Why Multi-Faction
What Aephia Industries hopes to achieve by setting up shop in all three major Factions.
Our focus on ship and component crafting drives many of our strategic decisions, multi-faction included. To deliver on Aephia's vision of being the premier shipbuilder within Star Atlas, we'll require access to networks of resources, manufacturing, and distribution that no single faction can provide.
It was never our intent for other DACs to adopt the same approach. As such, Aephia Industries' success does not hinge on other DACs following the multi-faction path. That said, we, of course, welcome everyone to give it serious consideration!
First Order Benefits – Local Access
Being present in all factions goes a long way towards reaching our goal. Clear first-order benefits include:
Access to all resources—Each faction has near-exclusive access to a few resources (at present, the one faction crystal) within its domain. It stands to reason that the six proprietary and dual-faction manufacturers rely on these faction-specific resources to produce their ships.
Access to local blueprints—Most ship (and component) blueprints can only be obtained from their manufacturer directly. However, to be able to do so, players will first have to build their reputation with that manufacturer. With the six proprietary and dual faction manufacturers headquartered in a single faction, it will likely be a lot easier to increase one's reputation when residing within that faction's borders.
Access to our customers—Crafting ships is only half of the equation for Aephia. Once built, we'll need to make delivery and provide parts to our customers. With access to local markets, we can reach the entire population of the Galia Expanse. At this point in time, ship sales go through the Galactic Marketplace or OTC deals, but in the future, ships will be geo-locked, and many (most?) trades will occur in-game through local marketplaces.
Note that resources could be obtained from the marketplace as well, and this may indeed often prove the better choice. Blueprints, on the other hand, are expected to be soul-bound and are, therefore, untradeable.
Vertical Integration
The marketplace may often be a good source of faction-specific resources or compounds. However, since its inception, Aephia Industries has been striving to achieve full vertical integration of all of its supply lines. As such, direct access to the faction-specific resources and blueprints is highly desirable.
Note that we do not expect Vertical Integration to lead to a monopoly, as the threshold to get into any particular process is very low in Star Atlas.
Second Order Benefits
Having local operations (presence) set up in each of the three major Factions, combined with one (or several) local bases of operations, sets the stage for additional operational benefits. Having secured guild housing on all three Central Space Stations factors into this as well.
Inter-faction Travel—Having a presence at their destination makes it easier for our members to travel between factions. This is important as we expect some players from Faction A will want to spend some time in Faction B (using a Faction Passport) to work on their reputation with one of the Ship Manufacturers headquartered there.
Inter-faction Freight—Having multiple footholds throughout the galaxy makes transporting freight between Factions safer and more efficient—which can be done either through the direct gate between CSSs or the long way around by crossing the HRZ. We want to be able to transport both ships and resources across Factions—the Ships to sell and the resources to allow Faction A members to work on ships from Faction B and C.
Galactic Security - With interests spread across the stars, Aephia will support all factions in protecting Starbases and shipping routes. Our presence will increase the overall safety of non-pirate players as we plan to maintain a defensive stance.
The above points allow our members to more easily work on foreign ship designs while mostly staying within their home Faction. This leads us to two more benefits:
Cross-Faction Ship Sales—We are able to offer ships from any major Faction manufacturer to players residing in any of the other Factions. This ship may have been produced inside of either faction.
Distribution Channels—Additionally, having sales channels in all three major factions enables us to offer all players direct access to ships from minor Faction manufacturers as well. Note that there are 3 single-faction, 3 double-faction, 2 global, and 4 minor-faction manufacturers. Aephia Industries intends to construct and offer ships from all 12 manufacturers.
Player Flexibility
Beyond the above gameplay-related reasons to pursue multi-faction operations, there are several additional practical benefits to this.
The first and most obvious one is that players don't have to consider their choice of Faction when wanting to join Aephia. They may still want to look into Aephia's operations within each faction before making their choice, but at least they know they can join us either way.
Regardless of initial Faction choice, players may want to branch out (multi-account) or even migrate to another Faction completely. This could be incentivized by simple things such as real-life friends joining another Faction or a desire to explore new surroundings and new quests.
Of course, the Faction Balancing mechanic, introduced by the team to SAGE Labs: Starbased, also encourages players to look beyond their faction's borders.
Supporting Multiple Accounts
The team fully expects players to want to dabble with multiple avatars in (potentially) different factions. This is, of course, backed up by data on player behavior in other (traditional) MMO games. Because Aephia Industries operates in all three factions, players can easily create a new avatar elsewhere and have that account join Aephia as well. This way, they are able to remain involved with their DAC, increase their ownership of Aephia (as opposed to spending time outside of Aephia, not doing so), and expand their operations there.
Easier Migration
Changing Factions is not possible, or at least not in a way where you can bring your Player XP, Council Ranks, and License progression with you to a new faction. Instead, a brand-new account would need to be created, meaning your in-game progression would start from scratch. Of course, moving your assets to your new account will be possible (but not straightforward, at least not further down the line). Of course, your Crew members will thankfully also retain their experience and unlocked abilities.
This hefty penalty should encourage most players to stick to the faction they chose originally. But if it does not, then with Aephia Industries, players at least have the option to remain in the same DAC and with the same friends. Of course, directly collaborating with your old pals from your old faction will have become a few magnitudes more difficult (in most cases).
While strict limitations are imposed by the team, with Aephia being present in all three factions, at least there is no need to compromise your involvement with Aephia.
Moving to Aephia
Similarly, players who want to join Aephia at a later point in their Star Atlas careers do not need to create a new account in a different faction. They can take their current account with all its progress and simply join the Aephia branch in their faction.
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