Why I and many others will rarely play open

[TiberiusDuval]

Ignore all the "git gud" comments and those seemingly non-interested/sarcastic re: your post. It's just an old problem, though one that many can identify with, including me. In general, I will not fly in open unless I think I can field an engineered ship that's capable of defending itself...or... I'm doing powerplay or BGS; as it's only fair that people I'm competing with (who risk losing territory if they lose) can kill me.

I would try to temper your perspectives and be less upset about these encounters though. PvP is an aspect of the game, which can be really fun. Sure, you might lose your ship to an overpowered engineered ganker, but there's also a thrill adrenaline rush about the encounter which is hard to beat. Folks might also get a thrill out of getting away.

Sure, it's not for everyone. But it can be fun for some of the game's population.

Very much thrill. Like okay, ganker interdicted me, boost towards ganker choose nearest system from the list and hit J....Possibly lose some shields in process. Or that at least it is for engineered Cutter.

 

[Alien]

I wish real life had a solo mode...

It does, but the background sim goes on anyway, and it's a lot harder to earn credits.

 

[Lysette]

It does, but the background sim goes on anyway, and it's a lot harder to earn credits.

Not really, it just takes the right idea, how to - just like in a game. Just look at the stock markets last and this year - there was a fortune to be made and it's ongoing. Real estate, the same thing, with a bit of thoughtful investment there is plenty to be made within the next few years.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Someone suggesting that the game would be better if there was no way to circumvent players in open while impacting the game in open isn't trying to play the game in a manner that it wasn't designed. They're suggesting that the design should change. And ignorantly because to get what they want would require rewriting the entire networking backend and anything that depends on it's intrinsic p2p nature.

Quite.

Throwing a hissy fit because you're playing in a mode specifically designed to be one way because you want it to work a different way is entirely different.

Selecting the correct mode to best meet their needs is the first decision that a player needs to make in any game session.

Or they dont care to waste their time on a forum when it wont change anything.

The vast majority of players don't have forum accounts.

pvp exists because fdev wanted to attract those players in the kickstarter and they know it gets players in a game more than non-multiplayer games do in this genre since otherwise it would be little more than a clone of already existing privateer space games made over the last few decades. Yes, obviously it's not necessary to do anything in the game, but the potential to do things not otherwise possible is enough to attract a lot of players.

Indeed.

You most certainly give up a lot by in this compromised version of the game.
You can't play with mods that could include alternate rules, alternate game states or alternate starting states or augmented/additional gameplay because it's a connected online -only game. You can't play with trainers / cheats because it's an online-connected only game. you can't have detailed engrossing narratives and plots because the game has to be a sandbox. You can't experience past events because you're only able to connect to shared game state.

Indeed - however the game has not offered any of those at any time - and the Elite series isn't narrative driven, it's always been a sandbox.

Players who dont want to play with other people give up a lot because fdev wants to pull them in with players who want an MMO version of the game.

That they choose to buy a game that does not offer all of the features they may desire is a choice they make.

we know how things are in reality. You dont have to keep parroting what actually exists as an argument/response to what players want. We know what it is. Just because we purchased it, doesn't mean we thought it was perfect just the way it is or that many were aware of how crippled such compromises would make any gameplay.

Buyers' remorse is a thing - and we all bought the same game even though we may view it differently and want different things from it.

Marketing is never something we can consider as set in stone - i mean the game is marketed as being set in a dangerous galaxy, yet i can't remember the last time my character died - regardless of the extent of the rewards i acquired in a given action.

Indeed - the "or just hunt other Commanders" line was removed from the advertising some time ago.

There aren't many games that try and create a shared game state like elite dangerous has done. I'd call it an experiment ....that should eventually be tallied as a dead end - limiting the developers to what they can do too much for the benefits.

Whether, or not, Frontier change their stance on the mode shared galaxy remains to be seen - we're coming up to the seventh anniversary of game release and I expect we'll see many more with that design in place. Many other games segregate PvP and PvE players or offer PvP-flags or PvP-zones - how much support for such an approach being proposed in this game would remain to be seen.

 

[Rubbernuke]

The argument, that if all would play in OPEN a blockage of systems in power play would work is just not true, because there is instancing. It is unlikely that every attempt could be blocked, because there would be some which are in an instance, where there is no blockage - and they can get through uneffected. So in the end it is irrelevant, if power play is effected by just OPEN or by all modes - it wouldn't be that different in just OPEN as well - simply due to that there are instances.

Something like blocking a system works in a game like EVE, because there is no second instance of a system - whoever gets into the system will be on the same node as everyone else in the system. But in an instanced game like ED, the same doesn't hold true, and therefore some will not see a blockage and others will, dependent on in which instance they are put by the server.

Remember this is opportunistic and not 1:1 CQC. You attack who you see, and slowing the enemy is just as bad as stopping them. You can't stop everything, but at the same time in a tight late cycle disrupting flows of fortification are very effective.

The proposed changes in the flash topic also would herd players together (via uncapped UM, unified fort direction etc), making the chances (in busy areas of action such as 'mega' UM) much higher of coming across others.

 

[TheMindBuddah]

Personally have always loved the danger of open. Groups of pure gankers, groups like the code and just pilots wanting to test their new murder boat. While I have a fleet of fully engineered ships my main runabout is a lightly engineered Cobra (Pocket Beagle). While Frounter have done a good job making the Ai feel like your in a living breathing galaxy. Let's face it danger is lacking for most players who are 6 months or more into the game.
But the encounters with real CMDRs are usually only "Dangerous" at locations where it's known for being PVP heavy. You walk in a bad neighbourhood you walk prepared. But most encounters have been pleasant. Like parking my Cutter next to an Annie and Baluga. We were soon joined by other ships and had some great photo opportunities! All of us were randoms. These are the things you miss out of in solo. We all started at the bottom but we progressed, gained wealth but most importantly we gain experience in a dangerous galaxy but also a galaxy populated with amazing real people!
Random

https://imgur.com/a/RC9UxgO

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/RC9UxgO

 

[TiberiusDuval]

Personally have always loved the danger of open. Groups of pure gankers, groups like the code and just pilots wanting to test their new murder boat. While I have a fleet of fully engineered ships my main runabout is a lightly engineered Cobra (Pocket Beagle). While Frounter have done a good job making the Ai feel like your in a living breathing galaxy. Let's face it danger is lacking for most players who are 6 months or more into the game.
But the encounters with real CMDRs are usually only "Dangerous" at locations where it's known for being PVP heavy. You walk in a bad neighbourhood you walk prepared. But most encounters have been pleasant. Like parking my Cutter next to an Annie and Baluga. We were soon joined by other ships and had some great photo opportunities! All of us were randoms. These are the things you miss out of in solo. We all started at the bottom but we progressed, gained wealth but most importantly we gain experience in a dangerous galaxy but also a galaxy populated with amazing real people!
Random

https://imgur.com/a/RC9UxgO

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/RC9UxgO

Hmm didn't ED have better AI some times ago, and it was not liked by players? I wonder why they cannot have option for say solo players to tune AI difficulty. Say between current and harder model...

 

[Thimeus]

I agree with TheMindBuddah.

One of the biggest ganker-hotspots, or maybe the biggest at all is the system Shinrarta Dezhra. A lot of newbies fly into this system at their first time with a T-9 or something like this. I have been one of them. And like all of them I have learned the lesson and now I never jump into this system with something else than my ungankable taxi.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Hmm didn't ED have better AI some times ago, and it was not liked by players? I wonder why they cannot have option for say solo players to tune AI difficulty. Say between current and harder model...

Because the underlying BGS is shared, so it has to scale universally.

 

[TiberiusDuval]

I agree with TheMindBuddah.

One of the biggest ganker-hotspots, or maybe the biggest at all is the system Shinrarta Dezhra. A lot of newbies fly into this system at their first time with a T-9 or something like this. I have been one of them. And like all of them I have learned the lesson and now I never jump into this system with something else than my ungankable taxi.

No one with Elite status should be considered as a newbie.

 

[Robert Maynard]

No one with Elite status should be considered as a newbie.

Trade Elite can be gained in a matter of hours post Carriers.

 

[Thimeus]

No one with Elite status should be considered as a newbie.

I got my first Elite status (explorer) by carrying passengers. A long time bevor I even started taking care for the engineers

 

[Zieman]

Trade Elite can be gained in a matter of hours post Carriers.

And that is a ridiculous state of affairs.

 

[TheMindBuddah]

But everyone started as one! Same Sidewinder only difference is in-game time and experience!

 

[Robert Maynard]

Hmm didn't ED have better AI some times ago, and it was not liked by players? I wonder why they cannot have option for say solo players to tune AI difficulty. Say between current and harder model...

The AI that was introduced (briefly) in 2.1 was improved, the NPC ships were fitted with engineered weapons, and there were some significant intermittent bugs in those weapons, e.g. rail guns firing as fast as multi-cannons - the NPCs also hounded players carrying any of the new engineering commodities that were required to complete modifications. This resulted in a situation where any player trying to engineer their ships, of which there were many as Engineering was the main feature addition of 2.1, would be repeatedly attacked by engineered NPCs ship, with more challenging AI and, quite often, bugged weapons.

While a vocal subset of the player-base enjoyed it, many players did not - and I expect that Frontier's play-time statistics, before and after the introduction, showed how popular the changes were. The changes were rolled back and the requirement for commodities was removed from engineering.

Regarding a difficulty setting - we all play against the same NPCs, whether or not we play among other players. Noting that there are optional NPC challenges that far exceed the difficulty of run-of-the-mill NPCs.

 

[Robert Maynard]

But everyone started as one! Same Sidewinder only difference is in-game time and experience!

.... and chosen play-style, inclination to engage in combat (or lack of it), etc..

Everyone may have started the game in much the same way but that's not to say that everyone must play the game the same way.

 

[Thimeus]

For me the difference between newbie and adventaced are the engineers.

However your playstyle is, without an engineered ship you can not keep up with players in enigneered ships

 

[Rubbernuke]

The AI that was introduced (briefly) in 2.1 was improved, the NPC ships were fitted with engineered weapons, and there were some significant intermittent bugs in those weapons, e.g. rail guns firing as fast as multi-cannons - the NPCs also hounded players carrying any of the new engineering commodities that were required to complete modifications. This resulted in a situation where any player trying to engineer their ships would be repeatedly attacked by engineered NPCs ship, with more challenging AI and, quite often, bugged weapons.

While a vocal subset of the player-base enjoyed it, many players did not - and I expect that Frontier's play-time statistics, before and after the introduction, showed how popular the changes were. The changes were rolled back and the requirement for commodities was removed from engineering.

Regarding a difficulty setting - we all play against the same NPCs, whether or not we play among other players. Noting that there are optional NPC challenges that far exceed the difficulty of run-of-the-mill NPCs.

None of which precludes said AI being introduced into Powerplay (an opt in feature), or Elite Combat rank (which requires a fair amount of shooting).

Without a graded and joined up challenge long term interest is questionable in ED these days.

 

[fishevi]

Trade Elite can be gained in a matter of hours post Carriers.

My alt got trade elite in his first hour of existence just from moving credits from main cmdr via FC.
That's wrong, but made my alt's life so much easier.
1st hour - Trade Elite, 2nd hour - shopping at Jameson's

 

[Robert Maynard]

None of which precludes said AI being introduced into Powerplay (an opt in feature), or Elite Combat rank (which requires a fair amount of shooting).

Indeed - however Elite Combat is more of a long service award than an attestation to the skill of the player, as every ship destroyed adds to it. Theoretically a player could achieve Elite rank by preferentially targeting harmless NPCs from their meta-engineered battle-wagon - it'd take a while though.

Without a graded and joined up challenge long term interest is questionable in ED these days.

There are several optional graded challenges in the game already.