How do we think Powerplay is affecting PvP so far? And a small proposal.
No poll, just a discussion!
Maybe it is just me and my usual wing of Arisa Lavigny Duval commanders but more often than not when we go to systems that are indicated as Under Threat or go to places where we think there must be some Federal (or other Power) activity due to progress bar inmmediate activity in search for fun PVP it all ends up in us wasting lots of time trying to find any players.
What in principle should have been some meaningful PvP while undermining, or defending an expansion or a preparation from other players opposing it, in the end becomes a more or less "desperate" attempt to go from random system to random system just to find some enemy players... by then the feeling is completely devoid of context and Powerplay meaning really (cant wait for CQC for some good old straight arena fun though!)
Any of you guys experiencing this in Powerplay aswell, or maybe it is just our bad luck?
Could it be that with Powerplay everyone is so stretched acrosss all systems that there are no real hotspots for PvP as there was with the old CG? Or maybe is it just that everyone is in Solo? Either way it seems to some of our commanders really hard these days to find decent and meaningful encounters within Powerplay context.
As mentioned there could be a few potential reasons for PvP being much harder these days with Powerplay:
1 - Network, server and p2p issues that make players in the same location not being selected in the same instance for combat etc
2 - All willing PvP players are stretched out accross Power and systems each trying to better theirs and very little attempts to make any contact
3 - Most players have retreated to Solo
Not sure yet if the first one is a serious issue, but either way there is little we as players can do about it.
Assuming that at least no 2 or 3 (or both) are indeed serious issues though I think there are a couple of things Devs could consider to improve them:
Create Relevant, but limited in number, Powerplay hotspots in the galaxy:
To avoid players stretching too thin accross all systems among all Powers space, PowerPlay would need to introduce a new game concept: A special type of system, or area of systems that would have much better advantages than the average ones in one way or another, be it much larger CC yields, much larger local trade profit margins etc or a combination of the above, or any other really meaningfull reward of some kind. These kind of systems or areas would need to be relatively limited in number, i.e. probably no more than 2 or 3 per power in total (actual number would need to be scaled on actual Open/PP population etc) so that they can attract players more effectively to them than your average systems.
Now these systems also wouldnt be subject to the usual Turmoil rule (whereby the whole Power needs to go into CC deficit first for systems to start to go into Turmoil) and would be subject to inmediate turmoil if a direct undermine effort was succesfull in a given cycle, irrespective of the net CC of the Power they belong to. Same with revolt.
This proposal would not limit at all Solo access to those systems but at least it would help those who willingly play in Open to find a way to more effectively meet within Powerplay context and meaning.
This would also mean players in a given Power need to take tactical decissions about where to use their numbers, i.e. shall we all go to take that Hotspot or shall we slowly but surely expand our Power in normal systems? etc etc
This proposal is not about PvP vs Solo, or to incentivize Open or Solo play. The goal is to dicuss options to facilitate or funnel those who already want to PvP without having to waste hours to find each other and all within a meaningful Powerplay context if possible.
