Does anyone else find combat zones weird?

Why so hostile? Everyone has a right to an opinion and his is pretty well thought out. Your opinion and his are on equal footing even though you disagree.

Anyway I think /u/Yin2Falcon is thinking of minor factions differently than you.

The major factions own the system. The planets, resources, stations... everything. The minor factions are responsible for operating/managing everything in that territory. The major faction gets their tax or whatever and the minor faction basically gets to run things. But the minor faction needs to operate within the law of the controlling major faction.

So let's say two minor factions have a disagreement. If they start fighting over a station with civilians then the major faction is affected in every possible way. First it's their property being assaulted/damaged/destroyed. Second it's their civilians potentially being killed. The major faction needs to get involved or they'll lose their perception of control.

OTOH if the minor factions duke it out in open space... no problem. The major faction can take the position of "it's not our problem, they're only hurting each other, let them figure out among themselves".

Think of the cliche US mafia movies and the history they're based on. When the violence got out of control the government stepped in and made it impossible for them to operate. Now mob violence in the open is unheard of.

/r/EliteDangerous Thread Parent