[Wids]

Factions do have that convenience, yes. Random townies tend to say "No, I don't have a quest for you," especially if your Charisma and your Persuade skill aren't so hot. But your faction's questgiver will never turn you away.

But unfortunately, that still doesn't answer Miles' question of whether finishing quests for your faction's questgiver earns better Notoriety and/or faster promotions within your faction than finishing random townie quests or special quests. I've wondered that aplenty in the past and up to the present, and I'm really anticipating what the Priestess of Leira will have to say as soon as Corella finally gets promoted up from Sacramental Chimneysweep.

(Also, do the Harpers have any rank system at all? Eilbren was with the Harpers for quite a while, and she never got promoted at all. The Harpers' questgiver, Lord Whatsisname, only ever gave Eilbren the same "Free this slave" quests over and over, never once mentioning anything about promotions. And the Veiled Tower's priestess was just the kind that heals maladies, sells stuff and takes tithes, so she didn't handle promotions either.)