I tried to pull up a search on the forums but nothing useful popped up quickly. Im guessing it has, but im sorry if this has been asked/answered already.

Would it be possible to have war declarations between guilds? Something where the opposing players are vulnerable in all of space with no pvp penalties for the duration of the war? Wars could be settled with payments, a set number of kills, % of lost cargo, etc.

I don't think this would be a bad idea, but imo some sort of control would be needed so that a said guild could not just be paid to lay of, then declare war again in an instant.
What comes to mind is: either both parties has to approve of a war declaration before an official war can actually start, then all penalties and such are of ( I really like the no penalty idea ), or it would have to be so that a war could only be started against the same guild so and so often, e.g having 2-3 weeks quarantine before a war could be started against the same guild again.
If either of these would be implemented I would say +1.
Badges for this would also be cool, although it seems like new badges is a no, since it has been suggested so many times before.

While the idea is good, you'll never find anybody using it because it creates a huge tactical disadvantage. VO had squabbles, some lasting years, but the lack of real lasting impact on gameplay means that the chat game is at least 50% of any squabble. Nobody would declare was because it would open them up to more vulnerability and more trash talk in chat.

It's the same reason 98% of pirates have good standing. They want the best weapons and ships. Until there is real meaningful reasons to do something beyond "roleplay" people aren't going to handicap themselves.

"Excuse me, Officer. I just wanted to let you know that my gang is at war with that guy's gang, so when I murder him outside the grocery store, you can't arrest me for it, okay?"

-1

lol real pirates are tri-KOS others are just posers.

'tis true...I'm a poser. But I'm a good poser!

The 2%!