Having read Sandro's post I actually agree with... well everything he said. However, I think you are rather reading more into it than was actually there... or at least applying a mental bias to the words. Anyway, thank you for highlighting the line you did. I feel it only fair I reciprocate:
"For the combat ship Commander, who presumably wants to fight - they now have a bounty which allows anyone to attack them in the area. Both player and AI ships can take advantage of this, and, again, almost certainly through some ongoing balancing, they should get more fights, which is kind of what they want, I would hope. The idea we want to create here is that living by the sword means risk of dying by the sword, potentially quite often."
So you see, you are not the only one who can cherry-pick. But to be serious. Do you agree that what Sandro was trying to convey with this was that, yes, traders have to accept the risk of their trade and it is therefore beholden to them to equip their ships accordingly or potentially loose all. But at the same time players whose interest is in combat will face increasing pressure from authority vessels the more they choose to pick on weaker ships? To me, this is how it should be and is fair to both sides. However, Sandro's post is by no means giving PvPers carte blanche to slaughter every Sidewinder without fear of reprisal. His post seems to be a veiled warning that says if you go beyond a certain point there will be ever increasing consequences.
So much for Sandro's post anyway. Now then, your other concern. You make great play of the fact that DB's oft quoted comments on the discouragement of PvP are old. Yes, they are. But they have never been withdrawn or even tempered. The words are still there and read just as strong as ever. And they will continue to do so until refuted or removed. There is nothing in Sandro's post that does this, no matter how much some people wish it were so.
PvP remains as just one small and relatively unimportant part of the game. The game remains a primarily player co-op game, as it was designed to be.
Ok i respect what you say, but lets be honest. if pvp was so small and unimportant, why are so many forum threads based on pvp related factors?
Things change, especially when games are being developed to when games are launched. People don't make Vlogs everytime they think of something new or change their mind. How you are thinking i am biased i have no idea. If you show me a Braben statement or Vlog, post release, re affirming his earlier statements, then fine. All i keep reading is people saying, "it will never change", "Don't worry, this is what they said a year ago and so this is what they will always do". Its absurd. So what happened with offline mode?
I have mentioned repeatedly, i am a trader. My current ship is a type 7. I just don't like the idea of being under a every increasing safety blanket. I want to feel i am part of a satisfying and dynamic environment not one tailored towards people who cant handle confrontation, and can't or don't want to, mitigate risk on even a most basic level. Sandro said basically, one of the core focus for traders is that there is risk with haulage. Without open mode and dynamic player related stuff, there is no risk to trading apart from CMDR stupidity.
I don't know why you think the game is only going to be co-op focused. As they said so much, people can choose how they want to play. Being a pirate in open mode relies on an element of pvp, albeit not necessarily murder. So how you seem to think pvp is just a small or relatively unimportant part of the game i have no idea. If they said it they have to support it. Sounds like you are the biased one. It is certainly not a 'small' part of the game, but it might be to you personally.
Why do you think i quoted Sandro's post as a way to justify pvp killing? Do you ever actually read what people say? I quoted it, because he basically talks about all aspects of pvp interdiction. Like right now. Not in March last year. But within the last 24 hours. He talks about it from the aspect that they consider both the aggressor and the trader, and what they get in terms of satisfaction and challenge. Why would he say this if he only considered 'co-op' as the focus. Its clear it is a part of his development thought process, which in turns means its more that a small part of the game. If you play solo, yes it is. If you play open, then no it won't be and will never be small because there are always people who like to challenge others, no matter how much people wish it weren't so.
Yes he mentions 'punishment' but how could he not right now? Its not a veiled threat, its an update that a severely lacking aspect of the game is being tuned. Nothing to see here. There is no decent punishment system in play at the moment, but i have no doubt there will be soon enough. Just like the game will keep developing in all its aspects, that will include pvp and co op elements.
Last edited: