Powerplay Is PowerPlay dead?

[Calrissian]

As a player who has never played PP, I'd say no.

Confused?

Well, I've long thought that the mechanisms that PP uses will be coming to the fore when (...ahem, if...) the Th*rg**ds (or 'chums') arrive.

Do not ask what your faction can do for you, ask what your faction can do to stop those bloody aliens..............

Something needs to happen. A lot of players are lucky I'm not in Braben's shoes and/or a senior developer. I would have already started an NPC rightwing Imperial group and brought them into the game with the destruction of 3 key stations within the top 3 Imperial powers. The longer the Imperials stayed "stagnant" the more community goals and terrorist acts would have been committed until the players put the whole rebellion down or the Emperor is displaced by the coup with a new power. Mahon would also be accused of conspiracy against the Empire and my terrorist group would lash out at them as well. I'd underpin Patreas as a key organizer/orchestrator of these events and give him a new shipyard and a new fortified base for my terrorist/revolutionist group.

If the Emperor was displaced, upon presenting the new power, I'd annex 1/4 of Torval and Aisling systems to the New Emperor. If they had a problem with that, more civil war. The annex would put the new Emperor in 2nd place of Power Play! I'd give the new power a cool weapon. The Plasma Torpedo. You can imagine the devastation and it would self destruct if you leave the power with it.

 

[Calrissian]

I'm joining them. Hope the rest of the Kumo Crew do too.

Joining who? The Alliance? You aren't fooling anybody. :-/

 

[AgamemnonWhen]

"We and Our" is Powerplay. The TEAM and not the PLAYER.

I get that, and I'm happy to be part of a team (heck, I was a Jumpgate jihadi for the Quantar, I know a few things about cyberspace loyalty and graft!) - as I've previously mentioned before, the wages are nice and the special weapons are nice, but that's not why I allied to my faction - I did it for the team, because I identify (in game) with the goals of my chosen leader.

However, even this is fraught with issues - I've had to jump through hoops to install third party apps or sign up to third party websites to access the team's plans. I don't want to faff about with Reddit / Discord to enable me to see what we're supposed to be doing "as a team". I want to be able to do that in-game!

Why do I need to take screenshots of my affiliations to allow me to join a special con-call (leeching further into my limited bandwidth) to find out what our strategic plans are, when the most secure method of communicating with those who are signed up to a faction would be do do it in-game, where you are signed up to a faction anyway.

The missions, too, lack personality or engagement: Take this Generic Cargo X to here, bring Generic Cargo Y back from there, pay more if you want and you'll get more Generic Cargo: But don't you DARE slow down, or we'll punish you severely.

I want to do "regular" missions to benefit my power, too - assassinations, cargo hauls, bounty hunting, mining... anything that injects a bit of life into PP.

It's little issues like that which really take all the joy out of supporting your favourite candidate, even before we start talking about how PP affects and assists the balance of power in the galaxy without seeming to have much affect on the people that inhabit it.

There is still much to be done to improve PP even when you take the personal rewards out of the equation.

 

[Elprez]

Exactly how does it hurt a power's cause for some rando player to take up the banner for a few weeks and help fortify systems? Did that power give the player a compelling reason to focus their efforts, or to continue their efforts after the probationary period?



Nope. Nothing like that. So... aside from the cool weapons, what's the point?

You hit this one on the head....I joined Hudson lately and have been killing Kumo Crew ships. I noticed most of them drop "marked slaves", hmmm...looks interesting....I was in anarchy so I scooped them up.....oh wait I can't do anything with them. The Black Market wouldn't even take them....that begs the next question.....why in the world would you have them in the game?

 

[AgamemnonWhen]

"marked slaves" ... why in the world would you have them in the game?

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that Marked Slaves are Kumo Crew's "Generic Cargo X" and form part of their fortification or preparation cargo transport requirements?

 

[StiTch]

Hmmm. Equilibrium? I enjoyed the dynamics of it all but it seems that's stopped. What's the point if the players involved aren't willing to push the envelope for a better standing? Fortifying just to get that special weapon? Just undermining enough to get a PowerPlay check?

It's like the Imperials are content as long as they are ahead of the Federal Powers while they're taking their turns with Mahon in bed! The Federal Powers are just holding on after being BGS'ed by the Alliance with the Alliance also pimping the Imperial girls to undermine the Federal Powers. And the rest are just winging it. :-/

I don't think it's quite like that, but thanks for the chuckle

In any case, do I get a turn in bed with either of the Duvals? Yeah that's right I said "either".

This is the result of A) the large amount of work required per person to cause a serious change, and B) the inability to counter other players.

Yeah yeah, he brought up the Open thing. Sorry but it's relevant. There is substantial legwork to be done to orchestrate and execute the taking of a few systems, let alone completely toppling another power. I suspect the "equilibrium" that's been reached is simply a state where the amount of work required to achieve serious headway is too easily nullified by another faction's defensive efforts.

Why does Open make a difference? Well because when everyone is hidden but playing the BGS everyone can work against each other and there's no obstacle, so the equilibrium is maintained quite easily. Instead if PP was Open only-or if the work you did in Private/Solo was reduced to 25% of its influence, and to achieve competitive levels of change you would have to play in Open...I dare say that a large cluster faction players clashing with another huge group in an Expansion system, and one of these factions "winning out" and being able to occupy it, would sooner see real change.

Instead we're consigned to watching kids fight by bucketing more water into the other kid's paddling pool, and all they really need to do to settle it is jump in the other kid's pool and give 'em a black eye...

From a less metaphorical point of view PP needed to be so much more than another BGS grind. I don't object to most "grinding" in the game, but PP was supposed to be dynamic and better for facilitating constructive conflict.

 

[Calrissian]

I get that, and I'm happy to be part of a team (heck, I was a Jumpgate jihadi for the Quantar, I know a few things about cyberspace loyalty and graft!) - as I've previously mentioned before, the wages are nice and the special weapons are nice, but that's not why I allied to my faction - I did it for the team, because I identify (in game) with the goals of my chosen leader.

However, even this is fraught with issues - I've had to jump through hoops to install third party apps or sign up to third party websites to access the team's plans. I don't want to faff about with Reddit / Discord to enable me to see what we're supposed to be doing "as a team". I want to be able to do that in-game!

Why do I need to take screenshots of my affiliations to allow me to join a special con-call (leeching further into my limited bandwidth) to find out what our strategic plans are, when the most secure method of communicating with those who are signed up to a faction would be do do it in-game, where you are signed up to a faction anyway.

The missions, too, lack personality or engagement: Take this Generic Cargo X to here, bring Generic Cargo Y back from there, pay more if you want and you'll get more Generic Cargo: But don't you DARE slow down, or we'll punish you severely.

I want to do "regular" missions to benefit my power, too - assassinations, cargo hauls, bounty hunting, mining... anything that injects a bit of life into PP.

It's little issues like that which really take all the joy out of supporting your favourite candidate, even before we start talking about how PP affects and assists the balance of power in the galaxy without seeming to have much affect on the people that inhabit it.

There is still much to be done to improve PP even when you take the personal rewards out of the equation.

Thank you for this input.

 

[Calrissian]

I don't think it's quite like that, but thanks for the chuckle

In any case, do I get a turn in bed with either of the Duvals? Yeah that's right I said "either".

This is the result of A) the large amount of work required per person to cause a serious change, and B) the inability to counter other players.

Yeah yeah, he brought up the Open thing. Sorry but it's relevant. There is substantial legwork to be done to orchestrate and execute the taking of a few systems, let alone completely toppling another power. I suspect the "equilibrium" that's been reached is simply a state where the amount of work required to achieve serious headway is too easily nullified by another faction's defensive efforts.

Why does Open make a difference? Well because when everyone is hidden but playing the BGS everyone can work against each other and there's no obstacle, so the equilibrium is maintained quite easily. Instead if PP was Open only-or if the work you did in Private/Solo was reduced to 25% of its influence, and to achieve competitive levels of change you would have to play in Open...I dare say that a large cluster faction players clashing with another huge group in an Expansion system, and one of these factions "winning out" and being able to occupy it, would sooner see real change.

Instead we're consigned to watching kids fight by bucketing more water into the other kid's paddling pool, and all they really need to do to settle it is jump in the other kid's pool and give 'em a black eye...

From a less metaphorical point of view PP needed to be so much more than another BGS grind. I don't object to most "grinding" in the game, but PP was supposed to be dynamic and better for facilitating constructive conflict.

Nope, I hear Mahon has reserved Torval (aka Thornberg as my group calls her) for you. She is to make use of her skills without her dentures. Kitty Kat and Peaches are reserved for whomever pimps Patreus.

I was always under the opinion that participation into Power Play should be Open Play Only so, I largely agree with you here.

 

[bigity]

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that Marked Slaves are Kumo Crew's "Generic Cargo X" and form part of their fortification or preparation cargo transport requirements?

That is correct. And apparently makes us a target for every random RPer.

 

[aspiringexpatriate]

That is correct. And apparently makes us a target for every random RPer.

Not that I RP heavily, or specifically used my RP dispatch to target Kumo since Moronii, but, you know, you guys are the baddies.

Antal hauls dissidents for brainwashing, and Torval hauls political prisoners for unknown most likely slavery related purposes. Not to mention Grom uses counter-intelligence, Patreus, Hudson, and Lavigny use military power to control their sytems. And the outright bribery used by everyone else except Aisling who uses mass media brainwashing kind of makes everyone a 'baddie' to some degree.

But come one, even your logo uses a skull. That is a skull, right?

FDev Forums broke my youtube link.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

...I would have already started an NPC rightwing Imperial group and brought them into the game with the destruction of 3 key stations within the top 3 Imperial powers. The longer the Imperials stayed "stagnant" the more community goals and terrorist acts would have been committed until the players put the whole rebellion down or the Emperor is displaced by the coup with a new power. Mahon would also be accused of conspiracy against the Empire and my terrorist group would lash out at them as well. I'd underpin Patreas as a key organizer/orchestrator of these events and give him a new shipyard and a new fortified base for my terrorist/revolutionist group.

Ah! Now you're on to something. Those are compelling reasons to play powerplay, and that is exactly the kind of motivation a person like me is looking for.

What we have now is bureaucrats in space. Bureaucrats are neither exciting, nor compelling.

 

[Rubbernuke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU

Not that I RP heavily, or specifically used my RP dispatch to target Kumo since Moronii, but, you know, you guys are the baddies.

Antal hauls dissidents for brainwashing, and Torval hauls political prisoners for unknown most likely slavery related purposes. Not to mention Grom uses counter-intelligence, Patreus, Hudson, and Lavigny use military power to control their sytems. And the outright bribery used by everyone else except Aisling who uses mass media brainwashing kind of makes everyone a 'baddie' to some degree.

But come one, even your logo uses a skull. That is a skull, right?

FDev Forums broke my youtube link.

That indeed makes you the baddie, Hans....

 

[krylite]

Maybe they ought to remove the consolidation vote fence and go back to nominations to shake things up. Also rework the overhead due to distance from hq system so the bubble can expand 30%. Or maybe they are waiting for the thargoid, Salome, raxxla, or whatever threat is coming tying into new galactic lore and events before they do anything more with pp.

 

[Calrissian]

Ah! Now you're on to something. Those are compelling reasons to play powerplay, and that is exactly the kind of motivation a person like me is looking for.

What we have now is bureaucrats in space. Bureaucrats are neither exciting, nor compelling.

Get Frontier to sign me up! I've got plenty more.