Calling on the community to play in Open Play
- Thread starter Maiakaat
- Start date
Thank you.
No problem. I have a confession to make, I'm a sucker for internet arguments.
I rarely, if ever, see this. The closest I saw was when someone suggests solo play be removed or restricted in any way, in which case said person is almost guaranteed to be called a griefer, and other such names, either openly or in veiled tones, but then this is an answer to a perceived attack on the solo players' freedom to play as they want.
For the most part, solo, and PvE, players couldn't care less how other players are playing, as long as those other players have no way of negatively influencing the solo or PvE players. Do note the it's "have no way" rather than "don't"; for many solo and PvE players, simply the fact other players don't go after them isn't enough, they want those other players to actually have no way, at all, to go after those that don't want to engage.
Also, keep in mind that how each player defines griefer is different, usually according to how pleasant different kinds of player interaction are to him or her. For someone that utterly dislikes non-consensual PvP, anyone forcing them to engage in PvP is basically a griefer. It is close to my own personal view of the term; if someone engages other players without a reasonable assumption that the target enjoy that interaction, and doesn't back down if the target manifests displeasure, then that player is, in my view, a griefer, because for his own enjoyment of the game he is insisting on behavior that causes grief to another player.
As long as this group doesn't attempt to remove, or nerf, solo and group mode in any way, I'm all for them. As soon as they start proposing anything that would restrict how players can use solo mode, or that would provide bribes that could make players that prefer solo go into open instead for the increased rewards, I'll utterly oppose them and I'll come out swinging.
I'm, in many things, uncompromising. But that is because, with even the slightest compromise in that things, a game is just not worth playing for me. The possibility of PvP is the chief one for me, if I have a slight chance to be attacked once every blue moon, it's already enough for me to completely discard a game, regardless of how good it is. And restricting myself to just safe places in the game's universe is not a solution I'm ready to accept, if I can't go everywhere where there is PvE content without PvP rearing its ugly head, then the game is also not worth playing for me.
Because I utterly hate any kind of non-consensual PvP. I would rather self-destruct than fight back.
(Or, rather, if you ever engage me against my will, I would do anything I could to make your time as frustrating as possible. If you would enjoy fighting back, I would rather self-destruct; if you would enjoy getting some cargo, I would rather destroy all my cargo myself than let you get a single grain cannister; and so on. I once spent an hour in WoW just making sure the party that ganked me couldn't complete the quest they killed me in order to do, by repeatedly killing the NPC they had to escort (for no reward) and then letting the party kill me without fighting back (after honor per kill was removed, so again for no reward), until they gave up and moved on without completing the quest.)
No, because fighting a NPC is completely different from fighting a player. Even if apart from the entity controlling the ship everything else is completely identical, knowing my opponent is a player or a computer makes the encounter as different as night and day. I want the most challenging PvE content possible with NPCs, but I won't even give a chance to a game where I can be attacked by other players in the middle of my PvE gameplay.
I love PvP, and do a lot of it — when it's fully consensual, and with a level playing field. Or, in other words, when it's a proper PvP game, and not some frustratingly imbalanced mess like most MMOs that try to cobble together the odd PvP mode atop whichever PvE they have.
In ED, no. Likely never, unless a proper Arena mode is added, with proper matchmaking allowing for balanced fights and no penalty for losing.
BTW: I'm actually more prone to give up on a PvP fight if it looks like I'm wiping the floor with my opponent than if I'm losing badly. I only find PvP fun if there is an even chance I will win or lose. I never, ever, use any tactic that guarantees victory, because that would be an empty, pyrrhic victory, worse than a loss. I play PvP for the fun in the fight, not for the results.
It really isn't. No matter how many times you say it. And I suspect at this point you're only trying to convince yourself.
Not doing something because you don't enjoy it is simply a sensible decision.
Just a question to Bigcheese and others thinking the way he does: Given a chance, would you introduce an hourly dice roll into your single player games that would randomly kill you off with no possible gain? Just to prove your bravery?
Cause that's what playing Open is to many of us old school Elite players.
Cause that's what playing Open is to many of us old school Elite players.
I got carried away and for that, I apologize.
I guess I just don't think people should think about open play like that. I understand getting started in solo, but once you have anything past an Eagle, you can totally defend yourself. Elite is pretty well balanced in the sense that someone can't just come and trivialize anything you can do. Different setups can have counters, but the options are there. It's not like eve or an mmo where combat is heavily based around stats, you have much more control over your fate. Stats still matter, but you know what I mean hopefully.
There's also a whole world of untapped potential. High value cargo runs with escorts for example. I want to get interdicted and hide a mine among the cargo I drop and turn the tables if they are sloppy. There's nothing like emergent gameplay and Elite is actually very well suited for it.
The other thing is you will hardly ever get attacked. I think a lot of people assume the players here behave like the worst on the internet, and that's just not true. There are even polite pirates out there. We all miss out on a lot if the game or it's players don't take advantage of it's multiplayer potential.
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How far is that from the stating systems? I'd love to get over to Achenar but my jump drive just can't handle it yet and there seems to be a 20 L.Y. gap that ring fences those stating systems.
Exactly. I don't think that's fun or exciting. I think it's getting in the way. If the entire game was crafted around everyone being in one online space I'd also be ok with that, but that's not Elite.
Maybe Elite Dangerous II will have a true, always on, full open MMO experience, but this game is single player and to open play when you're not into combat is just making it more difficult for you to get on in the game.
Well said Sir.
Really?
Where?
When! Exactly?
How many times? Honestly??
Sorry my good man, I don't believe it.
Well, as you've been told and been given examples and chose to just dismiss them, now I know you're just here to troll - so I will remind people over and over that you were told.
Orrere (Sharon Lee Fee Market). Monday evening. Only once ... but once my ship was floating through space on fire once was more than enough! No point other than the other player wanting someone to blow up. Pretending Open Play is full of players helping each other and being polite is a fantasy. You can argue that is part of the game but it is silly to pretend people are lying when they mention it.
+this, I think it probably explains some of the misconceptions
Definitely, and that is what this thread is trying to look at and discuss.
Pretty much from the start I've been playing in solo mode. This was for 2 reasons:
1) I don't really know what I'm doing, so was taking my time to learn how to fly, trade etc without having to think about anything else
2) I had worries I'd be blown to smithereens immediately on leaving the station
Having now completed two trading runs in Open Play I can honestly say it's an enhanced experience. And the main reason is the addition of 'possibility', so even if nothing actually happens, it adds to the excitement. It's a bit like popping down to the local shop, or popping down to the local shop when the news says there's a lion on the loose!
1) I don't really know what I'm doing, so was taking my time to learn how to fly, trade etc without having to think about anything else
2) I had worries I'd be blown to smithereens immediately on leaving the station
Having now completed two trading runs in Open Play I can honestly say it's an enhanced experience. And the main reason is the addition of 'possibility', so even if nothing actually happens, it adds to the excitement. It's a bit like popping down to the local shop, or popping down to the local shop when the news says there's a lion on the loose!
There are people who want a solo game, and that is a fair choice, but there is one point that confuses me, re. the pirating - for those that cite it as a risk.
How is being killed by a NPC pirate different to being killed by a human pirate. I personally don't understand beyond just not wanting a multi-player environment, and a distrust of human online behaviour which is to be fair, grounded to an extent. I think this is one thing that maybe people either wanting PvP, or just wanting a richer environment (or for pessimists - "wanting other players to be their environment context/content") struggle with.
If someone who doesn't play open because of the risk, and not because they just want a private game (group or solo) could try to explain so we can understand, it would probably be helpful.
For the record, human players are shown as hollow squares or triangles, whereas NPC's are shown as filled squares or triangles.
I've only ever had one human chat to me, all the demands of cargo have been NPC's all the interdictions have been NPC's, all the stupid people in stations hitting walls or ignoring my presence in the port (bar maybe two) have been NPC's. I respect that everybody experiences a unique game, and during the beta and initial rush players got a bit frenzied before they understood the game (Possibly over excitement, or even frustration)
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