Powerplay: Ideas from the devs - Feedback wanted! #3

[nukeguard]

Powerplay

here's my 2 cents...


Favour: a non-decay mechanic. yes, absolutely all for it.

Powerplay Flag: another worthwhile idea if done right. I personally never really felt in danger in hostile systems, but this idea still has merit.

Up/Down Vote: Not great, but definitely a step in the right direction for some communications.

Freedom Fighters: not sure about this one... need to chew on that for a bit.

More Powerful Ethos versus Government Effect: more granularity to allow CMDR's to actually see their impact is definitely a good thing.

Missions, Variety and Rewards: <<<<THIS!!!
I would would take a fraction of this over all the other ideas combined. Yes, please! We want more fun and challenging things to do. Anything beyond leaflet shipping and slaughtering braindead haulers would be a very welcome change.

I would like to also say that ^ Missions, variety, and rewards would absolutely be awesome to add into PP.

EDIT: I'm a casual player, and would love the ability to have non-decaying merits.

@Shpinx2k, I fly into opposing factions space all the time with no recourse, just a few more interdictions.

 

[atlas974]

To use a well-known phrase... Okay, I'll bite!


Here are my suggestions...


Integrate "Power" Stuff With Minor Faction Allegiances

Like this...

[url]http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx310/CaptainKremmenED/Suggestion%20Box/Powers%201_zpsf9esc9cv.jpg[/URL]

That alone opens up a LOAD of "integration-friendly" possibilities...


BBS Missions

Once some Minor Factions are given Power-based allegiance (as an extension of Major Faction allegiance), the impact of some Bulletin Board missions will be implicitly Power-related. Powers will benefit/suffer from mission activity if the "sponsoring" and/or "target" Minor Factions are allied to a Power figure.

We already have missions that are unavailable because "this faction does not trust you enough". Extend that to include the Minor Faction's Allegiance, compared against the pilot's pledged status...

• Use the interplay between Minor Faction Reputation and pilots' Power "Pledged" Allegiance to determine which missions are available.
• Power "sensitive" missions (ie. ones that could impact system control on the Power landscape) would only be available to appropriately pledged pilots.
• Use pledged pilot Levels in their Power progress to unlock the more interesting missions.

So, for high-level pledged pilots in relevant locations (ie. where their Power is active), all available mission types become "Power" missions. This means greater variety. And going forward, every single mission "variety" enhancement will be leveraged straight into PowerPlay.


For pilots, Minor Faction Reputation gains/losses could be aligned with Power Stuff in interesting ways. Currently, the Major Faction reputation rises and falls in line with Minor Faction reputation. Consider the possibilities of extending this to something like the "Favour" concept (or even just calling in "Power Reputation", and keeping all those ducks in a row).


It also has the neat benefit for selling exploration data. When sold to UC at stations owned by "Power-allied" Minor Factions, Power-related benefits could flow.


Given all the above, pilots could then play as they wish, while still being engaged with Power Stuff. 100% of existing in-game mechanics would have Power carry-over.



Impact of Minor Faction Rework on Global Power Mechanics

The above Minor Faction integration invites a re-imagining of the weirder Power concepts like Exploitation, Command Capital, etc.

If a system's Controlling Minor Faction is allied with the nearby Power (ie. controlling system close by), some concept other than "exploited" can be used. Perhaps such systems are more like "coalitions", or "bloc systems", or "aligned". If the Controlling Minor faction is not allied with the nearby Power, stick with "exploited".

Command Capital value could change based on the Controlling Minor Faction's level of influence (and its alliance). Systems could then gain and lose profitability based on their Minor Faction situation - famine, war, boom, flipping, etc.

Pilots would collectively have a vested interest in "building up" individual system health and well-being, to keep the Command Capital flowing. Keeping the population on-side with the favoured Controlling Minor Faction would be key to a stable power structure and support base.



Review Power Pledge Costs, Benefits and FUN FACTOR

The benefits of being pledged to a Power are pretty dodgy. The quirky bonus equipment is AT BEST "not better" than regular stuff, and more often worse.

The negative impacts of being pledged are many, and can be a real turn-off. Loss of freedom to roam without a target painted on your head. Distorted play, like being made to wait 30 minutes for another "parcel of stuff" to be handed out (people logging in via laptop at work, camping stations, collecting goods to ship in the evening). No progressive credit earning. No time to enjoy Power-conferred bonuses like bounty/exploration multipliers, due to the "either/or" approach to Power vs. non-Power actions. The way the merit decay makes pilots feel inside. The limited mission styles and unbalanced merit earnings. The list goes on.

This needs a fundamental reappraisal!

You need to ask some serious questions for PowerPlay to answer.

• What is FUN about PowerPlay? If it's not really good fun, why do it?
• What is CHALLENGING about PowerPlay? If it's not an intellectual, organisational and/or skill-based challenge, why do it?
• What is BORING about PowerPlay? If it is boring, get rid of it!
• What is ANNOYING about PowerPlay? If something is annoying, was it supposed to be "fun" or "challenging", but is being let down by the mechanics involved? If so, fix the mechanics making it annoying.
• What DRAWS YOU IN to the "living galaxy" when involved in PowerPlay?
• What BREAKS IMMERSION and smashes the concept of a "living galaxy" when involved in PowerPlay?
• What feels like ADVANCEMENT when flying around doing things in PowerPlay?
• What feels POINTLESS when flying around doing things in PowerPlay?

Example...

Being interdicted by "rival power" hit squads in your own Power HQ.

Sounds like fun - a bit of risk, a bit of pew-pew. But...

• If the attacking ships are idiot-level NPCs, it's no challenge - so BORING.
• If it happens too frequently, it becomes ANNOYING. It is also IMMERSION-BREAKING, as there is no sense in rival power hit squads roaming free in your HQ system.
• If you are given a reward for successfully eliminating a rival power hit squad, great - you can at least gain some ADVANCEMENT. But to gain no benefit whatsoever makes the exercise POINTLESS.

The same analysis should be run through for:

• Each available mission type.
• Each way of earning "merits".
• Reason for expanding your Power.
• Each Power-specific magic weapon/module.
• Each facet of "non-Power" style Elite play, from the perspective of a pledged pilot. Is Trading still FUN? Does Exploration benefit Powers, or is it pointless? Does being pledged to an exploration-focused Power actually help ADVANCE your exploration gameplay, or render it POINTLESS?

etc.



Leverage Existing Game Mechanics for Additional Power Benefits

Look to use what you already have, to give PowerPlay some actual sparkle, and some point. For example,


Rapid Response Squadrons

The higher your "level" as a pledged pilot, the more likely it is that a Power Rapid Response Wing will be deployed to assist you if you are attacked. Just use the same sort of spawn mechanic as the "system authority" response, but with Power-aligned NPC ships. Have them turn up faster if you are close to your HQ or Control systems. That way, if you are attacked by those silly "rival Power hit squads" in your own HQ, a squadron of angry Eagles appears to shoot them up.

Suddenly, there is a real-world benefit to being a pledged Pilot - your own wing of defenders, appearing on demand.


Redeem Bounty Vouchers and Combat Bonds Anywhere in Power Space

In the same way that you can currently land on any station to cash in a Bounty Voucher or Combat Bond for an in-system Minor Faction, make it possible to cash them in for any Minor Faction in Power-controlled space, if you dock at a station in that Power region.

Another instant benefit to being a pledged pilot - no need to travel to every darn system controlled by your Power. Convenient cashing in of a broad range of vouchers, facilitated by your friendly neighbourhood Power.




Make Sure Stuff Actually Works Properly and Consistently

Please shore up the Background Sim. Run extra internal simulations, add some extra back-end debugging, publish what is supposed to happen and when (so the players can actually differentiate "correct" and "incorrect" behaviour), etc. Us players have been tearing their hair out right from 1.0, through to 1.2, and then still more crazy stuff hit the BGS when 1.3 arrived. This demoralises, frustrates and discourages the very groups you need to engage.

Please improve stuff like relevance of ship spawning, NPC AI, etc. It doesn't make sense for roaming hit squads to be blithering idiots who cannot shoot straight. It doesn't make sense that they fly around unopposed in enemy power regions (Hint: We all know NPCs don't actually interdict other NPCs, but at least spawn ships in such a way as to pretend they do).

Please address the CRAZY EDGE CONDITION mess that PowerPlay introduces. It really shows its rough edges right now, and makes it look exactly like a layer slapped on top of an existing game world. For example,

• Empire Internal Security not stepping in to help a a CLEAN Imperial Earl being attacked by CLEAN ships in a system that has a "Controlling Minor Faction" allied to the Empire. Supposedly because a Federation-aligned Power figure is somehow "in charge".
• Said Imperial Earl becoming WANTED for defending himself.

Indeed, please consider ensuring Rule Of Law is restored across Elite space. If there is jurisdictional authority, there is NO justification for allowing a ship to attack a CLEAN ship without itself becoming WANTED. It shouldn't matter who is "pulling the strings"; An unlawful attack is an unlawful attack. If a manipulative Power wants to press buttons and have someone killed, get them to issue a bounty on a pilot that has done them wrong. Work WITH the legal system... don't compromise/discard it for the sake of Power Pew-Pew.


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Summary - Final Words

If PowerPlay worked like this, above, I'd actually be interested in playing it. It would be integrated with the "proper" Elite Dangerous, would be as fun and involving as the "proper" Elite Dangerous, and would be inclusive of existing gameplay activities... which could occur under the "PowerPlay" umbrella.

Unfortunately, as it stands today, PowerPlay gets an emphatic "hell, no" from me. It comes across as a minimally integrated add-on layer that could have been slapped on top of practically any multiplayer game with a map. World of Tanks, Elder Scrolls, Star Wars, heck - it could be plonked on Minecraft. But it would transform none of them, benefit none of them, and be a disappointing add-on... because it's not Right.



I'm sorry to be so blunt here, but PowerPlay strikes me as being a "separate" layer so as not to break anything else already in and running. These are the kinds of compromises that happen when live-running products are enhanced and extended... without significant resources being available to do the kind of job that would have been done if tackled prior to release. With the approach, "For God's sake, don't change the existing stuff!", you're left with a system that is, as Michael Brookes described it, "deliberately kept separate". Yes, it's pretty clear that it's been kept separate, let me tell you!

But it wasn't kept separate, I fear, in order to enhance the gameplay experience. The gameplay experience, in all honesty, is not good. It was kept separate because that limited the risks behind the PowerPlay code changes.

That design and delivery approach was reasonably successful at not breaking everything else, I guess. To me, though, it was NOT successful at delivering a compelling new way of enjoying Elite Dangerous.

It's all well and good to say, "You don't have to like it, and don't have to play it", but you should really WANT players to like it, and WANT them to be keen to play it! Months of effort went into this stuff, instead of being put into other things on the to-do list. True, PowerPlay didn't destroy the integrity of the existing game code, but in my book, it didn't deliver compelling, rich and fun gameplay experiences - which is surely the key objective here...?


To fix PowerPlay, I really think you need to take a good, hard look at the decision making behind the allowed scope of changes. Because just tinkering with add-on bits (Favour) and magic numbers (expansion formulae) won't resurrect PowerPlay.


I reckon you need to commit to a full and proper rework and BGS integration of PowerPlay... with all that it entails in terms of software risk, extra testing, community involvement and rollout complexity.

Don't go all Secret Squirrel on us again, please. Don't just "tinker" with PowerPlay around the edges. Discuss the issues with your playerbase, then dive in with confidence and build it properly. Throw away all the not-fun/frustrating/boring stuff (most of it, in my opinion), and integrate it. Not as a "separate" slap-on layer, but as a core set of mechanics alongside everything else.

- - - - - - - -


That's my list of stuff... thanks for asking for feedback.

Good luck!

This please! All of these suggestions!

Also we got:

V1: community goals, needed some tweaking but was great, put commanders together or VS and draw people attention on systems.

V2: WINGS, great too, finally some in game systems to group but we're still waiting for group missions..... No words since release of V2

V3: POWERPLAY, seems good but need a lot of tweaking and seems counter competitive with V1 (CG), bring some PvP action ....

What i'll would add is that i wish powerplay action was like shown in the trailer.... you know decals (missing), specific missions (missing) and power community goal (missing too)

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

On Powerplay flag benefits versus dilution: I'm not convinced that dilution would be noticeable versus the possible uptake of pledges. Also, I see this flag as a way of empowering Commanders to play the game how they want to.

You mean like the transponder?

 

[_Flin_]

I really LOVE the freedom fighter idea, with on caveat. Please do the pledging to one minor faction, not a system. This would be the right way. Consistent, worling with future developments. Logical. The system itself is usually not an entity that anyone does anything for (e.g. the Lugh Freedom fighters support Crimson State Group; other people usually have a minor faction they support; player groups will get minor factions with their name).

Noone cares about the system. Most care about minor factions. So pledging to a minor faction is the logical thing to do. The system entity does not exist gameplay wise except as a location. You cant run missions for a system.

 

[Marc Alexander]

stuff

FD, give this man a job.

 

[n o o d l z]

I don't like the "Powerplay Flag" idea. If you're traveling into hostile territory you SHOULD get hounded. The problem right now is simple, the incentive to participate in Powerplay does not overcome the annoyance of traveling into hostile territory. The consensus opinion is that when you sign up for Powerplay, you're basically doing the same missions for less reward. Add in a ton of interdictions to the mix and it quickly gets tiring, If you increase the incentive (loyalty rewards for staying with a faction, increased mission payouts for power-aligned factions, more faction-specific weaponry, etc.) then those annoyances would become more tolerable and understandable since you're getting rewarded accordingly.

 

[_Flin_]

Regarding ethos: is there an ETA when it will be fixed? Right now it doesnt work (see Leesti, Boreas, Contien etc.) First fix it, then improve it.

Regarding up/down vote: absolutely great idea. Proven concept, simple, elegant.

 

[withnail]

Over-fortification: this is an interesting issue. The reason that there is not anything in this post concerning this phenomena is because we're still looking to get targeted system collapse in soon. For clarity, this is the mechanic where massive undermining can lead to a system collapsing, throwing off power control even if the power is healthy.

With the threat of targeted collapse, it's plausible to suggest that folk have a greater responsibility to choose what to forty (as over-fortification can prevent targeted collapse). And we're very happy for powers to suffer serious losses from this system, as it is driven by enemy Commander activity.

As soon as you introduce this, Archon Delaine will die.

It's hard enough for us as it is. I am sure you are aware of the Empire's attempts to wipe us out. There would be no way in which our power could fight this.

I suspect you would end up with just the large powers left after a while, as they have the numbers to do a massive undermining attempt.

 

[K M Butler]

My thoughts, shorn of jargon and sales-pitch:
I don't play (power play, that is) because (in no particular order)
1) Not rewarding enough in comparison to regular game-play.
2) Decay. I despise it. Wanting that mechanic is like wanting abscesses, tax audits, or backed-up plumbing.
3) Unrelenting, belief-suspension bursting, absurd hostility between the powers. It should range the gamut from partnerships where killing/piracy is a faux pas to kill-on-sight, to everything in between, and changing periodically. This should be linked to personality/ethos.
for example, Archon hates everybody and vice-versa, idealists should be reaching out to hearts and minds instead of killing, corporate types wheeling and dealing.

the proposed changes look to ameliorate some of that, but don't go far enough. your fifth point w/ the missions, etc is definitely on the right track, and I also really like the flag-linked-to-decal idea

Additional thought: The flag/decal is similar to an ocean-going ships flag. At unsanctioned outposts, on the black market, purchase (for a hefty in-game fee) false colours? Like real-life smugglers and corsairs.

edited for keyboard clumsiness and extra thoughts.

 

[Larrow]

I may chime in later with more specific replies to the OP when i have had time to mull things over, but for right now ElectricZ, Viajero and CaptainKremmen get it.
Use the BGS and current mechanics to make PP coherent within the structure of player advancement you currently have rather than bolting on a whole new play style that is disconnected from current play mechanics and compromises some of the things you already have. Shore up the Background Sim and extend the mission mechanics and use it to your advantage. Make it a living world with consequences rather than an hotchpotch of disconnected mini games.
Have systems provide different worth (whether this is tied to CC or not) due to not only their population but also states, or things like better mining belt qualities or the production of better/more of a certain commodity etc would give
1) the feeling of not every system being same.
2) the choke points for powers to fight over.
This also allows said choke points to ebb and flow e.g asteroid belts running out of resources, facilities not getting the materials it needs to make it specialised product etc leading to the systems worth deteriorating. As powers get nearer to the edge of human space it gives the much needed inclusion for explorers to find these new resources and new areas to expand into.

 

[LoveToDie]

Make "The Hammer" gimballed...

 

[Mrjupp]

Zac, brilliant!

Raf will be in touch as there's a lot of positives. The Flag option may be an issue (toggling on and off specifically) but you are addressing what is really screwed with Powerplay. Over the last few days I've been deliberately scouring the sub reddits and other boards and you know what? More than three quarters of players don't even understand the background simulation, why their system economies tank and how they can reduce their CC overheads if they spent time working the background simulation to stimulate the system economies of affected areas. We've explained a little to a select few but tbh, they haven't worked the simulation like we have so they don't fully appreciate just how important it is.

Freedom Fighters? Best idea yet!

 

[fergal]

Powerplay Flag
I make no bones about my personal support for Powerplay: I love it. Grand scale power-struggles, driven entirely by Commanders, with special supporter rewards and legible, dynamically altering system rules that affect all Commanders, not just supporters.

Can we get ships that are also pledged to our power appear as green, and ships pledged to another power to be red?

You get this for reputation with the major factions, which doesn't really mean anything, why not for the PP relations?

 

[kilvenny]

Hello Sandro,

Favour and power play flag - excellent idea

Up/Down vote - Thank you for giving us an insight of the multiplayer communication challenge. I wonder if allowing a commander to "commit" to a particular system(s) a power is operating in might be clearer. eg Provide a commit flag against each system and a list of commanders who have committed to "work" in that system. Communication - could we not have some sort of in game power forum and the ability to message other commanders.

Freedom Fighters - Like the idea - Thinking - if multiple commanders commit to the same minor faction does this form some sort of "group". If the "group" becomes significant in size and the minor faction then raises its influence level would it not become eligible to be a power. ie a Freedom "group". I keep using "group" to distingish by the in game group which is more a multiplayer solo group.

Cheers

Kilvenny

 

[Dehzz]

Great ideas, especially the Freedom Fighters, that's something the Agents of the Future could use. We won't need to pledge temporarily Mahon or any other Power to defend from Antal's expansion.

Clearly, such courageous/dastardly behaviour would not be without *substantial* danger: we’d consider freedom fighters to possibly be valid targets in any system controlled or exploited by any power that shared a major faction with the one being attacked by the freedom fighter. We’d also likely want to limit Commanders to support one system at a time, with maybe a cool down before being able to pick a new one (or perhaps some mission to “wipe” their status clean?)
(...) to prevent the role of freedom fighter being a permanent death sentence across massive swathes of human space.

As I see it, I would be glad to pledge not the system but the minor faction that I'm supporting, and since I want it to become a Power ( and as you wrote in other post, creating one will be easier in power-free space ) I should have the possibility to act on behalf my faction at least in a specific range from the closest system, in which my faction is present - 20 ly is being my favourite - with a special possibility to repel enemy's expansion attempts in slightly higher range.

Missions, Variety and Rewards
I add this section for the record, even though I don’t have much to add apart from: yes, we will be looking at these aspects, simply because feedback has been clear and I want to emphasise that we have been listening. As usual, no ETA, but truth be told, this stuff has always been on the agenda.

Yup, we dream of it very badly. Since we're doing hundreds of missions per week, the feeling of system-imperfection is felt in a quite painful way. There are missions that support specific state changes but for others pilots have to wait and pray. If there would be a dedicated mission type that can eventually trigger an expansion or a war with someone, we'd organise our work in a clearer way. Now it's waiting and praying that we won't trigger another boom so the expansion could activate. Priority override is a great idea but it should be also supported by new mission types and new kind of rewards ( for there's no play without a carrot ).

 

[Bokugo]

A lot of things we asked for, you did. Thank you. Still don't really understand how things like the freedom fighters will play out. And I'm still no fan of forced competition between "colleagues". As long as the rewards for that don't drastically change the game, like new modules, and it's more of a respect and recognition thing that will be ok. Like a special decal or title for the top pilots of that power.

 

[Viajero]

To use a well-known phrase... Okay, I'll bite!


Here are my suggestions...


Integrate "Power" Stuff With Minor Faction Allegiances

Like this...

[url]http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx310/CaptainKremmenED/Suggestion%20Box/Powers%201_zpsf9esc9cv.jpg[/URL]

That alone opens up a LOAD of "integration-friendly" possibilities...


BBS Missions

Once some Minor Factions are given Power-based allegiance (as an extension of Major Faction allegiance), the impact of some Bulletin Board missions will be implicitly Power-related. Powers will benefit/suffer from mission activity if the "sponsoring" and/or "target" Minor Factions are allied to a Power figure.

We already have missions that are unavailable because "this faction does not trust you enough". Extend that to include the Minor Faction's Allegiance, compared against the pilot's pledged status...

• Use the interplay between Minor Faction Reputation and pilots' Power "Pledged" Allegiance to determine which missions are available.
• Power "sensitive" missions (ie. ones that could impact system control on the Power landscape) would only be available to appropriately pledged pilots.
• Use pledged pilot Levels in their Power progress to unlock the more interesting missions.

So, for high-level pledged pilots in relevant locations (ie. where their Power is active), all available mission types become "Power" missions. This means greater variety. And going forward, every single mission "variety" enhancement will be leveraged straight into PowerPlay.


For pilots, Minor Faction Reputation gains/losses could be aligned with Power Stuff in interesting ways. Currently, the Major Faction reputation rises and falls in line with Minor Faction reputation. Consider the possibilities of extending this to something like the "Favour" concept (or even just calling in "Power Reputation", and keeping all those ducks in a row).


It also has the neat benefit for selling exploration data. When sold to UC at stations owned by "Power-allied" Minor Factions, Power-related benefits could flow.


Given all the above, pilots could then play as they wish, while still being engaged with Power Stuff. 100% of existing in-game mechanics would have Power carry-over.



Impact of Minor Faction Rework on Global Power Mechanics

The above Minor Faction integration invites a re-imagining of the weirder Power concepts like Exploitation, Command Capital, etc.

If a system's Controlling Minor Faction is allied with the nearby Power (ie. controlling system close by), some concept other than "exploited" can be used. Perhaps such systems are more like "coalitions", or "bloc systems", or "aligned". If the Controlling Minor faction is not allied with the nearby Power, stick with "exploited".

Command Capital value could change based on the Controlling Minor Faction's level of influence (and its alliance). Systems could then gain and lose profitability based on their Minor Faction situation - famine, war, boom, flipping, etc.

Pilots would collectively have a vested interest in "building up" individual system health and well-being, to keep the Command Capital flowing. Keeping the population on-side with the favoured Controlling Minor Faction would be key to a stable power structure and support base.



Review Power Pledge Costs, Benefits and FUN FACTOR

The benefits of being pledged to a Power are pretty dodgy. The quirky bonus equipment is AT BEST "not better" than regular stuff, and more often worse.

The negative impacts of being pledged are many, and can be a real turn-off. Loss of freedom to roam without a target painted on your head. Distorted play, like being made to wait 30 minutes for another "parcel of stuff" to be handed out (people logging in via laptop at work, camping stations, collecting goods to ship in the evening). No progressive credit earning. No time to enjoy Power-conferred bonuses like bounty/exploration multipliers, due to the "either/or" approach to Power vs. non-Power actions. The way the merit decay makes pilots feel inside. The limited mission styles and unbalanced merit earnings. The list goes on.

This needs a fundamental reappraisal!

You need to ask some serious questions for PowerPlay to answer.

• What is FUN about PowerPlay? If it's not really good fun, why do it?
• What is CHALLENGING about PowerPlay? If it's not an intellectual, organisational and/or skill-based challenge, why do it?
• What is BORING about PowerPlay? If it is boring, get rid of it!
• What is ANNOYING about PowerPlay? If something is annoying, was it supposed to be "fun" or "challenging", but is being let down by the mechanics involved? If so, fix the mechanics making it annoying.
• What DRAWS YOU IN to the "living galaxy" when involved in PowerPlay?
• What BREAKS IMMERSION and smashes the concept of a "living galaxy" when involved in PowerPlay?
• What feels like ADVANCEMENT when flying around doing things in PowerPlay?
• What feels POINTLESS when flying around doing things in PowerPlay?

Example...

Being interdicted by "rival power" hit squads in your own Power HQ.

Sounds like fun - a bit of risk, a bit of pew-pew. But...

• If the attacking ships are idiot-level NPCs, it's no challenge - so BORING.
• If it happens too frequently, it becomes ANNOYING. It is also IMMERSION-BREAKING, as there is no sense in rival power hit squads roaming free in your HQ system.
• If you are given a reward for successfully eliminating a rival power hit squad, great - you can at least gain some ADVANCEMENT. But to gain no benefit whatsoever makes the exercise POINTLESS.

The same analysis should be run through for:

• Each available mission type.
• Each way of earning "merits".
• Reason for expanding your Power.
• Each Power-specific magic weapon/module.
• Each facet of "non-Power" style Elite play, from the perspective of a pledged pilot. Is Trading still FUN? Does Exploration benefit Powers, or is it pointless? Does being pledged to an exploration-focused Power actually help ADVANCE your exploration gameplay, or render it POINTLESS?

etc.



Leverage Existing Game Mechanics for Additional Power Benefits

Look to use what you already have, to give PowerPlay some actual sparkle, and some point. For example,


Rapid Response Squadrons

The higher your "level" as a pledged pilot, the more likely it is that a Power Rapid Response Wing will be deployed to assist you if you are attacked. Just use the same sort of spawn mechanic as the "system authority" response, but with Power-aligned NPC ships. Have them turn up faster if you are close to your HQ or Control systems. That way, if you are attacked by those silly "rival Power hit squads" in your own HQ, a squadron of angry Eagles appears to shoot them up.

Suddenly, there is a real-world benefit to being a pledged Pilot - your own wing of defenders, appearing on demand.


Redeem Bounty Vouchers and Combat Bonds Anywhere in Power Space

In the same way that you can currently land on any station to cash in a Bounty Voucher or Combat Bond for an in-system Minor Faction, make it possible to cash them in for any Minor Faction in Power-controlled space, if you dock at a station in that Power region.

Another instant benefit to being a pledged pilot - no need to travel to every darn system controlled by your Power. Convenient cashing in of a broad range of vouchers, facilitated by your friendly neighbourhood Power.




Make Sure Stuff Actually Works Properly and Consistently

Please shore up the Background Sim. Run extra internal simulations, add some extra back-end debugging, publish what is supposed to happen and when (so the players can actually differentiate "correct" and "incorrect" behaviour), etc. Us players have been tearing their hair out right from 1.0, through to 1.2, and then still more crazy stuff hit the BGS when 1.3 arrived. This demoralises, frustrates and discourages the very groups you need to engage.

Please improve stuff like relevance of ship spawning, NPC AI, etc. It doesn't make sense for roaming hit squads to be blithering idiots who cannot shoot straight. It doesn't make sense that they fly around unopposed in enemy power regions (Hint: We all know NPCs don't actually interdict other NPCs, but at least spawn ships in such a way as to pretend they do).

Please address the CRAZY EDGE CONDITION mess that PowerPlay introduces. It really shows its rough edges right now, and makes it look exactly like a layer slapped on top of an existing game world. For example,

• Empire Internal Security not stepping in to help a a CLEAN Imperial Earl being attacked by CLEAN ships in a system that has a "Controlling Minor Faction" allied to the Empire. Supposedly because a Federation-aligned Power figure is somehow "in charge".
• Said Imperial Earl becoming WANTED for defending himself.

Indeed, please consider ensuring Rule Of Law is restored across Elite space. If there is jurisdictional authority, there is NO justification for allowing a ship to attack a CLEAN ship without itself becoming WANTED. It shouldn't matter who is "pulling the strings"; An unlawful attack is an unlawful attack. If a manipulative Power wants to press buttons and have someone killed, get them to issue a bounty on a pilot that has done them wrong. Work WITH the legal system... don't compromise/discard it for the sake of Power Pew-Pew.


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Summary - Final Words

If PowerPlay worked like this, above, I'd actually be interested in playing it. It would be integrated with the "proper" Elite Dangerous, would be as fun and involving as the "proper" Elite Dangerous, and would be inclusive of existing gameplay activities... which could occur under the "PowerPlay" umbrella.

Unfortunately, as it stands today, PowerPlay gets an emphatic "hell, no" from me. It comes across as a minimally integrated add-on layer that could have been slapped on top of practically any multiplayer game with a map. World of Tanks, Elder Scrolls, Star Wars, heck - it could be plonked on Minecraft. But it would transform none of them, benefit none of them, and be a disappointing add-on... because it's not Right.



I'm sorry to be so blunt here, but PowerPlay strikes me as being a "separate" layer so as not to break anything else already in and running. These are the kinds of compromises that happen when live-running products are enhanced and extended... without significant resources being available to do the kind of job that would have been done if tackled prior to release. With the approach, "For God's sake, don't change the existing stuff!", you're left with a system that is, as Michael Brookes described it, "deliberately kept separate". Yes, it's pretty clear that it's been kept separate, let me tell you!

But it wasn't kept separate, I fear, in order to enhance the gameplay experience. The gameplay experience, in all honesty, is not good. It was kept separate because that limited the risks behind the PowerPlay code changes.

That design and delivery approach was reasonably successful at not breaking everything else, I guess. To me, though, it was NOT successful at delivering a compelling new way of enjoying Elite Dangerous.

It's all well and good to say, "You don't have to like it, and don't have to play it", but you should really WANT players to like it, and WANT them to be keen to play it! Months of effort went into this stuff, instead of being put into other things on the to-do list. True, PowerPlay didn't destroy the integrity of the existing game code, but in my book, it didn't deliver compelling, rich and fun gameplay experiences - which is surely the key objective here...?


To fix PowerPlay, I really think you need to take a good, hard look at the decision making behind the allowed scope of changes. Because just tinkering with add-on bits (Favour) and magic numbers (expansion formulae) won't resurrect PowerPlay.


I reckon you need to commit to a full and proper rework and BGS integration of PowerPlay... with all that it entails in terms of software risk, extra testing, community involvement and rollout complexity.

Don't go all Secret Squirrel on us again, please. Don't just "tinker" with PowerPlay around the edges. Discuss the issues with your playerbase, then dive in with confidence and build it properly. Throw away all the not-fun/frustrating/boring stuff (most of it, in my opinion), and integrate it. Not as a "separate" slap-on layer, but as a core set of mechanics alongside everything else.

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That's my list of stuff... thanks for asking for feedback.

Good luck!

Hear, hear.

Sandro, sorry, had to quote the whole thing for visual impact.

Totally agree that integration between PP and the Background Sim is paramount for it to be really meaningful and engaging and I ve mentioned as much in all my feedback. Player missions and interactions with minor factions reflected in PP would be the ideal way to handle all this.

The task would be big and some major redesign of PP would need to occur, but there is no need to do it all at once Sandro. Divide and conquer little by little. I suspect this would require significant resources and testing and planning.

 

[rudidev08]

As a small group or solo player, I don't participate in power play, but it's kinda fun knowing that human space will change based on what other players do. I'm ok with just influencing minor factions, to me PP looks like something for more dedicated players for that stuff, and that's cool. I do plan to have fun with some tiny remote outpost when background simulation lets me one day

 

[Lasse B.]

Powerplay Flag

I don't know how many other players feel similarly or feel the same at all, but the reason I joined several powers and quit PP for good eventually was that flying under any banner simply was too limiting. There's two reasons for that:

• I'm less of a trader and more of a combat pilot. I want to support powers of my own choosing in my own way. Take Aisling Duval for example. Why does she only offer "peaceful" actions for players to gain merits? Are there no assassins looking to kill her? Do her assets not need protection from raiders?
• I like to go to places for various reasons and feel uncomfortable being considered a valid target when outside my power's space where even more ships than usual try to interdict me, which can be quite annoying. I don't exactly plan my traveling schedule, so remaining visible as a target for a significant amount of time for all other powers after I triggered this Powerplay flag is a no go for me and the exact reason why I quit Powerplay in the first place. I do not want to stay a visible target for everyone but my own power when I feel the need to travel. Promising freedom but actually putting up even more restrictions doesn't make much sense IMHO.
  
  There's no all around easy solution for that because frankly the whole concept of having another but simpler layer of reputation on top of a preexisting but more detailed one is just wrong. The solution however is very easy in concept but might be a tad difficult to implement. Right now, whenever I go against e.g. Jet Syndicate ships, my reputations with them and their affiliates drop while reputations I have with their opposing factions increase. Simply include Powerplay factions in this reputation mechanic by setting Powers up as their own factions. If e.g. I fly for Denton Patreus and commit violent assaults against ships flying under Zachary Hudson's banner, eventually the Zachary Hudson faction will become hostile and hunt me, maybe even his allies (if applicable), but no other faction will. At the same time my reputation with Denton Patreus would improve.
  This approach would
  1. be more realistic
  2. be more transparent
  3. seamlessly integrate with existing E mechanics
  4. grant greater freedom
  5. remove the necessity to trigger anything manually

If you wanted to improve things further, do away with merits and tie bonuses directly to the reputation a player has with his / her power. You can always add multipliers in the background to make improving a player's power reputation easier or more difficult. Looking for that 50mil paycheck each week? Make sure you're fully allied at the end of each cycle.​

 

[avow555]

drop PP it sucks (my expression without French)