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It's not PvP with a veneer either. It's <activity> where in-instance PvP can feature and have an impact, and wherein that's fitting for the setting.
Powerplay 2.0 “Open” Rewards
- Thread starter Ragnascot
- Start date
You can disagree all you want- all of those features are as Open friendly as you can get. Its easy to spot because you have the exact opposite in the BGS- a feature which is truly pan modal. The only compartmentalisation going on is that Powerplay is gated and optional.
You forget activities are subject to and wrapped in other activities. Mining in open can be PvP, hauling can be PvP. Powerplay wraps thin PvE with the chance of group PvP. PvP in open can happen at any point and turn mundane situations on their head because players are not predictable and have parity with ships and equipment.
When you separate them out all that chaotic randomness vanishes. Without other players, what does Powerplay offer? What gameplay does it have? Do you like A to B hauling with no opposition? Who is that affecting the high level growth of a Power?
People play Elite to fly spaceships, and make it in an unforgiving galaxy. Powerplay is you enlisting in a militant group flying agianst other militant groups- giving a focus for the violent element in ED. Plus at no point am I forcing players to do anything- I'm calling for the separation of tasks to suit what Open and Solo are good at- Open being Elite against other random people in teams, wrapping the mundane low level stuff with other players.
If your starting point is rejecting everyone but those who play like you do, you've failed. Good game designers design features that welcome as many players as possible, or they go out of business.Good. Then don't participate. Those who do, will manage to survive your abscence, I'm pretty sure.
There are quite a few activities in ED I don't really like and therefore don't participate in. Those who do, seem to do it without me just fine.
And Elite most definitely can't afford to reject anyone right now.
It offers competition. It couches my existing gameplay in a meaningful narrative.
It's the exact same things that make the Thargoid War endlessly interesting, despite doing the same activity over and over. It makes my effort matter.
That's not why I play. In fact, when I die, it makes me want to play notably less, which is why it's good I die so little.
I want a galaxy that gives me the freedom to play as I choose. Nothing more, nothing less.
Good game designers design
The game as a whole needs to welcome as many players as possible, but that does not mean that every single game feature/activity in a complex game like this one needs to be designed welcoming to everyone. People are not going to leave the game only because they happen to dislike some specific ingame activity.
I happen to have zero interest in the exobiology feature of ED (for example), but I'm not going to leave the game just because of that.
As long as the game has features I like, I can just do those things and ignore exobiology.
Features like Powerplay are meant to coalesce ALL players. They already added a dedicated pvp zone; it's called CQC. Powerplay is far larger than that, it's basically the single largest thing in the game, that should be emblematic of the entire game, and have a place for all players.
Spot on. Other players really struggle with the idea of people playing ED in a way that is different to their experience. They shout and stamp their feet about "No PP has to be this and has to be that, and you can ONLY experience it my way". Reinforcing exactly the reasons I play only on Solo or PG.
Hmmmm, no.
I'm not sure if I could name a single such feature, and PowerPlay has most certainly never been one. Not even as module shopping.
Where is that zone in the game?
CQC is not a zone, it's not even in the game, it's an entirely separate thing totally disconnected from the game, from your CMDR and their ships. PvP is alive and well in ED, while this completely separate game called CQC is a barren wasteland, and that's no coincidence.
No, it absolutely not emblematic of the entire game, it has never been. Neither should its V2 implementation be such a thing.
The AX war (for example) is a far larger and far more emblematic part of the game than PP, and while theoretically it has a place for all players, it's still largely ignored by many.
PP2 (as descibed in detail by Rubbernuke in this thread) or even the most extreme PvP-only version of OOPP would offer a place for everyone, not that everyone will be interested. And there's zero problem with that. None of the other features of the game is different in that regard.
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I'm sorry, but that's just not true. If all powerplay was meant to be is a bed for pvp, then you would only need two or three powers. Alliance and Horde.
Instead, we have exploration powers, mining powers, search and rescue powers. Powers that encompass every aspect of the game.
Powerplay should be the social heart of the game, the core that drags all people together, that forms friendships, teams, alliances, of all types of players.
Now, you can say screw that, and demand it be catered exclusively to you, but I don't think you'll have much luck. I will certainly disagree with you, as will many others.
I want a powerplay that is enjoyable for everyone, not just the select few.
By your own definition it wouldn't ... It would only offer play to people in Open.
FDevs want more players engaged in PP ... then that includes Solo. That's all there is.
Mining power and exploration power and search and rescue power in a permanent violent conflict with one another, waging wars for territories in eternal friendship in the social heart of the game?
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So you do enjoy A to B hauling races, no opposition, endless turkey shoot NPCs? The Thargoids actually have variety- Powerplay V1 currently has basic hauling and shoot low power NPCs at NAVs or old style CZs....thats....it.
And if you don't want challenge with risks of failure, thats fine- just don't expect massive rewards. In PP risking the most should reward the most.
CQC failed because its not using player ships and is arena based. Powerplay (whole or part ) makes the bubble that arena with all its variation. It also needs an identity apart from the BGS, which does multi mode conflict better and is arguably 'the single largest thing in the game'.
It would. All it does is separate out roles for Open commanders and solo ones- thats the core issue here. The problem Powerplay has is that open, PG and solo are all rewarded the same for the same activity even though Open can be far more dangerous. Either Open is worth more somehow, or that modes have different dedicated roles / features.
Archon Delaine is a search and rescue power though. It searches and rescues all that lovely money.Mining power and exploration power and search and rescue power in a permanent violent conflict with one another, waging wars for territories in eternal friendship in the social social heart of the game?
It absolutely would.
It would offer a place to everyone. Whether you accept it or not is entirely on you. It's called freedom of choice.
Everyone has an 'Open' button, you're free to click on it.
I think there's a compromise for FDev to strike. They want good uptake so they want to make it accessible and put off as few people as possible by their design choices. In fact they downright have a reversal to pull off in that respect. But it's also clear that, like everything else, PowerPlay isn't "meant for everybody". Just like there are objectors to the Thargoid war there will be many against the whole idea of supporting these egomaniacs. In fact due to the station modifications it'll be rather more intrusive than PP1.0, which already draws considerable objection from independents. People are annoyed that it exists as a dev focus, just like the Thargoid war.
That said, for me powerplay should be a rich tapestry of activity, not a straight up war. E.g. Aisling is a media star for crying out loud. That's not all about hardpoints (cough cough). There should be a lot of soft power stuff, etc. But we have to see what emerges from the new design, and I don't see that kind of emphasis much so far - it looks more like more of the same gang warfare. And there will always be elements that have a hard combat focus.
That said, for me powerplay should be a rich tapestry of activity, not a straight up war. E.g. Aisling is a media star for crying out loud. That's not all about hardpoints (cough cough). There should be a lot of soft power stuff, etc. But we have to see what emerges from the new design, and I don't see that kind of emphasis much so far - it looks more like more of the same gang warfare. And there will always be elements that have a hard combat focus.
"Open Only ..."
The thing is, how does that translate into gameplay? Soft power is about diplomacy while ED is a game with spaceships. You can have economic power (like LYR) but in the end its flooding systems with propaganda.
Ages ago I had ideas for missions such as delivering Powerplay passengers like spies (that were wanted if scanned) into hostile areas / stations, generals, diplomats that inferred soft power but for you it was protecting them.
V2 seems to be making alternatives to UM (as seen in FU #4) but ultimately its the gun that decides matters- its either pointed at you or you doing the pointing.