Hi everyone,
It has been a while since the update, so I had some time to mess around with the system and sort out my thoughts.
For background, I am pledged to Nakato Kaine. Not because I am particularly devoted to the alliance, but more so because my faction is centered completely in her sphere of influence and there wasn’t a more appealing alternative worth trying to cut and convert a huge swath of territory. So let’s get started.
Now this is everything I have so far in terms of straight up feedback. Now for some pure suggestions on how to improve some aspects of power play.
A personal note. Jukagha. Once held by a Federal Faction which is probably the reason, they got settled with a Federal Cap Ship Installation filled to the brim with Federal Navy Ships. When my Independent faction took over and it didn't go away, it was a nuisance. Now that the system is in the heart of Namiko space, it just feels out of place. Is there really no way these type of installations can have the right type of navy inside?
It has been a while since the update, so I had some time to mess around with the system and sort out my thoughts.
For background, I am pledged to Nakato Kaine. Not because I am particularly devoted to the alliance, but more so because my faction is centered completely in her sphere of influence and there wasn’t a more appealing alternative worth trying to cut and convert a huge swath of territory. So let’s get started.
- Codex. It appears new powers such as Nakato Kaine lack a corresponding entrance in the codex. Unlike every other power. That is despite a huge chunk of history presumably already existing, if one goes by the wiki. It is a small yet noticeable hurdle for anyone looking to properly immersive themselves into her story/faction.
- Map. The map UI is really finicky, especially for controllers. And the added sub menus like strategic view and whatnot haven’t made it easier (not to mention finding them is a pain) Honestly I feel like just making a mock for a better control scheme one of these days.
- Minimum Activity Filter. Speaking of that map view, I dare you to check the usability of the minimum activity slider. I know which systems are supposedly focused by the discord and let me tell you despite seeing huge margins there, the systems only show up on the first slider bar. Not sure by what metric the activity is scaled, but I suggest its % of total merits earned that cycle in a system (for conflicts look also at opposition merits) and then either put them in 17 equally sized bins or go by top 95%, top 90%... down to top 5% per bar.
- Instance Bloat. No idea if this is because I am pledged or a general change, but no matter if I drop in the middle of nowhere, an interdiction or even mission signals, 90% of the time there will be a small gathering of power ships, doing their own thing. Their presence and non-interactivity with the instance (such as helping against pirates) are really irritating.
- Power Wreckage Signature. Nice to have some more salvaging targets. But compared with the hell Salvage Missions, who usually drop in a squad of enemy fighters on your head, even in a fortified system, I have no resistance by local enemy power ships. See point above. Why are there even different threat levels?
- Power Security. Really not feeling like NPC are putting any sort of resistance up against enemy power players. No interdictions, as mention no raised eyebrows at power wreckage. I mean I am a clean player, because notoriety sucks, but the game really sold this as more dangerous than just keeping away from enemy power carriers. Carry rares? More pirates. Undermining Power Play Materials? Illegal Cargo you get interdicted and attacked for. As long as engineers and CG stations are safe, people should be fair game for security forces.
- Loyalty UI. Why do I need to select a tier to see its benefits? Couldn’t you just swap them out as I go. I get that you need to select it to scroll down, but for quickly reviewing upcoming levels: The change is always on top already.
- Codex Manual. Would it hurt to add some relevant screenshots in the third panel of the pilots’s handbook for powerplay? Like Ethos, I have to guess which of the 3 powerplay information tabs would be relevant. Also right now it’s just empty space and looks almost bugged.
- Power Play Cycle Notification. I keep getting the next cycle imminent constantly and every day. Sometimes even multiple times in the same session.
- Ethos Bonus Information. Why can’t you just move the ethos bonus into the appropriate page. And while we are at it, also display the bonus percentage, in the interest of transparency.
- I am really glad that there are now so many activities to participate in for powerplay, though I do have some points here:
- Rare Goods. The king, especially with a fleet carrier as buffer. Given its time investment, risk of pirates, it serves as a good baseline for merit payout. So if you plan to tweak the numbers, keep these as is and move everything around it instead.
- Salvage. Love salvaging, but as mentioned, it doesn’t have any challenge as of now (At least in enemy or contested systems should hostile ships await me). To double down, maybe make it so you need to rescue wreckage from enemy territory and bring it back to your own, for the merits. That way you always ensure a sensible reason for hostilities.
- Power Commodities. I get why these are such low volumes. As you are expected to fight over these and cargo space leaves ships at a disadvantage, big haulers that just play solo, etc. would just be annoying. Yet I feel like there could have been done more with this stuff. Make undermining and acquiring commodities illegal, so you need to smuggle it. Increase interdiction rate while carrying these (compare with enemy incoming spawn rate for missions). And maybe be so bold and try to make acquisition/undermining commodities something you pick at the target and bring back to your faction for a certain ethos (just to add more spice into the mix).
- Regular Trading. Really cannot say I did this too much. The merits weren’t worth it. Powers really should consider hiring pirates as privateers to harass traders from other powers in their territory.
- Bounty Hunting. Not gonna lie, I made more merits doing rares for a day, than I did with 2 weeks of massacre stack farming. Really ought to have merits increased. The bonus pay is nice though, not gonna lie.
- Hacking. Cool visual, but sadly no gameplay here. We had heists for mega ships with stealth, but this is just sad in comparison. You don’t even get in trouble with the coming security forces if they scan you. I get you didn’t want to force people to fight around stations, so why not make hackable screens and stuff around other installations, where you could start a fight.
- Odyssey Materials. A nice bonus while raiding settlements of anarchy factions. Should have been how power commodities work in general: You need to work for them. I know stronghold carriers are the space equivalent, but something more mid tier boss in contested/exploited systems could have been cool. Oh and of course merits are a joke (unless you are very thorough)
- Humanitarian Aid. Nice thought, but execution is terrible. You are buying merits one way or another, which might I add having the more troublesome donation of commodities sometimes give less merits than raw cash, because of how evaluation works. Hey, a system is in drought/famine/outbreak? Welp selling them water, etc. isn’t actually humanitarian aid. And while researching this, I managed to get into a drought system with no state related humanitarian missions.
- Mining. Really confusing that the origin of the materials matter. I mean kudos for the tracking, but also means some systems cannot really benefit from this because of the lack of appropriate mining spots.
Now this is everything I have so far in terms of straight up feedback. Now for some pure suggestions on how to improve some aspects of power play.
- Stronghold Carriers. Fortified Systems lack proper projection power. And with Humanitarian Aid, Salvage and maybe Bounty Hunting, you could have PP specific missions. So how about we kill two birds in one stone. Give Strongholds a special mission board, which targets systems in range with missions like humanitarian aid, source and deliver/smuggle stuff to a system, high risk salvage, bounty hunting high threat targets, mining. These missions could generate extra merits.
- Passenger. Where are the “bring diplomats, spies and agents from a to b” missions? With so much cover almost expecting something here to use passengers rather than cargo. Could go with a stronghold carrier.
- Fleet Carriers. Access filter for Power Members and maybe even a Power Play Activity Theme for the HUD (just the power icon and color of the faction).
- Missions. Mining and Salvage operations through boards should award merits as if the turned in materials are sold at market. Bounty missions practically do this already indirectly.
- Notoriety. As BGS and Powerplay are not interlinked, especially in spaces controlled by larger factions, you can easily lock yourself out of your own power stations by doing crime while undermining. As a band aid solution, I propose that commanders do not incur notoriety for crimes against NPC committed within systems their power undermines.
- Space Installation. I really hoped Powerplay might breathe some new life into space installations. For BGS they are nearly worthless aside from bragging rights and it shouldn't be to hard adding power play data terminals and populate instances with power patrols.
- Capital Ships. I know if you seek them out, you can easily find them, but I wish I could see them more often as part of my regular activities. So as now PP is part of this, having them in power play combat zones would be dope. But that would require something for Alliance and Independent powers.
A personal note. Jukagha. Once held by a Federal Faction which is probably the reason, they got settled with a Federal Cap Ship Installation filled to the brim with Federal Navy Ships. When my Independent faction took over and it didn't go away, it was a nuisance. Now that the system is in the heart of Namiko space, it just feels out of place. Is there really no way these type of installations can have the right type of navy inside?
