I've been here about five years and I'm certain there has been no "witch hunt" in that time. In fact a PvP section was added when the forum was revamped. It's true that it's a minority interest and you'll sometimes find people not agreeing with what you say, but those people can't stop you or other PvP enthusiasts from posting. If you find the PvP subforum empty, it's because not many people are interested in it. I sometimes browse it myself but it's rare for me to see anything I want to comment on.
To Solo Play Players: If You Could Disable PVP, Would You Play in Open Play Mode Instead?
- Thread starter AMX-008 GaZowmn
- Start date
I'm not expecting anything specific, just curious what you see as possible in Elite Dangerous.
I have had plenty of pre-arranged cooperative experiences via being part of a squad, but most of that was BGS related, was coordinated via discord, and could have been done in solo. I have also winged up with random cmdrs a few time at a CG, but that's rare.
So when people say they want a cooperative open mode, I struggle to see what that would entail exactly - most players I meet in open don't even respond to an o7.
There's a real lack of "casual" open opportunities. The games doesn't help with this (no in game tool and it's bloody massive).
It's rare that you'll meet someone that also has the time and inclination to participate in whatever activity you're doing.
Like at the moment I'm currently on a round trip to visit all the rare stations in a new(ish) Python. Not many people - OK - No people want to sit with a random on a 200,000+ ls supercruise to find the rare isn't actually for sale any more.
It's on me too - I'm not actively looking for crew or wingmates either.
This is why these "i'd play in Open if X was disabled because I want to play with other people" is a headscratcher because there simply aren't many Co-Op opportunities (on chance encounters and casual) for those of us who play in Open all the time.
It's rare that you'll meet someone that also has the time and inclination to participate in whatever activity you're doing.
Like at the moment I'm currently on a round trip to visit all the rare stations in a new(ish) Python. Not many people - OK - No people want to sit with a random on a 200,000+ ls supercruise to find the rare isn't actually for sale any more.
It's on me too - I'm not actively looking for crew or wingmates either.
This is why these "i'd play in Open if X was disabled because I want to play with other people" is a headscratcher because there simply aren't many Co-Op opportunities (on chance encounters and casual) for those of us who play in Open all the time.
I'd see a co-op Open as just a better Mobius. I have had good meetings in Mobius. One example was an attacked megaship where I met another CMDR who was in a Krait II. We chatted for a while about the damage to the megaship, lore, and whether it was Thargoids. In Open we wouldn't have. I was flying my lightweight unarmed Asp Explorer and I would have been high-waking as soon as I saw him on radar.
Open is badly named. It really encourages just one kind of interaction and effectively disables others.
Yeah, that's exactly the point I wanted to make.
...for sure most got warnings and bans. Then others left because Discord servers offered some higher degree of liberty.
Ah, it's the difference between a moderated and unmoderated environment then. I wouldn't call that a "witch hunt" unless the PvPers were systematically moderated more harshly than others to deliberately drive them out, which I consider extremely unlikely given that they were given their own subforum.
TL;DR
As a solo player who originally wanted to play Open, I would be interested in the kind of features raised by the OP (eg merging Open and Solo modes, with some kind of protection for non fighting players). I don't really know how it could be done, but as far as I'm concerned, I would gladly come back into the Open mode if it meant not constantly fearing to meet a mad killer in every place of interest (systems, stations, POI...).
Director's Cut
Has any of you experienced the online mode of the so called -and so old- Freelancer? Back then, since I loved this game so much, I decided to try this mode in order to keep the good vibe going on. I recall enjoying it a lot, meeting and flying around with random players, accomplishing coop missions or just flying around while chatting and enjoying the feeling of being in space. I almost never got killed in the online mode, and it was really possible to enjoy some free roaming into space without fearing to die every time I encountered a new pilot.
When I bought ED, I wanted to get this feeling back. Well, I have rarely felt so disappointed and dissatisfied: during many sessions in Open mode, I got attacked and killed without a warning for no reason (no CZ, no PP, no illegal actions, no cargo, and most of the time only flying an unarmed exploration ship) by some random loner. I even got killed three times as soon as I left a space station, leaving me with no chance to escape. It seems that some players enjoy this kind of gameplay, but I find absolutely no interest in being frequently harassed by mad pewpewers, even when I am peacefully flying an unarmed ship with very low shield with the only aim of getting some good time exploring the galaxy.
For this very and only reason (tired of being killed), I decided to avoid the Open mode, which cut me from a part of the gaming experience I was looking for (as is, meeting random commanders while flying, and if the vibes are good, flying some LY together exploring, rescuing, or even having some aimless fun just using imagination like jumping on geysers with the SRV -yes, I LOVE being propelled hundreds of meters high by geysers, maybe one of my favorite activities in this game^^).
I also believe that this kind of feature could make the game more attractive since it could boost the desire to encounter other commanders, and generate new(ish) kind of interactions. It's amazing, sometimes, how a random encounter can generate a spontaneous bound between people, or just a spontaneous desire to do a one time activity (wanna race with me today? wanna visit a POI? wanna help me in my mission? wanna try to get your SRV into space? wanna see an awesome system? wanna try to fly two unshielded 'condas "back to back" 50m above the ground of a 3G planet without crashing?). In my opinion, spontaneity is an interesting way to bring up unexpected things, to find some creative ways to socialise and enjoy our playtime, and to discover some other parts of the game. Moreover, I would be much more interested in discovering things with total strangers met in game than browsing the internet to find stuff, which -we can agree on that- is much less both immersive and lore friendly.
I understand why some players love to fight again and again, and I cannot deny the thrill and the satisfaction of a good dogfight, even when it means ending being killed. But stating that fighting is the only high end in the game seems to me like a very narrowed point of view. This game is so much more than pewpewing others.
@Brrokk
As a solo player who originally wanted to play Open, I would be interested in the kind of features raised by the OP (eg merging Open and Solo modes, with some kind of protection for non fighting players). I don't really know how it could be done, but as far as I'm concerned, I would gladly come back into the Open mode if it meant not constantly fearing to meet a mad killer in every place of interest (systems, stations, POI...).
Director's Cut
Has any of you experienced the online mode of the so called -and so old- Freelancer? Back then, since I loved this game so much, I decided to try this mode in order to keep the good vibe going on. I recall enjoying it a lot, meeting and flying around with random players, accomplishing coop missions or just flying around while chatting and enjoying the feeling of being in space. I almost never got killed in the online mode, and it was really possible to enjoy some free roaming into space without fearing to die every time I encountered a new pilot.
When I bought ED, I wanted to get this feeling back. Well, I have rarely felt so disappointed and dissatisfied: during many sessions in Open mode, I got attacked and killed without a warning for no reason (no CZ, no PP, no illegal actions, no cargo, and most of the time only flying an unarmed exploration ship) by some random loner. I even got killed three times as soon as I left a space station, leaving me with no chance to escape. It seems that some players enjoy this kind of gameplay, but I find absolutely no interest in being frequently harassed by mad pewpewers, even when I am peacefully flying an unarmed ship with very low shield with the only aim of getting some good time exploring the galaxy.
For this very and only reason (tired of being killed), I decided to avoid the Open mode, which cut me from a part of the gaming experience I was looking for (as is, meeting random commanders while flying, and if the vibes are good, flying some LY together exploring, rescuing, or even having some aimless fun just using imagination like jumping on geysers with the SRV -yes, I LOVE being propelled hundreds of meters high by geysers, maybe one of my favorite activities in this game^^).
I also believe that this kind of feature could make the game more attractive since it could boost the desire to encounter other commanders, and generate new(ish) kind of interactions. It's amazing, sometimes, how a random encounter can generate a spontaneous bound between people, or just a spontaneous desire to do a one time activity (wanna race with me today? wanna visit a POI? wanna help me in my mission? wanna try to get your SRV into space? wanna see an awesome system? wanna try to fly two unshielded 'condas "back to back" 50m above the ground of a 3G planet without crashing?). In my opinion, spontaneity is an interesting way to bring up unexpected things, to find some creative ways to socialise and enjoy our playtime, and to discover some other parts of the game. Moreover, I would be much more interested in discovering things with total strangers met in game than browsing the internet to find stuff, which -we can agree on that- is much less both immersive and lore friendly.
I understand why some players love to fight again and again, and I cannot deny the thrill and the satisfaction of a good dogfight, even when it means ending being killed. But stating that fighting is the only high end in the game seems to me like a very narrowed point of view. This game is so much more than pewpewing others.
@Brrokk
I totally agree with you.
I agree and I experienced the feeling you describe. But again, some players don't necessarily want to be chased down/attacked when their goal is only to chill in space with nice views and go on some exploring. Besides, if avoiding gankers means trying hard to escape most of the time, it gets quickly boring.
What would you gain from being able to see hollow squares every now and then?
For what it's worth: I have a T6 which I sometime use for piracy - I took it to one of the CGs just to see what the ganker groups would do and a few of them did in fact try to pop me, but I was always able to evade by following the normal submit, fly evasive, then high wake routine. If I had my combat explorer Krait Phantom they would hardly have touched me. My point is that you were doing it wrong or you weren't prepared for the situations you were putting yourself in, and that is down to you, not the rest of the open community.
if gankers discriminate between ship types, perhaps a timewaster/deterrent would be to only reveal the ship type signature when in interdictor range. That would require those that seek to boom helpless targets to approach them to even identify them and would give chased players a forewarning.
Same could be applied to ship signatures in normal space: Type only revealed within half detection range.
it's still forced pvp but a step in the direction to make pointless destruction more difficult.
Same could be applied to ship signatures in normal space: Type only revealed within half detection range.
it's still forced pvp but a step in the direction to make pointless destruction more difficult.
Yes, that's right, a significant part of the community has been talking about the correction of the punishment system for crimes for several years. And in response, silence (
Last edited:
It's kind of ironic that FDev have managed to implement cooperative PvP on fleet carriers interiors, and I think on the councourses too (but haven't met anyone there yet). You don't bounce just pass through each other, and there is no way to get guns out to shoot each other.. 
They mostly attack anything that moves, and this would also greatly affect PvP piracy, where the pirate needs to know if it's a trader or not.
There is another way: PG
catch-22: To avoid forced pvp you need to know the players plus Mobius is limited and requires out of game hoops to jump through. A workaround, not a fix.
which is by its very definition forced PvP
I've had decent co-op with randos in the nebulas doing AX.
I've done co-op trade missions with sqn members.
I'd like to do a co-op infiltration of a surface installation, I would bring it up in the sqn channel but that's a bit awkward after DB's announcement.
I would suspect that many of those players, are already playing with other player together, but in private groups.
I gave up on playing in open, after a couple of bad encounters some players. To much hassle, and I play to relax, not get upset or have to deal with entitled people, that expects me to donate my time to enrich their experience, without giving me a good experience in return. So if is on a long super cruise journey, I do not want to keep watch out for any hollow squares chasing after me. I want to get there, do my thing and then get to my next destination..
If I have spare room for a docking computer, use it and let the ship dock or undock on its own. I do not want to have to babysit that someone thinks that just becuase my ship have left the no fire zone, I am not fair practice target for them to kill at will... when I am away making cup of tea or getting snacks etc.
And if my friends login to the game, we might do things together or we are doing our own stuff, but we all mostly play in the same private group, so that we see where the others are, and also, if we decide join in any activity, it is easy, since we are already in the same private group...
it simply makes our experience better, but we have in the past, almost exclusively flown in Open, and we have meet some other players, that was doing what we are doing, and we have teamed up and had some fun together... but they have very few of those... and sadly, we have encountered more PvP oriented players that initiated their interaction with us by interdicting or simply go guns blazing, than we have meet random people do stuff together with...
Supercruise is not the problem, I handle interdictions pretty well. Most of the time, pewpewers got me and killed me while on normal cruise, eg exiting a spaceport or a ground station. When you fly a ship geared up for efficient exploration (unarmed DBX or ASPX with 3D Low Grade Stripped Down shield + Lightweight alloy + 3D Engine Focused Stripped Down Power Distributor+no utilities), you don't stand a chance against an average unengineered combat ship even if you try to escape by activating your FSD. They take my shield down in no time, and then I have no choice but to wait a few seconds before exploding.
So please tell me, what am I doing wrong when I only want to fly away from a station with a ship which is not built neither for attack nor defense? And why the heck would someone wait in the vicinity a station with no other purpose than killing any commander exiting it? Seriously, what fun is this?
Again, I understand the interest of combat, but I don't understand why people would blindly attack any other commander, and I don't see the fun in attacking and destroying a defenseless ship with no cargo.
Last edited:
Entitlement? Joy of causing grief?
It doesn't matter. I hold the devs liable for that kind of bad behaviour. It's them who shape the rules. And when the rules allow antisocial behaviour it's just bad game design.
I fly almost always in open but if I was in a pure long range exploration build I would either go into solo or make sure I was in a system where you never see anyone, and if I did get killed at the start of an exploration trip my rebuy would be low, I wouldn't lose any exploration data, and I would just take the rebuy and start again after having lost a few minutes of my time and that would be that, not a second thought.
By the way, I did DW2 and got ganked at Beagle Point while in the Fleetcom PG. I escaped the attempted gank because I did have some degree of protection, which I find useful for exploring anyway, just in case.
Last edited: