Elite: General talk

Sakashiro
13 Mar 2021, 8:21pm
MeowersNot just badly implemented... It's easily abused by players who will squeeze every bit of advantage from wherever they can. I guess FDev are in need of some people who know that part of player psychology: bet they thought about wings of commanders fighting on respective power-provided weapons, but (classic!) we have people galloping from one camp to another grabbing everything they can. Anyway, it's not going to change soon, because what we have with this materials and engineering part of game looks even worse and illogical.

It should be possible for prolific players to become powerplay characters themselves. This would give PP a whole new quality and also open up the opportunity for power struggles within PP factions. It would be open-ended gameplay for those who already achieved everything else the game has to offer. The current PP characters are boring because they are protected by FDev's plot armor: nothing we do in-game will make any of them disappear or be replaced, unless FDev is planning their replacement anyway.
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 8:26pm
^^ ...or give more strategy, flexibility and options to in-game minor factions, both player-created and not. They drive the economy and mission board already, but BGS in most cases look like "spreadsheet wars" (nonetheless being the most immersive society-simulation stuff of that kind that I've ever seen).
User308550
13 Mar 2021, 8:28pm
It would be nice if powerplay worked differently.  Here's a summary of my thoughts on what it could be:

* You enlist with a faction and start at the bottom.  Voting rights after 4 weeks.  Defection bans you from a faction until you do a series of challenges to earn back trust.  Desertion has a cooldown of a week.
* You have a powerplay specific rank with the same number of tiers as your superpower rank.  This gets reset completely if you Defect, by one level if you desert.
* Powerplay factions have several basic modules available at the start that are only usable while part of that faction (they can always be sold for credits or stored)
* The modules a powerplay faction has would be based loosely on one or two playstyles for that faction.  Hudson could be focused on shotguns/armor and one other mod of choice for instance.
* Powerplay modules are engineerable while part of that faction
* Engineering components can only be obtained from faction specific content
* Each faction would have some overlap between objectives and some unique flavor.  (focusing on trade, mining, combat, piracy, etc)
* I would also boost positive and negative effects for powerplay

The overarching goal here is to encourage people to pick a faction based on their playstyle and the activities they want to do, that faction has modules that open up specific playstyles without being gamebreaking, and to encourage participation in the powerplay BGS that actually matters.  Having said that, this is just a system that I think is fun, and many of you could very well hate it.  lol.
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 8:43pm
I'm goddamn enjoying this faction BGS thing. Give it a little fantasy and you'll get that sprawling live society in space with every system having it's own issues. But how this powerplay characters influence the world? Just a string of text in system info? Of course if you do powerplay, you will see it from the inside. But you may not. What kind of "power" could be ignored that easily? Minor factions that give you missions, trade with you and act as random encounters are the thing that visible (and interactable in many ways) for everyone, maybe, except deep space explorers. Give 'em few times more ways to interact with players and each other, more variables for different states (eg. possibility to win or lose conflicts, depending on various factors, not just actions of players), etc, and this stuff would be completely amazing.

BGS in current state is already something, but everything is too easy to calculate and manipulate.
Burstar
13 Mar 2021, 8:58pm
There's a lot of good ideas here for improving Powerplay.  Shame it's years too late and unlikely to change the actual game.

I would have also liked to see more in the way of team identification.  In addition to the Power icons, a distinct Power paint job that you can only use when a member (if you desert it's a fine to leave a starport using that paint job and/or icon in that powers territory).

Also, weekly monetary rewards should have been a base amount with multipliers for things like length of service, rank (similar to now), and the Power's overall rank/worth that week (edit: rank divided by the number of player members).

In addition to the current expansion/interference mechanics there should also be automated events that allow the Power to influence their systems BGS uniquely while also providing opportunities for outside Powers to interfere (think scorched earth).  AFAIK currently systems under a Power's control only see the powers specific general benefits but I would like to see things like "Sol burns due to recent terrorism, Hudson directs Power to aid in recovery".  Giving Power participants an opportunity for a bonus.

Finally, the big one:  FDev really needs to get off their keasters and revamp PVP penalties/rewards for both general bounties and PP in a way that allows genuine rewarding PVP participation and removes exploits.  I don't understand why they are so incapable on this.  I struggle to think of another company that goes "how should we implement PVP in our online mp game?  I know!  set the penalties to minimum and rewards to zero!  They'll love it!"

Last edit: 13 Mar 2021, 9:55pm
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 9:24pm
I guess all the ideas of PP improvement rotate around the same fact of PP being "just another type of grind for goodies", much same as engineers.
BensonWinifred
13 Mar 2021, 9:37pm
i never did anything with power play at all

I never understood it or wanted to stay in one place
Burstar
13 Mar 2021, 9:48pm
MeowersI guess all the ideas of PP improvement rotate around the same fact of PP being "just another type of grind for goodies", much same as engineers.


I don't think that's fair to say. A paintjob as an identifier is a goody? I suspect if you asked NHL players why they signed to play professional hockey exactly zero of them would say 'for the free jerseys' unsarcastically. My "PP effects BGS" idea was for the world building to show Systems being effected by the Powers, and only points out a potential bonus as a probably unnecessary but likely incentive to promote participation in it. The whole point to the income modifiers was to act as a penalty for powers losing standing and I'm all for penalties in PVP that can't be exploited. So no, it's not all about 'goodies'. It's about making the system fun, engaging, dynamic and rewarding while not feeling like a grind, or a simple standardized bonus.
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 9:58pm
Sure! Maybe some flaw in my limp English or smth else feeling like misunderstanding. PP in current state looks like tedious grind for goodies. Doubt someone would like it. Your idea (as many other ideas about PP) was indeed about improving this brown slump of a situation, making PP more live, interesting and gaining influence (in logical way!) on in-game things. Looks like no one is happy with powerplay as it is now.
Thanatos au Grimmus
13 Mar 2021, 10:06pm
MeowersSure! Maybe some flaw in my limp English or smth else feeling like misunderstanding. PP in current state looks like tedious grind for goodies. Doubt someone would like it. Your idea (as many other ideas about PP) was indeed about improving this brown slump of a situation, making PP more live, interesting and gaining influence (in logical way!) on in-game things. Looks like no one is happy with powerplay as it is now.


As someone relatively new to the game, PP seems like the weakest major component of ED. I've enjoyed reading people's ideas here about how to improve it. I hope Frontier is paying attention.
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 10:22pm
All these elements are too... divided. System allegiance having effect on station details and type of ships that local cops use. Powerplay status... Well, um, you know. Almost nothing except stuff that may be invisible for players not doing any PP missions. BGS is surely something, yes, but yet it severed off of anything else and it's too predictable. A little more interaction options and intertwinings between these game mechanics definitely won't hurt anyone.
Burstar
13 Mar 2021, 10:50pm
MeowersSure! Maybe some flaw in my limp English or smth else feeling like misunderstanding. PP in current state looks like tedious grind for goodies. Doubt someone would like it. Your idea (as many other ideas about PP) was indeed about improving this brown slump of a situation, making PP more live, interesting and gaining influence (in logical way!) on in-game things. Looks like no one is happy with powerplay as it is now.


Ah, ok I agree. It's just that "people being greedy" is a common straw man used to argue against need for improvement and so I may have assumed you were going that rout. We're all good here!

As Thanatos said: PP is the weakest part of the game and really shouldn't be considering it was the main part of an entire DLC. Considering this I'm starting to get nervous that FDev is going to repeat this mistake with Odyssey...
Thanatos au Grimmus
13 Mar 2021, 10:59pm
I'm starting to get nervous that FDev is going to repeat this mistake with Odyssey...


This... I definitely would NOT have purchased ED if it were to morph into a first person shooter game.
Meowers
13 Mar 2021, 11:04pm
BurstarConsidering this I'm starting to get nervous that FDev is going to repeat this mistake with Odyssey...


I'll put my 500 cr and a container of stolen lepidolite on repeating the engineering mistake: Odyssey could bring some content that you'll have to play in sake of remaining competitive.
Burstar
14 Mar 2021, 9:46am
BensonWinifredi never did anything with power play at all

I never understood it or wanted to stay in one place


Allow me to explain it to you.  No, there is too much.  Allow me to sum it up for you:

Powers are people so wealthy and influential they dominate multiple systems regardless of ownership by the Superpowers.  You can pledge fealty to one of them at a time.  If you do so for at least 4 weeks and are at least rank 3 at that time you can buy that Power's unique module.  At which point you buy enough of the modules to cover possible future needs, abandon it  wait and sign up for another or defect to another without waiting, and do this all over again.

Everyone (regardless of loyalty) in a Powers influenced space get certain benefits from that power (ie:  Li-Yong Rui space gives a 15% discount to the price of ships and modules purchased there and this stacks with base price discounts that superpowers or manufactures provide), and if you attain certain ranks you are eligible for other benefits but if you're looking into these you're going beyond the scope of this ;tldr

You can also attack ships allied to rival factions in your factions controlled space without fine or bounty but NPC's will never attack you and Players that do don't care about this anyways.

You do not need to stay in one place.  You do not even need to think about the Power or your loyalties etc. except during that 3rd week where you earn enough merits to get rank 3 (simply done by transporting 1 Type 9 load of Power bonds to fortify one of their control systems) and the 4th week where you buy the goods and change loyalty.

Last edit: 14 Mar 2021, 9:55am

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