Hello! Just a little headstart:
I am not a pvp'er! I only play in pve! And mostly in solo or pg's! This thread is a discussion about why i don't play in open and partake in pvp, and what could maybe, possibly bring some people into open! At least more often!
Here is something i was thinking about for the last... week, if not more. And before i start - no, i don't belive pirates to be the worst kind o players. Or gankers. And i don't belive PVP is a devil-spawn to be killed with fire. On the contrary. I just want to give a bit of... insight, as to why people are avoiding open.
For the past few days i have been (like many others) mining. Not to get a carrier though! I am mining because right now, with Carriers added, you have an actuall way to interact and work together with other players. I can chat with people in Elite! What a shock! The chat actually serves another function besides trying to insult that one guy who is going to get married! I got some Ltd's, i gave some tritium to the pal who has been using his carrier as a taxi, somethimes selling some ltd's on a lower price for them as well, as my way of saying "thank you!". Overall a very, very nice experience. The carriers do serve a nice role for miners now, horay! But, at the same time i have noticed a few people, who have been asking other cmdr's to mine in open, and who would usually get very.... "defensive", when met with an overall negative response to their speaches about risk taking and solo/pg players destroying the pirate-side of the experience. Thus i do assume, that those folks were mostly pirates, who wanted a challenge. And there is, of course, nothing wrong with that.
Because of that, and of the few conversations i had both in game and on discord, I started to wonder - why would anyone actually mine in open? Or play in open at all?
PVP in Elite is a ...can. Maybe not of worms, but it does have it's problems. Combat logging, insults towards pirates, game being not balanced at all. But i have been wondering, why would anyone actually mine, trade or...well, fly in open?
There are a few reasons, as to why people don't want to do that, in my opinion. Look at this example:
1. You mine in open.
2. Someone goes to you, points his guns at you, demanding some LTD's you have just mined. You have three options:
a) give him the stuff;
b) try and run away;
c) fight;
In Elite, the easiest thing to do is to run away. Making a quick ship is not that difficult, so running away quickly and high-waking is the easest thing to do. But it does take away time, which some have only a little of to play. And let's be honest. You go to another system, you have escaped... but you have to go back to that system to continue what you have been doing. So... what was the point of running away? (Of course, that is, IF the system is your selling system or mining system, if it's mid-way, then you can take a detour, but people are waiting for targets in selling systems...).
Combat? I would forget it. If your enemy is in a pvp build, and you are in a mining build, you are not gonna win. Unless the pirate is very bad at flying or you are very good at it. But why would you, when you came here to mine? Or to trade?
And giving up to his demands? That is the worst option in the eyes of some players. Elite is a time-consuming game. So imagine - you mine for an hour (it's even worse, if you don't like mining), and now some guy wants you to give it up?
What does it sum up to?
Besides a potential (and usually one-time for some) "Hey! I have managed to run away! I ma so great!", there is no incentive to actually go through that.
Everything you do in Elite, you can do in Solo, PG, or Open.
A gameplay loop in Elite usually consists of:
1. Prepare a ship for said loop (and start the loop, if it is a trading/passanger route);
2. Go to the system
3. Mine/trade/do something
4. Go to the system where you take your reward for it.
IF you go in open, you add the risk of having all that you did/are trying to acomplish ruined/stoped.
And there is no reward for taking that risk. It doesn't matter if you are in open. In fact, most people may avoid being in open, because:
They DON'T want to be someone's gameplay.
Because, frankly, why would they?
Being a prey in Elite is not fun for everyone. It is usually annoying (besides maybe the first two times you are being chased). After all:
- you are being attacked by someone, who will win in a 1 v 1 fight, the npc's will come to help you, but they may not arrive in time, hatchbreaking your ship is easy. And of course, you get nothingout of that experience, besides being annoyed that you just took this kind of risk for no potential gain.
Thus, as the title stated- Being a "prey" of a pirate is not fun, gives no reward for the risk taken, and is usually a very not-fun experience.
Yes, you can learn how to run away. You can avoid the danger. But the gameplay-part of "running away and avoiding the danger" is not fun, because you are not getting anything for it.
What i would like to add at the end - please, if you would like people to play in open with you, so you can find a challenge, so you can be the pirate you would like to be, think about why people don't want go through that ^ ^.
Also: i am talking about people who don't like that kind of gameplay. IF you do like being a prey, if you like the "I have to run away!" then all the power for you. But there are many, who don't enjoy it.
Sincerely,
Eric Alsteif.