Just a little reply to Rayfield
I completely understand your "if you're not with us you're against us" point of view but I don't think it would be fair to generalize it. Let me explain : if your character is an Omni/Clan extremist then I agree he'd shoot at a Neut without asking questions. But what about NPC civilians? Why shopkeepers would turn down money? It's logic for a clan shopkeeper not to sell anything to an Omni character because he would help the other side that way. If he sells something to a neut who doesn't want to support any side he won't help his enemies but he sure would make his business run better (which would profit his faction in a way).
For the 'tab' problem I don't agree with you. It may not be a bug but I think it isn't fair right now (of course if the storyline takes another path then....everything's possible). If you want your character to be a neut-killer then it's your own choice and you can target anybody you want (hell, you can even target Ross being an Omni, it's your life) but I don't think it should be a 'default setting' that neuts are seen as foes by both factions.
But I'm not complaining, it's just my little own opinion ;-).
The Freedom of Neutrality
Five minutes ago, I was walking through Old Athen on my way to the whompa. I had just completed a mission and was 100 experience from level. A clan bodyguard (green) attacked me without provocation and a moment later a guard did the same. I died in one hit.
Is this the freedom that my moral stance has earned me?
(One of my enlightened OT friends: "You should join Omni-Tek and lay down the smack on that bodyguard, Saille!")
:-)
Re: My take on Neutrality.
What about the Tir Accord?
The Tir Accord states clearly the role of Neutrals: they fall under OT jurisdiction in legal matters. How can you give Neutrals status without fundamentally altering the Accord?
As far as merits go, Neutrals asking for them is silly. Come on, get real, they're obviously designed for characters that pick a side. "Neutral merits?" The very verbage is oxymoronic. I'd much rather see Funcom develop more important aspects of the game's content than concentrate on appeasing the complaints of Neutrals who knew what they were getting into when they decided to become Neutral.
I've seen lots of comments in this forum hinting that Neutrals are developing a superiority complex. That's a good way to insure that you get targeted in PvP zones. :P You may get more attention than you bargained for.
Safety in Clan/Omni cities
Desbet, this is one of the things you 'earn' as you stick to your Neutrality and level. Guards will never attack you unless they have been bugged into standard Monster behavior. It's actually worked out better than I thought.
You start out as a low level Neutral and pretty much are stuck in the Newland/Borealis/Last Ditch towns. But as you level a couple things happen:
- 1st thing is that you are able to take a hit from NPC's. So when you make the dash from the Grid in Omni-Trade to the Whom'pa to 20K you survive as long as a Guard doesn't join in. The guards are smart enough to respect your Neutrality. Just the dumb robots have some poor simple programming that thinks anything that isn't Omni is an enemy.
- Next thing is that these Monster NPC's will start going grey to you. They they don't attack anymore. The guards may still be blood red in Omni-Trade but now that the monsters don't attack you can spend the whole day shopping in the fine Omni-Trade tradeskills shops and doing the chicken dance under the statue in the middle of town.
- Finally, the MOB's in some of the outlying outposts become grey. Your viable mission destinations increase as you are able to safely traverse areas that had instant agro before.
It works out in a roleplay perspective as well. The intentions of a lvl100 Neutral character are somewhat firm. They have earned a sort of 'trust' and respect of the NPC's and are given right of passage by their peers on the Omni and Clan sides.
As far as gameplay value goes I think it's a fine way to test the newbie newts out and see if they have the guts to stick to their beliefs until such time as they are less distrusted by the major warring factions.
EDIT: AFAIK it's the Athen Accord that is falling apart. Basically, this was the document that kind of had things running smoothly recently. The Tir Accord basically set the political framework for the planet and is galactically accepted. The Athen Accords were recently initiated by certain powerful groups in the Clan and Omni sides and led to Ross' offer of Amnesty. Recent violence by numerous parties has pretty much obsoleted the ideals of the Athen Accords.
(Although why Amnesty can be offered to Clanners who are legally inhabiting land is beyond me. See The Tir Accord: http://www.anarchy-online.com/conten...tir_accord.pdf and it's background: http://www.anarchy-online.com/conten...imeline/rubika)