Well, without the mechanics to support faction warfare (faction tags, state-dependent rules of engagement, etc) there really is little point in it. Wars do happen, but in the last one I fought, most everyone wanting pure PvP stayed in open, and most everyone looking to do BGS work just dropped into the private modes.
*edit*
On a side note, see this is what I'm talking about with content - doing simple data runs and running into a fair number of CMDRs... everyone just passing each other by, minding their own business. Then this cutter comes along and I watch him make a bee-line for me and deploy hardpoints. I successfully evaded the interdiction and meandered about for a few minutes, came back, made it to station, and am turning in. PvP without a single shot fired. That made this simple A-B mission run 10 times more fun than it would have been in Solo/PG.
I can certainly understand and agree with the sentiment you express above, which is why I play primarily in Open. However, I realize I also have a fairly high tolerance towards being chased. That being said, before my work schedule changed to 5am, there were
definitely nights where I felt the thrill of being hunted in Open had devolved into an irritating interruption of my extremely limited play time. It wasn't like there was any
doubt about what would happen, on the unlikely chance of them actually interdicting me. I fly blockade runners with strong shields and reinforced hulls, and I'm not likely to freeze up, so I know I'll get away. Throw in the fact that my would-be attacker rarely
communicates with me, and too many "pirate" attacks in a row just become annoying.
(Coincidentally, that is why I also quit Powerplay. I couldn't earn merits via the mission system, I don't enjoy ABA cargo runs or combat farming, and the frequent NPC interdictions got old
really quick. Which is why I help out my chosen power via the BGS instead. Give us Powerplay Missions, Frontier!)
The thing I find most frustrating about the "BGS/PP Open only!" crowd is that they refuse to admit the reality of this game: unless they can set up effective blockades 24/7, across all three platforms, and ensure that they have enough members in
every major city on the planet, and then somehow get their opposition to join them on a VPN and add them to their friends list, they'll never see 98% of the players who are influencing things, even
if they played in Open.
Before my "Imperial Shield Inspector" experiment, I spent a week in Eravate with my alt-account (freshly wiped), and never
once encountered the
so-called "Overlord of Eravate." As far as my game sessions were concerned, Eravate is a free state. Which isn't a surprise to me, given the odds of him living in the same city I do, and playing at the same time I do.
If players in Open are
that unlikely to encounter any opposition, I see no point in restricting the deeper parts of ED gameplay to Open, beyond the desire for easy player kills. If they were
truly interested in making Open, and PvP, a better experience, they'd be asking Frontier to add a PvP system that would allow them to influence the BGS/PP without having to jump through the PvE hoops, one that would encourage
healthy and
fun PvP.
edit:
The problem I have with this is that humans tend to make no sense. I still recall an encounter of my early days in Open where a Commander interdicted me. I escaped and was interdicted immediately again. And again. And again... How is that fun? You'll never see such dumb and futile behavior from an NPC who only do it once, also NPC pirates don't shoot at you if you don't carry any cargo or give them what they demand. I don't say that human players that make sense actually wouldn't exist, but in my experience either the former type dominates or players just throw a friendly o7 and that's it (or a friend request without sharing a single word before, how ridiculous). Or immediately vanish on first appearance cause, well, I could be a ganker.
Can't find the thrill in that.
Meanwhile I widely ignore that and fly in Open anyway (two clicks less to boot), but not sure if I want to advertise this mode to anyone else. There probably need to be an upgrade of human player behavior in Open in the first place, before we start talking about forcing anyone into Open, something that I still believe isn't possible for a plethora of reasons...
Edit:
Don't get me wrong, I'm a well established rich Rockefeller who doesn't like to fly his big ships so that there's really nothing I have to fear or to lose. To me it's all about immersion and a certain player behavior as described above destroys my sense of being
in the game a lot more than even the most stupid NPC could ever achieve. Or in other words: Better some artificial life that makes at least halfway sense than some real human idiots that make no sense at all.
I had a wanna be GSPie (Ganks single player) do something similar to me. I was in a mercurial mode at that time, so I decided to see how long it would take before he realized that he was of no threat to me. Plus, I figured if I had his attention, he wasn't bothering other players. After the seventh iteration of "submit, evade, and low wake," I actually tired of the game, and sent him the message, "You DO realize I'm willing to do this all the way to the station, don't you?"
There wasn't an eighth attempt.
