Why do YOU play In Open?

Old Duck

Old Duck
I've been thinking about this lately. In another thread someone mentioned the larger player base as a reason to switch to PC. Yet here I am currently stuck in Solo because I hit my monthly bandwidth cap, now waiting for it to reset. Thing is, I'm enjoying what I am doing in Solo and likely wouldn't have encountered any CMDRs here where I'm doing it, at least not on PS4. And then there's the whole "pay to play (in open)" aspect to consoles.

There are three reasons that come to mind that people seem to love Open in ED. One is PvP, another is Group PvE (wing missions, expeditions, etc.), and then there is "Space Facebook" where it's all about talking on Discord about politics and religion while driving SRVs in circles, LOL. Of these, only Group PvE has ever truly interested me, and even this I can live without.

For me personally, the shared galaxy is what makes playing ED feel like a 'community' experience, regardless of game mode. Even if I don't see a hollow square or "o7" in my comms, I know that we're all shaping this galaxy together with our actions, be it the BGS, CGs, discoveries, etc. It's the thing that keeps drawing me back to ED over other cool but 'lonely' games like Subnautica.

So to the title, why do YOU play in Open, and would you still enjoy the game if you were either stuck in Solo or an 'empty Open' like we supposedly have on PS4?
 
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StuartGT

StuartGT
Old Duck said:
I've been thinking about this lately. In another thread someone mentioned the larger player base as a reason to switch to PC. Yet here I am currently stuck in Solo because I hit my monthly bandwidth cap, now waiting for it to reset. Thing is, I'm enjoying what I am doing in Solo and likely wouldn't have encountered any CMDRs here where I'm doing it, at least not on PS4. And then there's the whole "pay to play (in open)" aspect to consoles.

There are three reasons that come to mind that people seem to love Open in ED. One is PvP, another is Group PvE (wing missions, expeditions, etc.), and then there is "Space Facebook" where it's all about talking on Discord about politics and religion while driving SRVs in circles, LOL. Of these, only Group PvE has ever truly interested me, and even this I can live without.

For me personally, the shared galaxy is what makes playing ED feel like a 'community' experience, regardless of game mode. Even if I don't see a hollow square or "o7" in my comms, I know that we're all shaping this galaxy together with our actions, be it the BGS, CGs, discoveries, etc. It's the thing that keeps drawing me back to ED over other cool but 'lonely' games like Subnautica.

So to the title, why do YOU play in Open, and would you still enjoy the game if you were either stuck in Solo or an 'empty Open' like we supposedly have on PS4?
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Welcome back to the galaxy, CMDR o7

I play in Open because I enjoy the excitement of unknown dangers.
 

Lateralus

L
Several reasons really:
  • I find playing exclusively PvE gets dull and unchallenging really fast
  • Players introduce an unscripted element to the game which gives it life. NPCs are no threat once you've figured out their patterns
  • You actually have to learn how to build a ship properly and evade danger in open (if you don't want to be an easy gank)
  • PvP fights are tough and require lots of skill to be successful at
  • Playing in open generally makes you a far more skillful player in the long-run
 
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Navigare Necesse Est

Navigare Necesse Est
I used to play in open for seeing and meeting players. The occasional PvP. I did a last PvP CG after 2.1 dropped, anticipating the arms race - but I didn't expect they would really unleash the lolstompz for player gear. I was wrong and that was pretty much the end of playing Open.
 

Wimmer

Wimmer
I play in Open because I enjoy meeting other commanders with similar mindset as mine. Open is not only about PvP, gank and grief. My best gameplay was when Palin base was attacked. With three other commanders we have created a wing. We barely met, but we fought for 3 hours and killed a lot of Thargoids.
 

Navigare Necesse Est

Navigare Necesse Est
Old Duck said:
So far PvP seems to be the winning answer, for both sides (the why and why nots). And here I thought people played in Open because they love to see and type 'o7'.
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I played with a group of people. They would all mostly play in open. Sometimes you would meet another group - adversaries - the mere possibility of getting stomped dint thrill me. It's like spawn-camping. Or aim-botting. And since I was quickly sure I would do nothing of that asinine grind (seriously - 2.1 was just a big middle finger to players) it was foreseeable that I'd run in some meta-power grinder sooner or later and be just meat in a grinder. Lol, even NPC run harder ships than I have. I mean, what's the point in just being cannon fodder and then get punished for being cannon fodder on top? Toxic game design at its best, imo.
 

Dirtbird

D
Well, not so much because of PvP. My most memorable chance encounter was at Betelgeuse where I was taking a tour of the Armpit of Orion and I met another player there in an Asp Explorer. They were much into their role play, while I am not really. We chatted for a bit and it was quite fun. I then departed for Epsilon Orionis and they departed for VY Canis Majoris. However I don't have any issues with getting shot at for no reason either. It's a mad galaxy out there.
 

Heater

Heater
I play most of the time in open now, and for the most part do not have any problems... I do use the private groups if I am helping someone or trying to test something, as most in open will listen when you tell them you are testing etc.. but as there are a few as@hat CMDR's that cause the testing to be done in private groups.
 
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