I think there is a lot more people who are interested in competitive combat than you're suggesting. And yes, competitive combat is going to be combat ships fighting combat ships, piloted by real people. Sure, there is plenty of ganking exploration vessels and haulers these days but I think a lot of that is a result of boredom as there just isn't anyone to play with. I agree, there will always be people who just only seem to want to destroy non-combat ships with combat ships. I'm just saying that I don't believe the people that want to only play like this are a smaller percentage of the pvp oriented crowd than you are implying.
Everyone wants to make such strong cases by saying that you can't take away features of the game for certain people. Well what about providing a feature in the game that is built on other people engaging each other in combat?
Does this segment of the population matter?
IT'S A GAME LARGELY ABOUT BUILDING SPACESHIPS AND WEAPONS.
Is it really so bad that there are people asking FDev for a feature in the game that promotes us using these ships and weapons against each other with strategic purpose behind it?
Ah, but people can find competitive combat if they want. There is even a group of PvPers in San Tu who especially go for competitive combat.
But look at the illustrious names of the vocal people who are crying out for OOPP. Now, there are some there who really care about PP, and even if i disagree with them, i can fully understand their desire for OOPP, because they truly believe it stands a chance of making PP better.
On the other hand, there are the.... well, gankers. They see OOPP as a way to enforce people to play in open, to be their targets. They seem to think if PP goes open only there will be lots of easy targets to for them to shoot at.
I think this is flawed thinking.
Who will continue to PP in an open only environment? I think it will be a) people who enjoy PvP, usually not pushovers, b) people who haul but know how to deal with attacks from PvPers, they don't fly shieldless type 9s, they fly fast and defended ships, c) other gankers.
I think (and i could be wrong), a lot of people who do PP just to chill and haul will say "forget this for a game of soldiers" and just quit.
But hey, just speculation on my part.
IT'S A GAME LARGELY ABOUT BUILDING SPACESHIPS AND WEAPONS.
I ALSO HAVE CAPS LOCK!!!!
Anyway, that pretty much depends on the person. I've spent over a month driving around a planet. A lot of my activities don't even involve weapons. YMMV.
Is it really so bad that there are people asking FDev for a feature in the game that promotes us using these ships and weapons against each other with strategic purpose behind it?
Nothing wrong with them asking, just as there is nothing wrong with people saying they don't like it. They have made their case time and time and time again. So far FD haven't done anything to appease them. Maybe they will one day, maybe they won't. All we can do in the meantine is discuss.
FD could instead introduce another feature that promotes the use of these ships and weapons against each other with a strategic pupose behind it. Perhaps the new interstellar initiatives could have been it. Thing is, even if PP goes open only, it doesn't do what you are suggesting. PP works 90% off moving tokens around via PvE. I think if people really want some sort of PvP oriented feature with strategic purpose, then there needs to be a mechanic that works off PvP, not PvE. The only thing like that at the moment is CQC. Maybe they could add some sort of in game tourney similar to CQC but affects certain things territorially.
Problem is, FD would need to think about the mechanics very carefully. Any sort of competitive game attracts cheats or otherwise unsavoury actions, like in PP with 5Cers as things stand. Imagine implementing something that works via PvP... it doesn't take much imagination to consider that people will cooperate to blow each other up to produce desired results, or use alt accounts to do so.
FD did a very interesting thing with the modes and cross mode play. I think its the first time i've seen something like this in a game rather than total separatation. It has pluses and minuses for sure, just like any system. It seems to me though, that a vast majority of players are fine with it and enjoy the freedom of choice it brings. However, there are two groups who are clearly not happy. Those who play PP (and a few who do BGS) and think that those who play in PG/solo are bad for the feature. Those who like to kill other players and are upset that some players can avoid them.
The latter i think are safe to ignore. The former, its understandable they think this way. 5Cers hauling away in PG/solo are a cause for concern, but there again, they can haul away in open, just with the risk of getting attacked by their opponents... who really shouldn't be attacking them since they would be doing stuff against their own power, and of course, their own power players who probably shouldn't be attacking members of their own power. Its a messy situation.
Regardless, PP is 99% about PvE, and if you are losing, you're losing not because you can't shoot your opponents, you are losing because you are not playing as well as your opponents. If 5C isn't meant to be a thing, then FD should stop it.. somehow. How, i've no idea! How do you stop someone from "helping" in a detrimental way? FD made some proposals that could help. Then FD could fix it and make 5Cing less attractive. Other issues could be dealt with without making it open only. Except for the issue of not seeing everyone who is partaking, friends and enemies alike. But Open only won't solve that either, because of instancing, time zones, platforms, and general networking.
I remain pretty convinced that if PP went open only, it wouldn't be quite what people are expecting.
