NEWS: Powerplay 2.0 Deep Dive, Pre-Build Ship Modules & Engineering Details 

I've said it before, but if Frontier wants folks to play in Open they need to deal with gankers and griefers. That's it. There are well-known bad actors who have absolutely been recorded and documented who specifically make it their mission to make the game frustrating and unenjoyable for other players, particularly new ones. Serial, long-term gankers and griefers need to be banned, severe penalties and punishments applied to any players engaging in harassment tactics, and adjustments made to the game's instancing and online play to heavily discourage and even prevent ganking. (Something like Fallout 76's dueling system where PVP damage is almost entirely nullified unless both parties shoot at each other, or even the "Pacifist Mode" that disables PVP entirely could be a great start. Of course, these systems could be disabled in certain "hotspots" like powerplay carriers, RES, combat zones, etc.) The idea that folks should be allowed to play a game, socialize with others, and enjoy each others' company without being subject to a gaggle of assholes whose only mission is to ruin everyone else's day for the sake of hurting other people in real life is somehow incredibly controversial in Elite. There's a whole lot of cope about how you need to learn how to deal with gankers the correct way, or how naming-and-shaming bad actors is wrong and evil, etc. etc. but at the end of the day, if you want people to engage with Powerplay and actually treat this game as somehting more than a single-player experience by playing in Solo, you need to remove the bad actors poisoning the well. This comment is going to piss off a lot of Elite veterans and every single one of them is going to prove my point.

I'm a solo player. I know they are a lot of upstanding, splendid people in Open, but as in all human communities there are some......people I wish to have nothing to do with. Therefore I play Solo, and I'm happy there. I don't wish to be deprived of game developments, but I suspect by the very nature of the situation the Open players in their squadrons will combine to squish the wishes of the individuals, who are unlikely to form agenda groups.

Here's a great revenue idea, a DLC with ship interiors and EVA...

If they want more players in open, and encourage PvP, they should start by solving the problem that leads most players to choose to play solo or in PG, that is, gankers. Consensual PvP is one thing, forced PvP is completely different, especially when gankers force PvP on players who, in most cases, are not prepared for it. I understand that they don't want to ban this type of game, but they should find a more effective form of punishment for players who commit crimes. As an example, ranking the type of crime committed, like pirating being less serious than destroying other players' ships, and more serious crimes having harsher punishments, such as banning entry to the systems in which the crimes were committed, or making security forces react more quickly when a crime is being committed. As long as the punishments are solely "financial", taking into account the ease with which credits are earned nowadays, there is nothing that will make gankers think twice. Resolve this issue and, probably, many players will become more receptive to open play.

If they want PVP for Powerplay, but still allow people to play it in solo, give those who play in Open a 2x to 5x bonus to their power progress

The more commanders of any preferred playstyle participate in the Powerplay system the healthier that system will be.

Powerplay 2.0 needs to be open only. The huge issue with BGS historically has been people hiding in solo/PG and affecting the BGS with no opposition. If FDev wants Powerplay 2.0 to actually carry meaning in an MMO (which Elite Dangerous advertises itself as), then there needs to be offense AND defense. Not just offense in separate instances.

Good stuff Buurs.. I with you on the STO problems. Glad we will not see that in Elite.. This is something I can get behind.

"OH NOOOOOO!!!! Elite Dangerous is going P2W!!! We're DOOOMED!" - ALL of the Elite Dangerous creators on RU-vid last week "Oh. That's not so bad..." - Same creators THIS week. "Toldja..." - me I have paid monthly subscriptions for games I liked _less_ than Elite Dangerous. If a subscription is what it took to save FDev and Elite, I'd sign right up. There are games I like _less_ then Elite Dangerous that I have _bought_ updates and DLC for. Fdev have spoiled ya'll and ya'll need to acknowledge that.

Last time I tried PvP it was spoiled by cheating players using trainers. That along with the known bugs and lag make it a non starter for me…Agree that the majority of power players only use it to get their weapons of choice then NEVER go back to it…hopefully PP2.0 will give us all a reason to do it ..not sure I would want to be in open unless I felt comfortable that the playing field is even …

Looks like I’ll be playing in solo I absolutely hate pvp it’s never fun. Can’t be bothered with power play either.

I have only done PP 1 time and only in solo I have no intentions of playing in open. I'm not a PVP player. At 69 years old that's not my cup of tea..

i cant believe ppl are screaming about p2p over early access via ARX really some of you have played the game for years costing nothing more than the initial fee to buy... if it earns a bit of credits that can only be good for the game going forwards imho

I am wondering how this will effect independent factions? I would like Frontier to consider if players can work to keep a system independent & free from any and all major powers? That may have been considered by them already? However the dynamics of the PP mechanics on independent minor factions, should certainly be considered please? I am not completely horrified by the thought of change. In fact I personally am extremely glad that the game is being developed! But please consider the effect that the new system will have on none aligned minor factions? Can and should independent minor factions be able to stop the incursion of a major power by their players actions? Thank you.

Im quite looking forward to Powerplay 2.0 but if it goes to Open only I will just drop it like a hot potato as pvp just isnt my jam at all. The game is advertised as "Blaze your own trail" and not "Blaze your own trail how others want you to".

I think I'm going to have to make that flowchart I mentioned to make this all a bit easier for my smooth brain to comprehend. Great stuff as usual CMDR Buur, and beautiful visuals as ever CMDR Rheeney. o7

Sounds like they are trying to find a way to attract newbie players by streamlining some of the professions for them with these ships. Not for me, ive got a ton of ships already and plenty of mats. But thinking about when i furst started, i do remember being pretty overwhelmed and a pre built ship would have helped for sure. Well, its not the worst thing ever. For now.

You can't finance developers and servers with one-time purchases of a game. It's amazing it took them 10 years to run the game only on the game sales and whatever arx a few players bought for paint schemes

"-without anyone being able to openly discuss the issue first through the medium of, say, railguns." 😂 got me good, I havent played ED in a long time but I keep coming back to your updates because of writing like this! Might have to come back for PP 2.0 though, sounds interesting...

Powerplay shouldnt be an open only. Because those who want to do pvp can go do pvp for their faction. We shouldnt force people to play the way pvpers want to play.

Well you push it into open play, I won't engage in it.

One of those pre built ships has G5 Dirty/Drag drive thrusters. That module is as engineered as it can be. The T6 has an permit locked and tech broker purchased module in it. Other than those two modules the builds really are meh. But this is FDev's initial ships, how far will they take it? What else will be sold for real money?

If they fix griefing/ganking by increasing the penalty for it, i'll be done to play in open.

I am happy to help frontier out by buying DLC...but they dont really offer much...I already have all the good DLC. So make more ship kits, and more crazy space suits. Let me rent/buy a star system!

With how FDEV likes to reuse assets, I hope this means we're getting new carrier upgrades soon

"openly discuss the issues through the medium of rail guns" :D :D

If Powerplay 2.0 is ONLY playable in open mode, I will NOT touch Powerplay 2.0. I'm a solo player and I want to stay that way. No matter what.

I hope they don't entirely go Open only with PP2.0. I only play in private groups or solo because in a word, I absolutely suck at PVP but still want to engage with new content so the game doesn't get stale. I'd prefer a compromise where perhaps Solo or Private Group PP activity only has 30% of the effect it would in Open.

Okay, I'm going to buy a prebuilt ship and telling you guys when I have won. O7

Pre built ships: To me this is not pay to ‘win the game.’ I am probably classed as a seasoned player( note not a good player- just okay and playing for a long time). I feel sorry for new players some of whom probably have seen the thargoid war and want to join in. There is no way in the world that in my early days (months even years) I had the ships and equipment to engage with it ( nor the ability bits that’s not my point). The pre built shops therefore give a slightly speedier route to other pathways- it’s not a cheat. It’s a way to play interesting aspects of the game which are totally inaccessible without money and materials. And you still need to learn the game mechanics and skills… but at least it gives you a fighting chance. Well done fdev!

100% agree with your opinions on this. There is no pay to win in Elite Dangerous and the proposed changes to the ARX store and introduction of pre-built partially engineered ships that cannot transfer modules to other ships and cost zero space bucks is a good thing. I have no problem with them having the Python MkII as an early release, either. I am of the opinion that what people spend their own money on should not be the concern of others, but ONLY if it give an unfair advantage in actual competition. And in a game like Elite where what constitutes as player vs player competition is mainly PVP ganking; ships armed for PvP vs unarmed ships in Open; that is a very long stretch for the fear mongers and negative nancy influencers and youtubers.

Indeed I hope that the buyable ships make the Devs some decent money, with hopefully some of it is put into "restarting" console development! SOME new content would be nice in the "last gen" version of the game, but in particular we REALLY need the full "live" 4.0 game and Odyssey on the "next gen" consoles and many of us will be here ready and waiting, with our wallets open! 😯😀🤘🤞 . On changes to the overall game, indeed I'd like it if engineering took less materials to do, while if it was easier to find various materials by engaging in various different types of gameplay! All in, I have done ok with engineering as it is, with my Anaconda 95% engineered and my Corvette 90% engineered, however there are a handful of materials that are much too hard to find, only showing up in tiny amounts in certain system states... Meanwhile after a bit of effort, most engineering isn't too difficult, however I find making headway with the Powerplay factions and for guardian modules much too hard and would like it to be easier to do, for everybody and including those of us still playing on consoles! 😯😀🤘🤞 .

Pay to win 100% just because you can obtain it in game doesn't mean it's not pay to win. Devs should have fixed the game not create paid workarounds. Well, well... I'm sure some idiot will show up defending it right underneath here. 🎉

Like many, I play exclusively in Solo (By the way, does anyone know what the numbers are between Solo and Open on any given day?) If Poweplay becomes an Open thing only, then so be it, I cant say I've ever touched it or am interested in it, so nothing missed there.

They should look at a season pass, where we can obtain cosmetics and a ship kit through various quest goals over a few months. Could also do a free season pass with limited rewards. The paid for premium, for exclusive cosmetic skins and perhaps cosmetic ship parts that would complete an entire ship kit over the period of time. Power play looks good, I do still think that open play should impact influence and reputation, and solo and private only just reputation. Or something as 1darkthought put below me.

i would love to be in open play but i just cant and i have to wait untill iget some pvp skills one day to even be able to know what i can run from and what not. i already got stress whit the game because of some mental stuff that happends to line up in the game so constandly having in the back of my mind that a player could show up and just vaporize me because i cant even figure out how shield health works whitout a detailed youtube guide just deos not feel good. yes the chance of a gank outside of busy systems is low, but who knows what might be lingering in these wakes. edit: forgot to say, the main reason i want open play is that solo play just feels so lonely

Powerplay 2.0 looks like a move in the right direction, although I'm a little hesitant about making it Open only. Playing fairly in Open isn't viable for players living on opposite side of the planet.

Great video, I've calmed down a bit over the pay to win mechanics and am looking forward to power play and the engineering change. I'm a bit pissed about the early access to the python mk2, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth after waiting for years for a new ship.

Is not very immersive or logical to compete with players that you never see. Like an invisible fleet of t9s made out of tissue paper just kicking everybody’s arse? Nah

If Frontier is looking for new and renewed interest in the game there's always backing an Amazon series... just sayin'. What could go wrong?

You had me at "obfuscation." I challenge you to use "juxtaposed" in the next video...

Thank you for your level-headed news especially this week! I'm glad the details were clarified, and that it's really not pay to win - it's a jumping off point, but not as good as what can be earned in game. I think lots of folk need to hear that given that the initial announcement's response got media attention. PowerPlay 2.0 does sound like they're really trying to improve it!

The clarifications about the pre-built ships are a major relief. I still think FDev are dancing a fine line, but so far it looks like they're doing it right.

I'd like to see PP actions in open count 3-4x more than in Solo or PG, but still let those safer modes have a *little* impact. Alternatively, make a PP mode, where pledged commanders can see and be seen by each other, but unpledged gankers can't.

Huh. Honestly, fDev seem to be handling the pre-built ships pretty well. I was worried the game would become pay to win, but this is honestly a step in the right direction!

While I understand why some want PP to be open only, I for one won't engage in it if it is. That's the conundrum for FDEV though - make it open only in the HOPE it will attract players but noting it will certainly disenfranchise and lose non-PvP PP players, or leave as is knowing they'll both keep existing PP players but fail to attract those who want it open only. I don't like the idea of mode-based incentives at all, but it may end up being the best middle ground compromise, although I think anything above a 2x multiplier in open would be too excessive. On the P2W question, what FDEV has announced is most definitely NOT P2W as there is no winning in Elite with respect to player/ship progression (were they to sell ships with definite PvP advantages, for example, that would be a different matter). The key will be the pricing. Let's hope they don't go down the route of ridiculous prices like CIG....

If the shown builds are what we can expect from the rest, that's a great start. Not only gives players who can afford a starting point instead of an end point, it shows players who can't pay a target to make loadouts if they don't want to go search for tutorials. It ends up being positive to the playerbase as a whole. Frontier didn't disappoint. Thanks for the news you two. EDIT: Making PP 2.0 Open Only instead of being more interesting/effective on Open is one thing I disagree. That will be a downward slope. And as someone who is far from Frontier Servers, the latency will make PP related activities hell. Missing the Arx rewards is disappointing, but I don't know how much Arx is worth getting connection errors every 5 minutes or seeing things teleporting around. No point crying over something I never cared about, but it sucks that I can't care about it now that it got a nice update.

Powerplay has potential for a special form of PVP: Asynchronous PVP. It's about making smarter decisions. It's about being effective. It's about anticipating your opponents actions. It's about planning. It is a quite unique experience playing it that way. If Powerplay 2.0 improves on that, then there is an opportunity. I am afraid it will loose the uniqueness and become a generic test of firepower with open only Powerplay. OMG the dopamine for turning a literal invasion upside down all by myself, because the opposing force lacked focus and cohesion, was priceless. More of that, please! That has great potential for interesting emergent gameplay that could draw more people toward playing Elite, because it is an experience they can have only there. Powerplay wasn't popular. There was not a whole lot of things there that could appeal to other player types like miners or explorers. Shouldn't we fix that first? Do players want to keep aimlessly shooting at things? Whether Elite is supposed to be more PVP focused is another discussion. Other games do that a lot better than Elite. The best would be, if Frontier figures out a way to improve the experience for everyone - including PVP.

im really looking forward to finding out what the type 8 will look like after 6061 hours playing.

If they make PP open only I will return to the game

PP2 becoming the "go to place" for players who want to play PvP in Open sounds like a good idea. Give them a reason to do it and make it challenging and fun, even better. But, very few PvP centred "live service" games survive for long. There are some that have been great, but most die fast. In my experience, most people who play games like Elite do not want to be forced to PvP. Frontier needs to put time and effort into keeping the non-PvP players playing too. I'll be more than happy if PP2 becomes a very good PvP part of the game. But that only utilises the Bubble part of the game. They got a whole galaxy out there to use for other things. There MUST be a way to use some of the 99.9999% of the playing field (you know, Galaxy outside the Bubble) to come up for a good reason for non-PvP players to play in Open. I can think of a few ways. Example, put ruins of an old civilization in area (say 1/10 the size of the Bubble) about 10k light years away. Make the area "Open only", make the area "locked" too. Make one NPC faction run all the bases (not many) inside the locked area, and the NPC faction will ban all players with a Bounty higher than a specific amount from entering the "locked" area. Carriers that allow their services used by bounty flagged also get the same Bounty added to their bounty and get kicked out of the "locked" area if their Bounty goes over the set limit. Then, make the only way to clear the Bounty is to apply, in person, at a base in the Bubble, 10k light years away. You can still PvP, but it will not be worth it and you might as well stay in the Bubble with PP2 instead of going to gank players in the new area. I hope Frontier does not think that the ONLY way to save the game is down the PvP path. Not only do I think that there are not enough PvPers left playing the game (and most new players will most likely drift towards Star Citizen), but it is really a waste of the effing galaxy they have created (Since we can only play as Humans, PvP can only happen in the Bubble).

the ships shown so far, are more pay to lose than p2w

Didn't they also say that pre built ships would have a $0 rebuild cost unless you make changes to it?

As long as they give people enough time to get all the modules before turning it into open only. I have no intention of ever playing in open for whatever the reason.

I have played and loved Elite Dangerous since it all began. I LOVE all this news!

Powerplay 2.0: well done fdev for reviewing it. The rewards system is looking good; the impact on systems is looking good. BUT, (and I am not an open player) if I want to hunt down one of the heroes of another faction who was in the top ten how can I do that IF they play in private or solo? I can’t! I like the ideas of fighting around fleet carriers… but if people play in solo or private there will be no fights. I understand the fears of open (I am not an open player) but Powerplay 2.0 going into open only might pull me into it. Else I might just stay in my bgs group in private and happily support the bgs group.

Great, knowing that this PP 2.0 is going into open..i wont even be bothering from the outset

Power Play if I was Fdev. 1) The entire game is Open only 2) PvP can only occur between players who are pledged to a power. 3) So, if you want PvE only, no probs, dont sign up to a power and no player can shoot you. 4) The unique items (prismatic shields etc) should be fairly easy to unlock for 2 reasons. 1) So PvE players dont have to be in a PvP mode for very long. 2) Because some items will be useless (as now) and players wont want to put in the effort to get them, causing some powers to be "the dud power" etc. *) In case people dont know, currently you can only legally kill an enemy power (PVE) in a control system of an enemy power. You cant kill them just anywhere. So, if they make the PvP the same, then essentially you have to be in your own controlled systems defending or in the enemies controlled system attacking but you cant just kill random powers just in some other random system. If they keep it that way then you will pretty much have to go looking for Pvp which I think will satisfy most PvP and PvE players.

Thanks again for the excellently presented information pack, really helps me to keep up with things as they change. I'm looking forward to trying PP2.0 as it does look a lot better. About open only or not, I think the whole thing should be free to play in any mode but I think your weekly influence/impact should be capped to a fixed upper limit unless you engage in open. So, you can still get all the rewards and progression you want in your chosen power entirely in solo/groups but if you want to fully impact the outcome of conflict, you can only do so much before your actions have no impact at all, until the next cycle, unless you play in open. I think if FDEV can make PVP meaningfully fun and balanced (and maybe less of a grind with the Engineer rewrite) then this mode should be the flagship for PVP in the game. And with the introduction of the new focal points for PP, this would be well supported. All that said, I just don't think PVP in ED is very fun. So I'd not be surprised if it remains how it is indefinitely.

I wonder what happens when all the titans are rekt, which seems to happen soon. Even now @april 27th there is only 1!(ONE!!) System left, with a burning station or in this very case 2 damaged outposts. So no AX-rescue missions in future? They have been reduced week by week and were one of my main duties and income in recent weeks. And i really liked them (and the loads of cash)

"Powerplay is intended to be an outlet for consensual PvP" - Sandro Sammarco, 2015 The problem is however, due to Powerplay's equal mode nature, if you want to do PvP in a PP context, you will nearly always spend your gameplay session flying around and finding nobody to oppose (because players always perform PP actions in private modes). Just limit it to open and let it be what it was always was supposed to be in the first place FDEV...Solo and private group players have the BGS if they want to do something similar.

Dont know, i love Elite for the look, feels and sound, but powerplay did not interest me. I played elite for quite some years, but it failed to add more exciting content for me. Basicly the Multiplayer is still not good. The Guardians was only something to collect new materials and data to get new modules. Thargoids did annoy me because of different weapon layout and gausic damage. That was the point Elite lost me and my interest. Carriers still costs a weekly fee and are mostly useless and to cost intensive if you want to use them. I can see a few things that can be usefull, but that will increase costs per week even more. So you will have to earn money all the time for it, beside the facts it costs already a huge amount of money. Sometimes i come back log in and do some bounty hunting or some ground combat, but i remember why i dont want to play it much anymore soon after. Traveling in supercruise takes ages, Make some money will costs you quite some time normally and all that money gets eaten by your carrier. New ships will be purchased kitted and used a few times then rest on the carrier. I did not eben bother to get more special effects on my suits or on foot weapons, because its all only made to costs you endless time. Im glad i could use some relogging what that stuff came out and some data needed was more easy to obtain. Basicly you can do that but in the end what do i gain or even what can i do with it? Plus it seems some weapons became nerfed and some NPCs got more power to make more damage or maybe its just my higher on foot combat rank. NPCs did start attack my ship instead of me leads sometimes in ship destruction. A lot updates did changes to the stats and balance that did lead in ship loss, because of the unknown changes or new type of weapons. Is CQC still a thing? i havent tryed it for quite some time. I did it sometimes but rewards for the time investing where to low. That should have been a free to play title to attract some more players even it has not much to do with the real game. Basicly Elite does not cost much anymore, its cheap to obtain, when i remember how much money i did spend on the game full retail, life time pass and a lot cosmetics. I really loved it, but bugs that got not fixed, and some new stuff did not work for me. I think its still a great game, but i get bored fast when playing it and the most time i spend in the game is in supercruise. Still impressive how it evolved after 10 years now.

kinda cool buy a ship kit get a ship with it =)

My concerns are once you have paid real money for a ship, and destroy it for whatever reason, can you purchase it back, and if so, what happens if you don't have enough credits? New players are unlikely to think about re-buy costs. Will you lose your ship if you don't have enough re-buy credits?? Also, will you be able to transfer the modules out of these pre-built ships? I heard you will not be able to.

Engineering fix: double collection rates and leave it alone. Prebuilds: Glad they finding a way to make some money. The game needs monetary support. Always thought a world of tanks subscription model would be good. Ships can be scary though. These they offering seems Good start not pay to win

Those pre-built ship builds are an absolute joke, anybody with 3 seconds can google a better, minimal engineering, ship build that performs heaps better. I can't get over the unengineered beam on the ax chieftain I mean like whats the point without thermal vent. I can't believe people are getting mad over this.

I'd think there should be some level of powerplay that can be done in solo. It might not have the same world changing effect, but there should be some behind the scenes tasks for solo only players. Maybe system prep is solo, but real system expansion only happens in pvp?

I have no problem if Frontier is selling items that are not OP and does not tilt the balance of the game. It only stands to reason that they need a steady revenue stream if they want to develop the game further with new content being released on a regular basis. No business can survive without any steady revenue coming in. That is just a fact of life and the naysayers should take a hard look at that.

As an old WoW player I don’t particularly enjoy non consensual pvp, what most people think of as “ganking”. Stabbing a little old lady in the back while she’s picking flowers is just kinda pathetic and ultimately detrimental to the game. Not everyone has the mindset for pvp and eventually they will just quit. A system of sponsored piracy like the old “Letters of Mark” is probably the best way to go. The preferred outcome would be to interdict, disable and confiscate cargo from the loser. Too many executions of disabled pilots would get your letter revoked. Of course if the intended victim fights back then all bets are off and may the best man win.

I believe a good middle ground could be reducing the effectiveness of your actions tenfold if you decide to partake in powerplay actions in solo or private group modes

I just don't understand why we have to wait for Python MK2 until August when we already bought the game and the DLC? I think it's quite unfair to the players that "the new ship is here, but if you want to fly it, buy it for arx or wait another 3 months". Why wait 3 months? This is not a new DLC, just a ship after 8 years of waiting!!! I don't understand why FDEV is punishing us...

The more I learn about how they're implementing the purchase of ready made ships, the more I support it. Mind you, I was already inclined to support it, primarily because "pay to win" is kinda silly in a game in which the only way one "wins" is by having fun. Sure, you could say that PVP might suffer from P2W, but only if FDev does something really stupid like make a killer, if you'll pardon the pun, ship killer build. Given what they've done so far, that seems unlikely. Especially if it's a choice between paying for ships (and no doubt other items) and Elite dying, well, I know which I'll choose.

I have to assume that the PowerPlay 2.0 isn't going to come out with the first release of this update with so many fairly important decisions being still on the drawing board. Like @1darkthought wrote and I'll expand just a tad, PowerPlay is supposed to be important but no one knows who it's supposed to be important to. Sadly I don't believe FDEV does either otherwise those rewards and gift packages would have been easier to work on and iterate upon. If Power Play is supposed to be for the mid to end game player take it out of Solo. If it's for the PvP community up the combat and hunting of random players in PP systems so non-PvP players in Solo can get a feel for nail biting combat. If I was owner of Elite Dangerous (not FDEV, they may be too far gone down the rabbit hole of shallow themepark games) - my money making idea would be selling DLC Story Arcs. Reward upon completion and engineered beautifully crafted, uniquely engineered ship, armour and or weapons. Ohh make it purchasable via ARX too because why not. Or take out the unique Engineering and put it in the Epic Story Arc DLC. I mean, why not we've got the entire galaxy to play in? Before all that however there's a few low hanging fruit I would need to address and thankfully it seems FDEV are reducing the materials required for engineering, hopefully not just the quantity but the line items themselves. More than that I really hope they take a look at the engineer fitting options themselves and ask themselves who uses that, why and is it necessary or even nice to have? There's so much fluff and some that will just make your ship worse than not having it if you're not really careful. I also hope they look at the NPC corporations too. Decimate the number to make them more important, so you can't go 30 lights years and be amongst strangers within the bubble. If you've got poor standings with an NPC Corp be it Solo, co-op or Open you should need to go much further out and even then there may be outliers because everyone can travel just like you. Five years on from my ownership I'd have hoped to generate enough income for Elite Dangerous: New Frontiers - online Full PvP RPG experience of flying first person space ships and maybe walking around but who cares it's still Elite Dangerous. Single shard universe, full trading and manufacturing with credit sinks and taps to keep the economy going. A few years after that Elite Dangerous: Close Encounters (has that already been done?) - Elite Dangerous 2 basically but co-op online only featuring moon mining (illegal or permit purchasable, just like in the original experience), Personal quarters/bases, chapter led story missions, some repeatable others one time to advance the story. If this sounds like Warframe, GTA 5 Online and others, you'd be spot on. However it's just basic story telling. Only the mediums have changed and how people relate to stories both passive and interactive. Elite Dangerous could have been a great canvas upon which to build many great stories but the progress of that story telling has been beyond slow. The introduction of Thargoids was years ago and it was even longer that a new ship was released, let alone any iteration of the existing mechanics. Elite Dangerous deserves far better. Why do I write so much when talking about Elite Dangerous?

I have played 97% of my near to 3000 hours of Elite Dangerous Odyssey in OPEN mode. I possess things like Packhound Missiles, and Prismatic Shields. It is my firm and obviously informed opinion, that PowerPlay should be an OPEN mode only thing. Its not right that actions can be taken against a system by opposing players, and there is zero way to fight back or stop them.

I also play other live service games such as World of Tank and World of Warships. They are free to play games but are highly monetized in multiple sketchy ways They also sell ships and tanks you can use in game. They are normally about $50 and higher for Tier 8 and above. They can be a bit pay to win in some cases. In ED you pay for the game once and never ever have to spend another penny. How should they go about paying for those servers we play on. Do you all think buying a few paint jobs is enough? I for one see nothing wrong with FDEV selling slightly engineered situation specific ships for $12. If anyone can come up with a better idea for funding the game then speak up, otherwise stop crying over a, from my perspective, non-problem P.S. Not directed at you but at all the complainers on reddit and discord.

If they make the current Power Play only modules available outside of PP, then I personally couldn't care less whether it's open only or not. As you said in the video, at the moment the modules are really the only reason to engage with Power Play, unless you're a roleplayer or something. The idea that they want to encourage loyalty to a single power rather than pledge-hopping gives me a bit of hope that they'll make those modules more accessible in other ways, either by making them all available to every power based on your ranking, or just removing the PP requirement from them entirely and making them available from the start.

IF PP2 goes to open only, it's assumable that those of us who play in SOLO, won't have access any more. My question is: What happen's to the various mod's I've earned via PP1, prior to PP2 being OPEN only?

I'm guessing the new variants (like Python MKII) could be pseudo pay-to-win for a limited time as these are only available for ARK initially (and for credits later) The pre-engineered starter ships seem very underpowered and, although designed as a introduction designed to invite commanders into the greater game, could be better than they are. For example, the AX variety runs too hot to be safe in Titan space and would get an unsuspecting new player killed right away.

Greetings from Hawaii.. Yes to burning the flag of module shopping. And loyalty incentives and detriments seem like a good idea. Traitor tax something like putting out PVP bounties for you for disloyalty to affection or changing factions.. and power play is going to affect the open world. Maybe it should only be affected in open world.. That's my two cents commanders B. Please continue having an excellent day 🪐

I don't know what if anything is being done about basic QoL stuff, but I find it really had to have any real interest in PVP or even risky PVE when the in-game market tools are so bad. I know things like Inara exist, but damn it, I want to do it in game. Easily. Like it actually will be in over a thousand years, if we're even still around. FTL space travel but I can't ask the year 3300 internet to find me the 10 closest stations selling X for a price between Y and Z. This is just one thing among many that makes Elite a game I usually install, play for a week or two, then forget about for a month or two before giving it another go.

The AX experts say that the pre build is very poor and runs too hot. Perhaps there would be more buyin to this if FDev had actually asked the community to design a more viable build or a selection of builds that we could have voted on. If the AX is not viable or desirable, it's not going to make the money Frontier think they will. I don't want pay to win, but pay to get part way there maybe ok with me. Good reporting Buur, I almost understood Powerplay 2. :-)

Its a game.. i'll play it how i feel. If they put something in that im not interested in, i'll just keep playing the way i like. For others, play the way you like also.. as i said, its a game. Live and let live. If people want to spend money? let em i say if it keeps the servers running. i wont be as i dont need to at this point. I've also noticed that some of the content creators are complaining about people getting a very small (IMO) start into whatever they want to do were also ones that used the FC money transfer exploit to help out their own friends and alts.. And no, im definitely NOT saying Buur did this. Also, i disagree with people trying to force people into pvp with PP2.0. If you really want it to be pvp only, then take out all the npc's and make it ONLY pvp and the rewards should be obtainable in some other way for people that dont want to. Either way, I very much doubt i'll be returning to the bubble for it. Everything i have said is my own opinion. You are welcome to your own opinion.. Anyways Great video Buur. Thumbs up from me.

Why would other powers assault stronghold carriers, as I haven't yet seen or even know that any power has attacked against other powers headquarters, or even systems. There are some individuals who might do some undermining on some system, but never any large scale. And reduced rebuy is not a new thing. All modules are already cheaper on all of your own faction stations. Python mkII for a PvP!? Was that a joke? It has very few slots to install adequate amount of hull and/or module reinforcement modules, so: Not gonna happen!

Omg, EVE Online gives opportunity to buy actually anything you want for real money. For a loooong time. No pay to win, game didnt die like many said it will. If that will give Frontier fuel to keep ED moving forward then it is perfectly fine. I will not buy any ship because I have almost everything I wanted in this game. Changes in engineering and power play makes me think I will get back to ED

Not every Ganker is a griefer... but Gankers and Griefers sitting for hours on FDev servers brings them money and ED need to make money to stay alive. the more disturbing thing is that the level of game manipulation that some of those player use has reached ridiculous levels and FDev has done Nothing about it. they just d'ont care! None at FDev is skilled enough in the PVP arena to really understand the mechanics of in game flight-fight and how can be manipulated. they dont waste their time to even look at reports about cheaters. so I would not hope and wait for any help from Frontier. stay in open find other players who want to face the griefers and give them hell:)

love it

There is no "Pay to win" because there is nothing to "Wn" in the game. I quit playing just before Oddesey after spending thousands of hours grinding to beat other players into preparing for something that never came. Even Thargoid war was implemented in the most uninteresting way. I still follow the news hoping for a major change in direction but devs seem to think that unending sandbox games is the way to go....

Pushing PowerPlay to Open makes sense and a little bit exiting. But I also see a few comments already about griefers. To me lot of players won’t play in open for fear of previously mentioned greifers or just dying in general because of the increased risk of loosing everything or a large chunk of money in ship insurance. Maybe on option they could trial in open is if you die from another player then you can either 1. pay insurance and then fly straight back the system to keep fighting or 2. Get your ship back for free but are locked out of system you died in for a period of time (say an hour or two) so there is some positive consequences to winning and negative consequences loosing, but not risk everything. That may attract more players to open and make powerplay 2.0 a key focal point for the game.

Never been an open player. Playing in open dictates how I play the game. I will not have my game play experience dictated by other players. I use Elite Dangerous to engage in certain aspects of game play not all of them. I have been here since beta. I love to mine and to explore both space and planets. I have not engaged in fighting the Thargoids nor in any engineering activities. I go where I want to go because I choose to go there not because I am grinding out parts for engineering. Engineering eats up a lot of time I dont have away from Real World obligations. Aside from that, real humans suck. Put them in an environment where their actions hold very small or no consequences and the inherent psychopathic nature of the animal comes to the surface. The actions are the same be it PVP or PVE. When I desire conflict I go to one of a few FPS games to work on that. THanks for the video! Another good one.

I've never fully understood the concept of powerplay. How does it connect with the 3 major powers and the microfactions that inhabited systems have? Does changing which powerplay person has control in a system change their major power affiliation, or is it another layer of government? Sounds confusing for those living in a system if you have not only the laws of the major power, the microfaction, and a powerplay individual. That being said, this system looks very interesting and if I ever can find the time to start playing more seriously again I may have to try it out. Now personally I would prefer the interactions be open play only. But to be honest I wouldn't mind the game being open play only, though in the end aside from a handful of popular systems the difference is minimal. I would also like them to upgrade instancing to both allow significantly more players to physically interact and also guarantee that you can see everyone that's in your area, though I could see some potential issues with landing pads in busier systems.

Doing the "pre built" ships is a big whatever for me. BUT the Python mk2 is complete horsesh*t. Especially saying that they are leaning the ship into pvp. Let's say it's the overall best pvp ship. So for 3 months you will be at a disadvantage period. At the very least they should sell it in game and in the store at the Sametime or simply not sell it at all in store. Bullocks.

The early power play was really enjoyable for me. It was the time I was most engaged with the community.

This will be unpopular I know, but I think they should stop with the updates, and start developing a new game with lessons learned from this one, oh and employ people who actually know how to make a game fun, not a technical exercise... Too many dedicated players have left this game out of frustration, never to return for hodge podge updates, but probably would for a new version

If frontier wants me to return to this game, especially with all of this new monetization, they actually have to add more content besides some lame ass update to a subsystem already inn the game that is lackluster to most solo players... They are adding new ships? So what... They have done nothing but pushed live service stuff in regards to the thargoid war. And it is mostly for players who have already grinded lots of engineering and inn the game for pure PVE and group play. For someone like me I am starting to regret all the money I put into this game. Odessey was extremely dissapointing. And promises they have had since backer days where broken. I am going to move on to other space games for now where promise of more content is actually stil happening along with more immersivity and stuff being added. Frontier better use their new income to improve the game content. Finally get their hands on work and add some real stuff. Like ship interiors to idletime inn while flying to far away destinations, and more engaging gameplay for people who are not inn it for PVE. And make the game less dependant on thirdpart tools that are becoming unreliable and broken or even shutting down with time.

I think they're being far too conservative with the pre-builds. Allowing the option of moving modules to other ships wouldn't be all bad, and adding some actually good engineered modules would be pretty good. So long as there's nothing you can't get by grinding, and so long as not everything you want is available to buy, I don't mind things being available to buy for those who have less time and more money. That isn't pay to win, it's pay to skip the grind, and even then it isn't anywhere near as predatory as the sort of microtransactions you get in mobile games.

I think this a right move by FDv!

How do faction ranks and their unlocks factor into 2.0? I would like for them to keep them personally as it’s the only grind that makes sense, grinding up the military rank ladder. Hopefully it allows for unlocks in the faction carriers or new mission types, or new rewards for ranks rather than just a leaderboard. Im hoping for faction military uniforms as an example.

If Fdev wants PP to be about PvP, then PP needs to be reworked so that PvP is the main focus. Hauling and undermining has nothing to do with PvP and the ships that are outfitted for those activities have no chance in a PvP fight. Make it so that PvP is the only way to get merits and watch as PP ends up like CQC overnight, because the vast majority of players only want PvE content.

Ohh loook... people with limited or no information were freaking out over NOTHING for clicks and viewssss.. how weeiirrddd. 🙄

Sea of thieves has a system of higher rewards for pvp play vs NON pvp. So rather than to eliminate the NON pvp participation outright, it seems the superior option to permit NON pvp players to participate in powerplay in a "support" role by making open play have higher rewards vs solo / group play.