I see why you'd want that "intel". But some cmdrs want to remain anonymous. Their actions hidden from view. Currently that's how it works.
I totally understand the desire for anonymity. However, there are a couple of examples where either CMDR names are explicitly stated, the number of CMDRs are shown, or the number of bonds/merits/transactions shown, such as:
- The Bounty Boards (which state CMDR names, bounty amounts, and their approximate locations)
- The Powerplay Fortification / Expansion / Undermining progress bars
- The pre-ground CZ dialog box:
Much of what I suggested already exists in some form in the game today, so collating all of that information for a BGS conflict news box wouldn't be out-of-place, in my opinion. That said, if I had to choose I would prioritize a simple "this is the number of CMDRs who have redeemed bonds for this faction" counter over a Leaderboard.
And from a bgs pp perspective that intel would be exploited to the full.
Heaven sent info that would allow player factions to allocate their war machines resources more effectively.
I'll freely admit that I wrote the above suggestion largely out of frustration, so it's likely not the most eloquently crafted one I've made, but I'm not sure how displaying transactional information could lead to game exploits - outside of something akin to Powerplay sniping, perhaps. How would/could the suggestion be exploited?
baneofcrows' original assertion that among the things limited to Open, PvP was the only one that could ruin one's experience. I was thinking of other features that can be abused, such as chat or block, which can have an influence anywhere PvP can, that can ruin an experience just as readily.
I guess I was focused on this part of the quote:
PvP isn't entirely limited to Open [...]
since my latest defeat is a reminder that, essentially, the BGS is set up as an abstracted PvP game with a PvE element separating the two sides - PvEvP. Every transaction we make affects the BGS, which in turn affects whatever Player Minor Factions may or may not be present, who then will react to those transactions as they see fit.
My brain must have turned off when reading the rest of that sentence, because my post doesn't really make sense in light of the context I tripped over
BGS frustrations can explicitly occur in any mode, so if one's experience is subjectively harmed by them, that's not something limited to areas where direct PvP is also possible. Your experience would have been the same in PG or Solo, except perhaps that you'd never have had any hope of gathering any extra information due to the off chance that one of your BGS opponents would instance with you.
Indeed, it was. I ran several previous conflicts mostly in Solo due to ongoing Odyssey performance issues and bugs (massive stuttering, inputs not registering due to stutters, my L-6 blowing up in my face the second I fire a rocket because PDTs, etc.).
This loops back to an earlier claim I made in one of the earlier Open v Modes threads that Open is functionally equivalent to Solo in my area, even with elevated traffic levels:
I've got to admit that it is somewhat hilarious and sad at the same time, that everyone seems to consider Open Mode and PvP the same thing. Precisely this. ☝️ Open does not equal PVP, there are all sorts of social play that do not involve PVP nor being bullied by PVP players. Thankfully...
forums.frontier.co.uk
I'm not fond of the idea of more detailed CMDR tracking/telemetry either, but I do understand the frustration of there being no good in-game way to collect anything but the most general and vague of data. Outside of comparing one's own contribution to a success/failure of an endevor at the next tick, or trying to infer numbers from traffic boards, you're mostly left with entirely out-of-game/character espionage across third party media. It's a major disconnect that helps reinforced the feeling of the BGS as a black box. It also cheapens agency and interaction by poorly correlating the results with gameplay, or their depiction off menu screens.
Oddly enough, I have resorted to opposition research via INARA in an attempt to figure out who I'm fighting. Some CMDRs jumped their Carriers into Minun, so I was able to get their names and their squadrons and plug them into INARA. The latest ones I've seen are neither explicitly tied to Powerplay nor are Federation supporters, so my best guess at this point is Minun's War state is pulling some traffic from nearby Iah Bulu for Fed rank grinding.
If that is the case, I do have one more trick up my sleeve to take the system...
