Modes The Solo vs Open vs Groups Thread [See new thread]

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And again think about Star Citizen and why do they try a slightly different format while focusing more on PvP?

I wouldn't hold my breath for Star Citizen... I killed Chris Roberts last night. Sorry everyone....

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Reading many of the responses it appears that those players who are discussing that everyone should be playing in the all group pretty much all joined late beta onwards. Those who are discussing that the game is all about the player choice and how they interacts with the game have pretty much been here since the kickstarter.
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During the kickstarter elite was sold to us as a game where the player chooses who they interact with it was sold with the idea that if the solo player wants to play in a group they would have that choice and if they wanted to play with everyone they could,
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It appears that those who were not here during the development of the game and only recently come onboard are under the impression that the game has separate modes of play; that affect other modes, the game is one big environment that gives you the choice of who you interact with in that environment, there is no pvp group there is no pve group. There are just players choosing to interact with the games environment with or without other players. How you play in those groups is down to the players that occupy those groups.
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I choose to play the game the way I wanted to play it and offered that choice to others. Many don’t like my choice and don’t find it appealing, others where perfectly happy to play the game with everyone else in it. Just because a solo player or a private group player chooses to play it with or without interaction from other players is a choice.
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So players saying that group or solo commanders have it easy are missing the whole point of the game. a player who enjoys taking a risk of being attacked by another player while playing against the environment is a choice of how they play in the environment, they have that choice, if players don’t enjoy that random playstlye then they can play against the environment without that.
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To summarise, the game is completely about whom you share the environment with; it’s not about pvp vs group vs solo, once you understand that you will understand why a private group or solo player interacts with the same environment, its all about whom you share the environment with.
 
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But so far we dont have enought people to fill the huge universe in open and solo/private modes, so anyone can have fun and meet enough people for PvP.

And, sincerely, there never will.

Ever wondered why a game like DoTA2 (which isn't even the largest MOBA out there, just the one I have available reliable data on) can have close to a million players logged simultaneously, while most open world PvP games can't manage to attain 1% of that? (EVE is one of the largest and it's current weekly player peak is around 40K logged players, or 4% of what DoTA2 gets, and that includes the people multi-boxing.) Players that like PvP are overwhelmingly attracted to instanced games, with balanced teams and well defined matches.

I'm kinda like that (though my poison of choice isn't MOBAs); I spend a fair amount of time playing PvP, just not in any MMO, since I find MMO PvP to be a pale shadow of what a dedicated PvP game — one that removes all aspects of PvE from the gameplay — can offer.

Add to that how ED's galaxy is immensely huge, even if you only take into account colonized space, and the large death penalty (which tends to make most players avoid PvP as much as possible), and ED was clearly never meant as a game where you can have your daily dose of PvP. Well, unless you eschew most of the choices the game gives you, stick to just the most populous places and go actively looking for a fight, and even then you will likely get far less fights than in about any PvP-focused game. Given the size of its universe, it would need to be larger than WoW, with everyone playing in Open, in order for PvP to be actually common in most places.

Then, of course, there is the fact ED was always advertised as a game where PvP would be completely optional. I would know; it's the first thing I look for whenever browsing for any MMO, or MMO-like game.
 
I'm kinda like that (though my poison of choice isn't MOBAs); I spend a fair amount of time playing PvP, just not in any MMO, since I find MMO PvP to be a pale shadow of what a dedicated PvP game — one that removes all aspects of PvE from the gameplay — can offer.

Well said. It isn't just MMOs like like Elite which aren't much good at PvP but any game where PvP isn't a central focus. In fact where multiplayer PvP is shoe-horned into a game which clearly doesn't need it the actual game tends to suffer badly for it. Look at what happened with Mass Effect 3 for example. And Ubisoft have decided to drop multiplayer from the next Assassins Creed game entirely.

There is a large demographic of people who like to play games on their own. Why should Elite lose them?
 
Reading many of the responses it appears that those players who are discussing that everyone should be playing in the all group pretty much all joined late beta onwards. Those who are discussing that the game is all about the player choice and how they interacts with the game have pretty much been here since the kickstarter.
.
During the kickstarter elite was sold to us as a game where the player chooses who they interact with it was sold with the idea that if the solo player wants to play in a group they would have that choice and if they wanted to play with everyone they could,
.
It appears that those who were not here during the development of the game and only recently come onboard are under the impression that the game has separate modes of play; that affect other modes, the game is one big environment that gives you the choice of who you interact with in that environment, there is no pvp group there is no pve group. There are just players choosing to interact with the games environment with or without other players. How you play in those groups is down to the players that occupy those groups.
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I choose to play the game the way I wanted to play it and offered that choice to others. Many don’t like my choice and don’t find it appealing, others where perfectly happy to play the game with everyone else in it. Just because a solo player or a private group player chooses to play it with or without interaction from other players is a choice.
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So players saying that group or solo commanders have it easy are missing the whole point of the game. a player who enjoys taking a risk of being attacked by another player while playing against the environment is a choice of how they play in the environment, they have that choice, if players don’t enjoy that random playstlye then they can play against the environment without that.
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To summarise, the game is completely about whom you share the environment with; it’s not about pvp vs group vs solo, once you understand that you will understand why a private group or solo player interacts with the same environment, its all about whom you share the environment with.

I really am the odd one out.

I bought my copy November 1st 2014, after reading up on the game on a friends suggestion.
Said friend also went away for the week before I bought my copy, he installed his on my PC and said "Try that out while I'm on holiday and tell me what you think"

I was in a Type 6 when he got back (he had not played yet), and was gutted I had to hand the keys over on the 1st of November, that is why I bought my copy.

Some of the folks complaining here bought before I did and just don't understand what they bought - it honestly confuses me how they don't get it :(
 
I can give you a better example of a game that has to deal with PvP/PvE mode switching.

H1Z1 - has PvE and PvP servers. For each server you have to make a new character.

Other games deal with this situation and their playerbases accept it. I don't see why Elite should be any different.

I think with CGs, issues with bounty hunting and piracy and Power play coming I think eventually Frontier will look at how other games manage their problems with mode switching.

When the game is proposed from the start with that segregation it's a completely different thing; everyone playing the game was already aware of the segregation, so no harm done (though it might cost the game in players leaving earlier because they can't play with who they want).

But changing an already released game to add segregation that wasn't there from the start? I can't remember a single game that did that. Many games did the opposite, in fact; GW2 relaxed the rules on visiting other servers, WoW added ways to play almost all content with players from other realms (which can be used to level a PvP character in PvE realms for free, BTW), DC Universe Online added an option to change between the PvP and PvE server almost at will, and so on.

And H1Z1 isn't segregating players due to the PvP/PvE divide. Not just that, at least. They are segregating players because different servers can have completely different rules. They can make easy mode servers, ultra-hardcore servers, servers where building and planning is more important, servers that emphasize unplanned combat, permadeath servers, and so on.
 
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And, sincerely, there never will.

Ever wondered why a game like DoTA2 (which isn't even the largest MOBA out there, just the one I have available reliable data on) can have close to a million players logged simultaneously, while most open world PvP games can't manage to attain 1% of that? (EVE is one of the largest and it's current weekly player peak is around 40K logged players, or 4% of what DoTA2 gets, and that includes the people multi-boxing.) Players that like PvP are overwhelmingly attracted to instanced games, with balanced teams and well defined matches.

I'm kinda like that (though my poison of choice isn't MOBAs); I spend a fair amount of time playing PvP, just not in any MMO, since I find MMO PvP to be a pale shadow of what a dedicated PvP game — one that removes all aspects of PvE from the gameplay — can offer.

Add to that how ED's galaxy is immensely huge, even if you only take into account colonized space, and the large death penalty (which tends to make most players avoid PvP as much as possible), and ED was clearly never meant as a game where you can have your daily dose of PvP. Well, unless you eschew most of the choices the game gives you, stick to just the most populous places and go actively looking for a fight, and even then you will likely get far less fights than in about any PvP-focused game. Given the size of its universe, it would need to be larger than WoW, with everyone playing in Open, in order for PvP to be actually common in most places.

Then, of course, there is the fact ED was always advertised as a game where PvP would be completely optional. I would know; it's the first thing I look for whenever browsing for any MMO, or MMO-like game.


Well killing people every minute is boring after a while. And yes, i play MOBAs, LoL for now. I dont expect Elite to be a 24/7 battlefield, but we should have enough people to interact with and fight them here and there. But not seaching 20 minutes for a trader to pirate him or waiting till someone comes to you in a wing to have a skirmish...
Sure the game has to be bigger. Only this will keep the downtime low and enough people in your "range" (aka similar ship etc) to mess around with.
And this is what some people want - not all of us, but there are so many people waiting for a space sim with proper combat and a big enough player base to actually have someone to fight. This is why Star Citizen got so hyped, if people would not wait for a game like this it would never get that attention.
 
Well killing people every minute is boring after a while. And yes, i play MOBAs, LoL for now. I dont expect Elite to be a 24/7 battlefield, but we should have enough people to interact with and fight them here and there. But not seaching 20 minutes for a trader to pirate him or waiting till someone comes to you in a wing to have a skirmish...
Sure the game has to be bigger. Only this will keep the downtime low and enough people in your "range" (aka similar ship etc) to mess around with.
And this is what some people want - not all of us, but there are so many people waiting for a space sim with proper combat and a big enough player base to actually have someone to fight. This is why Star Citizen got so hyped, if people would not wait for a game like this it would never get that attention.

maybe he got the hype but not all the hyped games go good though
 
Yeah let's make everything more restrictive so we can have more people playing the game with us. What is this? Diablo 2 Ladder games? Not everything needs to be a competition, you guys need to let people play the way they want. When I get home after working 12 hours, I don't want to deal with a troll ramming people in the station or just a special butterfly kid who thinks his (220 hours of farming) ship is fair game vs mine. I just want to deliver goods and enjoy the sound of my ship. That's all. Also, this kind of attitude is better left in Call of Duty, we don't need elitist jerks who have something to prove to the entire world. I just don't care how much free time you have to get better at killing players, I won Quake3Arena & SOF2 competition when I was a teen with no job and I rather not walk that path again.

I play online during the week-end when I know I have a few hours and the energy to shoot down people who tries to get my stuff. :)
My point is, just do your thing. Stop looking over there to see how this other dude is having fun. You're not his boss :p
 
I dont expect Elite to be a 24/7 battlefield, but we should have enough people to interact with and fight them here and there. But not seaching 20 minutes for a trader to pirate him or waiting till someone comes to you in a wing to have a skirmish...

That sounds like an oxymoron. You do appear to want a space game with combat as the central focus, and to be able to get into combat virtually instantly (20 minutes is too long? Really?)

Elite just ain't that sort of game and for that matter neither is Star Citizen. Star Citizen is going to cater to this by including an "arena mode" or something, but that won't be the meat of the actual game.

What you should really ask Frontier for is a separate deathmatch mode, where you can take ships you own and battle other players/wings in special "maps" (RES sites), based on a matchmaking system to keep the forces level, and without insurance costs or risk. Just scores. You shouldn't ask for Frontier to re-engineer the entire lore and gameplay of Elite, because I doubt very much that you'll be successful.
 
Well killing people every minute is boring after a while. And yes, i play MOBAs, LoL for now. I dont expect Elite to be a 24/7 battlefield, but we should have enough people to interact with and fight them here and there. But not seaching 20 minutes for a trader to pirate him or waiting till someone comes to you in a wing to have a skirmish...
Sure the game has to be bigger. Only this will keep the downtime low and enough people in your "range" (aka similar ship etc) to mess around with.
And this is what some people want - not all of us, but there are so many people waiting for a space sim with proper combat and a big enough player base to actually have someone to fight. This is why Star Citizen got so hyped, if people would not wait for a game like this it would never get that attention.

You keep going on about Star Citizen. Firstly you don't even acknowledge that Private Modable servers area very large part of there marketing. This is especially there for a certain part of the player base to avoid the gank fest. You just keep ignoring this??

Insodently this happens to be the ED forum anyway. All ED has done is simplify the process with it's grouping option. The other game will have a complete set of hooks, and handles to completely modify the game to ones liking. I expect more and more of these configurable options to come available to the groups at some later date.
 
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Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
If I'm fighting another player and they drop out I think thats a problem. The devs agree and have stated combat logging is cheating, so thats not exactly a swapping into solo issue.

If I'm trying to interdict another player, I think having them drop out is fairly similar. I'm not sure if the devs consider this cheating, but I would, I think you shouldn't be able to leave open during or just before an interdiction.

If I was hunting a player (for their bounty, loot, lolz, whatever) I would like them to not drop out of open. If I interdict them, then they escape I would like to interdict them again. If they jump to another system I want to wake scan them and follow, then interdict again. If a player jumps to another system, then quits to the menu thats an issue for me.

As players can leave the game instantly when not in combat or after 15 seconds when in combat, is there any tangible difference to the chasing player if the target (in open) quits the game and stops playing for the night or logs back in to solo / private group?

On the other hand, interdicting a player over and over gets towards griefing. Following them to another system is stalking. The other player doesn't have an unlimited amount of time to play, how long must they stay in open for once the interdiction chase begins? Until their destruction, or they land at a station?

Players play at different times to me, not being in my instance seems the same as playing at a different time. Unless I actually see the players ship disappear because they quit to the menu (and its not like all I'm doing is PvP, most of the players I see are in SC or trying to land) I just don't see the issue.

Solo, group, open, whatever. Don't play in open then complain about getting interdicted though

The zero / 15 second timer still applies to quitting the game, regardless. I do agree on your "don't play in Open then complain about getting interdicted" , of course.
 
What you should really ask Frontier for is a separate deathmatch mode, where you can take ships you own and battle other players/wings in special "maps" (RES sites), based on a matchmaking system to keep the forces level, and without insurance costs or risk. Just scores. You shouldn't ask for Frontier to re-engineer the entire lore and gameplay of Elite, because I doubt very much that you'll be successful.

I always thought this was a good idea. Like the tutorial missions, but only with multiple players, and the ability to choose/outfit ships as you see fit (perhaps with a cr limit as a level setter?). 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 3v1, 2v1, etc... No insurance, no rebuy, no loss of your account's actual credits. Purely a battle simulator.
 
... but we should have enough people to interact with and fight them here and there. But not seaching 20 minutes for a trader to pirate him or waiting till someone comes to you in a wing to have a skirmish...
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"Rare and meaningful" were the words from David Braben regarding player interaction - again, go read the information I've posted for you - repeatedly.
 
...and yet the design of the game provides neither. ;)


Which? Rare or meaningful?

It can be quite rare to meet another commander once you get out of core systems. Meaningful depends on the players more than the game. But the design intention is clearly stated there. Whether or not Braben has achieved his goal is questionable, but its the intended design - don't see how you can disagree with that.

PS: The point was more aimed not at your words, but the meme you used (which i cut out).
 
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Which? Rare or meaningful?

It can be quite rare to meet another commander once you get out of core systems. Meaningful depends on the players more than the game. But the design intention is clearly stated there. Whether or not Braben has achieved his goal is questionable, but its the intended design - don't see how you can disagree with that.

PS: The point was more aimed not at your words, but the meme you used (which i cut out).

Rare, depends on where you go, meaningful, I also can agree, but not in some kumbaya let's hug each other way. (I see a lot of people find it meaningful, then come to the forums to report they were griefed).

So, yes the PvP is rare and meaningful...just not in the way many people think...thus the meme!
 
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