NeoTrans is an uninteresting faction
And unthemely as well

The code staff and the build staff are different teams. You can't expect 'patch notes' as you put it to always be released everywhere. We're going to code new features and roll them out where we can in the time frame we have in that moment. Then the build staff will determine when they can expand that elsewhere. It's not a conspiracy. It's nothing to be concerned about.

Once FreeSky is drawing folks up on the regular, the key way there will see plenty of action.

@Johnny I understand the concept of the staff divisions, and it wasn't an accusatorial statement I made, it was simply a statement that I didn't know the reasoning behind NeoTrans not receiving these features. Beyond that, you've done little to address my point. NeoTrans controls transport to space yes. However, they don't control the space locations themselves. And thus you've merely exacerbated the problem if you expect that improving the opposite end of the tunnel is going to provide themely and purposeful reasons to be a NeoTrans employee and interact with the location they work in.

You and @GhostInTheMachine also did little to address the fact that I wasn't just talking about the factions implementations in code, in specific. It was talking about the themeliness and the potential for corporate evil that employees of that company have. And in general, it's hard to turn FedEx-Amtrack-Airlines into a well integrated and intimidating part of the world, capable of appealing and abstract forms of corporate evilness, without overly stiffling other elements of the game.

Even in game, you can see this perception.

People FEAR the secrecy of VS, the plagues, the paranoia. It all combines and colludes into an exuding of theme for the faction that can draw players to it.

People FEAR or at least respect NLM's control of the media, their interconnectivity and information networks. It all combines and exudes a sense of theme for the faction that draws people in.

People outright laugh at NeoTrans, what're they gonna do? Ban them from a tiny corner of Gold? What are they gonna do? Send a solo after them? Fuck every other corpie can do the same. NeoTrans exudes a sense of powerlessness and a lack of focus from it's basic integration into the world, to its laughable lack of focus in it's employees. To the point where employees who might be very good members of that respective group, who might help SHAPE and form the nucleus of a factions image. Can do nothing to shake the reputation that has ALREADY been formed.

I can see NeoTrans boycotting a single corporation as leverage - costing that corporation far more financial damage than the damage 50 solos could inflict. That is one example where their IC business model could be realistically used to combat the others.

As a player with limited exposure to inner workings of those specific corps, it seems more that VS and NLM are more intimidating because they’ve had very enthusiastic and power hungry PCs making moves within them and beyond. What we are seeing now are the results of years and years of plots ago.

Whereas some might see NeoTrans as too weak to bother investing time in - I see NeoTrans as ripe for a scheming corpie PC to get themselves elevated and start using the IC Lore power of NeoTrans to become very influential with less internal competition.

Remember it’s the PCs that create corporate influence that can last for years after they are long permed - not the staff.

I agree NEO has always seemed lackluster and the little brother of the big (playable) three. And yes, players come and go and different corps get different players, but I think NEO's problem is it's identity doesn't really translate into much, as the original post says. And I also don't think relying on GM plots is a solution, either. GM plots should be done to spice up the game, not patch over parts of it where nothing is really happening.

What's weird to me is that, realistically, they would be one of the coolest factions. A spaceport as an HQ, dominating a lot of travel and commerce, knowing what AVs, ships and cars are coming and going, what shipments are being made... There's a lot there. But you just don't see it ingame (and for that reason I also think 'you just don't see what's happening there unless you work there' is a good justification here).

I think it'd be cool if NEO could be expanded to have a lot more presence throughout the city. NLM has the grid, SIC and TV, VS has pharma and biotech, NEO just doesn't have anything other than the trips to a few orbital spots. Which are neat, mind you, but unless Freesky and Kashflo have tangible reasons for players to /regularly/ go up there, then it's not much to stand on.

I think a cool change would be for NEO to control everything going in and out of the city, by air, land or space. They could be the guards at the Omega gate instead of... I don't remember if they're WJF or just faceless Wickes or something. They could control the levs, the tubes, control traffic, have access to shortcuts and hidden places for smuggling purposes, maybe decide on a different type of goods that gets brought in every month and can ONLY be obtained via them, etc. They could be the ultimate corporate fixers, I think that would be a cool spot for them.

One thing that I have observed, at least to my knowledge, is that Neo doesn't have any 'core mission jobs' -- it has pilots and security officers and HR and all of the 'support positions', but it doesn't have jobs that uniquely Neo's, really.

Compare:

VS has scientists -- they are the core talent of the corp, and everyone else is kind of supporting their work.

NLM has entertainers, TV writers, journalists, and gridworks who are the core talent of the corp. (It's also worth saying that NLM has -way more- under its umbrella than everyone else, which is maybe an issue.)

There's no one at Neo whose job it is to run the actual corp's business, nor really a clear idea what that is. The other corporations are producing things that happen in the game -- mostly IC art or new science things -- but Neo doesn't have something that they are producing in the same way, and this seems a real issue.

I have played in Two Corps with very different flavors. But in both cases the things that I went to go do often were dictated in large part by what the Corporation was attempting to do.

In one I had a direct job function that was unique to the corporation. I spent time and RP in the space and a lot of my plots related to it.

In the other I had a generic position, but my plots were often driven by the needs of that corporations specific purpose. I would receive tasks and assignments that enhanced by relatively mundane job.

Many jobs are not terribly interesting or complicated. They are a reason to be a place and I agree with the designers that this is not farm simulator. I don't want to "run crates" I want to RP with people. But when topside, those jobs become interesting based on the tasks/flavor/goals of your Corp.

Without having a thing that really defines them, I would agree that it's harder to attract people to want to be there. Even Neo's social hub is less desirable than either of the other two corporations. There is little traffic and l think little plot related reason to want to be there. If players don't want to be there, then regardless of the lore, the corporation will get a reputation as an afterthought.

I see the OPs point and also and am really excited to hear Johny's announcement that there will be stuff in FreeSky that will give the corp regular purpose.