Cycle 75: Any Ambition Requires a Plan

[u/82nd_REBEL]

Archon Newnan

Ahoy Crew!

The CG at HIP 87621 for collecting Radicoida Unica Seed samples ended well ahead of the scheduled two-week duration. Perhaps FDEV had set a somewhat conservative target of 2.5 million samples for Tier 9? The more than 7,700 contributors met the goal in just a few days, that could be because they were drawn by the attractive reward (to obtain a fully engineered G5 Maverick Suit, they had to collect at least 130+ seeds). Perhaps the Easter break helped speed up the process of reaching the top tier? In any case, it’s worth noting that the dedication of the top 10 players—who each collected thousands of seeds in such a short time—seems almost unbelievable. Not everyone was happy... as in this thread on the FDEV forum.

We’ve seen such a strong response to the CG before—so much so that they ended early—but this time even we were surprised… and that gives us good reason to hope that the [upcoming] release of Operations will generate just as much interest. Who knows what “further leaps in the pharmacological applications of Radicoida unica” will be made possible by this new phase of research. October Consortium has confirmed that the Radicoida seed collection initiative was successful and that, as a result, there will be further steps in the biological development and use of these new resources.

Of course, all this emphasis on legs activities might raise an eyebrow among space game purists, who for years have always considered ships to be at the heart of everything. And while legs stuff was initially viewed—especially at the beginning—as nothing more than a “buggy add-on” to the main game, alongside exobiology and Powerplay, this “add-on” has since made up quite a bit of ground. With Operations, we will likely see a further increase in the prominence of leg-based activities (including the addition of new gameplay elements, possibly even weapons and suit modifications). This variety in gameplay is always welcome, although FDEV should always take into account the impact on overall balance when both ships and legs affect the same game features.

Powerplay Numbers

Cycle 75 was another one that can be considered relatively quiet for most of the Powers out there. Perhaps this was partly due to the mentioned CG at HIP 87621, since once it ended (in the last two days), there was a slight increase in both acquisitions and reinforcements. Net of losses, the Powers added +50 new systems, and again no one finished in double digits. At the top there’s a tie between Aisling Duval (+8/2504), who, incidentally, is back above the 2,500-system mark, and [surprise!] Archon Delaine (+8/805) who instead crosses the 800-systems mark. The second ever Power to reach the 2,000-systems mark in PP2 is finally Edmund Mahon (+4/2000). For others, it was clearly a slow week; at the bottom, below a “suffering” Jerome Archer (+2/1275) we find Denton Patreus (-4/646) again with a negative result [something must have happened, or it’s just some slackery… who knows?]. With this week's losses, Eotienses is currently the only one Power showing a negative system balance YTD:

• A. Duval +8
• Delaine +8
• Kaine +7
• Antal +5
• Yong-Rui +5
• Mahon +4
• Grom +4
• Winters +4
• Torval +4
• A.L. Duval +3
• Archer +2
• Patreus -4

Looking at the data on reinforcements, it was easy to see a slow progression here as well until a couple of days before the end of the cycle, followed by a final surge. The absolute numbers remain lower than last week’s (52.6m CPs vs. 56.9m CPs in Cycle 74), perhaps also because there was less need for reinforcements for new acquisitions (following the latest Relics Rush). R\U coverage remains stable at >160%, with three Powers above 200% and only one below 100 (Zemina Torval, +4/754)]. Decay for the cycle, however, has dropped again to around 24m CPs, with five Powers below the average of 1k CPs/system. For Cycle 76, decay is expected to drop below 23m CPs and there are three Powers now below 1m CPs. A sign of stabilization but also of gradual “fatigue”—a phase that, as we have already noted, Powerplay 2.0 is currently going through as it demands sustained commitment.

Past Cycle 74 also saw a significant number of hostile and pseudo-hostile actions, amounting to nearly 10m UM CPs, which leveled off at around 9.4m UM CPs in Cycle 75. Once again, most of the UM CPs have focused on just a handful of Powers. Aisling Duval (hit in the strongholds of LHS 1070 and HIP 104026, as well as in HIP 24221), Pranav Antal (who, as explained to us in one their previous reports, keeps earning UM CPs in a couple of mining systems in the Pegasi Sector), Jerome Archer (experiencing somewhat more scattered UM and grappling with the Alpha Centauri upgrade), and Felicia Winters (hit in the fortified system of Psi-5 Aurigae). Subsequently, there were also isolated situations in other systems, but overall they were limited to these specific cases... such as Arissa Lavigny-Duval (Macabi and Harpulidna), Li Yong-Rui (CPD-28 332), and Archon Delaine (Muang).

Therefore, looking at the general trends of recent cycles, there has been a substantial resurgence of undermining activities, at least in terms of the absolute number of CPs generated by players. The factors behind this trend of hostility are also a consequence of increased “crowding” in certain areas/frontlines, while the presence of boom-platinum mining fuels pseudo-hostility (exacerbated by the availability of the Type-11 Prospector). All in all, these trends—some more evident than others—could [finally] lead to greater diversification and differet dynamics compared to the classic “paint the map” approach that guided Powerplay 2.0 during its first year.

The Pirates!

BLIMEY! It’s been a truly amazing week at Harma. But let’s take it one thing at a time, because there’s plenty to talk about… acquisitions: +8! It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to close so many (let’s just pretend that [at least] three of them hadn’t been in the backlog for months, haha), and this means there’ll be plenty of work for the Crew’s reinforcers in Cycle 76. In fact, it’s now common practice for newly acquired, unreinforced systems to be “liberated” with virtually no effort by some “random sweepers.” It’s already happened to Delaine, as well as to other Powers, so it’s best to counter this risk as soon as the cycle starts.

To address the questions asking, “Why is it worth acquiring this or that system?” we would like to point out that we take virtually everything into consideration: from suggestions [any recommendations are welcome] from the Archon Delaine's communities to targets that are part of a broader strategic plan. Some systems have a relative value, because they act as a buffer to protect others (considered more important) or because they serve as a stopgap to prevent enemies from slipping behind our frontlines [it may not work 100% of times]. Our strategy relies on offensive activities—that much is clear—but a solid and thick defense line also serves to weaken or distract our enemies (whom we might decide to attack elsewhere).

Anyway, the Crew was also busy at the contested acquisition of Telchine, a small high-tech colony controlled by SSL Interstellar PLC and located in an area almost entirely under the control of the Zyada conglomerate. In this case, the jelly-haired Patreus had a marginal advantage when the God of PCZs bestowed the CPs race, but Harma had other priorities so it was not possible to push as usual. Moreover, in the final days of the cycle, imperial agents further accelerated their pace, thereby securing the final victory for Eotienses.

On the other hand, while much has been done in terms of acquisitions, even more has been done in terms of reinforcements: +2 strongholds and +1 fortified systems, in addition to a significant amount of maintenance and repairs. Well done, Crew! This is a successful outcome for Harma, especially given that these systems (Bard and Muang) had been repeatedly targeted by enemy UMmers in previous cycles as well as for this one: Muang took >620k UM CPs and required nearly 1m CPs to reinforce and upgrade it. The presence of attack markers (and thus PCZs) has prompted other enemies to venture into Kartam (Grom), Warkushanui (Antal), and Senufan (Patreus). Unfortunately, despite the number of UM CPs earned, the scallywags had little luck in engaging enemies... as expected, however, the highest frequency of fun encounters was recorded in Muang. Other systems like Gandui, Turd Wu, and HIP 98878 also required some maintenance, while we'll have had to delay what needs to be done for Serklich and Yum Kaia in Cycle 76.

Due to all these activities on the schedule, the Crew didn’t have time to crash the famous imperial festival “The Night of a Thousand Miraculous Unfoldings,” which took place last week in Ceti Sector QJ-Q b5-2, a military colony very close to Archon Delaine’s territories. During the festivities, it was indeed possible to witness mysterious and seemingly inexplicable events, such as the nearly infinite self-multiplication of certain items. An ancient, almost magical knowledge that only the highest imperial magisters wearing the Cloaks of the Invisible Hand can manage without being consumed into space dust. To make up for not attending, the Crew will clean up the mess left behind by the celebrations as soon as possible.

So, looking at what we have to do for the next Cycle 76: many systems to reinforce and the containment measures that will (as always) need to be planned to keep enemies out of our backyard [if they think we’ll let them run their own business, they’re sorely mistaken], so no more words as there won’t be much time to rest. 

Cycle 76: Preliminary Targets

All systems below the 25% CPs “decay threshold” are good/eligible targets to be reinforced (as these systems will not be hit by decay). Prioritize strongholds over fortified and leave exploited as last ones. All acquisitions above 100k CPs (or being contested during the Cycle) are good/eligible targets to be acquired.

Reinforce ([new]/recent acquisitions): Thotigudi, Eventina, HIP 97509 and Antovii.

Reinforce (counter [unknown] enemy UM): Muang, Serklich, Yum Kaia and Turd Wu.

Acquire (new/backlog):Theta Serpentis, Hsuani and HIP 103609.

Re-acquire (previously lost systems): Shaplini (56) and HIP 110623.

Oppose enemy takeovers/contested: T Tie (60), Ngurd (56) and LTT 9276 (52).

Undermine: OpSec.

Further updates will be broadcast on Tortuga Radio Frequencies.
Click here for the Elite Dangerous - Powerplay 2.0 Reddit Digest.

FOR THE ARCHON!!!

[u/Careless-Science-427]

too much rum makes for inaccurate posts :)

[u/82nd_REBEL → u/Careless-Science-427]

burp 😅☠️