Kahlim

I agree with Avani that getting into QAR to buy items isn't much of an issue, but the way I see it that's the least useful service the base provides. Docking repairs your hull and the structure of your items, gives access to the vault, NPCs for missions, manufacturing terminals (especially useful for ammo), analyze terminals, vendors to sell loot. Basically it means you don't have to fly all the way to Prasad every time your hull gets full or you run out of ammo or you take too much damage, THAT'S where its main utility lies. I don't think anyone believes that the RD gates are an exploit, I mean it's not a bug nor is them currently being open unintended. Don't know about the numbers for trade runs but if they're true then by your own argument the main usefulness of the gates isn't for trade but to gain access to BBW's drone drops and the Controller raid which should take at least some amount of effort to gain access to just like DT does (maybe the fishbowl is supposed to as well only did it 2 or 3 times in live so can't really remember). But even if those numbers are wrong and BBW is useful for trade runs then it should still take some effort since it's a shortcut which gives players an advantage, in the other two types of xp going to more effort reaps better rewards but in trade short-cuts to the route are the only reward I can think of that's currently in the game. In combat the easiet route is to buy vendor weapons but they're not very good so people go to the effort of getting player made versions (usually having to collect the required components) often of weapons that are loot only (making them more difficult to get) because they're better and increase the amount of combat xp you can get in a given time. In mining it's easiest to go to fields that are marked on the map but they're often camped and not very good so people go looking for hidden orefields to increase their profit/explore xp. When warping around looking for the hidden navs gets you much more xp than if you had just followed what's on the map. But in trade there's no extra effort a player can go to that gives them any sort of advantage (again that I've been able to think of, let me know if you've got one). In the end the entire game (and I guess most MMORPGs in general) is a big game of effort and reward, if you want the best items you have to go to raids and kill mobs with really low drop rates, if you want the best ore hauls you have to search vast areas for hidden fields (ok so most people know where they are, but apparently they're going to start to be moved around so you'll have to find them again), and to get the best trade runs you have to get cozy with the guys who know all the back doors.

I had an idea awhile ago for a faction unlock system for RD space don't know if it's any good but I'll throw it in here. All the numbers are arbitrary just using them to help illustrate my point. Basically my idea is to have gates and stations in RD space unlock incrementally starting with the BBW gates (at let's say 0 faction) followed by QAR at 1000, then the Paramis gates at 2000, Paramis Station at 3000. The way I see it working is that up until high levels all most players really want is access to the trade shortcut BBW provides, when they get higher and start hunting there then QAR makes for a convienient place to re-arm and repair, later they'll want access to Paramis for GoBB and the nice returns farming Controller drones brings but at first they'll still have to go back to QAR to reload/ sell drops etc giving them an incentive to continue to gain faction until they can unlock the utility of Paramis station. Assuming that the Sho'da'kan Nebula is intended to become a playable sector at some point this could extend to that at 4000 and so on. On top of this you could also make final requirements for each step, say having a RD carrier sitting outside each station which gives you a mission at the required faction level (nothing too long or difficult say a 5 step mission that doesn't require you to fly all across the galaxy) to finally allow you to enter the base and for the gates I'd suggest an obnoxious RD Gatemaster who demands a one off payment to unlock the gates for you (don't know if that's possible to do). I guess what I'm really saying is that it shouldn't be just a one or two step process to go from hated by the RD's to completely trusted and allowed free reign, they're pirates and it fits that they'd only slowly allow you access to their sectors/ bases and be out to get something off you at every turn. From the utility perspective it gives players a reason to keep going out to get more faction while not giving them everything in one go or putting rewards so far out of reach that they just wont bother. I'd also suggest the starting RD faction be closer to 0 than it is currently since this system would allow you to slowly give players more access to RD space than the big lump you would recieve it in under the current system once the gates are faction controlled again. Ultimately I think that players would be happier with faction grinding under this system because instead of a huge faction gain being required to access some content you can exploit and a bunch of content you maybe can't (thinking especially of lower level players wanting trade run access but not having any use for QAR or Paramis station or the mobs in BBW and Paramis), they can instead unlock the content that they can use in smaller increments without reducing the overall amount of faction leveling ultimately required to unlock all the content. Sorry if I repeated myself in there took me awhile to write