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I now know why most players do not choose Serco for gameplay. It's not just that the Itani have the best fighter ship, namely the Valkyrie series. These are among some of the many reasons:
First of all the VO back story was written by an Itani which naturally leads the content to be slanted against the Serco nation. This negativity steers a new player toward the Itani nation.
The Serco CTC bots go through Sedina B-8, usually the most active combat sector.
The Itani start with higher TPG and UIT standing than do the Serco.
The Nation War in Deneb contains three Itani stations and no Serco stations. This requires Serco to jump through a wormhole and reduces their chances of successful combat in a sector.
The Serco players that are not guilded, Nationalists or Pirates are pretty much restricted to gameplay within Serco space. The Itani war convoy that is present in Ukari at the two Serco WHs adds to this dilemma. True, this convoy wouldn't be present if Serco players held the upper hand in the border wars but, since there are scant Serco player numbers compared with Itani, this issue may never be remedied.
My own gameplay as a Serco this past week is an example of the bias against Serco players. All the Itani ships that are destroyed in the war convoy are replaced. Instead of the replacement ships being routed from Itani through UIT space, they were routed through Grey space. As I was trying to trade in Grey space where the best profits are to be made, these Itani warships were constantly causing me problems. These ships even assisted an Itani nationalist player in klling me while engaged in PVP combat.
I find very few players while travelling in Serco space. It is a dying nation and only the devs can revive it with fair and equal gameplay.
First of all the VO back story was written by an Itani which naturally leads the content to be slanted against the Serco nation. This negativity steers a new player toward the Itani nation.
The Serco CTC bots go through Sedina B-8, usually the most active combat sector.
The Itani start with higher TPG and UIT standing than do the Serco.
The Nation War in Deneb contains three Itani stations and no Serco stations. This requires Serco to jump through a wormhole and reduces their chances of successful combat in a sector.
The Serco players that are not guilded, Nationalists or Pirates are pretty much restricted to gameplay within Serco space. The Itani war convoy that is present in Ukari at the two Serco WHs adds to this dilemma. True, this convoy wouldn't be present if Serco players held the upper hand in the border wars but, since there are scant Serco player numbers compared with Itani, this issue may never be remedied.
My own gameplay as a Serco this past week is an example of the bias against Serco players. All the Itani ships that are destroyed in the war convoy are replaced. Instead of the replacement ships being routed from Itani through UIT space, they were routed through Grey space. As I was trying to trade in Grey space where the best profits are to be made, these Itani warships were constantly causing me problems. These ships even assisted an Itani nationalist player in klling me while engaged in PVP combat.
I find very few players while travelling in Serco space. It is a dying nation and only the devs can revive it with fair and equal gameplay.
The Serco CTC bots go through Sedina B-8, usually the most active combat sector.
One of the reasons Sedina B-8 originally became a very active combat sector is because the Serco CTC passes through it. Recently much of the non-consentual / impromptu PvP fighting has moved to Edras and surrounding greyspace areas, so the point isn't really valid anyway.
Many of your complaints seem to be caused by a lack of Serco participation in PvE events rather than an inherent problem with the Serco nation itself. Some of your points, such as the backstory and maybe standing, have some validity, but I don't personally think what you listed is the exact cause of the low Serco population. Itani have had more numbers since the game was released, long before War Convoys and Border Skirmishes existed.
I think one of the main reasons people choose Itani over Serco is the difference in color, but I don't really have any evidence to support my theory.
One of the reasons Sedina B-8 originally became a very active combat sector is because the Serco CTC passes through it. Recently much of the non-consentual / impromptu PvP fighting has moved to Edras and surrounding greyspace areas, so the point isn't really valid anyway.
Many of your complaints seem to be caused by a lack of Serco participation in PvE events rather than an inherent problem with the Serco nation itself. Some of your points, such as the backstory and maybe standing, have some validity, but I don't personally think what you listed is the exact cause of the low Serco population. Itani have had more numbers since the game was released, long before War Convoys and Border Skirmishes existed.
I think one of the main reasons people choose Itani over Serco is the difference in color, but I don't really have any evidence to support my theory.
Those are all good reasons, Bluefin. But I think the Valkryie is the strongest. It is a completely imbalanced ship.
When I say that I don't mean imbalanced in the sense that the ship is leagues above every other ship in the game (even though some would most definitely say the only ship that can complete with it is the prom) but because it serves an extremely popular function that no other ship competes with in its class.
The only other ship that can even hope to be used in combat with 3 ports is the cormaud, and it sucks compared to the valkryie. There needs to be a 3 port light fighter/interceptor available to the serco, and the UIT.
It's a game imbalance, the game is centred around combat, and the valkryie fills the role that most pilots fly as combat pilots. It needs to be fixed. Not just Soon TM.
When I say that I don't mean imbalanced in the sense that the ship is leagues above every other ship in the game (even though some would most definitely say the only ship that can complete with it is the prom) but because it serves an extremely popular function that no other ship competes with in its class.
The only other ship that can even hope to be used in combat with 3 ports is the cormaud, and it sucks compared to the valkryie. There needs to be a 3 port light fighter/interceptor available to the serco, and the UIT.
It's a game imbalance, the game is centred around combat, and the valkryie fills the role that most pilots fly as combat pilots. It needs to be fixed. Not just Soon TM.
I agree TRS combat in VO is like an FPS, each team should have equivilent equipment. even modern day armies have similar weapons eg the mig vs f/a-18 and the f22 vs sukhoi PAK FA. you wouldn't simply not use a tactic is effective simply because your enemy uses it.
As an Itani I agree that the game would be better if there were more Serco PC's hanging around Deneb and Grey!
Many of your complaints seem to be caused by a lack of Serco participation in PvE events rather than an inherent problem with the Serco nation itself.
It's not just the participation, it's the population. There is a problem with the Serco nation that causes the lack of serco population in the first place.
It's not just the participation, it's the population. There is a problem with the Serco nation that causes the lack of serco population in the first place.
It's not just the participation, it's the population. There is a problem with the Serco nation that causes the lack of serco population in the first place.
Yes, my point was that the lack of participation or lack of population to participate is not a large factor in the low percentage of Serco players, because the population was low before those activities existed.
Yes, my point was that the lack of participation or lack of population to participate is not a large factor in the low percentage of Serco players, because the population was low before those activities existed.
Slime is right. I went itani for the blue
It was not always like that, years ago Serco had a steady player base consisting of very good pilots but... VO was different then.
That aside, I don't think backstory is biased. If you read it carefully, you can find that Itani were not always so innocent and peace loving and Serco were not always the bad guys.
The main problem lies in faction descriptions: Serco - imperialistic militant cyborg society and on the other side Itani - monks with mind powers.
It's probably too late now to significantly change Serco description but, in my opinion, Itani can be changed by introducing Akanese sub faction. Strip some Itani systems, make Itani smaller nation like UIT and add Akanese sub faction.
That aside, I don't think backstory is biased. If you read it carefully, you can find that Itani were not always so innocent and peace loving and Serco were not always the bad guys.
The main problem lies in faction descriptions: Serco - imperialistic militant cyborg society and on the other side Itani - monks with mind powers.
It's probably too late now to significantly change Serco description but, in my opinion, Itani can be changed by introducing Akanese sub faction. Strip some Itani systems, make Itani smaller nation like UIT and add Akanese sub faction.
Well, the color is one of the reasons I didn't join the Itani. I would much rather be yellow than blue. I'm not normal, and my understanding is that more people like blue, which is why so many retarded user interfaces are blue.
Except that no-one knows where the Akanese even ARE. They pop into existence to kick Serco ass for a little while and then disappear just as suddenly, and they disappear completely.
This actually comes up time and time again, so maybe it has merit, but...
First of all the VO back story was written by an Itani which naturally leads the content to be slanted against the Serco nation. This negativity steers a new player toward the Itani nation.
Nope! Actually the back story is written by Incarnate - who as far as I know - isn't a monk with mind powers.
The Serco CTC bots go through Sedina B-8, usually the most active combat sector.
Slime covered this, but yeah. B8 became popular because of CtC. In the olden days (:P) CtC actually was new and fresh, so people from both sides actually took part. You could always find some Serco or Itani's there to womp on. Which made B8 the sector to find PvP in. This also happened in Bractus too, but on a much smaller scale.
The Itani start with higher TPG and UIT standing than do the Serco.
It's only around 200 points, 1 large proc can net you that. Yeah, sucks, but Serco did historically womp on UiT's for fun.
The Nation War in Deneb contains three Itani stations and no Serco stations. This requires Serco to jump through a wormhole and reduces their chances of successful combat in a sector.
Yep, the stations in Deneb should be conquerable.
The Serco players that are not guilded, Nationalists or Pirates are pretty much restricted to gameplay within Serco space. The Itani war convoy that is present in Ukari at the two Serco WHs adds to this dilemma. True, this convoy wouldn't be present if Serco players held the upper hand in the border wars but, since there are scant Serco player numbers compared with Itani, this issue may never be remedied.
Errrm, only time they have ever caused a problem for me personally, is when a cappie sits right on top of a wormhole. Never noticed the other AI's engaging me at all. But yeah, a lack of players in Deneb on the Serco side adds to this.
I find very few players while travelling in Serco space. It is a dying nation and only the devs can revive it with fair and equal gameplay.
That can be said for all nation spaces. Once a newb grows a pair and goes to Grey space, there really isn't much to be had for going back. Except for maybe the odd trade/escort/special mission.
Making the stations in Deneb conquerable might go a long way to solve some of this but I don't know if that's going to happen any time soon.
First of all the VO back story was written by an Itani which naturally leads the content to be slanted against the Serco nation. This negativity steers a new player toward the Itani nation.
Nope! Actually the back story is written by Incarnate - who as far as I know - isn't a monk with mind powers.
The Serco CTC bots go through Sedina B-8, usually the most active combat sector.
Slime covered this, but yeah. B8 became popular because of CtC. In the olden days (:P) CtC actually was new and fresh, so people from both sides actually took part. You could always find some Serco or Itani's there to womp on. Which made B8 the sector to find PvP in. This also happened in Bractus too, but on a much smaller scale.
The Itani start with higher TPG and UIT standing than do the Serco.
It's only around 200 points, 1 large proc can net you that. Yeah, sucks, but Serco did historically womp on UiT's for fun.
The Nation War in Deneb contains three Itani stations and no Serco stations. This requires Serco to jump through a wormhole and reduces their chances of successful combat in a sector.
Yep, the stations in Deneb should be conquerable.
The Serco players that are not guilded, Nationalists or Pirates are pretty much restricted to gameplay within Serco space. The Itani war convoy that is present in Ukari at the two Serco WHs adds to this dilemma. True, this convoy wouldn't be present if Serco players held the upper hand in the border wars but, since there are scant Serco player numbers compared with Itani, this issue may never be remedied.
Errrm, only time they have ever caused a problem for me personally, is when a cappie sits right on top of a wormhole. Never noticed the other AI's engaging me at all. But yeah, a lack of players in Deneb on the Serco side adds to this.
I find very few players while travelling in Serco space. It is a dying nation and only the devs can revive it with fair and equal gameplay.
That can be said for all nation spaces. Once a newb grows a pair and goes to Grey space, there really isn't much to be had for going back. Except for maybe the odd trade/escort/special mission.
Making the stations in Deneb conquerable might go a long way to solve some of this but I don't know if that's going to happen any time soon.
for me it was more of a brain bigger muscles thing.
I only agree with the Deneb inequality. And I think it should be remedied by an ADDED station, whether it be serco or conquerable. The itani stations in deneb all serve specific purposes and removing one would cause a major convulsion in the space-time continuum. I think the most logical place for the station would be the wormhole.
I play the skirms a lot in Deneb and would really love to see more serco involvement -- and I can definitely see the turnoff by having to jump through a wormhole to participate.
I play the skirms a lot in Deneb and would really love to see more serco involvement -- and I can definitely see the turnoff by having to jump through a wormhole to participate.
I read the back story, and then I picked Serco.
The following presents a condensed history of the known Galaxy, as pieced together by the monks of Itan. Begun in AD 3492 as an educational effort by Erum the Blind, this document continues to be maintained by the Order to this day. It is said that Erum bade all his students read it, that they might understand the frailties and sadness that wrought the universe in which we live.
Jerean Tol, 19th keeper of the Record
Order of Eo, Itan, AD 4430
This is what he means, Yoda. The Serco probably have it recorded differently, for example, the section about the Itani monk being killed after the duel. The Itani in this story are blameless and all direct blame falls on the Order of Akan for causing all the problems.
I read the back story, and then I picked Serco.
You're one of those people with one of those personalities that... :p
Jerean Tol, 19th keeper of the Record
Order of Eo, Itan, AD 4430
This is what he means, Yoda. The Serco probably have it recorded differently, for example, the section about the Itani monk being killed after the duel. The Itani in this story are blameless and all direct blame falls on the Order of Akan for causing all the problems.
I read the back story, and then I picked Serco.
You're one of those people with one of those personalities that... :p
I knew what he meant, but that's just a part of the story. I bet most people chose a side without giving the back story a glance too.
But yeah
But yeah
serco = piwates : p