Just want to say, that I really like the new V8 way how the inital faction status are determined. We created a new crew last night and connecting them to hunting ground, crew upgrades and contacts brought not only cool story hooks but also a feeling of personal bounding to characters, crew and factions.
IMO that was missing using the old method.
I also like the choices to spend coin to lessen negative effects or going the full +2/-2 instead of only +1/-1.
This, plus: Want to be enemy to a tier 4 faction? Sure, why not! A good story will come frome that.
My conclusion: I well balanced mixture of choice and potential trouble/story.
Plus for new players, they don’t have to try and parse all the various factions and their foibles prior to choosing.
Nathan Roberts True and to the point: As a player you don’t have to scan the whole list and ask yourself “what could be a cool story to go with that choice” but only “ok, we got this lair. which faction may be attached to this? We’re in Six Towers so which faction is active here. Gray Coats? Ok, cool. What’s the lair connection? …” It went pretty smooth and I’m very happy with the result, too.