But you seem to be not getting that for PVE players like me, we simply don't view ganking to be a legitimate playstyle. And it's certainly not something we get all twisted up about preserving. Do you even get you're defending GRIEFING??? You may not think it's griefing, but it is. Flat out.
So you want to tell people how to play because you feel like gankers tell you how to play? Elite is a sandbox. Anything is a legitimate playstyle. If you want to mess up someone else's day, thats great. If they don't want their day messed up, there are ways to do so before you log in, and in game. Cherrypicking encounters makes BGS (something the majority of squadrons participate in) almost certainly pseudo-solo only! If everyone can pick between player interdictions and NPC interdictions, NPCs will be chosen no contest. If NPCs are still total useless toothless vipers and anacondas, there is no risk to open, and all the benefit of being able to do it while thumbing your nose at your opponent. How is this a healthy choice for direct competition in modes such as powerplay or similar by making haulers (vulnerable targets that should be destructible as a way to prevent your enemies from scoring). Lets put this in perspective with sports. Take football (American football) as an example. Lets say you aren't allowed to do anything to the other team as they throw and run down the field with the ball. The only way you can actually stop them from scoring is if they mess up themselves. Without PvP gameplay, there is 0 threat in open or even the
Opt in pvp mode.
By the way you would not BELIEVE how many PM's I get from other players who agree with me
Yeah I don't believe. Sounds like a combination of anecdotal evidence and general unreliability of that statement.
How is that silly? You're grinding on some Spec Ops in a CZ and some d-bag CMDR starts trying to gank you.
I would think that combat between opposite sides in combat zones is legitimate gameplay. Similarly, its not a gank if its about the juicy combat bond that comes attached to pvp kills in combat zones (10% of rebuy is nothing to sneeze at, especially when they're in a corvette).
There's absolutely nothing tying me to those "sides". There's zero mechanisms tying the player commander to the NPC factions. I can fly to any system I want, and join any "side" willy nilly back and forth. There's no storyline. There's no deeper character progression. There's nothing there.
I mean you get to advance your PMF's agenda, or give your power more favorable systems through BGS. That's a motive and mechanism in and of itself. Similarly, I get tired of posts saying "there's no story! elite boring!". Thats because the majority of elite's story has to come from the player. At the end of the day, you need to justify your own actions, while also discovering bits of the galactic story unfolding. The information and galnet stuff is a framework for you to build your own story, so if you think its not deep or character progressive to team up with a side and be loyal, as opposed to swapping left and right, good on you.
In short, Im against this invulnerability as it makes legitimate targets for piracy and powerplay be able to gain the benefits of open without the risks. If Open (a mode with many times more players than Mobius) has to bow to the whims of a vocal minority, I don't think that's healthy to the game or community as a whole. What's next? Miners leveraging their newfound power to whine loudly to demand a station with permanent high demand for Vopals, Musgravite, LTD, and stuff? Traders demanding they get G5 mats per ton of cargo delivered? Point is, this just seems absurd to make opt-in pvp mode (open), have a further opt-in step. I think it should be all or nothing. Everyone or no one. If you think the good isnt worth the bad, you don't have to opt in at the menu screen.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk