That bit right there. Elite is the preeminent game for wasting time (supercruise and hyperspace being exhibit 1 and 2). Nothing in Elite costs more than time. This, in and of itself, is an entirely different discussion (should FDev relook at that), but it's an important piece to the ganking equation.
First off: I support ganking. If a game's developers enable the behavior, they support it, too. FDev has clearly designed open play with ganking being a possible (its debatable on 'encouraged') opportunity for player interaction. Point being: ganking is not wrong in Elite.
That said, solo mode (and PG by extension) enables the avoidance of ganking...and little else. This is important: you don't miss out on CGs or other events, you only miss out on player interactions (unless using PG), and Elite is sorely lacking in that department. Multicrew is busted, PvP is a joke because ship balance is a joke (nevermind engineering and modules), and there are no meaningful ways to interact with others except via laser or nose-booping.
(Nose booping is a valid way of interaction. Be at ease, Beluga Pilots. I'm one, too.)
I play in Open a lot, but I intentionally avoid player-dense areas (few and far between as it is, yet another discussion) because ganking is perhaps the only INTERESTING way to interact with other players. You don't need help taking on Thargoids, CZs, or even trade missions. Wings are an entirely anciliary feature that (buggy as it is) serves no actual purpose. Most of this is because FDev wants to cater to the solo (player, not mode) crowd...and that's ok. I'm a solo player, too.
I don't like people. Deal with it.
Elite is not an MMO. It's hardly a multiplayer game. It has multiplayer features (most of which are in various stages of being broken), but it's definitely not a multiplayer-oriented game. Never has been and, judging by how EDO is rolling out, still won't be.
Ultimately, the debate about 'Open Only' is largely pointless except to key groups of people: multiplayers, such as Powerplay and the BGS. These are huge features with huge potential....that will likely never be realized. Unless FDev shifts focus from the solo player towards a multiplayer community. Space Legs may yet get there, but initial observations say it won't. That's not bad, per se, just is. Until multiplayer features get love - and solo players find themselves as a disadvantage for being solo (as in most multiplayer titles) - there will always be a solo (and PG) mode, it will always attract most of the playerbase (because the game itself attracts solo players, not multiplayer players), and the 'Open Debate' will always remain an exercise in futility because the two sides literally cannot be reconciled.
You can't force players to accept their time might be wasted by ganking.
You can't force players to accept their time might be wasted hunting too few players.
Neither side has any incentive to change their behavior and FDev has, at this stage, no incentive to change that.
Powerplay and the BGS are 'neat' features that don't really matter to the game health (in FDev's eyes).
Crime and Punishment, More Defender Utility, and Controls on Ganking don't really matter to the game health (again, in FDev's eyes).
If these things mattered, they would have been dealt with by now. The game is SIX YEARS OLD.
