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

[SCADVID]

Then you better get on the horn with Mr. Braben...he apparently does not share your viewpoint on his game.

Gaming devs promote the concepts of game theory, which now is being confronted across the board in gaming. Any game producer has a vision for their game. But visions alone don't make it work (John Romero learned that the hard way).

Gamers and producers both make it work.

Five years ago you couldn't get a game producer to even think of making a solo game. Today? You can't get them not to include some solo play n-o-w.

 

[SteveLaw]

Powerplay will be in solo too. Going to solo doesnt avoid it.

This particular conversation started over Community Goals. I am very much looking forward to getting involved in galactic politics, in Solo mode. This is one of the reasons I bought the game. If you are worried about my competition then you should work a bit harder or get a few more friends, knock yourselves out. Meanwhile I will be blissfully ignorant of your specific efforts within a very large galaxy. I highly doubt we'd be attracted to the same factions anyway.

 

[Jockey79]

I've been following the game since kickstarter, read everything in the ddf and been playing since beta so I know the game inside out and wasn't bothered about the mode switching before. The difference is after playing the game for around 900 hours and seeing the way things work in practice, e.g. community goals I can clearly see how somethings aren't balanced and a lot of that is to do with the mode switching.

I'm not one of the players who is saying "get rid of everything but open", I even support an official pve mode. I do see somethings that are being shouted down by pve/solo players that are a big problem for players in open. A lot of the time they don't even affect those players directly.

Take a "bonus for activity x in open". For a lot of players who are die heard solo and say they don't care about open, suddenly they kick off because an open player might get an extra few credits for doing something they're not even interested in.

It might not be the best example but you should be able to see my point.

You've completely missed those folks who lack decent internet connections - there was someone in this thread a while back who cannot play anything other than solo (plus I have a friend who cannot play in open), due to their net connection being so bad.
Giving a bonus to one mode over another - means that some players, through no fault of their own, are being penalised by not having access to something others players are getting.

And there is no way to tell if someone is in solo due to hardware or by choice. Those by choice won't care, but those who are forced into solo get upset as they get ignored.

There is no solution apart from for FD to stick what was proposed and build on it. After all, you cannot please everyone anyway - so as long as they please themselves and the bulk of the player base (which they are)

 

[Bomba Luigi]

Powerplay will be in solo too. Going to solo doesnt avoid it.

Participating in the whole Powerplay stuff is optional tough, he don't has to. It will not affect/limit you if you don't want it.

 

[EdzUp]

Well, as the mode switching was the main foundation for the KS - removing it or changing it may cause a bigger backlash than OfflineGate.

As for those who never read up on the game to understand the game has mode switching before they bought it - I have no sympathy.
It's like buying a glass of water and moaning it is wet! Some people just like to moan, why should the foundation of the game be changed for them?

I didn't come here looking for EVE with cockpits, I didn't come here looking for a Star Trek or Star Wars themed game, I didn't come with any false expectations - I researched the game, then came here as it peeked my curiosity.
Anyone coming here looking for something in particular or some crazy idea over how online games work and then didn't find it - that is no ones fault but their own. All the information was out long before a lot of moaners bought the game.

Free, session by session mode switching was and still is a major selling point of the game.

Like loads of us here I didn't come here with any illusion of the game the only illusions I had is the three previous games Elite, Frontier and FFE. Unfortunately offline play was also a major selling point look what happened with the.

 

[Walt Kerman]

This particular conversation started over Community Goals. I am very much looking forward to getting involved in galactic politics, in Solo mode. This is one of the reasons I bought the game. If you are worried about my competition then you should work a bit harder or get a few more friends, knock yourselves out. Meanwhile I will be blissfully ignorant of your specific efforts within a very large galaxy. I highly doubt we'd be attracted to the same factions anyway.

But you being able to attack what I've built from solo and me not being able to shoot at you in defence, be it community goal or power play, or me doing the same thing to someone else concerns me.

 

[Distance]

Powerplay will be in solo too. Going to solo doesnt avoid it.

What would you rather face, shieldless eagle npcs or players in vultures?

 

[oldbikergit]

End SOLO

SOLO is a cheat system designed

I played all day yesterday in open and about two hours today. But this last hour has been reading "bro hard" messages and being repeatedly interdicted by a sore loser. This was all fun up to part where im interdicted a million times and then it just got ridiculous.... I can do without this kind of "interaction".

When i logged back in i left myself in the NAV Beacon in Neto. I noticed another Clean Viper Commander and said "Yo" with no reply, oh well. I initiated combat with an NPC Dropship with only a 30k bounty and stripped away all its shields and ate half its health and then the other commander decided to join. I honestly dont care about the bounty because i have more than enough money for a hunter, i really just want to raise my rank at this point. Anyways, im using fixed beams and there is only a 300m gap between me and the dropship and the other Commander flies into my fire therefore i become wanted.

(this is where it starts)
*now enemy CMDR*
"Nice bounty..."
(uhh yea sure... i guess it is if you are 600 short of a Python)

He starts going blinky on my radar indicating hes shooting me now, which i was in the process of typing what had happended but since he was using 2 Small Gimbal Pulse and 2 Medium Gimbal Beams..... my shields were falling pretty fast. (Im also in a Viper) And since this happened before the Dropship died i now have system police, an enemy commander, and a NPC dropship spamming me with lasers. I get out of the NAV beacon... but not fast enough to miss a few messages stating.

Enemy CMDR:
"yea thats right, run *beep* and dont ever come back bla bla bla"

Me to myself:
U wut m8? That was not necessary. I fully intended on clearing my bounty and come back to patch things up but i think you need a spanking.

Im a hunter, i intentionally kit for PvP action, ECM and Chaff included. I know what he has and how to beat it. I dont clear my bounty, i immediately go back in the NAV beacon. This resets the Dropships hostility as well as keep the Police Off until im scanned again.
I start regularly popping chaff and using 'Skill Cells' (They are using them too) just before they disappear... i dont think i couldve cut it any closer before they fell.
The now enemy commander exhibited typical turreting behavior, probably had 3 pips in shields and 3 in weapons and more or less flew in circles and aimlessly spun in FA Off expecting their weapons to do all the hard work... well, gimbals only make up for so much. Eventually they slipped up and didnt activate their Shield Cells in time in turn letting me unleash....

THE FURY OF TWIN MEDIUM FIXED MULTI CANNONS!!!!

They immediately turned tail and attempted to run. They almost got away... until their Thrusters and FSD blew up at the same time leaving them to drift forever until they eventually went into the Sun. At this point i stopped firing to see if they had anything to say.... and OH BOY did they. Everything from "THIS GAME IS SO BROKE" "YOU ARE SUCH A BAD PLAYER BRO" "YOU SHOULD JUST STOP PLAYING THE GAME" and several kinds of expletives. And so i told them why i had a Wanted status and why things turned out the way they did and they were silent.

10 seconds later, they self destructed. Anything they had gained in Vouchers is gone, any missions left to be completed.... gone. Feels good knowing someone with a sour attitude get what they done got AND i didnt incur a 6k bounty.

At this point i already know whats going to happen. They are going to respawn, re-kit and resupply and keep interdicting me and keep spamming me with messages to try to illicit a response until they get some form of satisfaction. I only have 400 Rounds of Multi Cannon left (i was low when the fight started) and im not gonna go for a round two and attempt at killing another player who really isnt that bad of a fighter with just two Beams. Regardless of your alls opinion on the subject i keep a spare C1 Shield Cell for this type of occasion and plenty chaff left as well as ECM in case they fitted Seeking Torps. Because the one who lives to fight another day is the true victor, or something like that. Im interdicted i dont know how many times getting to the station but its going very slowly... The connection problems in SC are blatantly noticeable when i have no time to evade because im immediately brought back into space forcing me to submit every single time.

I know i need to actually jump to a different system at this point but i havent scouted the surrounding ones yet. I pick a random one close enough for a round trip (one i chose, no station fuuu) and jump out of system then back in so i can get a running start. It works and im now closer than i was before but still getting interdicted but i manage to evade one and make back into Citroen Hub.

Hope the story was a good read. Im just glad i could deliver justice in the name of CMDR DEAD HARTT (me ingame)

As they say, "If a noob rages in space, does anyone hear it?".
Yes, the answer is yes.

 

[2chill]

Do you often slip off your pilot's seat? + Rep

Only when it vibrates too much!

 

[Robert Maynard]

Unfortunately offline play was also a major selling point look what happened with the.

Indeed it was cancelled pre-launch - unlike the three game modes and the ability to switch between them on a session by session basis which have survived calls for the removal of one or other since the initial publication of the stated game design at the beginning of the Kickstarter.

Actually, the cancellation of offline pretty much guarantees the continued existence of solo mode.

 

[SteveLaw]

But you being able to attack what I've built from solo and me not being able to shoot at you in defence, be it community goal or power play, or me doing the same thing to someone else concerns me.

The fact that your solution to a political problem is to shoot me concerns me, and that's why I play in Solo.

 

[Weps]

As for those who never read up on the game to understand the game has mode switching before they bought it - I have no sympathy.
It's like buying a glass of water and moaning it is wet! Some people just like to moan, why should the foundation of the game be changed for them?

You've completely missed those folks who lack decent internet connections - there was someone in this thread a while back who cannot play anything other than solo (plus I have a friend who cannot play in open), due to their net connection being so bad.
Giving a bonus to one mode over another - means that some players, through no fault of their own, are being penalised by not having access to something others players are getting

Sorry, but those two arguments, which you literally made one thread page apart, don't go very well hand in hand.

 

[Distance]

The fact that your solution to a political problem is to shoot me concerns me, and that's why I play in Solo.

Since the npcs will be shooting you dependent on your affiliation with another political power why should a player wanting to do the same thing concern you?

 

[Jorlin]

If PP would be restricted to open play, i could see some heavy problems for powers acting mostly in the trading department. Not many players would choose to work for them i think. Military powers would win the race

But at the moment all of this is pure speculation anyway.
We will have to see and feel it.

 

[SteveLaw]

Since the npcs will be shooting you dependent on your affiliation with another political power why should a player wanting to do the same thing concern you?

If NPCs are shooting at me then why does it concern you that you can't do it? It concerns me because diplomatic solutions have not been mentioned at all yet. The prevailing focus of those opposing my freedom of choice in game mode appear to be those who are primarily concerned with PvP which I have no interest in.

 

[Robert Maynard]

If PP would be restricted to open play, i could see some heavy problems for powers acting mostly in the trading department. Not many players would choose to work for them i think. Military powers would win the race

But at the moment all of this is pure speculation anyway.
We will have to see and feel it.

From the Newsletter #72 thread (again.... ):

As others have already mentioned, this update does look as though it's built to make PvP more interesting. Trouble is that I don't play PvP, so my question is simple: Is Powerplay content going to work in solo and friends-only games?

Yes it does.

Michael

 

[Distance]

If NPCs are shooting at me then why does it concern you that you can't do it? It concerns me because diplomatic solutions have not been mentioned at all yet. The prevailing focus of those opposing my freedom of choice in game mode appear to be those who are primarily concerned with PvP which I have no interest in.

Because ED boils down to join A and shoot B or move C to D. Powerplay is going to be join A and move C to D and B has to stop A doing it. If A is in solo then C is going to D and B can do nothing about it. I see no diplomatic solution.

 

[SteveLaw]

I see no diplomatic solution.

I know, Open are a law unto themselves.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Because ED boils down to join A and shoot B or move C to D. Powerplay is going to be join A and move C to D and B has to stop A doing it. If A is in solo then C is going to D and B can do nothing about it. I see no diplomatic solution.

While the players affiliated with B cannot do anything about solo / private group players affiliated with A transporting C to D, it would be quite reasonable to expect that NPCs affiliated with B will have something to say about it, regardless of game mode.

 

[Distance]

I know, Open are a law unto themselves.

lol it doesn't work like that, there's no diplomatic solution because diplomacy doesn't have a game mechanic in ED

- - - Updated - - -

While the players affiliated with B cannot do anything about solo / private group players affiliated with A transporting C to D, it would be quite reasonable to expect that NPCs affiliated with B will have something to say about it, regardless of game mode.

I refer back to my previous comment :

What would you rather face, shieldless eagle npcs or players in vultures?

It still does boil down to the mode switching mechanics being a problem. If you buff the AI to resemble the skills of players in open then some solo players are going to have a real bad time. Open pvp players don't want to fight ai (in b4 it's not a pvp game) they want to compete against each other (yes they bought the game on the promise of pvp just as solo players bought it on the promise of a solo mode).

Why would it be unrealistic to restrict "some" goals to open?