Powerplay Is PowerPlay dead?

[Saool]

Unfortunately, Power Play as a thing is pretty much over, in my opinion. If you are waiting for Maaaaaahn to not be No.1, you will wait a long time. For as long as the AOS core keep playing it, Maaaaaahn will either be No.1, occasionally drop to No.2 for one week, or very occasionally drop to No.2 for two weeks if the Feds do there periodic back stabbing routine (although I don't think technically it's not backstabbing any more, as the people who trusted them the 2nd time (never mind the 1st) have learned thier lesson now. The Feds lie, and their word is not worth $(!£. Don't talk to Feds).

But the key issue is, there really is no reason to play it. I used to. Quite hard core in fact. Even with the only moving bits of paper and laughing at cooking lasers game play that is Maaaaaahn. But once you realise it is having next to no impact on any other aspect of the game, you have to ask, why bother?

And both BD and Sandy have said if people don't play part of the game, they won't put any further development time into it. Which creates a chicken and egg scenario. Sadly, this is where some of the doom and gloom nay sayers are right. You you start with a poor implementation, people don't play, so FDEV won't develop, so people still won't play.

PP is effectively over. Maaaaaahn/The Alliance won it months ago.

 

[Ben Ryder]

In many ways an equilibrium of sorts has come to pass. That is how things often go. People establish territory and dont go to war without reason. If the only reason is more territory and what folk have is enough or ample for their needs than conflict becomes less frequent. For the most party economies are good, treaties have been agreed and a sense of collective understanding arrived at. Old squabbles still get played out but total galactic struggles have been mostly resolved.

I dont often comment on PP because I'm mostly not clever enough or knowledgeable enough so go easy on me thsi time.

Here's my thought regarding power play mechanics. What is missing is a lack of incentive for the players. If some kind of reward was given to player for their power improving in standing then we might see some dynamic activity.

Off the top of my head as an example something like the following could work. If a players power increases in standing the player gets a credit pay out based on the number of steps up the power goes. If it reaches 1st position it gests half that payout for each cycle it maintains that position. Tie this in to rating too and you now have an incentive to make your power bigger and to increase your rating.

It could even be take a step further. If a power loses a system through turmoil then no one gets their salary that cycle.

Then you have a personal investment in maintain your power, helping it grow and attacking others. Greed, necessity and adversity are great motivators.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

And both BD and Sandy have said if people don't play part of the game, they won't put any further development time into it. Which creates a chicken and egg scenario. Sadly, this is where some of the doom and gloom nay sayers are right. You you start with a poor implementation, people don't play, so FDEV won't develop, so people still won't play.

Yeah...

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Then you have a personal investment in maintain your power, helping it grow and attacking others. Greed and necessity are both great motivators.

Yeah, the benefits of pledging are more or less static. There is nothing to truly fight for. In a galaxy that is constantly shifting in a million little directions, nothing ever seems to happen.

If while I was pledged to Hudson, some news article came out that said something like..."New pristine metallic reserves have been discovered in system X, which is right in the contested Zones for Grom/Hudson/Rui! Whoever takes them gets a big credit bonus and some sort of special power bonus while it's under their control!"... If that had happened I would have been happy to fight tooth and nail for my power. Especially so if there were major BGS components to it, like Minor Facs allied to PP powers that helped to confer ownership or influence. There would be the powerplay game, the BGS game. News articles could be released with compelling reasons to fight for or against the powers. It would also be cool if control zones weren't static, but shift with minor faction influence and control levels.

But logging in on Thursday and having just "These are the systems you can fortify this week." Meh.

 

[Calrissian]

All this analytical and technical talk. The game is stagnant because there is entirely TOO MUCH slurping of Mahon's privates! You know what, I think I smell something.

[video=youtube;nIMkFxvawU4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIMkFxvawU4[/video]

Trying to be blind to all their goings ons has led to this ridiculously large power that is the product of total neglect by what is supposed to be it's enemies by the game of ascension. Everybody wants to be SO NICE until a Federal Power is in a high position. That's a DOUBLE STANDARD and total bull.

The GAME isn't being played! That's why it's stagnant. It has to be about more than ships and weapons for anybody to stay interested.

Another reason the Alliance is in first place is because Vectron (Martin) takes pride in the Alliance and accepts ownership of it. It's more than just having tools to him and I respect that. As one general to another.

 

[Calrissian]

Unfortunately, Power Play as a thing is pretty much over, in my opinion. If you are waiting for Maaaaaahn to not be No.1, you will wait a long time. For as long as the AOS core keep playing it, Maaaaaahn will either be No.1, occasionally drop to No.2 for one week, or very occasionally drop to No.2 for two weeks if the Feds do there periodic back stabbing routine (although I don't think technically it's not backstabbing any more, as the people who trusted them the 2nd time (never mind the 1st) have learned thier lesson now. The Feds lie, and their word is not worth $(!£. Don't talk to Feds).

But the key issue is, there really is no reason to play it. I used to. Quite hard core in fact. Even with the only moving bits of paper and laughing at cooking lasers game play that is Maaaaaahn. But once you realise it is having next to no impact on any other aspect of the game, you have to ask, why bother?

And both BD and Sandy have said if people don't play part of the game, they won't put any further development time into it. Which creates a chicken and egg scenario. Sadly, this is where some of the doom and gloom nay sayers are right. You you start with a poor implementation, people don't play, so FDEV won't develop, so people still won't play.

PP is effectively over. Maaaaaahn/The Alliance won it months ago.

[video=youtube;Tim5nU3DwIE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tim5nU3DwIE[/video]

[big grin]

 

[AgamemnonWhen]

Is Powerplay dead?

In the words of Monty Python's John Cleese, "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!

I just returned to ED after couple of weeks off on hols (it was lovely, thank you) and one of the first things I did when I logged on was to cash in the CR5.5m wages I had waiting for me before it disappeared.

Did I feel refreshed and enthused, ready to saddle back up and get out there to support [insert chosen faction here]? Did I 'eck. I looked at the long list of dull things to do and desperately tried to summon some enthusiasm to transport one similarly-named package or other to a system, and bring other similarly-named packages back again. I considered running up another huge bounty in [opposing faction]'s space, but really couldn't be bothered. I didn't want to spend any of my hard-earned creds buying extra similarly-named packages either.

Looking at my 2-week-old depleted Merit status simply sucked all the joy out of the room. I left it with a healthy balance and came back to dust and sadness.

I looked around at my home base, in my faction's home Control System, and started packing up the ships and modules. I'll be checking out soon, to go and do more exciting and rewarding things elsewhere - maybe off into the deep black for a few weeks. I'll probably keep my PP affiliation live, because I really do want to support PP... but it seems so hollow and empty and pointless.

I was overly-optimistic that something might have happened in the 2.3 update. That doesn't seem to have happened. Maybe it needs five million volts in 2.4?

It really is a missed opportunity for some in-game political engagement. RIP, PP.

 

[Andovar]

Got my prismatics from Ailsing recently then dropped PP again.
Is there more to PP than getting shiny ship mods?
No? Ok, good... didn't think so.

 

[Arkadi]

Got my prismatics from Ailsing recently then dropped PP again.
Is there more to PP than getting shiny ship mods?
No? Ok, good... didn't think so.

Incredible contribution! Thank you so much. Love you too.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Incredible contribution! Thank you so much. Love you too.

Is he wrong? Aside from guns, my Hudson pledge got me some bounty bonuses. They were nice, but I could live without them. So what's in it for me to support Hudson?

What does Rui give besides packhounds? Some trade income or something? I suppose if I traded 100% of the time I might make use of that somehow.

And that's one of the biggest problems with PP. To really have a solid impact, it wants you to devote massive amounts of game time while giving little back. When Grom took whatever system it was a few weeks back, was there all kinds of fanfare and news articles and letters of condemnation published from the opposing powers? What about massive bonuses and buffs for the little cosmonauts who devoted their game time to actually carrying out his expansion? What about Federal Pilots like me? Were they suddenly blacklisted by Grom supporters in the control system and its sphere of influence?

No, in the end there was a server outage, and when everyone logged in on Thursday there were a bunch of systems to fortify, and some preparation targets... just like there had been the Thursday before. And as for those cosmonauts and federal pilots, for all their hard work they were stripped of half their rank and told to do it all over again.

Pfft.

 

[Calrissian]

Got my prismatics from Ailsing recently then dropped PP again.
Is there more to PP than getting shiny ship mods?
No? Ok, good... didn't think so.

Outstanding TEAM player this one. Perfect example of one of the factors that has put Power Play in the state it's in.

I've never been about the Aisling crew because they frequently attack unarmed civilian/merchant transports for sport, but for the most part of what I've seen and experienced, they do stick together.

An attitude of of "me and mine" has no place in Power Play. Is it safe to assume that you just fortified and/or undermined any old place to get the merits for their toy? What you did is not technically wrong. It's just not PRINCIPLED in respect to PowerPlay IMO. I'd like for people to understand that because I wholeheartedly believe that it is this lack of principles that keeps Frontier from implementing some great aspects into this game.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Outstanding TEAM player this one. Perfect example of one of the factors that has put Power Play in the state it's in.

I've never been about the Aisling crew because they frequently attack unarmed civilian/merchant transports for sport, but for the most part of what I've seen and experienced, they do stick together.

An attitude of of "me and mine" has no place in Power Play. Is it safe to assume that you just fortified and/or undermined any old place to get the merits for their toy? What you did is not technically wrong. It's just not PRINCIPLED in respect to PowerPlay IMO. I'd like for people to understand that because I wholeheartedly believe that it is this lack of principles that keeps Frontier from implementing some great aspects into this game.

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?

If Torval takes another control system, what great benefit is it to the players who actually did the work to help her take it?
If Grom owns HIP 12345, what benefit does that ownership confer on him and his followers?
Does trading, mining, and mission work for Federation factions in Winters' systems somehow contribute to my weekly merits? No?
So Hudson basically wants me to work for free - fly to Nanomam, spend millions filling my cargo hold with his military supplies, go drop them off for a few thousand credits, rinse, repeat?
If Li Yong Rui expects me to sacrifice my game time so that I can pay him to fortify his systems, he's got another thing coming.
Why is it when that when I engaged and pirated Grom Intel from an undermining ship in a Hudson system, that I was unable to do anything useful with or gain anything useful from the Grom intel that I pirated?
Why is it that if a non-federation power is undermining a federation power in a federation system, and I engage and destroy forces of that power, that I start racking up bounties?

Why aren't there ever mission messages in my inbox offering bonus rewards for performing some mission for my power?...

Attention CMDR, in order to help support the effort, this week need you to locate and steal data cores from the following 20 bases. We'll pay you handsomely in cash and merits upon mission completion. Half way through Be warned, enemy agents have been notified of your mission, you will have to survive and bring all of the data cores back to HQs. Ship destruction will result in mission failure. Mission success will contribute to the fortification of X.

Greetings CMDR. It has come to our attention that unsanctioned slavery is running rampant in the following systems... We need you to locate and free as many slaves as possible this cycle. Liberate the slavers of their cargo, and return the contraband to HQs. You will be paid well for every unit of slaves liberated, and points per unit will be added to your merit count. Mission success will contribute directly to next Cycle's CC.

CMDR, war has broken out in system X between Imperial and Independent forces. If the Imperials are defeated we stand to lose everything that we've worked for in that sector. Your task is to conduct combat operations to help ensure an Imperial victory. If the imperial faction is victorious, your reward will be merits per kill and an additional 50% increase in combat bonds turned in during the campaign.

Attention, CMDR. Defense contractors are in need of prototype weapons for research. Your task for the week is to secure exprimental effects on x number of grade 3 or higher overcharged multicannons and deliver the weapons to HQ... blah blah blah...

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

 

[Calrissian]

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?

If Torval takes another control system, what great benefit is it to the players who actually did the work to help her take it?
If Grom owns HIP 12345, what benefit does that ownership confer on him and his followers?
Does trading, mining, and mission work for Federation factions in Winters' systems somehow contribute to my weekly merits? No?
So Hudson basically wants me to work for free - fly to Nanomam, spend millions filling my cargo hold with his military supplies, go drop them off for a few thousand credits, rinse, repeat?
If Li Yong Rui expects me to sacrifice my game time so that I can pay him to fortify his systems, he's got another thing coming.
Why is it when that when I engaged and pirated Grom Intel from an undermining ship in a Hudson system, that I was unable to do anything useful with or gain anything useful from the Grom intel that I pirated?
Why is it that if a non-federation power is undermining a federation power in a federation system, and I engage and destroy forces of that power, that I start racking up bounties?

Why aren't there ever mission messages in my inbox offering bonus rewards for performing some mission for my power?...

Attention CMDR, in order to help support the effort, this week need you to locate and steal data cores from the following 20 bases. We'll pay you handsomely in cash and merits upon mission completion. Half way through Be warned, enemy agents have been notified of your mission, you will have to survive and bring all of the data cores back to HQs. Ship destruction will result in mission failure. Mission success will contribute to the fortification of X.

Greetings CMDR. It has come to our attention that unsanctioned slavery is running rampant in the following systems... We need you to locate and free as many slaves as possible this cycle. Liberate the slavers of their cargo, and return the contraband to HQs. You will be paid well for every unit of slaves liberated, and points per unit will be added to your merit count. Mission success will contribute directly to next Cycle's CC.

CMDR, war has broken out in system X between Imperial and Independent forces. If the Imperials are defeated we stand to lose everything that we've worked for in that sector. Your task is to conduct combat operations to help ensure an Imperial victory. If the imperial faction is victorious, your reward will be merits per kill and an additional 50% increase in combat bonds turned in during the campaign.

Attention, CMDR. Defense contractors are in need of prototype weapons for research. Your task for the week is to secure exprimental effects on x number of grade 3 or higher overcharged multicannons and deliver the weapons to HQ... blah blah blah...

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

I don't think you fully read and comprehended my post. "Me and mine" has no place in Power Play. To join Power Play is to join a team. The satisfaction is supposed to be the further advancement of YOUR TEAM. If you cannot for whatever reason find any reason to work together for the advancement of THE TEAM, then you should leave it and Power Play is dead or stagnant.

The benefits present themselves to those who are in first, second, and third place as well as the resources gained from territory expanded or conquered.

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

 

[Deleted member 115407]

I don't think you fully read and comprehended my post. "Me and mine" has no place in Power Play. To join Power Play is to join a team. The satisfaction is supposed to be the further advancement of YOUR TEAM. If you cannot for whatever reason find any reason to work together for the advancement of THE TEAM, then you should leave it and Power Play is dead or stagnant.

The benefits present themselves to those who are in first, second, and third place as well as the resources gained from territory expanded or conquered.

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

Meh. Unwavering loyalty comes with compelling reasons. Just to be on some team or other isn't a compelling reason.

*edit*

I fully understand your post. I mean, Dallas Cowboys because... well... Dallas Cowboys, right? I don't get the motivation in that.

 

[Calrissian]

Meh. Unwavering loyalty comes with compelling reasons. Just to be on some team or other isn't a compelling reason.

*edit*

I fully understand your post. I mean, Dallas Cowboys because... well... Dallas Cowboys, right? I don't get the motivation in that.

If you can't see the value of it all besides what's in it for you, then it's definitely not for you. And in that may lie the majority which is a factor in the stagnation of Power Play.

Reading all these posts, I'm definitely getting a clear picture as to why the Alliance is unrivaled in first place.

 

[lefty1117]

Being able to use PP faction items while unpledged or pledged to another power was one of the bad decisions in PP design, in my opinion. Never understood why they allow that.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

If you can't see the value of it all besides what's in it for you, then it's definitely not for you. And in that may lie the majority which is a factor in the stagnation of Power Play.

Reading all these posts, I'm definitely getting a clear picture as to why the Alliance is unrivaled in first place.

Well, like I said - I'm happy to join a team if I have a compelling reason for doing so. It's not just powerplay - the BGS suffers from the same problem. If there are no consequences for my actions, then why would I eschew taking any action that most benefits me and me alone?

 

[Calrissian]

Being able to use PP faction items while unpledged or pledged to another power was one of the bad decisions in PP design, in my opinion. Never understood why they allow that.

There's a lot in this game that has me scratching my head at times. Engineers being the biggest. To me, they made a feature to sabotage their own guidelines. :O

- - - Updated - - -

Well, like I said - I'm happy to join a team if I have a compelling reason for doing so. It's not just powerplay - the BGS suffers from the same problem. If there are no consequences for my actions, then why would I eschew taking any action that most benefits me and me alone?

If it's all about you, you will never be a fully productive and valued member of ANY team.

 

[PiLhEaD]

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..............

 

[withnail]

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