That’s not the kind of risk I’m talking about.
Assuming that both Commanders are equipped suitably for the task at hand, here’s what the outcome matrix looks like for what was my most common PvP encounter before I switched to the BGS side of PowerPlay:
View attachment 389838
Unless the Underminer is planning on “sniping” a control system for some unlikely reason, there is hardly any situation where the Fortifier comes out
ahead in this scenario, and could easily come out behind. The best they can do is break even.
OTOH, there is rarely
any scenario where the Underminer comes out
behind in this scenario. The worst they can do is break even, and could easily come out ahead due to preventing fortification merits from being delivered.
This is what I mean when I say how skewed the current PvP paradigm is. Even
if both ships were equally matched, the hauler has much to lose, and nothing to gain. The attacker has nothing to lose, and much to gain.
This is something that needs to be addressed if you expect non-PvP oriented PowerPlayers to ever
engage in PvP. Both sides needs to have something on the table.
Personally, I’m hoping that PowerPlay 2.0 will change the paradigm of PowerPlay to not only enough to encourage flying multi-role ships, but also addresses the often very lopsided disparity in risk and reward.
…
And yes, I am very much aware of how, when the stars align, sometimes there’s an opposed combat expansion where both sides have a lot in the line. I’m talking about what I consider to be core PowerPlay activity here.