Powerplay Returning beta player - impressions of powerplay - global strategy

[friendship drive charging]

I'm not here to ask what power i should choose, or what they give, or even what they do. i'm here to talk about the archetypes of some of the factions, and the reason players should group together under certain leadership regardless of faction or ideology, to avoid total disaster.

Spoiler

mahon is great in peacetime. he's a politician, all of his actions seem to revolve around political influence.

a lavigny is better. she has militias in every system, but they appear to be based around punishing petty crime, not staving off total annihilation.

duval is super weak, focusing around propaganda and to win systems. what would her systems do about thargoids? shout at them?

winters is great, but healthcare isn't going to cut it when there are two warring alien factions cutting a path of destruction through known space.

hudson would be very good in a war with aliens due to his focus on fleet power. however, his intelligence systems would be useless against thargoids. he's not brutal enough.

antal is some sort of cult leader, there's not enough koolaid to go round everyone.

patreus is very strong, with economic and a large fleet focus. like hudson he'd be a good choice to deal with thargoids, but he suffers from the same brutality issues hudson does.

jong-rui is almost entirely capitalistic, he's probably great for economies but not so much for defending from alien invasions.

torval seems very similar to jong-rui in many ways, although jong-rui appears to have a higher value at this point.

grom just seems like a drain on resources, not much else to say about him.

now we come to the lowest influence power. delaine. he's pretty unsavoury, but when the cards are down, he's going to fight like a caged dog.

conclusions from initial observations: jong-rui and torval space should be allowed to flourish, while hudson and patreus should surround economic space with a wall of heavily fortified systems - but most importantly delaine needs enough space in the outer rim of the bubble to be the brutal right hand of the humans against the thargoids, as, even in his initial description it is noted that he will destroy any who deny his presence.

propagandists should essentially be abandoned as they appear not to have the fleet focus that would be needed to hold back the thargoids.

 

[Calrissian]

I'm not here to ask what power i should choose, or what they give, or even what they do. i'm here to talk about the archetypes of some of the factions, and the reason players should group together under certain leadership regardless of faction or ideology, to avoid total disaster.

Spoiler

mahon is great in peacetime. he's a politician, all of his actions seem to revolve around political influence.

a lavigny is better. she has militias in every system, but they appear to be based around punishing petty crime, not staving off total annihilation.

duval is super weak, focusing around propaganda and to win systems. what would her systems do about thargoids? shout at them?

winters is great, but healthcare isn't going to cut it when there are two warring alien factions cutting a path of destruction through known space.

hudson would be very good in a war with aliens due to his focus on fleet power. however, his intelligence systems would be useless against thargoids. he's not brutal enough.

antal is some sort of cult leader, there's not enough koolaid to go round everyone.

patreus is very strong, with economic and a large fleet focus. like hudson he'd be a good choice to deal with thargoids, but he suffers from the same brutality issues hudson does.

jong-rui is almost entirely capitalistic, he's probably great for economies but not so much for defending from alien invasions.

torval seems very similar to jong-rui in many ways, although jong-rui appears to have a higher value at this point.

grom just seems like a drain on resources, not much else to say about him.

now we come to the lowest influence power. delaine. he's pretty unsavoury, but when the cards are down, he's going to fight like a caged dog.

conclusions from initial observations: jong-rui and torval space should be allowed to flourish, while hudson and patreus should surround economic space with a wall of heavily fortified systems - but most importantly delaine needs enough space in the outer rim of the bubble to be the brutal right hand of the humans against the thargoids, as, even in his initial description it is noted that he will destroy any who deny his presence.

propagandists should essentially be abandoned as they appear not to have the fleet focus that would be needed to hold back the thargoids.

Excellent way of expressing your observations but I really don't think Frontier will even bother going this deep with it all.

I'm training my people and have even started the designation and setup of a staging base but all I think Frontier will do with the Thargoids is create another random encounter set that will literally involve you the player, running or fighting for your life. I think a grand strategy for the the Thargoids against the PowerPlay factions isn't something they have in mind.

Believe me, I hope they do but I'm not getting my hopes up given Frontiers track record and considering that Elite Dangerous is now a console game.

 

[Cucco-Master]

So essentially "Forget about civilization and human values, let us all just become pirates, because only pirates posses the brutality to ensure humanity's survival."

My opinion: At the point where humanity has given up everything human, it does no longer deserve to survive ...

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

Why would any of the PowerPlay powers fight Thargoids, as PowerPlay powers? Hudson is President, he'll send the Federal navy. Arissa is Emperor, she'll send the Imperial navy. Mahon is Prime Minister... etc. Denton is an Admiral in Empire, he'll be the one commanding the fleets of the Imperial navy...

Also, Delaine will fight against the humans because he already does, Thargoids are smart enough to pay him, and Delaine is stupid enough to accept.

 

[aspiringexpatriate]

Why would any of the PowerPlay powers fight Thargoids, as PowerPlay powers? Hudson is President, he'll send the Federal navy. Arissa is Emperor, she'll send the Imperial navy. Mahon is Prime Minister... etc. Denton is an Admiral in Empire, he'll be the one commanding the fleets of the Imperial navy...

Also, Delaine will fight against the humans because he already does, Thargoids are smart enough to pay him, and Delaine is stupid enough to accept.

In the Empire, Powers and influential Senators have personal fleets. So, while the Xanadu and Imperial Honour might house Senator Torval and Emperor Lavigny-Duval, they have more Majestics they could commit to the Naval fleet under command of Admiral Patreus. Hell, it's possible that Patreus' Imperial Freedom won't find itself on the front lines. Heads of interstellar navies aren't going to be on the front lines facing entirely unknown threats.

conclusions from initial observations: jong-rui and torval space should be allowed to flourish, while hudson and patreus should surround economic space with a wall of heavily fortified systems - but most importantly delaine needs enough space in the outer rim of the bubble to be the brutal right hand of the humans against the thargoids, as, even in his initial description it is noted that he will destroy any who deny his presence.

propagandists should essentially be abandoned as they appear not to have the fleet focus that would be needed to hold back the thargoids.

As for what Power Play will do during the thargoid invasion?

Primarly, think of what we have now as continuing for at least another year, with potentially several more years of massive death and destruction in the Pleiades while intermittent interdiction and combat affects the bubble, without explicitly affecting large population centres or levels. Secondly, the way Power Play is currently built, a massive swath of death cutting a line throughout the human bubble won't affect Power Play at all, as the CC numbers probably aren't going to change, even if the population of Summerland goes from 25 million to 25 total.

The way power play mechanics currently exist, it's not reactive to changes in the BGS, nor is it very adaptive.

Hopefully, we will see changes that work towards its improvement over the next 12 months.

 

[withnail]

Also, Delaine will fight against the humans because he already does, Thargoids are smart enough to pay him, and Delaine is stupid enough to accept.

Go Thargoids!

Yours,

The Kumo Crew.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Harma News Archive:

A Deal Between Devils

In unsettling news, Kumo Crew pirate clans have responded to the news of the Thargoids return by offering a grisly peace accord.

Cmdr Marr K'deeslave, Kumo spokesperson on Alien Collaboration, outlined the deal: "While the rest of the galaxy appears to be foolishly readying for war with the Thargoids, we will follow the path of peace offering all regular, Imperial and Marked slaves as tribute to the aliens. To facilitate this, Harma Nutrient Vats are emptying at a rate that has not been seen since the White Templar attack at Gabriel Enterprise.

In return we will use their advanced ships and weapons to cull degenerate Imperial aristocracy as well as the parts of humanity that have grown weak and pathetic. Let this be a warning: If you are not Kumo, you are nobody. If you do not serve us or the Thargoids, you are dead.”