Or just creat an equivilate that the UIT can get for say… Doing some trade missions or some other UIT oriented task.

If UIT get Neut III, then Serco & Itani should be able to get Maurauders, Warthog TD, and any other UIT advantage. And it should be just as hard for the UIT to get Neut IIIs as it is for the Serco and Itani. After all, even an Itani with 800 Serco faction cannot buy a Neut III from them. To give UIT this ability is unfair.

Here is a way to make it hard for UIT to get Neut III: The UIT has to send CTC convoys from Dau to Jallik or Pyronis, pick up Neutron IIIs, and bring them back to Dau. If successfull, they get Neut III. But if Serco/Itani blow up enough of these convoys, they don't.

The logic? I am assuming the current CTC is a 'raw material' shipment from grayspace to Itani/Serco nationspace. I assume the 'factories' that build Neutron IIIs are only in Itani/Serco nationspace. Thus the determination for UIT getting Neturon III can also be decided by warfare, just as it is for Serco and Itani.

Serco and Itani can get UIT Marauders and Warthog TDs correct? As far as I know the UIT has no other special(s). There are corporate specials however, and they are available to anyone with sufficient standing, including 4 marauder variants all of which can be aquired (correct me if I am wrong) even if you are hated by the UIT.

I dont know doubled, but listening to all the people complaining about the 'advantages of UIT', I just assume there is some wonderful thing UIT has that the others dont.

Well the women of the UIT don't have beards like the Serco and the men of the UIT don't have to be celibate like the monks of the Itani.

Thus follows our superior breeding rate which is why we have the most players.

:)

N3's are why I usually PvP in a HogTD with a N2 (to keep engaged at a little distance) and a Locust Swarm to hit hard once closed. Against a Valk with N3s it can be hard to even get the sites on their ship once they close the distance.

If people want to have the sides with truely different weapons and ships, well then, so be it. Would be kinda cool really. Hell, UIT could hire on guards from factions they have good standing with. But going with that ideal.. um.. why are there Serco doing CtC in Valks? Seems kind of odd to me... As long as ships and all other equipment unique to factions can be had with an easy if tedious faction grind there is no reason to make the N3 special.

Why not simply make CtC the best way to earn or loose faction points, hell, make it near impossible for a UIT to get high enough faction with a side to get the N3 without doing CtC. Frankly, the Itani outfitting a UIT merc working for them with their best guns makes a heck of a lot more sense than them providing their best ships to members of their sworn enemies, particularly when those ships have been sited intercepting their own critical war supplies.

I also like the suggestions above to continue developing more weapons of interest. However, something good will probably need to be put up as a prize for CtC, and the CtC faction standing thing is really something that should be fixed for lots of reasons.

And a final suggestion. I think UIT should be able to play the queer. What do I mean you say (Yeah yeah, I hear the heckles "You're all queers" from the back row, hush now), I mean I want to take a contract to fly the cargo to its original destination. That should help cut down on destroying your own transport and take the cargo home yourself.

the N3 wouldnt be so much of a problem if it was rare, but with players able to buy as many as they want when their side wins the CtC it means that if you are facing even a moderately skilled itani or serco you will be facing N3's. I do think they should be prizes rather than being able to be bought. Why should a trader who hasnt participated in any CtC be able to buy a N3?

I reckon there should be 20 N3's up for grabs every CtC round, going to the top 20 players of the winning side.

Or put a cap on the number of neut 3's a player on the winning side can buy each week, that would make the weapon more valueable and would limit the number of them sitting around. However, at this point the damage really has already been done (for ex: i have about 300 neut 3s stockpiled myself :P) so limiting them NOW would be pretty pointless.

This is why i suggest (like i have before) that bots start dropping equipment: equipment that is just as good or better than the stuff thats already out there (aka progressing with the equipment) . A single player could kill a certain amount of bots (say tycorps for example) to get a difficult "Tycorp boss" bot to spawn. Killing the "boss" would be hard, but it would drop maybe a weapon/engine that would be worth the effort (aka: as good or better than whats out in the stations) . Much more difficult sets of bots could be taken on by groups of players. (see my posts on raids)
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/8065#94139

Why would this be good for not only the disadvantaged UIT members but also for the members of Scerco and Itani nations as well?

Implementing "raids" would not only encourage group combat, make things like botting a whole lot more interesting, give out great rewards in equipment worth the time of the player, but most importantly (for this thread anyway) leave it up to the INDIVIDUAL player to decide what special equipment that he/she wants to aim at getting instead of being shut out of the best equipment becuase he/she lost the CTC for the week or cant get them period because of being part of a certain nation.

Well let me know what you guys think... havent really been getting a whole lot of response here.

Way to go. You held onto your patience for a whole hour before bumping your incredibly original idea. Has to be some sort of record.

Yeah something to livin botting up.... (it can be done Genka!)

Here's a suggestion for the N3 problem with a little RPG thrown in to back it up.

The basic issue is that Grey space independents supply this material solely for the purposes of the Itani/Serco war. It should never be a problem if the Itani/Serco would keep the N3's in their territories fighting this war. But, that hasn't happened. Now, the UIT has raised a valid political arguement that certain Itani/Serco members are targeting UIT ships who have no weapons to match the N3. Some of those attacks are by pirates, and some are perfectly valid (UIT meddlers), but how do we defend against the N3 and preserve our trade/mining routes. We cannot (and should not) get access to the N3 for several reasons. UIT stations are not equipped to manufacture these weapons, as they are not involved in the war directly. Also, Itani/Serco stations opt not to sell to UIT faction members for the same reason. If a UIT governing council were to convene to discuss this issue, they might suggest that we band together to research and construct a weapon of our own which is at least comparable to the N3. This would involve a lengthy "faction mission" which would have several aspects. Stations in Grey space would see a possible profit in this and set up a research program. The first task would be to acquire all the necessary raw materials and research materials (computers, chemicals, other technology etc.). This would involve a LOT of directed trade from UIT space to the participating stations (the devs may have to come up with another type of commodity to trade such as research materials or just use existing trade materials). Everyone willing to in the faction could participate in making these deliveries, with progress measured by number of units needed (a large number since our faction is large) of each commodity. After the research is complete, raw materials (like the Xithricite used in the N3's) would have to be either delivered to the stations, or mined (rare minerals?). Depending on how many partipate, this could take days or weeks to complete. Once research is completed, then UIT stations would need to be delivered materials in order to construct this new weapon.
If the UIT council (game developers :) ) implement this faction mission, then the UIT would have to secure our trade routes, because judging from the tone on this board, the Itani/Serco won't want the UIT to get this technology. They could attack the supply lines to the Gray space stations, or attack the miners making deliveries of weapons ore to these stations. If they are dedicated, then the progress bar wont move as fast (or at all), but if the UIT really want to build a weapon to combat the N3 threat, then we'll take it upon ourselves to do it and make sure the Itani/Serco have no chance to stop us.

This would work for all sides. We won't be "given" anything, we'll have to earn our weapon, but when we do, the battlefield will be leveled.

What's that sound like?

Sounds very reasonable, especially as I would love to see evolving political thinking like that applied to the game.

I would also like to see Neut III allotment
confined to those who partook in the CTC. With the actual number per person based on the amount of cargo they returned. This would confine stockpiling to those who took a huge interest in the CTC. And even they probably couldn't get more than about 15. Maybe you get 1 neut III for every 2 units you return.

Anevitt: I like your idea myself, although I think they need to seriously work on bot AI and group combat first. Frankly, there should be some percentage chance that a weapon or engine from a killed player will be salvagable too. (I've advocated a possiblity for a ship to be hulled and dead, but not destroyed so you can salvage it.)

As for the pre-stockpiling of N3s, Perhaps it's time to make them a general weapon and make a new cool weapon for the CtCers, using an allotment system along the lines of what Shapenaji suggested. Perhaps even a selection of enhanced weapons with that allotment policy. And I'd allow your allotment to build, so that participation during a loosing week still benifitted you later.

what?????

"UIT will just need to work their Standing Serco and Itani and won't need to do the CtC and they will have access to Neutron mk III."

i kinda agree with what ur sayin nya13 but i dont think the quote above is true....I mean isnt that the whole point of this thread that the UIT cant get neu3's period???

anyway, i still stand by my previous posts.....

If Serco and Itani standing balance each other, UITs can buy N3s only at one place and have to make sure that party wins the CTC.

Do not stereotype me Nya. My nation is UIT, if you read the history books (http://www.vendetta-online.com/h/universe_history.html) you will find this description:

"The Neutral Territories, a loosely knit Nation of corporations, merchants and explorers (not to mention smugglers and pirates), now clinging to life in the more hostile regions of deep space."

Note the part about pirates and smugglers.

Also name one thing that is available to a UIT but not a Serco or Itani.

Still I agree with you, at least in part. If, if UIT is to be given access to the N3 they should have to do something more than gain standing with the CtC winnner.

Thanks :)

You misunderstod what Andreas was saying. With his system every time you raise your Itani standing your Serco standing would fall.

Something like this:
ItaniStanding = (1000-SercoStanding)
Even better UIT players would have this formula
ItaniStanding = (800-SercoStanding)

Well, I certainly think this will get the attention of the Dev's with so many posts.. I still would think it would be bad if the UIT were given access to the N3 even if the proper standings were met (exception to that might be something like God status, where you'd have to practically be Itani or Serco in order to have a chance at it as a UIT). Now if somehow the N3 became available on some sort of black market, then that would fit the storyline.. This is a perfect chance for the Devs to add a little evolution to the game. This is a cultural problem and not a technical/software issue. That's a great thing that this game is evolving into its own beast so quickly. Whatever the solution to this problem, I hope it isn't a quick and cheap fix, and actually fits some sort of storyline. That would have the best chance of being accepted by the bulk of the community.