There is a bit of an issue with the powerplay bonuses. With the old system, players could relatively easily access the basic bonuses of the power. For example, the INF bonus available to Aisling players only took about an hour's hauling every week. It was not FUN, but it was still relatively easy to access, and meaningfully distinguished the Powers from each other.
These bonuses are still available with PP2.0, but many of them only become available after hundreds of hours of effort, and probably should not scale - at least, not in the way they do. Imperial Slave trade bonuses, for example. Imperial Slaves are not particularly profitable to begin with, so getting a ~10% bonus after a couple dozen hours of effort is not going to be particularly encouraging to newer players.
With this in mind, I think that SOME of these bonuses should be front-loaded. In other words, rather than unlocking 10%, then 20%, then 30%, then 40%, progressively, you might instead unlock 25%, then 30%, then 35%, then 40%. Or, in some cases, just 40% right away. This makes these activities much more appealing straight out the gate, while still allowing for meaningful progress for the player as they rank up.
This would need to be done on a case-by-case basis, based on what is most useful in the earlier parts of the game versus later on. For example, the Arissa bounty multiplier is useful throughout the game and probably should not be too strong earlier on. By contrast, the reductions in weapon prices is primarily useful early on, and should be entirely available early on. The same goes for Denton Patreus's Rearm bonuses.
Here's a quick chart.
Arissa: Frontload Weapon Cost(-30%), leave bounties unchanged.
Jerome: Frontload weapon cost(-30%), leave bounties unchanged.
Denton: Frontload Weapon Cost(-40%) and Rearm Cost(-90%), leave bounties unchanged.
Yuri: Frontload it all.
LYR: Frontload rearm/refuel/repair, partially frontload Trade Bonus, leave explo unchanged.
Pranav: Frontload Technological Trade, leave exobio unchanged
Edmund: Frontload Rares, leave Trade unchanged
Zemina: Frontload Imperial Slaves, leave others unchanged
Nakato: Frontload Search and Rescue, leave Mining unchanged.
Felicia: Frontload Search and Rescue slightly, frontload Medicine and Food Trade
Aisling: Frontload search and rescue slightly(on account of the high cap) but less than felicia.
Archon: Frontload Black Market(and buff the bonus), leave bounty bonus unchanged.
So, for example, a newer player might be more encouraged to pledge to Denton Patreus for his immediate -90% rearm and -40% weapon cost benefits, accepting that their long-term bounty bonus will be less. This makes this bonus much more useful. By contrast, a long-term player would prefer to go for Arissa or Jerome for their higher cap, even though it takes longer to get there.
These bonuses are still available with PP2.0, but many of them only become available after hundreds of hours of effort, and probably should not scale - at least, not in the way they do. Imperial Slave trade bonuses, for example. Imperial Slaves are not particularly profitable to begin with, so getting a ~10% bonus after a couple dozen hours of effort is not going to be particularly encouraging to newer players.
With this in mind, I think that SOME of these bonuses should be front-loaded. In other words, rather than unlocking 10%, then 20%, then 30%, then 40%, progressively, you might instead unlock 25%, then 30%, then 35%, then 40%. Or, in some cases, just 40% right away. This makes these activities much more appealing straight out the gate, while still allowing for meaningful progress for the player as they rank up.
This would need to be done on a case-by-case basis, based on what is most useful in the earlier parts of the game versus later on. For example, the Arissa bounty multiplier is useful throughout the game and probably should not be too strong earlier on. By contrast, the reductions in weapon prices is primarily useful early on, and should be entirely available early on. The same goes for Denton Patreus's Rearm bonuses.
Here's a quick chart.
Arissa: Frontload Weapon Cost(-30%), leave bounties unchanged.
Jerome: Frontload weapon cost(-30%), leave bounties unchanged.
Denton: Frontload Weapon Cost(-40%) and Rearm Cost(-90%), leave bounties unchanged.
Yuri: Frontload it all.
LYR: Frontload rearm/refuel/repair, partially frontload Trade Bonus, leave explo unchanged.
Pranav: Frontload Technological Trade, leave exobio unchanged
Edmund: Frontload Rares, leave Trade unchanged
Zemina: Frontload Imperial Slaves, leave others unchanged
Nakato: Frontload Search and Rescue, leave Mining unchanged.
Felicia: Frontload Search and Rescue slightly, frontload Medicine and Food Trade
Aisling: Frontload search and rescue slightly(on account of the high cap) but less than felicia.
Archon: Frontload Black Market(and buff the bonus), leave bounty bonus unchanged.
So, for example, a newer player might be more encouraged to pledge to Denton Patreus for his immediate -90% rearm and -40% weapon cost benefits, accepting that their long-term bounty bonus will be less. This makes this bonus much more useful. By contrast, a long-term player would prefer to go for Arissa or Jerome for their higher cap, even though it takes longer to get there.