(info) First bonus for playing in OPEN under consideration for PP

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You see, this is where I believe we have a difference of outlook...

You view getting blown up in Open as a challenge; "How dare those people do that! I'm gonna get my posse and we're gonna blow them up right back!"

My personal view is: "I just wasted 35 million credits, that equates to 9+ hours worth of NPC bounty hunting! I just wasted 9 hours... Welp, back to Solo I go."

Why would I risk another 35 million (plus unclaimed claims) in Open? I don't find it fun. I just don't. I understand why people find it fun, but it just doesn't appeal to me. Though, I will say that is a pretty good speech, but I'm not just not interested in being someone else's content when that content is a big target with 'SHOOT ME' written on it.

Then the big question becomes: if you don't want a big target on your back, and you dont want to engage in PvP, why do you even consider PowerPlay considering that is all about player versus player faction warfare?
 
… you may overestimate how many people immediately start cheating when something happens they dont like.…

You underestimate the desire of players to win.

Remember the jump to SC and back to wing beacon? Some players want to win, at all cost, no matter what. Those are the ones who will play around with their routers (not only UPnP).

The only result will be that there won't be more players in Open Mode instances (they will be in their own Open Mode instance) with the added benefit of being even more effective in PP - or any other activity).

In short: the effect would be exactly the opposite of the desired result.
 
Then the big question becomes: if you don't want a big target on your back, and you dont want to engage in PvP, why do you even consider PowerPlay considering that is all about player versus player faction warfare?

... which is "fought" by shipping selfies of Space Khaleesi from one nice system to a not so nice one. :D

And imbalanced by offering oodles of advantages in the form of tier 3 rewards (2 useful ones) and Bountyhunt Bonuses (2 useful ones) from the start. :D
 
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I don't know what all of the PVPers are whining about, honestly. I went to Shinrarta Dezhra a few days ago to give piracy a try for the first time. Within 3 minutes of undocking from Jameson Memorial, I had a Type 7 interdicted and under my guns. I kindly asked him to drop 2 tons of loot, but he sped off. I blasted his thrusters with rails, but he escaped just in the nick of time.

I later interdicted an Asp, but realized he was pledged to ALD (same as me), so I sent him on his way.

It's not as hard to find people as the PVP crowd makes it seem. No need to be petulant.
 
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Any still the old point from the very beginning stands: with a bit of technical expertise anyone can turn their open play into an effective solo mode, by blocking P2P access to all but FD's servers. And if the internet and gaming in particular has taught us one thing, it is the inventiveness and the distance lots of people will go in games, especially any form of real or perceived competitive situation, to gain whatever advantage possible. And the people who will do in this case, will enjoy the benefit of both the absense of PvP and the open play PP bonus.

Which means that in a p2p setup such as this the incentive needs to come directly from the interaction with other players, not from being in a mode where you theoretically could encounter them. I do wonder how easily such peer-block situations can be sniffed out by FD. It would be a valuable thing to be able detect and punish such exploits.
 
If you think this is about winning you have already lost. Sandro made a suggestion about giving Open Mode players more "weight" in PP by making their actions more effective in PP. The OP asked if this could/should be added to other activities.
That's the discussion. It's about making the game better or if the suggestion would make the game better.

It's not about use vs. them. Or PvP vs. PvE (what ever PvP definition currently is fashionable.) If you turn it into something you want to win, you will be blind for solutions that could benefit everybody.



The main problem of the suggestion - compensation/bonus/buff for activities in Open Mode - is that the networking system of the game in it's current state can be easily used to circumvent the suggested solution.
As long as the networking system of the game is the way it currently is any bonus for Open Mode is worthless and does more harm than good - because players will use their routers and internet connection to get empty instances.

Before any bonus/compensation is added to any mode, FD would have to fix the networking system to prevent such things and then they would have to fix the matchmaking and instancing.

Only after this we can start to discuss if a bonus/compensation for playing in Open is a good or bad idea.

Pointing out the obvious problems isn't threatening with "exploits", it's stating the obvious.

You can "win" an argument by convincing the opposition you're right. Now it so happens I do think that I am right in stating that a PP bonus to Open is a bad idea and I would like to make others see it my way. There's really no need for bloodshed, I'll leave that to Kermit and his team ;)
 
... which is "fought" by shipping selfies of Space Khaleesi from one nice system to a not so nice one. :D

Just selfies? I had hoped for artistic boudoir pictures…

That's the problem with the imperials, they simply don't know how to sell stuff. They should hire some Alliance guys, they will tell them how to make money.
 
You underestimate the desire of players to win.

Remember the jump to SC and back to wing beacon? Some players want to win, at all cost, no matter what. Those are the ones who will play around with their routers (not only UPnP).

The only result will be that there won't be more players in Open Mode instances (they will be in their own Open Mode instance) with the added benefit of being even more effective in PP - or any other activity).

In short: the effect would be exactly the opposite of the desired result.

Eh, I dont think you ran the numbers through properly. :p If EVERY solo Powerplayer would do that trick, than that would nullify the effects of the change as the merits of everyone count as much as everyone else's. If even one solo player continues in solo without cheating, there is a net win. The more people remain in solo, the more the change would have an effect.

So unless someone here wants to make the argument 100% of solo players are cheaters (in which case let me get some popcorn first!) the change proposed will help, even if only a bit.
 
Which means that in a p2p setup such as this the incentive needs to come directly from the interaction with other players, not from being in a mode where you theoretically could encounter them. I do wonder how easily such peer-block situations can be sniffed out by FD. It would be a valuable thing to be able detect and punish such exploits.

Any detection and punishment would also hurt anyone with connectivity issues that happen to overlap with whatever system they would set up for that. And for those gaming the system, they would selectively allow FD's fake P2P clients through their firewalls. Possibly there could be more elaborate schemes, but do we want an arms race between FD and the players in gaming network technology?
 
This idea has probably been brought up elsewhere in Open vs Solo, but personally I wouldn't mind adding a pvp flag system to open, eliminating the need for the boost and encouraging people back there. If you want to engage in pvp you can, even add group missions that require it to give more depth to pvp, but aren't better or worse than pve alternatives. At the moment the game largely revolves around pve anyway, and given instancing issues it is more efficient to respond via pve activities anyway. Giving more specific pvp-related options could provide an alternative while minimizing the impact on pve players.

Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but the problem is you ARE someone else's content while being in Solo - you have just as much, if not more say as anyone what happens to the shared universe. I don't find THAT fun.
To turn that around, you are someone else's content whilst they are playing in solo and they might not find that fun.

Just as an extra point. If powerplay was altered to have very little impact on the BGS (faction influence changes, goods available, prices) so it has little effect on those who don't want to participate in pvp, I would be more accepting of the current suggestion of changes to PP. But that would require a reworking of the entire concept of PP.
 
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Do you even play PowerPlay? Or are you just using this discussion about PowerPlay as a cheap way to start another, very unrelated, discussion? Ther problem isn't that 'people are concerned others have too much fun', but that some people are messing up the gameplay of thousands of people by gaming the system of the only structured PvP gameplay there is. Sandro proposed a way to help with that. Your only response so far is "never, we'd rather cheat!" and "there is no problem, lalalalala!". Neither of these arguments is very strong.

I have yet to see evidence of gameplay being messed up, I have however seen statements that strongly suggest that at least some PvPers are hoping this bonus will bring in (back?) some easy targets for them to hunt...
 
Which means that in a p2p setup such as this the incentive needs to come directly from the interaction with other players, not from being in a mode where you theoretically could encounter them. I do wonder how easily such peer-block situations can be sniffed out by FD. It would be a valuable thing to be able detect and punish such exploits.

How about using a slow WiFi connection. Similar effect as turning of UPnP from what I've read. Unless FD starts to tell everybody who wants to play in Open Mode that they have to have the latest and greatest in network technology and that they have to use an approved ISPs.

Not easy for FD…

And even if FD can detect the difference between intentional and unintentional network "problems" that result in empty instances in Open Mode - remember how they deal with combat loggers…
 
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Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but the problem is you ARE someone else's content while being in Solo - you have just as much, if not more say as anyone what happens to the shared universe. I don't find THAT fun.

If you want to play by yourself then cool, but as it stands you get a 'bonus' because you can play free of fear other than magical teleporting chain interdicting NPC who are intensely interesting in a packet of trade data you simply cannot get scanned because somehow the people getting that data can tell if it's been scanned. Lord knows the game has enough ways to waste your time.

Do you want a posse? I can rent you one cheap.

Once again, I disagree. I still have to grind just as much as you to get anywhere, the only difference is that you enjoy grinding in a more dangerous environment. You've admitted it yourself, you feel that it's 'The Way' to play, while I feel much less so, so why should I get de-facto penalized for a matter of taste? Because that's how I view this: this isn't a bonus for open play, it's a tax on solo and private. A penalty. It's the game's way of telling me 'You're doing it wrong!' every time I would log in.

Also, if I have to hire a 'posse' everytime I log on to enjoy a game, then maybe it's not a game worth playing. At least for me.
 
It has also been stated that some ISP / Router providers turn uPnP off on their hardware by default. It isn't an exploit if that is the way your hardware is set up by the provider.
 
Then the big question becomes: if you don't want a big target on your back, and you dont want to engage in PvP, why do you even consider PowerPlay considering that is all about player versus player faction warfare?


This sort of 'bonus' would set a dangerous president that I don't like. I quit PP a while ago because it didn't appeal to me, nor does any sort of PvP action, and I'm not inclined to back decisions that push me back into Open play when my own personal experiences have been negative 66% of the time.
 
I have yet to see evidence of gameplay being messed up, I have however seen statements that strongly suggest that at least some PvPers are hoping this bonus will bring in (back?) some easy targets for them to hunt...

I assume you watch Powerplay from the sidelines then. It has been a problem from day #1 that its impossible to properly defend systems or plan tactically in a meaningful way, because people just grind in solo and hand merits in an hour before the tick. You can patrol the system 24/7 but it wont help the slightest. As for 'bringing easy targets back', I have no idea how that even works. This is about Powerplay, not about Simon Sidewinder being lured to Open to be ganked in LHS3447. People who play PP for the personal rewards can stay in Solo, as this only effects those who want to actively work against other players. If they are 'too easy' to risk a direct confrontation, than they should just accept they wont influence the war much.

Its a very simple situation, really: do you feel its okay that people enter a competition, demand to influence the competition as much as everyone else, but at the same time demand to be made invisible to this same competition? If so, you have a very different idea of what sportmanship and fair play is about.
 
Then the big question becomes: if you don't want a big target on your back, and you dont want to engage in PvP, why do you even consider PowerPlay considering that is all about player versus player faction warfare?

my concern personally is not with PP, but with the fact that Sandro intimated the rest of the game could be looked at for open bonuses after it has been set up for PP. this is not just a slippery slope fallacy, this is from the mouth of one of the devs. Some have suggested he was just stirring the pot for effect, but i do not see a dev deliberately trolling like that.

if the promise was it was PP only and that is that, no chance of it creeping in elsewhere once it was set up, i could live with that personally.. and indeed that was how the thread started, but then after only a few pages Sandro himself confirmed the thin end of the wedge scenario was possible.
 
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Just selfies? I had hoped for artistic boudoir pictures…

That's the problem with the imperials, they simply don't know how to sell stuff. They should hire some Alliance guys, they will tell them how to make money.

Just one picture of our beloved icon. :(

Well, the question is really what they're actually trying to achieve.
"Balance" Power Play, which is already pretty ? Start at the basics and tune the user specific rewards to be equal - or remove them alltogether.

Promote open? How bout ye good ole' days, when there where exclusive GM events? Like.. actual community interaction? Creating special events? (like CGs, but with .. like real people from Frontier?)
Send some interns packed with goodies into open and let people interact with them. Either shoot and pirate them or show them the way to the nearest .. black hole. Easteregg hunts - keeping millions and billions of kids entertained during easter.
If you want a community, you have to manage a community.
If you just put a sandbox somewhere, it will end up as litterbox.


do you feel its okay that people enter a competition, demand to influence the competition as much as everyone else, but at the same time demand to be made invisible to this same competition?
They're called referees. Those blind muppets lost me at least half a dozen (semi)finals. :p

And I have no clear proof, just the evidence of the same powers being in the top 3 since .. PP was introduced (?), but having people in solo affecting the war is the least of the unbalancing factors I can see there. You might have the same numbers in open vs. solo on each side, so it's all still pretty even - but one offering 100% Bounty bonus and another power 100% Exploration bonus .. errrrrm... *cough* ... ally?
 
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I assume you watch Powerplay from the sidelines then. It has been a problem from day #1 that its impossible to properly defend systems or plan tactically in a meaningful way, because people just grind in solo and hand merits in an hour before the tick. You can patrol the system 24/7 but it wont help the slightest. As for 'bringing easy targets back', I have no idea how that even works. This is about Powerplay, not about Simon Sidewinder being lured to Open to be ganked in LHS3447. People who play PP for the personal rewards can stay in Solo, as this only effects those who want to actively work against other players. If they are 'too easy' to risk a direct confrontation, than they should just accept they wont influence the war much.

Its a very simple situation, really: do you feel its okay that people enter a competition, demand to influence the competition as much as everyone else, but at the same time demand to be made invisible to this same competition? If so, you have a very different idea of what sportmanship and fair play is about.

Powerplay is accomplished through PvE actions, but you want to counter them through PvP and you can't because to few people want to play with you but that doesn't mean there's no counter. Just because you don't want to PvE doesn't mean I have to PVP. As has been stated before: it's a very simple situation, people don't want to play with you. Deal. With. It!
 
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Okay, regarding the networking issues... Forgive me because I really don't know a lot about what I'm talking about. But..

Could it be possible that Fdev would be able to see whether you've shared instances with other people in Open, particularly around control/expansion systems where most of the action takes place? If this is the case, couldn't Fdev then weed out the "Open play with p2p blocked" players and their effective influences, and knock the influence down to a solo/private group level of influence?
 
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