As a neutral I get a lot of pressure from all sides to join a faction. Not because people are dead set on me being in their faction, but because if i want to group with people it's a pain for all involved if i have to trek in from someplace with a neutral TP. Given the overwhelming gameplay advantages given to those who align, those of us who have chosen to be neutral usually do it for strong reasons. I get queasy at the notion of having to join a faction for the purely for transportation. A subscribing new member of the guild already left the game after 1 month when he found he was going to have to join a faction to get around at high levels, so I'm not alone here. In fact, the more pressure I get to join a faction to get TPs, the more I find myself regretting getting into this game at all. I love the game, but every time someone tells me to just join a faction to get the TP I regret subscribing and think I should quit as well. If you're going to pretend that any sort of RP happens at all, it's perverse to have such a severe gameplay penalty for neutrality.
I understand that the reason for enforcing no neutral TPs is to make joining a faction attractive. However, wouldn't be enough to have someone in each zone willing to sell anyone a TP for the right price, where the right price was extremely inflated and possibly modified by fame? Corrupt officials are everywhere, why aren't there any in PR or Void? Maybe it could cost 5-10x as much to get a TP if you are neutral in zones that currently require alignment. You'd be slightly rewarded for fame and penalized for neutrality.
I understand that the reason for enforcing no neutral TPs is to make joining a faction attractive. However, wouldn't be enough to have someone in each zone willing to sell anyone a TP for the right price, where the right price was extremely inflated and possibly modified by fame? Corrupt officials are everywhere, why aren't there any in PR or Void? Maybe it could cost 5-10x as much to get a TP if you are neutral in zones that currently require alignment. You'd be slightly rewarded for fame and penalized for neutrality.