Previously: seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 (plus How large are squadrons?)
On each graph, points are on the Y-axis, and squadron position on the leaderboard is on the X-axis. Both scales are logarithmic. The light grey line (diamond marker) is the numbers for the previous season, the dark grey line (triangle marker) is the numbers for the same season last year (season 3), and all stats are PC only. As in previous seasons, the approximate power-law distribution continues, allowing estimates of total activity to be made without spending too long reading the boards.
(Political is excluded, because there are well-known exploits to allow very high scores, and because it's not clear even without the exploits what it's supposed to be measuring: the in-game description of "large and happy faction" is clearly wrong - possibly this will change if they ever implement BGS happiness properly)
Anti Xeno (246 pages)
Winners: Marauders Vanguard with ~17% of all points. AXI and Lavigny's Legion take the other trophies.
A third gold for Marauders Vanguard, with AXI and the Legion switching places from last season. This - unsurprisingly given the sheer numbers of Thargoids attacking the outlying nebulae settlements - has been the busiest AX season since the payment rebalance in terms of total estimated bonds.
Combat (2476 pages)
Winners: Canonn with ~1% of all points. Lavigny's Legion and Kisel's Squadron take the other trophies.
A first combat Gold and second combat trophy for Canonn, with some previous winners in the other trophy spots too. Reflecting this, the overall pattern is extremely stable - marginally up overall on last season, but only marginally.
CQC (84 pages)
Winners: We Rock You Roll with ~16% of all points. Loose Screws Podcast and CQC Discord take the other places.
This season's guest trophy winners are Loose Screws Podcast picking up a comfortable Silver place. Activity is very marginally recovered from last season's all-time low, but the Horizons/Odyssey instancing split is of course still massively depressing participation here, and shows no sign of changing soon.
Exploration (2662 pages)
Winners: Stellanebula Project with ~2% of all points. Airone and IGAU take the other trophies.
Another leaderboard not much changed from last time ... or indeed many of the previous seasons, hanging around at the usual "no major expeditions right now" background level for Exploration. Stellanebula Project and IGAU swap places from last time, while Airone pick up their first trophy of any sort here. Total squadron numbers are back to trending upwards - though still below the Season 17 record for now.
Powerplay (86 pages)
Winners: Federal Liberal Command with ~14% of all points. Lupus Dei CMVI and Lavingy's Legion take the other trophies.
Trophies are reshuffled from last season, but the same three overall leaders, with Federal Liberal Command continuing their run as the only squadron to have won a trophy of some form in all twenty seasons. Despite the overall relatively subdued activity on the other boards, this was Powerplay's second busiest season ever, with a record eight squadrons exceeding one million points.
Trade (2305 pages)
Winners: Star Feat with ~1% of all points. Winged Hussars and Pilots Trade Network Squadron take the other trophies.
Star Feat have a very close-run contest with the Winged Hussars to take the Gold this season, though overall activity is down compared with last season especially in the higher places. Last year's comparator - Season 13 - was the last before the bounty/AX rebalance widened the options for earning giant piles of cash, and trade volume hasn't been the same since.
Other comments
The general pattern is of stability and maybe a small recovery after the post-Odyssey drop in activity levels, with most indicators returning to marginal growth though still below their pre-Odyssey heights. The more specialist AX and Powerplay leaderboards show very strong performances, influenced of course by the events of the current season. Relatively few new entrants to the leaderboards this season, with Airone and Loose Screws Podcast being the only first-time winners, perhaps reflects the unsettled situation more generally.
With this week's Community Goals perhaps likely to change the Thargoid situation substantially, it'll be especially interesting to see where the AX leaderboard goes next.
On each graph, points are on the Y-axis, and squadron position on the leaderboard is on the X-axis. Both scales are logarithmic. The light grey line (diamond marker) is the numbers for the previous season, the dark grey line (triangle marker) is the numbers for the same season last year (season 3), and all stats are PC only. As in previous seasons, the approximate power-law distribution continues, allowing estimates of total activity to be made without spending too long reading the boards.
(Political is excluded, because there are well-known exploits to allow very high scores, and because it's not clear even without the exploits what it's supposed to be measuring: the in-game description of "large and happy faction" is clearly wrong - possibly this will change if they ever implement BGS happiness properly)
Anti Xeno (246 pages)
Winners: Marauders Vanguard with ~17% of all points. AXI and Lavigny's Legion take the other trophies.
A third gold for Marauders Vanguard, with AXI and the Legion switching places from last season. This - unsurprisingly given the sheer numbers of Thargoids attacking the outlying nebulae settlements - has been the busiest AX season since the payment rebalance in terms of total estimated bonds.
Combat (2476 pages)
Winners: Canonn with ~1% of all points. Lavigny's Legion and Kisel's Squadron take the other trophies.
A first combat Gold and second combat trophy for Canonn, with some previous winners in the other trophy spots too. Reflecting this, the overall pattern is extremely stable - marginally up overall on last season, but only marginally.
CQC (84 pages)
Winners: We Rock You Roll with ~16% of all points. Loose Screws Podcast and CQC Discord take the other places.
This season's guest trophy winners are Loose Screws Podcast picking up a comfortable Silver place. Activity is very marginally recovered from last season's all-time low, but the Horizons/Odyssey instancing split is of course still massively depressing participation here, and shows no sign of changing soon.
Exploration (2662 pages)
Winners: Stellanebula Project with ~2% of all points. Airone and IGAU take the other trophies.
Another leaderboard not much changed from last time ... or indeed many of the previous seasons, hanging around at the usual "no major expeditions right now" background level for Exploration. Stellanebula Project and IGAU swap places from last time, while Airone pick up their first trophy of any sort here. Total squadron numbers are back to trending upwards - though still below the Season 17 record for now.
Powerplay (86 pages)
Winners: Federal Liberal Command with ~14% of all points. Lupus Dei CMVI and Lavingy's Legion take the other trophies.
Trophies are reshuffled from last season, but the same three overall leaders, with Federal Liberal Command continuing their run as the only squadron to have won a trophy of some form in all twenty seasons. Despite the overall relatively subdued activity on the other boards, this was Powerplay's second busiest season ever, with a record eight squadrons exceeding one million points.
Trade (2305 pages)
Winners: Star Feat with ~1% of all points. Winged Hussars and Pilots Trade Network Squadron take the other trophies.
Star Feat have a very close-run contest with the Winged Hussars to take the Gold this season, though overall activity is down compared with last season especially in the higher places. Last year's comparator - Season 13 - was the last before the bounty/AX rebalance widened the options for earning giant piles of cash, and trade volume hasn't been the same since.
Other comments
The general pattern is of stability and maybe a small recovery after the post-Odyssey drop in activity levels, with most indicators returning to marginal growth though still below their pre-Odyssey heights. The more specialist AX and Powerplay leaderboards show very strong performances, influenced of course by the events of the current season. Relatively few new entrants to the leaderboards this season, with Airone and Loose Screws Podcast being the only first-time winners, perhaps reflects the unsettled situation more generally.
With this week's Community Goals perhaps likely to change the Thargoid situation substantially, it'll be especially interesting to see where the AX leaderboard goes next.
