Modes The Solo vs Open vs Groups Thread [See new thread]

[Demiga]

I hear the feeling from peeps who want a chilled out experience and all. How can I tell you, having had a stressful day at the office, that you should come home and be further stressed in a game? I don't wanna spoil your day. Thing is I'd suggest that we could be having epic amazing encounters..

Yet to me I imagine a game without solo and private group.. yes you go to a major hub area you'd expect it to be relatively safe but if thats going to be the case then venturing out to sell those rares from the Lave area, for example, should require some risk.

In my experience the game becomes alive when I am playing with and fighting against players. Those experiences are light years a head of what Frontier are likely to ever be able to produce, short of Bill Gates dropping a few hundred mil on the project..

The depth of this game and its success and its full potential will always be in the hands of the player base. If you couldn't hide away I could offer my services to you.. Escorts against the Bandits.

No bandits, solo and private group.. its not gonna happen and I won't hear anyones distress call either (if ever implemented).. Can't be a hero if there is no one to rescue. I think Frontier need to have some faith in the playerbase.. we aren't all out to behave like a douchbag you know

And I would happily pay you to be that hero - I would happily do something like this. This ENTIRE issue really stems around the fact that the Mr. PewPews are EXTREMELY effective at ruining peoples games. Its not that theres thousands and thousands of the psychos out there, its that they have the potential to kill hundreds of CMDRs a day - All it would take is for me to buy my new clipper (1 more rank!!!!) and fly around and get killed by Mr. PewPews 5 times in a row. I am now mostly broke, with nothing to show for it - this is what I do not want to have happen.

 

[Rykzon]

.... or players who normally play in one mode who wish to wing up with friends who normally play in another mode;
.... or players who are travelling and might just get away with playing solo (in terms of network throughput) in their hotel.

Well if both only play one mode, they would be free change at any time since the timer only starts once you switch. The only thing they would have to deal with, is that they can't immediately switch back to their old mode.

The second argument dosnt work aswell for the same reasons. If I play Open only and travel, I can freely switch to solo once im in a hotel and can switch back to open back at home as long as my travel takes longer than the timer.


To be honest, switching modes on a session to session basis could still work with a 24h timer, even if not, sacrifices have to be made, mode switching is hurting the open community and needs to be looked at sooner than later.

 

[xCOMxTRUISEx]

Personally, I like all the modes. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for PVP and sometimes you just want to play by yourself or with friends.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Well if both only play one mode, they would be free change at any time since the timer only starts once you switch. The only thing they would have to deal with, is that they can't immediately switch back to their old mode.

The second argument dosnt work aswell for the same reasons. If I play Open only and travel, I can freely switch to solo once im in a hotel and can switch back to open back at home as long as my travel takes longer than the timer.

To be honest, switching modes on a session to session basis could still work with a 24h timer, even if not, sacrifices have to be made, mode switching is hurting the open community and needs to be looked at sooner than later.

.... so, in a nutshell, mode switching should be made time consuming to restrict players' freedom of movement? I seems that the proposed sacrifices only apply to those who wish to exercise their freedom to play in whichever mode they want to.

If such a mode switching timeout were to be implemented then it is all too likely that some players simply would not bother with open at all....

It seems to me that some players imagine that the way that they want to play the game permits them to dictate to others how to play the game which is at odds with Frontier's encouragement to "play the game how you want to".

 

[Rykzon]

Maybe FD needs to wake up and realise we are not in 1984 anymore. Online play is and will be a major factor for the people getting this game. People exploting mode switch to directly or indirectly grief others should stand higher than the freedom to switch modes every few minutes.

It seems to me that some players imagine that the way that they want to play the game permits them to dictate to others how to play the game which is at odds with Frontier's encouragement to "play the game how you want to".

This argument is getting old. I couldnt care less about how others play their game, let them play solo or group and get the same rewards as me. But if they step into open, knowing there will be player interaction and are then allowed to combat log and switch back to solo as soon as hits the fan im going to be speaking up. Combat logging is of course a different issue, but the same goes for switching to solo to avoid PvP in combat zones.

 

[CMDR Sheehy]

One of the ideas behind mode switching is the ability to avoid 'perceived griefing' and then get back into Open play afterwards. This would go against the design.

So what happens when I click on the launcher, find myself in Open due to a slight of hand, find myself in a mode that is unplayable (on my hardware) and then find that I can't relaunch in to Solo for 24 hrs? I'll tell you what I would do - I would walk away from the game.

Was that your intention?

 

[EUS]

It seems to me that some players imagine that the way that they want to play the game permits them to dictate to others how to play the game which is at odds with Frontier's encouragement to "play the game how you want to".

This cannot be repeated enough.

 

[Kaeldian]

Locking modes even with a cool down is a terrible idea. It punishes people who play with friends, but have no desire to play with people in the open without those friends. I think that idea needs to be tabled and scrapped completely.

 

[ianw]

Combat logging is of course a different issue, but the same goes for switching to solo to avoid PvP in combat zones.

Well yes, they are quite similar except that one has been declared as an unintended exploit they are trying to resolve.

And the other is intended game design.

 

[Rykzon]

One of the ideas behind mode switching is the ability to avoid 'perceived griefing' and then get back into Open play afterwards. This would go against the design.

So what happens when I click on the launcher, find myself in Open due to a slight of hand, find myself in a mode that is unplayable (on my hardware) and then find that I can't relaunch in to Solo for 24 hrs? I'll tell you what I would do - I would walk away from the game.

Was that your intention?

Don't be ridiculous, a simple "Do you really want to switch to Open/Solo" dialog would fix this.

People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell.

Well yes, they are quite similar except that one has been declared as an unintended exploit they are trying to resolve.

And the other is intended game design.

A design decision that was made a long time ago, dosnt mean it can't be changed given new parameters.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Don't be ridiculous, a simple "Do you really want to switch to Open/Solo" dialog would fix this.

People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell.

That is one of the funniest things I have ever read on this forum. I am at work, and thus not playing at the moment. Are offline people griefing too?

 

[Traven Mayhem]

a mode lock/cooldown timer is actually a very good idea. it doesn't need to be 24 hours. 10-15 minutes would be enouh to resolve the vast majority of the 'mode hopping' issues while giving the aforementioned hotel warrior the ability to selecthis desired mode with very little inconvenience.

 

[Mephane]

Don't be ridiculous (...)

People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell.

Now who is the one being ridiculous here...

 

[ianw]

Don't be ridiculous, a simple "Do you really want to switch to Open/Solo" dialog would fix this.

People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell.

Perhaps you think pirates are griefing bounty hunters by paying off their bounties too?

 

[Robert Maynard]

Maybe FD needs to wake up and realise we are not in 1984 anymore. Online play is and will be a major factor for the people getting this game. People exploting mode switch to directly or indirectly grief others should stand higher than the freedom to switch modes every few minutes.

This argument is getting old. I couldnt care less about how others play their game, let them play solo or group and get the same rewards as me. But if they step into open, knowing there will be player interaction and are then allowed to combat log and switch back to solo as soon as hits the fan im going to be speaking up. Combat logging is of course a different issue, but the same goes for switching to solo to avoid PvP in combat zones.

Frontier did indeed recognise that multi-player online play is important - that's why the game was pitched with the three game modes, two of which are multi-player. They also recognised that not all players would wish to be restricted to a single game mode - so they pitched the game with the ability to switch between game modes "at will".

The argument is (at least) as old as the stated game design. You say "I couldn't care less how others play their game" then go on to paint a scenario where you seem to care very much how others play - so it seems that you do care about how others play the game.

.... and let's not get sidetracked with the issues surrounding combat logging - that is nothing whatsoever to do with mode switching - combat logging is a practice that Sandro has indicated is not an acceptable way to play the game and presumably Frontier are working on some retrospective penalties that will be applied to those whose internet connection only ever fails during combat.

 

[Globusdiablo]

....People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell....

I want some of whatever you're having!

 

[Rykzon]

Now who is the one being ridiculous here...

Why is that ridiculous? I'm ofcourse talking about actively avoiding conflict not passively by playing solo in the first place.

What im talking about is, player in open, jumping to a system, seeing pirates and switching to solo for the rest of the trade for example.

 

[Cosmos]

And I would happily pay you to be that hero - I would happily do something like this. This ENTIRE issue really stems around the fact that the Mr. PewPews are EXTREMELY effective at ruining peoples games. Its not that theres thousands and thousands of the psychos out there, its that they have the potential to kill hundreds of CMDRs a day - All it would take is for me to buy my new clipper (1 more rank!!!!) and fly around and get killed by Mr. PewPews 5 times in a row. I am now mostly broke, with nothing to show for it - this is what I do not want to have happen.

I don't think there are so many pyschos out there as you might think. I believe, myself included, that people are often bored of grinding the PVE game. I speak for myself but I find it dull, repetative and completely unchallenging. The NPCs have zero depth, as sadly does much of the game.

Recently, my Wing and I cruise around looking for players (usually the bad guys) to encounter. At times when there isn't anything else available we'll turn to pirating players. I'd much rather be bounty hunting the scum and villainy... But lets be honest, for that to happen the game also needs those who are gonna be bandits.

Its in Frontiers hands.. and I really think DB got it wrong when he spoke about wanting to negate pvp stuff. Coz for me, and so many other players, the magic of this game centres around engaging with the good, the bad and yeah.. the ugly.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Perhaps you think pirates are griefing bounty hunters by paying off their bounties too?

Explorers are griefing pirates by being 54000 light years away

 

[W0OCQCK]

Don't be ridiculous, a simple "Do you really want to switch to Open/Solo" dialog would fix this.

People avoiding player piracy by logging to solo are griefing aswell.

That's an interesting perspective? I do agree with ya on the combat logging. But someone playing in solo is griefing you? Or do you mean some one that is playing in open then moves to solo to avoid you?

I do agree some sort of balancing might be in order, just not sure on how to address it. Rather than always attacking mode switching, maybe something different. Like cargo, if you start in one mode, you must complete your run in that mode or loose the cargo?

Just an idea, probably not even a good one. Thoughts?