I understand you can be afraid of gankers, I saw it in many games.. but man, its a game, sometimes you need to lose as in all games...
Also the price of ships compared to the money you easily win in this game... Why that fear? I just cant understand...
Yeah I find it quite absurd players in PG and Solo have as much influence on BGS as players in Open. I think Open should be AT LEAST 2~3 times more influence.
Then what's the issue with everyone playing in Open? If the risk is negligible? I don't get it.
If you force people to play in Open, then you'll ruin my game, because I don't enjoy running into certain immature players that ruin my immersion - it has nothing to do with winning or loosing. Not to mention that I would be forced into someone else's gameplay style (combat). People who do PvP can easily impose their gameplay on others, while I can't force them to roleplay.
Changing balance to favour Open would be wrong, because people would simply use it when it would suit them best. I can run missions or gather materials in regions that rarely see any other player. It would not change number of people you encounter in Open, but it would ruin balance.
Elite has really unique approach to Multiplayer - actually it's way ahead of it's time with it's system of affecting game world without direct player interaction - look at Death Stranding: it uses similiar approach, where you play alone, but you encounter things left by other players, also playing alone. This is the reason I like and play Elite for so long. I don't want it ruined, because I don't want to play regular boring MMO.