Powerplay - Why it has failed and NEEDS to be rebuilt.

[Snarfbuckle]

I honestly wanted PP to be great because the IDEA was great. They completely botched the design and made it a tacked on RISK game when it could have been THE political powerplay aspect of the game.

So why do I think it has failed?

Apart from the powerplay paywall locked items and the generic aspects of the gameplay the greatest failure of PP was to have it SEPARATED from the politics in game and how faction and reputation works.

Separating PP factions from major factions becomes difficult when their ACTIONS influence major factions
The very NAME speaks about political strong arming, takeover and subterfuge of other nations but that should go BOTH ways and have CONSEQUENCES (Something very RARE in Elite...)
From the Wiki:

Powers[FONT=&quot] are distinct from minor and major [/FONT]factions[FONT=&quot].[/FONT]

The Empire is a good example why this fails both in description and actions. Denton Patreus, an Imperial Senator and the Admiral of the imperial fleet. Then you have Arissa Lavigny Duval, the EMPRESS of the empire.

Powerplay World Police
So we have two PP factions, distinct from major factions. And yet, these PP factions are the EMPRESS and the highest ranking military officer of the imperial fleet who is also a senator. Whatever they THOUGH with PP they CANNOT make those two powers SEPARATE from the Empire simply due to the individuals POSITIONS.

Empire World Police should be a movie...

So when the Imperial Empress starts to send her agents (or Spanish Inquisition as I like to call them) and accuse a system of corruption AND then send her "Judge Dredd" police forces to essentially remove the local law enforcement and install her own...AND insert Imperial policy and laws we literally have a Major Galactic Power making a hostile takeover on another system.

And that becomes even worse if the admiral of the imperial fleet sends the empires own fleets to take over a system that is not IMPERIAL.

Powerplay needs the impact of DIPLOMACY
If it had been done RIGHT we should be neck deep in DIPLOMATIC powerplay as a Federation system or Alliance system would not allow that kind action to go unpunished and could even lead to all out WAR and not just a weekly counter tallying POINTS.

Not to mention that all minor factions in an area of influence would be affected as well depending on allegiance of each minor faction, an allegiance that can CHANGE due to their blundering.

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_minor_factions/A

Having Denton Patreus blundering in shooting up the local milita or the Empress shaking down the "corrupt" cops (who knows, it's PP so it can be planted fake evidence) would have minor factions business and security affected in a negative way, causing the empire to LOOSE reputation with these minor factions.

Making it right

While powerplay needs a LOT of revision the MOST important aspect is to allow PP to influence the GAME. Not merely as a gathering of CMDR bonuses but actually impact minor and major factions and not as a smeared layer of putrid bonuses that has no lasting impact.

- Make PP factions into MINOR FACTIONS that can control a system (Denton Patreus can use a fake corporate name and the Empress can have her secret police influence local government).
- Make other minor factions and major factions have an OPINION of these minor factions so they can loose systems just like regular factions.
- Stop making each PP factions get point for murdering other faction members WITHOUT REASON, it makes no sense that Zachary Hudson would have a problem with Aisling Duval since the Federation forbid slavery
- Make PP faction weapons available at a reputation RANK instead
- Make PP faction reputation give a straight mission bonus when taking missions from a minor faction in a controlled system

 

[StiTch]

PP needs looking at but I can't see anything in the suggestions that would encourage me to take part rather than be DIScouraged.

I don't care about marginally increased mission rewards or making it easier for people to go on PP joyrides for modules. I want PP to fulfill its potential for giving meaning to player interaction that would be unlikely or impossible to happen without PP.

 

[TERMINATRIXXX]

For serious powerplay i want to feel an impact on factions/systems. It's ways to complicated to take over control a system and the consolidations, voting, transporting stuff from here over there is somewhat confusing.
I can undermine a system until the trigger is reached, killing infinite amount of NPC's but nothing changes.
If i destroy alot of authority vessels there should be an reduced response time, because they have less ships available but it doesn't affect the security level at all.
If i destroy hundreds of transport vessels there should be an effect on the local market but no.......commodities still available nor it changes the price for selling / buying.
Questions over questions.

For me i only do it for the modules

 

[StiTch]

For serious powerplay i want to feel an impact on factions/systems.

Oh yeah and this ^^^^^^^^

PP was touted as "shape the galaxy".

The different flavours of PP benefits and the like are nigh on nonexistent to non-PP players. Apart from the odd black market being closed where ALD exists for instance, it feels less like "shape the galaxy" than "shape a few annoying restrictions".

In short PP is capable of providing meaningful changes to the galaxy in the form of politics, as well as meaningful player interaction in the form of both co-operation and competition, and provides neither.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Nothing new here. There have been dozens of "What FD needs to do to improve PP" threads over the last year. Even did one myself.

FD will get back to PP as and when they want and not a minute earlier, and what direction it will go is anyone's guess, but a complete rebuild is probably not going to happen.

 

[PiLhEaD]

I've said this before, but I strongly suspect the PP mechanic will come into its own when the Thargoids arrive.

 

[goemon]

- the background simulation isn't a balnanced playing field. tying powerplay to the backgroundsim more closely would reduce its competitive design aspects massively.

- background simulation and minor factions are tailored to a different group of players, or different playstyles of the same players.

i can't imagine powerplayers doing "mining for patreus!" or "teahauling for hudson!".

powerplay is tailored towards a competitive and combat oriented gameplay; the backgroundsimulation and minor factions are not - if done right, and the concrete system allows, you'll win any conflict (war, civil war, election) before it even started.

 

[DNA-Decay]

There have been a couple of crisis points for PowerPlay where a number of credible leaders apriached Frontier with a unified voice and some well thought out proposals for rebuilding.

I'm not sure why Frontier backed out of engaging with these folks. Maybe it was getting too big and messy with too many voices trying to get heard at once.

There have been calls for a PowerPlay Producer - someone to oversee the direction, narrative and mechanics of that aspect of the game. But my understanding is that PowerPlay is not popular enough to throw more resources at. I figure it's unpopular because it has so many problems, and that's a circular argument.

Not wanting to dampen OPs enthusiasm, but even Sandro has put forward some great ideas that are gathering dust in an attic somewhere. And I'm not reading OP's post and saying "YES!" Like I have when reading Vectron or some of the Old ALD - Hudson leaders.

 

[RwD]

Nothing new here. There have been dozens of "What FD needs to do to improve PP" threads over the last year. Even did one myself.

FD will get back to PP as and when they want and not a minute earlier, and what direction it will go is anyone's guess, but a complete rebuild is probably not going to happen.

I'm hoping for Wings and Powerplay major improvements in the next season; oh and the so called karma system. CGs need some love as well.

 

[Snarfbuckle]

- the background simulation isn't a balnanced playing field. tying powerplay to the backgroundsim more closely would reduce its competitive design aspects massively.

- background simulation and minor factions are tailored to a different group of players, or different playstyles of the same players.

i can't imagine powerplayers doing "mining for patreus!" or "teahauling for hudson!".

powerplay is tailored towards a competitive and combat oriented gameplay; the backgroundsimulation and minor factions are not - if done right, and the concrete system allows, you'll win any conflict (war, civil war, election) before it even started.

And yet, separating the two creates bizarre situations when it comes to politics. Sure, no such extremes like mining for patreus but taking over a non-empire system should create...GRUMPY minor factions unless they are empire aligned.
Heck, they could have Major Faction aligned minor factions gain influence bonuses in those systems.

- How can the Empire use a faction controlled by the empress OR an imperial senator to take over POLITICAL control of a system if not NATIONAL control without another major faction having a fit.

I mean, it would be like Russia influencing a US elect...oh wait...

Seriously. it would be like Russia influencing and changing laws in California and the US is ok with it.

or worse, A Russian military fleet controlled by a russian politician making a hostile takeover of Florida and the US simply do not care.

How in any way does that make SENSE?

 

[lysan]

Nothing new here. There have been dozens of "What FD needs to do to improve PP" threads over the last year. Even did one myself.

FD will get back to PP as and when they want and not a minute earlier, and what direction it will go is anyone's guess, but a complete rebuild is probably not going to happen.

Well, it's an opportunity

Spoiler

 

[UnhappyDev]

For serious powerplay i want to feel an impact on factions/systems.

Yes, me too. When I did PP I just didn't care if we lost one system or gained another.

Also, I felt totally disconnected from the player base. I know you can get involved with that on Reddit etc. but, the fact that this is required to feel part of a faction suggests that work is needed in this area

 

[Ian Skippy]

I think it was actually a very small part of PP that completely turned me off: the non-stop constant interdictions. Which was fine when I was doing my combat duties for the power, but it made doing anything else without unpledging a terrible experience. Which means that PP was either a full-time focus or, in my case, something I just turned off. I've read its been changed in 2.2.03 (or 2.2?), so maybe that aspect is better now. Story-wise I agree powers should be closer alligned to superpowers. In reality that would probably just mean the independents need a way to join the Alliance or everyone just roflstomps on them while avoiding major wars over minor superpower-alligned systems. A way to move independents into the Alliance could actually be a fun thing that makes the Alliance stand out, at some point in the uber-distant future.

 

[Saool]

Whilst you are right in your thinking, what needs to happen is this be moved to the Power Play section where it can gather dust with the dozens of identical threads that have been posted since PP began.

 

[Snarfbuckle]

. Story-wise I agree powers should be closer alligned to superpowers. In reality that would probably just mean the independents need a way to join the Alliance or everyone just roflstomps on them while avoiding major wars over minor superpower-alligned systems. A way to move independents into the Alliance could actually be a fun thing that makes the Alliance stand out, at some point in the uber-distant future.

They do not have to be closer aligned but IF they are part part of a major faction like the imperial empress then HER actions will make an impact as IF the empire did it since SHE gave orders.

The best solution would be if PP factions are instead the combined LEADERS of major factions, either separate parts of them (Fleet Admiral, Empress) or part of different political SPECTRUMS (Anti Slavery VS Corporate Slavery with Aisling and Torval).

This way powerplay would be actions made by the political BODY of each major faction or a few individual powers.

Personally they should REMOVE Arissa Lavigny Duval since she is the Empress and could LITERALLY command the other three imperial PP factions to be removed since she IS the empress - She is no longer a PP faction, she is a MAJOR faction.

- - - Updated - - -

Whilst you are right in your thinking, what needs to happen is this be moved to the Power Play section where it can gather dust with the dozens of identical threads that have been posted since PP began.

That's defeatist talk soldier.

 

[Saool]

I think it was actually a very small part of PP that completely turned me off: the non-stop constant interdictions. Which was fine when I was doing my combat duties for the power, but it made doing anything else without unpledging a terrible experience. Which means that PP was either a full-time focus or, in my case, something I just turned off. I've read its been changed in 2.2.03 (or 2.2?), so maybe that aspect is better now. Story-wise I agree powers should be closer alligned to superpowers. In reality that would probably just mean the independents need a way to join the Alliance or everyone just roflstomps on them while avoiding major wars over minor superpower-alligned systems. A way to move independents into the Alliance could actually be a fun thing that makes the Alliance stand out, at some point in the uber-distant future.

Joining the Alliance and joining the Mahon power block are not the same thing. I've been in Mahon and headed up the Reddit group for it for a short time, but that was because it was the only Alliance power on offer. Truth be told I have little interest in Mahon and his largely trade and Corporate based block. I am considerably more interested in the parts of the Alliance depicted in First Encounters, Eg the Turners, and the Alliance expansions into the Pleiades and California Nebula. The only two reason I will pledge to Mahon in the future would be if another power tried to set up shop where SMAC is, or when the Fed do there next back stab and my old friends need some paper forms moving in a hurry.

 

[Lily from anim.o.v.e]

PP lacks basically everything. All it is, is a "label a planet" feature with superminor effects the PP character brings.

it lacks economy involvmement (because economy doesn't even exists in ED) And this affects basiclaly the entire chain of meaning towards factions, stuff like: reossuce supply, production, ship and module availability (tehcnology) to combat power of a faction based by it's production outcome. basically everything any strategical war game with ressources that alreadxy exists should be how PP is working.

would we have that, all stuff would be important for factions, like: ressource gathering, which suddenly would make mining matter and also mining lesser valued ressources to strengthen your power to make it able to produce specific products. Trading to increase/decrease your powers wealth. If you don't have ressources you need to import them, which may be lowering the wealth compared to mining them. There a huge potential in ED if they would implement economy properly. And aside from gameplay issue,s there sstill inagme issues making no sense. Like why do empire faction fight empire factions? Shouldn't the emporer rule them and make them shut up and not fight each other? Why can't the game have different "empires" which would make a lot more sense and why they battle each oher. Empire is a form of gouvernment, not necessarily one HUGE faction