I probably should point out that I know just as much as any Newbie about Powerplay, as I really don't care much about this aspect of the game. However, those prismatic shields really look sexy and the benefit of using a one class smaller slot for the same shield power is really attractive (so 6A prismatic would equal 7A regular).
So, as a noob in Powerplay, I looked at what I needed to do to get them:
So three weeks have passed, I can finally do something (that helps with the shields)!
Options available:
Prepare and Fortify
Undermine
So only option was to haul 750 tonnes of pamphlets, yeah! Everything else I did in game so far has been white-knuckle intense and riveting by comparison to my hour of Powerplay. I have no inkling how anybody could stand this grind up to level 5 and I do not want to imagine.
Good things is: next Thursday I can buy my Prismatic Shields, in any size and with spares - and happily unpledge, trying hard to forget about Powerplay as soon as I can.
Conclusions:
Powerplay seems to me like something that is more likely to scare off new players than anything else. It either needs to be put out of its misery or reworked from the ground up.
Again, these are my observations as an experienced player (1000 hours+) trying Powerplay for the very first time. I may, of course, have missed something. But if that is the case, I suppose that any real newbie would miss it as well.
So, as a noob in Powerplay, I looked at what I needed to do to get them:
- Pledge to the blue-haired princess - OK
- Wait three weeks - well, WTH, whatever
- Gain 750 merits after the third cycle of PowerPlay to gain rank 3, allowing me to get my paws on those prismatic shields after week 4.
So three weeks have passed, I can finally do something (that helps with the shields)!
Options available:
- Prepare - deliver "Aisling materials" to certain systems
- Fortify - same as above
- Undermine - destroy enemy faction ships in Undermined systems
Prepare and Fortify
- What the heck were they thinking regarding "Aisling materials"? In the year 3,303 we are really distributing paper (plastic?) pamphlets by the metric tonne? 750 tonnes to be exact, to reach rank 3. Even more than 1,000 years earlier, almost all propaganda happened over electronic media. Cannot say that this does much for immersion.
- Prepare and Fortify are exactly the same, not really intriguing gameplay
- You get only 10 tonnes of that Aisling stuff free every 30 minutes - and I thought rares were bad with the 10 minute wait. Graciously, Miss Aisling allows me to buy additional propaganda packs of 10 units for a measly 100,000 CR each. To do this, exactly four clicks are needed. Then you do it again, for a total of 164 clicks to fill the hold of my Cutter. Watching paint dry is fascinating by comparison.
- Now you fly to a destination system in the right state ("Fortify"). Most Aisling Systems are over-fortified several 100% with zero points on undermining from an opposing faction. Your contribution feels really special here.
Undermine
- Well, interesting option, if it was actually available. The powerplay map did not reveal a single Aisling system currently being undermined by somebody. A look at the forum section for Duval confirmed this: nothing is happening, it is as quiet as a graveyard for Aislings followers
So only option was to haul 750 tonnes of pamphlets, yeah! Everything else I did in game so far has been white-knuckle intense and riveting by comparison to my hour of Powerplay. I have no inkling how anybody could stand this grind up to level 5 and I do not want to imagine.
Good things is: next Thursday I can buy my Prismatic Shields, in any size and with spares - and happily unpledge, trying hard to forget about Powerplay as soon as I can.
Conclusions:
- The lead designer responsible for Powerplay must have been a sadist, enjoying the agony of players being tortured to death by boredom and arthritis in their mouse-finger
- How FDev ever thought that this adds anything to the game is beyond me
- I cannot imagine a real newbie to the game being drawn in by this "dramatic" game play element, much more likely it would cause somebody to give up on Elite before giving it a real chance (which would be a pity, considering all the game elements that work and are fun)
- At least Duval's power play faction appears to be almost dead, except for shield grabbers like me. Nothing happening, nothing going on. Some expansion candidates have been "prepared" to the tune of 23,697 tonnes of pamphlets (out of 50 needed), but will not be targeted for expansion as they are money-losing propositions. This indicates that either Aisling supporters are extremely bored or these pamphlet deliveries are made exclusively by guys that want the Prismatics and don't give a hoot about Powerplay otherwise. Same for the non-undermined systems with several hundred percent fortification.
Powerplay seems to me like something that is more likely to scare off new players than anything else. It either needs to be put out of its misery or reworked from the ground up.
Again, these are my observations as an experienced player (1000 hours+) trying Powerplay for the very first time. I may, of course, have missed something. But if that is the case, I suppose that any real newbie would miss it as well.
