Pirren got the idea. Basically, you cannot be both a respected freighter/trader AND notorius pirate at same time.

I really like the idea that pirates can use a "False Flag", hiding their true identity within limits.

From gameplay, it means that you cannot purchase the TOP ships and weapons from UIT and Corvus at same time. As of now, you can fly them all, if you stockpiled ships. I just did that with X1s and SCPs, easy task. And that you cannot have protection in both Corvus and UIT at same time.

@Phaserlight
I think that only 1 PoS should be possible at any time. No one can be a Pillar for 2 Societies at once, or 2+ factions. But that is another topic...

Plz elaborate on advantages of being Serco/Itani? My first tought is that it is compensated by being hated by your enemy.
Maybe we should setup a CAP only for Corvus? Like Corvus +800 results in (U,S,I)<=+599 ?

Harsh, but seems logical. RP-wise, notorious pirates are a danger for any nation. Gameplay-wise, to reach Corvus TOP stuff you must lose standing with all 3 nations...

The advantage to Serco and Itani players would be one could up his or her Corvus standing without tanking one's standing with his or her home nation. This would probably have a greater effect on newer players than those who have had a while (read: years) to adjust. I think the rules could be similar to what Alloh suggests, but harsher maybe?:

Itani + Corvus < 177

AND

Serco + Corvus < 177

AND

UIT + Corvus < 177

I haven't had enough experience with the current system to know how shifts in balance between exclusive factions work, but in order to prevent players from inadvertently tanking national standing it may be a good idea to set a hard limit on Corvus standing rather than allow Corvus standing to increase at the expense of the other factions.

(note: I'm basing the above numbers on the wiki, which states one must have 777 (?) faction to get the Hound. I set them such that the requisite faction for the Hound would require Tri-nation hated standing; the exact number may be adjusted as necessary)

If UIT is to be exclusive with Corvus, this would provide a significant advantage to being either Serco or Itani.

So what? What we need is for UIT to be balanced by being able to hold higher mutual faction with Serco and Itani. Not high enough to obtain unique military hardware from both sides, but higher than a Serco or an Itani could simultaneously hold.

Also, if we're going to make Corvus goodies contingent on Tri-Nation POS, Corvus goodies better be in for one HELL of a buff. Because of lower-than-intended turbo thrust, shitty armor and astronomical repair costs, few people actually use the Hound to pirate now anyway. Which is a shame, because it otherwise functions as intended.

I'd like to see more Corvus goodies, not necessarily in the form of equipment, but in opportunities and privileges as well. I'm not sure what the devs have planned for Corvus, however I've always pictured them as the hardest faction to break into but having the coolest stuff once you got there. I.e. "here's a black market Reaktor (Corvus spelling), use at own risk" or "we've hacked into <x> corporation's databank and are about to steal some files, we need you to go there and cover our tracks" type missions.

There was an old cracked asteroid in the alpha verse which had a hidden station inside it that didn't show up on radar. However, once you got there, you had access to items sold on the black market. I'd like to see Corvus become the spiritual successor to that old asteroid.

I'd like to see Corvus become the spiritual successor to that old asteroid.

So say we all, Phaser.

I'd like to see Corvus become the spiritual successor to that old asteroid.
+1

Alloh, being friends with notorious pirates (actually, generic evildoers, not just pirates) is not quite the same as being one yourself. Yes, it means you are shady and should not be trusted at all. But there is a difference.

</nitpicking>

I think tri-hate is a little extreme, unless player-to-player ship selling is implemented, or at least black market availability of most ships (perhaps omit the x1 and skyprom, but there should be routes to obtain the other varients - and correspondingly, there should be ways for legit people to obtain "confiscated" hounds and such. Of course all of those should be somewhat restricted - mission requirements, high price tags, limited quantities, etc.).

But as it is now? No. A simple uit/corvus relationship is good enough - as traders, the UIT are going to be more anti-corvus than the other two nations. Though, as military nations, perhaps the other two should react more violently to actual pirate attacks (e.g. more strike force), while being less hostile to them overall (no mutual exclusivity).

Ah yes, the old sector 10 roid. I'd definitely like to see that implemented sometime in the future. Took me a while to memorize where that L-shaped crack was.

Honestly, I don't see any particular need to make Corvus mutually exclusive with Itani and Serco in addition to UIT for the sake of 'fairness'. Speaking as a UIT player, I think that choosing to play as the faction which remains neutral in the central driving conflict of the backstory ought to have some disadvantages. Presently, there really are none, and UIT is the most widely-played faction by a wide margin. I don't see keeping to only UIT mutually-exclusive with Corvus as unfair so much as I consider it an incentive to play Itani or Serco in the first place.

Besides which, Itani and Serco space and interests are far removed from Corvus. Despite being arguably more inclined to take overt military action against piracy, I would imagine that they are much more concerned with fighting each-other.

It's not immediately obvious, but there are disadvantages to being UIT. Because UIT has non-UIT stations in its space, it's much easier to infiltrate by pirates, and newbie UIT members often face more assaults than their serco/itani counterparts. I don't disagree that Corvus should have some sort of offset from major factions, but UIT does have some drawbacks.

I'm not 100% certain, but nonetheless reasonably confident, that the issue with UIT KOS players setting up shop on corporate-owned stations within UIT space will be dealt with as part of the faction redux. I do not and will not enumerate it among the drawbacks of playing UIT unless the devs classify it as a feature, rather than an exploit.

It's an intended feature, as the Devs have already chosen to remove the ability to dock with subfaction stations in UIT capitals when one is UIT KOS. They quite properly left the others the way they were.

I don't know about the devs, but I certainly classify it as a feature. The UIT is supposed to be a more dangerous area than the other two nations, what with the weak government, strong competition between corporations, and loose morals. I don't see any reason at all why a minor faction wouldn't harbor criminals, so long as those criminals did not act against the minor faction itself. The UIT government is too small to do anything about it.

It should perhaps not be as easy as it is now (which I agree the faction redux is probably going to amend, e.g. the mutual exclusivity between Axia and Valent reducing the number of minor-faction allies we can have), but it definitely shouldn't go away.