Hi all,
I am with Elite since I play computer games and with ED since premium beta.
I am a role-player, meaning when I log into the game I pretend to be an independent starship pilot in a cutthroat galaxy. You can find my character's back story in the Lore and Roleplaying forum, as well as my Commander's Log (Ren Ashfield) where I loosly chronicle my adventures in space. So the game has yet to become dull for me. I really enjoy it and at the moment I log in almost every evening for two hours or so.
That said, because of my casual play style and because I like to play in my own universe I played Solo and Private Group with a friend (also an RP gamer and long-time real life friend). Nothing there to break your immersion.
I love the small ships (up to Diamondback Scout and looking at an Imperial Courier, need to make Serf though still...) because they are very liberating. They don't require you to focus on credits/hour and they fit from a RP point of view. I just can't imagine my character piloting a Python or Anaconda, even if I could afford them.
So about a week ago I figured I would try Open. I outfitted a cheap but very PVE capable Viper and a cheap but very fast Cobra MK III, actually, three Cobras and two Vipers with rebuys of around 40K to 100K. I parked my Vulture in Jameson Memorial and headed into the Lave cluster on purpose.
There I did what I usually do: Run missions that make sense in-character and jot down some notes about them for my Commander's Log but I purposly did them in the Lave cluster, for the thrill of it.
So after a week in open, here are my thoughts:
1. I can't see myself going back to solo. The thrill and adrenaline rush you get if you see a hollow icon on the scanner is priceless. The challenge of actually getting to George Lucas in Leesti to cash in on a mission while the system is swarming with PVPers out for blood is so much fun.
2. Even though I am not a PVPer and don't have my ships optimized for PVP I can still “win”. Every evaded interdiction and every escape is a “win” for me. My Cobras boost 453, my Viper 417, very few ships can catch me. I was interdicted by a wing of three the other day. The challenge is to keep calm and follow the correct procedure: submit, boost, boost, boost, select hyperspace target, engage hyperdrive, all while deploying chaff, do not try supercruise. Escaped the wing with one shield ring left (I use no cells). Escaped another 1on1 interdiction in the same manner. For me, that is a win.
3. Even if I do bite the dust, it costs me 100K max. Nothing compared to the rebuy of the big ships. I make that back in 20 minutes tops but with several million cash I couldn't care less. The thrill and experience I got from the fight or attempted flight is well worth it.
4. I know that I can avoid all this by avoiding the hotspots. I made the conscious decision to experience the danger but it is so much fun actually paying attention to your scanner.
5. I even encountered one (but only one) real pirate, role-playing as a pirate. This guy announced his interdiction, asked me if I got cargo (which I hadn't), scanned me for cargo and let me go about my business.
Long story short: I started in Solo, went to Open, will stay in Open unless playing with my friend. I love it BUT there are drawbacks from an RP-point of view and sadly, the reports of player killing for the “lulz” are true. Here are my negatives:
1. As an RP player, the immersion breaking is a big deal breaker for me. The ooc chat lines together with netspeak (e. g.“lol”), the references to game mechanics and NPC etc. make sure that you know from minute one that you are in a game and not in your own space fantasy. For me as an RP guy this is the most important factor and I believe that this can be a big turnoff for anybody that wants to “play pretend”. For me, this is more disturbing than getting “ganked” or “griefed”. But this is why the galaxy is so big. I have the option to find my private corner any time.
2. PVP is not meaningful in any way and happens only for the purpose of PVP, at least from my experience in the Lave cluster. It might be better in a place where comm goals are happening or player RP groups are operating. But in the Lave cluster there is no communication, no goal, no purpose. Just interdict and shoot right away. No matter if the target is clean, no matter if it has cargo, no matter if it is not pledged to any power. I am not pledged, am almost always clean and seldom carry cargo in a Viper. I have the rack to do salvage missions. Still, I got attacked whenever somebody got the chance to attack me.
3. Like said many times, the law and punishment is non-existent. There are no high security systems. No matter what the allegiance of the system, no matter the government. If there are players it is unsafe. Nobody will come to your rescue, no police intervention will stop the PVPers. You have to keep that in mind. And in a dedicated cargo vessel, I think you are in for rough times.
And to all you Open vs. Group guys:
I applaud Frontier for giving me the option to choose without forcing me to use a different save or account. More than before, I think the coexistence of the game modes helps Open more than anything.
The thrill of the fight, the adrenaline rush when interdicted is priceless. Nothing beats it. It is reward in itself and in my opinion the only incentive Open needs.
But if I had to chose one or the other from the beginning my choice would be Solo. If Frontier would somehow force me to choose permanently with my current save I would choose Solo, because of playing with my friend who will probably not join Open.
So the model that Frontier chose is the reason this Commander joined Open in the first place. Maybe others will follow. Without the different modes, it would never have happened.
I am with Elite since I play computer games and with ED since premium beta.
I am a role-player, meaning when I log into the game I pretend to be an independent starship pilot in a cutthroat galaxy. You can find my character's back story in the Lore and Roleplaying forum, as well as my Commander's Log (Ren Ashfield) where I loosly chronicle my adventures in space. So the game has yet to become dull for me. I really enjoy it and at the moment I log in almost every evening for two hours or so.
That said, because of my casual play style and because I like to play in my own universe I played Solo and Private Group with a friend (also an RP gamer and long-time real life friend). Nothing there to break your immersion.
I love the small ships (up to Diamondback Scout and looking at an Imperial Courier, need to make Serf though still...) because they are very liberating. They don't require you to focus on credits/hour and they fit from a RP point of view. I just can't imagine my character piloting a Python or Anaconda, even if I could afford them.
So about a week ago I figured I would try Open. I outfitted a cheap but very PVE capable Viper and a cheap but very fast Cobra MK III, actually, three Cobras and two Vipers with rebuys of around 40K to 100K. I parked my Vulture in Jameson Memorial and headed into the Lave cluster on purpose.
There I did what I usually do: Run missions that make sense in-character and jot down some notes about them for my Commander's Log but I purposly did them in the Lave cluster, for the thrill of it.
So after a week in open, here are my thoughts:
1. I can't see myself going back to solo. The thrill and adrenaline rush you get if you see a hollow icon on the scanner is priceless. The challenge of actually getting to George Lucas in Leesti to cash in on a mission while the system is swarming with PVPers out for blood is so much fun.
2. Even though I am not a PVPer and don't have my ships optimized for PVP I can still “win”. Every evaded interdiction and every escape is a “win” for me. My Cobras boost 453, my Viper 417, very few ships can catch me. I was interdicted by a wing of three the other day. The challenge is to keep calm and follow the correct procedure: submit, boost, boost, boost, select hyperspace target, engage hyperdrive, all while deploying chaff, do not try supercruise. Escaped the wing with one shield ring left (I use no cells). Escaped another 1on1 interdiction in the same manner. For me, that is a win.
3. Even if I do bite the dust, it costs me 100K max. Nothing compared to the rebuy of the big ships. I make that back in 20 minutes tops but with several million cash I couldn't care less. The thrill and experience I got from the fight or attempted flight is well worth it.
4. I know that I can avoid all this by avoiding the hotspots. I made the conscious decision to experience the danger but it is so much fun actually paying attention to your scanner.
5. I even encountered one (but only one) real pirate, role-playing as a pirate. This guy announced his interdiction, asked me if I got cargo (which I hadn't), scanned me for cargo and let me go about my business.
Long story short: I started in Solo, went to Open, will stay in Open unless playing with my friend. I love it BUT there are drawbacks from an RP-point of view and sadly, the reports of player killing for the “lulz” are true. Here are my negatives:
1. As an RP player, the immersion breaking is a big deal breaker for me. The ooc chat lines together with netspeak (e. g.“lol”), the references to game mechanics and NPC etc. make sure that you know from minute one that you are in a game and not in your own space fantasy. For me as an RP guy this is the most important factor and I believe that this can be a big turnoff for anybody that wants to “play pretend”. For me, this is more disturbing than getting “ganked” or “griefed”. But this is why the galaxy is so big. I have the option to find my private corner any time.
2. PVP is not meaningful in any way and happens only for the purpose of PVP, at least from my experience in the Lave cluster. It might be better in a place where comm goals are happening or player RP groups are operating. But in the Lave cluster there is no communication, no goal, no purpose. Just interdict and shoot right away. No matter if the target is clean, no matter if it has cargo, no matter if it is not pledged to any power. I am not pledged, am almost always clean and seldom carry cargo in a Viper. I have the rack to do salvage missions. Still, I got attacked whenever somebody got the chance to attack me.
3. Like said many times, the law and punishment is non-existent. There are no high security systems. No matter what the allegiance of the system, no matter the government. If there are players it is unsafe. Nobody will come to your rescue, no police intervention will stop the PVPers. You have to keep that in mind. And in a dedicated cargo vessel, I think you are in for rough times.
And to all you Open vs. Group guys:
I applaud Frontier for giving me the option to choose without forcing me to use a different save or account. More than before, I think the coexistence of the game modes helps Open more than anything.
The thrill of the fight, the adrenaline rush when interdicted is priceless. Nothing beats it. It is reward in itself and in my opinion the only incentive Open needs.
But if I had to chose one or the other from the beginning my choice would be Solo. If Frontier would somehow force me to choose permanently with my current save I would choose Solo, because of playing with my friend who will probably not join Open.
So the model that Frontier chose is the reason this Commander joined Open in the first place. Maybe others will follow. Without the different modes, it would never have happened.
