Faction Territory

I think every single thing you said sounds like it'd be really cool. Definitely would need a lot of work from the team, though (it also is very far down the line).

I talked about some of this in one of my other posts "Dynamic Encounters / Dynamic World", but I think that with how early the game is and how NPCs are supposed to be a much larger part of SE2, they really do have a great opportunity to add some other mechanics like these that weren't in SE1 (whether due to optimization or other constraints).

The difference between the two is that territories are much simpler in scale, you can easily mark an area on the map or have some text pop up "You are now entering Pirate territory" etc, along with some simple patrols or stations that add a lot without needing a lot put in. Interactions (combat) between territories is also relatively simple from a functionality standpoint (throw ships at each other, use AI/automaton (SE1-like) to have them fight dynamically, something likely to be added).

Of course, either way, I would love if they added some more dynamic interactions with the other factions and NPCs that make sense for the world they're building. In SE1, it was always just random ships floating in one way or another, and faction relations didn't really matter. It was somewhat better with MES, but that was super laggy (using Ares at War).

Now just when I thought that I was getting used to posting on the support forum you expect me to use power tools as well!

Depends, there's a few different ways that it could be balanced with PvP in mind a bit more (along with PvE patrols etc).

One of the biggest advantages with a territory system rather than a station system is that if you are required to have an HQ of sorts within each territory (to hold it), then that means it can be anywhere within that territory. This would mean that it would take a while to actually find the HQ in the first place, which gives an extra layer of protection.

Probably the best method I can come up with, though, are shields. No, I am not advocating for having energy shields that use energy to prevent damage, I am instead suggesting an anti-personnel shield that requires a raider or enemy to do a set amount of damage to the station (station-only, ships can be inside a station if worried, otherwise it would be OP) in order to let them board the station. It could probably be cheesed, but I think that this method would be the most fair to all players. If you can't get close enough to do damage (aka if you're throwing bodies at it with grinders), then you simply can't get close without dying. It would need some exceptions for trade stations though (perhaps making the 'shield' a block with a radius, or an exclusion zone using a block).

As for PvE encounters, there could be a check where if any faction members are online (or in a territory/near it) then it can be attacked. As I mentioned originally, "For balance purposes, the raiders would send a warning message of some kind, or a war-cry, saying that they'll be attacking either 'soon' or at Y time." which would give the players an exact time to defend and it wouldn't be out of no-where.

As for hiring NPCs, I could definitely see players using space creds (or whatever they'll be called, if added) to purchase friendly patrols to guard them for X amount of time (almost like upkeep in Rust, except you are paying for patrols). If players want to, they can build their own drones and keep their money, but it provides an alternative for offline protection that isn't meta (like reporting to admins). The reason this wouldn't lead to farming your allies is that they are your allies; if you damage them (SE1 style), you lose reputation, and eventually they can just decide to remove your patrols or attack you with your own patrols. Friendly players don't need door access to allied ships, so they wouldn't be able to steal stuff from inside without going hostile (breaking in).