Should I do online mode? I am a bit nervous to...

[Bazorlag]

It depends. Other players are mostly a hindrance in the current game, because they will reduce your earnings in various ways. They can attack you, they can take half of your bounties, they can ram you, they can hog docking ports on a station. Anything that slows you down even a second is a cost. Winging up for PVE combat is pointless for most part, because solo player can handle all challenges that are worth trying. Strong signal sources have some interesting encounters, but unfortunately the payout is not good enough for multiple people. Well coordinated trading in 4 man wing is barely worth it, but unfortunately it also has a higher change of drying up your traderoute as you all put pressure to it simultaneously. That 5% dividend might not be enough if you have to periodically change routes instead of just going back and forth in optimal fashion. Also notice that "well coordinated", which is hardly assured when dealing with random teammates.

If you want to do PVP, then teammates are a great asset, however. However, that will not earn you money in any respectable amounts. Just dribs and drabs from poor merchants that you force to drop few tons of cargo here and there.

 

[Evil Ed]

Just do it! The risk/chance of PvP add so much. I trade a few jumps from one of the known PvP-hotspots and it's really a nice feeling knowing that just a few jumps away there is danger, and why not put the Danger in Elite: Dangerous? Really see no reason to join any PvE-groups as the universe is big enough to find a calm place with good trading etc.

 

[Zplintz]

i think its best to try open first and maybe a pve group later if it does not work out.
i am a little skeptical about some of those groups recruitment methods and think maybe they have something to do whit the bad rep open play has got.

Sceptical about what? Not everyone enjoys looking over their shoulder all the time. Most MMOs are pve with specialist pvp servers or opt in mechanics for pvp. Mobius created his group to give players the open of pve.

I prefer pvp environments because I think it is more exciting. It isn't everyone's cup of tea though.

 

[Guidebot]

I play all the time on open and I've never encountered anything malicious. I have a lot of fun making new friends and seeing what other cmdrs are up to. And murdering them, a bit.

 

[Katkon]

I've been in Open an entire year - spent 99.99999pct of my time there. I am not a diehard PVPer, I just prefer to see other humans around. I can honestly say that in all my time in Open, I've seen just one or two attempts of unprovoked destruction of my ship. Of course, I've sought occasional PvP at conflict zones and bounty hunted the occasional wanted player who fought back, but actual PVP fighting is easy to avoid if you want to. Just stay away from major trade/rares hubs (esp George Lucas - known for its griefers) and avoid conflict zones. You may still bump into someone who wants to destroy your ship "just because" but you can usually spot them pretty easily by keeping an eye on your radar and by seeing how they're positioning themselves on the HUD when they're targeted in the radar. In short: go for it. It makes Elite MUCH, MUCH more fun.

Also, feel free to send me a friend request in-game. Not always on, but I'd be happy fly along with you for a bit.

 

[Tuub t Tute]

I have spent the last week trading in Open. 70LY from Sol, 2600 cr/t round trip between stations 35LY apart. Traffic report last night was 31 at one end and 59 at the other! If you aren't in a high traffic area, you won't see anyone for hours at a time

 

[Araviel]

Sceptical about what? Not everyone enjoys looking over their shoulder all the time. Most MMOs are pve with specialist pvp servers or opt in mechanics for pvp. Mobius created his group ti give players the open of pve.

I prefer pvp environments because I think it is more exciting. It isn't everyone's cup of tea though.

there is nothing wrong whit pve groups in itself, its great that we have the option.
i just don't think that its right what some of them do and claim that there are griefers around every corner in open just to try and get more people to join their groups.

 

[StewartScott]

Go open play. It makes things way more interesting interacting with humans, their the true unknown factors in this game. It makes it more exciting to play. Just make sure you can easily pay your insurance and who cares if you meet a bad penny who attacks you, they are very far and in between. A good battle makes the blood flow, and so it does when you get interdicted by a player. Ya just never know what might happen.

'Never knowing' is what I love about open play vs solo play. No comparison in my opinion.

 

[Zplintz]

there is nothing wrong whit pve groups in itself, its great that we have the option.
i just don't think that its right what some of them do and claim that there are griefers around every corner in open just to try and get more people to join their groups.

You are right. There aren't griefers around every corner and also thatvis over stated.

A lot of issues come from noobs hanging around in the places thst they have heard of (like Lave). Pirates and griefers go to heavily player populated areas because that is where their prey are. Away from these areas it is far less of an issue.

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

Open mode isn't as bad as people here make it out to be. That said it's not without some risk. Just avoid, rare goods systems and core systems(near sol, anachar, laedin, and eranin) and you'll barely ever see any other players.

Also check your radar in SC, if you see a player who looks like they're lining up an interdiction, do an emergency stop(double tap the fsd button) and fly to a new system.

 

[King Sancho]

Sceptical about what? Not everyone enjoys looking over their shoulder all the time. Most MMOs are pve with specialist pvp servers or opt in mechanics for pvp. Mobius created his group to give players the open of pve.

I prefer pvp environments because I think it is more exciting. It isn't everyone's cup of tea though.

If you kept reading.. he stated what he was skeptical about. Answer: The groups recruiting methods.

 

[R Wilco]

I've been exclusive Open Play since the official launch date. The first few interdictions, I was scared. Honest to god, heart beating scared. It was the coolest feeling!

Now, not so scared, but it gives the opportunity to roleplay and get more 'in' to the game. Interdictions from TheCode have been most fun. Only twice have I been interdicted by Pirates who shot before talking. The first, resulted in me fleeing across four systems from a wing of kill-hungry Onionheads.

The second, during the DISO Expansion CG, was from a Cobra MKIII that returned my hails with burst lasers. Then, out of the black, an unknown Imperial Clipper piloted by a CMDR CMahaff arrived, announced "Not this time Pirate!" and drove the scoundrel off. I have no idea who CMDR CMahaff is, or if he still lives, but for that brief moment space was no longer empty.

Get that in Solo. I dare ya.

Cheers!

PS - Make sure you understand how to use the communication system. Silence can equal death. And never, ever spend the insurance money.

- - - Updated - - -

Use Ctrl+b to bring your bandwidth monitor up. It's handy when your in a crowded area. If it stays low then there are no players about, as soon as the readings start to spike you know someones about

+1. Neat trick. Does this help when the scopes are cluttered?

Cheers!

 

[ALavaPenguin]

Thanks all, yeah it wasn't that scary now that I actually took the plunge. I don't mind some fun pvp and fighting but just I didn't want to get constantly camped 24/7. Probably helps that I am not exactly in anything screaming trade vessel [in a vulture]. I am going to stick with gimbaled I think. I realized last night if I untarget something when chaff is used I can just use gimballed weapons as if they were ungimballed [even though I suppose they will have lower overall damage than a normal fixed]. Thanks all!!

 

[Zplintz]

If you kept reading.. he stated what he was skeptical about. Answer: The groups recruiting methods.

And if you had bothered to read on passed that post you would have realised that we have already discussed further on the subject. It was further explaination of the scepticism I was looking for. Thanks though

And 'He'?


Anyway back on topic....
Open is more fun IMO. Where do you get to be interdicted in an unarmed trader, lose 30t of imperial slaves (aprox 300k) to a pirate. Decide to set a trap and kit out your Clipper for combat and 10t of imp slaves (as bait) and wait to be interdicted again. It works. I've got you this time. Deploy weapons. Your ship powers down. (Next time read the patch notes from the day before Cmdr Zplintz *facepalm). Handed over the 10t.

You could of course do the same with an npc but it wouldn't be anywhere near as embarrassing nor would it make both you laugh as much.

Love to name the Cmdr but I am sure s/he remembers this one.

Playing a game solo is all well and good but other people help to make the experience that little bit less predictable and keeps you on your toes.

 

[Ancipital]

Go online if you're curious, but make sure that you can afford your rebuy plus cargo several times over. It's the old maxim about only gambling that which you can afford to lose that is most useful here. I'd suggest going online away from the Lave cluster, busy CGs or popular rares routes. Certainly do NOT go online for the first time at George Lucas station

You could join a group that plays online if you're worried, too. I know that not everyone wants or has time to do that, but it's a solid option.

 

[Eloy]

Join the Private Group "Mobius". In short, that´s a group for non-griefers. They have over 8000 members yet.
Go to your Main menu, request to join the group under "Private groups" (this will take up to 24 hours) and then when starting your game, just choose Private Group / Mobius. There you go. Kinda "open" with 8000 (and rising) sane players.

Players that don´t fit the ethics of the group will be banned. For more info google "mobius group" or search this forum.

 

[Ancipital]

Join the Private Group "Mobius". In short, that´s a group for non-griefers. They have over 8000 members yet.

That's not what he's asking about. He's specifically asking about open, aka the wild west, rather than private groups.

 

[Zplintz]

Ultimately it is the OPs choice. People are just suggesting that there are alternatives to solo and open if you want to play with others but are unsure whether open is for you.

 

[Narase]

Playing open since the end of last year. I can count on one hand how many players I met. Everything more than 10 jumps away from the core systems and other special places (like Lucas Station) is dead zone and you will find no player out there (Im wondering, where all these 500.000 Accs are)

 

[Evil Ed]

Where do you get to be interdicted in an unarmed trader, lose 30t of imperial slaves (aprox 300k) to a pirate.

How about this: Got interdicted with 492 tonnes of imperial slaves by a solo pirate in a Python. I submitted as always and then there was this moment, give him some cargo or try to run? Losing 450k vs. 13 M? Let's get DANGEROUS! I quickly selected a system to jump to, started to charge up the FSD, did some "T9-evasive" manoeuvres and started to pray that he was a bad shot. The D5 shield with it's single A0 booster went down fast but FSD charging looked good and with more then half my hull left I jumped out! Truly my event of the night and why I play open as much as possible.

(In solo now for a few hrs as I managed to overheat my thrusters and not knowing about the reboot/repair procedure I self destructed and got that nice 5 M insurance + I lost 4 M worth of cargo which did put me in a very bad financial spot. But back in open tomorrow!)