Powerplay Legislative Record allotment

Seems everyone who tries to explain game features assumes everyone else knows what they are talking about.
We probably do, at that. I'll try to elaborate.

The assumption we initially worked with is this: You get one free allotment every 30 minutes. Once you pick up your allotment, the 30-minute timer starts for your next free allotment. As it turned out, this assumption is false. In fact, the timer does not start when you pick up your allotment, but instead starts when you check the powerplay contacts screen - assuming you already have a free allotment available. So you can't start the timer if you don't have a free allotment available, but if you do have a free allotment available, you can start the timer without picking it up.

What does this mean for you? Basically, it lets you start the timer without being at the control system you want to fortify. You can then spend the 30 minutes running a trade route and making some money on the way there, and as long as you take less than 30 minutes to get there, you can arrive at the control system, pick up your free allotment, wait 2 minutes (because the timer has been running down for 28 minutes), and then get another free allotment. In short, it allows you to do trade runs while fortifying without actually losing out on any of your free allotments.

I hope that clears it up.
 
I still don't know what an allotment is. Why I have one and how I use it. If this is a Power Play feature, why is there no explanation of this feature?

Is there a document which completely explains Plower Play features not in the official documentation?

-Pv-
 
Actually I don't address that specifically, but I'll add it in since it's obviously needed.

[Edit] Edited that guide to include info on what exactly we're talking about when we mention a free allotment.
 
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Cool. Looking forward to that. I've run two legislative record deliveries between Pongo and Gateway. Takes me about 35 minutes. I'm able to turn in and get merits.
It's hard for me to see where this "allotment" thing factors in. I see nothing in the UI that gives a clue.
-Pv-
 
I believe the game refers to it as a "quota" instead of an "allotment", but it means the same thing. You only see it after picking up the initial bunch and going back to the powerplay contacts screen, though, so it is entirely possible that you've never seen it.
 
After re-reading the guide, this is still clear as mud to me. The words "Quota" (some kind of minimum enforced) and "Allotment" (something given periodically) do not mean the same thing.
What did the devs intend? Is your understanding different than what they have presented in documentation?
We should use the most accurate terminology, know what the words mean, and how this affects the way I play. So far, all I get from this is there is "something" happening I should care about, but don't know why
I should care, nor why playing a certain way is good or bad in this respect. Give me an example of doing the wrong thing and an example of doing the right thing.

Quoting the relevant sections from the Guide:

"Defensive play involved moving documents to or from systems. Depending on your powerplay rating, you get a certain number of free documents every half hour. This is what we refer to as the "free allotment". More on that later."

...

"A second effect of increasing your rating tier is that you get a larger free allotment of powerplay commodities. These are the documents you haul when you are fortifying, preparing or expanding. This allotment starts at 10 for rating 1, increasing to 15 for rating 2, 20 for rating 3, 25 for rating 4 and finally 50 for rating 5, and is awarded every half hour. The allotments do not stack, so if you are out of the game for several hours you will still only have one free allotment waiting for you when you return. For the rich among us, there exists the option to fast-track for extra allotments beyond the free ones given every half hour, but this is not recommended for newer players - We would rather help you gain credits and larger ships, as that benefits our power more in the long run and makes the game more enjoyable for you, than see you spend all your money fast-tracking."

-Pv-
 
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After thinking about this more, I have a proposed wording which in my mind simplifies the concept more than what I have read so far.
Let me know if this is not the idea you are trying to get across:

Since we are "given" a certain number of power-dedicated "commodities" to support any of the three power goals of Prepare, Expand, or Fortify from the Power Contact page, the goal is simply make the best use of that 30 minutes to trade effectively between the two end points so waiting time at the remote power center station is minimized. The alternative is to purchase these dedicated commodities (called "fast tracking") in order to run the missions more often.

To me, this seems simple and obvious worded this way.
-Pv-
 
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