If its not your problem, why are you here? Dust Uni is asking for help out here.

As far as them them being mercs;- ever played a corp battle with them?

You are just full of horse ****.

As its been suggested a couple of times. What is the general feeling then of the community of a Merc remaining neutral by fighting for anyone?

Would such a freelance corp still be seen as neutral and a corp that business could be done with as long as they were open about it?

This is a good idea. I think CCP should just assign 3-4 districts to DU and let them duke it out there. It will be a good source of income and practice for the students.

I don't think we want to ask for favoritism from CCP..........that would nuke neutrality.....lol

Being open is the key. Declare your position and post your rules.

From what I understand the client will need to provide the squad leaders anyway. Since there is no means to pass ISK outside of a corporation at this point you could have a channel where squad leaders could come and ask for mercenaries and their pay would come from the normal match mechanics. Unless you specifically banned certain corps or alliances from this "merc bazaar" then it would be up to each student to provide their services. Basically, you would have a "looking for squad" channel.

Once the game mechanics open up then methods of payment would have to be considered.

This is a good idea. I think CCP should just assign 3-4 districts to DU and let them duke it out there. It will be a good source of income and practice for the students.

The school corps can pick their own planet and set of districts, declare their intention, and go at it. Those that support the schools can help regulate interference from the community. The schools evolved from the players and should be managed by the players.

The player generated content surrounding this looks really interesting. I can see rogue corps attacking a school but that would provide experience for them. If it becomes overwhelming then stronger corps could step in.

This is a good idea. I think CCP should just assign 3-4 districts to DU and let them duke it out there. It will be a good source of income and practice for the students.

They wont make it! Is it too hard for you to understand that it will be very hard for DU to actually get merc contracts? Fighting other mercs will just be expensive, more than its worth it.

This is Dust. Not Eve! Things are different here;- unless some corp/alliance pays them a shitload of money to take over an empty district.

They need their own playground.

I doubt CCP would act directly and I don't think it's needed. The school corps can pick their own planet and set of districts, declare their intention, and go at it. Those that support the schools can help regulate interference from the community. The schools evolved from the players and should be managed by the players.

The player generated content surrounding this looks really interesting. I can see rogue corps attacking a school but that would provide experience for them. If it becomes overwhelming then stronger corps could step in.

The key is that it couldn't just be Dust University. There would need to be two, or better yet, three "colleges" in order to ensure a good supply of battles within the "training" context. In addition, having a balanced trio would reinforce the neutrality of all of the colleges involved.

What about Bojo's? Correct me if I am wrong but you guys are also a training corp?

You don't think its feasible that university members could be used to fill holes in a corp match?

I would imagine that would depend on the size/power of the corp involved. If it's a big protofest then you're right...but if it's a smaller corp trying to maintain a footprint in New Eden...possibly we could help.

Yes, but I'd like to think of us as a bit more one on one than dust uni

I like the ideas of a University planet but from some reason I keep thinking it should be called Tleilax...

What about Bojo's? Correct me if I am wrong but you guys are also a training corp?

Yes. You do bring out an interesting point out here. Mercing for smaller corps vs smaller corps will work out for you. The payouts may be smaller but will still be profitable for you.

Care to elaborate?

If Bojo feels like adding to the discussion he is more than welcome to, he might have an idea that works that we at D-Uni have missed and even if not would be interesting to get his take on things.

Having said that Bojo might not have the rigid view on neutrality that we at D-Uni have, If not it would certainly give him some extra breathing room in terms of P.C that are unavailable to us.

Might I suggest that the leadership of DU (and indeed perhaps Ivy League) reach out to CEOs of the biggest corps out there. You don't necessarily need anything more than their assurance that their corp will support your plan to have a 'Training Planet'.

Indeed the street goes both ways. Provide quality training to prospective new Mercs and farm them out to big corps with the resources to use them and you will likely find those corps willing to provide ringers to protect your Districts from so called 'rogue' corps.

DU/EU fills a fundamentally necessary role in New Eden, the learning curve is exceptionally steep in the case of both games (sometimes I almost pity little redberries as I kill them two or three at a time.) A basic education and some mentoring is necessary for the majority of players out there who may be unwilling or unable to do their 'homework' and learn about this game.