Let's see ..
FW payouts are far greater than in pubs and you can additionally boost them

People demand team deploy in FW which would isolte FW to limited group only.
16 man squad can only be beaten by another 16 man squad. That's also why qsync guarantees free win if other team doesn't have a qsync or a single good squad + average blues.

FW does not use matchmaking. Mu score is not involved, what-so-ever, in team formation in FW.

Outside of APEX/Skins, what other reason is there to get into FW, other than the aforementioned lack of matchmaking?

ETA: of course, some people would prefer to fight for the state, but there is little benefit to it... FW has been, for a long time, an isk sink, and the payouts, as far as LP/loyalty store are lackluster, at best. The LP store needs a complete rework, imo.

As stated before, there are outliers, specifically the Amarr uplinks, Min rep tool, Gal scanner, and Cal needle. Past that, the modules and suits will run you a net negative, in isk terms, depending on multiple factor, but you aren't generally saving a lot.

Of the specialist weapons, each race has only 1... the Gal AR specialist is not bad, as there are some small gains to be had, and the same as the SCR, but the overall lower cost is not something that is exceptional for these suits. As well, last time I checked, they were still just slightly easier fitting versions of the prototype versions, so the only gain, here, is a couple of PG is saved... which I never use all of my PG on my Amarr suits, anyways. Further more, the specialist Boundless CR is ok, as the fitting costs for these weapons are already really low, and you end up saving only 1 PG, or so, after the innate assault bonus is taken into account. As far as the Caldari, however, the Kaalakiota Specialist RR has 2 less PG than the normal prototype, which means, it fits like the Ishukone Assault, which, even with equal fitting requirements, is still a better weapon, imho.

So... the list of "good items" from the shop would be what...? APEX (sold for isk), skins (sold for isk), and 4 equipment, which are actually extremely viable and useful.

What would be the consensus on LP exchanges? Trading Minmatar LP for Amarr gear, but at a far higher rate and only after a certain LP level.

Normally I would never say this idea as it would then fit into my BlackMarket ideals once we had a Massive, self-staining economy, but working with what we have, why not?

Lore: After serving on the battlefields of the State for years, Headstrong had finally achieved level 3 loyalty. Numerous Gallente villages, burned, ships boarded, battles won. The Ishukone Executive approached him following his latest victory.

"Impressive, Mr. Headstrong. 100 battles won for us, we value such service."
"Thank you sir...but there is an issue..."
"What is it?" The stern faced man grumbled.
"I am a Minmatar Scout user, using augmented hacking speeds to win. However, the filthy Gallente have my tech in their War Arsenals."
The Caldari smiled. "Very well then...you have proven your loyalty to us after all this time. For three times the LP, we will get you some Codebreakers."

TLDR At Loyalty Rank 2, you are able to exchange LP of your faction for LP of another faction at a rate of 6 to 1.

At Loyalty Rank 3, you may exchange LP for a rate of 4:1

Loyalty Rank 5, 2:1

And Loyalty rank 7- 1:1

Numbers subject to debate of course...

I agree with this. It's much easier to have the common modules available to all factions. You can adjust the lore to fit that situation by saying that the Minmatar managed to steal the designs for the Nova Knives from the Caldari while negotiating with the Gallente to give them the designs for making codebreakers.

Steve Ronuken: lore is: 'you buy what the broker wants, give it to him, and he gives you what you actually wanted'. But without the annoying crap

Sounds good :)

I like how it ties in the total percentage of district ownership to the conversion rate.

Loyalty store parity. All faction gear available at all levels.

You could reduce the fitting cost slightly of FW items and add non damage relate improvements to weapon stats. Less charge up on RR, less feedback damage on ScR, a scope on the acr, an AR with a mini plasma cannon that you can select from the equipment wheel. Personally I'd prefer items that are similar yet slightly altered to the original. Making FW items more unique.

Faster base reload
Cool down times
Larger magazines
Decreased PG/CPU
Higher accuracy rating

All possible difference makers between FW and isk gear.

On a side note, what about grenades?

I'm actually a really big fan of Mina's reminder of the MWO model in which players can opt in on contracts for a faction. This I feel expresses more what Factional Warfare is than any model suggested thus far. Remember of course we are not actually a part of any military in New Eden and are merely endorsed as privateers/paramilitaries by the governments to fight in their proxy wars.

Under that model it allows players to determine the amount of time they wish to spend fighting for a faction, either the 7,14,28, or indefinite contracts each with their own corresponding LP modifiers and penalties for breaking contract.

It present the concept of loyalty in a mature and flexible manner.

Beyond that there are a few more things I'd like to see even if not likely to be iterated upon but those in another post since I haven't fully collected my thoughts.

Basically its a system drawn from Mechwarrior Online in which players can sign on to factions by picking contracts for set periods of time.

Each contract type also has a corresponding LP modifier which increases depending on how long you sign up. Contracts however can be betrayed of course so as not to lock players into FW factions they don't want to be a part of but those contrcts broken penalize players.

I find it amusing that there are things being brought up in this thread that were brought up 1-1/2 years ago that were ignored then and are now like ******* scripture.

I wonder how things would've gone had they listened then?

I am hoping that they listen this time around.