I love the idea of pvp, but the practice is really hard to do in Elite, and the more you think about it, the harder it gets.
For example, say killing enemy pledges gets you merits. Well, you get an alt account, dock them on your fleet carrier, have them take off, and murder them. They respawn on the carrier, and you blow them up again. Repeat x infinity, farm infinite merits.
You could cap the number of kills that count, but suddenly attackers basically just need to quit after 5 kills or so, or they're just putting their points on the line for no benefit. And that actually enhances the power of the false-flag kills.
It also can't work purely as a deterrent. A small squad of skilled pvpers can effectively hunt down 100% of visible players in a system and completely shut down all other movement. This means that making pvp a necessary gauntlet will immediately result in stasis, as nothing can get done as long as the pvpers are active. This will drive the non-pvpers away until the pvpers quit. That's not good for anybody.
Basically, the problem with PVP is this:
PVP can only work when both sides are honorable.
Unfortunately, this being real life, that doesn't actually happen, and pvp instead tends to make everyone miserable, eventually. Even the pvpers, after everyone else leaves and they get bored.
That being the case, the only way I can see pvp working is by removing any necessity of player honor or integrity from the equation, and putting those factors firmly in the hands of Fdev. As such, here is how I envision it.
Power Stronghold Megaships
Every Power has a specific place(or a few places) that can be attacked. A megaship, or NPC convoy, or something along those lines. This thing is completely controlled by Fdev.
This thing exists in exactly ONE instance. This instance is hosted by the Fdev servers, like a CQC game. This means that if you want to attack (OR DEFEND) it, you must be in this singular instance. You cannot enter this instance in solo or private groups, and in Open, you must enter THE instance. All participating players will be in the same area.
Attackers will not be able to fully optimize for pvp, because they need to attack the NPC objectives, too. This might include details such as hacking data ports, or even stealing commodities from cargo bays. This makes it easier for the defenders to defend themselves, and encourages pvp. The weaker the attackers, the more likely pvp will occur.
Defenders will also be supported by the turrets and NPCs who periodically spawn in. Even if they just distract the attackers, they slow them down and make their attack less effective, encouraging anyone and everyone to participate, even if they're not good at pvp.
This solves the problems of collusion. You can't support the attackers in any way without just being an attacker, which only provides the benefit of being an attacker.
It solves the problem of players not wanting to instance together. They must instance together to attack or defend.
It creates a meaningful arena for pvp.
It diversifies PVP beyond just killing each other, by adding more detailed objectives to be achieved.
This is the only way I can envision PVP being made meaningful in Elite.
For example, say killing enemy pledges gets you merits. Well, you get an alt account, dock them on your fleet carrier, have them take off, and murder them. They respawn on the carrier, and you blow them up again. Repeat x infinity, farm infinite merits.
You could cap the number of kills that count, but suddenly attackers basically just need to quit after 5 kills or so, or they're just putting their points on the line for no benefit. And that actually enhances the power of the false-flag kills.
It also can't work purely as a deterrent. A small squad of skilled pvpers can effectively hunt down 100% of visible players in a system and completely shut down all other movement. This means that making pvp a necessary gauntlet will immediately result in stasis, as nothing can get done as long as the pvpers are active. This will drive the non-pvpers away until the pvpers quit. That's not good for anybody.
Basically, the problem with PVP is this:
PVP can only work when both sides are honorable.
Unfortunately, this being real life, that doesn't actually happen, and pvp instead tends to make everyone miserable, eventually. Even the pvpers, after everyone else leaves and they get bored.
That being the case, the only way I can see pvp working is by removing any necessity of player honor or integrity from the equation, and putting those factors firmly in the hands of Fdev. As such, here is how I envision it.
Power Stronghold Megaships
Every Power has a specific place(or a few places) that can be attacked. A megaship, or NPC convoy, or something along those lines. This thing is completely controlled by Fdev.
This thing exists in exactly ONE instance. This instance is hosted by the Fdev servers, like a CQC game. This means that if you want to attack (OR DEFEND) it, you must be in this singular instance. You cannot enter this instance in solo or private groups, and in Open, you must enter THE instance. All participating players will be in the same area.
Attackers will not be able to fully optimize for pvp, because they need to attack the NPC objectives, too. This might include details such as hacking data ports, or even stealing commodities from cargo bays. This makes it easier for the defenders to defend themselves, and encourages pvp. The weaker the attackers, the more likely pvp will occur.
Defenders will also be supported by the turrets and NPCs who periodically spawn in. Even if they just distract the attackers, they slow them down and make their attack less effective, encouraging anyone and everyone to participate, even if they're not good at pvp.
This solves the problems of collusion. You can't support the attackers in any way without just being an attacker, which only provides the benefit of being an attacker.
It solves the problem of players not wanting to instance together. They must instance together to attack or defend.
It creates a meaningful arena for pvp.
It diversifies PVP beyond just killing each other, by adding more detailed objectives to be achieved.
This is the only way I can envision PVP being made meaningful in Elite.
