Powerplay Annoyances of PP. Am I doing it wrong?

[Driglok]

I played ED originally at launch and took a long break. Good news, I have returned if full force! During my absence wings became a thing and power play added a new dynamic to the galaxy. Eager to try out the new big features I pledged and rounded up some friends to join me. I flew out to newb space (~130 ly), showed them the ropes, got them in a better ship, flew to my neighborhood, and I did this 4 times because my friends can't seem to start playing a game all on the same night.
So what's the problem? The problem is I was getting interdicted a magnitude of order more frequently than my neutral comrades even in the following weeks. Almost every third system jump an NPC wanted to take me out of super cruise to teach me the error of participating in PP.
I found this frequent interruption from my normal activities dreadfully inconveniencing particularly when I am trying to teach new players how to not smash into a planet at 2.6c. Thus I left my faction and have have been able to enjoy the game with my friends with limited interference.
So where is the pay off in PP? So there are some cool items you can get after a month but honestly I am not sure they are even worth the annoyance. I guess you can fell like your actions have a small part on a greater battle. But is the time investment worth the dismal salary you receive? Can some of you active Power Players quash my doubts about Power Play?

 

[SpionKop]

Get a Anaconda, good for your trade runs and when you do get interdicted just turn to face them and pew pew. Also keep doing the same runs for a while as this will lower the interdiction rate because you've killed a lot and the local security will increase.

or

Get a fast trade ship and run

 

[Driglok]

You're saying that there is persistence in the density of enemy agents? I have not tried this theory nor have I gotten to an anaconda yet. Currently I have a T-7, Imperial Courier, and a Diamondback Explorer for trade, combat, and exploration respectively. I bet I could combine the first two into an anaconda if I wanted.

 

[Martin Schou]

Pledging to a power has upsides and downsides. The downside being that you become a target for the powerplay NPCs that spawn in systems.

 

[Martin Schou]

Just a follow up to my post.

If most of what you and your friends are doing is trading, you can take advantage of some of the powerplay upsides that comes with being pledged to Edmund Mahon at rating two (requires 100 merits). If you manage to get the 100 merits before Thursday Morning at 7 AM game time (about 8 hours from the time of this post), next week you will see your profits be increased by between 10 and 20% when trading in Edmund Mahon's exploited systems (he has about 1,100, so there's plenty to choose from).

If you wish to take advantage of this, there are a few ways to get 100 merits before the cycle change. Assuming you buy them, it will cost you at most 900,000 credits to get 100 merits.

If you choose combat (undermining), then all you need to do is kill 4 powerplay NPCs in an enemy power's control system (which is any of them), and then hand the merits in at a Mahon control system.

The best thing you can do is to quickly join the /r/EliteMahon subreddit's TeamSpeak server. The address is thargoid.space:9987 (remember the :9987 part) and the password (for some stupid reason) is mahonnaise. It is always populated at this time in the cycle, and there are plenty of people who can help you along.

Whatever you choose, good luck and fly safe.

 

[Driglok]

Awesome info! Thanks!