Though with the differences in scale it'd likely have the similar problem as PP1 - if you're 9th you're not going to get to be 3rd with any plausible effort, not least because you have a fraction of the players so even if you did get to be 3rd you'd never hold it - and even the gap between 4th and 3rd is very substantial in terms of number of systems needed.
Powerplay Faction: Archon Delaine CYCLE 21: Fragilisation
- Thread starter Rebel Yell
- Start date
True, but at the same time its breaking power blocs up and at least establishing mercenary reasons to attack others (so at least random players have incentives guiding them).
And thats the problem with Powerplay 2, unlike with 1 where you really could (in theory) loose a ton of territory quickly you can't do that in PP2.
Saying that you could go the other way and simply do away with the galactic standing altogether, since it has no real value. Go this route and every battle becomes local and probably fits the brief better.
Excluding the specifc powers' perks, which are ofc related to some variables, the main source of undermining should be (as it used to be) combat.
But, point is it was already a dumb nav beacon roaming in PP1 against braindead NPCs, in PP2 is even dumber.
Not only dumber is even worse due to the random punitive spawning [we don't even know if it is a bug to have often other-than-controlling powerplay ships spawning] and the super lobotomized PP2 NPCs (unless one wins the lottery and drops in a Powerplay Distress POI, where eight Elite overpowered 'Condas are there protecting a couple of wings of PP haulers).
PP2 POIs are not a bad idea, but are badly implemented because they are also random, require travelling time in SC and the spawn is not "guaranteed".
A sort of decay for CPs... well, that would remove "hostility" and trust me reinforcements could be as well as unpopular
One of the core issues right now is that the balance is completely off. Certain powers have abilities that allow them to undermine extremely effectively due to their bonuses, while others are more focused on reinforcement or acquisition. On top of that, game-external alliances further distort the playing field. As a result, some powers—like Aisling—experience very little conflict, while others are under near-constant attack.
I've been tracking power activity and generating preliminary heatmaps since January. Aisling remains consistently cold. In contrast, Patreus and Torval face significantly more aggression relative to the amount of space they hold. This constant pressure makes it unlikely that they’ll grow meaningfully in the current system, especially since they often act as a buffer, absorbing attacks that might otherwise target Aisling or the Empress.
True, though even the ones who could undermine effectively generally aren't.
The total balance of reinforcement to undermining is 10:1 in favour of reinforcement; all powers are up on net systems over the last four months.
Doing a quick check of systems with >5000 points of net undermining detected so far in the current cycle:
Code:
+------------------+----------+
| A. Lavigny-Duval | 4 |
| Aisling Duval | 2 |
| Archon Delaine | 5 |
| Denton Patreus | 7 |
| Edmund Mahon | 2 |
| Felicia Winters | 1 |
| Jerome Archer | 2 |
| Li Yong-Rui | 1 |
| Nakato Kaine | 1 |
| Pranav Antal | 2 |
| Yuri Grom | 6 |
| Zemina Torval | 4 |
+------------------+----------+This isn't particularly a sign of superb Federal defence, either - looking at systems with total >10000 points undermining (regardless of reinforcement)
Code:
+------------------+----------+
| A. Lavigny-Duval | 3 |
| Aisling Duval | 2 |
| Archon Delaine | 5 |
| Denton Patreus | 5 |
| Edmund Mahon | 2 |
| Felicia Winters | 3 |
| Jerome Archer | 3 |
| Li Yong-Rui | 4 |
| Nakato Kaine | 3 |
| Pranav Antal | 5 |
| Yuri Grom | 7 |
| Zemina Torval | 2 |
+------------------+----------+
Code:
+------------------+----------+
| A. Lavigny-Duval | 92 |
| Aisling Duval | 81 |
| Archon Delaine | 14 |
| Denton Patreus | 17 |
| Edmund Mahon | 25 |
| Felicia Winters | 24 |
| Jerome Archer | 75 |
| Li Yong-Rui | 52 |
| Nakato Kaine | 25 |
| Pranav Antal | 33 |
| Yuri Grom | 36 |
| Zemina Torval | 19 |
+------------------+----------+Patreus and Torval could be growing basically just as fast as the Emperor or LYR ... if they weren't running on maybe a tenth of the supporters. The minor extra opposition they face would be an irrelevance.
Under attack in theory, perhaps.
But in practice maybe all sides attacking them are expecting someone else to do the work?
- in terms of systems with >1000 undermining they're high but still only have as many as Grom or Mahon
- in terms of systems with >10000 undermining they have fewer than almost half the other powers
- in terms of their average undermining per system they're currently third-lowest
And this is entirely before their defence is considered, where they're pretty mid-table in their ability to outpace undermining with reinforcement
Code:
+------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| power | totalR | totalU | ratio |
+------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Denton Patreus | 980699 | 678212 | 1.4460 |
| Yuri Grom | 2449053 | 678588 | 3.6090 |
| Archon Delaine | 856524 | 203645 | 4.2060 |
| Zemina Torval | 1034394 | 166656 | 6.2068 |
| Edmund Mahon | 1494198 | 188537 | 7.9252 |
| Felicia Winters | 1590268 | 178908 | 8.8887 |
| Jerome Archer | 3311471 | 259468 | 12.7625 |
| Pranav Antal | 2940415 | 196674 | 14.9507 |
| Nakato Kaine | 2220622 | 142611 | 15.5712 |
| A. Lavigny-Duval | 5104645 | 198418 | 25.7267 |
| Aisling Duval | 4472080 | 131949 | 33.8925 |
| Li Yong-Rui | 5374577 | 150840 | 35.6310 |
+------------------+---------+--------+---------+
Over the past 3 weeks, we have had the second-highest net gain in systems of all powers. Whilst we wouldn't mind more players, the larger powers are comprised of 70+% dead weight.
Which is impressive. In comparison to Aisling there is a lot more fluctuation (up and down) in the control values of your systems (at least in my limited data since January). I still think that Patreus and Torval act essentially as shields for Aisling and the Empress (and suffer for it more than the other Zyada powers). Especially with Patreus being cannibalized by Grom currently (We attack him too, of course
, but that's the normal order of things).Yes - Acquisition rates are a very different question.