How FD could make a lot more people play in open play

The bottom line is that a developer that provides options to meet their customers' diverse requirements will generate more sales than one that tries to 'make' them all play the same way...
 
Ok I'm half with you on that one. Ultimately it depends on whether there is a jerk PKing in the CG system and whether you can get through the next time or the next time to the station. Or not. My friend got killed twice trying just that, in as fully tooled up as his Asp could get. By a vastly better equipped PKer on a PK spree. Or "purge". Over 4 Million lost. For what? This game is simply a pastime we use for entertainment. Getting blown up twice by the same PKer doesn't qualify as fun, I'm afraid. The PKers will glibly assert "stay away from CGs if you want to be safe". So I'm now being denied some of the best content in return for playing in Open. That doesn't qualify as a win at all. And that's what motivated my friend to join Mobius and leave Open mode behind.

So what's this about trying to entice players back into Open?

Round up some other random players and hunt the bandit down! That's what I do! And if you fail... well, that's just life. Nobody said you're guaranteed to get what you want, every single time in life--the same applies to Open. What Open does ask from you, though, is that you try. That's what makes it fun.
 
Number of people paying for and playing the game. The mode they happen to play in is irrelevant.

No it is not if you can't keep them playing.

If poor options for preferred playstyle are only ones offered you may end up burning potential customers too fast.

Which is why open pve with pvp disabled should be top project. Private groups are not alternative asti their size is limited and they depend on gentleman agreements.

With pve-group spread over multitude of groups and solo there is radically reduced possibility to meet people. It in turn reduces possibility of enjoyment for people who want player interaction without any pvp.

That in turn makes people grow bored and quit. And who does not play does not pay for new stuff.
 
Lets put all of the "players will leave if X isn't fixed to be just the way I want it" stuff into its proper perspective,,,

[video=youtube;sY278K4ljWs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY278K4ljWs[/video]

The game's still here.
 
As a relative new player and a latecomer to these discussions, I probably don't have anything new to add to this, but hey ho!
From the start I have only been playing in Open. I've tried a handful of missions, got lucky with the 3447 CG and got a bit of cash, bought a Cobra Mk3, fought off a handful of NCP pirates, did a few runs between Vennik and the local systems as part of the Land Enrichment Systems CG and assumed that I must be doing something wrong - no griefers, not much player text, certainly no player pirates, lots of certainty. After my 3rd run to HIP 69999 last night, I slipped into automatic mode, safe in the knowledge that I'd soon be back at base with my usual profit - this is when I got intercepted by CMDR ******. Long story short, he wanted 5t of my cargo, I genuinely couldn't remember how to jettison cargo and told him as much, he laughed as I fumbled around the menus, and then quick as a flash, he disappeared, chased off by another unhappy customer. In short, this was brilliant and one of the genuine highlights of my short career. Although I've not yet been destroyed indiscriminately, I can't see myself changing groups or going solo anytime soon. One reason for this is the dread of always feeling safe - I'd probably get bored a lot quicker if this was the case. Being chucked in at the deep end so to speak means I find out a lot quicker what scenarios are riskier than others and ways of avoiding these area or minimising risk rather than taking the quickest, most direct route from A to B.

Ever checked out http://www.marinetraffic.com/ and looked at the area around Somalia? There's a reason the area is completely empty - because it is notorious for piracy. Doesn't stop the massive amount of shipping in other areas of the same planet.

I'll see you in Open - I like it here and I look forward to the next encounter with the potential for negotiations.
 
The difference between a PVP build and a PVE build is day and night.

Probably. So is the difference between a trader build and an explorer build, a miner build and a smuggler build...

Until that gets balanced out it's pointless.

And just how are FD to "balance" all the different roles in the game other than allowing you to build for them and optimize your ship for them?

If the game was "all about the PvP" then everything would already be "balanced" for that. it isn't and won't be
 
The difference between a PVP build and a PVE build is day and night. Until that gets balanced out it's pointless.

PvP builds don't earn money. They cost money to operate. So it is balanced. You can't have everything in life--and nobody is forcing you to fight another player if you don't want to. All you have to do is run away and continue about your business.
 
Okay how about you cant intradict same person again for 2 hours of tou game time about same amour of time it would take the person to get back noney if you had killed them
 
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PvP builds don't earn money. They cost money to operate. So it is balanced. You can't have everything in life--and nobody is forcing you to fight another player if you don't want to. All you have to do is run away and continue about your business.

Eh, no? Assassinations work very well with raillancers...
 
Lets put all of the "players will leave if X isn't fixed to be just the way I want it" stuff into its proper perspective,,,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY278K4ljWs

The game's still here.

So from this we can gather that you believe that people will play game they do not find fun?

Think with your brains for a moment. If pve-group remains isolated into small islands which are not connected To each other it will hurt the game.

Lots of games have had your attitude. Many of them are no longer "there". Frontier wants this game to be profitable. That means getting more people and retaining existing ones.

That is the right perspective. You can adjust game to meet demands like UO or not and die away.
 
Whether that is an NPC wingman system, an easy way to hire and pay players or form convoys, .

To my mind, this would be the best answer and would be great fun too. If the game allowed a sort of 'agency' for want of a better word that pilots could subscribe to where haulers could go to ask for convoy support. Commanders riding 'shotgun' would also make another trade/option for players. Hauler click to request convoy pilots, and pilots close by click to agree. They meet up and fly the route. I realise it has issues but I'm sure they could be resolved.
 
PvP builds don't earn money. They cost money to operate. So it is balanced. You can't have everything in life--and nobody is forcing you to fight another player if you don't want to. All you have to do is run away and continue about your business.

Why bother running away over and over again, when I can just select a different option, and avoid it all together? Running away has zero game value to me, and if the skies are were to be filled with all of those kites, the cry would come to put an end to all of that running. If you aren't running a PvP built ship, why be a victim? It is impossible to me that 'you can just run away' could be used as an enticement.

Rather, I suggest everyone should play in the mode you'll enjoy the most. Open has no magic, it's simply a matchmaking choice. Vote with your clicks, and play how you like.
 
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Part of the problem with PvP builds is that they are pretty far off from what a ship should look like. There's a pattern in NPC pilots, the worst ones fly badly and use under-equipped ships, to the point of not even having a shield in some cases. The best fly in well-shielded fairly strong ships and usually carry more than one weapon type (e.g. lasers + multicannon). And then you've got the PvP meta builds, unshielded, overly strong hulls, all railguns, and despite using those weapons which have high energy output and should make them show up on any scanner nearby, they're invisible to sensors. Because, for some strange reason, using high powered energy weapons doesn't seem to show up on the sensors, while a container with some ore floating in space does.

A rebalance that breaks the more absurd builds (i.e. the stuff that should be expected to be a really bad idea but which turns out to be superior) might be called for here.
 
So from this we can gather that you believe that people will play game they do not find fun?

Think with your brains for a moment. If pve-group remains isolated into small islands which are not connected To each other it will hurt the game.

Lots of games have had your attitude. Many of them are no longer "there". Frontier wants this game to be profitable. That means getting more people and retaining existing ones.

That is the right perspective. You can adjust game to meet demands like UO or not and die away.

No I believe that enough people do and will find the game fun that even if the ones that don't go away and leave the rest of us to enjoying the game, it remains viable.

I would actively encourage folks that don't find the game fun, do not get sufficient "reward" from their play time to justify the time spent, to do exactly that. LEAVE. There are and will be plenty of games that will meet those players needs without them asking FD to mess up the one that meets ours.
 
No I believe that enough people do and will find the game fun that even if the ones that don't go away and leave the rest of us to enjoying the game, it remains viable.

I would actively encourage folks that don't find the game fun, do not get sufficient "reward" from their play time to justify the time spent, to do exactly that. LEAVE. There are and will be plenty of games that will meet those players needs without them asking FD to mess up the one that meets ours.

You do realize that nothing would be lost by you? As it is, you already never see people who do not like pvp. Except maybe few new people who do not know better.

Only Eve Online has managed to remain viable with your attitude. And with increased competition situation can change. Specially for Elite as there are other games with very similar approach under produktion.

Because Elite has no monthly subscription it actually needs more paying customers to remain viable even with lighter server costs.
 
PvP builds don't earn money. They cost money to operate. So it is balanced. You can't have everything in life--and nobody is forcing you to fight another player if you don't want to. All you have to do is run away and continue about your business.
You can do assassination missions with pvp build. You can also do some bounty hunting with a pvp build so they dont "cost you money". As far of the rest of your comment.. nobody is forcing you to fight another player? Really? Last time i got interdicted i was forced into a fight. all you have to do is run away and continue about your business? Really? Try running from a pvp decked out FDL in a trader ship. I can assure you, it's not as simple no matter how many times you try to ignore it.
 
Part of the problem with PvP builds is that they are pretty far off from what a ship should look like. There's a pattern in NPC pilots, the worst ones fly badly and use under-equipped ships, to the point of not even having a shield in some cases. The best fly in well-shielded fairly strong ships and usually carry more than one weapon type (e.g. lasers + multicannon). And then you've got the PvP meta builds, unshielded, overly strong hulls, all railguns, and despite using those weapons which have high energy output and should make them show up on any scanner nearby, they're invisible to sensors. Because, for some strange reason, using high powered energy weapons doesn't seem to show up on the sensors, while a container with some ore floating in space does.

A rebalance that breaks the more absurd builds (i.e. the stuff that should be expected to be a really bad idea but which turns out to be superior) might be called for here.

I always laugh when an unshielded eagle tries to interdict my FAS
 
I have no interest in playing in open, the game does not contain much in the way of player to player interaction other than voice coms and direct combat, I dont want to talk to you and I have no interest in pvp combat. This will never change and it isnt a problem, I enjoy my game and I let you enjoy yours.
 
You do realize that nothing would be lost by you? As it is, you already never see people who do not like pvp. Except maybe few new people who do not know better.

Only Eve Online has managed to remain viable with your attitude. And with increased competition situation can change. Specially for Elite as there are other games with very similar approach under produktion.

Because Elite has no monthly subscription it actually needs more paying customers to remain viable even with lighter server costs.

Yeah. EvE. Not Elite. What's to stop ED attracting players like me that like occasional PvP but are really hacked off by EvE? I repeat my earlier statement. If you don't like the game, don't play it. There's enough of us that do like it will keep it viable without you.
 
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