Will Tynan EVER revamp factions? I'm so fucking sick of looking at these stupid scattershot settlements. Raiding's a joke since there's no long term benefits and the most valuable things you'll get on a raid are prisoners for organ harvesting. He doesn't need to go full 4X or anything, but the game desperately needs some sort of world history function to make it feel alive instead of a "colonist's distant family are inserted into a raid to force a break." Plus, you could finally add endings that don't involve GTFOing:
>King of the Pirates
Build your gang and write your names in the book of infamy. Cow the civil factions, drive off the empire, and coerce the other pirates to join under your banner, transforming the Rim into a Pirate's Haven.
>A (Mostly) Peaceful Unification
Civilize the Rim through building alliances with civil factions and driving out the pirate, raider, and bandit scum. Either destroy the empire or find a peaceful way to buy the planet from them. See the Rim become an Urbworld.
>Kiss the Ring
Be the slimy weasel you know you are and inveigle yourself with the Empire. Accrue honor, pay bribes, and trade horses to have yourself declared as planetary governor. Unfortunately, other Imperial Factions don't take kindly to upstarts and you'll be fending off unofficial (and possibly official) assassins as you seek to integrate the Rim into the Empire.