If you're a fan of Battletech lore, you already know where I'm about to go with this.

I would like to propose the creation of a planet/organization for independent merc companies free of the complicated and convoluted politics of alliances and the like. In the universe of Battletech, Outreach is a planet that is (de facto) owned by a mercenary company known as the Wolf's Dragoons. This planet became their base of operations as well as an oasis for other mercenary companies. Different factions from across the galaxy would travel to Outreach to find a mercenary company to take their contract, ranging from planetary governments needing an experienced force to bolster their militia to Soveriegn States wishing to contract large merc companies to help in their latest war against their rivals.

I want to create something of the sort here in Dust. A planet whose districts are completely owned by independent merc companies. The mercs of this planet would have a non-aggression pack and the top 10 merc companies of this organization would each have at least one district. On the metagame side of things, we would create an organization that would bring together all the independent merc companies into one place, making it easier for prospective employers to find a company to fit their needs. This would facilitate relations with the Eve mega-corps that will be employing us as well as those Dust corps that will need ringers for their on planetary battles.

We can create a website with profiles on each affiliated merc company as well as links to their own websites. We can create the standards by which merc's are contracted in our universe, through trial and error. By sharing this resource together, we will be able to pass through the rough birthing phase of Dust/Eve interaction with far more ease than if we each tried to feel it out alone.

What do ya'll think?

Just one planet, so that (once it's ours) it can remain neutral. If attacked by an outside party or if a landholder goes rogue, the rest of the planet attacks them. No aggression beyond the planet will be sponsored, but individual corps are allowed to do whatever they like.

I see this as a loose affiliation. Like how a bunch of professionals get together and create an organization and then give other professionals seals of approval. Like a guild. Or a how colleges get accredited. We will set the standards, the bar that other corps must surpass. If a corp plays by our rules, we vouch for them, and accept liability for them, in return for a small commission on contracts (5%?) and a tax on property(5%?). If a company can't complete a contract to the employers satisfaction, the larger organization steps in, and either ensures it's completion or offers a full refund (on it's own dime). The merc company then receives a red flag and drops in standing.

We could probably create a system of rating for corporations from F to AAA, and as your rating goes up, your contract cost goes up. Want to spend a minimum amount of isk? Contract the D rated merc company. Want guaranteed success? Contract the AAA merc company. Your rating will be calculated based on some formula with variables that include your average SP per combat merc, gear rating, whether or not you can field a full 16 and for what % of the day you can do so, and your employment history.

If you're a fan of Battletech lore, you already know where I'm about to go with this.

I would like to propose the creation of a planet/organization for independent merc companies free of the complicated and convoluted politics of alliances and the like. In the universe of Battletech, Outreach is a planet that is (de facto) owned by a mercenary company known as the Wolf's Dragoons. This planet became their base of operations as well as an oasis for other mercenary companies. Different factions from across the galaxy would travel to Outreach to find a mercenary company to take their contract, ranging from planetary governments needing an experienced force to bolster their militia to Soveriegn States wishing to contract large merc companies to help in their latest war against their rivals.

I want to create something of the sort here in Dust. A planet whose districts are completely owned by independent merc companies. The mercs of this planet would have a non-aggression pack and the top 10 merc companies of this organization would each have at least one district. On the metagame side of things, we would create an organization that would bring together all the independent merc companies into one place, making it easier for prospective employers to find a company to fit their needs. This would facilitate relations with the Eve mega-corps that will be employing us as well as those Dust corps that will need ringers for their on planetary battles.

We can create a website with profiles on each affiliated merc company as well as links to their own websites. We can create the standards by which merc's are contracted in our universe, through trial and error. By sharing this resource together, we will be able to pass through the rough birthing phase of Dust/Eve interaction with far more ease than if we each tried to feel it out alone.

What do ya'll think?

I can see this working, but only under very specific circumstances.

1. The chosen planet must have NO inherent strategic value beyond the ISK value of owning districts. This means it can't be in a system that acts as a bottleneck for travel anywhere in the region. There needs to be another planet in the system, and there need to be available planets for conquest in all adjacent systems, unless the "empty" system leads nowhere. A lone planet could be viable in a "dead end" system, but placing a mercenary hub in such a location would reduce the practicality of approaching it in the first place, and remote or dead-end systems have an inherent value as soon as someone holds the route into them.

2. Clones produced by Outreach districts must be at least nominally restricted to Outreach. There are 3 ways this may happen.
2a. Corporations may hold territory in Outreach, but may not maintain a Research Lab, and may not hold territory within 2 jumps of Outreach.
2b. Corporations who hold Outreach must otherwise operate under a STRICT Merc-only policy. Not a single district may be held by Outreach Mercenaries as long as they hold a district on Outreach.
2c. Corporations who hold Outreach are forbidden to move clones from Outreach to other districts, whether to attack another Corporation or to reinforce their own districts on other worlds.

3. While an Outreach Alliance is a good idea, it couldn't function as the sole indicator of membership in the Outreach mercenary programme. The group needs to be open for ANYONE who wants to be involved in mercenary operations in Planetary Conquest. Obviously, a land-holding Corp that's part of a large Alliance should be eligible to use the merc services offered by Outreach, even if (depending how point 2 is handled) they may not be able to hold territory on Outreach.

4. Ideally, all SIs on the planet should be converted to Cargo Hubs (increased clone storage) to make the world minimally viable for staging attacks or as a profit centre, while providing the best defensive capabilities. This would make even claiming a "beachhead" single district on the world a challenging prospect.

I think I love you man.

#1 yes, a planet near the "core" would make more sense from a RP perspective, as it would be a business center planet, so that is what we would probably go for. But the planet chosen will depend not only on what planets are available and their locations, but what corporations are taking what planets. It would be a bad idea to **** off one of the top dogs at the very beginning.

#2 these are very good points you raised and must be contemplated further. 2a I assume this would keep the merc companies from using Outreach as a staging area? 2b I LIKE this idea the most. If you want to be a landholder, you must be representative of the ideals under which Outreach is founded. 2c I think all clones created should be sold and the profit taxed.

#3 this is why I don't want a full alliance. It might be necessary depending on what functionality we gain by creating an alliance to operate under. The whole point of being a true merc is to have relative freedom from the politics of alliances and whatnot, right?

#4 idk about that. If a landholder corp goes rogue, that would make it that much harder for us to take it from them. (the tax would pay for operations taken on a planet/organization wide scale like this)

I want to start at ideal and work backwards to practical and functional.

So, in an ideal world, outreach would have a merc corp rating system. graded from AAA to D, with a suggested contract cost per level.

Do ya'll like this idea and how would it work?

N = number of mercs you can field
G = average gear level of these mercs
1 = militia
3 = standard
5 = advanced
7 = proto
9 = officer
S = Average SP of these mercs
C = contract history (w/l ratio in contract battles only)


An A ranked corp would be able to field 32 players with proto gear and at least 7 mil sp with a w/l ratio of 3.0 (pulling numbers out of my ass)

(N*G + N*S)C=(32*8 + 32*7)3= 1440

And D would field 16 players with std gear and 3 mil sp with a W/L of 1 = 96

So if we set A at 1440...

AAA = 3000
AA = 2000
A = 1400
B = 700
C = 450
D = 100

I think with numbers like this, you could have a variety of corporations at high ranks, i.e. those with a lot of good plays and those with a small number of elite players.


We would have to set up a system to monitor the sponsored corporations, like have alts in their corp who can check up on them, make sure the numbers they give us are legit.

We will have to create modifiers for stuff like skill with A/V and how good they are with vehicles, though w/l ratio might take care of that.

Let's run PFBHz though this formula.

They can(would) field about 16 people I think, maybe 24. We will take 16 to be safe.
From their videos we know they run proto/officer gear so we will give them a score of 8 for gear.
Their average SP is probably around 6.5 mil (some with 7.5 some with 6 or less(rare))
Their win/loss ratio is like 18-24 or some god aweful number like that.

(16*8 + 16*6.5)18 = 4176
This would make them a very strong AAA ranked corporation, which would demand the highest price but all but guarantee success. If they started to lose more battles, they might drop down to an AA unless they increased their numbers or increase the quality of their mercs (gear and SP)

IMPERFECTs do not recognize this organization