I have been thinking of the whole problem of PvP and ganking and open v solo, and I have been thinking about what the problem really is in this game. And that is, the game has very little legitimate PvP play - by that I mean, the nearest we get to it is where there's occasionally a CG based around 2 opposing sides and you have to hand in combat bonds. The problem is, you can do that in solo, massacre NPCs by the dozen, and you get a big massive CG reward. Or you can play in open, visit the same CG, spend all night fighting other players and earn a tiny number of combat bonds that don't even come close to paying for the rebuys. To me that isn't right.
PvP seems to mostly consist of 2 things - organised fights between PvP groups, and ganking - basically bullying players in ships that have a purpose other than PvP combat. Neither seems very good to me. Both are outside of the lore of the game. The game is about powerplay, local conflicts, politics, getting rich, killing aliens, piracy, smuggling and exploring an almost infinite galaxy. PvP is about forgetting all that and engaging directly with another player. The Elite universe and all its richness is just wallpaper - you might as well be playing "Unreal Tournament: Spaceship Edition". That's why I think PvP needs a major reboot.
I have an idea.
Every week we have CGs, and these attract griefers galore. Most players are trying to achieve the goal, but a few are hanging around the CG system picking off the other players like shooting fish in a barrel, just because they can. Yawn.
What about if we also had a weekly Community Conflict (CC), where you had to choose a side for the week. One side is trying to achieve something, the other trying to stop them. Or they're trying to chase the same goal and only one side can win.
Some ideas for CCs: -
- Only playable in open, and your block list has no effect for the duration of that week while you're signed up to the CC - no stopping CMDRs from the other side from appearing in your instance, this is about PvP and you must face your enemy!
- The CC system(s) are permit locked, the only way to get a permit is to sign up to one of the sides in the conflict, and only in open play is the permit valid. This keeps the core systems free of griefers and spectators, only CMDRs involved with the battle can go there. It might be one system, or might be several, it depends on what that week's CC is about
- Sides in the conflict could be linked to one or more PP factions and if you're already pledged to a faction involved in the conflict then you'd be restricted to joining that faction's side, but maybe you would get some benefits like a half price rebuy if your death happens at the hands of a CC enemy. Other CMDRs could join whichever side they want, as a sort of mercernary, and in fact that would probably be the most common way for most people to take part. It might be common for the 4 imperial factions or the 2 federal factions to be on the same side, and for the Alliance to team up with one or more independent factions depending on what's being fought over.
- Squadrons could join a side, as long as none of their members had already joined the other side or were pledged to a power on the other side
- There would be a natural incentive to get busy in the chat window and wing up with other players you might never have met before. Lone pilots are easy targets, you're going to quickly realise you need to be in a wing to stand a chance.
- Friends show up green, enemies red, just like in a CZ but on a system-wide scale.
- Even outside the CC system(s) the friend or foe identification would still work. The CC systems might the focal point, but you might need to venture elsewhere, e.g. to run supplies to the front line. Expect to be followed and attacked by your enemies, but outside the CC systems the local law enforcement agencies would still apply fines and bounties to criminals, and attack them accordingly. They don't care about your stupid conflict in another system!
- Anywhere that fighting is happening involving CC participants, you would see "Weapons fire reported" signal sources, maybe even highlighted in blue like mission targets. So, easy to find out where it's all kicking off, so you can drop in to see what the fuss is about.
- Killing a friendly would result in being branded a TRAITOR - you get a whopping bounty on your head, every other ship instantly turns red, and your CC system permits gets revoked so if (when) you high wake out, or are killed, you don't get back into that week's CC systems. There would need to be some detection of accidental "friendly fire" kills in case your mate who's already at death's door drifts across in front of your ship just as you pull the trigger.
- NPCs might play a role and give you something to do during quiet periods when not a lot of people are online, and they might even be part of the CC objectives. However, the impact of killing an enemy CMDR would be much greater than killing an NPC - this is because Pilots' Federation CMDRs are the best of the best, so it's a massive morale booster to kill an enemy CMDR. The CMDR's combat rating would also affect the value of the kill.
- The actual objectives could be different every week - one week Zachary Hudson is trying to build a research base and needs all sorts of materials a bit like a CG - but Denton Patreus says "over my dead body" and leads a force to stop it happening. Next week there's a system where a vast Imperial military ship was destroyed by thargoids, scattering bits and pieces all over the system, and now there are occasional signal sources popping up, each one with a valuable item of imperial property that they want back - and that the other side wants to steal. The possibilities are endless and I'm sure the community could propose lots of ideas.
- The winning side actually has a real impact on the BGS that everybody will notice - the winners actually do build that new space station, or there's a massive PP power shift, or there's a serious shift in availability of certain weapons, ships, commodities, etc.
- Galnet reports back from the CC several times a day on how the battle is going - who's winning, who's losing, how close are they to completing the goal, how many CMDRs have been killed on each side, etc. Galnet would also publish a report at the end, telling us the outcome and highlighting top CMDRs from both sides - they get decals for their ships etc etc, all the prestige that comes with being a top PvP player. They could also publish a list of traitors who escaped alive, the values of the bounties on their heads and where they were last seen.
- If you don't like PvP, stay out! Nobody's putting a rail gun to your head and making you play!
- If you do like PvP, now there's a guaranteed pew-pew any time you want one and nobody will ever call you a dirty, rotten, cowardly scumbag ganker ever again!
The key point is, they need to give PvP a purpose. Encourage people to play in open - cooperating with friends and fighting enemies.
People might say, that's not fair to people playing solo. My response is - tough. Honestly. It takes nothing away from solo, but instead adds something new to open. If you want to influence the outcome of the conflict, play in open, sign up to the CC, and get some skin in the game.
PvP seems to mostly consist of 2 things - organised fights between PvP groups, and ganking - basically bullying players in ships that have a purpose other than PvP combat. Neither seems very good to me. Both are outside of the lore of the game. The game is about powerplay, local conflicts, politics, getting rich, killing aliens, piracy, smuggling and exploring an almost infinite galaxy. PvP is about forgetting all that and engaging directly with another player. The Elite universe and all its richness is just wallpaper - you might as well be playing "Unreal Tournament: Spaceship Edition". That's why I think PvP needs a major reboot.
I have an idea.
Every week we have CGs, and these attract griefers galore. Most players are trying to achieve the goal, but a few are hanging around the CG system picking off the other players like shooting fish in a barrel, just because they can. Yawn.
What about if we also had a weekly Community Conflict (CC), where you had to choose a side for the week. One side is trying to achieve something, the other trying to stop them. Or they're trying to chase the same goal and only one side can win.
Some ideas for CCs: -
- Only playable in open, and your block list has no effect for the duration of that week while you're signed up to the CC - no stopping CMDRs from the other side from appearing in your instance, this is about PvP and you must face your enemy!
- The CC system(s) are permit locked, the only way to get a permit is to sign up to one of the sides in the conflict, and only in open play is the permit valid. This keeps the core systems free of griefers and spectators, only CMDRs involved with the battle can go there. It might be one system, or might be several, it depends on what that week's CC is about
- Sides in the conflict could be linked to one or more PP factions and if you're already pledged to a faction involved in the conflict then you'd be restricted to joining that faction's side, but maybe you would get some benefits like a half price rebuy if your death happens at the hands of a CC enemy. Other CMDRs could join whichever side they want, as a sort of mercernary, and in fact that would probably be the most common way for most people to take part. It might be common for the 4 imperial factions or the 2 federal factions to be on the same side, and for the Alliance to team up with one or more independent factions depending on what's being fought over.
- Squadrons could join a side, as long as none of their members had already joined the other side or were pledged to a power on the other side
- There would be a natural incentive to get busy in the chat window and wing up with other players you might never have met before. Lone pilots are easy targets, you're going to quickly realise you need to be in a wing to stand a chance.
- Friends show up green, enemies red, just like in a CZ but on a system-wide scale.
- Even outside the CC system(s) the friend or foe identification would still work. The CC systems might the focal point, but you might need to venture elsewhere, e.g. to run supplies to the front line. Expect to be followed and attacked by your enemies, but outside the CC systems the local law enforcement agencies would still apply fines and bounties to criminals, and attack them accordingly. They don't care about your stupid conflict in another system!
- Anywhere that fighting is happening involving CC participants, you would see "Weapons fire reported" signal sources, maybe even highlighted in blue like mission targets. So, easy to find out where it's all kicking off, so you can drop in to see what the fuss is about.
- Killing a friendly would result in being branded a TRAITOR - you get a whopping bounty on your head, every other ship instantly turns red, and your CC system permits gets revoked so if (when) you high wake out, or are killed, you don't get back into that week's CC systems. There would need to be some detection of accidental "friendly fire" kills in case your mate who's already at death's door drifts across in front of your ship just as you pull the trigger.
- NPCs might play a role and give you something to do during quiet periods when not a lot of people are online, and they might even be part of the CC objectives. However, the impact of killing an enemy CMDR would be much greater than killing an NPC - this is because Pilots' Federation CMDRs are the best of the best, so it's a massive morale booster to kill an enemy CMDR. The CMDR's combat rating would also affect the value of the kill.
- The actual objectives could be different every week - one week Zachary Hudson is trying to build a research base and needs all sorts of materials a bit like a CG - but Denton Patreus says "over my dead body" and leads a force to stop it happening. Next week there's a system where a vast Imperial military ship was destroyed by thargoids, scattering bits and pieces all over the system, and now there are occasional signal sources popping up, each one with a valuable item of imperial property that they want back - and that the other side wants to steal. The possibilities are endless and I'm sure the community could propose lots of ideas.
- The winning side actually has a real impact on the BGS that everybody will notice - the winners actually do build that new space station, or there's a massive PP power shift, or there's a serious shift in availability of certain weapons, ships, commodities, etc.
- Galnet reports back from the CC several times a day on how the battle is going - who's winning, who's losing, how close are they to completing the goal, how many CMDRs have been killed on each side, etc. Galnet would also publish a report at the end, telling us the outcome and highlighting top CMDRs from both sides - they get decals for their ships etc etc, all the prestige that comes with being a top PvP player. They could also publish a list of traitors who escaped alive, the values of the bounties on their heads and where they were last seen.
- If you don't like PvP, stay out! Nobody's putting a rail gun to your head and making you play!
- If you do like PvP, now there's a guaranteed pew-pew any time you want one and nobody will ever call you a dirty, rotten, cowardly scumbag ganker ever again!
The key point is, they need to give PvP a purpose. Encourage people to play in open - cooperating with friends and fighting enemies.
People might say, that's not fair to people playing solo. My response is - tough. Honestly. It takes nothing away from solo, but instead adds something new to open. If you want to influence the outcome of the conflict, play in open, sign up to the CC, and get some skin in the game.
