I have a couple of comments about the recent discussion:-
About extreme builds. I can see situations where PvP could meaningfully take place between pirates, haulers, mission runners etc., but those extreme ganker builds full of HRPs and with no cargo space and minuscule jump range - the irony about them is that they're
no use for playing the game. All they're designed for is to destroy other players. For any PvE play they're pretty useless. They're not for playing ED, they're just for stopping other people from playing ED. I regard this as just daft.
Someone mentioned the time spent engineering before one can PvP. I've come to the realisation that this is actually a good thing. It stops those daft gankers from just starting over with a new account whenever they've got onto too many block lists.
There is no "extreme ganker build with miniscule jump range". Those 2D FSD builds are tournament only nowadays. Gankers have to highwake too.
Gankers sacrifice jump range ( fast boot or shielded FSD and fuel scoop, guardian booster), and any PvE utility out of necessity, so as you say, they are pretty useless for PvE.
It's as much a specialised build as any shieldless trader or 3D shielded explorer or whatever. It's just they sacrifice things the PvE player conveniently omits because there is no danger at all in PvE*.
*AX combat excluded, and it's funny you nearly never find AX players here complaining about getting ganked, because
a) their (CZ) ships are built to survive the single most dangerous PvE foe, a Hydra, which is fundamentally more dangerous than any player ship,
b) they have mastered traits like highwaking (thargoids mass lock you always), full FA off hitscan firing (gauss) and various skills like evasion, heat sink usage and situational awareness.
It's almost like having a strong foe makes CMDRs git gud, having weaksauce PvE jokes makes CMDRs stay in their comfort zone never getting better.
Which is why modes are brillant. Not everyone wants to become a FA off hitscan lord, but diluting open, the only mode making you actively gitting gud,
is the very wrong way as FD obviously understood.