Has anyone ever suggested simply having a separate version of Powerplay open only for the PvP centric crowd outside of the bubble? Rat Catcher touched on this by suggesting a 4th mode for open only Powerplay.
By Jove, I think I've got it! If PP 2.0 doesn't offer an acceptable solution for the majority of players in the game, this is the way. The anodyne remedy to our plight!
It's open only Powerplay! But... just... over there!
Richard Garriott, Ultima's creator, is quoted as saying UO was initially a "failed social experiment". To say it failed socially is accurate. One cannot rid player malice from the equation in any game design. It wasn't a failed experiment though because it showed us how to incentivize desired player interactions and attempt to minimize undesired human behavior under anonymity. The best any developer can hope to achieve when designing a game.
Elite's open mode is UO's Felucca. Private group and solo mode are Trammel. UO's Factions PvP system was played in Felucca only. This system wasn't quite as complex as Powerplay but it is essentially the same in concept; a system of competition with rewards. Elite's Powerplay system can be played in both Felucca and Trammel. One side of the playerbase wants it to be a PvP system only, the other does not. This is the root of our problem because..
PvP combat in this game is completely optional.
This is an important talking point repeated often enough in this thread. Non-consensual PvP is not the answer. Successful games in that genre must begin advertised and modelled only as such, essentially becoming consensual by the grace of you playing the game at all. Still many fail, adapt, or remain sparsely populated for various reasons. Successful games with both PvE and PvP usually separate the two. Darrack points this out in another thread when I mention PvP as end-game content. Whether that's a vs mode on a console game or a consensual PvP system in an online game makes no difference. I get the argument that Elite fits the bill here for the non-consensual PvP genre because open mode is in the game, therefore it was advertised as such right? It's Elite: Dangerous! However, it's a valid argument only if solo/pg modes didn't accompany the game at launch, or even if they were added later.
Space Cowboy Online is a another old example I have experience with to point out here. A Starfox-like arcadey gameplay mmo with traditional lvl grinding built entirely on a PvP Nation War mechanic, picking a side when you first start the game. Even that game repeated the same history as UO, adding "safe zone" or Trammel as an option instead of "combat zone" or Felucca, when entering a map. Simply because a large portion of the playerbase unsurprisingly wanted to shoot space bees and level up in peace. Diehard PvP folks argued they were just doing their part for the war effort by ganking and spawn camping players trying to grind. Suffice to say, PvP being optional in Elite is by design and an irrefutable fact.
So why not simply copy and paste a version of the Powerplay system somewhere else separate from the bubble? Have at least two new Indy Powers be the wet dream open only, designed solely to be completely stand alone for direct PvP competition. They should only interact with themselves and not with any of the current Powers. Instead of being friendly, amiable or hostile give them a designation of rivalry to each other to accentuate this narrative. They're so focused on their own sweaty neck-bearded try hard conflicts that the wider struggle a few hundred light years over in the bubble doesn't concern them. I'd also throw all the PP modules on a tech broker and revamp the rewards to not include gear. This removes the currently required shopping grind to a level playing field of access. With the current Powerplay layout in the bubble left to the PvE crowd to play, there should be little to no risk of "cross contamination" and both groups of players can engage with the same system the way they prefer, with or without direct player interaction.
Ok your turn! Why wouldn't this work? The only thing that comes to mind is Sandro in that old stream saying the reason they don't have an ongoing consensual PvP conflict is because it needs to make sense in Elite's story. Surely someone can write a story then?
ti's human nature to "adapt" or cheat. Finding ways is what makes us different to animals hehe. 
