Is there incentive to open play?

[Zylark]

I've been playing in open since I got the game, and can count with one finger the times I've been interdicted (with success) by a player. And been killed by players exactly zero times (though twice due to own stupidity/beer and once due to bug). I've seen none of the griefing Sandman is complaining about. Not saying it do not happen, just that I do not think the problem is as prevalent as he makes it out to be.

Playing in open carries a certain risk - why I do it. Solo or group is just Space-Truck Simulator. Nothing wrong with that, I actually play a bit of Euro-Truck Simulator 2 now and again. But it is not why I got ED.

Said risk though can be somewhat alleviated by not running around in a defenseless ship. One must sacrifice some cargo-space for shields at the very least. Ideally, do trading in a ship no sane pirate or psycho-killer would want to attack. Those out on the hunt, will see what modules you got installed when prowling in Supercruise. They by and large stay away from well armed ships, and look for the less armed ships.

As it stands though, if trading is your game, and you are on the grind rather than playing for the fun of it, solo or group is probably the better choice. No need to care much for defenses thus maxing cargo-capacity.

To compensate, maybe there should be some kind of risk-bonus for those trading in open. Say 5% on top of sales price - 10% if sold to a lawless anarchy system.

Soon though, we get more and better multi-player features. Having escorted caravans of traders would be cool. And of-course wolf-packs of pirates working together to bring down escorts before looting the traders blind. We'll see how it pans out. Still early days - imho the game is still Beta, no matter claims to the contrary by the devs

 

[Le-Betz]

I play open, because i love to taunt fellow cmdrs when i outrun them.

 

[tagos]

But the MP update doesn't have anything planned with regards to incentives for traders to come to open. Well, there's wings, but if you're playing solo already you don't need a squadron mate to protect you, as NPCs are definitely not dangerous enough to warrant it... and if they were, you could just go to group play rather than open.
What we need at the moment is positive incentives for them to come and risk their ship in open, for the rest of the combat professions to make any sense.

Wings are going to be a major disincentive to traders playing in Open I suspect.

 

[Flying Penguin]

Wings are going to be a major disincentive to traders playing in Open I suspect.

I suspect this will be very very true, at least around major hubs.

In the absence of AI escorts, it will work entirely against traders for the very simple reason that most trade runs DON'T get interdicted* and therefore player escorts will get bored very quickly. On the flipside team bounty hunting/pirating is guaranteed fun provided you find a target (and if you don't, just attack a random...).

*This has to be the case with the current profits model as rebuy+cargo is often equal to 10 times the profit of a non-rare trade run, if not more.

 

[sahib]

The only incentive to play in Open is that it's... Open

If that's not incentive enough for you, you'll probably like the other modes more

 

[Helvellyn]

It's less dull. Even the idiots make life a little more interesting (except for the station fire abusers).

 

[Ian Skippy]

Honest question: where do you find such behavior? I've played open for more than a month now and have yet to encounter any hostile player.

Generally the rare-selling stations. Why? Because there are much more 'minmax' players there: traders who calculate fuel scoping time versus refueling profits, exclusively fly tried&proven routes found on the forums and fly unshielded and generally unprepared in every way to maximize cargo and jump range. In other words: people who care more than average about their credits/progression and are way easier than average to kill. They are the ultimate griefer-magnets. Unfortunately, new players who just vaguely heard something about good profits in Lave will show up there in their little rinky-dink Haulers with the Hello Kitty small pulse laser. These people have little chance and don't know that this is not at all representitive of ED. They then go play solo, assuming open is just for jerks, and spread their experiences to others who know little of open.

Really, open is not the ganking-ghetto of ED.

 

[Jex =TE=]

Jeez some of the replies here....


OP, screw the risk v reward nonsense - the reward is getting to play in a game where you might meet other players and those player will be unpredictable. Everyone knows the AI sucks and trade runs are easy (as well as incredibly boring) so this *might* add some spice to your game though I've never been interdicted by a player yet however, I'm not playing that much due to crashes and choppy gameplay which should all change very soon.

Do you want to live in a little cottonwool ball where nothing can harm you and it's boring or do you want to take some risks? You can stare out the window and watch the countryside or you can take a walk outside. It's your life though and it is a game. If you can't take a risk in a game then perhaps you need to stop playing games and go out more

 

[Zeeman]

Generally the rare-selling stations. Why? Because there are much more 'minmax' players there: traders who calculate fuel scoping time versus refueling profits, exclusively fly tried&proven routes found on the forums and fly unshielded and generally unprepared in every way to maximize cargo and jump range. In other words: people who care more than average about their credits/progression and are way easier than average to kill. They are the ultimate griefer-magnets. Unfortunately, new players who just vaguely heard something about good profits in Lave will show up there in their little rinky-dink Haulers with the Hello Kitty small pulse laser. These people have little chance and don't know that this is not at all representitive of ED. They then go play solo, assuming open is just for jerks, and spread their experiences to others who know little of open.

Really, open is not the ganking-ghetto of ED.

I play exclusively solo, and have yet to have any bad experience, especially since Lave, one of the alleged hotspots for nastiness, is somewhere I spend a lot of time, it's one of my main rares trade hubs.

Generally speaking, though, some of these "play in solo" folk seem like the types that would take a holiday in some exotic destination, then sit in the hotel room for 2 weeks...

Z...

 

[CATPAIN KIRK]

I play in open due to the complete absence of danger and suspense in solo. I still play solo from time to time when I'm really tired, but other than that, it's just too dull.

 

[Cmdr Effie Trinket]

For traders there is absolutely no incentive to play in open, only added risk of encountering people you would rather avoid, ingame as in real life.

Its a shame that the players who go to such great lengths, to paint such a negative picture of Open, seem to ignore all the players like me, who question where all the negative play is, because we haven't seen any?! ?
Considering the reasons given, for not liking Open, they spend a lot of time in an Open Forum, flooding the place with their negativity, specifically it seems, to interact with the very players they claim to want to avoid!? Irony in there somewhere I think?

 

[GibMeister]

There's good and bad. I helped a newbie get some large bounties earlier, I enjoyed that. Inevitably some in a python will show up and kill you just for fun. Just kill your wifi/unplug Ethernet when they do that.

Well, hopefully they will change the game to stop you pulling the plug to escape, sounds like you are the not the Python, you want your cake and eat it.
.
I like Open Play because:
1. I like to see other real players.
2. I would rather kill real players than NPCs, more of a challenge
3. I would rather die in a one on one with a player than against an NPC, thats what insurance is for, if a player killed me, I would just remember his name and go hunt him down, makes the game more fun.
.
If a player pulled the plug as I was about to finish him off I would make it my mission to look for him until the day I could finish him off.
.
I play SOLO when trading as I fly a Type 6 which I dont think would stand up to an Inderdiction from a Real Player.
.
I play OPEN in my Viper, so watch out.

.
PS why have you got a Pic of your boyfriend as your avatar?

 

[jadefriendly]

I'm offline kickstarter backer.
Was disappointed that they decided to make it an always-online, *unpausable* single-save game.

HOWEVER I have been hugely enjoying the game so far, even if it is nowhere near the one described in the kickstarter.

I've been playing pretty much exclusively in open, but mainly on the fringes (i avoid places like Lave, Sol, etc. and don't bother with rares) and have had no PvP / grief experiences. It's nice seeing and chatting with the occasional CMDR (rarely see others out on the frontier) - everyone out here is generally pretty friendly - recommending trade routes or places, chatting about rumours or things seen...

I have absolutely ZERO interest in pvp. If things do change where I'm playing to more that angle, I'll most definitely be joining the Mobius group - or moving to solo.

 

[GibMeister]

Hmm, perhaps this would improve things in OPEN:

1. Ability to recruit an NPC Wingman/men.
2. Killing a (non wanted) player attracts a way higher Bounty that cant be paid off for say 48hrs?
3. Killing a (non wanted) player, affects your rep even if you pay the bounty, you are recorded as a murderer/ex con and unlikely to be accepted by decent society?

 

[Durden T.]

I play in open due to the complete absence of danger and suspense in solo. I still play solo from time to time when I'm really tired, but other than that, it's just too dull.

Agreed. I played solo for the first time some days ago and got scared about the loneliness of the space.

Open is much more alive.

 

[Darian]

Hmm, perhaps this would improve things in OPEN:

1. Ability to recruit an NPC Wingman/men.

You want to put the safety of your ship into the "hands" of an npc who uses the same AI all npc use?

 

[evilolive]

There's good and bad. I helped a newbie get some large bounties earlier, I enjoyed that. Inevitably some in a python will show up and kill you just for fun. Just kill your wifi/unplug Ethernet when they do that.

Should be a bannable offense if you're found to be doing this. Week long ban and goes up with more abuse. You don't play open if you pull your internet when you meet someone who you find to be less than savory.

You want to know what griefing is? Pulling your internet when you're losing. THAT'S GRIEFING

I can't stand people like you, stay in solo.

 

[Dbrn47]

Jeez some of the replies here....


OP, screw the risk v reward nonsense - the reward is getting to play in a game where you might meet other players and those player will be unpredictable. Everyone knows the AI sucks and trade runs are easy (as well as incredibly boring) so this *might* add some spice to your game though I've never been interdicted by a player yet however, I'm not playing that much due to crashes and choppy gameplay which should all change very soon.

Do you want to live in a little cottonwool ball where nothing can harm you and it's boring or do you want to take some risks? You can stare out the window and watch the countryside or you can take a walk outside. It's your life though and it is a game. If you can't take a risk in a game then perhaps you need to stop playing games and go out more

He asked a subjective question and is getting subjective answers. Yours is no more objective than anyone else here. I like how you try to sell it that way by undermining everyone's opinion. You're quite like a salesman in this post making it sound as if the choice to play solo is a negative. With the current game mechanics and the ability to dodge players rather easy, the only challenge and "spice" that is added by the "risk" of open is dogfighting another player. Other than that, it's just the possibility of social interaction which, by the way, is not a reward nor an incentive for everyone.

 

[Darkfyre99]

There is one for me, despite operating an unarmed courier ship (most of the time). And that is that rush of fear upon seeing a hollow icon my scanner. Here is another human being, whose motives I cannot easily discern. While they be hostile? Will they be friendly? Will we ignore each other?

It is that feeling that keep me in open. What would drive me to solo would be constant player-killing (vs legitimate piracy), or having to choose between the two modes (as opposed to having an escape if it gets to be too much)

 

[Bigcheese]

Let's see, incentives to play open. Player piracy, player-killers, morons boosting into you and shooting you inside stations, morons calling themselves goons or test or some other rubbish swarming around in large.numbers trying to spoil the game for other players, people who are quite happy to admit they are "role playing a psychopath"... and that's just the complaints I've read about today.

Find a nice group and play there if you want social gaming, or play solo if you just want to play the game. Open has become "antisocial gaming" since it was released to the public.

Always be weary of people who say things like "everyone else is bad", which is all Sandman is saying really. They lack accountability and as a result end up blaming/hating everyone else.

Anyone with even minimal experience knows open is not all overpowered manics and helpless victims, no matter what some on the forum would have you believe. It's important for them to paint themselves as victims for whatever reason.

The real reward for playing open is a more dynamic universe with more challenge. Solo mode is dreadfully easy and other players help spice things up. Just don't get all emotionally devastated if you get killed and start thinking about it like some real life injustice. It's bizarre, but all too common around here.

Funniest part is, you'll hardly ever get attacked in open. It's really is funny how uninformed some of these pve guys are when they talk about Elite.