PLEASE MAKE POWERPLAY IN "OPEN ONLY"

[Rubbernuke]

Presumably PvP is the reward itself - otherwise why would anyone choose to engage in it? When talking about weighted merits the quantum is usually omitted - and I recently read one suggestion that reducing Solo / PG merits to 5% of the weighting of those in Open would be appropriate. Naturally opinions differ.

Either you are all in the same mode (instancing aside) where on paper all risks are equal, or you intelligently allocate reward based on what potential threats you could face.

That was probably me with the 5% as I ran some maths comparing a 12 hr / 24 hr turretboat with what a human could do. Although its not my preferred option, it has advantages (i.e. Powerplay is still in solo) and it takes into account the challenge of other players. It also acts as a soft encouragement to be in open.

Missions pay for co-operation - not collusion.

But you can't collude with weighted merits. The mode and act that this works in is rendered much less potent.

Something being worth including in an investigation seeking feedback from the player-base (as the topic of Open only features has been raised since the game design was published) is not necessarily something that will be implemented without consideration regarding consequences of its implementation.

But in the end FD might look and think "for the pocket change we are willing to spend, this is the most bang for your buck".

No-one, apparently.

Well a recent bug report has this still going on, so its yet another FD win. Maybe one day PP NPCs might make me tab back to them faster.

Only that which is already possible in relation to Powerplay in the game as it is is known. The effect on the feature and on the player-base of PvP-gating existing content (hence removing it completely from some console players and discouraging those who don't enjoy PvP from engaging in it) remains an unknown.

Well we know Powerplay for the reasons listed before does not remain popular outside module shopping. We know that the galaxy is full with few moves left. The devs have speculated about Open only to give Powerplay a clearer reason for inclusion. There is enthusiasm for the feature by the people who would benefit from it.

In the unknown bucket is console PP players with /out subs. P2P resilience, blocking tool.

 

[CmdMarty]

What's wrong with give it a try for the length of an update. i.e. Make it open only in the next update and if the Power Play player numbers drop, put it back how it was in the update after that.

It's the only way to see if the change will make or break the game mode because it needs large player number testing.

Well the game has 2 versions, so would it be a good thing to basically lock non-dlc players out of a main feature of the base game for a test. PP needs a complete overhaul with better netcode to go along with it!

 

[Robert Maynard]

Either you are all in the same mode (instancing aside) where on paper all risks are equal, or you intelligently allocate reward based on what potential threats you could face.

That was probably me with the 5% as I ran some maths comparing a 12 hr / 24 hr turretboat with what a human could do. Although its not my preferred option, it has advantages (i.e. Powerplay is still in solo) and it takes into account the challenge of other players. It also acts as a soft encouragement to be in open.

Comparing all players in Solo / PG to turretboats is rather unreasonable, in my opinion.

A 95% reduction in weighting it not a "soft encouragement" - it's a "players in Solo / PGs don't matter to us as much as players in Open" statement - which would be odd as both Solo and Private Groups both enjoy "significant portions" of the player-base, according to Sandro.

But you can't collude with weighted merits. The mode and act that this works in is rendered much less potent.

Depends on whether direct player / player interaction was expected to offer merit rewards, as some have asked for.

But in the end FD might look and think "for the pocket change we are willing to spend, this is the most bang for your buck".

.... possibly followed by "and doing so, for so few players, risks more in terms of the effect of such a change on the majority of the player-base who don't get involved in PvP".

Well a recent bug report has this still going on, so its yet another FD win. Maybe one day PP NPCs might make me tab back to them faster.

Maybe so.

Well we know Powerplay for the reasons listed before does not remain popular outside module shopping. We know that the galaxy is full with few moves left. The devs have speculated about Open only to give Powerplay a clearer reason for inclusion. There is enthusiasm for the feature by the people who would benefit from it.

It's not surprising that there is "enthusiasm for the feature by the people who would benefit from it" - just as it is not surprising that there is opposition to it from players who would be adversely affected by it - in a game still sold to all where PvP is entirely optional.

In the unknown bucket is console PP players with /out subs. P2P resilience, blocking tool.

Plus bandwidth throttling, default router settings, etc., etc.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Well the game has 2 versions, so would it be a good thing to basically lock non-dlc players out of a main feature of the base game for a test. PP needs a complete overhaul with better netcode to go along with it!

Not when the feature in question forms part of the base game (that every player has), not the optional DLC.

 

[Darkfyre99]

Remember Powerplay exists for gaming, and not lore. It not intended to replace the superpower blocks, its meant to be territorial conquest. If it gets to a state (like it is now) where Powers simply do the gardening its failed.

Then the game mode doesn't fulfil its intended role of 'fundamentally about consensual player versus player conflict.' and will continue to be ignored even by the rest of the community.

And I still think both notions are revisionist thinking, given how Powerplay was designed. Although given how many players have taken the game’s background simulation, and used it as a proxy for territorial conquest, I can very much see how, after three years, this perception came to be.

YMMV

 

[CmdMarty]

Not when the feature in question forms part of the base game (that every player has), not the optional DLC.

That optional dlc gives major advantages in ship power so open only pp would be mostly viable for only dlc owners!

 

[Robert Maynard]

That optional dlc gives major advantages in ship power so open only pp would be mostly viable for only dlc owners!

That it does, and less than 50% of base game sales made a corresponding purchase of Horizons.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

But Power Play is perceived as broken. It's one of those subjects whenever people discuss bad things about E: D, it's right up there with CQC and Combat Logging. If you want to breath new life back into it, you've got to try some risks. I'd say implement the two parts of the Sandro Proposal to make it open only

(i.e.
• Powerplay contacts are only available to players in open
• Powerplay vouchers and commodities are destroyed if a player enters solo or private groups
)

and if that get's more players playing and engaging with PP then work on changing the UI and smooth out the rewards for people who can't access open for some reason. If not, have those two conditions flipped back and we're right back to where we are.

Its perceived as broken by many, but not all of us who think its broken see modes as the issue with it. I see the core mechanics as the borken part, and open only won't change that at all.

If (IF) open only gets more people playing, it will still be an utterly mindnumbing and boring grindfest to me and won't get me playing. If people like that sort of play, specifically because it is in open, then i would presume they are already doing it, in open.

 

[The Replicated Man]

Its perceived as broken by many, but not all of us who think its broken see modes as the issue with it. I see the core mechanics as the borken part, and open only won't change that at all.

If (IF) open only gets more people playing, it will still be an utterly mindnumbing and boring grindfest to me and won't get me playing. If people like that sort of play, specifically because it is in open, then i would presume they are already doing it, in open.

Do you fly in open consistently Agony Aunt?

 

[Agony_Aunt]

That optional dlc gives major advantages in ship power so open only pp would be mostly viable for only dlc owners!

Perhaps with the release of the new DLC it might be time to roll Horizons into the base game, allowing everyone access to engineers. Its always been a bit of an issue with a shared universe where some people are weaker simply because they didn't pay for the expansion and smacks of pay to win.

Perhaps time for FD to remedy that next year,

 

[Phoenix_Dfire]

Its perceived as broken by many, but not all of us who think its broken see modes as the issue with it. I see the core mechanics as the borken part, and open only won't change that at all.

If (IF) open only gets more people playing, it will still be an utterly mindnumbing and boring grindfest to me and won't get me playing. If people like that sort of play, specifically because it is in open, then i would presume they are already doing it, in open.

Hang on, so it doesn't matter to you if it's open only or not. you won't want to play it anyway? Why are you bothered about this then?

 

[CmdMarty]

That it does, and less than 50% of base game sales made a corresponding purchase of Horizons.

Yep and about half the people i play with only have the base game.

 

[CmdMarty]

Hang on, so it doesn't matter to you if it's open only or not. you won't want to play it anyway? Why are you bothered about this then?

Power play needs a major overhaul open only won't fix anything and may introduce more problems.

 

[Darkfyre99]

Its perceived as broken by many, but not all of us who think its broken see modes as the issue with it. I see the core mechanics as the borken part, and open only won't change that at all.

Agreed.

If (IF) open only gets more people playing, it will still be an utterly mindnumbing and boring grindfest to me and won't get me playing. If people like that sort of play, specifically because it is in open, then i would presume they are already doing it, in open.

If Open Only got more people playing, I’d feel compelled to build a bunker in the mountains, for that kind of mass madness can only be a sign that the Great Old Ones are returning.

 

[Rubbernuke]

And I still think both notions are revisionist thinking, given how Powerplay was designed. Although given how many players have taken the game’s background simulation, and used it as a proxy for territorial conquest, I can very much see how, after three years, this perception came to be.

YMMV

How is Powerplay not about gaming and territorial conquest? When it was introduced, the rule was you expand every week, and if you can't (and are in the bottom 3 in last place) for 3 turns you were in danger of collapse. That was the central tenet of Powerplay.

 

[lenna]

Perhaps with the release of the new DLC it might be time to roll Horizons into the base game, allowing everyone access to engineers. Its always been a bit of an issue with a shared universe where some people are weaker simply because they didn't pay for the expansion and smacks of pay to win.

Perhaps time for FD to remedy that next year,

I disagree with it being made available for free to existing players - don't object to a peppercorn type sale price though (perhaps for a limited time), nor do I object to notional price reductions for new players with the base game plus horizons being sold to new players for the current base game price.

That being said, 20 UKP is not really that much to pay for Horizons on it's own and 40 UKP for the two combined plus some premium cosmetic items is not that unreasonable in this day and age. The pay to win argument is a bit weak IMO, what you gain for your 20 UKP is opportunity rather than actual in-game no-effort benefits.

 

[Roybe]

/snip
However, the activities for PP that happen in Open should Only affect the Open galaxy. Same in PG and Solo.

Console gets their own PP galaxy to exist in as well. The activities that you perform should only affect the 'actual' galaxy you live in.

Yea, would probably be more server load for FDEV to keep up with but couldn't all Solo galaxies exist on a person's local machine?

It's like people want the benefits of personally doing activities that affect the galaxy but they don't want to actually live in this same galaxy with other people. How is this immersive?

This is not how the game works.....

 

[Arry]

Hang on, so it doesn't matter to you if it's open only or not. you won't want to play it anyway? Why are you bothered about this then?

Someone has to defend the little guys.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Comparing all players in Solo / PG to turretboats is rather unreasonable, in my opinion.

A 95% reduction in weighting it not a "soft encouragement" - it's a "players in Solo / PGs don't matter to us as much as players in Open" statement - which would be odd as both Solo and Private Groups both enjoy "significant portions" of the player-base, according to Sandro.

When someone can mine 300,000 merits in a turretboat it then breaks the game a tad, how can you (without using the same exploit or grind yourself to death) compete? A 95% reduction from memory brought them down to about 15K a week.

Depends on whether direct player / player interaction was expected to offer merit rewards, as some have asked for.

You simply can't collude with them. The game will know what mode you are in and scale them accordingly.

.... possibly followed by "and doing so, for so few players, risks more in terms of the effect of such a change on the majority of the player-base who don't get involved in PvP".

You mean slippery slopers fearing it will lead to more changes, when its not? The majority of the playerbase don't play Powerplay, ergo they can't be at 'risk' if it changes to it.

Maybe so.

Well until then, you can defect with no penalty, which makes leaving (but waiting extra time) pointless, breaking another part of Powerplay.

It's not surprising that there is "enthusiasm for the feature by the people who would benefit from it" - just as it is not surprising that there is opposition to it from players who would be adversely affected by it - in a game still sold to all where PvP is entirely optional.

Well, although its not allowed to be used in debate, the reaction from the majority of people was favourable.

Plus bandwidth throttling, default router settings, etc., etc.

It may not be perfect, but its better than what we have. And if FD ever want other multiplayer features to work, any dev time invested helps the rest of the game.

 

[Imo]

Not possible. It was one of the core features told during the kickstarter period that everyone can play the game in the mode he likes.