I'd like to see an active front where pve and pvp combat is encouraged. Combat zones on foot and in space appear for planets that are contested on the front. Do away with fortifications and all that.. Keep the action concentrated on a front that moves with the daily tick. Perhaps the front could be defined as those boundaries where Powers bump into each other, perhaps a neutral zone x lightyears across where all planets within the zone are susceptible to powerplay activities.
Non-combat activities could be missions generated on a new Powerplay section of the mission board and could be things like retrieve intelligence (foot & space), procure goods, provide mined materials, disrupt facilities, upload propaganda, etc. and all of these contribute to a BSG-style calculation that determines the state of the planet each tick. States could be something like Loyal, Conflicted and Contested. When reaching Contested state the planet enters the combat phase where the combat zones open up and supporting missions are generated. Upon reaching a CG-style warscore threshold the planet may move to the other side, where it begins in Conflicted state and it would be up to the new owners to move it to loyal via completion of various activities.
The important bits are the front moves dynamically, and the front is where all the activity is, keeping players focused and engaged against each other.
Would be cool to have a political layer on top of the activities, perhaps influenced by story choices from FD, that could direct players to specific fronts, or provide temporary rewards, or create story events that impact what is happening on the ground. In this way FD could inject some momentum or aid against snowballing powers, to keep things interesting and moving.
Finally, do away with the power-hopping to obtain gear. Power-specific gear only works while you are loyal to the power.
