There's this thing I like to call passive aggressive PvP. Most people think of PvP in videogames as players killing each other for sport, this is not the only manifestation of PvP. There is, what I like to call, indirect PvP where players compete without directly facing each other in a battle to the death, monopoly and many other board games are a good example of this. In monopoly you have no direct way of combating your opponents, the only direct way of interacting with them is through trade, and yet it is very competitive and very much player against player in a battle for survival. In Elite there are many PvP elements that do not require players to actually face each other in battle if you define PvP as any conflict of interest between players. Players being able to affect the universe in ways that contradict the goals of other players from the comfort of solo and private groups is what I like to call passive aggressive PvP. I call it that because by design players should be able to intercept and interfere with other players doing community goals and power play, drawing indirect PvP into direct PvP and it is circumvented through solo/private mode. In any other game this would be considered cheating, and to many players it feels that way.
Any time this problem is brought up it always comes back to one thing, the devs commitment to make all modes equal. Personally I think this is a mistake, but furthermore it is an impossibility because solo already trumps all other modes by removing the risk of direct PvP while still having access to everything else. Removing the ability to affect the universe from solo and private modes is usually the first solution people come to, but this goes directly against the goal to make all modes equal, and any solution presented needs to account for that regardless of personal views on the matter.
TL/DR: (getting to the point)
What I propose is this, 2 separate servers, one for open only and another for solo and private.
Players will have to decide whether they want their current character to be in solo or private, or everyone's current character can be duplicated along with the server but from then on be separate. The two universes will travel down separate paths, which could prove very interesting, although it will be more work for the dev's in the long haul when the two universes start to go down different paths. Ultimately players in Solo and Private groups will no longer be able to affect Open and vice versa while still having all the same content including the ability to affect and alter the game universe. Equal doesn't necessarily mean the same.
Steam Discussion (has Straw Poll):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/359320/discussions/0/352792037310048915/
Any time this problem is brought up it always comes back to one thing, the devs commitment to make all modes equal. Personally I think this is a mistake, but furthermore it is an impossibility because solo already trumps all other modes by removing the risk of direct PvP while still having access to everything else. Removing the ability to affect the universe from solo and private modes is usually the first solution people come to, but this goes directly against the goal to make all modes equal, and any solution presented needs to account for that regardless of personal views on the matter.
TL/DR: (getting to the point)
What I propose is this, 2 separate servers, one for open only and another for solo and private.
Players will have to decide whether they want their current character to be in solo or private, or everyone's current character can be duplicated along with the server but from then on be separate. The two universes will travel down separate paths, which could prove very interesting, although it will be more work for the dev's in the long haul when the two universes start to go down different paths. Ultimately players in Solo and Private groups will no longer be able to affect Open and vice versa while still having all the same content including the ability to affect and alter the game universe. Equal doesn't necessarily mean the same.
Steam Discussion (has Straw Poll):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/359320/discussions/0/352792037310048915/