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 measured season. 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. Results are based on late measures of the current season boards due to known bugs with the "last season" boards, and so may not reflect final outcomes exactly.
(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 (557 pages)
Winners: Anti-Xeno Initiative, Swords of Makhai, The Order of Dripnificence
With a record 557 pages of squadrons participating, this season saw a continued high amount of AX activity.
While AXI hang on to their lead, the biggest changes are below the top 100, with a significant change in the slope of the curve there. A top-500 score last season (which was also pretty busy!) might not give top-1000 now - it's only the slight decrease in the amounts above the top 100 which stop this being an all-time record season.
Combat (1149 pages)
Winners: Swords of Makhai, Anti-Xeno Initiative, The Order of Dripnificence
And with the same three squadrons in a slightly different order, it's not a surprise where a lot of this shooting has been coming from. The total number of participating squadrons is also up massively, in what does appear to be a clear record season for the Combat leaderboard.
CQC (35 pages)
Winners: We Rock You Roll, Swords of Makhai, Romanian Special Division
Swords of Makhai stay on the trophy roll here, joining the two current regulars. The general rise in activity keeps the CQC board at one of its higher levels for a while.
Exploration (1234 pages)
Winners: Stellanebula Project, The Stellar Cartographers Guild, Intergalactic Astronomical Union
Last season saw a substantial increase in participant count, and this season has gone beyond that for the highest confirmed page count, about 150 pages (so 1500 squadrons) over the previous record.
As with combat and AX the important changes aren't so much at the very top (where squadrons performing at the peak of possibility continue to do so) but in the top-100 and top-1000 where the competition for places has got much more intense as participation numbers and activity levels rise substantially.
Powerplay (212 pages)
Winners: Federal Liberal Command, Federal Republic Command, Lavigny's Legion
The first full season of the new Powerplay starts off spectacularly, with 212 pages of squadrons participating. Given the requirement - not present on the other five - for personal pledge to match squadron alignment, having 212 pages is incredibly impressive (around eight times higher than in Powerplay 1)
The amounts on the graph are measured on a completely different scale to Powerplay 1 so are somewhat arbitrary; the currency is personal merit awards, so the multiplication of those early in the season but not right at the start does allow for future seasons to go slightly higher without a direct change in activity levels.
Meanwhile, the trophy winners are some very familiar names on this leaderboard!
Trade (1072 pages)
Winners: Pilots Community Network Squad, Swords of Makhai, Galactic Apex Credit Kings
Trade sees over a thousand verified pages (over ten thousand verified squadrons) for the first time, and the total activity is well above average (and the highest ever without CGs). The effectiveness of Powerplay mining might be driving some of the rise, as there are some famous Powerplay squadrons in the top 10.
Other comments
This has been the busiest season in terms of participation levels and one of the busiest in terms of activity levels on almost every board - many previous busy seasons having been driven only by one or two boards.
What happens next is a lot less predictable, of course:
- with the end of the Thargoid war, the AX board will probably fall off a bit, though there's plenty of time in Season 41 for something new to happen there
- Colonisation isn't likely to show up during Season 41: will the initial attraction of Powerplay continue to keep that leaderboard high? And will it also keep pushing the other leaderboards to generally strong levels?
