Question for Open players who don't like PVP/ganking... help me understand

[Ian Skippy]

I have a confession to make: reading the ridiculous, sometimes offensive, and often outright gross / needlessly sexual conversation I saw in System chat while mining was one of the things that turned me to ganking.

The CMDRs making these comments were all in Solo or PG and I'm sure they thought it was "just banter" but it was enough to make me really reconsider who I thought the "bad guys" were among the playerbase.

Maybe this was my own version of "space madness," but jokes aside, I have to own that it was a galvanizing factor contributing to my decision to go to the Dark Side.

I get the sentiment, but 'punishment' should always be aimed at the individual, never the perceived collective. Having said that, Open is to real life what Solo is to online; being within punching/shooting distance of another person/player has a tendency to induce civility. Similarly, people who are fairly meek and combat-avoiding in-game often are Epic Forum Warriors somehow. Had a few instances years ago before I changed my forum name to my in-game name where I winged up with people in-game who posted some startling revelations about my family's history on the forums not knowing I was the same person. Interesting for sure.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Please note, agreeing on what the rules are is completely different than saying someone is being a jerk or similar.

A very astute observation. Personally I have my own opinions about people who explicitly set out to be as negative an influence on others as possible (and boy did we have some examples in the past!), but in the end that is just that: my opinion. I may think Dude X is a bunghole, he may think the same of me. Fascinating surely, but in the end we just have to come to terms with all of this as long as each of us operates within the rules of the game.

 

[Screemonster]

I have a confession to make: reading the ridiculous, sometimes offensive, and often outright gross / needlessly sexual conversation I saw in System chat while mining was one of the things that turned me to ganking.

honestly my experience of borann system chat at times was people doing this

 

[Danquememe]

I get the sentiment, but 'punishment' should always be aimed at the individual, never the perceived collective.

You're absolutely right, of course.

And as you and @ObiW pointed out, many of these people exist only in Solo / PG exclusively, and a small few of them use System chat as their form of "griefing" the playerbase.

For that matter, my "banter" in System chat is probably now driving some players crazy, too. To say nothing of my other activities

 

[Riverside]

Pay it forward

 

[Ian Skippy]

And as you and @ObiW pointed out, many of these people exist only in Solo / PG exclusively, and a small few of them use System chat as their form of "griefing" the playerbase.

Honestly, that is one of the great things about Colonia. Don't get me wrong, I am all for plebeians being allowed to live and all that jazz but I like to minimize my exposure to them. Over here, everyone has hundreds of hours in the game. Everyone, trader/explorer/fighter pilot/smuggler/ganker has dozens of times the insurance and we all know how the game works. We're all basically retirees bumbling about. Sometimes someone (usually @Phisto Sobanii) sticks out his walking cane, an elderly drunk trader stumbles and we all have a good laugh. Then we all come together again for bingo night.

Trust me, the charm of Bubble Drama wears off eventually.

 

[Danquememe]

I have another confession: last night I joined the AXI Discord and am researching Thargoid ship builds and tactics.

I've still never seen one in game, not even really sure where to find them other than "Near Maia."

I hope to.... and I recognize the extreme hypocrisy about what I'm going to write next... I hope to... cooperate with some other players in the purely PVE activity of Thargoid hunting, at some point.

In Open.

Yes, I'm laughing at me, too.

 

[TiberiusDuval]

There is no excuse to log out of the game to avoid death, whether you're pulling the plug or waiting for the countdown. I've worked hard to put together a group to teach people how to play the game properly and anyone who supports logging is just undermining everything I'm trying to do.

Waiting for counter is as much within rules as your ability to blast anyone you want. Deal with it. Or is it that some rules are sacrosanct and some others aren't?

 

[Riverside]

Waiting for counter is as much within rules as your ability to blast anyone you want. Deal with it. Or is it that some rules are sacrosanct and some others aren't?

Definitely a failure to understand the rules of the game. I don't log out in danger (honestly it doesn't occur to me) but it's part of the game.

CLogging is cheating & probably should get more attention from FDev, but so is instance flipping at places like Dav's Hope (a place I have never knowingly visited). They sorted mission board flipping at least.

Just play to your own set of rules & lead by example. It's unreasonable to expect others to follow but appreciated if they do

 

[Ian Skippy]

I have another confession: last night I joined the AXI Discord and am researching Thargoid ship builds and tactics.

I've still never seen one in game, not even really sure where to find them other than "Near Maia."

I hope to.... and I recognize the extreme hypocrisy about what I'm going to write next... I hope to... cooperate with some other players in the purely PVE activity of Thargoid hunting, at some point.

In Open.

Yes, I'm laughing at me, too.

Just a heads-up:

1) Some of them are absolutely designed for multiplay encounters.
2) Hull is the name of the game
3) Show up in a non-AX ship to a high xeno USS = insurance screen

They are good practice though and anyone interested in combat in ED should absolutely do it.

 

[whothe]

Not yet, but it sounds more fun than an SRV, for sure.

Can you still cargo scoop the shards if they land on the ground?

Most times you can, always a chance it falls in a bad spot... I think most times as long as the planet is low G the bits pop up, so once you're used to it, it can actually become faster than an SRV

 

[TiberiusDuval]

Just a heads-up:

1) Some of them are absolutely designed for multiplay encounters.
2) Hull is the name of the game
3) Show up in a non-AX ship to a high xeno USS = insurance screen

They are good practice though and anyone interested in combat in ED should absolutely do it.

Thargs are not your common run NPC's and yeah they really can ruin your day

 

[gorankar]

I have another confession: last night I joined the AXI Discord and am researching Thargoid ship builds and tactics.

I've still never seen one in game, not even really sure where to find them other than "Near Maia."

I hope to.... and I recognize the extreme hypocrisy about what I'm going to write next... I hope to... cooperate with some other players in the purely PVE activity of Thargoid hunting, at some point.

In Open.


Yes, I'm laughing at me, too.

It's not impossible in low traffic systems in open at a NHSS. In fact I have never really had an issue at an NHSS. And that is all there is right now. Back when we still had them, at a CZ in a system with a thargoid attacked burning station was different. Those were something like a CG or II in open. CZ's often had gankers waiting for weakened ships to pop on their way back from a CZ. So, you made some friends, and you took you AX endeavors to PG to avoid gankers.

 

[Screemonster]

I have another confession: last night I joined the AXI Discord and am researching Thargoid ship builds and tactics.

I've still never seen one in game, not even really sure where to find them other than "Near Maia."

I hope to.... and I recognize the extreme hypocrisy about what I'm going to write next... I hope to... cooperate with some other players in the purely PVE activity of Thargoid hunting, at some point.

In Open.

Yes, I'm laughing at me, too.

the two questions are

1: have you unlocked the guardian stuff yet
2: have you practiced module sniping with rails, because guardian gauss is the only weapon worth using against goids

 

[Pelagis]

If you don't want to be killed by gankers, then don't play Open. It's not meant for you. Period. There isn't a debate to be had.

Open should mean death to anyone who isn't fully ready to fight for their lives to escape my indiscriminate murderous streak.
Miners, explorers, traders etc are all fair game. It's not my fault you have the audacity to inhabit my space while waving your cargo/data around like a taunt. You're basically begging to die.

The more full your hold is, the more you have to lose, the better. Some Pirates are nice guys, some of us aren't. Be seeing you all.

 

[Riverside]

If you don't want to be killed by gankers, then don't play Open. It's not meant for you. Period. There isn't a debate to be had.

Open should mean death to anyone who isn't fully ready to fight for their lives to escape my indiscriminate murderous streak.
Miners, explorers, traders etc are all fair game. It's not my fault you have the audacity to inhabit my space while waving your cargo/data around like a taunt. You're basically begging to die.

The more full your hold is, the more you have to lose, the better. Some Pirates are nice guys, some of us aren't. Be seeing you all.

See? There are jerks in every slice of the community

 

[Danquememe]

It's late and I'm tottering off to bed but I was up to nefarious activities in Deciat again tonight... with a small twist.

There was a Hauler with a Harmless CMDR. I was outmaneuvered by another ganker, who ended up pulling them. Then they came back, and someone else got them. I sent a friend request this time, just before the second interdiction. It was accepted, and then I proceeded to send some gank evasion tips after asking if they'd like any. I did self-identify as a ganker, but also said that some gankers, including me, enjoyed helping players. The player was game to continue the interaction, so we did.

Totally new player, 4 days in the game. Had been doing their research, had done Road to Riches already and put about 5 million credits in the bank. Didn't realize they'd need a meta-alloy for Farseer, and also didn't know yet how to land on a planet. Ended up using Cow's fleet carrier to give the person a meta-alloy for a rock bottom price, tips on how to land on planets, and a strong request/demand that they fly to Farseer in solo (since we knew from others that they were camping the base). Just had a super positive interaction overall and felt good to help a genuinely new player that I didn't actually gank. Weird, right? LOL

Anyways, it can be a neat game. Earlier, Cow was chased by Webgear all over the place, as Webgear was trying to get Cow's bounty. They had all sorts of fun. Later, at Deciat, Dog - one of the most notorious Deciat gankers - showed up in a Krait Mk II and was promptly ganked by about 6 players. He put up a good fight but in the end ate a rebuy.

It really was a full spectrum sort of evening, and a lot of fun.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Totally new player, 4 days in the game. Had been doing their research, had done Road to Riches already and put about 5 million credits in the bank. Didn't realize they'd need a meta-alloy for Farseer, and also didn't know yet how to land on a planet. Ended up using Cow's fleet carrier to give the person a meta-alloy for a rock bottom price, tips on how to land on planets, and a strong request/demand that they fly to Farseer in solo (since we knew from others that they were camping the base).

I'm kind of in two minds about this bit. It makes me a bit sad that a player who is barely a week into the game already knows about road-to-riches, but still isn't familiar with the absolute basics in the game (landing on a planet), which indicates that new players tend to follow get-rich-quick schemes first and foremost, and bypass the more natural learning curve the game provides if one just takes their time to familiarise themselves with the various mechanics and features the game has to offer.

On top of that, they get a massive leg up by other players essentially allowing them to skip key parts of the early gameplay loop - whether they're worthwhile in say the case of fetching meta-alloys is debatable of course, but even just the challenge of having to haul yourself to the Pleiades which means traversing through an area with no stations to fall back on, learning that not all stars are scoopable, and so on - I just think it sort of robs them of that experience.

Giving advice through comms is great and thanks to a good few things still being difficult to figure out in-game, I think that's the best a more experienced CMDR can do to a newbie and it also gives them a positive impression of Elite's community besides getting their ship destroyed. It's a fine line though I think, and with the game being essentially easy-mode now as soon as you're able to build a mining ship (i.e. very early) I believe it's best to not overload them with freebies since most of the ship progression, and as such the need to make do with limited resources, is already lost largely.

But that's just me - it does seem that a sizeable part of the most recent generation of players are very credit driven and are not interested in learning the game slowly but steadily. Looking at Youtube et al, Elite doesn't seem to be the only game having this problem to be fair; search for a game with even slightly grindy mechanics and you're swamped with min-max guides, so my blame also goes to those Youtubers who create that content in their hunt for likes & subscribes.

And when those new players have achieved billionaire status, and are taking making hundreds of millions of credits per hour for granted, they end up with all the assets the game allows for but don't actually know how to play it. And possibly just give up. I do wonder how many of those Borann/New Borann miners are still playing the game. Observing system chat back then I didn't get the impression that many of them really enjoyed it - the motivation to spend time mining was often solely money driven.

Sorry - this was a bit of a tangent there... glad you had fun and I don't begrudge anyone playing the game how they want to, it's just that certain approaches may do harm to the longevity of the game for some players, which would be a pity.

 

[Brrokk]

If you don't want to be killed by gankers, then don't play Open. It's not meant for you. Period. There isn't a debate to be had.

Open should mean death to anyone who isn't fully ready to fight for their lives to escape my indiscriminate murderous streak.
Miners, explorers, traders etc are all fair game. It's not my fault you have the audacity to inhabit my space while waving your cargo/data around like a taunt. You're basically begging to die.

The more full your hold is, the more you have to lose, the better. Some Pirates are nice guys, some of us aren't. Be seeing you all.

Not sure if I'm falling for parody, but this is the unfortunate "wanting to control my play" tendency I've previously noted. No-one else decides what mode I play in, or what I do in it, or what I do when confronted in combat. I use all three modes about equally for reasons which seem good to me.

 

[Ian Skippy]

If you don't want to be killed by gankers, then don't play Open. It's not meant for you. Period. There isn't a debate to be had.

I can only speak for myself, but I don't want to be killed by gankers. Or anyone or anything else either. It's one of the goals of the game if you ask me; to not be killed.