Elite Dangerous | System Colonisation Beta Details & Feedback

[Greasetrap42]

through the map you can see if the station is currently being built or not. We are building using carriers and he could also put bookmarks on our carriers and track their movement. There are many options to catch us, but there are no options to catch him in solo mode

Certainly through the System Map anybody can see that a stn is being built and fleet carriers are in the system. Regardless of whether YOU are online or not. And if this person is in solo mode, I don't believe there is any way they can know you are online. And even if they can tell(?) they can't tell if you are actively building or AFK for the next 6 hours. This sniper would need to sit at their computer waiting for the exact correct moment.

The problem lies in the stupid mechanism of combining solo and open game modes.

I am not understanding what Solo or Open mode has to do with this at all. Are you saying that in addition to building your stn in Open you are gonna be patrolling and basically ganking anybody that happen to be passing through?

 

[aRJay]

he immediately applied as soon as we finished the system to apply from. He sat in solo mode and waited for the station to appear

So they were in Solo because you didn’t see them?
Not in Open but in a different instance because they were playing from somewhere else?

Still it could have been worse at least we don’t own colonies.

 

[MrFlokiG]

Certainly through the System Map anybody can see that a stn is being built and fleet carriers are in the system. Regardless of whether YOU are online or not. And if this person is in solo mode, I don't believe there is any way they can know you are online. And even if they can tell(?) they can't tell if you are actively building or AFK for the next 6 hours. This sniper would need to sit at their computer waiting for the exact correct moment.

we build a station from 0 to 100% literally in an hour. Of course it will be noticeable that we are active

I am not understanding what Solo or Open mode has to do with this at all. Are you saying that in addition to building your stn in Open you are gonna be patrolling and basically ganking anybody that happen to be passing through?

It is impossible to accidentally get to the place where the first station is built. Docking mode is a separate mode in the game and you need to purposefully exit the warp at the place of the freshly built station. Getting there by accident in the first minutes of its construction and accidentally applying for another cool system is such a minimal chance that it makes no sense to even calculate it

 

[CMDR Mandrivnyk]

This is absolutely outrageous!

My squadron and I spent days coordinating, planning, and building stations to expand into a specific systems as part of our long-term colonization effort. We strategized, worked hard and followed your new Trailblazer colonization mechanics as intended.

Then what happens?

Some rat in Solo Mode was lurking and waiting for the moment to snipe the system from us at the last second.

No PvP. No diplomacy. No challenge. Just an invisible exploit that allows a single player to invalidate the work of dozens of others—all while being 100% unaccountable and untouchable.

This is not "shared gameplay." This is an illusion.
You're trying to sell us the idea of a living, breathing galaxy while simultaneously allowing this kind of solo-mode abuse to ruin everything meaningful in player-driven efforts.

If I wanted to play a colony builder by myself, I’d launch a different game.
Instead, we're stuck in a “multiplayer” game where our biggest threat isn't pirates or enemy factions—it’s ghost players hiding in solo mode, waiting to steal the results of our real work.

This system is broken.
It’s demoralizing.
And unless you fix it or introduce real limits to solo mode in shared BGS and colonization mechanics, this will continue to drive away dedicated players who are trying to actually play the damn game as a community.

Fix your game. Or stop pretending it’s a multiplayer galaxy!!!

– A very ed-off commander on behalf of an entire betrayed squadron.

Yes, it's completely unfair. When you build with a squadron, it's not so painful, but imagine that a solo player has chosen a system and builds several intermediate outposts to it. Having completed the last one, he flies to his new station to apply for colonization and realizes that this system is already occupied. As a result, weeks spent in the game were wasted.
It would be great to block colonization contact for everyone except the system architect for at least one hour. What is the benefit of being the System Architect if you can't submit the next application without priority for yourself?

 

[MrFlokiG]

So they were in Solo because you didn’t see them?
Not in Open but in a different instance because they were playing from somewhere else?

Still it could have been worse at least we don’t own colonies.

The instance system is another "brilliant solution" that kills the multiplayer aspect of this game.

 

[MrFlokiG]

For the record, first come first serve is fair. Literally the first person wins. That is so fundamentally fair that there are entire sports around the concept. What you mean to say is that you don't like it.

Yes, calm down, we already understood that you would be happy to exploit the problem I described. I wouldn't be surprised if you play here exclusively solo.

 

[GKhan]

For those that don't have a proper history class due to current events, this exact situation happened to settlers in the west. Like, literally this, to the point where whoever stuck their flag in the plot first got it. This might be the most realistic event to happen in the trailblazers update so far.

Yes! This is so spot on. It is unfortunate to have had that happen, but you are exactly right!

 

[MrFlokiG]

Yes! This is so spot on. It is unfortunate to have had that happen, but you are exactly right!

Why you ignore my questions? Nothing to say? Faster at what? That he didn't have an NPC blocking the docking option? What's his skill here? Luck? So, are we playing slots or a MULTIPLAYER space game? Or true skill be a solo game where you can't be caught and prevented from doing such actions?

 

[Zador]

any person who catches you when the final station appears and does not catch the NPC on the dock can take this system from you.

I appreciate this must be incredibly annoying, but no one took anything from you. It was not yours in the first place. Building a colony gives you no rights to any other system however much you might want it.

 

[MrFlokiG]

You are attacking me because I don't agree with you. As I stated previously, it sucks and the person is mean for doing it. I wouldn't say that if I would do it myself. Even if I wouldn't do it myself, I don't think it needs to be "fixed". Everyone who decides to chain zombie systems runs this risk. They know the risk before they take it. Like real life, you can avoid this risk by simply not engaging in it. You all gambled and lost. That's all I see here personally. I'm not attacking any of you and trust me I do have empathy for the time you lost. However, to me this speaks more about how Frontier needs to prevent zombie system chaining than it does about snipers.

Which direction do you actually want this game to go — single-player or multiplayer? Because right now, what we have is a kludge that works as neither.

 

[MrFlokiG]

I appreciate this must be incredibly annoying, but no one took anything from you. It was not yours in the first place. Building a colony gives you no rights to any other system however much you might want it.

So you're saying it's perfectly acceptable to rat out a system from under a group of players who put real effort into building and expanding?
Just because "technically" it wasn't theirs yet? That's the standard we’re going with?


You might not have taken it “from us” in a literal sense, but you absolutely exploited a broken system to steal the reward of someone else's work — and you’re justifying it on a technicality.


That says a lot.

 

[Rock Hunter]

Yes, calm down, we already understood that you would be happy to exploit the problem I described. I wouldn't be surprised if you play here exclusively solo.

I’d suggest continuing to argue the point would garner far greater support, particularly as many will understand your frustration. Giving in to cheap, baseless and frustrated attacks on someone just loses the audience.

 

[MrFlokiG]

I am in the mobius group. I am playing with others. So I guess my answer is multiplayer? Although I'm not sure how that relates to system architect claims. Best to keep this on topic IMO.

Thanks for the reply, but I think you're missing the core of the issue.

The problem isn’t how you personally play — it’s that the game allows Solo Mode to affect system-level progression like colonization, without any interaction, visibility, or counterplay.

We're talking about a mechanic where someone in complete isolation can snipe systems from entire groups of players working together, just because the backend doesn’t distinguish between play modes in BGS/colonization. That’s where the kludge is.

It’s not about roleplay or who "owns" what.
It’s about the game rewarding stealth exploitation over meaningful engagement.
That’s why it doesn’t work as multiplayer — and clearly doesn’t function as proper single-player either.

This is on topic — because it affects every player-driven colonization effort, including yours.

 

[vicwarrior]

It is one of the points covered in my feedback, architects should be given exclusivity of their colonisation contact for a day atleast, doesn't make sense for another player to be able to snap up your next claim while you are forced to watch the low res "congrats" png, if they want the next system that badly, they should be forced to settle around you and build faster than you to overtake you, rather than being able to ride someone else's effort at the last moment.

 

[Greasetrap42]

we build a station from 0 to 100% literally in an hour. Of course it will be noticeable that we are active

No its not. Not from another player's point of view. Random other players have no idea that you are currently building anything at any given moment. From another player's POV you might be done building in an hour, or in 6 days.

 

[Vlad PL]

До речі, подача в порядку живої черги є справедливою. Буквально перемагає перша особа. Це настільки принципово справедливо, що навколо цієї концепції існують цілі види спорту. Ви хочете сказати, що вам це не подобається.

I agree with those who say that it’s unfair, and the analogy with competitions is inappropriate here. A team that does nothing shouldn’t be on the same terms as a team that paves the way to a given point — efforts should be rewarded. The proposal to give architects temporary privileges sounds like a good solution. Then, if several players spot a system in the distance that interests them, a fair competition will arise between them, and the galaxy will get more systems while players will have more motivation to become architects

 

[MrFlokiG]

No its not. Not from another player's point of view. Random other players have no idea that you are currently building anything at any given moment. From another player's POV you might be done building in an hour, or in 6 days.

Oh, come on. Why are you trying so hard to defend this exploit?


The person who sniped our system knew exactly what they were doing.
They scouted the system, they scanned our stations, and they clearly saw our expansion path and preparations. This wasn’t some innocent coincidence or “random player action.”


This was a deliberate, calculated move to steal a system from under a group that was actively building toward it.


You don’t accidentally “just happen” to be in the right system, at the right time, right after we pushed two stations to 100% and began expansion — unless you were watching.
And yes, they sat there waiting in Solo Mode to grab it without any interaction, opposition, or consequences.


So please don’t pretend this is some kind of fair game. It’s not.
It’s a broken mechanic being exploited — and we’re calling it what it is.

 

[Greasetrap42]

Oh, come on. Why are you trying so hard to defend this exploit?


The person who sniped our system knew exactly what they were doing.
They scouted the system, they scanned our stations, and they clearly saw our expansion path and preparations. This wasn’t some innocent coincidence or “random player action.”

Because what you are saying doesn't make any sense. If you had simply left your ship in your system AFK for 4 hours are you telling me this Cmdr McSneaky would have sat around at their computer, eyes glued for hours.... just waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in?

What sounds much more probable is you discussed what you were doing in an internet chat channel, or in the game chat, so someone knew exactly what you were doing and when.

You don’t accidentally “just happen” to be in the right system, at the right time, right after we pushed two stations to 100% and began expansion — unless you were watching.
And yes, they sat there waiting in Solo Mode to grab it without any interaction, opposition, or consequences.

Ya right, somebody in solo mode is just sitting there hour after hour waiting for the perfect moment! /s

 

[aRJay]

Which direction do you actually want this game to go — single-player or multiplayer? Because right now, what we have is a kludge that works as neither.

I want the game to continue as it has for the last ten years, offering freedom of choice in how to play to everyone.

 

[Vlad PL]

No its not. Not from another player's point of view. Random other players have no idea that you are currently building anything at any given moment. From another player's POV you might be done building in an hour, or in 6 days.

Literally, you can see the percentage built through the system map, and through the galaxy map, you can understand which direction they’re building. A random player can notice this and quickly scout why they’re building there. So, if they also want to join the race for the system, let them build their own path. Otherwise, the team that paved the entire way to the system ends up getting nothing, while a player like that can just sit back and check how many percent you have left until completion