Since it seems alot of past Neutral issues have been brought up in this forum, I thought it best to post this information here.
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1. Tab Key & PVP Issues - all too often neutrals are mistaken for one faction over another, omni/clan players in pvp do not take the time to identify target as against another pvp oriented player this would likely get them killed. Is there some way to make this not such a plight to neutrals? Several suggestions are a "Treat neutrals as hostile" check box in the options that is defaulted to off, or some kind of last minute friend/foe check "Target is neutral do you still wish to attack?" Alternately, we have been given the ability to have PVP titles, but the odds of surviving an alpha strike are very small and being forced to watch fellow neutrals (even team/guild mates) get slaughtered with no ability to come to their aid makes the advent of neutral pvp titles seem quite trivial. If we aren't to be removed from the tab key, can we at least get pvp rights in 25% zones? How will neutrals be able to defend
their homes when the ability to take territory over gets implemented if they are unable to enter pvp combat willingly and on their own terms?
Gaute
**The focus on the Neutrals as "hostile" was done on purpose. When the game launched, the status of the Conflict was such that everyone not with, was seen as against.
I am willing to let the Neutrals not be on the hostile tab, as their
"independent" status are developing, and their former "mercenary" outlook is fading. I am not saying *when* it will happen though. I cannot, but now it is in our system.
2. Miir clothing stores - Why do neutrals not have access to a simple name brand clothing store? The items offered are not any different between omni and clan stores, there seems to be no reason to deny neutrals access to or even a newland/borealis based Miir store, please enlighten us on this issue.
Gaute
*The original purpose of this was that the Miir clothing line was being sold only by organizations with a clear cut structure that could negotiate with the Miir organization. Neutrals being an assembled flock of individuals have no such structure. Again it seems that the neutrals are more cohesive in some ways now, but I doubt the cooperation selling Miir clothing is yet ready to invest into new shops or change their old.
We shall see...
3. ICC - How will the ICC come into play and will interaction with it
be key to neutrals? What can we hope to see coming from them in the game? Will neutral players be able to interact with the ICC in ways that factioned players should not be able to do(for example perform functions for the ICC on rubi-ka that affiliating themselves with either faction may prove unwise).
Gaute
The ICC is not really an umbrella organization for the neutrals. They are like the Milky Way's version of the WTO, where all the corporate structures have banned together to promote free trade. Their investment on Rubi-Ka is basically to ensure that other corporations besides OT gets their "piece of the action".
It has been convenient for Funcom to borrow their structure for their ARK's and GM's and so skew their function slightly over towards an UN function, promoting Human Rights and not only free trade. It is still important to know that it will take a lot of abuse from OT (or clans) before ICC steps in and tries to act as "world police".
The political balance between ICC and OT is like that of UN and US (that is the ONLY comparison between OT and US!! They are both the Biggest! Please don't get hung up on this...). OT is the biggest member of ICC, but they still go their separate ways from time to time.
It may be possible for the Neutrals to "perform" function for the ICC. That will be up to the Events team, but there is nothing to stand against it. I doubt very much that there will be a "formal" alliance, though. For that the Neutrals are too spread thin, not enough structured and not a real "faction" in the conflict. (Yet?)
4. Quests/Items - Will we see neutral only quests or items? Will
quests be made that are not faction dependant so anyone can enjoy them?
Gaute
Yes.
5. Neutral Whompa Network - When can we expect to see it put in and could its placement be considerate to over crowding issues? What are the initial thoughts for destinations of the whompa network?
Gaute
It will come gradually from 14.2 and out.
6. The ability to become neutral/resign from omni-tek or clans - Can we get a real logical answer that makes sense as to why you won't let players give up their side and become neutral? The original neutrals were originally omni or clan people, what has changed?
Gaute
*Being neutral is something that is endorsed by both sides. Once you have left that "side", you cannot shift back because you are "tainted" in the eyes of either one of the sides. This is the reason why you cannot go back to being neutral - you have to be dedicated!
7. Capturing Territory and Towns - How will this affect neutrals? Will we be able to reclaim our lost towns and territory that are just swarmed over by over zealous faction players because they know we have next to no chance in pvp situations?
Gaute
Yes, you will be able to defend yourselves more actively. I do not know the exact details of this, but we might changes the PvP rules slightly for the Neutrals not to be sitting ducks in a defence situations. I will (and have) keep this in mind when we design this.
8. Neutrals and Story Interaction/Reputation - With the advent of the Dust Brigade, neutrals suddenly became associated with a terrorist force (something neutral players aren't allowed to do themselves) that we never had any dealings with in the past, and no way to rectify this in the eyes of the factions, how can we as players improve the standing we have with other factions? When the peacetime between Omni/Clan broke down, neutrals found themselves targets of faction NPC's with little to no reason exactly as to why, from the perspective of Neutrals, it would appear that we are the bad guys and the other two sides would rather fight us than each other like they should, how can we change this?
Gaute
We have considered a more active "faction" system where people can align themselves "partially" with a side, and also "change" their standing with actions. There is no decision at the moment, and player feedback when asked about this (I think it was a couple of months ago) was "lukewarm".
If this rises again as something important to the players, we will look into implementing it. For now, there are only two factions and a bunch of strong willed individuals that are perhaps turning into a faction?
9. Meeting places, bartenders, guild housing - Will neutrals be getting any less dance club-esque meeting places, something more between rompa bar and a business minded meeting hall not out in open air? Bartenders in omni and clan clubs refuse to serve neutrals, its understandable them not wanting to serve their known enemy but it makes little sense that they won't serve a drink to a neutral. When can we expect to see guild housing put in? It was supposed to be implemented before the storyline
began, but any information on this subject has been very scarce vague and uninformed.
Gaute
I am writing another article on guilds and housing today. That will come next week, most likely.
I see no reason why the neutrals shouldn't be served drinks. I will put that on the list of changes... The problem doing this is that we might have to change the bar vendors to neutral, and then the guards wont defend them if they are attacked. Thus it might take some time, but I will look into it.
10. Stores and Hacking for survival - Will we ever get a true superior store, with superior nano crystal vendors? If not could you perhaps consider a neutral only option of hacking into a faction store (moderate difficulty apporpriate to the store's type level range) or even faction insurance terminals (high difficulty for the level the zone is geared towards). Appropriate skills could be Breaking & Entering and Comp lit.
Gaute
Neutral sup. Nano shops will be implemented.
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These answers were in reply to some questions posed by Neutrals of Rubi-Ka. The post can be found here.