Faction warfare standings
Some pilots may be concerned that joining Factional Warfare will result in irreparable damage to some of their faction standings, leaving them excluded from some empire space for the rest of their eve career. This isn't necessarily the case, as pilots can participate in Factional Warfare without ruining their standings, if they don't want to.
In summary, you don't actually lose faction standing for killing other pvp pilots (you do lose enemy faction war corporation standing, but who cares about that?!?).
You'll only lose enemy faction standing for killing faction NPC's in plexes, or by getting 'promoted' by your own (npc) faction warfare corporation, which will happen as a result of completing plexes or missions. You don't have to complete plexes to get the pvp you desire (but can still go in them to use their tactical benefits). You don't need to do missions.
Actions that affect standings
The following actions affect your standing with various bodies in different ways:
Killing/podding a player who is a member of an NPC FW corporation
If you kill/pod a player in an NPC FW corporation, then your standing with that corporation will decrease. Your standing with that player's FW faction will remain unchanged.
E.g. A member of Thukk U kills a member of the 24th Imperial Crusade (Amarr NPC corp). The Thukk U pilot will lose standing with the 24th Imperial Crusade, but not with the Amarr faction.
Killing/podding a player who is a member of a player FW corporation
If you kill/pod a player in an player FW corporation, then all standings will remain unchanged.
Killing NPCs in a FW plex
If you kill NPCs in a FW plex, then you will lose standing with that faction, much like you would if you killed those NPCs in a regular mission.
Completing a FW plex
If you complete a plex (which simply requires that you are present in it at the moment it is captured), you gain standing for your own NPC FW corporation. You gain this standing regardless of whether you are a member of that NPC faction, or in a player corporation.
E.g. A member of Thukk U would gain standing with Tribal Liberation Force for completing a plex, as would a member of Tribal Liberation Force itself.
Completing a FW control bunker capture
TBC
Completing a FW mission
TBC
Being promoted by the FW corp
When your standing with your own NPC FW corporation reaches certain points, you will get promoted to a new rank.
When this happens you will get a boost to that factions standing too, and the corresponding gains and losses to all other factions in the game, much like you do when you complete a storyline mission.
E.g. When a member of Thukk U gained enough standing with Tribal Liberation Force to be promoted, he will gain standing for Minmatar, Galentte etc, and lose standing for Amarr, Caldari etc.
Empire space travel restrictions in Factional Warfare
If you enter opposition hi-sec territory whilst part of Factional Warfare, the NPC navies of that faction will spawn on you. There are no navy spawns entering opposition low-sec. E.g. A member of Thukk U entering Amarr or Caldari hi-sec will have those faction navies spawned on them.
Note: This doesn't mean that those areas of empire are totally inaccessible.
If you leave Factional Warfare, you are free to enter all empire, as long as your faction standing is above -5.
FAQ
Do you need to run plexes?
Plexes can be useful tactically, as the acceleration gates restrict certain class ships entering them. This can enable you to get some slightly fairer PvP action.
You don't need to complete the plex to achieve this. If others in your group wanted to complete the plex you could warp out just before it captured to avoid gaining standing.
Do you need to shoot NPCs in plexes
In defensive plexes, the NPCs are you own faction - don't shoot them!!!
In offensive plexes, the NPCs are from your opposition factions. You can choose to shoot them or speed tank them if you wish to complete the plex. If you just want to use the complex tactically, you can stay out of aggro range.
Do you need to run missions?
No, not at all.
So I could take part in FW without hurting my faction standings in any way?
Yes. As long as you never complete complexes, shoot faction NPCs or do FW missions.
To put that in perspective, the author has lost a grand total of 0.01 standing with the Amarr since joining Thukk U about three weeks ago.
