Seriously, what's the point in open play?
- Thread starter DjVortex
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Do not attempt to understand the motivations of others. They are either apparent and align with your own, or they don't.
There is no punishment or deterrent other than you being in an ungankable ship, fighting back, switching to Solo or joining a PG.
As someone who is so used to killing and being killed by now, my advice is always to learn how things work. In Open, I know the risks, and if the risks are too high for what I'm doing, then I'm not in Open during that time. We aren't bound to one mode.
You should only be in Open if you're looking for interaction and aren't at all attached to the pixels you're currently flying.
Other people.
If you want to do things with other people, it's either that or a PG.
A brief, yet well considered point you have posited here. If I may expand on this thought though:
TBH I don't think gankers are the worst feature of Open; there aren't actually many of them these days.
The present CG isn't tolerable in Open or even in Mobius, for the simple reason that the destination has only one large pad.
In recent Thargoid battles I've been trying to convince the AX group I'm in to play in PG, because in Open the instancing is just a mess. Even when a group of us are already winged we can drop in to more than one instance. Invisible interceptors are also plentiful in Open. After a few frustrating sessions I've come to the point where I go and find something else to do if I log in and see that my friends in the group are in Open.
Because I am a pirate and a powerplayer.. unfortunately I couldn't find players to rob in other game modes and powerplayers should be always play in open (never hide from your enemies!).
I can sympathize with the "pirates need open" stance. Open only PP is nonsense in my opinion (cue the usual asynchronous PvP / bucket filling / time zones / instancing / PvP doesn't win PP barrage of arguments)
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For myself, I value meeting other Cmdrs with similar goals.
That said it's become far more rare than I can probably justify. Also following a "greener grass" comment on the Hotel California thread I'm beginning to suspect the multiplayer option isn't actually worth bothering with.
In the fringes of the Bubble or the Black there's no discernible difference between Open and Solo.
Seeing a hollow square isn't what attracts me to the game.
That said it's become far more rare than I can probably justify. Also following a "greener grass" comment on the Hotel California thread I'm beginning to suspect the multiplayer option isn't actually worth bothering with.
In the fringes of the Bubble or the Black there's no discernible difference between Open and Solo.
Seeing a hollow square isn't what attracts me to the game.
I can sympathize with the "pirates need open" stance. Open only PP is nonsense in my opinion (cue the usual asynchronous PvP / bucket filling / time zones / instancing / PvP doesn't win PP barrage of arguments)
The most limiting factor to PP PvP / open play is the EDH/EDO divide, as all other buckets can be easily filled given PP groups are "global"... grinding merits in other game modes is not abour "efficiency", is just about "hiding" from enemies.
As an example of what a good multiplayer (Open or PG) session can provide, IMO Thargoid attacked stations/surface sites are the most fun with 5 to 10 AX CMDRs. A very different experience from only the AI AX pilots and me there alone.
But as for other activities such as trade or mining, I find no multiplayer value. Maybe there could be some value, but it seems like with the 1:1 size galaxy, CMDRs are spread pretty thin. In a more confined space, maybe interesting multiplayer dynamics might take shape.
But as for other activities such as trade or mining, I find no multiplayer value. Maybe there could be some value, but it seems like with the 1:1 size galaxy, CMDRs are spread pretty thin. In a more confined space, maybe interesting multiplayer dynamics might take shape.
I spent the best part of 3 years in my own player group, effectively solo as nobody else is invited. When the Thargoid conflict cranked up I went into Open purely for that reason. I'd probably go back to my player group for other activity if necessary but I haven't found Open that dangerous. These are my key figures in something like 6 months
So while I understand your question I can see the other side too. I've not found anything outside Thargoid encounters so far but I can imagine other scenarios that could be of value, such as searching for the dark wheel, Raxxla, exploration and so on.
Ultimately though, solo mode exists and if that's what you want then isn't it great to have that option?
- 6 CMDRs blocked for ganking. I'm not going to try and work out why, may be 1-6 reasons and it's not for me to judge who is right
- 1 CMDR blocked for launching a volley of abuse because they objected to how I was fighting Thargoids. I'd have been fine if they simply blocked me, or asked me to change what I was doing but it really annoyed me and I felt the CMDR's approach would not allow a constructive way forward so best for the two of us not to cross paths again
- 34 CMDR's added as friends. I'm not particularly sociable so quite surprised at this number. Most are single / casual acquaintances but 2 or 3 are becoming more regular meet-ups
- No idea if I am on anyone's blocked list. If I am, then I respect their choice and can imagine it is beneficial for them in a similar way that blocking others benefits my game time
- Seeing other CMDR's approach challenges, such as flight assist off and cold orbiting against Thargoids
- Establishing friends. Not really done this so far in Elite but have a 10 year+ friendship from another multiplayer game
- Being able to take down hydras in a 2 person wing, something I am a long way off from achieving on my own. Possibly the same for wingmates too
So while I understand your question I can see the other side too. I've not found anything outside Thargoid encounters so far but I can imagine other scenarios that could be of value, such as searching for the dark wheel, Raxxla, exploration and so on.
Ultimately though, solo mode exists and if that's what you want then isn't it great to have that option?
I've done wing trading in my former sqn which is valuable as we pooled information and capability to enhance each other. Good to get to know other members of the sqn and not just listen to the higher ups.
Even wound up with a nice dashboard trophy.
If there was no solo mode there's a very real possibility I would have stopped playing the game a long time ago. (It depends a lot on how bad the ganking problem is. I don't really know because I permanently switched to solo mode in the very early stages of starting to play this game, after having been killed twice by other players for absolutely no reason whatsoever in a relatively short period of time. Wasn't even carrying any cargo in either instance.)
It would be similar to why I don't play online multiplayer first-person shooters: From my perspective they are completely nonsensical.
The last time I even tried a multiplayer FPS was when I had finished playing (the single-player campaign of) Titanfall 2. I thought it was quite a good game. After finishing the game I noticed that it had a multiplayer mode. Against my better judgment I decided to try it, because why not. The game was already installed, so trying it wasn't much of a waste of time. So the intro cutscene plays, after which we are dropped onto some ruins, so I look a bit around to see where we are and where to go, and started running to some direction and... I just get killed before I could even do anything. I didn't even see who killed me or even where the shots were coming from. I had absolutely no chance. There was no cover, no warning, no time to react, no possibility of doing anything. I sighed because I knew exactly what was going to happen before I even started because it had had happened so many times before. I quit and uninstalled the game. Total time played between gaining control and being killed... something like 5 seconds. Probably the shortest multiplayer game I have ever played. Those games are completely nonsensical. Imagine if single-player campaigns were made like that. There's a reason they aren't.
What people? In all the time I tried playing in open mode I never met anybody. (The only interaction I ever had with other players was being killed for no reason.)You play in Open to meet people.
There's the occasional system chat, but that isn't tied to open mode, as it works in solo mode as well.
It's your mindset, Vortex. Your current perception of absolute personal risk. It's limiting you.
If you're looking for interactions, you need to go where the people are in Open or find an active PG. In Open, don't fly anything you're attached to in any way. Switch to it when traveling around or exploring or visiting a system where lots of people hang out. Do things with them in that ship. If it dies, for whatever reason, who cares? You didn't even want those pixels anyway.
Stay in Solo or a PG you find when you're doing important things in expensive ships. Limit your risk. Then you can enjoy Open without worrying about anything. Gankers. Pirates. Whatever. You can have fun even if everything is going wrong. And you can laugh about it, because a respawn is just a few spacedollars.
Just my advice, for what it's worth.
If you're looking for interactions, you need to go where the people are in Open or find an active PG. In Open, don't fly anything you're attached to in any way. Switch to it when traveling around or exploring or visiting a system where lots of people hang out. Do things with them in that ship. If it dies, for whatever reason, who cares? You didn't even want those pixels anyway.
Stay in Solo or a PG you find when you're doing important things in expensive ships. Limit your risk. Then you can enjoy Open without worrying about anything. Gankers. Pirates. Whatever. You can have fun even if everything is going wrong. And you can laugh about it, because a respawn is just a few spacedollars.
Just my advice, for what it's worth.
It isn't a problem.
Or maybe just not play the game at all?
I don't have a problem with players being given a choice...
The "if there was only open..." argument is odd, read through how many players posting in this forum are solely PvE players... If they were not here, would there be sufficient players active to keep the servers, and Frontier's efforts, active?
I don't play solo... I do like choice...
I was laughing my socks off at the child-like interplay in the CG system last night, no doubt it will be similar when I complete my delivery later.
The silly thing about this statement whenever people make it is that there isn't "only open", and there never will be. So why are we even talking about it? It is at best wishful thinking, and at worst, a bad troll. This isn't EVE. This is Elite.
I hope the OP takes my advice. Look at Elite as a multi-mode affair. Use them for what they're good for. And when you are in Open, enjoy it risk-free by not undocking in something you aren't prepared to lose, and go on an adventure.
You aren't "slithering off into Solo". You're using it to do something uninterrupted.
A PvE Open mode would be great, the chances of that ever happening are slim to none. So we go to war with the army we have, not the one we wish we had.
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I vote for open only cloud gaming
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