I'd like to join Powerplay, but unsure of power. How did you choose.

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
The Empire is a weird hybrid of the Roman and British Empires
The Federation is intended to be the USA but In Space
The Alliance is ... inconsistently characterised. The original intent was for it to be a loose federal structure like the European Union, but it ends up coming across as more centralised than that. They're not hippy-ish as such, they're just a bit disorganised (to some extent intentionally because they're not supposed to be a top-down hierarchy like the other two) and don't have a big enough central army to go around beating people up so end up semi-pacifist by default.

So there's probably five things to consider when picking a Power, some of which might not be important.
  1. Powers loosely divide into "combat" (Archer, Patreus, ALD, Grom, Delaine) and "non combat" (the other seven). You will rank up more quickly and be more effective for your Power if you pick one matching your preferred gameplay type. If you like both combat and non-combat activities this doesn't matter so much.
  2. If you have a home system or region., it's advantageous to pick either the Power which currently controls it or if you're feeling ambitious a nearby Power you could put into control of it. If you're happy to move wherever in the bubble, you can ignore this bit.
  3. The flavour text of the Power. None of them are "good" but they're all pretty distinctive. Each Power represents one of the major archetypes of political power in the galaxy - so is there one you'd prefer to win, or at least consider a flag of convenience to suppress it's even less savoury rivals? If you pick a superpower-aligned power, are your more important enemies those outside the superpower, or the internal rivals holding the superpower back?
  4. Whether you want to "join the winning team" (ALD, Duval, Archer, LYR, Grom) or "back the scrappy underdog" (Patreus, Torval, Delaine, Kaine, Antal) with Mahon and Winters being in the middle.
  5. The rank bonuses for the Power. These tend to take the form of bonus payouts for particular activities, and for some powers faster reputation gain with minor factions, as well as other bonuses (eventually) common to all Powers. If you're already incredibly rich then you probably won't benefit as much as someone who might like more credits once in a while.
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
My main constraint was to get Packhounds for my exploration ship in time for DW3. LYR got the those first on the list, and his public[1] Ethos is not incompatible with my playstyle (unlike, say, Patreus). I'm reasonably close, but didn't get any nice chores this week, so I fired up the good old R2R to cheese up some merits by doing something else besides stealing black boxes from enemy wreckage sites.

[1]Given some of the weekly chores I receive, I find a slight discrepancy between what is dished out to the outside and what is requested from his supporters.
 

[VR] Bulbulunufus

[VR] Bulbulunufus
I wanted to follow someone that could be believable as a "good guy" (gal) making the best fist of things in a dystopian galaxy, without also being really annoying.

(Edit - I chose Winters, probably not as obvious to everyone else 😅)
 
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Angus McSix

Angus McSix
Back from the days when I played Frontier: First Encounters and served the Empire, I carry on that tradition here and serve the Empire (indeed, the Emperor directly) in Elite: Dangerous.
 

Screemonster

Screemonster
Ian Doncaster said:
  1. The rank bonuses for the Power. These tend to take the form of bonus payouts for particular activities, and for some powers faster reputation gain with minor factions, as well as other bonuses (eventually) common to all Powers. If you're already incredibly rich then you probably won't benefit as much as someone who might like more credits once in a while.
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Notably, if credits are no longer a concern, then the only powers that actually meaningfully affect gameplay are the handful that boost rep gains (aisling, mahon, winters, kaine, antal) and Delaine's "laws aren't real idiot" bonus. Everything else is just "make credits slightly faster doing this specific thing" of "spend less credits on this other specific thing".
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
It was always between Archon or Antal.

I originally chose Antal because he was an optimist with a very, very sinister edge to him- but later fell to the temptation of burgers and gold and joined The King™, Archon Delaine.
 

cedekane

C
Go into Chat GPT and fill out some basic information about how your character thinks, ideologies and such. Then ask it how your character feels about Grom, ALD, Aisling, etc. Ironically a very organic experience.
 

cedekane

C
Cheese Helmet said:
Boooooooo
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C'mon man, it's my honest opinion and I've gotten to know my character way more than in any other game. No one has more reason to be against AI than I do, believe me, but at least try it out before coming to boo me. It's just a tool, just like any of the multitude 3rd party tools we already use because FDev designs. Beyond that...if your really gonna sit there and try and say that 10 years of lore delivered through news articles is approachable without an assistant? I call rubbish. <----I actually didn't use that word, but sure.
 
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DemiserofD

D
One important thing is reading up on the in-game lore and finding whether the powers ACTUALLY fit you. Delaine, for example, isn't just a pirate king, he intentionally courts interstellar powers for recognition and at least plays ball with the others.

That's why I support Torval. Because in the context of the lore, she's actually right and gives the greatest quality of life for everyone in her space.
 

PilotB

P
If you have an area of space where you spend a lot of time for example your colony. Pick the power that is closest to you or controls your major supply points. It's obnoxious if you spend all your time deep inside a hostile power. You'll be constantly hunted by power defence force and you'll have to go a long way to do the missions.
 

Darrack

Darrack
Pain Coldblood said:
The title pretty much says it all.
How did you make your choice?
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Being a Brit the Empire would have been an obvious choice but i dislike royalty and the structure that goes with it, besides its often fun siding with a smaller Power.
Pranav Antal was my choice, a Utopian Cult centred on knowledge and dubious research :ROFLMAO:

O7
 
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