This isn't my post but I though it would be nice to put it on the official forum as it mirrors my experiences when I was trading in open.
Original thread here :
http://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDanger...tienses_community_goal_a_traders_perspective/
Posted with permission of author.
Reading the forums or threads here it's very easy for people to get the impression that open play is an inherently lethal place full of smegheads that just want to hassle other players, and that one will be robbed/killed at any moment. This couldn't be further from the truth and I'm here to put that right by giving my perspective of how a community goal goes down for a trader in open.
Firstly, it's important to remember that people are quick to post rants that "pirates are scum, they stole all my cargo" or "that griefer cost me millions, screw you guys, I'm going home" (to solo). But the same people never seem to be so quick to post all the good experiences they have. Which would drown out anything negative that happens by a considerable factor.
So with that, on with what happened.
Weapon of Choice
I flew a T9 with no weapons, it's pointless having weapons on something that is too slow to even be able to take aim. When things really started to heat up in system I added an A4 SCB at the cost of 16 cargo, for extra protection.
You're mine now commander
It's hard to escape an NPC interdiction in a T9 at the best of times and is practically impossible to escape a cmdr so I just submitted each time, shut down engines and waited for demands/instructions. A total of 10-15 times across the length of the goal.
Shots Fired
I was shot at twice in the 10-15 times I was pulled over. One person opened fire on me for no reason, and when I asked them why and if they would like some cargo instead they stopped and just jumped away. The other was part of the Operation Papercut blockade, who told me to dump all my cargo and leave the system. Yeah right buddy, I'm going to dump 500t into the void. I just laughed and Hyper jumped away, managing to keep my shields intact in the process.
To Protect and Serve
There was a considerable force of cmdrs in system to police it and make sure traders got to the station uninhibited, at a great cost to themselves I might add, who were more than willing to wing with traders looking for safe passage. Yes they were getting trade dividends, but that's pittance when their rebuy cost is several million.
This is by far what makes playing in open such a brilliant experience: Getting interdicted by a pirate and stalling them by dropping maybe 10 or 20 commodities while waiting for the cavalry to arrive. And boy when they arrive is it awesome!! I always delayed jumping away so I could watch the ensuing fight. Which were often ferocious, the anger of the anti-pirate that someone would dare pirate in this system, the anger of the highway man that this do gooder would interfere in their redistribution of wealth attempts. This led to some spectacular and usually hilarious skirmishes, as most of it was really in jest.
Sometimes I wasn't even in a wing and one of the anti-pirates would see the interdiction shenanigan taking place in SC and drop in on the wake to save me.
YARRR stop thee engines
The anti-pirates can't be everywhere and a few times it was just me and one pirate or sometimes a whole a wing of them. Every one of them were polite and often we just chatted for a few minutes after I had handed over a very reasonable amount of cargo, even while I was surrounded by an array of battle ready ships that could've annihilated me if they chose to. A couple of times my hold was empty when stopped and every pirate took my jeering and laughing at them in good spirits.
Hell, even yesterday I was in a wing with a well know Federal pirate who was protecting me and another T9, while all the time I suspect he was pirating other cmdrs when we were away purchasing commodities. I had a right good chuckle about that.
Reaping Revenge
In the unlikely event that someone did murder me in cold blood, I had a well armed FDL docked two systems over. Which I would return with in an attempt at vengeance. I'm not the best combat pilot by any stretch of the imagination, but god dam would I go out in a blaze of glory as I tried to return the favour.
Why give into these scum ?
Scum they are anything but. They add more depth to the game than anything else in it's current form. So think about that before you rush to berate them in public outbursts, and also think about what you add to the game when you're met with your choice of play in the start menu.
At any time I could simply have chosen to jump away and not given them anything but I choose not too, why? Because it's a benefit to everyone in open that I play along, especially me!!, as those inter-player experiences is what leaves me chuckling to myself hours after I've logged out. Something you'll never get from solo or a private group.
Counting the Cost
In total, I handed over around 200-250/t to pirates out of 24,000/t that I delivered for the CG . That's a very small price to pay for the heart pumping, often hilarious experiences that open play has to offer. Yes I stood to loose 8.5 million if someone had chosen to blow me up with a full hold. That's still not a huge amount considering I earned the best part of 50 million from the whole event and is still well worth the risk. Plus it's only a few hours work on a decent route.
You got lucky boy
Perhaps I did, this time. I've been killed for no apparent reason several times and you know what? I'm a better player for it!! It taught me how to deal with, or escape from, pirates or griefers which makes the game much more enjoyable knowing that there is no real need to be forced into solo when I can easily deal with any other player even if they're considerably better equipped or more experienced at combat than me. So instead of letting other players make your choice of play for you, brush up on your skills because their is no real reason to play solo unless you don't want any player interaction whatsoever, which is perfectly fine. And there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to combat log.
For the Record
I've been playing since launch, and probably stayed in solo for the first 3 weeks because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. In that time I've died 69 times at a cost of 26 million. At a guess 10 of those deaths were to another player and the rest by my own hand. So you see I'm more of a danger to myself than any other player could ever be.
My you do go on
Indeed I do, but I'm posting this because it's easy for people to get sucked into the negativity about open play, which is totally blown out of all proportion.
So come join us in open cmdrs because you'll find lots more players that want to have fun with, or are willing to help, you than you will find those that just want to hassle you.
Fly Safe
Cmdr Filthy o7
Original thread here :
http://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDanger...tienses_community_goal_a_traders_perspective/
Posted with permission of author.
Reading the forums or threads here it's very easy for people to get the impression that open play is an inherently lethal place full of smegheads that just want to hassle other players, and that one will be robbed/killed at any moment. This couldn't be further from the truth and I'm here to put that right by giving my perspective of how a community goal goes down for a trader in open.
Firstly, it's important to remember that people are quick to post rants that "pirates are scum, they stole all my cargo" or "that griefer cost me millions, screw you guys, I'm going home" (to solo). But the same people never seem to be so quick to post all the good experiences they have. Which would drown out anything negative that happens by a considerable factor.
So with that, on with what happened.
Weapon of Choice
I flew a T9 with no weapons, it's pointless having weapons on something that is too slow to even be able to take aim. When things really started to heat up in system I added an A4 SCB at the cost of 16 cargo, for extra protection.
You're mine now commander
It's hard to escape an NPC interdiction in a T9 at the best of times and is practically impossible to escape a cmdr so I just submitted each time, shut down engines and waited for demands/instructions. A total of 10-15 times across the length of the goal.
Shots Fired
I was shot at twice in the 10-15 times I was pulled over. One person opened fire on me for no reason, and when I asked them why and if they would like some cargo instead they stopped and just jumped away. The other was part of the Operation Papercut blockade, who told me to dump all my cargo and leave the system. Yeah right buddy, I'm going to dump 500t into the void. I just laughed and Hyper jumped away, managing to keep my shields intact in the process.
To Protect and Serve
There was a considerable force of cmdrs in system to police it and make sure traders got to the station uninhibited, at a great cost to themselves I might add, who were more than willing to wing with traders looking for safe passage. Yes they were getting trade dividends, but that's pittance when their rebuy cost is several million.
This is by far what makes playing in open such a brilliant experience: Getting interdicted by a pirate and stalling them by dropping maybe 10 or 20 commodities while waiting for the cavalry to arrive. And boy when they arrive is it awesome!! I always delayed jumping away so I could watch the ensuing fight. Which were often ferocious, the anger of the anti-pirate that someone would dare pirate in this system, the anger of the highway man that this do gooder would interfere in their redistribution of wealth attempts. This led to some spectacular and usually hilarious skirmishes, as most of it was really in jest.
Sometimes I wasn't even in a wing and one of the anti-pirates would see the interdiction shenanigan taking place in SC and drop in on the wake to save me.
YARRR stop thee engines
The anti-pirates can't be everywhere and a few times it was just me and one pirate or sometimes a whole a wing of them. Every one of them were polite and often we just chatted for a few minutes after I had handed over a very reasonable amount of cargo, even while I was surrounded by an array of battle ready ships that could've annihilated me if they chose to. A couple of times my hold was empty when stopped and every pirate took my jeering and laughing at them in good spirits.
Hell, even yesterday I was in a wing with a well know Federal pirate who was protecting me and another T9, while all the time I suspect he was pirating other cmdrs when we were away purchasing commodities. I had a right good chuckle about that.
Reaping Revenge
In the unlikely event that someone did murder me in cold blood, I had a well armed FDL docked two systems over. Which I would return with in an attempt at vengeance. I'm not the best combat pilot by any stretch of the imagination, but god dam would I go out in a blaze of glory as I tried to return the favour.
Why give into these scum ?
Scum they are anything but. They add more depth to the game than anything else in it's current form. So think about that before you rush to berate them in public outbursts, and also think about what you add to the game when you're met with your choice of play in the start menu.
At any time I could simply have chosen to jump away and not given them anything but I choose not too, why? Because it's a benefit to everyone in open that I play along, especially me!!, as those inter-player experiences is what leaves me chuckling to myself hours after I've logged out. Something you'll never get from solo or a private group.
Counting the Cost
In total, I handed over around 200-250/t to pirates out of 24,000/t that I delivered for the CG . That's a very small price to pay for the heart pumping, often hilarious experiences that open play has to offer. Yes I stood to loose 8.5 million if someone had chosen to blow me up with a full hold. That's still not a huge amount considering I earned the best part of 50 million from the whole event and is still well worth the risk. Plus it's only a few hours work on a decent route.
You got lucky boy
Perhaps I did, this time. I've been killed for no apparent reason several times and you know what? I'm a better player for it!! It taught me how to deal with, or escape from, pirates or griefers which makes the game much more enjoyable knowing that there is no real need to be forced into solo when I can easily deal with any other player even if they're considerably better equipped or more experienced at combat than me. So instead of letting other players make your choice of play for you, brush up on your skills because their is no real reason to play solo unless you don't want any player interaction whatsoever, which is perfectly fine. And there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to combat log.
For the Record
I've been playing since launch, and probably stayed in solo for the first 3 weeks because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. In that time I've died 69 times at a cost of 26 million. At a guess 10 of those deaths were to another player and the rest by my own hand. So you see I'm more of a danger to myself than any other player could ever be.
My you do go on
Indeed I do, but I'm posting this because it's easy for people to get sucked into the negativity about open play, which is totally blown out of all proportion.
So come join us in open cmdrs because you'll find lots more players that want to have fun with, or are willing to help, you than you will find those that just want to hassle you.
Fly Safe
Cmdr Filthy o7
