Would make it so that loyalty Meant nothing as you could attain the points from fighting for anyone. Racial bonuses are badbecause it basically forces the player to fight for a faction they may not like to get the gear they want.

I picture standings being like:

Fight a battle for the AMARR=

Standings shift:

Amarr +5
Minmatar -5

or

Amarr +5
Caldari +1
Minmatar -5
Gallente -1

If you decide to change factions somewhere down the road, you'd have to dig yourself out if you were going Minmatar from Amarr. This is appropriate for a system predicated on "Loyalty".

Standings unlock faction-related gear.

On the low end, basic armaments, like 100 Amarr standing = slightly improved militia variants (Royal Surplus Medium Frame, Royal Surplus Heavy Frame, Royal Surplus Scrambler pistol, etc.). These are priced in ISK.

Higher tiers unlock improved versions, and more expensive types of gear. STD guns/suits might be unlocked at the same time as faction militia vehicles. BPO items (priced in AUR) are also unlocked past the regular tier, so you might be at ADV level standing-wise before you can buy a special faction-variant of a STD dropsuit or weapon (similar to an Exile or Raven suit).

It's important that faction rewards actually be unique. The recruit assault rifle is a good example - it's actually different from the militia weapon it's copying (higher damage). Even minor improvements like that can be a good incentive.

OH yay lets add more role play locking in a MERCENARY game

Why in the hell cant I i fight for Amarr with Minmatar gear. In the end the Factions are paying me ISK the whole point of being a dust merc is one of being apathetic to the cares of the capsuleers and the factions. Just because something is so in EVE DOES NOT make it so in Dust.

At the end of the day i should be able to fight for who i want and hell be able to also sabotage who i want. Obviously there has to a risk/reward mechanism involved so i cant just blatantly pick the opposing side and throw every match im in(though im told thats perfectly acceptable in New Eden).

Regardless we are mercenaries dont force the concept of being a foot soldier in an Race's army on the whole iteration. It's perfectly acceptable to make that subcomponent of the game by incentivizing toward loyalty but not by mandating it.

Could we not gain rank/standing based on performance. That leads to greater isk return I think it's a simple design problem and provides players a natural nudge out of instance battles and into FW.

Also earn shiny medals too :-P

I viewed it as the other way around. The whole reason i proposed "set suit fittings" was to "even the playing field" for the noobs. You know..... throwing them a bone or two. I mean, FW should be a place for everyone in my opinion, Null sec PVP is where the "pros" go, not FW. And if your rocking a suit that costs 1M per fit I don't care how rich you are, you can only afford to lose those so often. Your right..... isk doesn't mean much at all right now (especially between veteran players like you or I) However, that's only because of the absence of something to spend all that money on. Theres nothing for us to buy that would actually dig into our wallets. Once CCP fills in that gap your Isk will mean a bit more to you.