I'm the kind of player who has sunk well over a thousand hours in games like Skyrim.
I like to go around, minding my own buisness and imagine my own story within a given universe. Elite, thought lacking it might be gameplay-wise, is perrfect for this.
If there's ONE very efficient way to get me to quit the game entirely (and, legally speaking, ask for and obtain a refund from a company that would make itself guilty of false advertizing), it's to remove solo play and force me to deal with other people.
No, online interactions are not better.
No, online interactions are not more interesting. - I am directly telling you that you or any other player are not necessarily more interesting to play with than an NPC just because you're human. Anyone who likes to build their own narrative has absolutely no interest in anybody who dosen't RP (murder-hobos being particularly bad in this regard) - and even then, many RPers are just terribly bad at it.
No, your gaming preferences are not an established social constant. - People enjoy games in vastly different ways, period. It is with games as it is with all art forms : Whatever, whatever you like, someone else will completely abhor.
Online experiences are simply different. They are interesting for a certain type of person, indifferent for others, and a complete negative for players like me. Look how amazingly popular Skyrim still is six years after its release, and compare that to what's going on with Tamriel Online. Apples and oranges? Very much so, yet... Historically, we have all proofs in the world that games where you do not have to bother with anobody's bull are some of the best and most interesting games ever made.
If there's one bloody thing I've learned in my years of gaming, it is that there's nothing, nothing at all, more immersion-breaking than other people. I have to deal with us annoying apes every time I leave my cave, and I will not be forced to deal with even more annoying apes in the simulated worlds I use to escape the world outside of the aforementioned cavern.
However, I must admit, playing a tank or healer in WoW was a blast, because mechanics in these cases were very intricate and the cooperation meaningful. Elite, sadly, offers nothing, absolutely nothing, even remotely close to that.
You're indeed beating a dead horse, as many others have stated. And, I guess, until you understand the different - other - ways in which this game can be enjoyed, you will persevere in molesting the proverbial equine.
I think it should be simple : Suggestions that demand solo play be either made a less interesting option or removed will be totally ignored. Considering how this game is sold and advertised, Solo/group play are given rights, without which we are totally entitled to a refund.
The majority of Elite's players aren't interested in PVP, as the devs have confirmed, since they don't even engage in it.
We Know What PVP Is.
We Know What Multiplayer Is.
We Are Not Interested.