So said David Braben, or words to that effect. (Don't worry chaps, we actually don't need to add the 'O.B.E.' like some sort of 'Peace be unto him'.)
It's quite true, I'm sure, and many people, myself included, would like more people to play in open. In fact, a year ago, I saw a lot more people in open. You would see them at community events, at Shinrarta Dezhra, and so on. You still do see people at those places, but most of them are flying FdL's and Cutters.
Well, I have both of those ships, and if I want to do a CG in peace, I go in a Cutter. I get almost no interdictions at all in a heavily modded Cutter, which is somehow so predictable. But guess what? I don't always want to fly those ships. Elite Dangerous gives this fabulous range of vessels to choose from, and sometimes I like to use a different one.
I can still get away, by High Waking, but the reality is that even in a modded Clipper, where low wake is a viable option, you will be hounded all the way to the station, interdicted repeatedly until within a few mm. And then at the station you will face gankers, because just exploding themselves in an Eagle/equivalent will clear the live wanted status, and being hostile does not prevent docking.
An SDC member said on another thread, quite accurately, that all you need is a basically modded ship, with appropriate sized resistant shields, modded boosters
and an SCB(!), to survive
most player interdictions. I would agree with that. Although certain ships are more vulnerable than others, which in itself isn't a problem, it shouldn't reach the situation when a
trader needs an SCB. I realise that hull hardness on the Lakon T series is going up, also on the Anaconda and Keelback, but quite honestly, with heavily modded weapons on the gankers, most beginner to intermediate players will get destroyed in seconds, regardless of SCB's.
This in itself isn't a problem. Let the gankers gank! (There I said it. Just for the less literate gankers, here it is in capital letters, "LET THE GANKERS GANK!") But don't, for heaven's sake, let them then come back and dock at the station, or be within 10 clicks of it. It's quite simple, really.
If you want people to fly in open, then make it feasible for them to fly the beautiful range of ships you have provided - in open. The current Beta changes make sense to me, but they will not bring people into open, I'm sorry to say.
Here is the reason why, based on my own experience in open, which amounts to very many hours indeed.:
Drop into non-anarchy CG system [med or hi sec] in a Python/Asp/T-9/etc. Interdicted and fired upon by player, low wake, interdicted and fired upon by player, low wake, interdicted and fired upon by player, low wake. And on and on and on and on and zzzzzzz
Now if I lose my ship in those situations, it's because I am flying drunk. But for less experienced players it is a nightmare. And the fact that the same person is repeatedly trying to kill them, or more likely kills them the first or second time, with no real repercussion. Well, there is your problem.
"I want more people to fly in open."
Then sort your game out.
I love this game, I support it in all sorts of ways. But it is really sad at the moment in open, if you are anywhere remotely popular with players (CG's, Founders', Alien ruins, Engineers). Nearly all you see are FdL's and Cutters. That is because so many of the people who enjoy more of the game than just PvP have retreated elsewhere.
Any FDev staff reading this can easily clock my hours in open, how many CG's I've done, how many times I have combat logged [NONE], and how many times I have died at the hands of commanders [quite a few]. And it used to be okay. But now it is not. It is just sad: a playground for gankers at any noteworthy site.
No problem for me, to be honest, because if I want to do a Trade CG in my T-9, I just won't do it in open anymore. I prefer the experience of flying that cool hunk of trading junk than having to high wake from ubiquitous human FdL's every other minute. But clearly it is a problem for you, FDev, because you "want more people to play in open".
Sort your game out. Add a layer of
consequence to repeatedly killing people, and your wish may eventually come true. Until then, I have no problem if people want to play in solo (like the original game I played as a child), or in Mobius, which I personally find very bland.
All these beautiful ships, FDev, and practically everybody is flying the same ones.
Apres moi, le deluge, Rodders.
Keep it clean.
