Federation or Empire??

[Dutch]

I'm looking to join either the Federation or the Empire however I can't decide so I'm looking for arguments as to why I should join one or the other.

[Agony_Aunt]

Don't. Join the Alliance!

[MadArtillery]

Mostly it's down to what you think is pretty. Imperial has more utility ie multipurpose ships and have a good small ship, federal is more a giant line of murder machines that have terrible jumps and are nearly identical. Except dropship which is a drifty multipurpose. A real pain in the butt to fly that thing. Three iterations of the same medium and a large is the federal line. They are solid ships though you won't really be wowed when moving from one to another due to them just being iterations of upward progression.

I like the federal ships and I use them for most of my flying. Solid for whatever gets thrown at them. I only have the courier from imperial but it was quickly one of my favourite ships and I wish I had it much sooner. Useful for even the tougher pve encounters like taking on spec ops wings which is pretty impressive for an easy to acquire and cheap small ship.

[Landor]

Federation, if you would, provided it's legally and financially viable, drive an M1 Abrams, M2 Bradley, or other armored vehicles as your personal vehicle.

Imperial, if you would prefer to drive, and be able to afford it, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini or other sports/super cars.

Alliance, if you would drive whatever's available and perfectly functional, but don't have any interest in putting in time and effort to unlock the above.

[tomg2012]

Federation.... for the Corvette.

[Agony_Aunt]

Originally posted by MadArtillery:

and are nearly identical. Except dropship which is a drifty multipurpose. A real pain in the butt to fly that thing.

I presume you mean the FAS, FDS, FGS?

They look similar but they are each very distinct. You noted the FSD, which is a great multipurpose. The FAS is a nimble dogfighter. The FGS is a tank. Very different flying experiences.

[Midnight Meows]

Pew pew / armor tanks = Feds

Multipurpose / hauling / shield tanks = Imperials

Don't want to grind = Alliance

[MadArtillery]

Originally posted by Agony_Aunt:

Originally posted by MadArtillery:

and are nearly identical. Except dropship which is a drifty multipurpose. A real pain in the butt to fly that thing.

I presume you mean the FAS, FDS, FGS?

They look similar but they are each very distinct. You noted the FSD, which is a great multipurpose. The FAS is a nimble dogfighter. The FGS is a tank. Very different flying experiences.

Honestly never found the Assault and gunship particularly different. Assault just felt like a gunship without the fighter bay so I just sold it because fighters are awesome making the more expensive gunship a pretty good upgrade after the grind. That's the only difference they seemed to have.

[XOLiD]

Depends on what you like to do honestly, different superpowers have different bonuses.

Also allying yourself to a certain superpower doesn't stop you from gaining rank with any of the others.

I pledge to A. Lavigny-Duval because I like bounty hunting and get a nice bonus % on my bounties for it, but I also farmed rep for the best combat ship in the game, the Federal Corvette.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

If you have to ask, then don't join anybody! Be independent, work for them all, get all the benefits.

[dragonmalice]

Yup, in terms of ship access, rank, and reputation, they're not exclusive - bounce around a bit. There are systems with Fed and Empire factions - you can work them both at the same time.

If you mean powerplay, dunno - main perk there would be the special weapons, but I don't bother.

[-]

Empire in two words: multitask ships
Federation in two words: space tanks
Alliance in two words: what ships?

I'm preferring Federation - cause two giant weapon slots on Corvette doing da big bang to others

[Crimson Echo]

Best option is the Alliance of Independent Systems (closest to a real democracy of the three powers), but probably the Feds over the Imps. The imps think slavery is totally cool, hunted a sentient species to extinction, and seem to only care about the outward look of things. OTOH the feds are hyper-commercial, and corporate focused/controlled. OTOOH many of the leaders in the Empire were responsible for framing and setting up Salome to get killed. Arissa (the current leader of the empire) seems sort of like an ok person (from the book Premonition).

[Sevrojin]

Originally posted by CMDR Crimson Echo:

Best option is the Alliance of Independent Systems (closest to a real democracy of the three powers), but probably the Feds over the Imps. The imps think slavery is totally cool, hunted a sentient species to extinction, and seem to only care about the outward look of things. OTOH the feds are hyper-commercial, and corporate focused/controlled. OTOOH many of the leaders in the Empire were responsible for framing and setting up Salome to get killed. Arissa (the current leader of the empire) seems sort of like an ok person (from the book Premonition).

you forgot to add the slaves of the other 2 powers is true slavery while in the empire its more of indentured servitude.

[Slack Alice™]

Be independent. I own Imperial, Federation and Alliance ships. Horses for courses.

[Agony_Aunt]

Originally posted by MadArtillery:

Originally posted by Agony_Aunt:

I presume you mean the FAS, FDS, FGS?

They look similar but they are each very distinct. You noted the FSD, which is a great multipurpose. The FAS is a nimble dogfighter. The FGS is a tank. Very different flying experiences.

Honestly never found the Assault and gunship particularly different. Assault just felt like a gunship without the fighter bay so I just sold it because fighters are awesome making the more expensive gunship a pretty good upgrade after the grind. That's the only difference they seemed to have.

Wow, i find the handling between the two massively different.