Exactly. If FD want to force us to play Open, well that would definately feel like what Microsoft is doing to Windows 7 users that don't want Windows 10, and that is never a good idea for future happy relationships.
If there are not enough PvP players to keep them happy in Open, maybe, just maybe FD should drop that focus for the games development, and maybe, just maybe, ED would be far more successfull and for longer?
Or maybe, just maybe, that is a pointless argument? How about: "Obviously people much prefer CoD over Elite's powerplay, so FD should just drop the whole space-stuff and make an FPS shooter." People prefer football games over ED, too! Season 3 should focus on adding more football-related activities: "FD shouldnt force us to do space stuff when I want to do football stuff." Here's this 130+ page topic in summary:
FD: Hey guys, here's a new gameplay thingy for people looking to compete against each other on a huge scale!
PvE guys: Booo! We dont want this! We hate anything to do with competing with other people!
FD: No problem, why dont you just not play Powerplay and do something PvE instead?
PvE guys: Booo! We want every single thing in this game to be about what we want it to be about!
FD: Whatever, fine. But at least we'll give a small bonus to those who play this specific thing the way we intended it to be, including actual risk.
PvE guys: Booo! Thats not fair! You're discriminating against us! We want the same rewards as everyone else!
FD: You get the same rewards, but if you dont want to face the intended risks, you are not going to be helping your team as much.
PvE guys: Booo! We demand to compete with others, whether they want to or not, and they shouldn't be able shoot at us or stop us in any way!
FD: You know, thats not really the game we're trying to make here...
PvE guys: Booo! Who cares about what YOU want anyway, just do what we want and ignore everybody else, including yourself. If you don't, we'll gonna scream FD ignores their users! We'll put it on steam!
FD: ...
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Given my choice I'd rather be hearing about improved interdiction mechanics, AI wingmen, AI crew, better escort mechanics, AI tanker refuel ships for escort fighters.
The single biggest thing that would encourage more players into Open would be being able to hire escorts whose AI could seriously challenge player attackers. Supplemented by good Fleet management tools. Put the Dev effort into that.
Let me break it to you: none of that will make a difference. You can have a wing of 10 condas and corvettes protecting you, and a wing can kill you in 5 seconds all the same. If your stance is 'somebody else should protect me', you'll not going to be very safe. Ever. You can have repercussions, but you cant prevent the crime from being executed unless
you yourself do it. Which is basically what Elite is about: becoming as good a pilot as you can be. Not saying "hey, I can fly from A to B in a straight line, now let everyone else take care of more difficult challenges for me".