If they can't compete with the engineered "city boys", solo will get really crowded... (don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate for open, I play in solo and Mobious only).
I've been out in Colonia for the last 18 months with just a single 2-day trip back to the bubble to pin blueprints after 3.0. That single trip is unusual - most residents travel back more frequently (there was a big rush for Guardian FSD Boosters after 3.1 [1], but I couldn't be bothered as my ships have enough range already)
I have in my ship collection out in Colonia:
- 1 Python, G5 engineered and A-rated (my original "travel to Colonia" ship)
- 2 FDLs, G5+specials engineered and A-rated (one old one with okayish legacy mods I haven't flown for ages, one new one I engineered in the bubble on my weekend there)
- 1 Asp, G5 engineered, A/D-mix (most engineering except the FSD done with remote blueprints after flying it up from the bubble)
- 1 Cobra III, G5 engineered and A-rated (all engineering done with remote blueprints after transferring the hull and modules up from the bubble)
- 1 Anaconda, G5 engineered and B/C-rated (all engineering done with remote blueprints, ship has never left the region)
- 1 Krait, G4/5 engineered and B/C-rated (all engineering done with remote blueprints, ship has never left the region)
(and some other junk ships I can't be bothered to sell)
Your hypothetical player who wants to "compete" [2] with me without
ever visiting the bubble (and remember, I've only done it once in the last 18 months) will at best be able to produce a B/C-rated ship with G1-3 engineering - G1 on release day, maybe G3 a bit later. But they're welcome to try interdicting me anyway if that's their thing - it usually isn't.
So if the possibility of me or someone with even better equipment attacking them prior to 3.2's release didn't "scare them out of Open" ... I can't imagine the news that they *still* can't get some G1-G3 mods on their ship without a round trip will.
We are arguing about other people's gamestyle. I just can't understand why you want to make things more difficult for them.
Please stop being outraged on our behalf based on incorrect assumptions about our gamestyle, then.
If people in Colonia wanted an easy-mode fully-convenient experience ... we wouldn't be in Colonia in the first place, we'd be docked up at Shinrarta Dezhra. Those of us who care about engineering at all have already unlocked engineers and won't be affected ... those of us who don't care about engineering don't care about engineering and won't be affected ... those of us who got as far as G5 FSD and left it at that already have some G5-engineered FSDs, will have to go back to the bubble anyway if they want more, and so won't be affected.
[1] I didn't see any complaints that explorers based in Colonia would have to go back to the bubble for that.
[2] Not a word generally associated with Colonia's residents.