I'm not sure I understand the appeal (i.e., cost) of certain faction mods. For example a Republic Fleet Tracking Enhancer has virtually identical operational stats as a Tracking Enhancer II; the only appreciable difference is the CPU requirement is somewhat less (8 vs 15 for the T2). Yet the Faction mod contract price is around 75M ISK, the T2 mod is about 1M. Even if you have the LP needed to get one from the LP store the opportunity cost (in tags, cash etc) is still many times that of the T2 mod. I understand why ammo, ships, etc have a premium associated with them - they provide significantly enhanced stats, but a mod like the one described seemingly does not. Why is this so?
Dinghy Young
[ Editor ]
It comes down to one of the following reasons:
fitting requirements and whether you are able to fit a mod that fulfills a certain purpose or not - especially on small ships. For example, on a dramiel, even with above-average fitting skills, you will find the need to use a faction (or plex) microwarpdrive, to be able to put any kind of microwarpdrive on there, along with other mods.
maintaining range - in a ship like the vagabond with 220mm autocannons, having a faction point allows you to stay out of heavy neut range (and out of the range of the other player's normal t2 point)
Better performance - for some ships, where the ship is much much more expensive than the mod in question, like a Machariel, it makes sense to some players to use faction mods (like a Republic fleet gyrostabilizer) to eke out all the damage that they can. One way to see this is that by doing this, they then realize the maximum potential of the ship
Cap Stability might be attained only by using faction mods in some cases, and some players place a premium on this
In general, faction mods give you an edge over other players, improve your performance, or just makes it possible for a ship to do certain things that would be impossible to achieve by not using them at all. Often times, the increased cost is justified by the fact that the faction mods repays for itself, or that without the mod, the ship won't be able to play it's role. Some players also like to think of them as investments, since you can always sell the Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizers later when you are done with your PVE ship, and still reap the benefits for as long as you have it fit. Hope this makes things clearer.
