Stations and Factions

[Elrique64]

Ok, couple of questions here...

I get into a hostile system and everyone (Military, Energy and Miners) are all shooting at me as soon as I jump in to the system. My only recourse is to jump out or start shooting back.

So here's the questions:

1) Shooting back further reduces the factions that are already hateful?

2) How can I dock in a static station in a hostile zone? (I would think they wouldn't allow me to dock at all, until faction gets improved.)

3) Making my own stations in these systems has no effect on the factions? (Improving the system economy doesn't give any faction improvements?) (I notice those factions that hate me in established areas are soon to discover the new station I made, and soon it is crawling with reds... How? Why? This is MY station, right?)

4) The only real "effective" way to improve a faction is to dock at a station/city and take on contracts? Then I have to weave through the gauntlet of reds to get to the contract waypoint, and then only kill those reds that are against the faction I'm trying to improve, right? (If the contract is Navy go kill these baddies and the Navy ships are also red, do I have to make sure o the faction of the ships I'm killing?)

On these waypoint contracts killing baddies, I can sometimes see 10 or more reds all following along behind me... some of them are Navy, some Energy, some rebels.... Kill them all??

[Vice]

1) Shooting back further reduces the factions that are already hateful?

Yes, although if it's already hostile, damage will generally be pretty minimal anyway. So attack if you want/need to, but it's certainly not required.

2) How can I dock in a static station in a hostile zone? (I would think they wouldn't allow me to dock at all, until faction gets improved.)

Do it quickly or do it cloaked. If you're not yet prepared and/or equipped to handle such hostile space, you may want to avoid such system or pass through them quickly until you are ready.

3) Making my own stations in these systems has no effect on the factions? (Improving the system economy doesn't give any faction improvements?) (I notice those factions that hate me in established areas are soon to discover the new station I made, and soon it is crawling with reds... How? Why? This is MY station, right?)

For the same reason if you built an American base in the middle of Japanese territory in WWII. They'd gladly take it over for you and it wouldn't provide much of a benefit to you at all. The game will let you do it, but it's probably not something you'll want to do until the territory is ready.

4) The only real "effective" way to improve a faction is to dock at a station/city and take on contracts? Then I have to weave through the gauntlet of reds to get to the contract waypoint, and then only kill those reds that are against the faction I'm trying to improve, right? (If the contract is Navy go kill these baddies and the Navy ships are also red, do I have to make sure o the faction of the ships I'm killing?)

Pick your contracts carefully, don't pick ones against factions you are trying to improve your reputation with. And yes, in very hostile space, you'll have to hide and/or weave through a myriad of hostile ships to try and complete such objectives. So you may not be ready to do that just yet and might prefer instead to focus on less hostile/more balanced territory.

[Elrique64]

So, popping out of a station to take pot-shots at the rebels or guild in Pearl (and killing them) in a station would or wouldn't help build faction for Navy, Energy or Miners?

[Rubber Chicken]

Yes, killing individual ships whilst not on mission will affect the reputation amongst the victim faction and it's enemies accordingly.
It will take a wholesale massacre to really see any effective change however.

[SeeJay]

Do contracts to improve reputation.

[Marvin]

As Vice said, pick your contracts wisely. Rebels and guilds are the bad guys ... they roam the Evoverse and disrupt every star system they enter. Both Federation and Alliance personnel do their best to defend against the bad guys. Unfortunately, as a member of the Alliance, you are about as unwelcome as the bad guys when operating in Federation space. But, in SP, you can at least mitigate the Federation's attitude by completing contracts for their navy or for local miners ... and ... well, anyone other than the bad guys.

[PaulB]

Ok, couple of questions here...

I get into a hostile system and everyone (Military, Energy and Miners) are all shooting at me as soon as I jump in to the system. My only recourse is to jump out or start shooting back.

So here's the questions:

1) Shooting back further reduces the factions that are already hateful?

2) How can I dock in a static station in a hostile zone? (I would think they wouldn't allow me to dock at all, until faction gets improved.)

3) Making my own stations in these systems has no effect on the factions? (Improving the system economy doesn't give any faction improvements?) (I notice those factions that hate me in established areas are soon to discover the new station I made, and soon it is crawling with reds... How? Why? This is MY station, right?)

4) The only real "effective" way to improve a faction is to dock at a station/city and take on contracts? Then I have to weave through the gauntlet of reds to get to the contract waypoint, and then only kill those reds that are against the faction I'm trying to improve, right? (If the contract is Navy go kill these baddies and the Navy ships are also red, do I have to make sure o the faction of the ships I'm killing?)

On these waypoint contracts killing baddies, I can sometimes see 10 or more reds all following along behind me... some of them are Navy, some Energy, some rebels.... Kill them all??

If you look on Seejay's web site at some of the hints guides and also in the forum post you will find how to jump into (not actually but FAST arrival) a station which we most all use wheter we are in a hostile system or not.
This is the Basic:
(1) get you one of the HUD mods that has the Station coord markers on the Compass so you can Align your heading to one of the Entrances.
(2) These are the headings for the 3 station types:
Station 36, 108, 180, 252, 324
Construct 0, 90, 180, 270
Carrier 180
Get with Jump range of the station (depends on which Jump drive you have - but someplace where you are safe from attack and make sure you Select the station in the Nav Console so it had the X nav point on it..
Then you must set your ship to the desired heading above of one of the station types and Pitch = 0. You must be pretty accurate or when you jump you may not enter the station cleanly.
When you are ready (this my method) set Inertial Mode, set IDS speed approx 650 and then presws the Jump key and the ship should Jump and arrive just outside the station and proceed right on in to Dock safely.
You probably will have to pay a Docking Fee in a hostile area before they let you "Enter the Station" and be completely safe.
Or, you can buy a Station License if you have the money and no more docking fees at that station + the other advantages (cheaper buying prices).
Or as you said you can Build a Trade station and while it won't make any of the other ships friendly it does automatically give you a Station License there so you can dock free and buy cheaper. I have at least one such station in Pearl.

What you will generally see is there may be certain areas in Hostile systems where Guild and Rebels may be friendly which may at least give you some breathing room if you don't want to fight.

I'd say the above docking method is essential to prolonged survival. Also in places like Pearl, Save you some Map Log locations that are safely out away from hostile traffic where you can select that in the Nav console as a destination coming back ot going to Hidden Pearl so you can Auto Pilot to that saved Nav point and arrive at a safe location where uou can then set up a Jump to a nearby station to Buy/Purchase while avoiding as many of the hostiles as possible.

As far as Moderate and Hostile systems, I'm not good enough at flying (Pitch, Roll, Yaw) that I care to take on the 10+ hostiles per waypoint contract to try and convert Moderate and Hostile systems. For me it's just too time consuming and stressing to attempt. Note that I have done some single waypoint contracts in such systems but they are not easy (for me). I wish it was not so extremely expensive to hire AI Wingmen to do Contract Campaigns but it would wipe out all profits from the contracts even if you only hired 2 - 5 wingmen and they get killed fairly easy sometimes.
So for the most part I've stuck to converting Fair systems like Olympus, Sirius, Orion, Cerulean, Rucker, etc.
Do those then if you feel ambitious enough tackle the Moderates and then Hostiles.

[Aegix Drakan]

I find it kind of weird that your reputation in a system is so...binary (or at least, it looks binary)

I'd really appreciate if the reputation tracker on the nav screen told me which faction was in charge in that area, and thus whose missions I should do to fix my reputation.

And even with that, if you can do enough Guild missions that the Alliance turns on you and the Guild likes you, it would be weird if it only applies to that sector and not to Evochron in General (as in the Navy being all chummy with you in Sapphire even though over in Olympus you've boosted the Guild into power).

Then again, I'm still at an early phase in the game so I'm still not sure how most of this works.

[Vice]

For tracking progress and status, the territory quadrant map and local reputation thread indicators will help gauge conditions and progress. While working to change reputations have a common effect based on faction titles, the effect is contained with in the territory/region you are playing in. Space is very big and you can create pockets of reputation conditions that do not impact the others based on -your- personal performance and decisions.

Generally, you'll simply need to start thinking of the game's reputation system in a more threaded, diverse, and dynamic structure rather than the 'binary' setup you may be thinking of. A Navy in one territory is not the same Navy in another territory. Each region has its own individual reputation threads (for each factions), even though they share the same labels/titles. So think of the Navy in Emerald as the 'Emerald Navy' while the Navy in Sapphire is the 'Sapphire Navy'. Don't think of the entire collection of all Navy factions as just 'THE Navy'.

For example, if you were affiliated with the US Navy in 1944, why would the Japanese Navy attack you, but the US Navy not? It's the same reason(s) many Richton and Federation territories (and their Navies) will attack you, but Alliance/Sapphire's won't. If you are from an opposing territory (or allied with it), you will be attacked by the enemy of that territory. At least initially until your reputation(s) may change later on.

[Marvin]

Taken from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Evoverse ...


Factions

As the old saying goes: There are two sides to every story. And the Evoverse is no exception. Its two sides are: (1) the Federation and (2) the Alliance. Without going into great detail (or any detail at all), suffice to say that these two sides have somehow managed to maintain an uneasy detente (see entry on the cease fire agreement), despite numerous provocations.

All the gated star systems (and most of the ungated ones) are governed by one side or the other. Every pilot, military or civilian, is to some degree associated with one of these sides. Like it or not, somewhere in the tangled network of computer data exists a record informing local authorities where each pilot stands. Ergo, pilots are rated* according to their reputation: good, fair, moderate or hostile. Alliance pilots fair badly in Federation-held star systems and Federation pilots fair no better in Alliance space.


[align=center]
Map of the gated systems and their predisposition to Alliance mercenaries[/align]

Admittedly, there is crossover (it's part of the cease fire agreement). Ergo, you will often find Alliance ships (including really big Navy cruisers) transiting Federation space and Federation ships loitering, unmolested, within Alliance space.

Nonetheless, the worse a lone pilot's standing is with local authorities, the greater the likelihood he will be harassed by factions. Navy capital ships can be downright belligerent, attacking without provocation or warning. As can Navy fighters. And, if the Navy is against you, expect other factions to follow suit. Even law-abiding pilots working for Energy or the Miners are likely to take pot-shots at an unsuspecting mercenary. And don't be thinking that lawless factions like Rebels or any of the Guilds will treat a wayward pilot any better. On the contrary. Guilds are nothing more than mobsters, often flying in packs, preying on independent pilots who will never receive (nor should they expect) protection.

While it's nearly impossible for a mercenary to convince the local administration of one's good intentions, it is possible to improve one's reputation among some of the factions. Even the indigenous Navy, supposedly operating under direction of the authorities, will begrudgingly "go easy" on pilots who sign up to assist in defending the star system from marauders, interlopers, carpetbaggers and invaders. Admittedly, the Navy and other lawful factions will still stand aside while a lone mercenary is under attack. But at least they aren't as likely to join in on the side of the attacker(s).


[align=center]
News Console readout displaying faction reputation in one particular star system[/align]

Of course, it's possible for a mercenary to choose the road not normally taken: completing contracts for rogue Guilds or Rebels. Should that be the case, the mercenary will then almost certainly be branded as a bandit and hunted by agents of the current administration. He will find no solace or refuge within the associated star system. Nor will his actions curry favor from the opposing side, be it Federation or Alliance. Because an untrustworthy mercenary can be trusted by no one.


* I bet you thought it was the other way round. (Confusion can be blamed on local authorities, all of whom are hidden behind city walls and trade station energy fields. You hear them. You sometimes read their messages. But they never fly. They hardly ever even take a taxi. They are the Federation. Or the Alliance. And they can make life very, very difficult for anyone born and raised in a foreign star system, be it a system which is far, far away or even one right next door.)


There is even more information, specifically on the Federation-Alliance treaty, at the H2GE thread.