If someone only wants to fight there are places where that can be done without disrupting others - San Tu is a good example.
But there's no salt in that, and it's that desire for salt that creates the friction. I think some just try to pretend that's not what they are looking for & that's kinda weak imo. There are times when I derive satisfaction from the misfortune of others. I don't talk about it much but I don't pretend it doesn't feel good
For me, the salt thing doesn't hold any appeal. I don't deny that it is an appeal for others - some refer to it as the "currency" among gankers - but it's not a motivator for me. You're welcome to doubt that, but it's the honest truth and, as a self-professed ganker, I'd think it would almost be an easier answer to lie and say I did care about it rather than telling the truth, which is that I don't.
The thing is, engaging random players in Open is all about - for me, and only me - the uncertainty of the whole business. Getting challenged by respondents in this thread to engage in more roleplay aspects - who told me that at least saying something would be better than being a "silent killer" - has only increased that, because it increases the interaction.
I've had random players in chat laugh at my silly roleplay about being a gank evasion tester tasked with ensuring pilots in the system have the vital skills necessary to survive and see their cargoes delivered. I've let obviously new-ish players - even if they're flying an Anaconda, explicitly an endgame ship, in terms of cost - get away with some damage to their hull and some tips on how to evade a gank. I've had daily chats via DM with people to whom I've sent a friend request and then, in fact, been friendly with. And I've had the same done for me - often, after engaging in a 1v1 at Shin or whatever with a fellow PVPer, I'll get tips and advice on what I could have done better.
The point I'm trying to make here is that there's a whole other layer of the game available to people once they stop taking their spaceship pixels so damned seriously. There's a level of engagement and camaraderie and "see you next time" that is genuinely really fun. Dare I say, even as a ganker I'm literally having the kinds of interactions the PVE co-op seeking folks say they hope to find in Open. It's just that there are spaceships blown up in the process. Is that really the end of the world, in a game like this? Where loss is so meaningless?
I fully own that the above is
my particular adaptation to the game rules and experience and if nothing else, this thread has taught me not to be so naive as to think anyone else "gets it" in this way. But it exists. This "next level" of playing the game, where you're no longer freaking out about trivial, tedious things and getting into the spirit and the excitement of playing a game with other thinking individuals who are trying to outwit you just as fast as you're trying to outwit them. But not for some payoff of emotionally charged salt. No, not at all. Because it's all in good fun, and it's a game. Just like playing Monopoly or Risk or even Uno (which I'll have you know extracts more salt from gankers than anything I've seen happen in Elite).
Anyways, take the above as you will, but it's my truth, and I share it with those who of you who have avoided Open and/or hated gankers, as food for thought. I know I won't change your mind and I'm not trying to, but I am offering you a window into the inner world of someone who plays on the outlaw side of the equation in this game. For what it's worth.