A good point, we have rolled into specific systems with 2 full combat wings hoping to do something. Lo and behold, the instancing prevents any other CMDRs from showing up.
Actually, if I understood correctly the results of some tests Roybe did, showing up with 3 full combat wings will completely prevent you from seeing anyone else, and to even get there some manipulating of the wings system was needed. Given that, I would expect showing up with 2 full combat wings to already prevent any other random player (as in, that isn't actively attempting to get into your specific instance) from being seen.
How many instances are there? Is that like a subjective infinite thing? I really have no idea.
Each game client is capable of creating its own instance. So, yeah, for all intents and purposes there is no limit to the number of instances, you could have one for every player. The instances run on the player's computer, after all, and not on the servers.
So Frontier designed the game for players who feel like they don't want to interact with other players, to be able to affect other players without interacting with them? Really trying to understand, not a ______.
Rather, to force every player, regardless of whether they want to interact or not, to see in the ongoing universe simulation the effects of the actions of every other player, regardless of the mode those other players choose. They wanted a single galaxy that reflected the actions of the whole player base. It was their main justification for dropping offline mode, even.
Your assertions are specious at best, to use your own terminology. Given lousy connections, time of play, or perhaps even deliberate manipulation, a player can(and this scenario already most likely currently occurs in game) effectively render themselves untouchable/ungroupable in open, thus rendering in impossible for anyone to "interact" with them. Thus, open players can, and most likely do, accomplish CG and PP goals without the possibility of ever encountering another player.
There are scripts that can make you unmatchable, and undo that, with a single keypress. They can even be used while in game to cause a de-sync, dropping the player in a newly created instance and making him instantly vanish for any potential opponent; it's like combat logging, just without the hassle of having to log back into solo mode.
IMHO the only reason those aren't more widespread in the ED community is that, currently, they aren't really needed; just log out and drop into solo instead and you achieve effectively the same thing.
Affecting the universe in any mode is not reconcilable with equality, for the reasons I've already stated.
It was one of the basic concepts used to sell the game, though: that players would be able to always choose who they play with, would be free to change their choice at any time, and would have no penalty or disadvantage regardless of that choice.
And, in any case, peer to peer. Vulnerable to blocking. I could easily play in 'Open' but set my game to never see another player.
