While I see the logic in simply standardizing faction tech the way Qae suggested it, I don't like it. This is because it would pretty much slay the originality in sitting together with your Faction mates and devising a ship all on your own. Sure, the ships all have the basic functions and the fleeting isn't going to come down to a numbers game (I hope to God it never does), but there's a sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from having made something that's your own. There's that feeling that, if you're a member of a Faction putting in your two cents, you've done something tangible and that your opinion truly does matter.
For what you just suggested is right there, immortalized on a submission in your manifest. So yeah, standardizing the faction tech would work, no doubts about it, but it'd take the fun part out of building faction tech. If there wasn't some degree of fun in putting together your faction's fleet, then I'm of the opinion that everyone would have just thrown their hands up by now and gone canon shopping for all their fleet needs.
(And personally, I'm more of a mind with Akio on this one. I've felt that the Factory has been operating fine in its current incarnation, and that the only issue lies in not having enough individuals who enjoy going through submissions and making judgments. The end result was Jacen and Asher zerg rushing the factory on a regular basis with a handful of reviews done by our other staffers. Since policing and judging the optional factory doesn't come in the work expectations of a staffer, to my knowledge, then it would seem that the simplest fix would be picking up a handful of people who do want to review tech in the Factory.)
So, two cents thrown in. Yeah...back to nap!
