OK, here's my 5 cents worth...
I tried powerplay once and didn't like it. When bad CG's came out I looked into it more and found that at rank 5 it could be quite lucrative. In the beginning getting there is pretty tough because the entry bar to rank 5 is set pretty high. But once you get there, after 1 week you start being payed 50mil and in my power's case double bounties. Once you play for a a reasonable amount of time you actually start to care about fortifying your systems or choosing the right expansion targets.
Yesterday I was on early when the new cycle has just started and there were no candidates for expansion yet. So instead of supporting someone else's candidates, I had to choose my own. I though about a system that would bring in good profit, be easy to fortify and will prevent another power's expansion into my territory. I then flew there to prepare it, so it would be in the list of choices for expansion. Once it was in the list of choices I backed it with all my votes. When I woke up this morning it was still number two and close to being number one of the backed systems due to other people agreeing with my decision and backing it. So I feel like I am actually making a difference.
So I recommend that you look into it more, as I do hope you can stay addicted, just like me
