Restricting HRPs to 1 wouldn't do anything but change the meta again, which would still leave PvE players at a disadvantage, especially the traders, many of whom don't use shields so they can carry more cargo, they don't use hull upgrades because it kills jump range, and they don't use HRPs because it it would cost them cargo space. So what would change in the PvE build vs PvP build exchange? Nothing. What else can you expect if you are flying a cargo ship or multipurpose and the attacker is in a combat ship except that the combat ship has all the advantages in combat? 1.5/2.0 put to bed the multipurpose ships can do EVERYTHING better foolishness finally, they can't, especially not combat. I'm in an Anaconda, if you can't hit my power plant, you need to turn your chair around and face the screen instead of the wall, same goes for the Python, they are not good for PvP anymore. Lots of big guns, but no ability to stand and deliver the damage those big guns put out now.
Or maybe you'd have them make all ships equally viable in all roles, only some have limited cargo space for...what...grins and giggles? It really isn't that easy to do what you want, if it was, it would have been done over a decade ago, but everyone still trying to find that magic balance mechanic because it ain't that easy to do unless EVERYONE uses the exact same things without any deviation. Then you've got to put everyone on the exact same hardware with the exact same connection so that only true skill matters. Over a decade, still ain't happened, it might not be as easy as you think, ya think?
Last time I did any pirating, shooting out a power plant meant the target went boom, so that wasn't a thing I did. I would take out drives or the FSD, which ever was easier to hit, while scanning the target. I never got to actually do that with a human player however, every single one of them I interdicted logged on me, without fail, despite me telling them before I interdicted them that I was just after cargo, a few flat out CLed during the interdiction itself. I didn't even bother reporting any of them, what's the point? NPCs paid well enough, and not a single one ever logged on me.
Pirates do NOT need other players to be pirates, I made as much pirating NPCs as I did farming CZ's and Res's, 3-5m an hour, that cargo scanner came in handy for that, someone suggested it might work like the prospector drone and increase cargo, no idea, but I did well enough that I could afford to get in an Asp in 2 weeks after I started and have it A rated within another week, and into a Clipper within a few weeks after that. A rating THAT took a bit longer, and I went and bit off more than I could chew while drinking one night and...logged in the next day in my brand new used Sidey...done that a few times now, drinking and Elite tends to do that to me.
When a Meta is as OP as it is between those who wish to play as a trader and those who are only interested in killing other players then there is an imbalance. The problem with the meta does not lie with the trader but the aggressor. Even if a trader hrp's it's a lose / lose. The aggressor wins / wins, especially those only interested in killing other players.
The only ppl who can fix such things are the Dev's and they will or they won't. Whatever they decide will probably throw this game down one alley or another. By that I mean players who want to trade go to Solo because they can't survive. It really is that bad. Running shieldless is not a real option these days unless you hrp and sr.
The argument that there is always a Meta is valid but to what degree that meta affects the game is really the main question.
Just because the ideal of a meta exists does not mean I'm just not gonna sit here and let it ruin the game for a great many players who aren't interested in the same, just to cater for those who only want to annoy other players...because that's what they do. Like it or not.
Meta's get nerfed, any OP gun in the BF series got nerfed, it's just how it works. It didn't stop players leaving in droves because of such things but some came back when it was fixed or the server in question banned it until EA / Dice fixed it.
It hurt the game's population though.
I'm generally talking about the hrp stacking. A ship solely dedicated to killing other NPC's / players has a massive advantage, this affects all modes.
How you are not seeing this befuddles me.
As to your next point:
The main problem is with the combat ships, not traders. They don't need to have cargo because they can stack one thing which has no cost. That's the imbalance right there. Power concerns when a HRP takes how much power to run? Are you seeing it now?
It's why there are rail boats which any ship will struggle with, let alone the smaller one's so do you see the damage it is causing to the game and to Open in particular yet? And ppl wonder why they have no targets.
Piracy can't even happen because their loadouts kill smaller ships, it's all they can do.
It breaks the game and funnels it down to just killing other players and that denies the victims options on how they want to play the game...so they walk away.
They may drop to Solo, if they are aware if such things because "some" Open players are self-serving egotistical idiots with no concerns except their own. There are exceptions but not many and certainly not enough.
GG huh?
And now ppl want Solo nerfed by rewarding Open better (not the Dev's, they just threw the idea out there), seems it's not enough for some to force players out of one of the viable games modes available.
They want FD to penalise them further.
If you want me offer solutions here's one:
Nerf the stacking of hrp's and scb's. One per ship, pick the slot. Fill up the rest of it with other things that may create more options regarding your gameplay.
This would affect both modes so I don't expect it to be popular but it needed said.
If FD starts reacting to problems caused by cheating / exploiters then the only players who will suffer will be those who aren't cheating or exploiting.
And that ain't good.
