After there s been a bit of confusion about the behaviour of headhunters around. i d like to put it to a more reasonable point of view. so i m not referring to any out-of-roleplay stuff. just point out what how i see those two, sometimes confusing IDs.
to start with - there s the generic mercenary:
that ID works for money, basicly any job there is - no matter how dirty, no matter how much against the low. - but do they really do that? it is my believe that the mercenaries life is MUCH MUCH more complicated than that of a bounty hunters guild member. a mercenaries main concern is not money, i d say - but reputation.
money is needed and is part of the currency of a mercenaries life. but so is reputation. not choosing to work under the rules of the guild means not to be an outlaw. yes, they can work for the bad guys, killing the good guys, and yes, they can aswell work for the good guys killing the bad guys, aswell as killing good guys for good guys ( now thats when you really want a merc instead of a bhg ).
but they can only do that so long. all the money they earned won t give them anything when their reputation is hurt beyond a certain limit. a merc without contract means ( in roleplaying terms: no money, no resupply for the ship, many enemies and soon - an aprupt end of the career, most probably in a rescue pod heading into a sun )
changing sides makes you hostile to both sides soon, as being attacked allways weighs more than fulfilling a contract. what can a merc do when all his reputation is ruined? - he can try to start an "honest" life as a trader in anonymity or try to enlist with the BHGs ( but will they take someone with such a bad reputation? )
after all, a merc is free to decide but making money the very center of his thoughts and the indicator for his decissions might be wrong. taking allways the highest offers might be the wrong way. the mercs life is easy when it comes to choosing the equipment one would say. but again, its reputation. if a merc is piloting an outcast destroyer, he is unlikely to get a job from the corsairs, if he uses a titan, he ll be unwelcome at malta. same with any other equipment. - so, a merc must pay a serious thought on what he uses and who he works for - and still has the freedom to decide.
about the BHG...
THEY do not need to care so much for their reputation, - mainly because they have one allready. they have their enemies and their friends. they even have their own equipment, which they can - if needed surely switch with house equipment, cause in the end, they are on friendly terms with all lawfuls. they have proven to work in the very interest of the law and to be efficient when its about fighting pirates and villains.
they might not have the freedom of choice like the mercs have, but they have a reputation that they can allmost not hurt ( that is - as long as they play by the BHG rules of course ) THEY can care for the money in the very first place. - which is easy, cause no lawful would offer them a contract, and if so - no BHG would accept it. ( except for bribes, everyone has his price:D)
the last oddity are the generic military, but we had a thread about them not long ago - so no comment here.
Mercenaries Take ANY contract they wish, whether given by unlawfuls, or lawfuls. They have no ships of their own, so they have to have an RP Explanation for each ship they own. They are cleared to hunt Pirates, and may not OPENLY ally with Unlawfuls.
Bounty Hunters work ONLY for the Lawful/Neutral side. They are permitted to hunt pirates at any given time. They are restricted to BH ships, with some exceptions (Raven's Talon, Ravens Claw?). May not work with/for Unlawfuls.
It allows players to say "I can police all of Sirius in any ship I want! So there!"
No, no you can't. That's horrible.
That's more of the generic Military ID... The existence of which I still don't understand. A Mercenary ID makes sense... What else would a mercenary use?
Speaking of IDs, has anyone seen the new IDs from the beta? I would love some screenshots of exactly what the new Smuggler and Freelancer IDs say. What they allow and don't allow, etc.
' Wrote:Raven's Talon is a Blood Dragon ship, and Raven's Claw is a Junker ship. Both a no-no for BHG.
BHG's ships are good as it is.
Actually, the Talon is an IMG ship that, for whatever reason, is only available on a Zoner base, a Blood Dragon base, and a Phantom base. Er... What? I wish some of these faction ships were actually available on bases of that faction... Like all those Kushan ships that are Zoner-made but only available on a Rhineland battleship, or the Taiidan Bomber which is GMG, but only available on a Corsair base. Meh.
It allows players to say "I can police all of Sirius in any ship I want! So there!"
No, no you can't. That's horrible.
You can fly anyship, BUT you MUST have a good RP explaination for flying it (IE, I cant fly the Hacker Spyglass in Mandalorians cause it dosnt belong to us. Now if we signed a contract with HF (Say, no contracts on them and a fee), then we probably could.
Lets get together, when 4.84 was becoming final. I have the idea to give the factions more specific ships, only sold in their guard systems. For example BSG. Would mean Vipers, Cylon Raider and Battlestars will become available in the BSG faction system, or the Mandalorian Mercs. Maybe they want to fly the Slave 1 as a faction specific ship. Many things needs to be discussed then. Same for ID's.
Oh, and all you mercs that get hired by corsairs, guess what? a bunch of you are KOS with the outcast cause we dont like having to hail you every time we see you and ask, ''are you after us today or not'', and hit enter just to find our shields down. Nuhuh, not happening any more. If you want to talk say so before you get within scanner range.
There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for. -Elizabeth Elliott
I agree entirely with Drake about the ship purchasing points. I bought my Junker TRF at Yaren Base & if a Corsair wanted to buy a Legionaire they would have to goto Trafalgar. I'm sure its all designed this way in the name of game balance, but......
Well then, if the Merc ID isn't a 'fly anywhere in any ship, doing whatever they like', perhaps we should say that Mercs shouldn't start fights unless paid to do so? And what do they need capital ships for?
Will this stop PvP whoring from them? Probably not... they'll just find another loophole.