I think the blame is shared.
Seeing how people react or overreact over something as trivial as a game, I wonder who threw the first stone.
So yes, shooting defenseless explorers is questionable but you have to admit that PvEers tend to throw a lot of tantrums over the fact they got blown up when they clearly had all the tools at reach to avoid that from happening.
Some might, sure, but it is the whole concept of someone else deciding for them, and affecting their gameplay, when their normal gameplay loop really doesn't revolve around that kind of interaction.
That said "PvP"'ers have equally thrown a lot of tantrums, so this more then anything seems like a normal reaction by people that do not enjoy of having something they do not want, forced on them.
There's been countless complaints and tantrums by PvP'ers for example, on how BGS or Powerplay, because people can do it in solo/PG. That is how the game is designed, those actions are not meant to be direct PvP related, if you want to compete with people, do it via the mechanics offered.
Not defending either party, just stating facts and observations.
You can play in open as a trader or explorer, but you have to learn how to survive, just like you can survive in the jungle or the desert if you learn the right things or have the right tools.
Traders and such do need to learn to survive, within the boundries of their gameplay loop, sure.
I play near exclusively in open, and I've yet to see the 'jungle' hold true, because those attacking them aren't a predator going after the weakest prey, that would seem to say that they need to do it to survive, or that 'something' is gained by the killing within the game mechanics.
But nothing is gained, so at best they are someone walking down and kicking a kids sand castle on the beach.
In the end it all boils down to this, at least from my point of view:
PvPers play the game their way with the tools at hand, PvEers play the game how they want but complain when they are harmed altho the tools are there to defend themselves or run.
Also, don't forget that many PvPers such as myself were PvEers at the start and had to adapt to not get eaten by the wolves.
Again, comparing it to nature seems wildly off.
These aren't wolves, unless sick wolves hunt for food, end of story, they hunt for a gain.
There is no gain in the action other then satisfaction, and in nature that is not why animals hunt others.
PvP players play with the mechanics available to them, but I would not agree that attacking the helpless is PvP, because there is no risk or challenge to the attacker.
But here's the thing, PvE people also play with the mechanics available to them, on the exact same premise, only their actions do generally not involve attacking other people. But playing mechanics and using them as is.
As such those that actually do PvP, should be fighting against people that offer them an actual challenge, or try to get some sort of gain in game.
But the action that PvE people complain about, griefing, where there is no in game gain, where it is simply get interdicted and destroyed by someone who is at a sizeable advantage and the power difference generally is huge, there is very little the PvE person can actually do, because if they do enough, they will not be a target.
But there will always BE targets given that there are always people in the progress of learning, and kicking those people going "You can just do x" when they might already be trying to figure those things out, or maybe working to do just that, does absolutely nothing other then make them lose whatever time they've invested in what they were doing, which yes, can understandably make people upset.
And griefers have complained similar when they feel that they are forced to waste time.
Personally my own experience with playing exclusively in open have been like 0.05% of all people have either tried to insult me in some way, or for that matter attack me. It is an insanely small percentage of my time that has been used to even consider anything like that in game.
Because the moment you get away from certain hotspots and hubs, the scale of elite, let alone the various timezones people play can make open seem very empty in terms of players.
At best griefers are from my experience, and this is based on several games and is a general statement, weak scavengers, that are not seeking an actual challenge or wanting to do anything other then feel more powerful then another player and want to come off as superior and often blames their victims for whatever reason it might be they found they should attack them, in general something along the line of them not playing the game 'right' and can do x to avoid this, or that it is just their own fault for doing x action. Again, all the while the attacker gains nothing from the action in the game and its mechanics itself.
I have through many games now, not been proven wrong in this, though I would absolutely love to be wrong.
