First-time poster, so would just like to say “o7 everyone” and this is by no means me wanting to tell anyone how to play the game. Just sharing my thoughts and a little bit of mathematics around Powerplay…
TL;DR: CMDR who’s rubbish at pewpew decides to be a Level 5 lore-loving space-trucker for the Blue Princess.
*Including this warning for a long-post, it’s word count is 723*
I'm useless at Combat but wanted to get into Powerplay for the bonus modules. As an explorer/trader, hauling the Power Contact's data seemed my only option. Without a doubt, this method is easily a time/money-sink when fast-tracking and also trying to not blow the bank.
Probably because Powerplay isn’t meant to work as a profit-maker, I found wikia/google wasn't helpful when looking into learning how to engage in the mechanism. Decimalisations, unnecessary fractions, "powerplay sucks" and so on… So I did what any nerdy-CMDR would do and resorted to “Spreadsheets In Space” and used rounding because numbers like 5340 don't exist in block allocations of 50. My findings are below but that’s more for the number-lovers amongst us.
As a territorial competition mechanism it is like all invasive wars, requiring logistics and media to play an important a role alongside combat. Hauling/intel does have it’s place. I like the media offensive concept of Aisling, though I really only signed up for the Prismatics. Either way, hauling seemed worth a bit of game-time. Surely, though, contested systems could have more “in your face” long-standing conflicts. Perhaps where you would supply dropships with military supplies, media on populated planets in the system and give combat players any number of improved ways to get their fix. I don’t know… it just feels like Powerplay could be more than it is.
Anyway, the numbers stuff.
I found;
Maintaining a level didn’t cost all that much, if you factor in the weekly bonus. Apart from level 5, you can maintain your level for no more than 3,300,000 a week and 2 large hauls for a sensible destination of your choosing.
Level 2 Quota Cost: 450,000cr + one free quota. Hauling 60t (net loss: 400,000)
Level 3 Quota Cost: 3,800,000cr + one free quota. Hauling 400t (net loss: 3,300,000)
Level 4 Quota Cost: 7,750,000cr + one free quota. Hauling 800t (net loss: 2,750,000)
Level 5 Quota Cost: 53,000,000cr + one free quota. Hauling 5350t (net loss: 3,000,000)
I also found;
Maintaining an existing level for free (using the weekly bonus to break even) is brutal for level 3 and level 4. The waiting time for the free quotas is long when there’s so much more we could do in the game. Things change at level 5, where fewer free quotas are needed and if you’re hauling to the outer-reaches of your Powerplay area, they will be more readily available by the time you return to HQ for another haul.
Level 2 Cost: 0cr & 4 free quotas
Level 3 Cost: 400,000cr & 18 free quotas
Level 4 Cost: 5,000,000cr & 12 free quotas
Level 5 Cost: 50,000,000cr & 7 free quotas
In conclusion;
I’m not really sure why anyone would look to maintain level 2. It’s a stepping stone at best for better benefits. Level 4 is cheaper to maintain than Level 3 and if your gameplay allows for a few extra quotas, the profit/loss margin swings your way sooner and in greater leaps than at level 3. Level 5 rarely costs 3.0mil in losses because of the hauling time it takes. You’ll definitely get 2 or 3 free quotas in an hours play of hauling.
Level 3: Up-front cost: 7.5mil. Haul 1 or 2 loads a week and find the 3.3mil from elsewhere.
Level 4: Up-front cost: 15mil. Haul 2 loads a week and find the 2.75mil from elsewhere.
Level 5: Up-front cost: 100mil. Haul 8-10 loads a week and find the 3.0mil from elsewhere.
The conceivable time difference in gameplay is very little if you don’t mind a bit of hauling. Level 5 just seemed like the least hassle once the initial 100mil is spent on getting there and I’ll get better benefits through the rest of the week. Waiting for quotas is a folly unless you’re level 2 or 5… though I accept my 100mil isn’t coming back to me via powerplay in it’s current state.
CMDR Rattybrains
o7
