Modes Statement that "all game modes are equal" is naive and completely false at the moment.

[CMDR EDGEL0RD]

To put it short:

There is an exclusive for Open game mode type of enemy: hollow red triangle.
And there is no incentive to deal with it other than fun involved.

Being hollow red triangle is a personal and valid choice, which benefits anyone who likes some adrenaline in them. Traders included.
So simply trying to remove them would severely contradict that "blaze your own path" idea.

Efficiency over fun mentality is prevalent in ED community.
The example would be any data on the number of visits to the systems where all published exploits took place.

The fact that all risks and hardships do not pay you anything but fun in this game while returning negatives in progress/time values, is true for all types of activity in ED.
And Open mode being void of incentives to play in it is the instance of that fact.
This cannot be called a good game design.

Switching to Solo everytime you are in disadvantage became a "performance meta".
Which takes too much fun from the game completely unnecessary.


There is a lot of people who do not like the risk. But then, there is a lot of people who like risks instead.

And there is a lot of people who hate boredom and waging rebuy over nothing equally. Which are hurt the most here.


Risks by themselves have entertaining value. Or no one would play poker.
Poker without wages have no risks.
Wages without potential gains are, in turn, simply stupid.


So, I belive, some additional direct incentives, in form of additional income exclusive to Open, should be present.
This can be done in form of additional flag in settings, which would be switchable once per week and would require to be up to some technical standarts; which would trigger increased returns.
While it can be viewed as unnatural, you have to counter unnatural stuff, which is efficiency increase by choice of game mode, with another piece of unnatural stuff.

I am working on suggestions currently, involving the technical part, which causes no difficulties and does not increase the load on the servers by amounts worth mentioning.
Almost ready, but still I would like to have more data and opinions. Please, feel free to share them.

So far it looks like an additional option, sort of Open+ layer for Open. I had thought out only trader Open expirience so far.

• Block functionality disabled.
• Arbitrary layer of PvP criminal activity on the galaxy map, with higher threat yelding higher reward (up to 300%). Those levels should not decrease too fast.
• Moderate increase for selling rare goods to stations which have rare goods of their own, multiplicative or additive with layer of pirate activity.
• If turned off, it would reduce rebuys from PvP causes into nothing. But, I feel some sort of karma system is needed. Also, additional no-PvP flag can be added.

In addition, I am not a "salt miner". I am hunting salt miners.

 

[IamNickMan]

Problem is with eliminating private or solo modes is that it is much easier for those with poor connection to connect to those modes rather than the game ALSO trying to connect it to players who are in game or in the area with their own crappy settings. Things like the displacement bug discourage people from playing together. Let alone everyone in the game not wanting to play the exact same style of gameplay. For example, while gankers do ganker things I do not want to be pulled away from my day to deal with it. This game isn't, wasn't, and never has forced anyone to HAVE to deal with anyone else explicitly in player v player interaction. That's a nice thing to have, even pirates want to make money unmolested. For that kind of more hardcore style of gameplay i'd encourage finding the proper communities in game, there is a great PvP guild based in San Tu, or playing a different game, like EVE where everyone is forced into the same instance of the universe...

 

[Speedcuffs]

I don't get it.
Who said all game modes are equal?

 

[Ian Doncaster]

There's an entire forum specially for this sort of thread.

The fact that all risks and hardships do not pay you anything but fun in this game

I don't know about you, but I play games to have fun, not to make an imaginary bank balance rise. If I want to focus on progress/time values rather than fun, I can go to work.

And I find Open more fun than Solo. I haven't been attacked or attacked another player in Open since August. But it's more fun anyway because you can cooperate with other players and talk to them and so on.

Therefore we should be finding a way to add extra fun to Solo. Maybe we could give Solo players mode-exclusive party hats for their avatars?

 

[Shadowdancer]

Is it just me, or are "those posts" becoming less coherent at a quite alarming rate?

 

[Tarman]

I don't get it.
Who said all game modes are equal?

They're equal in that player actions in all the modes all affect the BGS equally, since the difference in modes is literally who you get instanced with (nobody, your friends only, everybody - there's the difference in modes).

There is an endless endless endless circular debate which started in 2014 about the validity of this approach, but it's categorically not going anywhere as stated repeatedly by the developers. This thread is doomed for the Hotel.

 

[CMDR EDGEL0RD]

Problem is with eliminating private or solo modes is that it is much easier for those with poor connection to connect to those modes rather than the game ALSO trying to connect it to players who are in game or in the area with their own crappy settings. Things like the displacement bug discourage people from playing together. Let alone everyone in the game not wanting to play the exact same style of gameplay. For example, while gankers do ganker things I do not want to be pulled away from my day to deal with it. This game isn't, wasn't, and never has forced anyone to HAVE to deal with anyone else explicitly in player v player interaction. That's a nice thing to have, even pirates want to make money unmolested. For that kind of more hardcore style of gameplay i'd encourage finding the proper communities in game, there is a great PvP guild based in San Tu, or playing a different game, like EVE where everyone is forced into the same instance of the universe...

Additional incentives. I am not talking about removing game modes.
And I know what "Opportunity cost" means. But atm there is nothing to be gained for risking anything by playing in open. You risk your rebuy over nothing.

Switching to Solo everytime you are in disadvantage became a "performance meta".
Which takes too much fun from the game completely unnecessary.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Is it just me, or are "those posts" becoming less coherent at a quite alarming rate?

Quite.

 

[Stigbob]

FDEV considered it and rejected it years ago I think, no open bonus and all modes being equal and all that.

Appreciate them all they all have their own advantages, and don't sweat other peoples menu choices.

 

[seko]

Each to their own style of game-play, who is OP to impose his type of fun on anybody else. Get on with it, and leave everybody else alone. It would be interesting for FD to reveal how many players there are in open, and how many in other modes. I suspect private mode has more subscribers.

 

[CMDR EDGEL0RD]

Each to their own style of game-play, who is OP to impose his type of fun on anybody else. Get on with it, and leave everybody else alone. It would be interesting for FD to reveal how many players there are in open, and how many in other modes. I suspect private mode has more subscribers.

And I had listed exact reason for that distribution of players.

 

[MadDogMurdock]

Is it just me, or are "those posts" becoming less coherent at a quite alarming rate?

It was a low bar to start with. Just wondering how deep the well is!?

 

[Stigbob]

Each to their own style of game-play, who is OP to impose his type of fun on anybody else. Get on with it, and leave everybody else alone. It would be interesting for FD to reveal how many players there are in open, and how many in other modes. I suspect private mode has more subscribers.

Back before they stopped polls it was pretty heavily skewed away from open (on the forum anyway), and FDEV have said they want to encourage more players into open which they wouldn't do if open was already busting at the seams. I think Mobius may be the most popular judging by players numbers I see in game and the contacts list.

 

[thistle]

And I had listed exact reason for that distribution of players.

What was the exact reason?

 

[Cocalarix]

I don't get it.
Who said all game modes are equal?

Yeah, I wasn't aware people say this. I hope it's common sense that the danger of meeting a human player is far greater than meeting an NPC.
Sadly, Frontier haven't done anything to reward those who venture in Open, when they could easily just play much more safely in other modes. Especially for BGS and Powerplay related gameplay.

But I do remember Sandro Sammarco say that they do agree, Open is far more dangerous. Actions speak more loudly though. We'll see if they change something when they add Squadrons.

 

[MadDogMurdock]

Yeah, I wasn't aware people say this. I hope it's common sense that the danger of meeting a human player is far greater than meeting an NPC.
Sadly, Frontier haven't done anything to reward those who venture in Open, when they could easily just play much more safely in other modes. Especially for BGS and Powerplay related gameplay.

But I do remember Sandro Sammarco say that they do agree, Open is far more dangerous. Actions speak more loudly though. We'll see if they change something when they add Squadrons.

Isn't that smug feeling of superiority enough reward?

 

[Stealthie]

Is it just me, or are "those posts" becoming less coherent at a quite alarming rate?

You ever see that episode of Stargate where everybody de-evolved into cavemen?

Maybe PvP should come with some kind of health warning?

 

[Cocalarix]

Isn't that smug feeling of superiority enough reward?

I play in all modes, for whatever circumstance I'm in. I don't have to take a side like our tribal ancestors. This is just my opinion on the matter.

I'm hoping you're not trying to tell me that meeting a heavily engineered ship piloted by a player is the same as meeting an NPC (most of them non-engineered).

 

[AJW]

...all risks and hardships do not pay you anything but fun in this game..

Anyone playing this game for any other reason than 'fun' should probably engage in a little critical thinking. If you get more fun playing in open, play in open. If you get more fun in another mode, play there instead. There are no 'winners' in this game, except those who gain enjoyment from it, and trying to engage in pointless 'balance' exercises to suit the whims of people who think that they aren't getting the fun they deserve because of the choices they have made is just plain illogical.

 

[Tarman]

Additional incentives. I am not talking about removing game modes.
And I know what "Opportunity cost" means. But atm there is nothing to be gained for risking anything by playing in open. You risk your rebuy over nothing.

Switching to Solo everytime you are in disadvantage became a "performance meta".
Which takes too much fun from the game completely unnecessary.

Are you the one switching for this so-called "performance meta", taking away your own fun because you can't not do it? Are you just really concerned that other people playing this performance meta are taking away their own fun? I can't tell if this is a masochism thread or a philanthropy thread.

People play in Open because there are other people there, doing all the things people do. You may possibly encounter them in the course of your gameplay. That's your incentive, for good or ill. If you don't want to be bothered with other people at all, covered. If you only want to hang with your homies, covered. You don't get a special sticker for your helmet because you decided to swim in the public pool.

I've personally been in Open as a PVE player since 2014 and have only dropped into Solo in the very early days to get hires screenies, and a very few times I've needed to land at a full-house Engi; it's simply not scary enough to require danger pay just for me to be there. That is a huge myth, perpetuated by people who either fear Open or think Open makes them a superhero. Unless I hit up CGs or am doing Engi work I'm lucky if I even see any other pilots.