What are all the secret rules for the different Power Play 2 Missions

[Fcsuper]

It seems there are a ton of secret rules for Power Play 2 missions. What have you discovered?

For example, for Exploration Data missions, the required earned credits are not the total credits that you earned with Universal Cartographics, but the amount earned from one system. So, if your requirement is to earn 300K, you have to find a system where you can earn that much by scanning that system alone. The mission does seem to allow you to reach that number with combined earnings from both DSS and FSS, though. Also, there seems to be a light-year distance from the bubble requirement. I'm not sure about that one yet.

For the Biological Data missions, the requirement seems to be that you have to collect the biological data by scanning a lifeform that is more than 750ly from the bubble. Again, the earnings have to be from one completed scan, but so far the amounts being requested are quite low by Exobiology standards, so the bigger issue is that 750ly requirement.

Without proper instructions within the mission assignment, requiring players to stumble upon these secret requirements is very frustrating. I'm sure it's frustrating for their QA department too, having received a ton of bug reports because of these secret requirements.

 

[Rebel Yell]

My secret rule is: unless is scan ships/kill ships, avoid.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

It seems there are a ton of secret rules for Power Play 2 missions.

Not as such. The rule for PP2 missions is simple - you have to do the requested action in such a way that it would gain merits [1].

The ton of secret rules are for the merit-gaining activities themselves.

For exploration data, every single scanned body is considered for merits separately - not systems, not pages, it's individual planets and moons - and there's a fairly high threshold before they give merits at all. Generally this means mapping ELWs, terraformable WWs, or AWs. Location doesn't matter, though.
(The mission credit value is therefore horribly misleading, since it's generally below the single-body threshold for merits to be awarded at all)

For exobiology the rules are less clear - again, single high-value planets seem more likely to work than lots of low-value (by exobio standards) planets. Location probably doesn't matter either.

[1] The "zero merits" gained from selling rares or handing in escape pods still counts.

 

[Fcsuper]

For exploration data, every single scanned body is considered for merits separately - not systems, not pages, it's individual planets and moons - and there's a fairly high threshold before they give merits at all. Generally this means mapping ELWs, terraformable WWs, or AWs. Location doesn't matter, though.
(The mission credit value is therefore horribly misleading, since it's generally below the single-body threshold for merits to be awarded at all)

That's not what the game reports for successful exploration PP2 mission. It reports on the total value of the system scan. So, while your statement may be the rule for the threshold for merit earnings outside of PP2 mission, it is not the rule for successful PP2 mission completion. I specifically tested this point this week with a single system hand-in.

As for exobiology, distance does seem to be a major factor, as any completed scan of a lifeform would fulfill the very low requirements for the PP2 mission, but you do not get mission credit for scans that are made within the bubble or nearby.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

That's not what the game reports for successful exploration PP2 mission. It reports on the total value of the system scan. So, while your statement may be the rule for the threshold for merit earnings outside of PP2, it is not the rule for successful PP2 mission completion. I specifically tested this point this week with a single system hand-in.

Yes. The general rule is that you can only complete the mission through actions which earn merits.

So you can sell 100 million of low-value bodies and get no merits, so no mission progress.
Or you can sell a single high-value body, get 120 merits, and also overfill the credit requirement for the mission.

The mission being denominated in credits rather than merits is extremely misleading, but exactly the same bodies will "give merits" and "contribute to the mission completion"

but you do not get mission credit for scans that are made within the bubble.

There may well be a "not in inhabited systems" requirement for exobio merits.
(There certainly isn't one of those for exploration merits)

 

[Fcsuper]

Yes. The general rule is that you can only complete the mission through actions which earn merits.

So you can sell 100 million of low-value bodies and get no merits, so no mission progress.
Or you can sell a single high-value body, get 120 merits, and also overfill the credit requirement for the mission.

The mission being denominated in credits rather than merits is extremely misleading, but exactly the same bodies will "give merits" and "contribute to the mission completion"


There may well be a "not in inhabited systems" requirement for exobio merits.
(There certainly isn't one of those for exploration merits)

I'm all for a back and forth discussion, but your statements do not match my experience so far. Also, I just found this that may help:

Source: https://youtu.be/fJ71aWZ5nXE?si=gyQDSLPze6iSu1Pq&t=111

 

[Fcsuper]

According Galnet News Digest (above) and some additional observations:

Hidden PP2 weekly assignment rules:

• Exploration data assignment will only credit you with completion if you collect that data at a distance greater than 700ly from the system to which you hand in the data. The data must be collected from a single system. My own observation (so far) is that the total earnings of both FSS and DSS of that single system are combined for mission completion (which is nice). I haven't confirmed this yet, but it seems that you don't need to reach normal earnings threshold to earn assignment completion (only the assignment's threshold matters).
• Biological data assignment appears to have the same 700ly requirement as Exploration Data (as I have so far observed).
• Assignment to sell mined commodities will only credit you with completion if you mine the commodities in the same system.
• Assignment to commit undermining crimes in another Power's system will only credit you with completion if you attack that ruling Power's ships in that system. (You aren't credited for attacking just any ships.)
• Assignment to scan megaships will only credit you with completion if you scan undockable megaships. Megaships that allow you to dock do not count, even if they aren't carriers. "Only bulk cruisers count towards your assignment."

Also,

• Assignments to collect escape pods do not give you additional merits for handing in the escape pods. You only get the merits for the assignment itself. (This is already well known at this point as no merits are currently being given for the escape pods themselves.)

 

[Ian Doncaster]

• Assignment to sell mined commodities will only credit you with completion if you mine the commodities in the same system.

Unless the assignment is to mine commodities for an Acquisition system (I'm not sure if this assignment type is possible, but it might be), in which case the commodities will almost certainly need to be from a supporting friendly system.

In general most Acquisition activities involving transport of something have a "transport between the Acquisition System and a Supporting Friendly System" requirement, which is usually not documented in the in-game sources, and applies to the assignments too.
(In some cases the assignment will enforce the requirement by specifying two particular systems; in some cases the assignment will make the requirement impossible by specifying two systems which aren't in range of each other)