The idea that having four factions would actually weaken the Empire clearly isn't working out. A change is needed.
It's pretty clear that for months now, FD has focused on the Empire to the detriment of other factions. Storylines, Galnet entries, characters, CGs, ships - all of those put a lot of spotlight on the Empire, and encouraged a significant population shift towards that faction. Then we learned about Powerplay perks and bonuses, and it was again clear the Empire has an edge there over the Federation or the Alliance. Not only that, but the Empire received 4 Powers
The argument was that all this focus on one faction was fine, because the ongoing Imperial storyline and split into four powers would weaken the Empire. Having 4 Powers was going to be a break on what was becoming a worrying imbalance. After all Powerplay mechanics seem to be tailor-made for the half-hidden internal struggle that followed the Emperor's sickness.
Long story short, that hasn't worked out at all.
**What can be done?**
I certainly wouldn't want to see the dull cycle of nerfs and buffs that characterise so many MMOs. Imperial factions don't need a "nerf" - they have been very well managed by FD. What's needed is the same level of attention given to non-Imperials.
TL;DR
I'm salty because Empire bias isn't going away the way I thought it would be. Some focus on non-Imperial Powers is needed before the balance goes completely out of whack. Pranav Antal is relevant.
It's pretty clear that for months now, FD has focused on the Empire to the detriment of other factions. Storylines, Galnet entries, characters, CGs, ships - all of those put a lot of spotlight on the Empire, and encouraged a significant population shift towards that faction. Then we learned about Powerplay perks and bonuses, and it was again clear the Empire has an edge there over the Federation or the Alliance. Not only that, but the Empire received 4 Powers
The argument was that all this focus on one faction was fine, because the ongoing Imperial storyline and split into four powers would weaken the Empire. Having 4 Powers was going to be a break on what was becoming a worrying imbalance. After all Powerplay mechanics seem to be tailor-made for the half-hidden internal struggle that followed the Emperor's sickness.
Long story short, that hasn't worked out at all.
- Imperial Powers do not, for the most part, fight each other. There's no reason to do so. From a merit-gaining perspective, attacking non-Imperial Powers is immeasurably more attractive. From an RP perspective, not many people seem to care for the storyline of struggle between Imperial Powers that FD has been pushing for months, and instead are focusing on external enemies. That's not the players fault - after all, it's only natural to attack what has long been established as the enemy faction, the Federation.
- Unsurprisingly, Imperial Powers attracted lion's share of player support. Winters is dead in the water due to lack of previous presence in the lore, horrible perks and awful controlled space bonuses, along with a weapon that's merely potentially interesting. Out of the four Imperial Powers, 3 have excellent perks and bonuses (with Arissa arguably having the best mechanical advantages of any Power in the game), with 1 (Patreus) merely has 'ok' ones. By comparison, while bonuses for joining Hudson or Mahon are good, their faction-specific weapons are extremely unappealing. Winters... well, I already mentioned Winters. She essentially offers nothing for her followers. Sirius has arguably bonuses comparable with Imperial Powers, while Archon and especially Pranav Antal get all.
- As a result, some of the strongest Powers in the game enjoy not only a large amount of support from players, but also a very safe position, especially compared to Federal Powers, and are unlikely to be seriously opposed or undermined. Not only that, but with such population imbalance, Federation factions in particular will be on the receiving end of a lot of PvP pain, and that will only feed this imbalance further.
**What can be done?**
I certainly wouldn't want to see the dull cycle of nerfs and buffs that characterise so many MMOs. Imperial factions don't need a "nerf" - they have been very well managed by FD. What's needed is the same level of attention given to non-Imperials.
- Urgently look at perks and bonuses some Powers offer. There's simply absolutely no way Winters' 5% - 20% influence boost will ever be as useful as Hudson's/Arissa's bounty hunting buff, for example. Similarily, having Sirius offer a 15% ship and outfitting discount, while neighbouring Pranav Antal gets a 10% smuggling income boost and a boost to *fines and bounties received* is some sort of a cruel joke. The perks offered by Powers do not, and probably should not, be perfectly balanced. That'd be boring. What's equally boring, however, is giving the followers of some Powers great rewards for their loyalties, while others receive pretty much nothing at all.
- Lore! By God, please give us lore. We received more information about Patreus' and Aisling's little fling than about the Shadow President of the Federation. Pranav Antal, a leader of a utopian cult, has essentially zero lore behind him, and we don't know the beliefs of his organisation. We've had more GalNet coverage of some Imperial Senator's trip through Sol than we did about Mahon and his efforts on behalf of the Alliance. You can't expect players to care about their Powers if those Powers are just a couple of paragraphs of text and a portrait. If players don't care, they won't work for those not fleshed out Powers - after all, it's the feeling of involvement in shaping the galaxy that's a much bigger perk of Powerplay than the actual mechanical bonuses.
- Power-specific modules. Personally I'm still for their removal from the game, but I realise I'm in the minority here. If they're to stay then please, Frontier, you NEED to be quicker about balancing them than is the case with normal weapons. Yes, they said they'll balance overly popular weapons, but that's not my main concern. Buffing of weak weapons is After all, if the regular Frag Cannon is still useless after so many months, there's little reason to believe Hudson's version will be much better - and if it is weak, having to wait 6+ months for balancing would be devastating.
- Ships. I'm sure FD realises this already but yeah, the Alliance and the Federation need *useful* ships. It also wouldn't hurt to give the Dropship a balance pass. It has been a joke in the community for months, and "balancing" by reducing the price by 3 million felt like open mockery by FD.
- Rebalancing of the current Undermining mechanics. I see a pretty simple solution here. Increase merits per ton of cargo stolen from rival Powers. Make piracy the only way to Undermine the enemy, no matter their major faction.
TL;DR
I'm salty because Empire bias isn't going away the way I thought it would be. Some focus on non-Imperial Powers is needed before the balance goes completely out of whack. Pranav Antal is relevant.
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