That is exactly how you come across to me - all of your offerings have been amazingly balanced.
To Solo Play Players: If You Could Disable PVP, Would You Play in Open Play Mode Instead?
- Thread starter AMX-008 GaZowmn
- Start date
Thanks Rat Catcher, I appreciate you saying that.
I spent some time on both sides of the fence since I started playing - being adamantly anti-Open at first then adamantly pro-Open second but as I get on I increasingly think the rift between these two segments of the playerbase is overblown, and rests to a large extent on misconceptions held by both sides. Being part of a very mixed squadron, where we have players ranging from sweaty tryhards to exhausted parents and everything in between, it is hard to maintain a polarised view. As it transpires everyone actually gets on pretty well and has more in common than they think. That's pretty much what V'larr seems to be saying too so I don't think I should've been as combative as I was, I just like typing about Elite mainly.
I am a pure PvE player. Solo or private group.I'm under the impression that a lot of people, including myself, prefer to play Solo mode all the time, not because we don't want to play with others, but simply because we don't want to PVP others.
For comparison, let me talk to you about of one of the worst launches in recent years, Fallout 76, which to the surprise of some has actually redeemed itself (at least to some extent), but owes it survival to its community, which stood during awful first year fo the game, but also a community that confused Bethesda because the devs were convinced their players wanted more PVP... and they were proven wrong, best depicted through many of the ironic headlines that gaming journalism used to deliver the "shocking" revelation:
Bethesda Didn’t Get Why ‘Fallout 76’ Players Wouldn’t Kill Each Other
Bethesda Didn’t Get Why ‘Fallout 76’ Players Wouldn’t Kill Each Other
Bethesda was surprised to learn that Fallout 76 players didn't care much for PvP, and how the game has evolved reflects that.www.forbes.com
Bethesda Apparently Shocked People Didn't Like PvP in 'Fallout 76'
Bethesda Apparently Shocked People Didn't Like PvP in 'Fallout 76'
"It's a smaller percentage of our player base than we thought."www.gamingbible.co.uk
Bethesda Surprised By How Many Fallout 76 Players Didn't Want to PvP
Bethesda Surprised By How Many Fallout 76 Players Didn't Want to PvP
Bethesda VP Pete Hines reveals that the company was surprised to find that players preferred to avoid PvP in Fallout 76 in favor of PvE.gamerant.com
Bethesda was surprised how uninterested players were in Fallout 76's PvP
Bethesda was surprised how uninterested players were in Fallout 76's PvP
We just want to be friends.www.pcgamer.com
Bethesda got confused that Fallout 76 players don’t murder each other
Why is everyone being so nice?
Bethesda got confused that Fallout 76 players don't murder each other
When Bethesda was designing Fallout 76, it expected players to murder each other, but it turns out they'd rather just work together.www.pcinvasion.com
Don't misunderstand: Fallout 76 do had (still has to a small degree) griefers and gankers, but the vast majority of players simply preferred not to engage in PVP.
Keeping things short, today many of the ways to engage into PVP have been disabled, pacifist mode is a menu option that makes it almost impossible to engage in PVP, and while the game's reputation will forever be tarnished by its launch, its actually in a better than many people expected (which can't be said for games like EA's Anthem, which already threw the towel and cancelled further development). It still is no substitute for a proper Fallout 5, but as a casual time waster with a Fallout theme: it's passable.
Back to Elite Dangerous, I think a lot more people would like to try playing in Open Play with random strangers in Elite if they had the choice to opt out from PVP, like having an aforementioned pacifist mode that disabled PVP interactions.
But that's just my impression, and I would like to hear what other thinks on this matter:
Do you think that Open Play would be negatively affected if PVP could be disabled?
Do you think Elite could benefit from having more people try to play & cooperate with others in Open Play?
I play for my own enjoyment. And not for being the subject of the enjoyment of others.
That being said. The only time I enjoyed PvP was in Guild Wars 2. That was Rock Paper, Siccors. If you think you are good face me. I was more than willing to “die” and learn.
Elite on the other hand is a PvE game. With engineering and etc. The PvP part is when the Braben decide we should all play on a single server and everyone be treated as a MOB and we can shoot each other. Skill be damed, engineering and boyfriends and girlfriends rule.
So I would rather play I solo or PG, than have to put up with an adolescent or a “mature” gamer, and their fawning harem. Try PvP IRL.
I'm a little like you, in some ways
My 'other' account is in a squadron in Colonia, although in spirit currently as we are deliberately splintered for a while. That also includes PvP & PvE players playing very well together, I may not be interested in PvP, but I guess others would find chugging about in a SRV or playing the EDO surface combat activities not to their taste, so don't have a 'downer' on other players and how they play.
Also, like you, I enjoy typing about ED too
Very true though currently that would mean the Federation would be dull as dishwater whilst the Empire would be noticeably more lively.
Oh hell yeah, I cannot imagine the feds celebrating a baby shower with 2 million tons of booze and weed.
Yes. Absolutely let's disable things if it creates huge imbalances. That's why boxing has weight classes. That's why motorsports have displacement classes. Is a top fuel dragster lining up against your mum's Prius a fair race? Is a fully engineered, meta PVP FDL with prismatics going up against a bog standard A-rated Chieftain a fair fight?
Oh and we actually can already do that. It's called playing in Solo. And you know what I did after the 2nd time he ganked me. I went into Solo. Would you rather have me constantly get killed while trying to get to another station in the system?
Meanwhile, I was out in the Pleiades Nebula the last days.
Having spend some (community goal) time mostly in solo - because, frankly, why should I not play in solo at CGs? - I was very happy to rejoin some CMDRs doing AX conflict zones in open. Some I knew from before, but most of them totally new to me. Spend several days there, without any gankers.
But yesterday, one of them, with a torpedo-packhound-rail Cutter entered the CZ.
The reaction was amazing. Half the CMDRs jumped out, and returned with torpedo armed silent keelbacks (that would be me
), flechette and phasing pulse FdLs and other PvP ships.
Sadly the ganker must've gotten one AX CMDR and vanished, but the response was cool. Half the people were up to a fight. "Get off my lawn".
Really cool situation.
Having spend some (community goal) time mostly in solo - because, frankly, why should I not play in solo at CGs? - I was very happy to rejoin some CMDRs doing AX conflict zones in open. Some I knew from before, but most of them totally new to me. Spend several days there, without any gankers.
But yesterday, one of them, with a torpedo-packhound-rail Cutter entered the CZ.
The reaction was amazing. Half the CMDRs jumped out, and returned with torpedo armed silent keelbacks (that would be me
), flechette and phasing pulse FdLs and other PvP ships.Sadly the ganker must've gotten one AX CMDR and vanished, but the response was cool. Half the people were up to a fight. "Get off my lawn".
Really cool situation.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Sounds like fun - for half of them....
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Some players really want to be able to blockade stations / systems.
That's why ED have engineers that everyone can use their services.
New players don't have access to engineers nor the relevant materials to engineer a ship. That's why a lot of competitive games have ELO's. It means experienced players can't wail on newer players. With ED you also have the caveat of those experienced players also having overpowered equipment.
I got ganked while moving ships about to gather mats to engineer. I'm not a great PVP'er but even a seasoned and skilled pilot would struggle against an average PVP'er flying an engineered FDL in an unengineered Chieftain.
Just to note, as I said I enjoyed the fight. And I go into Open when I don't mind being blown up. But if im doing something important I do it in Solo. I'd like something similar to GTA where you can remain in the Open world but can't attack or be attacked by other players. The game isn't just a combat game. It's a trading game. An exploration game. I'd like to experience the friendly interactions you get in those domains without the risk of a ganker blowing me up.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
All players have had options as to how to excise other players from their game from the outset.
Only if all ships are combat focused. For ships optimised for other roles, the disparities remain.
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Yeah like I said above. This isn't a pure combat game. There's trading and exploration and by hiding from gankers in Solo Im missing out on friendly interactions. Most recently I had a wee conversation with someone doing the Fed rank grind as we bounced from system to system. Made an otherwise boring grind that bit better. You miss that on Solo.
The others simply continued killing thargoids. It's not that AX ships are particularly easy to gank.We even debated about blocking the gankers but decided it's not worth it.
System chat and squadron tools do not permit you to enter into a shared PvE experience in Elite Dangerous, currently.
You first have to join a private group, which in Mobius' case involves their third party website. Many other private groups require you to join their discord, instead.
Many players don't even know Mobius exists. Newcomers to the game want to get in and experience the game, not spend hours doing things extraneous to being inside the game.
Even with the constraints of being in Mobius, I've had memorable 'organic moments'. The simple impact of seeing other players existing in the game cannot be understated (though I think typical MMORPG games take this too far, with hordes of players running around towns jumping and waving their arms...but I digress.) Not having to worry about goodwill of participants is one reason I much prefer PvE experiences to PvP - generally speaking, players that seek out PvE intentionally have goodwill to begin with anyway.
Regarding what 'organic moments' are, I would point to Community Goals as a great example. Being able to greet other CMDRs, join up together if we feel like it, forming groups and cooperation to achieve goals, is a lot of fun. Some of my best memories on this game are of meeting other pilots in Mobius during Community Goals.
Just the other day, I met a couple pilots who happened to be in HIP 36601.
One offered me a ride on his Fleet Carrier, but I happened to be going the other way and declined.
It's worth pointing out Fleet Carriers have opened up a whole series of avenues for player interaction (I myself have been greatly enjoying meeting the P.T.N.), and there's plenty potential (as with everything in this game) for Fdev to add onto that. I can't stress enough how much I'd love to be able to see other P.T.N. pilots ingame without having to be in the same private group.
I spent many years, once upon a time, playing a silly game called Puzzle Pirates. The strength of the game was not in its art (quite dated) or mechanics (monotonous and simple, being puzzles) or even setting, really - it was the ability to commune with other players, voyage together, form crews, build communities, and create lasting friendships. The game sailed on much longer than it ever really deserved (due to several highly questionable developer decisions and then multiple handovers and other failures), purely on the strength of that aspect.
That kind of magic can't happen when you can't even encounter the other players safely or without lots of pre-arrangement.
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For the record, I wouldn't approve of a 'flagging system', that brings too many flaws and complications. All I'm for here is an official PvE mode that appears right on the first splash screen you see as you open the game, right alongside Solo and Open.
I can agree that the multiplayer experience in general could use further development and smoothening-out.
The thing is, many people like myself have been frustrated about the neglect of an official PvE stance because it's been an 'obvious step' that we've wanted to be taken for at least the last 4 years, and probably ever since the Kickstarter days (though that was before my time). So I myself don't particularly believe that the frustrations have much to do with misconceptions of what's possible with P2P instance infrastructure and so on.
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that's why you have the option to play s solo/pg or jump out of the fight. if you find that you have a weaker ship. it is your decision whether you want to continue fighting or not.
Yes, and it is entirely the player's choice whether they want a safe or risky ship with no defenses to help them survive.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Which is in conflict with the desire to be effective in any role other than combat.
Those who have reduced their risk to an absolute minimum by optimising their combat ship using engineering don't face much, if any, risk from those who don't.
Not true. I was a new player once and I had access to engineers (at least a couple of them as a start) as well as the relevant materials. The grind wall is awful though, I agree with that.
But it does not really matter since new players could stand no chance even if their starter ship was a fully engineered FDL.
You can always do the grind in Solo if you have a problem with the 0.0001% chance of getting shot down by a player a couple of times.
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