(07-04-2018, 09:06 PM)Mr.Fabulous Wrote: Reason why there aren't more OS&C folk is cause they're tired of playing the victim-traders. I honestly wish these big companies developed their own paramilitaries than having to rely mostly on the core police/militaries all the time.
I would argue that's not the case. Not necessarily disagreeing with the concept, but think about it: you generally don't play something like OSC for miliary-esque RP (but I did have this idea of a security wing called Orbital Spar and Bruise, copyright Lythrilux 2018) but rather the tourism aspect of that. The issue is that the OSC ID has no edge over other trade IDs, and in some cases is worse. I really wish something could be done to make the underdog trade IDs (OSC, Synth, Cryer, Kishiro(?), RS etc) more competitive and interesting, however, with the shrinking server pop, I can't help but feel that any measures introduced now may be too little too late.
Regarding the OP: OSC aren't active enemies to Gaians, they're just seen as piracy targets. I'm sure RP could be done on an OSC ID to change that diplomacy.
(07-04-2018, 09:32 PM)Lythrilux Wrote: You generally don't play something like OSC for military-esque RP (but I did have this idea of a security wing called Orbital Spar and Bruise, copyright Lythrilux 2018) but rather the tourism aspect of that.
Not military-esque, but police-esque. Free to hunt down pirates in their ZoI, but not other house militaries/companies unless it's to 'inconvenience' them. Access to gunboats at most, cruisers as SRP and limited to just a few, encouraged to work with police.
It's just sad the meta's geared towards a rock-paper-scissors power structure of police > pirates > traders > profit, instead of a risk-reward system where guns/turrets/equipment use a lot of cargo when equipped but allow ability to defend, so less guns means more profit but easy pickings when caught.
(07-04-2018, 09:32 PM)Lythrilux Wrote: The issue is that the OSC ID has no edge over other trade IDs, and in some cases is worse. I really wish something could be done to make the underdog trade IDs (OSC, Synth, Cryer, Kishiro(?), RS etc) more competitive and interesting, however, with the shrinking server pop, I can't help but feel that any measures introduced now may be too little too late.
Regarding the OP: OSC aren't active enemies to Gaians, they're just seen as piracy targets. I'm sure RP could be done on an OSC ID to change that diplomacy.
If mechanics allowed, there could've been FLHook'd profits where hauling their faction's commodities give a percentage increase of income.
Have Synth Foods ID and IFF (and maybe their signature ships), and be hauling Synth Paste? Sell that stuff at a buying location, and FLHook gives you 30-50% more income. General trade factions won't get as much, maybe like 15% increase, but their range of commodities to trade is a lot more.
Pirates get 10% increase on selling general goods they can't conventionally produce to their homebase, 20% for the special, RP-encouraged commodities (gaians hunting synth paste or gaian wildlife then selling at Islay Base, etc.)
To help balance this out, you can only buy commodities at their selling locations. In-game infocards should also reflect this, where 'Commodities Buying' shows the commodities that'll give the bonus, and 'Commodities Selling' shows what the purchase point is actually selling in the trade window.
Quote:It's just sad the meta's geared towards a rock-paper-scissors power structure of police > pirates > traders > profit,
No it hasn't, it would have if the system connections weren't garbage.
Also, like many people lately, you're approaching the concept of faction creation from the wrong side. The point of having an RP universe is to have creative constraints, in this case you should first think "I want to create an OSC faction" and then figure out the story and implementation details within the constraints of the existing NPC faction. You know, instead of trying to shoehorn your own idea, before thinking if it makes any sense within the current NPC lore and ecosystem.
(07-04-2018, 08:23 PM)A.B. Wrote: That's... actually a funny idea when you think about it. The catch is, Gaians are eco-terrorists that deny any alternation to the local ecosystems, but then they were born as a movement in response to New London and Leeds' pollution and waste.
But then are they not altering the local ecosystems by flying their ships which emit exhaust which causes pollution? Food for thought.
I might be able to shed some light on these questions as former leader of OSC| which closed it's doors some time ago.
The first, Gaians vs OS&C. There is no reference to why this rivalry was established in any of the vanillia or Discovery lore, the basis we worked from was that OS&C would use natural products such as wood, furs, leather and non-synth based foods thus drawing the ire of a conservative group such as the Gaians. Though I suspect it was added simply because every other faction had some form of direct competition/nemesis whereas OS&C had the unprecedented freedom to operate almost anywhere in a neutral capacity.
As for why OSC closed it's doors. Well to put it bluntly, we got bored. I often jokes to the guys how OSC was the "last bastion of the pure RP factions" because that is all we had to offer. We didn't have fights or territories to control, we just floated about talking to people, sometimes giving tours on various areas or getting pirated and occasionally doing some smuggling with the Corsairs.
For the first year and a half it was going great, plenty of trouble and fun within the various houses (my hat's off to Xoria for reworking the passenger routes, I can only imagine the suffering my ideas brought) then gradually the atmosphere on the server began to decline, people only wanted to fight or make money and soon enough our flying sessions became quieter and quieter. The death knell came when our last session was an hour flying around the sector in complete silence during what was peak times. We went from a constant 6 - 8 people flying about and having fun to 3 in total silence.
As for trying to make nice with the Gaians, don't. Being neutral/friendly to everyone is boring as watching paint dry, instead reinforce that rivalry and engage in some gloriously underhanded stuff. One of our favourites was to use the passengers as living shields against attack and play the victim when reporting it, OSC's greatest weapons are its reputation and its sector spanning coverage, use them.
Thank yee for thy insight, I can tell I'll need to watch out for said pitfalls if I'm to make my plan successful.
Well, the thing about my plan is... my 'make nice with the Gaians' isn't without reason. I'm also going to incorporate the Farmers' Alliance and the LWB/bundschuh into the plan, but ultimately 'tis gonna be pretty ambitious.
Allies will be formed, enemies will be made, and my company will be forced not only to further eco-tourism, but might have to be forced to defend its values and goals.
If everything goes according to plan, at best the sirius tourism market won't be the same again, and we'll have another faction to rival that of entire houses!