The Powerplay discussion thread.

[Marra Morgan]

I'm a casual player; about 1 - 1.5 hours most days.

This week I got promoted to Rating 2!
I reckon I could get to 3 with a bit of a push.

I don't have any problem with it as it stands. I take out Kumo contraband to our prep systems, bring marked slaves back to help our fortification efforts. At each stop, I look for local smuggling jobs to run to keep my income steady. Sometimes I'll get my guns out and help with our expansion and undermining. Where there's opportunities to bring back stuff to sell on the black markets in our home turf, I snap 'em up.

It's great, I feel like a small-time two-bit space-criminal, playing a part in something bigger

 

[Snarfbuckle]

do you not think that pledging and having to grind for merits sort of removes you from the
rest of the game or can you still make your own credits in the meantime , are you
not losing in the long run comparing how much you can grind an hour for yourself

Definitely.

Not to mention that the payout we get for spending our time is a pittance.

The main problem is still the dogfood dispenser timer.

The points we gain per 24 hours compared to what we have time to actually pick up is rather different.

Rank 1: 480 points per day (60 per 3 hours playtime)
Rank 2: 720 points per day (90 per 3 hours playtime)
Rank 3: 960 points per day (120 per 3 hours playtime)
etc...

Since I only have 3 hours per day to do community work for my power and they only give me reports every 30 minutes. Im pretty damn sure they have a gigantic warehouse with those reports I need but for some reason they only trust me with a tiny amount.

Why cant we handle them as rare goods? The further away from HQ we get the more merits they are worth. Would make courier work interesting.

Im casual in my player role because the game FORCES me to be.

 

[Ian Skippy]

I'm not sure why there is a need for merit decay anyway. Why can't we just progress up the ranks the same way that we progress towards Elite, etc?

Because then everyone gets literally hundreds of millions of free credits every month forever after reaching rank five, regardless of whether you'll ever do anything for them again. That is absurd.

 

[Klab]

I'm not sure why there is a need for merit decay anyway. Why can't we just progress up the ranks the same way that we progress towards Elite, etc?

Because of the 'wages' paid. With the method you describe, I would receive 50m Cr (I am rank 5) every week til kingdom come & not need to do anything. PP would disentegrate as no-one would need to do anything once rank 5 was reached. Decay is necessary unfortunately.

 

[Johnny Kelso]

Because of the 'wages' paid. With the method you describe, I would receive 50m Cr (I am rank 5) every week til kingdom come & not need to do anything. PP would disentegrate as no-one would need to do anything once rank 5 was reached. Decay is necessary unfortunately.

Then I take it that you are not a casual player?

 

[Monk]

I'm right there with ya. I tried Powerplay in beta and then in Prod and it didn't take long for me to see the writing on the wall. I was playing on my free Wednesday night, when the wife is at night class and I push any work to Thursday. I get maybe four hours out of this.

I pledged with Patreus, delivered some stuff to a system nearing its expansion/preparation goal (I can't remember what it was now)...took down some enemy ships and was harassed by federal agents. Seemed like fun to me, until I realized how many merits I'd earned and checked to see how many merits I'd need. I literally laughed out loud (Is LLOL something we need now?) as I estimated how much time I'd have to put into this to maintain merits week into week while increasing my balance.

LEAVE POWER

Though, here is the interesting thing...having the powers around makes space a lot more interesting. My usual watering hole is about a 100ly from the nearest power and now it feels like such a quaint and quiet area (really just the same as most all populated systems were when there wasn't a CG or other going on). Since PP I've slowly moved my fleet of ships to the nexus of 2 or 3 imperial powers. First of all, the trade between powers is great if you know what each power values and buffs. The activity specific to each power is evident in all controlled systems (Torval's shield, I've got my eyes on you). The powers also seem to affect all other aspects of a system too, Missions seem to evolve with the struggle, booms pop up more often as new and numerous lucrative trade runs are milked dry which also lead to civil wars. There is so much to do and profit from now, even without being in the power.

PP is an improvement for EVERYONE. Folks who make ED a second job (or primary job, I ain't judging, just jealous) now have a way to actively affect the balance of power in the galaxy. Us more causal, limited time, players benefit from the added color and activity in the galaxy. I've gotten so immersed in back dealings, inter-system feuds and smuggling just within Empire space that I've forgotten about the Federation and Alliance completely (I used to frequent the borders just to find anything of note).

I'm having more fun with this game, when I expected to be trailing off by now after playing it for almost a year and a half. I can't wait to see what they do next.

On a less gushy note, PP could be improved to the point where there is something more casual players could appreciably contribute and gain from it. Which I'm sure it will improve, over time, as other things have.

 

[Cyda]

Even if you ignore PP you are now also punished with decay of rank, so even grinding rank for a desired ship became harder for the casual player.

It's like FD are actually going out of their way to troll the community at times.

 

[CMDR Brock Samson]

I am a casual player. I pledged, still at rank 1, will remain at rank 1. So what?

So maybe, drop the attitude?

 

[Ian Skippy]

So maybe, drop the attitude?

Its not an attitude, its a question. What exactly is so bad about nog getting hundreds of millions of credits if you only play a few hours?

 

[Monk]

Even if you ignore PP you are now also punished with decay of rank, so even grinding rank for a desired ship became harder for the casual player.

It's like FD are actually going out of their way to troll the community at times.

Performing normal activities with Empire factions has kept me at Allied. I don't grind, I jump from trading, to hunting, to smuggling, to assassinations and other missions pretty constantly. I only manage about 10 hours on a good week so I gotta fit all the fun in!

My ranks influences have not suffered one bit. The most I've seen is minor pirate factions that hate me settle back up to unfriendly if I just don't hunt them for a while.

 

[Cyda]

Performing normal activities with Empire factions has kept me at Allied. I don't grind, I jump from trading, to hunting, to smuggling, to assassinations and other missions pretty constantly. I only manage about 10 hours on a good week so I gotta fit all the fun in!

My ranks have not suffered one bit. The most I've seen is minor pirate factions that hate me settle back up to unfriendly if I just don't hunt them for a while.

Wasn't this only actually added today though? I thought it was meant to be in 1.3 but was only added in today's patch. If so then I'd give it a week or so of casual play before anything really changes. Time will tell I guess.

 

[Tusken]

So today I left my faction after trying powerplay from it's release onward. Every time I played I made sure to do a few runs for my faction but...

For me personally I feel (and experienced) that powerplay has to few perks to justify being part of it any longer. Last week I simply did not have much time to play like most casual players do and you just loose to much merrits as a result of this, it's basically punishment for not playing (I know this has been said a lot and defended a lot, this is just my personal opinion!). I got to rank 2 by week 2 and that's about it, was just about to drop back into rank one when I quit.

I know Frontier loves powerplay and a lot of others do too, for me it looks great yes but simply is to much work for the few hours I play. I really hope this is just a first iteration and that it will be more fleshed out (weekly faction update overview would be nice) so that every player feels it's worth it.

I also hope future features will also remember that this game once was sold as a "single player" game too which caused a lot of casual players to sign up and back it like I did. I really don't care for the solo vs open discussion as seperating them would be fine by me. But things like powerplay are just to focused on players who can play daily. Again this is just my opinion so please keep the comments clean.

So frontier, I do hope that you'll improve and not just head the way of well basically Xbox type stuff... Casual players inject money too into your company, simply do not forget about us

Again, I urge you to read this post as one mans opinion and not as a reason to just scream at each other, discussion is fine, but no need to try and forcefully change my mind as it's already made up anyway. I still love Elite in it's current form, I'll just forget that powerplay is in there for now.

Remember it's just meant as feedback, no facts stated here

Hi there, I might have a idea why you and many other casual players have the idea that PP is not for them.

Like your post this is just my idea and so also no facts here.

I think ppl jump into PP for the wrong reasons.
It seems to me you jumped into PP for the perks you get at the different tiers and as such are focused on that.
You played PP for the perks, found out you can't reach any of the higher levels and so concluded PP is not for you and quit.
Perhaps PP is indeed not for you... I dono.
Why is it important to reach a high level?
You shude join a power for RP reasons, politics, not for the perks(most of them are for more influence anyway).
The module or weapon you can get at 750 merits.... I'm sure even a casual player can manage that during 1 holiday or another.

I for 1 joined the alliance power, and I'm a BH.
The perks per tier are just trade bonuses (and a small beam laser!?)
So what's in it for me?... A in game excuse to kill stuff... A bit crudely put but accurate.
As a nice guy, not a griefer or psychopath i don't kill ppl or NPC's with out a rp reason.
This severely reduces my gameplay options.
PP gives me the excuse to rampage and the Bounty's I get on my head in the process makes any incounter with other BH's a distrustful 1.
And obviously as I supported the alliance before PP I like to help now as well for RP reasons.

So if your not into rp or politics, it most likely is not for you.
If you do however..... then just forget about those tiers and help where you can.

 

[GluttonyFang]

Fold

Casual players can certainly benefit from PowerPlay from a faction's perk, and the specialized weapon in a faction does not require ridiculous standing, it is something easily accomplished.

I feel that PP is well-balanced between hard-core players and casuals. It is also optional.

 

[Raduk]

A casual gamer who played 100 hours in 10 months should be at the same status than a hardcore gamer who played 100 hours in one month.
So what separate a hardcore player from a casual one? He goes faster IRL.

Uhh no, that's not how any of this works.


if I play basketball 100 hours in one month, I'm going to be a lot better than someone who plays 10 hours a month. You will never catch me, because I will have put in 1000 hours to your 100 in the end. Just like if you work 10 hours a month, you won't have as much as the guy who works 100. These are just facts of life and should be facts of a simulation.

- - - Updated - - -

The problem is not about being casual - it's the way we get the supplies in order to support a faction.

I have a full time job and a family to take care of and limited play time. The TIME i need to spend is not what makes a game casual.

I can play as hardcore as the next one with the time I have - the problem is that the game do not ALLOW for me to play on MY time but I have to wait for the game to GIVE me the supplies I need in order to get what I need.

Preparing systems and supplying them as a supporting playstyle means it's difficult to get over rank 3 unless I go into combat zones and that's not what I see my role as.

The dogfood dispenser timer is bad game design.

yea, I work 50-60 hours a week, have a family, obligations with limited play time too. But I'm a focused player, hardcore casual if you will. I don't complain. I trade up to get my millions then buy the combat ships. I traded up to buy my progress in Powerplay. While others complain that my methods are boring, I enjoy the rewards that my hardcore approach brings.

I only play Open Play. Have never touched solo or private groups

 

[Don Alvarez]

I pledged with Patreus, delivered some stuff to a system nearing its expansion/preparation goal (I can't remember what it was now)...took down some enemy ships and was harassed by federal agents. Seemed like fun to me, until I realized how many merits I'd earned and checked to see how many merits I'd need. I literally laughed out loud (Is LLOL something we need now?) as I estimated how much time I'd have to put into this to maintain merits week into week while increasing my balance.

Its really not that bad once you run the numbers, though I admit if top tier rewards are your goal (that 50mil a week) then yeah you are going to be at it alot. For the casual player, maintaining tier 4 is actually not that big a deal, the only real hassle is getting through the initial grind the first week or two. The first week 1500 merit grind is going to take a day or two farming oppositing faction ships for merits. If you want to haul stuff, you are going to be at it all week. The second week with rollover you only need to grind up half as much to maintain the 1500 tier. Once you are into the fourth week and fully vested (getting rollover from 1500 the previous three weeks) thereafter you can maintain tier four by simply making 187 merits each week. That can be done in less than an hour.
-
To make tier 5 really takes nothing more than patience. Regardless of your weekly totals, if you grind more than 1250 merit each week, your overall weekly total will continue to increase towards 10,000. It will take time, but you will eventually get there.

 

[Ian Skippy]

So if your not into rp or politics, it most likely is not for you.
If you do however..... then just forget about those tiers and help where you can.

Totally agree.

- - - Updated - - -

Uhh no, that's not how any of this works.


if I play basketball 100 hours in one month, I'm going to be a lot better than someone who plays 10 hours a month. You will never catch me, because I will have put in 1000 hours to your 100 in the end. Just like if you work 10 hours a month, you won't have as much as the guy who works 100. These are just facts of life and should be facts of a simulation

I think he means you play 100 hours the first month and then do nothing for nine months versus 10 hours each month.

 

[Soopyyy]

I simply think the effort required to obtain ranks isn't worth the reward. I could go to a RES or spend the same time trading and be FAR better off.

 

[Brimstone]

I really haven't put much effort into earning merits since the release of Powerplay, mostly just interdicting and killing hudsons guys every now and then. Before I knew it, I had almost 3000 merits. After the decay from last cycle, I still have 1900, meaning I don't have to 'powerplay' for another week and still maintain rating 4.

Can an you grind a bunch of hours and get rating 5 and the subsequent 50 million salary? Of course you can, but you don't have to. You can also grind far fewer hours and earn that 50 million from trading, or maybe bounty hunting and combat zones.

You don't have to do anything with Powerplay at all, too. This new feature was really intended for people who have all the ships the want, and perhaps don't know what else to do with theirselves now. If you're a brand new player, you can't even engage with Powerplay until you've earned a rank or two in the pilots federation.

 

[interfector]

i'll just put my question here, so i don't have to open new thread. so guys, is there a way to make those 10,000 merits without actually losing a lot of money? and are ratings really updated once a week, or my game is bugged? i've done some math about those merits that you get by delivering packages to systems your power can expand, but i didn't see actually that any profit can be made. right now i'm talking about archon delaine, and his kumo packages. problem is that ''fast track quota'' is always 1,000 cr per one package, and in the end you'll lose a lot of money. am i missing something? i know you can wait 30 minutes for free quota, but obviously, if you play just let's say 10 hours a week, you won't get much for free.
edit: it is 10,000 per package, not 1,000.

 

[BlueTeamMember]

I really like this game and I very much want to be able to play it for years to come.
I am of the opinion that longevity requires an economic viability model based upon a large established base of casual players supporting a product.
Someone has to pay the bills for the servers tomorrow, next quarter, next year and so on and so on.
Can a game survive on hard core players, sure. Take a look at SimCity 4. That has some very long teeth an established player base and only Cities Skylines has managed to even come close to being a worthy rival. And that took decades to happen.
I would love it if ED had a cult following like SimCity4. Only problem is the whole instance server thingy. If casual player participation decays then the bills to pay for the upkeep falls on hardcore participants. Is that viable? I think not.
If future Power Play updates are cost plus then sure fine, I am fine with that, have all you want, soak in it til' your fingers get all puffy. I just don't want a schism to happen between casual and hardcore playstyle. That is detrimental to the long term viability of ED.