I think something to the effect of the system in EvE might turn off players but I totally disagree that the majority of gamers dont like PvP.
The evidence says otherwise. 60 million registered world of tanks users, Dota2 is one of THE most played PC games there is with 20+ million players, DayZ has sold nearly 2 million copies and its still in Alpha, Battlefield 4, Counter Strike... I could go on.
With the options people have already stated in game to avoid others or ignore them I am really baffled by some backers objections.
There is a world of difference between games like Elite: Dangerous, and say... Mechwarrior Online (a game I occasionally play).
There is also a world of difference between not liking PvP at all, and
only liking PvP. Most players fall between these two extremes.
I enjoy Mechwarrior Online, but only in small doses. The game is pure PvP, and there is literally no way to immerse myself in the Battletech Universe, which I had hoped to do when I first heard about it. There are no repair costs in the game, and player actions have no impact on the game universe. I do not meta-game, insisting that my 'Mech makes sense in-universe. And quite frankly, I can only get two or three matches a day at
best. Between the lack of meta-gaming, and the lack of being able to play for hours a a time, I frequently get "pwned."
That is
not fun.
But those rare times when everything comes together, and I somehow manage to survive the first five minutes of a match?
That is when the game becomes fun. That is when I enjoy myself. And that is why I keep coming back.
But quite frankly, I'd play the game a lot more if there was a PvE component to the game, if repair costs were implemented, AND if our collected actions could change the course of the in-game Universe. I might even be willing to spend some money on the game.
I have no problem at all with PvP being in the game, and most players who like this "no PC flag" feel likewise. We
want PvP to be there. We
want to be attacked by PC pirates, or if we're PC pirates, to be attacked by PC bounty hunters. We want to be attacked because we're carrying valuable cargo in a dangerous system, or because we have a large bounty on our head.
We want to face off against a PC ace in a contested system when she's siding with the Federation, and we're taking the coin of the Empire. We want to transport the Alliance ambassador, and get attacked by a PC assassin in the pay of a corporation who wants to keep their system independent.
THIS is the kind of PvP we want. In-game reasons for players to attack us.
What we
don't want is to be player-killed. We don't want to be targeted for out-of-game reasons, simply because we're human, and unlike NPCs, will feel "the agony of defeat." We don't want player-killers patrolling systems looking for a ship with a bright green neon sign saying "There's a player here!" hovering over it.
Because when you get right down to it, while we like PvP, it isn't the reason we're playing this game. We're playing because we want to immerse ourselves in the Elite Universe, NOT because we like PvP. Cargo runs and maintenance bills are just as much fun as a PC pirate on our six, and we have to decide whether to dump our cargo and hope to escape. We'll be the ones with spreadsheets keeping track of profitable trade routes; scouring the message boards for passengers; and making sub-optimal choices because we're Imperials, dammit, and using multi-cannons are just plain gauche! (Even though they're the best weapons in the current meta-game, until the next wave of nerfs appear.)
Every one of us who WANT to play in the ALL group want PvP in our game, but only if it makes SENSE.
The other thing that those of us like about not automatically flagging players as such is that while we like PvP, it isn't the SOLE reason we're playing Elite: Dangerous. It isn't even the secondary reason we're playing the multi-player version. PvP adds spice to the game, but like all spices, it only enhances the game in small doses. In large doses, it makes things unpalatable. Constant PvP for us would be a game-breaker.
We're all hoping that the in-game consequences of murder will player-killing at a minimum. But some of us remember Ultima-Online before the Trammel/Feluca split. Yes, it could be a lot of fun at times. Yes, unrestricted PvP did add spice to the game. But unfortunately, the player-killers preferred easy targets, and most of us didn't stand a chance against them.
Once the players who
did not like PvP left for Trammel permanently, those of use who
did enjoy PvP in small doses lost our herd immunity. Attacks went from a once a week thing, to becoming a daily event. And it didn't take long for the frequent attacks to become tiring, and we reluctantly emigrated to Trammel, where the game was a pale shadow of the world we enjoyed... but it was definitely better than the alternative.
This is why we like the idea of not having a player-tag hanging over our heads. It gives us enough herd community to keep PvP from becoming a common event... without having OTHER players pay the price for that herd immunity. It will mean that if we're attacked, we're attacked because it makes sense in the game, not because a player-killer believes that the greatest things in the game are to destroy their fellow players ships, make them flee at their appearance, and to hear their lamentations on the discussion boards.
Make no mistake, we do NOT want to leave the ALL group. We are open to being attacked by players for in-game reasons. We think it adds spice to the game, and a player-encounter can be a fun and memorable event.
But if being open to PvP means that we can't enjoy the game at all, we WILL be leaving the ALL group. PvP is only a small part of the game, and frequently a troublesome on at that. If detracts from the game as a whole, we'll leave it behind. We don't WANT to, because it'll make the game less exciting, less fun. But having fun is far more important that being the victims of player-killers.
So the question you need to ask yourself is this, which would you rather have:
A large population of players in the ALL group, where you have to do some work to figure out who is a human being and who is the NPC?
Or a tiny population of players in the ALL group, but you know who's human and who's not all the time?
I am totally not interested in PvP, plan to play an explorer/occasional trader and kit my ship out for running away rather than fighting. Still, I want to play with real people and know they are real people, it simply makes all those encounters more visceral than AI, even if the AI was awesome. And not knowing who is who is an irritation I don't like.
