I mean, I wasn't involved with the community at all for ages, and I got access to Felicity first because I ran passenger missions. It was just kind of second nature to head to her first (although I played Solo-only for a long time, so I didn't really care about any risks there may have been).
Like, I'm not going to argue that 'just don't go to Deciat' is great advice, but I'm also not sure how there's a meta involved? In a vacuum, you're gonna get a roughly even split of people going to each one.
Care explaining what you mean by the meta? There's definitely a trend, I'm just not sure what you see in it.
It's been a long, long time since I did the Engineer grind for the first time. In fact, it was when Engineers first came out. Back then, the first bit of advice was to unlock Farseer and grab the extended range FSD. That's been the dominant paradigm ever since. The sheer amount of traffic (and resulting violence) shows this. Beyond that, Google "Engineer guide Elite Dangerous" and see what people recommend. The top result (Fox's Guide or some such) doesn't even mention Martuuk.
We all know how lazy the average Commander is. "What's the fastest way to grind (insert goal here)?"
I know this isn't very scientific. I don't have the time to really dive in. Just the reflections of a long time Elite: Dangerous player (who has done his fair share of ganking).
While the whining about it is a little pathetic, what would the newish player who wants to explore be expected to do? Armor up, bolt on heavy weapons, and not engineer? Spend hours in combat zones to "get gud" at something they didn't really want to do?
Good defense doesn't require a massive sacrifice on the part of an explorer. This has been known for a long, long while now.
I can understand going around and shooting spaceships in a game largely based on shooting spaceships. I don't understand the rather pervasive opinion that anyone that tries to develop a ship specialized for things other than combat is a tard. If I build a decent mining ship, it's only ever going to suck at combat. If I want to jump long distances to get to remote places it's silly to bolt armor and guns to the ship and take huge heavy modules. It's like F-22 fighter pilots hunting students in Cessna 152's. "It's their fault for being in the air with a single engine paper airplane.... dumb____s".
Real life analogies don't work here. Elite: Dangerous is dystopian space punk where folks will kill you for any and every reason under the sun if it suits their interests.
However, this isn't real life and the game allows for people to pop soap bubbles for fun so: Folks, if your ship is made of aluminium foil and you are coming in with 4 weeks of exploration data, perhaps... just perhaps... "open" is not the perfect mode for you. If you just bought that new Type-9 and you only have 2 rebuys worth of credits heading to the CG in open might not be, so to speak, the perfect plan. But then the new player that doesn't get on the forums isn't going to know this so I'm probably preaching to the choir.
Of course this leads to complaints that nobody is in open and that nothing done in solo should count because there is no risk.... so its all a snake eating its tail.
Reports of Open Play's have always been, and will continue to be, greatly exaggerated.
I have a theory about gankers and griefers. I think they are the kind of people who are bullied in their day-to-day life. They get picked on at school, yelled at by their abusive boss, or have an overbearing mother like Norman Bates. So, when they sit down behind the keyboard they become monsters. They get picked on all day, so when they are playing their favorite games online, preferably with other betas who can't stand up to people in real life, they become the abusers. They become God. It's the only way they get to feel powerful. The same goes for certain moderators I've seen on a few online forums. I'm looking at you, rpg.net
Now, I'm not talking about people who kill other players legit. If I get killed by a CMDR working for Zachary Hudson while I'm under Aisling Duval, that is a legit kill and I shouldn't get too salty over it. If anything, I should be mad at myself for either a lack of skill, or because I tried engaging a fully outfitted combat ship with my cargo ship because it has nice shields.
I don't even get mad when other players kill me for no reason at all. It's just a game. The only time I get annoyed is when a player goes out of his way to stalk and harass me. Then I just block them from instancing and move on.
Yes, some of them might be sadistic little (insert your favorite vulgar slang word here), but I always think to myself... jeez... this guy's life must really suck. Then I get over it.
People you and this forum would label "gankers and griefers" are some of the most intelligent, kind, and thoughtful people I know. Some of the highest quality players this game has ever seen not only gank,but mine, explore, trade, BGS, and do PowerPlay. More than a few write, roleplay, plan in game events, and mentor new players in every aspect of the game you can imagine. Even more test the game's limits, provide valuable feedback to the developer, and create even more meaningful adventures for all of us to enjoy.
The fact of the matter is Open Play allows for unrestricted PvP in a dystopian space punk environment. Folks like you lose their brains over it because frankly, you probably should've moved on from Elite ages ago.
