A mess? Certainly. IMO, Frontier saw how much fun some people were having playing the BGS, and decided to use that as a basis for their "Game of Thrones" expansion. I simply don't understand why they felt the need to limit merit earning to a handful of extremely limited (and IMO boring) activities, as opposed to expanding the mission system to take into account Powerplay. I give Frontier a 10 for concept, a 3 for execution.
Uninteresting? Not in my opinion, and there's a sizable minority that agree with me, otherwise they wouldn't play it. I enjoy reading the week's strategic analysis for my chosen Power, especially the BGS section of it, and IMO it helps give my character direction when it comes to being an "Agent of the Empire!" If Frontier ever chooses to tie it into the mission generation system, I'll repledge in a minute.
It may not be your cup of tea, but to each their own.