The Powerplay discussion thread.

[MINDWIPE]

i play in open all the time and im not allied with any of thepetty squbbling factions my allignment is to the Pilots Federation and im currently enjoying a 1 year mapping mission into deepspace in my fully armed exporer/combat Anacoda..

i've even made it into a little role play in my household where my children get to participate and take turns at the helm while i cook dinner in the galley etc.. the game is what you make of it. for a while it seemed a tad dull but by applying some creative thinking Elite became fun again and a family experience for me now.

 

[Vasious]

Kinda has to get better... can't get much worse.

Yes, there never has been and never will be, anywhere in the universe or any conceivable or possible universe, a worse game... Always there with the balanced views these days.

 

[Von Shadow]

Having been quite keen on getting involved, i have to say that my interest in it is waning already

I kinda like the whole meta-game etc but the continuous battling for ground, undermind by 5th column types etc etc is becomming a very dull sisyphean task

Moving blobs around on a map isn't interesting long-term ... it needed to be controlled more by the background sim ...plus there needs to be much more point to the whole thing

Its all well and good having a league table but there's no end-game to it .... therefore if there's no tangible point to 'winning'; whats the point?

 

[streki]

hopefully Powerplay is just one new feature among many soon-to-be-added new features, and not a massive direction shift for Elite.
It seems strange though that this particular feature should be released first, especially when its so "un-Elite-like".
Perhaps PP will sink back into a wealth of new features that FD will treat us to in the coming months.

 

[kilvenny]

When the Thargoids arrive PP will suddenly have meaning. I predict the Thargoids will be one of the powers

 

[Philip Coutts]

I've not touched powerplay at all, really doesn't interest me that much. I'd be interested to know how many people are actually participating in it.

 

[Roen Soul]

Yes I understand that, but we need this chat before the powerplay causes the players to kill each other with in the same power. Now that 3rd party connection programs are leading this battle, there are several teams who claim to be the power in control.
They use that 3rd party advantage to oppress other players to follow them. - The pledge and elite ranks has no meaning as long 3rd party players rule. This means being an admin of a website, teamspeak or something is overpowering the game itself.

It takes your selection out from the game and puts you into 3rd party team which is not really giving rats ass how your doing as long people obey them. - This is reason why elite needs a real communication and ranking system which enforces the ranks that the game itself has given. I don't like being pushed around by some website admin who thinks he is the leader of the power because he provides the website ect... The game itself must show the ranks and give the options to players to choose.

The military ranks which Elite provides should have meaning in the game instead of just shadowing in the background as a score. Else this game will never be teamwork, it will be just clans bashing each other.

 

[streki]

When the Thargoids arrive PP will suddenly have meaning.

Actually that could turn PP around. Well observed sir.

This is where story writers are required to develop the Powers' reaction to Thargoids though. The 10 characters could potentially have very interesting sci-fi-soap-opera storylines during an alien war.

Like any politicians, it will be their actions and not their policies that get people on board.

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

So if I'm understanding this properly you came back from a 4 month hiatus after coming back you got killed by a player and that makes Powerplay the worst thing ever?

 

[Lupin]

At the moment Powerplay just seems to be another reason to shoot at one another. Just everything in ED end in conflict?

 

[avow555]

Powerplay is woeful, the sooner they dump up it the better.

 

[FuzzySpider]

Only time will tell but I suspect participation will gradually peter out.

Edit: Is this the 4th week now? So everyone will be getting their fancy modules? Will be interesting to what happens now.

There will be a switchover to get other modules.

Yes, there never has been and never will be, anywhere in the universe or any conceivable or possible universe, a worse game... Always there with the balanced views these days.

Elite is pretty damn good I think.

Powerplay is terrible. It would work absolutely fine as a boardgame but as a massive metagame overlaid onto Elite it doesn't work at all. It is Risk in space, by committee, without any means to communicate the proper moves or a strategy to anyone else on your team, and without the ability to use diplomacy, subterfuge, sabotage, or anything other than hauling leaflets or blowing up enemies to advance your cause.

 

[Krait_79]

I'm pledged to a power but I'm struggling to see the point. Everything in Supercruise now seems to be faction ships rather than pirates etc.

Also just the whole implementation is daft. The galaxy is now in perpetual total war, where a powers actions are driven not by strategy and purpose but the random whim of the players.

I think the whole concept would have been better if it was about the sub factions you see in systems. I.e you help the red mafia of wherever gain influence and territory etc. Yes you can still do that to an extent but i really thought that was what powerplay would focus on. The current setup as i already said makes no sense.

 

[D8ncer]

Think PP is great myself. Maybe I should be framed or shot, or one of the two. Have found a reason to earn credits and now in a group of like-minded people with a common goal and challenges. Think it has improved the game for me at least.

 

[FuzzySpider]

Basically, if the OP's idea is followed...no one would be able to change influence within a local system...because as soon as someone started...the locusts would shut it down.

In what way would they shut it down? Remember changing the influence levels of a minor faction can take a good while within a system. If they did try to stop another faction gaining influence in a system they'd have to stop trying to influencing surrounding systems. The larger a power got, and the more systems it had to try to hold, the more difficult it would be to try and conquer other new systems as forces became more thinly stretched.

Remember, the first commandment of this game is 'Thou shalt not own!' If NPC factions 'owned' a system, you just formalized guild play and control within the game.

Raf's point that these are not connected to the BGS is true at the command and control level...but it does affect markets, player interactions within systems...I know I've traveled to systems to trade and upgrade my weapons..lower my insurance costs, etc.

Power play cannot affect the command and control because of the idea of 'no control'.

Maybe, but if powerplay doesn't effect anything then what is the actual point of it? It can't really be designed to be immersive, engaging, and at the same time "powerless" can it?

 

[Crash1099]

I stopped playing back in Feb when the lack of content finally overtook the 'whee, Elite!' in my brain.

I'd always been an Open player despite having no interest in PvP, figuring I prefer playing with other PvE players, and I could keep away from the PvP areas and stay safe, which I managed to do easily back in Dec-Feb.

I thought I'd come back and take a look at the changes. Had a lot of fun yesterday playing with the changes to combat missions, bounty hunting and smuggling.

Decided today to try out this new 'powerplay' thing. Didn't really understand what it was about, but figured I'd pick a faction, fly to one of their systems and try and figure it out.

Flew to the system, and was instantly interdicted and killed. CMDR just instantly opens up on me, no scan, no chat, no demands, no questions, just plasma accelerators seconds after we drop out of hyperspace. Lost 1.3M for no reason whatsoever. Or was I?

I had no bounty, I was carrying no cargo, I was nowhere near any known PvP area. I can only assume that powerplay allegiance has a PvP mechanic (which I was never warned about, and I'm still looking through the ingame PP stuff and see nothing about) and I was blown up for that. Well good job, commander, you drove yet another player out of Open. Keep it up, I hope you enjoy your empty universe.

Oh, and thanks FD, for tricking me into clicking a PvP flag on while giving me no indication whatsoever that I was doing so.

Do not join it if you do not want to be killed by other factions.

 

[CaptainKremmen]

DEFINITELY get rid of the arbitrary "turn based" mechanics where things flip after a week.

Gets my vote!

What were FD thinking?

Instead have minor factions affiliate themselves with the powers.

Hallelujah.

 

[HeavyGroovez]

I like being aligned with a power and the PvP possibilities it opens up. Plus the perks and goodies are pretty sweet. I have no intent of working past rank 3 however and will power hop to collect all the toys I want. The whole merit grind is not my thing.

 

[Privata]

I like it , but maybe thats because I RP as an alliance defender and go out and attack any and all systems that are too near alliance space. I see a lot of combat and had 2PVP in 2weeks (thats a record compared to 1 encounter every 2-3 months)

 

[Commander Starcloak]

I find that Powerplay mechanics are rather rigid and need more nuance and subtlety to them. It has become the case that player groups are now behaving in strange ways simply because they have to game the system they've been given - and that just shouldn't be happening.

That said, I disagree with the people who say it's end-game, who say it's for people with already established resources. I entered Powerplay with a brand new Clipper I can barely afford to outfit, and 20 million credits in my account. I'm already well on my way to Rating 5 and I anticipate hitting it in a couple of weeks. So you don't have to be an Elite Anaconda with over 300 million in the bank to get into Powerplay.

What's more important to me - despite the valid criticisms I have of the system itself - is what it adds to the depth and roleplay of the game, for me. I don't care about the Power bonuses, I don't care about the Power modules. Just pledge based on your character's ideals and dreams. I've become a lot more engaged with the story and the lore since Powerplay was announced back in April, and really interested and invested in the plot.

Those who are playing for modules, or to hit Rating 5 to get a nice payday for a couple of weeks, the merit farmers... they're all going to leave. They're not going to stick around in Powerplay long. But those who really care, who are invested in the roleplay, those are the loyal pilots that will stay in it and give it their all.