1. The choice of sides and your opponents is not very clear and as such you will have a lot of log-offski's and ultimately a confused and possibly terribly under-represented Faction.

Further the visability of matches should not only be improved in the pre-joining stage, but also in the search function. Being able to see battles going on open or closed gives people a sense of what to expect in participation as well as "who is winning"

2. The second is I believe even more crucial for the feature's future in terms of reward. There needs to be more of them.

As I understand it, there is more coming down the road, but for now, we need to see something to the tune of...
(the extra time for match prep) + (Normal Contract) * (FW Modifier [1.5-1.4]) * (Victory/Loss Mod)

You could even throw a few more skills like "Caldari Negotiations" with a 3% or 5% bonus to mission payout per skill level (activated for squad by squad-leader only)

skillbook would greatly encourage teams and even more-so if you give each squad (or team) member a 1-2% stacking bonus per skill level. And be sure to make the leveling to be in the 2x or 3x range so as to dedicate people to a particular choice and further discourage solo play unless they are very dedicated to it already, which is the kind of folks you want anyways.

Example:
Contract Type: Psychological Warfare
Issuing Corp: Tribal Liberation Force
Condition for fulfillment: [25] [headshots] against [any enemy FW opponents] in [4 days] with [any weapon].
Reward: 5 Balac's Sniper Rifles, 2,500,000 isk. 1.5% standings increase with TLF.
Penalty for failure: -.1% standings

I Like this idea except for your standing gains/loses percents.

I'm not sure what you disliked, but I just through a random number out there.

My thoughts from another thread...

If you watched the CCP Eve design blog they talk about how good new game elements need to have clear goals. I have a lot of ideas for more ways to tie FW in Eve and Dust together but battle incentives are probably one of the first things...

So what would be some goals you would want for FW rewards?

Here are mine:

-Provides an increased value for those who participate over pub matches.
-Incentivizes higher skill, team play, and commitment over casual solo farming, but doesn't completely restrict casual play.
-Rewards 'role' work rather than general combat.
-Provides a kind of 'vanity/pride' content between PC and pub matches.
-Doesn't eliminate the mercenary feel central to Dust.

Another thing to keep in mind is that rewards may not have to be at the end of battle. Players could attmept to fulfill personal FW contracts listed on the marketplace, possibly tracked by the CREST system and maybr more than one at a time. They could start simple and get more complex as time went on. Beginning with something like "achieve 5 victories for Gallente in under 12 contracted battles" and get to something as complicated as "destroy 10 enemy CRUs in 5 or fewer contracted battles with the Minmatar Militia"

Example:
Contract Type: Psychological Warfare
Issuing Corp: Tribal Liberation Force
Condition for fulfillment: [25] [headshots] against [any enemy FW opponents] in [4 days] with [any weapon].
Reward: 5 Balac's Sniper Rifles, 2,500,000 isk. 1.5% standings increase with TLF.
Penalty for failure: -.1% standings

or

Contract Type: Medical Specialist
Issuing Corp: Templars Dragonaurs
Condition for fulfillment: Provide [15,000] HP worth of healing on dropsuits in 5 contracted battles with the Templars Dragonaurs.
Reward: Officer grade repair tools and officer grade repair nanohives, 750,000 isk. 1% standings increase.
Penalty for failure: none.

Basically contracts like this would mean that squads would have lots of dynamic goals that they could be attempting to achieve while in battle and goals would be personal, corporate, and not so much ideological or Eve based. The time and battle limit could mean that there would be a higher reward for forgoing the normal way of fighting.

Point 1: Im not sure what you mean about confusing as to the sides you represent, it clearly says do you want to fight for X or Y, so on this initial point of yours I need more clarity as to what you mean. I do however agree that finding a faction match is a chore atm, and yes going in solo you will find a lopsided battle usually, so go with friends.

Point 2: Agreed that there needs to be better rewards but not ISK rewards. There needs to be a faction points system and store just as there is in Eve where you can buy Faction specific gear. Perhaps something akin to a Proto Basic suit that has a camo pattern like these and a lower bar of entry then Proto Basic or perhaps are better stated then Protos like officer suits ands weapons. Upgrades to your District, officer turrets, modules and vehicles?

Point 3: Racial relations skills are a great idea, just make sure that the guy accepting a Faction Contract for your corp/squad (or if you queing up alone you) has the skill

I would really like to help faction warfare become a much more rich aspect of the game's environment that both really reinforces selective gameplay, so that players could opt into a more hardcore approach with its rewards, or something that better suits their individual playstyles. At the same time, something that min/maxers would realize the BEST returns would come from at least significant squad sized cooperation.

I was also going to say that the type of contracts listed on the market could also be a function of how well the various FW sides are doing. The better upgraded and higher tier a faction is the better contracts that could be on market.

My thoughts from another thread...

If you watched the CCP Eve design blog they talk about how good new game elements need to have clear goals. I have a lot of ideas for more ways to tie FW in Eve and Dust together but battle incentives are probably one of the first things...

So what would be some goals you would want for FW rewards?

Here are mine:

-Provides an increased value for those who participate over pub matches.
-Incentivizes higher skill, team play, and commitment over casual solo farming, but doesn't completely restrict casual play.
-Rewards 'role' work rather than general combat.
-Provides a kind of 'vanity/pride' content between PC and pub matches.
-Doesn't eliminate the mercenary feel central to Dust.

Another thing to keep in mind is that rewards may not have to be at the end of battle. Players could attmept to fulfill personal FW contracts listed on the marketplace, possibly tracked by the CREST system and maybr more than one at a time. They could start simple and get more complex as time went on. Beginning with something like "achieve 5 victories for Gallente in under 12 contracted battles" and get to something as complicated as "destroy 10 enemy CRUs in 5 or fewer contracted battles with the Minmatar Militia"

Example:
Contract Type: Psychological Warfare
Issuing Corp: Tribal Liberation Force
Condition for fulfillment: [25] [headshots] against [any enemy FW opponents] in [4 days] with [any weapon].
Reward: 5 Balac's Sniper Rifles, 2,500,000 isk. 1.5% standings increase with TLF.
Penalty for failure: -.1% standings

or

Contract Type: Medical Specialist
Issuing Corp: Templars Dragonaurs
Condition for fulfillment: Provide [15,000] HP worth of healing on dropsuits in 5 contracted battles with the Templars Dragonaurs.
Reward: Officer grade repair tools and officer grade repair nanohives, 750,000 isk. 1% standings increase.
Penalty for failure: none.

Basically contracts like this would mean that squads would have lots of dynamic goals that they could be attempting to achieve while in battle and goals would be personal, corporate, and not so much ideological or Eve based. The time and battle limit could mean that there would be a higher reward for forgoing the normal way of fighting.