Well this has been an interesting read. So it appears that to play in Open it is recommended that all players should build for worst case scenarios, i.e. have some defensive mechanisms in either decent shields or high speed to survive and if you don't follow these recommendations that everything is the players fault. Okay, fair enough, me personally would never fly a ship without shield nor weapons nor decent speed. Oh wait I tell a lie (how bad of me) my current build for my Krait miner doesn't have weapons. My choice as well I want to MINE so I take the risk - and yes when I am flying back to the station with my 136T of Void Opals or LTDs I will readily admit I switch to PG. By the way that isn't being a coward, that is just being smart
Now comes the bit I know will upset some here. In my humble opinion one of the reasons why this thread is so divided is that some don't like being told they must conform their playing styles to fit with what is in effect a minority. The tone of some of the posts are basically: "
Yes you can fly in my open but if you want to survive you need to change the layout of your ship, if you don't then it is your fault if I blow you up - you have been warned." Maybe people don't like being told that, that they have to play by someone else's rules.
The only group who don't seem to suffer these demands on their builds are the PvP boys and girls. They can build the most ridiculous ships going yet because they are fit for purpose, they are fine. But how would they react if they were continuously told that to fly in open they must have at least 16T of cargo space and a minimum jump range of 40ly. No other requirements, but you can imagine the responses. Why they ask are they being forced to do build a ship that isn't to their specific needs, they don't need cargo, they don't need that jump range. But then it is explained to them that yes they do, because there could be a chance that they will need that jump range or cargo capacity, no matter how small that chance is, it is still a chance and if they don't want to conform then they can go an play in their own PG where jump range and cargo capacity isn't an issue. I think everyone can imagine what the reaction would be
And if anyone thinks the scenario will never happen, just read any of the multitudes of threads complaining about the ship transfer mechanism, there will always be someone demanding instant transfer because his PvP ship has a single digit jump range and physically can't do anything until his uber ship arrives.
There are problems on both sides of this fence. Some will insist on flying a ship be to their own unique requirements then complain if it proves to be insufficient to other aspects of the game. For example building an exploration ship solely based on extreme jump range, then complaining that yes, they did get blown up and it just wasn't fair. On the other side we have those saying that you must build your ship to be able to resist them as it is their god given and constitutional right to destroy any ship they want, and if you get blown up it is all your fault.
There is no solution to this unfortunately, except play in a mode that suits you best, they one you feel is best suited to your requirements. That may not always be Open although I think most would prefer to play in that mode, they are smart enough to realise it just isn't worth the angst. Think of it like a school yard. There is that great jungle gym, heaps of fun but that is where all the bullies and tough kids hang out. You know that for a while you will have fun there but eventually one of those kids will push you off the gym or demand your lunch money. Then there are various swing and slide sets, you know they are safe 99% of the time, but you don't get to play with all your friends because they might be in one of the other slides. Lastly, there is the big sand pit, lots playing there but they are all playing by themselves. They are certainly having a lot of fun, they are enjoying the experience, but for some it is just a little lonely there.
On topic (yay, finally some say), engineering isn't the cause of this, but it did contribute to the divide. Because players can now design and modify ships to a very narrow an specific role, the gap of doing any activity outside of that role becomes wider. Want to build the perfect exploration ship based on your criteria of maximum jump range, fine but be prepared to be killed by anyone who wants to. Want to build the most tankiest, highest DPS ship going, go for it, but don't complain about jump range or ship transfers. As I said above, this won't go away, in fact it will only get worse and the only outcome I can see is more people leaving Open if they actually want to do something other than prepare for PvP.
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