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

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I'm all for reinforcing open play with additional rewards/influence - without crippling solo ofc. However, some mechanics - like the bounty system as stated above - should change to fit into the online gameplay.



I agree. Missions, goals which you can only complete with other players would be nice. Like a dungeon in an MMO-RPG.

Make seperate goals for open and group/solo.
This way solo players can still fully contribute (which isn't a problem since it's solo on both sides) and open players can have a chance for the "top 5%" since they only compete with their kind.
 
I said I wouldn't do it, but I have...

After declaring that I would always play in open I made a trade run in solo!

I was soooo twitchy after being interdicted in my T6 by a commander in a clipper. He was a very efficient pirate. I couldn't run because of the mass-lock and he clinically took down my shields and my thrusters. He knew what I was carrying and asked for the most valuable items, leaving me to use the repair/reboot option and limp to the nearest station with a 3kCr repair bill and down 100kCr in rare goods.

Not a drastic loss, but the first such setback I have had in a long time and I panicked and did the next run in solo.

And guess what....? I didn't like it! Yes I was safer (I can always outrun NPCs), but I felt lonely without any other commanders in view and no chance to chat in stations. The paranoid scanner-watching in SC is part of the trader's lot, as is the occasional loss, and I shall stay in open from now on.

Just glad to get it off my chest! :eek:

but this was an awesome gameplay experience!
player decision making. player interaction in character. player roles interacting in their intended fashion.
THIS IS ELITE. THE GAME YOU SPEND ALL THESE HOURS PLAYING. this moment RIGHT HERE is the game. not the back and forth grindfest trade route. this moment of interaction and decision is amazing, immersive, emergent gameplay.
this wasn't a bad thing. it wasn't a tragedy. this was elite.
good on ye for feeling wrong about avoiding this.
all of you who hide in your holes are missing out.
 
Never was the intent. It's why peer to peer networking was chosen; the disadvantages of peer to peer mode were mostly in places that didn't matter for the game they wanted to make, while the advantages were quite meaningful.

Oh, so the fact that the P2P solution is cheap as dirt and requires little to no maintenance has nothing to do with it? Heh, sure, whatever you say sport.

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Oh, and BTW, the day I have to pay another player to help me in order to get something done is the day I leave a game. Feeling like I can't get things done by myself is truly awful, and a game that makes me feel like that doesn't deserve to be played.

Might as well quit now. Or do you think they'll stop at Strong Signal Sources?
 
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Judging by some of the comments I have seen on this forum it is clear that some people have very strange notions and prejudices. I have a deep seated dislike of pirates and slavers for example. Others seem to actually hate rares traders or traders in general even. Some seem to think that anybody who plays solo is sub human scum.

Its a game. Play it how you want to play it. No apology is necessary.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Yup. Now, why some players feel that they should be allowed to escape the consequences of their actions is beyond me. Sure, if you want to play solo, play solo. But if you want to play a trader in Open (action) and get interdicted by a pirate (consequence), you should face the consequences of your actions - just like the pirate who interdicted you. Not combat log and switch to solo, then pop back into open a little while later like a transdimensional rubber duckie. ;)

You're conflating combat logging and mode switching - players can (if they wish to, regardless of Frontier's official stance on the issue - it's bad m'kay) pull the network cable / kill the process / in any mode at any time. Players can only select the game mode that they wish to play in the game start menu system. Frontier have already given warning that they are looking specifically at the problem of combat logging - I'm interested to see how they deal with the issue and what penalties will be applied to those found to be practicing it.
 
You paid for it, you play it how you want to. Even exploring I have occasionally gone solo mainly due to a bad lag session when each jump seemed to take 5 minutes. Didnt feel the need to wear a hair shirt or tighten the celice. Police didnt knock at the door, and I havent received a court summons.
 
Judging by some of the comments I have seen on this forum it is clear that some people have very strange notions and prejudices. I have a deep seated dislike of pirates and slavers for example. Others seem to actually hate rares traders or traders in general even. Some seem to think that anybody who plays solo is sub human scum.

Its a game. Play it how you want to play it. No apology is necessary.

Exactly.

I've a feeling the thread was created to cause some more unneeded hassle between the solo vs. open debate.

People should be allowed to play the game as they feel without feeling pressured or subject to scrutiny or prejudice.
Unfortunately, there are a loud minority of players here who insult those who choose to play solo/ private group.

The option is there for people to use, they should all be allowed to do what they want.

Besides, in central zones where there are a lot of players, the lag is immense. FPS drops big time, network issues galore.
Until that is fixed, whenever I go to central points or community goals where there are a lot of players, I'll stick to my private group.

It's not just for an "easy ride" - a lot of it is due to the P2P, and hosts having really bad connections, causing ships to teleport, taking ages getting in and out of SC, and 30FPS SC traveling.
 
Yup. Now, why some players feel that they should be allowed to escape the consequences of their actions is beyond me. Sure, if you want to play solo, play solo. But if you want to play a trader in Open (action) and get interdicted by a pirate (consequence), you should face the consequences of your actions - just like the pirate who interdicted you. Not combat log and switch to solo, then pop back into open a little while later like a transdimensional rubber duckie. ;)
Would you be happy if everyone went to open, but put you on "ignore"?
I'll guess no, but only because it still interferes with you trying to dictate how others must play.
 
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i wouldn't suggest nobody be allowed to play in solo - or call them names for it or anything of that nature.
but this kind of experience is not a bad thing. this is the bread and butter of elite that they're missing out on. --players interacting with eachother according to the nature of their chosen roles and career paths.

pirates stealing from traders - bounty hunters killing pirates - explorers minding their own business. mercs fighting eachother.

now i'll agree - traders are on the bottom of the food chain. there isn't really any way for them to interact with other players that's specifically beneficial to their role and no deliberate or lucrative player interaction in their gameplay loop.
this is a deficiency that should be addressed. aside from the odd pirate encounter - there's really no reason for a trader who has no interest in that experience to subject themselves to that risk.
allowing traders to trade with eachother or other players might help. or something. i don't know. but there is a gap there - the other professions have potential player interaction in their gameplay loop that just replaces the normal NPC interaction they're normally doing.

traders simply don't have this. any time they're dealing with something that's not a commodity market it's usually because they're at risk of losing something - never gaining.
the same is true for explorers - but we're left alone by everything but our own silly mishaps 99% of our gameplay loop, so it's kind of a moot point.
 
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Frontier have already given warning that they are looking specifically at the problem of combat logging - I'm interested to see how they deal with the issue and what penalties will be applied to those found to be practicing it.

Without some system of arbitration checking, it's impossible. They can use background processes to monitor on-the-fly firewall changes, they can network spam to check cable length and pair disconnects, they can use software like VAC to check for attacks on the game client itself. They can do nothing whatsoever about a radio-controlled mains switch that kills a hub connecting the players computer to their router.

Microsoft hand out console bans for cable malarkeys, but a physical kill switch at the intermediate network level is totally out of everyone's control but the person with the button, and as its their own property they can do as they please. After all, MS or FD cannot dictate to you, or indeed punish you, for basically turning a lightbulb on or off.
 
I think one of the problems is that at least those pirates I've run into, all fly in clippers, and you are flying around in a small maybe medium ship.
So yeah, not much chance for the trader, and sure it is fully expected that pirates prey on the weak, but I can fully understand those that switch to solo for trading, trading is last I checked still the fastest way to earn money especially early in the game with rare trading.
So yeah, I've shifted to combat and exploration to see how it goes.
Staying in open though because it makes the game more exciting, even if the whole clipper vs smallish ship thing is annoying.
 
You're conflating combat logging and mode switching - players can (if they wish to, regardless of Frontier's official stance on the issue - it's bad m'kay) pull the network cable / kill the process / in any mode at any time. Players can only select the game mode that they wish to play in the game start menu system. Frontier have already given warning that they are looking specifically at the problem of combat logging - I'm interested to see how they deal with the issue and what penalties will be applied to those found to be practicing it.


Saying that like you are is like saying "Players can use hack programs if they want to" Combat logging is an exploit and is the same as cheating in many gamers opinion. We deal with this issues all the time. I think if you combat log like that when your ship is in danger it should count it like ship destruction and then it auto chooses the no rebuy option for your ship and puts you back in a sidewinder. Right now it is an exploit that keeps you from losing your ship
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Saying that like you are is like saying "Players can use hack programs if they want to" Combat logging is an exploit and is the same as cheating in many gamers opinion. We deal with this issues all the time. I think if you combat log like that when your ship is in danger it should count it like ship destruction and then it auto chooses the no rebuy option for your ship and puts you back in a sidewinder. Right now it is an exploit that keeps you from losing your ship

As I said, combat logging is an issue that Frontier is concerned about and they are looking into how to deal with it.

My point was that combat logging and mode switching are two completely separate and unrelated things.
 
Pfft. Don't go to Mobius, stay in Open where it's fun. You can't get that adrenaline rush in PvE heaven and you know it.

Just the other day, I was doing some weapon runs for the Crimson State Group in my rent-a-T6 (pretty much basic gear except maxed out cargo), and yeah... I had a fat bounty on my head from getting caught by another player smuggling military intelligence. So I undock and immediately get scanned. So that's inside the station and I know it's a player... looking around... there he is. A Python. And this bucket can't move a damn. And I'm already out the lock.

So I hug the station, hoping to either put it between me and him and get enough time to run, or maybe dock and stare at the guy for a while. But he's glued to my tail. Not shooting, I guess he doesn't want to get blasted to pieces by the station even for that bounty.

"Some other time then", and he leaves.

I watch him go, making sure the station is between us (don't trust anything anyone says), then finally turn and boost to freedom.

Another time I'm hunting some bounties in Lugh in my Vulture, when I spot another Vulture going about. As a matter of course, I target them so I can monitor what they're doing. And see, I notice they turn towards me. Still have that bounty so I know that he has noticed it. I emergency drop out of supercruise, boost away and turn around, FA off with guns out. A few minutes later, boom, he drops in on me. We start circling. But I'm not shooting, because he isn't. He's flashing lights at me.

So we settle down to parlay.

"Nice bounty you have there".
"Received in the line of duty."
"For whom?"
"CSG"
"Then you can go." - and off he goes.
I salute the guy and get on with my business. (A little tip, when parlaying don't let me settle behind you with my weapons out and targeting your drives, not the best position to be in if we come to blows)

Can't get that kind of gameplay with NPCs. And all it takes is paying attention and 90% of the time you'll be fine.
 
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Without some system of arbitration checking, it's impossible. They can use background processes to monitor on-the-fly firewall changes, they can network spam to check cable length and pair disconnects, they can use software like VAC to check for attacks on the game client itself. They can do nothing whatsoever about a radio-controlled mains switch that kills a hub connecting the players computer to their router.

Microsoft hand out console bans for cable malarkeys, but a physical kill switch at the intermediate network level is totally out of everyone's control but the person with the button, and as its their own property they can do as they please. After all, MS or FD cannot dictate to you, or indeed punish you, for basically turning a lightbulb on or off.

Sure they can. they can ban you from their game for any reason they wish -- read your T&C's. They can also shadowban you into private groups / solo forever if you combat log. You still get to play, just not with others in open
 

Deleted member 38366

D
I gotta say, the lag/stuttering and the super-busy Systems (the near-impossible "racing through contacts" game) just pegged with a large number of contacts in SuperCruise is a bit of a downer sometimes...

A few days ago, I docked at a Jameson Memorial so full with CMDR Ships - I actually feared the Station might not have any free docking pads remaining
chatt.gif

Just after I started settling down to my Pad in a small ferry-flight Adder - I noted that a Type-9 suddenly *warped* over 2.5km from outside right by me into the Station 0.o
(that could have easily had a bad bad ending - not for the insurance of the small ship... but it would have meant making a repeat- 250LY travel in it :D )
 
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