I will be trash-talked for this stupid idea definitely and I am conscious about it but anyways:
TL;DR
Exordium gives new players a neutral start, so the four empires don’t need FW’s fenced-off lowsec zone anymore to feel like they’re at war. Make empire affiliation FW-style (join/leave, costs standing), and if your empire is at war with another, CONCORD stops protecting either side anywhere, even in highsec. Only a narrow border strip is contestable for actual sov.
Core Concept
- Four empires framed as in an ongoing war.
- Attack rights: based on affiliation, not location. Always protected against your own empire and neutrals (Which wouldn’t exist as of now since you can only be affiliated to an empire or pirates. Maybe allow Concord or AIR affiliation which restricts as a downside access to resources given by any of the empire), everywhere. Against an empire you’re at war with, no CONCORD, anywhere, symmetric both ways (a Minmatar can hit an Amarr in Amarr space and Amarr can hit Minmatar in Amarr space as well, same applies in Minmatar space). In an all out war between the four empires this would mean that anyone can be shot by anyone but their own affiliated empire in all of empire space.
- Warzone: separate, narrower concept. Only the first 1-2 rows of systems on an empire border are contestable for ownership (plexing or similar). Everywhere else in enemy space: fightable, but sov doesn’t flip.
Empire Affiliation
- Not locked to your starting empire.
- FW-style: join, farm standing, leave, join another. The clue? You can’t be unaffiliated.
- Switching costs standing (old/new faction), earned back over time. No frictionless flip-flopping.
- Takes effect instantly, no 24h delay.
Open Question: 2 vs 4 Empires at War
- A: keep current FW pairs (Amarr/Minmatar, Caldari/Gallente), extend into highsec.
- B: all four at war simultaneously, separate warzones per shared border.
- A is simpler, preserves the existing narrative. B is more contested space but harder to balance/justify.
Trade Hub Impact (intended)
Since attack rights are empire-wide and symmetric, rival-affiliated players are at risk anywhere in enemy space (which in case of Option B above is the entirety of empire space), deep highsec hubs included, not just borders. Routes through enemy territory (even Jita approaches, if at war with Caldari) get genuinely risky. Should make regional/local hubs matter more instead of everyone funneling through one mega-hub.
Plexing / Ownership
- With plexing: border systems flip via FW-style occupancy + LP, extends FW’s existing loop.
- Without: simpler, just combat rights and risk, no ownership layer, easier to ship but loses the territorial-progress feel.
Pirate Factions: Universal Enemies
- Currently each pirate faction only opposes one empire and 2 are joinable
- Proposed: pirates are seen as the rats and illness they are to the universe. Threatening trade routes and prosperity, all empires, despite their ongoing war and different views, decided, that all pirates are to be destroyed for the greater good. Pirates become hostile to all four empires at once, engageable by anyone in any empire space and pirate space, as they can engage any empire-affiliated player in empire and pirate space as well without Concord intervention.
- Needs Zarzakh’s pirate-held space meaningfully expanded into a real home base.
- Creates a natural 3-way dynamic in warzones: empire vs. rival empire, both vs. pirates.
- Pirate Factions themselves could either be allied so pirates can’t shoot other pirates, or just like the empire the different pirate factions can shoot each other.
This would need 3 more Gates from Manifest to the other empire spaces of course, a nice storyline preparing player for what to expect once they leave and a pirate NPC in Exordium with missions leading them to the pirate site, resolving in a final mission that leads them to a wormhole or unexplored ship caster site which brings them to Zarzakh
Relationship to Faction Warfare
This is basically Faction Warfare 2.0. Same loop (affiliation, standing, contested systems, LP), just empire-wide and symmetric instead of lowsec-only and location-gated. No more opt-in toggle, combat rights follow directly from affiliation.’
Edit: Removed some prosa