Modes The Solo vs Open vs Groups Thread - Mk III

[DarkWalker]

heh dont afraid coz most players will have better ships in open - there they can play with friends or have some fun - lets be honest ppl go to solo just to do things (trade,PP,or sth else) in easy mode where they cant meet others cmdrs, and when they have more credits than god they appear in open in anaconda full load. I mean ok if they want play solo no problem but why it affect open play world ? Power play or CGs dont have a point anymore other that stacking credits.

edit: about open play - today i had a 4 h session - flying around Patreus main systems and didnt saw a SINGLE patreus cmdr ? and about 30-45 min. was in parteus hq system - so does it work now ?

Just because you don't see a reason for players to play in Solo, doesn't mean that there is no such reason.

Plus, Groups. More specifically, the Mobius group, already with over 11K players. All the benefits of Open without the downside of PvP. Why would someone that doesn't care much about the PvP choose to get stuck in Open when he could instead have all the advantages and none of the disadvantages by playing in a PvE-only group?

BTW: if you never saw anyone, then doesn't it means that players that are "grinding" in Solo aren't jumping into Open after they get their nice ships? It's been nearly nine months since the game launched, after all, and even more if you take Gamma into account.

 

[Faded Glory]

Because it's not one giant race track in forza. You can't play by youself and win a race against people playing an 8 player race. There's also no switching between single player and multiplayer in the middle of the race.

I'm not sure I'd call Elite a race to be honest. I'm no expert on games, but it's really pretty uncompetitive IMO.

 

[Kyuubey]

My personal opinion is open and solo should be separate universes, each with its own background sim. As a community we are never going to come to an agreement when it comes to solo/open game play. If you want to play solo, play solo. If you want to play open, play in open, but make it a choice, one or the other. Let each mode blaze their own trail.

This, 100% agree. Two saves, one for solo/group, one for open both in // universes.

Multiple character saves could be an option. All I'm saying is make it a decisive choice between open and solo. Let bygones be bygones, draw a line in the sand, and go our separate ways. End this silly and otherwise meaningless debate.

 

[Quinine]

Or people could accept that all the information was out there before they bought the game and either they knew what they were getting into, in which case they've no one to blame but themselves; or they didn't bother to do any research, in which case... tough?

Either way, why should the core of the game be changed to suit you? What about all of us who bought it as it was advertised?

 

[Faded Glory]

Multiple character saves could be an option. All I'm saying is make it a decisive choice between open and solo. Let bygones be bygones, draw a line in the sand, and go our separate ways. End this silly and otherwise meaningless debate.

As others have said, having two CMDR saves would just as likely deprive Open of players than anything else. As to drawing a line in the sand and going separate ways, you are essentially asking for FD to make two different games, and it's unlikely that they have the desire or the resources to do that.

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

Or people could accept that all the information was out there before they bought the game and either they knew what they were getting into, in which case they've no one to blame but themselves; or they didn't bother to do any research, in which case... tough?

Either way, why should the core of the game be changed to suit you? What about all of us who bought it as it was advertised?

It's hard to know what to look for, and how things will play out in a game before you buy it. You can't know that mode switching would be the preferred way to do CGs or pp, two things that weren't even in the game at release btw.

Speaking personally when I bought the game offline wasn't axed yet. I was given the (now false) impression that if I wanted I could do my own thing and not be effected by ghosts, so to speak.

 

[Faded Glory]

It's hard to know what to look for, and how things will play out in a game before you buy it. You can't know that mode switching would be the preferred way to do CGs or pp, two things that weren't even in the game at release btw.

Speaking personally when I bought the game offline wasn't axed yet. I was given the (now false) impression that if I wanted I could do my own thing and not be effected by ghosts, so to speak.

That's a bit of an odd perspective. If the game were offline, it would be completely static, there could be no BGS changing as once you have the game, it's set. Your rep could change, but the background wouldn't. So no, your game wouldn't be affected by anyone else, but it wouldn't be affected by you either.

Or am I missing something?

 

[Kyuubey]

As others have said, having two CMDR saves would just as likely deprive Open of players than anything else. As to drawing a line in the sand and going separate ways, you are essentially asking for FD to make two different games, and it's unlikely that they have the desire or the resources to do that.

I'm not asking for two different games. All I want is for solo players to enjoy the game, and open players to enjoy the game, both in a way where neither side can force their views on the other.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

I'm not asking for two different games. All I want is for solo players to enjoy the game, and open players to enjoy the game, both in a way where neither side can force their views on the other.

Which is what we have now.

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

That's a bit of an odd perspective. If the game were offline, it would be completely static, there could be no BGS changing as once you have the game, it's set. Your rep could change, but the background wouldn't. So no, your game wouldn't be affected by anyone else, but it wouldn't be affected by you either.

Or am I missing something?

The BGS was supposed to be working and not entirely player driven. It's a shell of what it was supposed to be.

 

[Faded Glory]

I'm not asking for two different games. All I want is for solo players to enjoy the game, and open players to enjoy the game, both in a way where neither side can force their views on the other.

I understand what you're asking for, but in order to 'separate' the two modes (we'll leave groups out of it for the moment), that would require two BGS's, which would immediately separate, and therefore two games. Additionally, different priorities would surface in each of the separated modes, so balancing for PvP might be a priority in the Open game, while creating different mission content might be seen as a priority in the Solo game.

In the current setup, nobody can force their views, or more importantly play style on anyone else. It doesn't matter whether someone in Open wants to take ownership of a system and stop me being able to visit, because I can bypass them, and rightly so. And playing in Solo, or group, I don't force my agendas onto anyone else. As it happens, I don't do PP, so that argument is easy for me to refute, but for all those who do, it has been discussed over and over how all players in every mode have the opportunity to support or undermine their factions, and having it constrained to Open would make no difference.

So, my view, and that of most pro mode commentators, is that I don't care how other people are playing the game, I don't care what mode they are in, I get on and do what I want to do in the game and try to have fun doing it. If something stops being fun, I generally stop doing it, and my choice not to interact with other players means only one thing. They don't have me as their content, and I'm fine with that.

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The BGS was supposed to be working and not entirely player driven. It's a shell of what it was supposed to be.

I agree that it's not much at the moment, as I can play the game pretty happily without paying any real attention to it, and indeed I do. But how would it have evolved in an offline mode? Would you have downloaded periodic updates?

 

[Cmdr Cunomaglus]

I'm not asking for two different games. All I want is for solo players to enjoy the game, and open players to enjoy the game, both in a way where neither side can force their views on the other.

Why are you fixating on those two particular 'sides'? It's hardly the first time this rebuttal has been made, but what about the XBoxers? What about people in different time zones? What about those with an internet connection that simply doesn't allow them to be paired with you? These things are going on in-game all around you, every day, all these thousands and thousands of players 'forcing their views on you' by playing their game in blissful ignorance of you, yet the only objection you make is about people in Solo / Group.

Frontier have made their line in the sand, as you put it in an earlier post, very clear and yet you continue to allow yourself to be frustrated by a subsection of the whole. Why should FD spend the effort and expense to maintain separate galaxies with their branching storylines and politics and allegiances and Solo / Group players sacrifice their options to allay your self-imposed frustrations? Even if they did, it still wouldn't solve your problem of people with whom you can't interact 'forcing their views on you', so why waste your time worrying about it? When I'm playing, I don't give a single thought to Open players. There's no "teehee I'm totally annoying some faceless, nameless person I'll never speak to by supporting ALD and undermining Hudson!" I'm just out there flying my spaceship around, blatting dudes with lasers. It's fun. You should try it.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Multiple character saves could be an option. All I'm saying is make it a decisive choice between open and solo. Let bygones be bygones, draw a line in the sand, and go our separate ways. End this silly and otherwise meaningless debate.

While that may seem to be a suitable solution from the perspective of one who would quite happily remove mode switching, that's not the game as it was sold to all of us.

The game that was backed and bought has three game modes, a single shared galaxy state and the option for players to choose which game mode to play in on a session-by-session basis.

The debate may never end, however, at the same time, I don't expect Frontier to make changes to these core game features as they consider all game modes valid and equal.

 

[Imperial Guard]

I think the most FRUSTRATING thing for people that only fly in OPEN is simply that people have the ability to drop out into SOLO mode at will.


Fix that and 99% of the complaining will go away.

Examples:
- Separate CMDR saves / career mode.
- Limit ability to switch from OPEN to SOLO (vice verse) once every 24 hr period.... or once every Powerplay Cycle

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

I agree that it's not much at the moment, as I can play the game pretty happily without paying any real attention to it, and indeed I do. But how would it have evolved in an offline mode? Would you have downloaded periodic updates?

I dont understand, it would have been like we have now, except only your actions mattered. I assume it would have been easier to flip systems and drain trade routes with only one person doing it, but it would still have been possible. At least that's how I figured it would work. Every player would have their own galaxy that changed based on their actions instead of one galaxy that changes based on other people's actions.

 

[Roybe]

I dont understand, it would have been like we have now, except only your actions mattered. I assume it would have been easier to flip systems and drain trade routes with only one person doing it, but it would still have been possible. At least that's how I figured it would work. Every player would have their own galaxy that changed based on their actions instead of one galaxy that changes based on other people's actions.

Without a connection everything would be frozen in place. Nothing would move or change...that's why they had to give up on the idea.

 

[Cody]

But how would it have evolved in an offline mode? Would you have downloaded periodic updates?

When FD said they would implement an offline mode, I think I recall DB saying it could possibly sync occasionally with the main game.

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

I think the most FRUSTRATING thing for people that only fly in OPEN is simply that people have the ability to drop out into SOLO mode at will.


Fix that and 99% of the complaining will go away.

Examples:
- Separate CMDR saves / career mode.
- Limit ability to switch from OPEN to SOLO (vice verse) once every 24 hr period.... or once every Powerplay Cycle

I can definitely get behind this. I don't think it will stop all the complaints but quite a few of them. It would also make which mode to play a conscious decision rather than, "I'll play open when I'm ready and solo/group when I'm not".

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Without a connection everything would be frozen in place. Nothing would move or change...that's why they had to give up on the idea.

Yea, I know that's why they dropped it, but that's not the impression that I got from how it was supposed to be. Reading the ddfs I thought it would have worked offline.

 

[Jockey79]

I think the most FRUSTRATING thing for people that only fly in OPEN is simply that people have the ability to drop out into SOLO mode at will.


Fix that and 99% of the complaining will go away.

Examples:
- Separate CMDR saves / career mode.
- Limit ability to switch from OPEN to SOLO (vice verse) once every 24 hr period.... or once every Powerplay Cycle

Fix what?

Mode switching (at will) is an advertised feature and has been sine day one - over 2 years ago.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I think the most FRUSTRATING thing for people that only fly in OPEN is simply that people have the ability to drop out into SOLO mode at will.


Fix that and 99% of the complaining will go away.

Examples:
- Separate CMDR saves / career mode.
- Limit ability to switch from OPEN to SOLO (vice verse) once every 24 hr period.... or once every Powerplay Cycle

While the complaining from those who want to directly interact with any other player may diminish somewhat (although not to zero - players would be still be able to mode switch after all), I expect the complaining from those who don't appreciate being forced to interact with others would increase.

If separate Commanders were to be introduced then I expect that those who mainly play in Open (but still appreciate mode switching) may well pick Solo / Private Groups as their Commander's mode. The trader population of Open may significantly suffer too.