Ok, let's just say it. Powerplay needs to be reborn. The current system just doesn't work and if recent events don't prove that, I don't know what will. We have a system whereby systems get stupidly over fortified. Combat oriented powers suddenly have to work three times as hard, where as noncombat ones are far less in peril. Ultimately, the situation could have been handled better by Frontier as they unintentionally screwed over some powers with their hot fix. Why don't we just acknowledge that the idea of powerplay is good, but it's execution is not.
Powerplay should not be this treadmill style grind. It should operate similarly to engineers, in that you can do well just by playing the game. Engineers allows you to gain materials through all parts of the game, and while it's not perfect, it's a good idea. If I were to rebuild powerplay personally, I would set it up so that powers are locked in a proxy war, they back certain minor factions and any work you do for those minor factions earns you merits, this could be bounty hunting, trading at their stations, doing missions for them or even selling cartographic data. Your power rewards you for assisting their chosen minor faction, merits can then be turned in for ranks similar to the current system, however the merits would not decay over time, meaning that people aren't forced into a long weekly grind.
The proxy war would still invoke local conflict, and the combat bonds would still earn merits. Players of other factions would still get interdicted outside of their space, and more rarely within their space, justifying the increased reqard of powerplay with increased risk.
This is how I would rebuild powerplay, but I don't really care what is done to powerplay, as long as something is done to fix it. Powerplay is an amazing idea, and it shouldn't be squandered.
Powerplay should not be this treadmill style grind. It should operate similarly to engineers, in that you can do well just by playing the game. Engineers allows you to gain materials through all parts of the game, and while it's not perfect, it's a good idea. If I were to rebuild powerplay personally, I would set it up so that powers are locked in a proxy war, they back certain minor factions and any work you do for those minor factions earns you merits, this could be bounty hunting, trading at their stations, doing missions for them or even selling cartographic data. Your power rewards you for assisting their chosen minor faction, merits can then be turned in for ranks similar to the current system, however the merits would not decay over time, meaning that people aren't forced into a long weekly grind.
The proxy war would still invoke local conflict, and the combat bonds would still earn merits. Players of other factions would still get interdicted outside of their space, and more rarely within their space, justifying the increased reqard of powerplay with increased risk.
This is how I would rebuild powerplay, but I don't really care what is done to powerplay, as long as something is done to fix it. Powerplay is an amazing idea, and it shouldn't be squandered.
