Perhaps it is necessary to define and distinguish between the different types of PvP that can occur within ED/EDH ...
Here's a rough stab at it. Feel free to refine/re-define/improve on these...
1) PvE-PvP : this can be defined as "Players who are playing against other players indirectly via the Environment - e.g. Supporting factions, Powers etc."
2) PvP - Piracy : one of the in-game careers
3) PvP - Bounty-Hunting : one of the in-game careers
In-game careers being defined as one of the officially touted careers of Trader, Explorer, Pirate, and Bounty Hunter.
And then there's:
PvP for sport : this is the one where I think all the contention is being caused by. This is where there are players of the game who only go looking for other players to shoot at, for no other reason than just shooting at other players and getting satisfaction at seeing their unwilling opponent's ships being blown up.
There is no officially touted in-game career of "PvP for sport" - there is, however, CQC. That, is basically PvP for sport. I am deliberately not including PvP-for-sport as an "in-game" career because CQC is supposed to be some virtual sport game within the game.
Nevertheless, despite the presence of CQC, there appear to be a not insignificant amount of players now who engage in PvP-for-sport within the game (i.e. outside of CQC). This is why, I think, there is so much objection - it's because PvP-for-sport is not taking the in-game careers into account.
PvP-for-sport is completely out of context for most other players who are trying to play the game the way it's intended to be played. The only time PvP-for-sport players are concerned with real in-game contexts, is when they need to earn credits in order to maintain their ships that they use for PvP-for-sport.
This, to me, looks like a game design problem, one that needs to be addressed by FDEV. They have in fact tried to do so by adding CQC. But for whatever reason, there are untold numbers of PvP-for-sport players who don't want or don't like CQC and are embarking on out-of-context playing in Open.
"But in Open anything goes! PvP is valid play style!" - Yes and no. It's valid play style if you are engaging in the intended and in-context roles within the game. It is invalid play style if your only way to play the game is PvP-for-sport, and that is out-of-context.
My 2 pennies worth.
Regards o7
Well said.
Though one could argue that the PVP-for-sport is simply another less-desirable career path: The Criminal.
It is also not out of the game context. It is within the game context.
It is simply seen as out-of-context for a majority of the playerbase because they want player attacks to have a
reason behind them; ie, bounty-hunting, faction/powerplay, and piracy.
Of course, I can't speak for the special breed of PVE players who complain about even being intercepted by a pirate who actually communicates to demand cargo before shooting. SimCity might be a friendlier experience for them? I dunno.
Discussed to death already, but again I reiterate:
What the game needs to mitigate this in not some separate PVE mode where FF is off, or whatever, or worse FF-off completely to serve the needs of the "play-nice" people. It needs to take from EVE-Online (yes everybody hates that word, but it is still relevant) and implement a brutal police force ala CONCORD that responds swiftly and decisively to any kind of player aggression.
Assault = a wing of high-level NPC cops drop in on the attacker and begin attacking him. Forcing him to fight or flee.
Continued assault = After another minute, additional higher-level NPC cops drop in. Even if you're in a wing of 4, you're unlikely to survive 10 Elite NPC, specially fitted (HRPs + beam laser/Frag cannon/PA) Anacondas and Vultures swooping in on your position.
Systems should have some kind of implicit (not necessarily shown to players) security level that corresponds to their tech-level, population, or closeness to the core systems, and the Police response should correspond to that level. Also, the NPC system should respond to whether the system is in Civil War/Unrest or otherwise.
We need to keep PVP viable for piracy and faction/powerplay, while making it harder for the criminals. It should not just serve the need of the silly and complacent shieldless PVE cargo-runner who is blind to anything but profits. These guys are just as bad as the gankers themselves, IMO.
Pirates can always communicate with their quarry to demand a cargo drop instead of attacking outright. That will incur no NPC cop response. And even if they do fire, they take the risk because the pirated cargo is an income source. And they should minimize their risk by doing their business on less secure or anarchy areas.
For murderers and gankers, having no income from the assault, and the prospect of being ganked themselves by robotic, never-miss cops should give them some pause. Everytime they do their thing, and especially in a core or hi-pop system, there is a 75% chance of being kicked in the face by 10 to 15 cops.
Newbie starting systems should be made high sec.
