Powerplay Edmund Mahon - Week 21 Overview

[Carradin]

Another cycle, another overview post. Last cycle we saw far less undermining than we're used to, leaving many of us scratching our necks and wondering "now what do we do?" when left with absolutely zero last-second fortification to do. I seems unlikely that this will last, but it was nice to experience it once.

Somehow, we're also still #1, which came as a surprise to the statistics team - We'd expected to be ranked 2nd given that ALD got both her expansions and we only got one. That makes a new record for any power's stay in 1st place, with 6 weeks, beating the previous record of 5 weeks set by ALD. For that, we'd like to extend a big thanks and congratulations to the Winters people for winning the preparation war for Kappa, as ALD surely would have taken first place had they not taken that one system away from her.

For more detailed and up-to-date information, you can check the Spreadsheet Overview or visit the Mahon Subreddit.

Also note that we're currently holding a competition over at the subreddit where Mahon pledges can potentially win an EGX code! Entry into the competition closes tomorrow, so if you want a shot at that, pay us a visit soon! The competition for the EGX codes is now closed. The questionairre remains open though, if anyone wants to fill it out - It really does help us with planning, having an idea when people play and which ships they fly. Entries are timestamped and only entries from before the closing time are considered for the raffle.

This cycle, we're prioritizing preparations over fortifications, due to the severe decrease in undermining we're seeing. So if you can't decide whether to do fortification or preparation, do preparation for one of the three listed systems. The current priorities are below.

Notice: Fortifications are basically DONE for this cycle. Either concentrate on keeping our desired preps in the top-3, or on expanding Kpaniya

Preparations:

Desirability	Name	Current Work Needed*	True Value*	Allegiance	Action	Nearest Control	Control Allegiance
1	3 Upsilon Ophiuchi	3451	33.9	Independent	PUSH	Tricorii	Independent
2	BD+66 696	5121	9.9	Independent	PUSH	Caraceni	Alliance
3	Lundji	6131	16.9	Federation	PUSH	Leesti	Alliance

Last Update: 2015/10/26 12:59 Game Time

Please spend any nominations you have on 3 Upsilon Ophiuchi, as it has a very large station distance and will be the more difficult of the three systems to push.

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Fortifications:

Priority	System Name	Missing merits	Allegience
1	Siki (Outpost)	2,647	Independent
2	Pongo	4,287	Independent

Last Update: 2015/10/28 23:35 Game Time

Remember: Fortifying above 100% does nothing.

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Useful links from the subreddit:

• Week 21 Hub Thread
• Fortification trade routes
• Prep/Expansion trade routes
• New to Mahon - The Guide

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As always, the above are merely suggestions and not orders - The Alliance is not a military organization and pilots are free to pursue their own goals, but we definitely appreciate all the help we can get.

I will try to update the numbers in this post at least once per day, so check back regularly for updated priorities.

 

[Notxdeadpool]

Pc guys arnt alone, i have 16 alliance xbox members working powerplay everyday as well, even small numbers like that can push a few systems last minute

 

[Trader38]

Great, if you guys would like to friend me or CMDR Iggart Ozz (Carradin) ingame would love to coordinate our efforts.

 

[Carradin]

Pc guys arnt alone, i have 16 alliance xbox members working powerplay everyday as well, even small numbers like that can push a few systems last minute

You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that we also have XBox players reading posts like this. Over at the subreddit, we've been racking our brains trying to come up with some way to bring the XBox community on board, but given that none of our regulars have Elite: Dangerous for the XBox and that we don't even know how or even if programs such as Teamspeak (which is where we do most of the planning and coordinating) work on the XBox, it's something we haven't really figured out yet.

As we see it, XBox players like yourself and your friends are already a potentially huge resource for any power that can successfully reach out and integrate them with the existing powerplay community. And I wouldn't be surprised if console players outnumber PC players at some point down the line. We may be segregated in-game, but our actions affect the same universe and we'll get further if we pull more-or-less in the same direction. At the same time, we really want to get XBox players involved on the decisionmaking side of things as well, if at all possible. That part of it is kind of a PC club right now, simply because there was no XBox version when powerplay launched, but we want to change that if we can.

So take this as an open invitation for you, your group, or any XBox players who happen to read this:

First, if teamspeak is available for the XBox, we'd love to see you on the Mahon teamspeak server. And if teamspeak is not available, but you know of any potential alternatives that could be used for realtime communications and work on both the XBox and the PC, please feel free to suggest those to us as then perhaps we can set up some other way for us to easily coordinate. The subreddit and the forums are servicable, but are no substitute for realtime communication.

Second, if there's some way we can make the information and recommendations we put up each week (such as in this post, on the subreddit or in the spreadsheet) more easily accessible to XBox users, just ask for it. If we can do it, we will. In a way, we're having to start from scratch again, building up infrastructure that fits the XBox to complement the existing infrastructure that was set up for the PC.

And finally, if you have any suggestions, questions or grievances about the strategies and recommendations we post every cycle, please voice those as well. We didn't get where we are by just ignoring people and doing whatever we wanted, we got there by listening to every single idea people had and trying our to address every single complaint or disagreement that was voiced. The amount of changes that have been made to our procedures just because someone came in and said "hey, what if you did this instead..." or asked "so, why are we doing this exactly? It doesn't make sense and here's why..." are simply staggering, and I have no doubt the XBox community can prove just as much of a catalyst for change (for the better!) as the PC community has.

So this got a bit longer than anticipated. I hope it's not too intimidating I guess the TLDR of it is simply that I'm glad you're reading our posts, and that we really want to hear any suggestions, comments or complaints you might have about how we do things.

 

[Notxdeadpool]

Not at all intimidating, we try hard to focus our powerplay with the PC alliance as well to help quicken the pace ^^, at the time there isnt anyway i can communicate real time with you guys as of yet, but drop me a message if you need focus on a system

 

[Carradin]

Update: For the time being, fortifications seem to be in excellent shape. So it would be helpful if people were to concentrate their efforts on either preparing 3 Upsilon Ophiuchi, BD+66 696 and Lundji, or on expanding one of the systems currently in the expansion phase.

 

[shhilence]

i might pop in and say hi, was going to do it earlier, but didn't see the point until we were a little more organized lol. we got a good group on xbox and growing, but i got to say, recruitment has been difficult because of the horrible hudson fanboy-ism and imperial bashing of our faction on the xbox forums. it has left us to complete ingame recruitment which is hard. in the comming weeks you should be noticing more help from us as our members get up to rank 5. but i have to say, i really wish you'd stop telling folks we have a treaty with hudson, i know for a fact that most of their efforts on pc and xbox are towards us. even with this massive imperial expansion going on.

AND TO ADD, WHAT'S WITH NAMAKA?
it was going on on xbox as well. I don't get it, it's not even a very good economy for trade, we could have 9 systems done with the fortifying that goes on there.

 

[Carradin]

recruitment has been difficult because of the horrible hudson fanboy-ism and imperial bashing of our faction on the xbox forums. it has left us to complete ingame recruitment which is hard

Aye, that really is difficult, given the limitations of in-game communications. Sorry to hear the XBox forums are such a cesspool. We've had some success by occasionally hanging around Gateway in open play and chatting up Mahon-pledged players who pass through, then trying to point them towards The Subreddit, but doing it that way is slow going. Still, it's probably more effective to try to organize people who are already pledged than to try recruiting new people for the power, since you can at least count on pledged players passing through Gateway regularly. Also, let's face it, some people just don't want to talk, or prefer to do their own thing without having to read things like subreddits or spreadsheets.

Out of curiosity, can people without an XBox post on the XBox forums? I'm wondering if it might be worth it to cross-post this weekly overview there, despite the problems you mentioned.

Another thing I'm curious about: Is the bashing due to the fact that we're #1 and the others want to be in our place, because they have a burning hatred of the colour green, or some other reason? Because if it's the first, there's not much to be done about it - being first paints a big glowing target on your back, and it stays there until you drop down. Which we've so far avoided, but it's likely to happen sooner or later given the disparaty in player power between us and ALD/Hudson (if you look at the stats released each week, we're 4th in player power after ALD, Hudson and Aisling).

but i have to say, i really wish you'd stop telling folks we have a treaty with hudson, i know for a fact that most of their efforts on pc and xbox are towards us

The treaty (which is more of an agreement than an actual treaty, really) predates the merge of the XBox and PC galaxies. And while I have no doubt that a lot of Hudson players are targeting us - and not just on the XBox, either - what matters here is that the agreement is between the organized players of the Hudson subreddit and the organized players of the Mahon subreddit. As such, it is an agreement between player groups and not an agreement between the actual powers, which given the current game mechanics, is the best we can do. And players who do not consider themselves to be a part of either of those groups are free to disregard the agreement... and, as you've noticed, many do indeed do so.

That said, though, we've seen what the organized players can do if they set their minds to it, and it's a lot more than what we're getting hit with currently - ergo, what's hitting us is not set in motion and organized by the Hudson subreddit, but by other player groups, other powers and/or unaffiliated players. A lot of it is also simply merit grinders, who undermine the nearest and most convenient system. We also have player groups within the Alliance which do not recognize the agreement and are happily attacking Hudson, so it goes both ways.

AND TO ADD, WHAT'S WITH NAMAKA?

It's what we call a "grinder system". It's the closest control system to our headquarters at Gateway, making it the most convenient for players who care more about getting fast merits than about helping our power. All the powers have them, though Namaka wasn't anywhere near this bad before the XBox/PC galaxy merge. I'm guessing it's just the same people who were grinding it before the merge that are grinding it now, but now their efforts are stacking on top of each others.

 

[shhilence]

we'll i suppose i should come on to tell you our current climate, what team speak server are you on, i'll pop in tomorrow and chat. are you on the reddit server? no sense talking politics where all can see.


And many pc players already do post in the xbox frontier forum. You really should see what goes on there as well.

 

[Carradin]

what team speak server are you on, i'll pop in tomorrow and chat. are you on the reddit server?

Yes, the teamspeak server I've referred to earlier is the reddit server. For convenience, here's the server information:

IP: thargoid.space:9987
Password: mahonnaise

I haven't actually been on it for a couple days now since real life has kept me out of the game (and I tend to be on teamspeak only while I'm playing), but I'll make a point to hop on today. And even if I'm not there, there should be other people you can talk to about it - for all intents and purposes, what constitutes "leadership" for the Mahon subreddit equates to "whoever wants to take an active part in making the decisions", meaning there's no one leader nor any one person to talk to about things.

And many pc players already do post in the xbox frontier forum. You really should see what goes on there as well.

Oh, I misunderstood your previous post then - I thought there were some XBox-specific forums that were unrelated to the Frontier forum. But this makes it much easier - I'll take a look!

 

[Carradin]

Update: Fortifications are basically done for this cycle, barring some minor cleanup work that we're already taking care of. So, while it might sound strange... stop fortifying The two systems left on the list are nice to have, but not required unless we get hit by heavy undermining in the last hours. The current priorities are keeping our desired preps (see the list in the first post) in the top-3, and expanding Kpaniya (medium pad only, so Pythons and below). Yarruci is too opposed to warrant further effort at this point.