telling him to RP, you're telling him that he can only walk on one side of the road.

The Nyx is completely different. Both Nyx and IMG guns have admin approved infocards, meaning that they are canon. The Nyx's infocard makes it clear that only IMG personnel have access to it:

The design is jealously guarded, lest it fall into the hands of their foes and anyone not of the IMG found to be flying such a vessel is at risk of brutal reprisal at the hands of anyone looking to garner the favor, or credits, of that organization.

On the other hand:

IMG B11e-4 "Vampire 4" Tachyon Cannon

This is a tachyon-based weapon that has the longest range of all energy-based weapons, but requires enormous amounts of power to fire. This weapon is most effective against molecular shields, and weakest against positron shields. IMG weapons are more energy efficient, but sacrifice damage output. This is the best and the newest Tachyon Cannon the IMG has to offer.

Where in that infocard does it include anything about it not being sold or restricted to only people within the ranks of the IMG? Nowhere. It also does not state anywhere that it is freely marketed. But that doesn't mean that we can assume that it isn't marketed.

I'm not saying that we should mount any guns we want, and you, Orin, should know that I would not suggest that. I'm saying that we should not be ridiculously stiff-necked about what guns our characters can or cannot use. If we do that, then our equipment defines our characters, and that should not be the case. We all know very well that when an American soldier picks up an Ak-47, he doesn't become a Russian soldier. Same thing applies in discovery. It's your actions and your character history that define your RP.

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[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<

Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?

[Orin]

Actions do define a character, but there is an extent to which a mercenary can be of a neutral nature. Simply put, he's not going to be taking Outcast bounties with IMG weapons. With Zoner weapons, he very well might be. This sounds clearly like a new character who does not have previously established RP that would dictate him use faction aligned weaponry. Trust me, I know what you're getting at. I have five mercenary characters, and they all have close ties to certain factions. And you know what? One of them started without any ties, and developed them as he went.

But that's the point here, isn't it? You equip what RP dictates. I've said time and time again that equipping IMG weapons is exactly right if that's what RP dictates him do. My point here is that IMG weapons are not neutral. If he equipped Vengeances, he damn well better be tied to Liberty. If he equipped Trefoils, he damn well better be tied to the Mollys. If he equipped Vampires? I think you know what I'm getting at.

I don't see how the gun infocard plays a part here. We know for a fact that guns are limited to faction and allies, and no more. The same goes for ships. There seems to be a notion that IMG hardware is a free-for-all, and that's just not right. The IMG players have been saying this for ages, and are desperately trying to fight past that idea with these new IMG ship infocards. Just because the Kraken doesn't say it's "jealously guarded" doesn't mean our Rheinland Military pilot can equip it. No, so the same goes for a pilot who has no ties to the IMG equipping a Vampire. If he ends up developing those ties, or other ties, as he goes along, then great. That makes for interesting and engaging RP. But until then, faction aligned weaponry doesn't fit the bill for RP.