This is based on the assumption that there is no intention to put any more significant development into the NSO, which based on what we've seen seems like a fair assumption. Just let the NSOs access the faction specific equipment, but only from the faction they are currently playing for. You can write whatever lore reason you want for it, lore is cheep, "one faction blinked first and gave their NSOs equipment despite mistrust and gained an advantage the others couldn't leave uncountered..." This would soak a lot of certs out of the NSOs, as they would have a lot more gear to buy than normal characters. I don't think this would lead to players abandoning their normal characters, as for one they have how many years of certs in them? And two, they will want to be able to regularly play with their friends and outfits. It also might help to address those annoying rants of "X equipment is so OP, rarrrarraabutthurt", as if there were NSOs in the platoon who use that piece of equipment, they might be able to...politely suggest how the complaining player could play better against it. To be clear, I'm not suggesting taking away the couple NSO specific things they did make (MAXes, Jetbikes...am I missing anything?) just leave those in as bonuses. I did log into my NSO a bit today, and it is actually it's own kind of fun. I know I'm playing for the faction that is down on numbers and just lending them a hand. Nobody knows me, nobody expects anything from me, if I have a bad run for a few lives, oh well, it's not like I prevented somebody better from being here. There's no pressure, I can just play.
It has been suggested already and it is a good one. Since NSO have membership they receive DBG each month which they could invest in buying faction specific weapons with a double use. I play only NSO at this time. After a while you get accustomed to the few options you have but I would love to use different LMGs (Anchor, Watchman, Orion, ...), Carbines (Horizon, Kindred, Pulsar-C, Razor + all the bullet hoses) and alternatives to the Yumi (which I refuse to touch). Without forgetting all the sidearms and the best rocket launcher of PS2, the Striker.
They really dont care about the NSO and it's really lame. Also needing a permanent subscription to even access it makes it even more lame. What's the point investing into an NSO if you get blocked from playing someday.
So just to menthion it, if anyone didn't read/hear this already. On fridays developer stream, Wrel and Andy announced an overhaul for NSOs, making them free to play. The only membership benefit then is you can assing your NSO to one faction. I can ashure you the Kuwa is good, though it needs a little bit of practise. The only downsight it has is, if someone gets the jump on you. Also I can higly recommend to unlock the Kappa SMG. Sesshin (arx Battlerifle) is ok and Yawara (arx Pistol) is nice to have.
