In regards to the respec part, I can also agree that this idea will undermine the respec concept altogether in one very obvious way.

Say for example that you have trained up all the way for Gallente Scout Dropsuits and related weapons. You then see a nice faction item that gives you massive bonuses towards profile dampening and sprint speed. It's the dropsuit version of the Dramiel with slight changes.

Suddenly you want a respec to be able to try it, but lo and behold you need not only the Minmatar Scout suit skills but also the Gallente skills you already have invested in. So getting a respec becomes counter intuitive at that point. At the very least, you know that your Gallente skills have not gone to waste as you still need it for that faction suit you like.

I think you would like Pirate Knives

Sansha's Nation spikey dropsuits, that have a bonus to melee damage :)

More like laser damage. Those spikes are sensors.

Yeh I was thinking about that one when I posted it, seeing as the Minmatar Scout already has the melee bonus. Laser damage and sensor range increased bonuses would work.

makes you feel like Jack Sparrow in the future

Not to **** on your bonfire or anything, but I would imagine CCP is already planning this for the future.
Your post serves as an excellent crash course for those unfamiliar with pirate gear though.

Incidentally: what is the name of the pirate faction for Amarr/Minmatar gear? If there is one.

Blood Raider's, heres one of their ships from EVE. Although they already have Blood Raider gear in game, their colours, bonuses and models are borked! :(

Obviously a great idea. But TBH, you shouldn't have even needed to post this. This should be an obvious next step once all main racial content is released.

I'd kind of like to see this added as an expansion of faction warfare. Make it so that eve and dust players can actually align with a pirate faction.

For example, the Angel Cartel and Serpentis are allied and together aligned against the Gallente / Minmatar. They could be added as a third faction to the Gallente / Caldari warzone. Not allied with the Caldari, but can pick away at undefended Gallente systems.

Most or all of the other pirate factions are the same way, two similar corps who have a specific empire faction as an enemy.

Yeh that would be really nice, seeing how if it was to be released as a FW patch that finally bridges that connection we have all be waiting so long for.
Also if there was a FW patch; I would like to see the implementation of a LP reward system which could be used to acquire these Pirate Faction gear IGÇÖve been speaking of, in turn this would give everyone a legitimate reason to run FW.

Being new to New Eden I was unfamiliar with pirate gear. Having now been informed, I like the idea of pirate gear in DUST 514. I like the point someone mentioned about needing level 5 in desired area (dropsuit command, weaponry, etc) and think level 5 plus proficiency 3 in 2 skiils would be a bit much, although it would make "pirates" less common and more of a niche.

Moved to Feedback/Requests! :)

In EvE pirate ships are more of a niche and their gear is hideously expensive. Those skills that I said should be at level 5 are all x1 skills by the way so getting them skilled up to level 5 should not be an issue for anyone.

Picture this - Sansha's nation dropsuits that have upload all the enemies they've spotted to tacnet again so an entire squad of Nation dropsuits would have a bit of a hive mind.

I like this idea and IGÇÖll iterate upon it:
Saying there were 2 people running Sansha's Nation Dropsuits but they were in different squads. When one used an active scanner or spotted an enemy with passive scanners it would share the locations on the Tacnet to all mercenaries using Sansha's Nation suits. This would then put some sense of; who is in your Pirate Faction within that said match and make Sansha's Nation mercenaries very sought after.

Anyway just throwing that out there.

IGÇÖm guessing Navy Faction gear doesn't require a hybrid of skills too?

Also IGÇÖd like to see the Blood Raider Saga get the Amarr model once its released and the Blood Raider Dropsuit to have its model changed to Amarr (currently its a Caldari one).....

3 years

:'(

Also IGÇÖd like to see the Blood Raider Saga get the Amarr model once its released and the Blood Raider Dropsuit to have its model changed to Amarr (currently its a Caldari one).....

You have no clue how happy that would make me.

Either way, CCP - Release some non caldari bpo's in a merc pack and I'll snap it right up.

If CCP did release these, it would be nice to see some dirty colours to signify Pirates. The suits could be worn, torn, rusted, missing pieces and blood stains on them.

Please Note: This is for when all weaponry and dropsuits have been released and balanced.

Introduction
Other than the 4 main races in New Eden, there are other factions (Pirate Factions) who have their own specialised hybridized variants of current technology. They are often hinted upon all around Dust 514, but youGÇÖve probably not realize that they were a GÇÿFactionGÇÖ. One to mention; Guristas Pirates - The skull with bunny ears that often pops up on the screen in your mercenary quarters. There are many more dotted around with named weaponry and vehicles but to some they wouldn't stand out as if they are a actually an organised faction; rather just a name given to a said item.

Proposal
I would like to propose more Factional items and dropsuits to be introduced but heres the twist. Like in EVE; being able to use factional gear requires a hybrid of racial skills, to which they often pull traits and bonuses from that said race. For example:
To use a GÇ£Guristas Assault RifleGÇ¥ would require the following skills:

Caladri Rail Rifle - Proficiency 3
Gallente Assault Rifle - Proficiency 3

Or

The Angel Cartel's gear requires a hybrid of Minmatar and Gallente. IGÇÖm currently at prototype Winmatar Logistics and fast approaching the status of GÇ£no skills to trainGÇ¥ but IGÇÖm really liking the Gallente logistics bonuses and considering cross training into that. This is where an Angel Cartel Logistics suit would be come into play and would require the following skills to gain access to a basic Angel Cartel's Logistics Dropsuit;

Gallente Logistics 3
Minmatar Logistics 3

Heres a link to show how the Angel Cartel's Dramiel utilizes cross training skill sets in a similar fashion.

Summary
To some this might over complicate things but, this would change the pace, bring some balance to cross training into GÇÿFactionalGÇÖ gear and give those of us who are running out of skills to train, more variety and reason to cross train.
If there was a "Guristas Logistic Dropsuit" for example; the people who have already had their Caldari Logistics suits nerfed would already be halfway there (needing to skill into Gallente Logistics) and wouldn't feel like they have wasted any time or skill points. This could even put an end to the idea of a re-specs for all those people affected by the nerf waggon, weather its about a weapons, dropsuits or vehicles!

I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. And if you are one of the minority of players who are fast approaching the GÇ£no skills to trainGÇ¥, would this added feature make you happy to cross train?
What Pirate Faction weapons, dropsuits or vehicles would you be inclined to cross train into?

Blood raiders would be awesome - gold plates and bloodstains

Not until core content has been implemented. I mentioned this a long long time ago, nothing will happen for many years.

Please Note: This is for when all weaponry and dropsuits have been released and balanced.

Which is why I stated first :

Blood raiders don't have the gold, but they do have the deserty tan of the Matari.

You also just linked Lautrec my FAV DKS character.

I figured we could break with tradition to have some blood soaked Amarr Templars...

Don't even start with that. PIE has an Anti Blood Raiders stance. Sani Sabik are a big no no as I found out when I first applied.

More Lautrec Less Blood Raiders!

Hah, I guess it'll just have to be a faction that lets you RP'ers wear the blood of your enemies...

Meh its some policy they have had for X years I don't know. RP thing and all.

The Guristas Logistics suit could come pre fitted with a Repair Tool to where the sidearm slot would be; giving the user a fast swop to their repair tool. Seeing as in EVE Guristas ships are Drone Boats and we don't have any drones in game as of yet; their nanite technology could be way more advanced giving their Repair Tools the ability to repair armor and replenish ammunition.

Oh yeh! Made it to the weekly updates page, thanks CCP o7

Would this mean all sansha stuff is covered in spikes? Would be rather hard to hold a sanshas rifle.

Oh Oh Oh, can i be a spikey onion man?

Only if you wished to be hated, hunted, and generally reviled by everyone in New Eden.

Because TEST already gets so much love...