Powerplay Powerplay needs it's agent spawn rate decreased!

[Miko]

OK, so during the LHS 3447 CG I was policing the space in Eravate.

What is with a Federal system having non stop wings of enemy agents from all the enemy powers spawning non stop to interdict people when wouldn't it be logical that system security and authority would keep this at minimal levels?

Seriously, every time I entered supercruise I'd be interdicted within seconds most of the time, and this is particularly annoying when you're trying to close in on a Commander's wake who needs assistance!

Really, this needs reduced in high security systems! Low security systems, fair play!

 

[rjwhite41]

I believe they plan on changing it with the next update. I don't know if it will affect PP though.

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commanders!

We are looking at spawn rates, but to some degree we need a solid amount of power AI ships to provide game functionality.

However, one of the things we're looking at for Powerplay (though it's not guaranteed) is the idea, mooted a while back, of allowing Commanders pledged to powers the ability to temporarily go covert, avoiding Powerplay conflict at the cost of disabling benefits and rewards until they decided to fly the flag once more (with mechanisms in place to prevent exploitation of this functionality).

What we're looking to do is put a bit more control of the play experience in the hands of Commanders, so that they can decide what activities they want to take part in rather than be swamped and forced into eternal power conflict.

 

[Arry]

More, less or even the same: What ruins it for me, is the lack of reward for fighting back. No merits and most of the time, no credits, even if you let them fire upon you first.

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commander Arry!

Additionally we're looking at getting fortification for killing Power ships in control systems for your power.

 

[InDigital]

Sandro please give us 30 merits for killing agent.

 

[Enef]

Hello Commander Arry!

Additionally we're looking at getting fortification for killing Power ships in control systems for your power.

Sometimes I honestly wonder whether you guys play this game or even understand how powerplay works.

I mean, have you tried speaking to the powerplay communities to see what they think of it? Have you tried asking those that lead the communities and understand how it all works and what these changes will do to powerplay? Do you even know what is NEEDING to be done now by certain powers just to keep themselves going?

 

[dciskey]

Hello Commander Arry!

Additionally we're looking at getting fortification for killing Power ships in control systems for your power.

I would be surprised if there was a single organized power play group who wanted this. Even Hudson and ALD would prefer to control their forts via cargo versus having their combat grinders push bad expansions AND bad fortifications.

 

[yul7896]

Hello Commander Arry!

Additionally we're looking at getting fortification for killing Power ships in control systems for your power.

This is a terrible idea. If you want the Powerplay landscape to be dynamic, and constantly changing, this is the opposite of what's needed. This would make 5th columning by Fortifying bad systems easier, as well as encouraging mindless merit grinding. I wouldn't be surprised if we see blanket Fortification nearly every cycle for every Power unless it was like 1 merit per kill, then no one is doing that anyway.

This leads me to a question, in Winters we only receive PvP merits for killing players in Hudson Control systems. Is this supposed to happen? Where are these merits applied, effectively? Or are they not effective merits at all because they don't seem to influence anything?

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commanders!

Well, I am kind of speaking to you folk now.

I'm not entirely convinced by your arguments, though they are valid. Do you not think that those who want to grind fortification would currently either a) not bother fortifying or b) fortify systems very close to their power's home system?

Fortification through power ship destruction might allow such players to fortify at useful systems as they would not have to keep returning all the way to the home system to cash in such vouchers. Of course, it doesn't automatically mean that folk will choose the most useful systems without actually examining the map, but do you think it would have such a negative effect over what Commanders do right now?

 

[Maxximillian]

So maintaining Rank 5 to support the power in fortification would still be important how? 30-40 weeks of hauling fortification to maintain a rank just so that I can blow most of the salary supporting the power vs what? I would be happy take 30 merits for shooting a PP NPC in one of my powers control systems, but why would that go to fortification.

 

[Alexander the Grape]

This is a terrible idea. If you want the Powerplay landscape to be dynamic, and constantly changing, this is the opposite of what's needed. This would make 5th columning by Fortifying bad systems easier, as well as encouraging mindless merit grinding. I wouldn't be surprised if we see blanket Fortification nearly every cycle for every Power unless it was like 1 merit per kill, then no one is doing that anyway.

This leads me to a question, in Winters we only receive PvP merits for killing players in Hudson Control systems. Is this supposed to happen? Where are these merits applied, effectively? Or are they not effective merits at all because they don't seem to influence anything?

With upcoming changes to Powerplay being discussed for 2.1, fortification being a 5th column activity would be pretty unlikely.

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Hello Commander Arry!

Additionally we're looking at getting fortification for killing Power ships in control systems for your power.

I like this idea. I currently dislike the way that fortification is only an option for players with huge bank balances and cargo bays, and actively loses you money in most cases. While this should still be important, I feel that blockign out newer, poorer and less dedicated palyers from this aspect is a tad unfair.

That said, undermining is more "fun" to encourage for the sake of promoting conflict.

A compromise could potentially be that NPC destruction offers fewer merits for fortification than undermining: Maybe 10 to the standard 15?

Though already it would be less lucrative due to the relative paucity and greater defensive and offensive capabilities of Agent rather than Fortification NPC Powerplay vessels

 

[Enef]

Hello Commanders!

Well, I am kind of speaking to you folk now.

I'm not entirely convinced by your arguments, though they are valid. Do you not think that those who want to grind fortification would currently either a) not bother fortifying or b) fortify systems very close to their power's home system?

Fortification through power ship destruction might allow such players to fortify at useful systems as they would not have to keep returning all the way to the home system to cash in such vouchers. Of course, it doesn't automatically mean that folk will choose the most useful systems without actually examining the map, but do you think it would have such a negative effect over what Commanders do right now?

This would result in many, many systems being fortified for the larger and more populated factions like ALD and Hudson. Due to the 5th Column activity, which YOU state is an ok tactic (and is despised by nearly all in the powerplay community as a dirty and unforgiveable tactic), take advantage when too many systems are fortified and there is a lot of CC for preparation targets. Too often a faction like Hudson is needing to prep well over 200,000 packages each into 4 systems to stop preparations being pushed INSIDE Winters space so it contests lots of systems of both Federal powers and hurts them a lot.

Look at how many bad systems Aisling Duval controls due to the 5th Column forcing them on her because the organised group cannot outprep the 5th Column organisations and the grinders who are just after their rank 5. At the beginning of each week we have to think "What do we want to fortify and when do we want to stop fortifying so we don't have too much CC?" We can generally control this quite well because fortification requires some effort. But if you make it so people can just sit in a system shooting ships all week it requires no effort. Fortification won't be able to be controlled. Powers will gain too much CC. Preparation lists will be awful and destroy the powers.

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commander Maxximillian!

Point taken about devaluing fortification via cargo.

So, I'm interested in hearing what folk would think if I were to say that the fortification success could only be garnered when destroying other Commander's vessels, not when destroying NPC ships. Would this mitigate, or would it have unintentional negative effects?

Also, I'm still interested in how fortification via combat would push folk to fortify bad system choices over good ones.

If folk can provide clear reasoning here then I'd be more than happy to not move forward with this

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commander Enef!


Valid points on making large powers more susceptible via temporary CC boosts!

Would it still be such a large issue if we managed to curtail to a greater degree the various methods of sabotage?

 

[Dralamir]

fortification success could only be garnered when destroying other Commander's vessels, not when destroying NPC ships.

Much better. As someone who's often patrolling control systems against underminers, I would welcome some benefit to doing it. As long as it cannot be abused.

 

[yul7896]

So, I'm interested in hearing what folk would think if I were to say that the fortification success could only be garnered when destroying other Commander's vessels, not when destroying NPC ships. Would this mitigate, or would it have unintentional negative effects?

Sadly, instancing is so bad that the opportunity to destroy other CMDRs for Fort merits would be extremely limited, to the point of irrelevance. Private Group and Solo is already hotly debated by the Powerplay community, and this would make that debate much worse.

 

[Arry]

Hello Commander Maxximillian!

Point taken about devaluing fortification via cargo.

So, I'm interested in hearing what folk would think if I were to say that the fortification success could only be garnered when destroying other Commander's vessels, not when destroying NPC ships. Would this mitigate, or would it have unintentional negative effects?

Also, I'm still interested in how fortification via combat would push folk to fortify bad system choices over good ones.

If folk can provide clear reasoning here then I'd be more than happy to not move forward with this

Other commanders are not my issue, it is the lack of any reward, for fighting back NPCs that want to kill me.

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commander yul7896!


Do mean that the situation would be worse because such a rule would encourage more folk to fly Private Group or Solo?

 

[Alexander the Grape]

Hello Commander Maxximillian!

Point taken about devaluing fortification via cargo.

So, I'm interested in hearing what folk would think if I were to say that the fortification success could only be garnered when destroying other Commander's vessels, not when destroying NPC ships. Would this mitigate, or would it have unintentional negative effects?

Also, I'm still interested in how fortification via combat would push folk to fortify bad system choices over good ones.

If folk can provide clear reasoning here then I'd be more than happy to not move forward with this

I can see adding fortification by destruction of CMDR ships potentially being exploitable, if it's a simple 100 merits per kill equation, or irrelevant if it's 1 merit per kill as currently

One idea I have had with regards to incentivising PvP in a non-exploitable way is that when you destroy an enemy CMDR's ship, their stored merit vouchers they have not cashed in would be transferred to your account. This would be a neat non-exploitable way to reward CMDRs who defended their power's space.

I would somewhat worry about overly incentivising killing in Powerplay (even as someone who is very good at it), purely because of the disparity between PvE and PvP builds currently due, in particular, to the state of Railguns, and the extremely potent killing power of the FAS and FDL over all else. I suppose we shall have to see what 2.1 brings in terms of the new combat meta