Why I and many others will rarely play open

[vanishboy]

Griefers. For the most part.

Whenever I play open, and happen to cross ways with another player, I get interdicted and killed by a full engineered guy. "I mean, ok, you obviously want to test out your super OP ship and pubstomp little-me, I get it. I hope you were able to pump up that little ego of yours. Now I relogg into solo mode, goodbye."

Yee, it's dumb, really.

No really, I am glad that there is solo-mode. I just wanna chill and have fun.
Tho sometimes I get the urge to step into open-play with the hope to find some cool guys to play with. Even though it sometimes tends to end like described above.

Not sure, why I write this, maybe I don't want solo-mode ever to be deleted and I hope it never will be.

 

[LeoBartlet]

Cool story

 

[Commander Biscuit]

Tho sometimes I get the urge to step into open-play with the hope to find some cool guys to play with.

Sounds like you need to join Mobius private group.

 

[vanishboy]

Sounds like you need to join Mobius private group.

Is there a discord channel or something?

 

[Kelster87]

Open-only player here, I've lost exactly 2 ships to griefers.. What are you doing wrong?

 

[Amanojaku]

I'm a bit of an oddity. I'm pretty anti-social. I've tried joining a squadron before. I liked all the people in the squadron but I felt like I was putting most of my free time towards helping the squadron BGS, rather than having fun. So I left the squadron without explanation and blocked them all. Again, I liked all of them but I'm anti-social so I f'd off.

You'd think, after saying all that, that I'd like Solo. I don't. I prefer Open. For me, it ED feels dead when it's all NPCs. Character interaction is limited, and before Odyssey all we had were flat, lifeless 2D pictures on panels telling us in so many ways how we would benefit working for them. And we had wedding barges and passenger ship braggarts in comms saying the same thing over and over. Even the pirates were bores with very limited dialogue, and like with all other NPCs in ED we had no scripted dialogue to respond with. Dead. Lifeless.

I quite enjoy the excitement of seeing a hollow square pull behind me in SC. Will they be friend or foe? Should I run or talk to them? Can I take them? NPCs don't come anywhere close to CMDRs.

You say griefers. Not all of them are. Some are RPers. If you're pledged to Hudson and I see you flying around Cubeo in SC, I'm pulling you. Simple as that. And if you don't give me a good reason for you being there or open fire, I'm killing you. I would expect the same (worse, even) if you caught me flying around Nanomam while I was pledged to Aisling.

Recently some people were griefed at Jameson Crash Site while farming mats. Some of the griefers were doing it for the EZ kills sure, but I guarantee others are doing it because they hate exploits like relogging. Sometimes there's a reason for griefing.

Some are pirates. Some are just PvPers looking for a fight, and will likely let you run if they stomp you. And yes... Some are griefers, but that's why you have the rebuy option. It's also why you have the Solo option, and I'm perfectly fine with people staying in Solo. But the go to argument is always "because griefers". Remember that the next time an NPC pirate lets you run away. All enemy NPCs are griefers, with no shred of mercy, because they're mindless.

Most of the interactions I've had in Open involve me sharing wing missions, ones picked up in my Cutter and already finished, with random players. It's not the nightmare everyone thinks it is. If you want real griefers try playing a Rockstar game.

 

[Aaron T]

Open-only player here, I've lost exactly 2 ships to griefers.. What are you doing wrong?

Do you have engineered ships, are you elite, are you maxed out on rank? I find it very hard to believe some stories of open only players who have never tried solo or a private group. Not saying that about you because you have put in almost no details. The ones that I cannot believe are the ones who claim to have over 1000 hours, some claim to have 3000-4000+ hours in open, never having gone into solo or private group modes, have a dozen fully engineered ships, are maxed out on engineering mats, have unlocked at least every engineer near the bubble, max rank, triple elite, and on and on, yet have only been killed twice in 4-5 years of open only play, and have only been shot at outside of being killed twice two to three times by other players.

Gankers and griefers are always at systems where noobs will jump in the first time they leave the starting systems, they are all around the engineer bases and in the systems waiting near the star if they are not right there close to the base, they are at every CG event, at every gold rush, every hotspot, every popular location, but this guy managed to play in open only starting in a poorly rated starter ship, might have upgraded to an A rated Cobra before leaving the starter system, and evaded meta fully engineered ships, and players or missed them by chance for 4 years as they gathered mats and visited every engineer, , etc times a thousand, lol.

No way, did anyone get that far along from a noob in open only, and only got ganked twice.

There is no shame in saying the truth, that they did all of their grinding in solo or private, and once they had capable skills and ships they finally made open their permanent home.

Not using any terms or names, but I do not believe those stories for one second.

 

[Aaron T]

At least you admit there are gankers and griefers, and not all PVP is ganking and griefing, not by a long shot. And like you said, open is not always as bad as folks think it is.

But at least you did not say something like you have played in open only for 5 years are maxed out on everything, unlocked every engineer, participated in every CG ever, and have only been shot at once i over 3000 hours and have only heard of one player you know actually being killed in open.

I have to raise my arm to try to save it when I read those posts because it is too late by then to save my boots.

I have spent time in open and saw no one and got things done, and I have spent time in open and did not see anyone and saw one blast go past me, one hit, my shields and power go down, and another hit kills me.

 

[AngryAntz]

Do you have engineered ships, are you elite, are you maxed out on rank? I find it very hard to believe some stories of open only players who have never tried solo or a private group. Not saying that about you because you have put in almost no details. The ones that I cannot believe are the ones who claim to have over 1000 hours, some claim to have 3000-4000+ hours in open, never having gone into solo or private group modes, have a dozen fully engineered ships, are maxed out on engineering mats, have unlocked at least every engineer near the bubble, max rank, triple elite, and on and on, yet have only been killed twice in 4-5 years of open only play, and have only been shot at outside of being killed twice two to three times by other players.

Gankers and griefers are always at systems where noobs will jump in the first time they leave the starting systems, they are all around the engineer bases and in the systems waiting near the star if they are not right there close to the base, they are at every CG event, at every gold rush, every hotspot, every popular location, but this guy managed to play in open only starting in a poorly rated starter ship, might have upgraded to an A rated Cobra before leaving the starter system, and evaded meta fully engineered ships, and players or missed them by chance for 4 years as they gathered mats and visited every engineer, , etc times a thousand, lol.

No way, did anyone get that far along from a noob in open only, and only got ganked twice.

There is no shame in saying the truth, that they did all of their grinding in solo or private, and once they had capable skills and ships they finally made open their permanent home.

Not using any terms or names, but I do not believe those stories for one second.

Sorry to disappoint you... but 1000+ hours only 3 ganks (lost all 3). All my ships have varying degrees of engineering (mostly just FSD). I also don't grind in open, solo or PG. I collect stuff as I go and upgrade as I can. I got my first elite (trading) only a couple of weeks ago, I am close to elite on exploration but am only novice on combat.

So call us liars if that is what helps your head cannon.

 

[gorankar]

1000+ hours and only 3 ganks? I was ganked 3 times in my first couple hours of the very first day I played this game in LHS 3447.
Unless one avoids places like Shin Dez, CG's, Deciat, contested PP systems, or only started to play after the existence of the permit locked starter systems, I find that a bit more than just lucky.
That said 99% of the time I don't see a soul in open. Half of the time I do see someone in open, they either run from me assuming I am a ganker, or try to gank me. The other half the time they just ignore me. Sort of makes open a bit of a waste for me.

OP may not be 100% correct, but not wrong either. I don't play in open much because there is nothing there for me. I am not into PvP. If I want a coop experience, Mobius/Fleetcom are simply better choices since people are not trying to gank me and know that I am unlikely to try and gank them. So people you run into there are like "o7," whatcha doin?", "me too wanna wing up?"

 

[Aaron T]

I was a victim several times as a noob jumping away from the starter systems in open, myself.

I hopped in as a noob and clicked open and everything was fine in the starter system, then when I jumped out bam, tried again, bam, then I enjoyed solo or private group for a long time.

Sometimes back in the Smeaton passenger runs days when you switched modes I'd forget and be in open for hours with no problems, then find I'd been in open and be surprised, lol.

Many times I forgot to switch out of open I was 1-2 shot killed, just because I was in open, never an order to turn over any loot, never a challenge, just a shot and lights out, another shot and boom, a rebuy.

I never saw the point of using open only as a badge of honor, lol.

 

[AngryAntz]

1000+ hours and only 3 ganks? I was ganked 3 times in my first couple hours of the very first day I played this game in LHS 3447.
Unless one avoids places like Shin Dez, CG's, Deciat, contested PP systems, or only started to play after the existence of the permit locked starter systems, I find that a bit more than just lucky.
That said 99% of the time I don't see a soul in open. Half of the time I do see someone in open, they either run from me assuming I am a ganker, or try to gank me. The other half the time they just ignore me. Sort of makes open a bit of a waste for me.

I had no problem leaving the starter zone (wasn't given a choice). I have been to Deciat several times, without issue, have never been to Shin Dez. I have only done 2 CGs (not seriously, just to see how they work). Admittedly I wouldn't know if I was in a PP system. I will admit I don't participate in the latest meta (such as borann a few months ago).

I rarely see anyone, but when I do, I do keep an eye on my scanner. The 3 times I have lost ships to gankers (get defeated by NPC mostly) I put it down to "cost of doing business". As my "Novice" combat ranking shows... fighting (even with NPCs) is not one of my strong points.

I have had many good interactions with other players in my 3 or so years. I am still grateful to the random person, who upon noticing I was struggling working out a guardian site (my first visit), took me step by step through it (yeah I could watch YT vids but I don't).

To me personally, the postives of playing in open far out-weigh the negatives. But if people enjoy plaing in Solo and PG then that's great too.

 

[Aaron T]

Sorry to disappoint you... but 1000+ hours only 3 ganks (lost all 3). All my ships have varying degrees of engineering (mostly just FSD). I also don't grind in open, solo or PG. I collect stuff as I go and upgrade as I can. I got my first elite (trading) only a couple of weeks ago, I am close to elite on exploration but am only novice on combat.

So call us liars if that is what helps your head cannon.

I didn't call you a liar, every day somewhere someone sees something awesome and unexpected happen right in front of them and all they can say is it was unbelievable.

Congrats on avoiding or just plain missing seeing any of these guys in open.

I have spent many uneventful hours in open, but the times I was killed was leaving the starter systems as a noob, visiting an engineer forgetting I was in open, or farming credits and forgetting I was in open, basically I was where the gankers flock to, and in open accidentally from switching servers and forgetting wherte I was at as far as open, solo, or private.

But honestly open has no appeal for me, there is Mobius and private for multiplayer, and PVP is so boring for me.

I cannot even fathom why it is all some want to do, as they wonder about those who PVE.

In PVE I can bounty hunt, kill pirates, mine, explore, trade, run various missions.

In PVP you basically try to kill someone before they casn kill you or escape, period, that is all there is to it, day in and day out, kill them or get killed, they escape or you escape.

I can think of nothing as boring as doing one thing every day and night over and over again for years.

At least in honorable true PVP you are in it for the thrill and risk, but gankers only kill lesser experienced players in non combat ships because they want zero risk, where is the variety and fun, and challenge in that?

Day and night for years, killing noobs, or other players with only a little experience in the game heading to engineer their ship for the first time.

Sounds boring and monotonous.

 

[wrmiller]

Just play solo, unless you are really desperate to interact with other players.

Last time I tried open, I logged in on three different occasions, and was interdicted all three times. Makes for some rather boring gameplay IMO, and detracts from what I want to do. So no more open for me. If I want to see an occasional open square, I'll fire up Mobius (which I do).

 

[rrobes]

It’s quite easy to fly Open and see very few players. Just avoid certain situations and you will be fine.

With the ability to easily make credits, you can recoup loses quickly. A ship loss isn’t a big deal financially.

However, I understand players’ dislike for being “ganked”, maybe because they are unwilling participants in the encounter.

Whatever the reason, OP’s sentiments are nothing new, and encounters such as his will be part of the game, it won’t change.

 

[Amanojaku]

I didn't call you a liar, every day somewhere someone sees something awesome and unexpected happen right in front of them and all they can say is it was unbelievable.

Congrats on avoiding or just plain missing seeing any of these guys in open.

I have spent many uneventful hours in open, but the times I was killed was leaving the starter systems as a noob, visiting an engineer forgetting I was in open, or farming credits and forgetting I was in open, basically I was where the gankers flock to, and in open accidentally from switching servers and forgetting wherte I was at as far as open, solo, or private.

But honestly open has no appeal for me, there is Mobius and private for multiplayer, and PVP is so boring for me.

I cannot even fathom why it is all some want to do, as they wonder about those who PVE.

In PVE I can bounty hunt, kill pirates, mine, explore, trade, run various missions.

In PVP you basically try to kill someone before they casn kill you or escape, period, that is all there is to it, day in and day out, kill them or get killed, they escape or you escape.

I can think of nothing as boring as doing one thing every day and night over and over again for years.

At least in honorable true PVP you are in it for the thrill and risk, but gankers only kill lesser experienced players in non combat ships because they want zero risk, where is the variety and fun, and challenge in that?

Day and night for years, killing noobs, or other players with only a little experience in the game heading to engineer their ship for the first time.

Sounds boring and monotonous.

Like it or not PvP keeps a lot of games alive. I really don't like CoD, but if Warzone only had Campaign Mode it would have died 2 months after release. Yeah, it's a stretch to compare ED to CoD, but I'd say most people like competition in general. In ED, you get to a point where the only real competition is threat 7 pirate zones, thargoid interceptors, or other players.

I agree that seal clubbing is borish and griefers can't really brag about it, but the reason they do it is simple. They're bored and it makes them feel good. I mean, I'm not going to go all Dr. Phil here but that's the reason. They want to mine salt. They're looking for a reaction. The best thing you can do is give them a simple "gg" before you die. It's like a swift kick between the nacelles for people who want you to be mad.

 

[AngryAntz]

I didn't call you a liar, every day somewhere someone sees something awesome and unexpected happen right in front of them and all they can say is it was unbelievable.

Congrats on avoiding or just plain missing seeing any of these guys in open.

I have spent many uneventful hours in open, but the times I was killed was leaving the starter systems as a noob, visiting an engineer forgetting I was in open, or farming credits and forgetting I was in open, basically I was where the gankers flock to, and in open accidentally from switching servers and forgetting wherte I was at as far as open, solo, or private.

But honestly open has no appeal for me, there is Mobius and private for multiplayer, and PVP is so boring for me.

I cannot even fathom why it is all some want to do, as they wonder about those who PVE.

In PVE I can bounty hunt, kill pirates, mine, explore, trade, run various missions.

In PVP you basically try to kill someone before they casn kill you or escape, period, that is all there is to it, day in and day out, kill them or get killed, they escape or you escape.

I can think of nothing as boring as doing one thing every day and night over and over again for years.

At least in honorable true PVP you are in it for the thrill and risk, but gankers only kill lesser experienced players in non combat ships because they want zero risk, where is the variety and fun, and challenge in that?

Day and night for years, killing noobs, or other players with only a little experience in the game heading to engineer their ship for the first time.

Sounds boring and monotonous.

it is possibly a difference in playstyles. I rarely go to "high traffric" areas (apart from deciat and I am finished with her now) and I don't grind.

I agree that PVP is boring and I too don't see the attraction for "clubbing baby seals", however there are, unfortunately, people in this world that enjoy that sort of thing (no I don't understand it either).

Doing the same thing over and over is how I feel about grinders

The best thing about ED is that there are modes to get around the PVP part. The main reason I play open is for the other player interactions, of which, a vast majority have been positive for me. It's a pity people have had negative experiences that keep them from playing open, but I understand their desire to play the way they want.

 

[Bortas]

I'm wondering where all you griefing-victims are hanging out... Personally I highly welcome any occasional PvP engagement, but i rarely ever even meet another commander

 

[Lowbee]

Griefers. For the most part.

No really, I am glad that there is solo-mode. I just wanna chill and have fun.
Tho sometimes I get the urge to step into open-play with the hope to find some cool guys to play with. Even though it sometimes tends to end like described above.

Not sure, why I write this, maybe I don't want solo-mode ever to be deleted and I hope it never will be.

I understand your sentiment all too well. I play and contribute to BGS for my pleasure, not anyone else's, so that means Mobius PG or solo for me, thank you very much.

o7

 

[Caramel Clown]

Ok.