Faction Collapse

[Echoes]

Hey all,

Just want to have something cleared up which I spotted in the new "manual" which FD released for PowerPlay.


It says in the manual that a power cannot directly make a play at a rival power's border systems.

Any system may be prepared for expansion with the following caveats:
 The system must be inhabited
 The system must not be a control system for a power
 The system must not be an exploited system for a different power or under expansion

This of course means that Powerplay is not a competition between powers at all!
It is just a means of expanding human space on a power by power basis...`

This is further supported since a power cannot even PERMANANTLY undermine the efforts of their rivals, the benefits disappear on a weekly basis and must be re-acheived:

Like fortification, undermining is temporary; once the CC upkeep penalty has been applied at the end of a cycleand the next cycle begins all undermining is removed and must be re-applied to retain the effect.

And this brings me to the collapse mechanism. Because a system cannot be stolen from another power, a ranking system has been introduced into the game. If a power is within the bottom 3 on the list, it is in danger of collapse. The problem with this is that the ranking is not dependent on the current strength of a power, only the GROWTH.

So theoretically, if the Empire is placed last on GROWTH frequently... it may straight up collapse!

added to this is since there are only like 10 powers at the moment, a third of them are always going to be in risk.

A power that is in the bottom three ranks of the galactic standing list is at risk of collapsing and vanishing altogether. Simply being in the bottom three ranks does not automatically put the power at risk. It also has to fail to achieve any expansion during the cycle. The more cycles a power is ranked in the bottom three and fails to expand, the more likely it will collapse. Supporters of a collapsed power are freed from service; once they have come to terms with the ignominy of failing to save their power they are free to pledge to a new power.

Personally I believe that a better mechanic can be implemented, one where direct conflicts between powers would be possible. This would make power play feel like more of a "Tug of war" over systems rather than the endless expansion which it is currently. It would also create more friction between powers... adding to the IMMERSION and competitiveness which comes with it.

Also from a realistic standpoint, it would make sense that faction collapse would come from being unable to hold on to their systems... rather than just achieving the least expansion for that week.


Thats my opinion / suggestion anyway... what do you guys think?