I would like to see the choice of nation affect gameplay more. In the backstory, it talks about differences between nations. For example, because of the serco cybernetic link to their ship, maybe they could have better manueverability when they fly. And since itani have their wierd mentalist shield, they should have say 10% higher armor when they buy a ship. And UIT should get better deals on trading, or make it easier to build standing since they are neutral, etc. That would make the choice of nation more important and I think make the game a bit more fun, so you pay attention to whom you are shooting.

I agree with your observation, Lonestar00, I'm not entirely sure about your proposed solution. It is a good point however and something I had been thinking about for a while now. Minor detail: not all Itani have that shield, only the most elite and highly trained monks. Also, I'm not sure about racial bonuses across the board: that would be hard to balance and a little arbitrary... rather it would be nice for each nation to have more unique directions in which to take your character: more nation specific upgrades, equipment etc. Spellcast had the right idea, I think:

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/8363

What about having a different starting weapons for each nation? The serco could get the slow, hard-hitting gov't issue plasma cannon in game right now, the Itani could get a nerfed-down version of the fast, effecient phased blaster and the UIT could get a nerfed-down version of the rapid firing ion blaster.

I was actually trying to think about something that would be easier to implement. In this case, a ten percent advantage on a certain aspect. Having to work toward another point goal (ie something like itani mind shield at a certain level) would be a lot of work to program. However, allowing for a certain bonus to all things based on your nation might be easier. IE an if statement on any functions that get ship stats for serco/itani that increases aspects of the ship based on nation, and a discount for uit on trade or a similar statement for faction standing if they went that route.

And it needn't even be that high. Just a small difference that would make choice of nation more important and continue to affect a character no matter what his standing is with his or her own nation.

the serco have cybernetic links to thier ships for control, but from what I understand, itani pilots have a similar link to their ship controls, which actually should give them equal advantage in ship maneuverability.

The itani have the valkrie, it's far superior in handling for its arnament than the serco ship, that reflects what you're talking about I think. although, it's a bit flawed that the serco can build their standing up so high with the itani that they can pilot valkries. Nation specific ships should stay that way.

I don't think a serco should be able to get a valk unless his/her serco standing is equally bad to how good thier itani standing is.

so, for a serco to get a valk, you'd need

Serco -600
Itani +600

or for an itani to get a prometheus

Itani -600
Serco +600

And for your average itani/serco to figure out how to use a prometheus:

hmm... tough one...