great point. I play OPEN...I very RARELY see, interract with or have any contact whatsoever with any PC's. I might as well be playing SOLO.
The Majority of Players, Play Elite as a Single-Player Non-PvP Experience?
- Thread starter Obsidian Ant
- Start date
Thanks to the OP for conducting this survey. It is tough to have any grasp on what the playerbase is actually doing in the game without this sort of data.
"Open is the most popular mode" I've heard that before from FDEV, but I just don't see all those players in the bubble (I am in open) except at gank hotspots.
OA's poll seems a bit more tangible and frankly, believable.
There are times I wonder if there really are lots of people logging into open, but FDEV has dialed back the shared instancing access to facilitate stability.
"Open is the most popular mode" I've heard that before from FDEV, but I just don't see all those players in the bubble (I am in open) except at gank hotspots.
OA's poll seems a bit more tangible and frankly, believable.
There are times I wonder if there really are lots of people logging into open, but FDEV has dialed back the shared instancing access to facilitate stability.
Maybe in the minority but that tension of danger adds to the game. Always have to think twice when outfitting. Not for everyone I'm sure but I'd argue Elite needs more danger.
I think this is what's going on. Thousands of people stuck in their own dimension even though they clicked on open.
Probably 95% of my time in-game has been solo. I enjoy playing with my son, whose computer is just in the next room, close enough to talk to one another at normal conversation levels. We always play in a private instance though, never open. And all we do together are combat missions, as that's what he enjoys. He'll mine platinum and grind for mats to engineer his ships, but he doesn't do exploration or hauling. He's never been any further from the bubble than the nearest group of Guardian ruins.
In general, I am not a good PvP'er in any game, including Elite. In other MMO's in the past such as LotRO, Rift, etc, I always just play PvE. I know younger players are way better at controls (i get panicky in PvP and become a button-masher) and have more free time to grind better gear, so I just get slaughtered. I'm too old and have too little time to tolerate griefers as "just part of the game"!
In general, I am not a good PvP'er in any game, including Elite. In other MMO's in the past such as LotRO, Rift, etc, I always just play PvE. I know younger players are way better at controls (i get panicky in PvP and become a button-masher) and have more free time to grind better gear, so I just get slaughtered. I'm too old and have too little time to tolerate griefers as "just part of the game"!
I never understood the whole solo open pg debate in this game it has all three options why the fuss
But it was explicitly stated this wasn't about open vs solo. It's about people who play alone even in open vs people who play in groups.
Frontier absolutely knows this from their telemetry. They know how many people are trying to join instances. Multicrew and such have been abandoned precisely because they know not many people are wanting it.
If I want a purely solo spaceship game experience, I play X4. It's open, deep and complex enough to keep me totally bamboozled everytime I play it.
If I want to pit my wits against other human players in pixel spaceships, I play EVE Online. That's exactly what it's built for and it does an excellent job at providing all the tools to do so.
Most of the time I play Elite in Open, because that provides a happy medium. I rarely see other players but when I do it makes for a moment of excitement; will we have a nice chat, a fierce battle, or a simple exchange of o7's and be on our ways? While lacking the complexity and scope of X4 and EVE, it's still the one I end up relaxing with the most!
If I want to pit my wits against other human players in pixel spaceships, I play EVE Online. That's exactly what it's built for and it does an excellent job at providing all the tools to do so.
Most of the time I play Elite in Open, because that provides a happy medium. I rarely see other players but when I do it makes for a moment of excitement; will we have a nice chat, a fierce battle, or a simple exchange of o7's and be on our ways? While lacking the complexity and scope of X4 and EVE, it's still the one I end up relaxing with the most!
Well, given the multiplayer bugs players have experienced, I'm not surprised it's more single-players now. 
Personally, I don't think the peer-to-peer networking model is suited to games of this type where persistence across instances is required (better suited to simpler round-based games).
If they wanted to encourage more interaction, I wonder if having a softer boundary between single and multi-player might help? i.e. instead of choosing one or the other at launch time, what if you could switch back and forth without relogging? So you could see all other ships in the instance etc, but can't be interdicted. But, there are areas, or POIs, or missions that are multiplayer-only, and if you choose to interact with them for the rewards you switch to multiplayer. Could be a cool 'running the gauntlet' experience.. and could provide focal points for PVP (piracy, or policing) in the game.
Personally, I don't think the peer-to-peer networking model is suited to games of this type where persistence across instances is required (better suited to simpler round-based games). If they wanted to encourage more interaction, I wonder if having a softer boundary between single and multi-player might help? i.e. instead of choosing one or the other at launch time, what if you could switch back and forth without relogging? So you could see all other ships in the instance etc, but can't be interdicted. But, there are areas, or POIs, or missions that are multiplayer-only, and if you choose to interact with them for the rewards you switch to multiplayer. Could be a cool 'running the gauntlet' experience.. and could provide focal points for PVP (piracy, or policing) in the game.
You can still get killed in solo. But this thread isn't about open vs solo. It's about people playing alone in open vs in groups.
The challenge of PvP is the only thing that kept me in the game for 5000 hours.
The Elite Dangerous flight model is incredible. However it only can be taken to the limit by fighting humans in an obstacle course like an asteroid field or hooning.
Sadly, most Commanders have no idea what their ships really can do.
To each her own.
I truly wish more people PvPed. It's so beautiful, a ballet to the death amongst the stars.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ym15piiss&t=141s
The Elite Dangerous flight model is incredible. However it only can be taken to the limit by fighting humans in an obstacle course like an asteroid field or hooning.
Sadly, most Commanders have no idea what their ships really can do.
To each her own.
I truly wish more people PvPed. It's so beautiful, a ballet to the death amongst the stars.
I'm almost exclusively a solo player. I have had some very good times with fellow explorers on expeditions and have a wingmate I fly with from time to time but in most cases as a role-player I'd rather just do my own thing.
As an original Elite (1984) player I think the fact those in our generation grew up almost exclusively with single-player games may be a factor in the composition of the modern Elite playerbase and could explain the results of the poll, at least in part. This does seem to a community with an strong emphasis towards a maturer age group of players than other titles.
I very rarely play multiplayer in other games either. I don't really "get" the appeal of it and having had bad experiences with griefers wrecking my enjoyment and role-playing in other games, I don't see that changing.
Thanks for running this interesting poll. I was a respondent to two of the three questions - yours and one of Exigeous' - and while I expected these kind of results from your community, the real surprise comes from Exigeous' followers.
As an original Elite (1984) player I think the fact those in our generation grew up almost exclusively with single-player games may be a factor in the composition of the modern Elite playerbase and could explain the results of the poll, at least in part. This does seem to a community with an strong emphasis towards a maturer age group of players than other titles.
I very rarely play multiplayer in other games either. I don't really "get" the appeal of it and having had bad experiences with griefers wrecking my enjoyment and role-playing in other games, I don't see that changing.
Thanks for running this interesting poll. I was a respondent to two of the three questions - yours and one of Exigeous' - and while I expected these kind of results from your community, the real surprise comes from Exigeous' followers.
Another vote for unsurprised here. Despite being involved with lots of groups (including the various race communities) my play (although conducted in Open) is predominantly on my own.
There's hardly anything to do with another player, besides kill them.
Unrelated note. Is there a way to turn off this new 'auto-landing' feature? Found myself trying to do a survey mission on the dark side of a planet last night, trying to face my ship lights to the objection in question only to have the auto-landing do a 180 and now I'm like, "nooooo".
There is an auto land on/off in the ship panel (the right hand one).
Or remove the autodock module altogether.
Make your home base Jameson. Easy enough.
I play a lot in open, especially when we had our war in Colonia.
But for testing the Odyssey Alpha and Beta I play mostly in solo, because I don't want to interact
but get stuff done.
Will propably play more open again when I have the stuff I wanted finished (G5 aphelion, g4+ mave etc.)
But for testing the Odyssey Alpha and Beta I play mostly in solo, because I don't want to interact
but get stuff done.
Will propably play more open again when I have the stuff I wanted finished (G5 aphelion, g4+ mave etc.)