Most of the avid readers of this sub-forum understand everything I'm going to say here, but it should do us all good to have something to link back to when it's time for questions.
For the first two years of Power Play, Preparation Sabotage was the easiest way to damage a power from the inside. It was a fifth column attack that no one could properly defend against without sacrificing their efforts in every other aspect of the game. Every Power, at one point or another, suffered from this sabotage. It hasn't gone away, but the introduction of the Consolidation/Preparation Vote has greatly reduced its effectiveness as a weapon.
Consolidation adds an ability to limit your preparations by funnelling unspent Command Capital into a week-long defensive bonus. Length of time pledged plus rating attained contribute to one's ability to vote, presumably ensuring that only the most loyal and dedicated CMDRs have the deciding voice in the decision. You can vote for Preparation or for Consolidation, but it's not as simple as an up-down vote when the Power has specific or strategic aims. Because it's aggregating the entire Power's vote, percentage vote for consolidation determines how much consolidation a Power does.
Easy to understand, right?
Of course, every time you dock at a preparation target, the Power Contact menu tells you that you can help the Power's chances to prepare that system by nominating it.
The Consolidation Vote replaced the Nomination feature, so that menu item is not functional, or misleads those to think they're helping without informing them what they've just done. So please, ignore this until FDev realise it needs to go away.
Now, you've ignored the Nomination, but now it's time to vote, and you're aiming for a specific result. How do you check what the current vote tally is? You accidentally just voted, didn't you? Most of us have done this at least once over the past several months. You can see the current vote tally by clicking the Consolidation Bar, not the vote box, and clicking the Overview Bar brings the vote boxes back up. Here's a GIF:
So, those are the absolute basics of how the Consolidation Vote works. When you've got a Power that wants to aim for 1 prep or 4 preps, but no more, calling for votes gets tricky, because you don't want to go over, because having no expansions can be just as damaging to strategic goals as having 4 expansions when you planned for 1.
Earlier I mentioned the defensive bonus, now I'll explain it. For every 100cc of a Power's surplus that isn't spent on preparation, you increase your undermining triggers by 10%, and that maxes out at 50%. If you consolidate 500cc, enemies essentially have to achieve 150% success to undermine a system. Consolidating over 500cc has no benefit except limiting your preparations. Many have decried this defensive bonus as the cause for the stagnation of Power Play, but it's worth noting that half a dozen massive turmoils have occurred since Consolidation was introduced. The balancing and capabilities of Consolidation is a discussion to have for later, but every single Power has enjoyed the curtailing of absolutely absurd levels of fifth column preparation sabotage.
Thank you for your time, and I hope this helps everyone understand the system better.
For the first two years of Power Play, Preparation Sabotage was the easiest way to damage a power from the inside. It was a fifth column attack that no one could properly defend against without sacrificing their efforts in every other aspect of the game. Every Power, at one point or another, suffered from this sabotage. It hasn't gone away, but the introduction of the Consolidation/Preparation Vote has greatly reduced its effectiveness as a weapon.
Consolidation adds an ability to limit your preparations by funnelling unspent Command Capital into a week-long defensive bonus. Length of time pledged plus rating attained contribute to one's ability to vote, presumably ensuring that only the most loyal and dedicated CMDRs have the deciding voice in the decision. You can vote for Preparation or for Consolidation, but it's not as simple as an up-down vote when the Power has specific or strategic aims. Because it's aggregating the entire Power's vote, percentage vote for consolidation determines how much consolidation a Power does.
- Consolidation from 0-24% means the Consolidation Bar is at position 10 on your Preparation List, ensuring the ability to prepare as many as 9 systems if you can afford it.
- Consolidation from 25-49% places the bar at position 5, allowing the Power to prepare 4 systems.
- Consolidation from 50-74% shifts the bar to the 2nd position, ensuring you will only prepare 1 system.
- Consolidation above 75% means your Power will not prepare a system that week.
Easy to understand, right?
Of course, every time you dock at a preparation target, the Power Contact menu tells you that you can help the Power's chances to prepare that system by nominating it.
The Consolidation Vote replaced the Nomination feature, so that menu item is not functional, or misleads those to think they're helping without informing them what they've just done. So please, ignore this until FDev realise it needs to go away.
Now, you've ignored the Nomination, but now it's time to vote, and you're aiming for a specific result. How do you check what the current vote tally is? You accidentally just voted, didn't you? Most of us have done this at least once over the past several months. You can see the current vote tally by clicking the Consolidation Bar, not the vote box, and clicking the Overview Bar brings the vote boxes back up. Here's a GIF:
So, those are the absolute basics of how the Consolidation Vote works. When you've got a Power that wants to aim for 1 prep or 4 preps, but no more, calling for votes gets tricky, because you don't want to go over, because having no expansions can be just as damaging to strategic goals as having 4 expansions when you planned for 1.
Earlier I mentioned the defensive bonus, now I'll explain it. For every 100cc of a Power's surplus that isn't spent on preparation, you increase your undermining triggers by 10%, and that maxes out at 50%. If you consolidate 500cc, enemies essentially have to achieve 150% success to undermine a system. Consolidating over 500cc has no benefit except limiting your preparations. Many have decried this defensive bonus as the cause for the stagnation of Power Play, but it's worth noting that half a dozen massive turmoils have occurred since Consolidation was introduced. The balancing and capabilities of Consolidation is a discussion to have for later, but every single Power has enjoyed the curtailing of absolutely absurd levels of fifth column preparation sabotage.
Thank you for your time, and I hope this helps everyone understand the system better.
