The question is, why people don't have a problem in solo, but do have in open
I have a problem in Solo, but not in Open.
In the former there is
zero risk from anything, except my own incompetence, or the rare bug. In the latter, there is at least the possibility of encountering a challenging outside agent.
I fly shieldless because I WELCOME the challenge
I fly shieldless because there is a statistically superior cargo vs. defense ratio to spending a few 8-32 ton capable slots on hull and module protection than there is to wasting a 64-128 ton slot on a shield generator and trying to make up for it with smaller optionals devoted to cargo.
My CMDR (who I play in Open virtually exclusively) has hauled more cargo in a shieldless corvette than in all other ship's he's ever owned combined, and has never been shot down in that vessel on live.
Sounds like PvP is the problem
If my CMDR can annihilate three high-ranked NPCs who, as evidenced by their words and actions, were all individually convinced he was going to be easy prey; simultaneously, while flying a shiedless cargo vessel, in under two minutes, while suffering minimal damage...there is a problem, but it's not PvP.
A poor second choice given the limited population of Private Groups.
Then they can play in Open. They just need to be aware that hostile NPCs encounters have not prepared them for hostile CMDR encounters.
now you are possibly then going to counter then that this is proof that npcs need to be buffed.. i would say howoever that it is proof that engineering is insanely OP.
NPCs were a joke well before there was Engineering, but the existence of Engineering certainly makes this even more apparent than it was.