Is the Empire Bad, and other

[Blue Falcon]

Exactly how bad is the Empire? IS the Empire the definition of bad in this game, or is it some bad and some good?
Are there squadrons whose goal is to fight the Empire full-time?

[caaront]

I only know that when bounty hunting at a high rez that any empire ship I see is going to be wanted.

[Edelweiss ✿]

They own people as property and kidnap people for slavery during war, what do you think? And there are no good guys in ED, only various spectrums of terrible.

[DeadRabbit]

Hey, as long as they buy my slaves, they're pretty good in my eyes.

[GhorX]

Originally posted by Edelweiss ✿:

They own people as property and kidnap people for slavery during war, what do you think? And there are no good guys in ED, only various spectrums of terrible.

Slavery is not implicitly evidence of evil. Read Terry Pratchett's book Small Gods, there is a model of slavery described as a system where a slave is guaranteed more life security than a free citizen - apart from freedom, of course.
I would say that it is similar in the ED - the Empire has slaves, but I ensure the exercise of fundamental rights for them. The federation guarantees everyone basic rights, but everyone has to secure them ...

[Pinhead Larry]

Not really, no worse than the Federation.

Empire: Very concerned with personal honor, but practices Roman style indentured servitude (slavery) albeit they have strict regulations regarding slavery, and they go absolutely ballistic over the more brutal, normal forms of slavery.

Federation: Democracy, but it's a corporate democracy run by megacorps.

Alliance: More or less what we have now IRL in the western sociopolitical hemispheres, but since there's so many systems and worlds you're all over the moral spectrum.

[Edelweiss ✿]

Originally posted by GhorX:

Originally posted by Edelweiss ✿:

They own people as property and kidnap people for slavery during war, what do you think? And there are no good guys in ED, only various spectrums of terrible.

Slavery is not implicitly evidence of evil. Read Terry Pratchett's book Small Gods, there is a model of slavery described as a system where a slave is guaranteed more life security than a free citizen - apart from freedom, of course.
I would say that it is similar in the ED - the Empire has slaves, but I ensure the exercise of fundamental rights for them. The federation guarantees everyone basic rights, but everyone has to secure them ...

Amazingly sick people actually rationalize this.

[Agony_Aunt]

The Empire are no worse than the Federation.

The slavery is a bit WTF, but there are places in the federation where regular slavery is legal which is much worse than imperial slavery.

Outside slavery, there is little difference. Both are superpowers looking after their own interests.

Then there is the Alliance, the third superpower, which basically came together when a load of independent systems wanted to come together as a power block to stand up to the Federation and Empire.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

No, the Empire is superpower. Just like the Federation and the Alliance. They all have their good and their bad.

[Agony_Aunt]

Federation - Space USA
Empire - Space Russia*
Alliance - Space European Union - waiting for Lavexit to happen!

* - not really, but trying to keep it contemporary. They are more like Space Rome.

[[82AD] danielcave87]

Originally posted by GhorX:

Originally posted by Edelweiss ✿:

They own people as property and kidnap people for slavery during war, what do you think? And there are no good guys in ED, only various spectrums of terrible.

Slavery is not implicitly evidence of evil. Read Terry Pratchett's book Small Gods, there is a model of slavery described as a system where a slave is guaranteed more life security than a free citizen - apart from freedom, of course.
I would say that it is similar in the ED - the Empire has slaves, but I ensure the exercise of fundamental rights for them. The federation guarantees everyone basic rights, but everyone has to secure them ...

ghorx is right here. slavery in the empires case basically means government worker.

what happens is if you own a business and it goes bankrupt or can afford your payments for your estate... instead of actually going bankrupt and left to fend for your self the empire has a system where you can repay you debt to society. you will never be left to suffer. the empire gives these people a way out through the system.

they are not slaves in terms of whipped and mistreated (like the name makes people assume) in just an imperial way of being the lowest denominator in society.

they are well treated and held in high regard within imperial society.

but illegal slave trade.... all superpowers have that.

[ArcTheWolf]

Well it depends on what you view as bad. The politics of Elite Dangerous are many shades of grey and not just simple black and white. Many will say the Federation is the good guys and the Empire is the bad guys with the Alliance being a bunch of wild cards that just won't pick a side, personally if and when I do pledge loyalty to a faction it will likely be the Alliance. Now I've spent a lot of time working with the Federation but as I've worked with them and watched the things that have been allowed to happen under their watch it makes me question the moral compass of the Federation. Look at Lakon as a fine example, being bought up by Core Dynamics to keep someone from revealing blackmail, all made possible by the environment created by the Federation that so long as you have more money than someone else you can do whatever you want. Now the obvious argument against the Empire is that slavery is wrong, and yes it is, but tell me what's worse as a slave, living your life knowing you are a slave and dreaming of the day you are set free or escape, or being a slave because a financial system that keeps you in place as a slave all while giving you the illusion you are free. No the only faction that truly is free of slavery in my opinion at least is the Alliance. There's a reason there isn't a hierarchy you can rise up through with the Alliance, because everyone in the Alliance is an equal.

[Sheethead]

Have you seen Aisling? Can't be all that bad...

[Will]

Well empire "slaves" seem to be treated better than Supermarket staff so I think they're ok.

[Agony_Aunt]

Originally posted by danielcave87:

ghorx is right here. slavery in the empires case basically means government worker.

Having worked for the DSS in the UK in a previous life, can confirm, its slavery.

[Smok3y]

I would like to see imperial slaves transported in economic passenger cabins instead of cargo bays. That way you would be providing a service rather than buying and selling humans