Ok, so lets get going:
In Xeno Ranger You will be able to pick any to start from, you can change them during your game
but the ease will depend on the faction you are in and the faction you want to join.
One of the main features will be the different starting options which are heavily tied to factions you can join. Bottom line, your faction ID is important, it will affect a lot of things.
Your path is very open ended but you will have clear goals and progression in the rank systems per faction.
The rank you achieve will also change the other factions perception of you. It will affect how badly they want to kill you for example.
The main factions and part 1 release:
Torans(Human)
-Scattered para military and rebel forces.
-In a long bitter war with Remnant for their home Toran system. They absolutely hate the Remnant.
-Hit and run tactics, bombing campaigns, subversion(especially in home system) etc.
-More willing to work with independent and pirate factions.
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Remnant Core(Human)
-Pure military faction based on large space fleets.
-Have massive presence on certain planets but do not dedicate much to bases.
-At war with Torans, extra brutal toward them.
-Less likely to work with independent and pirate factions.
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Smaller factions(Human)
-Multiple different independent factions with varying allegiances.
-Many small pirate factions without any large planetary presence and are mostly raiding parties coming in from deep space.
-Easy to be closely allied with many at the same time.
-Also includes civilian factions focused on business like mining, trading etc.
Independent player(Human).
-Mercenaries, lone wolves, pirates and player created factions(stretch goal) go here.
-Hardest difficulty, or rather a very tricky one since you are on your own.
-Starting points are more randomized.
Again, you will be able to pick any at the start, your experience can vary greatly depending on this.
Will your actions influence other players of opposing factions? It'd be interesting if, for example, a Remnant Core player's success negatively affects players on the Torans side (less supplies coming from their faction, more hostile NPCs, things becoming more expensive in-game, etc..). I'd imagine one benefit of being an independent could be that you're free from such fluctuations.
Within a sector those sort of things can happen but not the meta. Cutting supplies can happen for certain. You can play it like a single player though and do all that with AI, its a fail safe in case funding does not make it high enough for multiplayer. AI will be there to keep you company :P.