So Frontier Just nerfs everything again.
Because I don't care about care packages or rebuy costs I will joust switching powers again for the weapons.
Thx for downgrading 2.0 to 1.0 because still thinking endless grinding is a good gameplay loop.
Elite Dangerous | Powerplay 2.0 exploration and trade balance changes
- Thread starter Paul_Crowther
- Start date
So Frontier Just nerfs everything again.
Because I don't care about care packages or rebuy costs I will joust switching powers again for the weapons.
Thx for downgrading 2.0 to 1.0 because still thinking endless grinding is a good gameplay loop.
You are confusing balancing with downgrading.
At the minute PP2 is in a phase where its going to be tweaked a lot since its a complex system where only widespread use will highlight problems.
Its going to be one hell of a Monday meeting because it has to be sorted out since PP2 is really a part of the next expansion (colonization).
I’m not confusing the two, but I’m an old player and I’ve been through quite a few balance changes. I was happy when 2.0 came out because I didn’t have to switch between powerplay characters, but I don’t have endless time to play the game and grinding for half a year is not an option for me.
Since I like exploring, I thought it would be a good source of merit. Then I saw that it temporarily doesn’t give merit.
And unfortunately, my experience so far is that after the balance, it won’t give much either.
But I hope I’m wrong.
I remain pleased that the elite seems to be resurrecting from its near-dead state.
TLDR: No AX meat in PP 2.0, we got excluded.
My main concern, from an Anti Xeno Content fan, is that there is nothing for AX players, they even removed the Pilot Federation Bond bonuses from power they previously had.
So in regards to AX players, PP 2.0 it is actually a nerf. I hope it is a bug or a new Power concerned about the humanity will be added ASAP.
Also no AX related Power missions.
My main concern, from an Anti Xeno Content fan, is that there is nothing for AX players, they even removed the Pilot Federation Bond bonuses from power they previously had.
So in regards to AX players, PP 2.0 it is actually a nerf. I hope it is a bug or a new Power concerned about the humanity will be added ASAP.
Also no AX related Power missions.
Unless you only want a very specific two of them you're always going to be quicker sticking with one power (78000 merits gets you all 12) rather than switching powers (24000 merits gets you one at a time) and certain merit sources are easier to use at higher ranks.
The presence of Thargoids in a system kicks out any Power immediately (not that anyone is particularly trying to expand to the border near Cocijo right now), and it's designed so that you can't do activity in one system and "claim" it in another, so it's tricky to see how AX could be integrated in that sense.
I'm afraid it is already going down that track. But hope dies last. If they learned to listen to player feedback this time, it has potential to be great. sigh Elite and potential...
Unless you had an 'anti power' like the Far God, which then seeds Goidness to remove humans from the bubble as it spreads.
I know earning merits from 'Trade' was suspended by FDev.
And... few hours ago, I mined Platinum from Omicron Capricorni B, and sold it at HIP 58815(Nakato Kanie System). But no merit is gained.
So I guess that "Sell Mined Resources" is also not working. Am I right?
Trade got rebalanced but not suspended - I've certainly found Kaine's "low value goods" undermine action and "high value goods" fortification actions still to work.
I'll give it a test this afternoon.
I tested mining and selling Bromellite in one same system, HIP 58815(Nakato Kanie System) few minutes ago. And not working
That's whining at a high level. Many things have become so easy that something more difficult can be added again. Yes, it's a pity about the work of the PP so far, but setbacks have also had to be accepted in the past. It's Elite Dangerous and therefore also a game of patience. So it's not for people who want quick success. For them, the simple things remain in the game.
I have a question: Do merit points equal control score points over a system?
I mean, if I earn 10 merit points for any PP action, does it mean that 10 control points will be added to the targeted system?
If that's the case, then PP 2.0 is completely balance broken because some activities are just useless. For example, uploading malware in a settlement that requires time and is a risky business, rewards just with 62 points, while selling rare goods rewards with almost 10k points for a full Python cargo. What’s the point of other activities with such a huge difference in the rewards considering the time and risk taken?
I mean, if I earn 10 merit points for any PP action, does it mean that 10 control points will be added to the targeted system?
If that's the case, then PP 2.0 is completely balance broken because some activities are just useless. For example, uploading malware in a settlement that requires time and is a risky business, rewards just with 62 points, while selling rare goods rewards with almost 10k points for a full Python cargo. What’s the point of other activities with such a huge difference in the rewards considering the time and risk taken?
It might be whining to you, but not everyone has an equal amount of time to dedicate to some mind-numbing grind. I won't disagree that it's a game of patience, and people with a larger number of hours to invest are rewarded accordingly. But that is not the majority of the player base, although a game of this genre and scope generally does attract people who have more time to spare. It's impossible to please everyone, but systems like this truly reward only the top 1% or less of players, who put in all that time.
However, there's a pretty good difference between actual difficulty, and time investment. Adding in challenging new (or revised) content is something I'd like to see. If you take some time to get good at it, that will pay off, and you will spend less time doing the grind whilst also having a fun time learning how to do it. If someone wants to play this game like a job, they will be done very fast, be rewarded, and burn out. Players with less time than that, which is the majority, will still get rewarded without feeling like they are wasting their damn time.
But simply adding another grind that consists of simple and generic activities that just require hundreds of hours to get somewhere, no matter your skill level, that can go suck a bag of nuts. That's the philosophy that made many gameplay loops unfun, barely engaging, braindead activities.
Having said all this, I know that this update is complex, and will require a lot of balancing as things go along. Frontier have done pretty damn well the past year, even if I might disagree with the ship monetization for example, and I hope that in a few weeks' time, PP2.0 will be worth it for most players.
That ^ there, aka the battle between "hardcores" versus "casuals" , epitomizes what has essentially been the neverending quandry of Game Developers since the dawn of sandbox MMOs. ( also sorta mirrors another equally contentious societal "battle" between capitalism vs. socialism , but i digress... )
tbqh, i'm still not sure if the perfect solution ( for Game Devs ) is even possible; other than constant code tweaks + variable forum furor = "balance" .
Here's hoping FDev's internal metrics, combined with community's external feedback, will yield a more enjoyable & everlasting PowerPlay product fitting in nicely with the bigger picture of eventual 'Colonization' feature someday.
In the meantime, there's always that pesky search for RAXXLA!
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We sussed this out on the kaine discord. Took four days of pain. DO NOT STOP AT FREE PARKING move directly to market>collect 200M. The rules on mining are needlessly complicated. And this isnt the only imperceptible mystery with mining- OH no!I tested mining and selling Bromellite in one same system, HIP 58815(Nakato Kanie System) few minutes ago. And not working
Dont even try doing charity missions at acquisitions - broken. These are apparently what qualify as "humanitarian and aid missions" when "donation missions" sound so much more exciting.
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This might be a bit radical, to an extent, but my honest opinion on game balance like this will always be "balance for the majority", which would be the low-to-medium playtime group. I am one of the people that doesn't fall into this category (~1700h played), funnily enough, yet I will still always advocate for it, for my friends and other players I met along the way that don't have an ungodly amount of time to spend and still want to have fun in space game™.That ^ there, aka the battle between "hardcores" versus "casuals" , epitomizes what has essentially been the neverending quandry of Game Developers since the dawn of sandbox MMOs. ( also sorta mirrors another equally contentious societal "battle" between capitalism vs. socialism , but i digress... )
tbqh, i'm still not sure if the perfect solution ( for Game Devs ) is even possible; other than constant code tweaks + variable forum furor = "balance" .
Here's hoping FDev's internal metrics, combined with community's external feedback, will yield a more enjoyable & everlasting PowerPlay product fitting in nicely with the bigger picture of eventual 'Colonization' feature someday.
In the meantime, there's always that pesky search for RAXXLA!
The amount of people I have managed to get into this game, which subsequently cannot make (enough) progress to justify the time investment, is too damn high. I got 40–50 people into this game over the last 4ish years or so, and from all of those that did stay, only a small fraction are anywhere near my current level of investment.
Frontier have made strides to reduce the grind in departments like engineering, and what do you know, a lot of people came back, including some friends who dropped the game too. I hope they apply a similar philosophy to their current tweaking of PP2.0 as well, because the sheer grind I've read about in other threads here is too damn high. Even for me.
I've seen different updates come and go, with all the changes that come with them as time goes on, and there is only one thing I am truly hoping for with Ascendancy: that this is not another a carrot-on-a-stick scenario where they bait us with the good stuff (engineering changes, new ships, etc.) and then do a complete 180 and just add in way more grind to compensate for that because they want to tell the shareholders "omg look at how long our players spend in our game, these are good numbers!!!!"
Ok I am gonna stop writing this post because I could write for hours. tl;dr Frontier doing good, thank you, but with cautious optimism.
Did the devs say anything about tying in colonization with Powerplay, or is that just speculation? I don't remember hearing anything to that effect.
A large part (perhaps the majority?) of players I've heard speak about colonization were glad that anything outside the bubble would be free from the powers, what with the expansion being 20 ly per week.
A large part (perhaps the majority?) of players I've heard speak about colonization were glad that anything outside the bubble would be free from the powers, what with the expansion being 20 ly per week.