There are 3 major factions: Why PowerPlay?

[Space Fan]

In common with many of you, I am ranked with the major factions (Federal, Allied, Empire.) As a post-Commander (which actually means I am in command of a post - more bad lore and poor military understanding - post-Commander sounds cool I guess..)

That aside (waffling again.) These ranks confer nothing.

Would that, instead of PowerPlay, we had developed these major factions and given these ranks some meaning?

That's my thesis. Thoughts, lady and gentlemen?

 

[CMDR Hagglebeard]

Well, FD certainly aren't going to trash months of work, but I agree with you. When the characters didn't have faces, I enjoyed them more, I created them on my own. The playerbase wanted otherwise, so my vote is obviously unheard, and rightly so, but i still miss the mysterious I felt when I got the game, back in Beta 1.

 

[Io_Sys]

They did develop them.
Now it takes exponentially longer to unlock the next rank.
Pray they aren't developed further.

Okay, all sarcasm aside there are a few bonuses to ranking up with your main faction-- Empire gets a 2 (soon to be 3) ships, Courier, Clipper and soon to be the Imperial eagle that require a rank to unlock.
Or they did-- Now you only need a very low rank to get the clipper everyone seems to consider the god-ship at the moment.

Alliance? Would be nice if they got a few specific ships, or maybe an innate bonus to trade and exploration or something. If they had a nice fighter I'm sure I'd spend a lot more time in Alliance space.
Feds? You get the dubious honour of being a Fed. As a Fed, you're innately better than everyone else. Also the Dropship, which is both terrible and requires a higher rank than the clipper to unlock.

 

[knowles2]

In common with many of you, I am ranked with the major factions (Federal, Allied, Empire.) As a post-Commander (which actually means I am in command of a post - more bad lore and poor military understanding - post-Commander sounds cool I guess..)

That aside (waffling again.) These ranks confer nothing.

Would that, instead of PowerPlay, we had developed these major factions and given these ranks some meaning.

That's my thesis. Thoughts, lady and gentlemen?

Powerplay is their introduction of Tier 1 NPCs. Tier 2 is probably coming soon. Tier 3 are already essentially in the game.

 

[simmerluke]

While I thought I understood 'major' and 'minor' factions, I have struggled with how 'powers' fit in. In my mind I have tried to draw parallels with real life - and still failed (maybe someone could explain).

From what I have read they can control up to hundreds of star systems and yet, isn't that what the major factions do..? Two different and yet simultaneous forms of government in the galaxy?

 

[IronGremlin]

Powerplay is their introduction of Tier 1 NPCs. Tier 2 is probably coming soon. Tier 3 are already essentially in the game.

Although I think it's safe to say that tier 3 isn't totally finished, and I hope tier 1 makes some appearance outside of power play.

I don't think that PP is meaningless if we have major factions, I like the idea of sub-factions on a larger scale than minor factions, which are typically single system entities.

I do agree that having so much built around these "Tier 1 NPCs" while other, seemingly more fundamental entities like minor and major factions are so underdeveloped seems incongruous, but I think we can safely assume from Frontiers communication that there is more to come on those subjects in future updates.

- - - Updated - - -

While I thought I understood 'major' and 'minor' factions, I have struggled with how 'powers' fit in. In my mind I have tried to draw parallels with real life - and still failed (maybe someone could explain).

From what I have read they can control up to hundreds of star systems and yet, isn't that what the major factions do..? Two different and yet simultaneous forms of government in the galaxy?

It's like, say, the CIA vs. the KGB - Major factions would be USA and USSR, minor factions are like, California or Cuba, and PPs represent the intelligence agencies: strong players in the scene, sometimes with their own agenda, but primarily beholden to a major power.

You can't really tell the story of the Cold War without talking about the CIA and the KGB - describing entities that got in between leads to a more interesting tale.

 

[Kayweg]

Although I think it's safe to say that tier 3 isn't totally finished, and I hope tier 1 makes some appearance outside of power play.

I don't think that PP is meaningless if we have major factions, I like the idea of sub-factions on a larger scale than minor factions, which are typically single system entities.

I do agree that having so much built around these "Tier 1 NPCs" while other, seemingly more fundamental entities like minor and major factions are so underdeveloped seems incongruous, but I think we can safely assume from Frontiers communication that there is more to come on those subjects in future updates.

Possibly, but i'm careful with assuming these days, and i'm completely done with "safely assuming".

I assumed Powerplay was going to be exactly what you described, further development and integration of the existing major/minor factions power structure......and that assumption surely flew straight back into my face.

 

[Whiterose]

If nobody partook in powerplay then all the powers would fall into turmoil....I feel a plan coming....

 

[SongMinKi]

The Alliance is considered a major faction? Hold my drink while i snicker.

 

[IronGremlin]

Possibly, but i'm careful with assuming these days, and i'm completely done with "safely assuming".

I assumed Powerplay was going to be exactly what you described, further development and integration of the existing major/minor factions power structure......and that assumption surely flew straight back into my face.

Sure, but isn't that a miscommunication?

I mean I agree, that's what I thought they would do as well, but what we got instead is it's own thing, and it doesn't necessarily indicate that the areas of the game that we hoped would improve are dead and neglected, and Frontier has made several communications sense regarding minor factions and naval progression that support the conclusion that these parts of the game are still under active development.

I'm not going to say that powerplay was a big confidence builder for me, but I'm reserving judgement on how I feel about the design direction of major and minor factions until I actually see some changes to those systems.

In my opinion, Powerplay, as far as the gameplay it introduced, was utter garbage. But, as far as it affected story telling on a larger scale, it was largely a win.

 

[knowles2]

Although I think it's safe to say that tier 3 isn't totally finished, and I hope tier 1 makes some appearance outside of power play.

I don't think that PP is meaningless if we have major factions, I like the idea of sub-factions on a larger scale than minor factions, which are typically single system entities.

I do agree that having so much built around these "Tier 1 NPCs" while other, seemingly more fundamental entities like minor and major factions are so underdeveloped seems incongruous, but I think we can safely assume from Frontiers communication that there is more to come on those subjects in future updates.

Nothing is finish in the game. An that there a lot more to come to all NPC tiers. I think the biggest problem for powerplay was adding to many gaming elements to it that for now is separate from the rest of the game. I expect it will be far more integrated in the future.

 

[Red Kite]

While I thought I understood 'major' and 'minor' factions, I have struggled with how 'powers' fit in.

They don't!

 

[Cosmos]

Maybe the developers like to play table top card games and with limited resources they came up with PP.

I'm sure people would be happy to pay for a DLC if it meant real content..

 

[Privata]

The Alliance is considered a major faction? Hold my drink while i snicker.

They were the center of Elite 3. and are the only faction with freedom

 

[Deleted member 94277]

While I immensely dislike PP, I can understand why some people like it. With that said, I personally think that nearly anything would be better than PP. Any kind of MP environment for player to develop and enjoy Open could have been better then that.

 

[SongMinKi]

They were the center of Elite 3. and are the only faction with freedom

i know but in ED they are so overlooked that im surprised they didnt get downgraded to being a minor faction. I mean, no faction specific ships, no naval progression, all they got is an icon and thats basically it