Seriously, what's the point in open play?

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DjVortex

DjVortex
With the current community goal going on, there's a lot of player chatter in the Duamta system. When I was there some time ago a lot of the chatter consisted essentially of people saying that they were ganked (when they were bringing commodities for the CG), and other people suggesting them to switch to solo mode. Quite notably, at least one of the gankers was sending message to the chat, in a rather smug and condescending tone.

I asked him what exact he gains from ruining other player's game and pushing them to solo mode. What exactly is the motivation to do that. Why try to ruin the game for others? I got nothing but smugness and mockery as a response.

It is my understanding that gankers don't really get any significant penalty. Maybe they get themselves destroyed sometimes, but I'm assuming they are so rich in-game that it's pocket money to them to rebuy. I doubt it's any sort of punishment nor deterrent.

I have for quite some time semi-jokingly said: "Gankers: Pushing people to solo mode since 2014." Well, it isn't really all that much of a joke. It's just a fact. Just this GC alone seems to be pushing who knows how many people into solo mode because it literally makes no sense to play in open mode, just to get destroyed for no reason, losing tons of material and time. And the gankers seem to revel in how miserable they make other people's game, and how many they succeed in pushing away from open play.

But this brings up the question: If I play in open mode, I risk being randomly destroyed by some idiot ganker, with no recourse against it. So why should I play in open mode at all? What is the counter-balancing benefit that would incentivize me to play in open mode, even at that risk? What do I get from open mode that makes it worth it? What is the positive side that supersedes the risks?

So far I have not encountered any reason to play in open mode. When I have, I have never interacted with another player in any way, shape or form, with the exception of having been ganked and, perhaps a few times, seeing someone fly by in the distance. That's it. So what exactly is the point? Why does open mode even exist? It doesn't incentivize anybody to play it, unless your goal is to ruin the game for others.
 

HappyMoonMonkey

HappyMoonMonkey
You play in open mode for the challenge. Having built a ship to survive it you pit it against others with a different intention. Especially in a CG system. I've trucked about 13/14 loads so far in this CG. Most of them in open. I've seen plenty of CMDRs, been interdicted twice and escaped both times. Each run has been thrilling because of the risk. And if I want to switch back to snooze mode in solo I can.
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
DjVortex said:
...So far I have not encountered any reason to play in open mode. When I have, I have never interacted with another player in any way, shape or form, with the exception of having been ganked and, perhaps a few times, seeing someone fly by in the distance. That's it. So what exactly is the point? Why does open mode even exist? It doesn't incentivize anybody to play it, unless your goal is to ruin the game for others.
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This is the game Frontier Developments has made. If you don't like open mode, then use private groups or solo mode. :)

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SteveWW57

SteveWW57
If you want to play in open, you are expected to develop skills and strategies, along with build ships that can withstand the attack. This restricts your ship builds and takes time away from you doing deliveries if it does happen. And you will sometimes get sent to the rebuy screen and lose cargo/money.

I believe I read somewhere today/yesterday, that when the anti-gankers turned up in Duamta, the gankers blocked them so they would not interact with each other. The gankers do not appear to want more even fights. Apparently this made the system safer.

Steve
 

He$$eeTant

He$$eeTant
Been a while since and open vs solo. Don’t fly paper ships. I enjoy meeting Cmdrs in open AND not all Cmdrs are Gankers - by a long shot. Fly solo and you’ll never learn the excitement of bumping into another real person. Fly open and most people you meet are just like you and I.
 

Dillon Fallon

Dillon Fallon
Well, because it's funny when you see someone flying evasive because your Python with 256t of cargo space just happens to have an interdictor and they're in front of you while flying to the same station.

Seriously though, it's the unpredictability. NPCs will always do what they do but add other players into the mix and you never know what's going to happen. Usually nothing, but you never know. It's definitely a laugh when you complete someone's Odyssey assassination mission for them.

Of course that's not for everyone and that is absolutely fair enough.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
There are good reasons to fly in open, and also good reasons not to. Meeting randoms without going through the hassle of applying for one of the larger PGs is one reason to go open. The ganking isn't so bad unless you go to the choke points - beginner engineers, ShinDez, Sol, CGs. But then you could ask why bother with open when you cannot go where alot of people hang out without being bothered by gankers. Yeah, you can gank-proof your ships and build some knowledge on how to evade, but even if you do, you still have not reached your goal of going to the mall and hanging out with strangers. So there.

I have had a few impromptu bounty hunting wings at CGs, but those are the exception. Mostly if you meet a CMDR you get an o7, if anything at all. If you want to play with people, you will have to arrange that, mostly out of game.

Sometimes I fly in open (I do right now, because I screwed around at the CG a bit to test out instancing), but even though most of my ships are either more or less gank proof or cheap enough so I don't care, and although I know how to evade ganks, I keep to Mobius or Solo. Evading gameplay I have no interest in is just wasting my time, and I am not interested in mano-a-mano challenges either.

If you seek challenge and adrenaline though, there is your reason to fly in open. But again, mostly you have to seek out the ones who challenge you, because outside the popular choke points, open might as well be solo.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Oh, we have already arrived at open only. That was quick.

There is a solo mode because Frontier felt it was our prerogative to choose if we play alone or with others. Also because they had to scrap offline mode. And that is okay. I don't want to be forced to "confront gankers". If I want, I want to be able to channel my inner care bear and fly a paper plane. Because the game tells me I can blaze my own trail.
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
Helmut Grokenberger said:
Oh, we have already arrived at open only. That was quick.

There is a solo mode because Frontier felt it was our prerogative to choose if we play alone or with others. Also because they had to scrap offline mode. And that is okay. I don't want to be forced to "confront gankers". If I want, I want to be able to channel my inner care bear and fly a paper plane. Because the game tells me I can blaze my own trail.
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It seem unusual though to have a solo mode in a MMOG?
 

Morbad

Morbad
DjVortex said:
I asked him what exact he gains from ruining other player's game and pushing them to solo mode. What exactly is the motivation to do that. Why try to ruin the game for others? I got nothing but smugness and mockery as a response.
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I'm not sure what sort of response you could have expected with such a profoundly loaded question.

GunnerBill said:
The problem really is - why is there solo mode?
If solo didn't exist players would be forced to confront gankers in a more organised and proficient manner. As it stands we can just slither off to solo and play virtually risk free.
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Because the game was originally backed by and marketed to a lot of people who wanted a single-player experience. With the cancellation of the offline game solo was the compromise to retain those players.

Frontier's decisions make a lot more sense if you look at Elite: Dangerous from the perspective of a product, rather than a game.
 
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