Why powerplay has convinced me to play in open - what about you?

Noisy Cosmos

Noisy Cosmos
One week in Powerplay. I see this faction game mode like a game of bored ELITE pilots exclusively. For humble merchants and people who want to make some credits for ranking up and progress it's losing time. That's it. i won't be in powerplay anymore. :)
 

B33 ENN

B33 ENN
Agony_Aunt said:
...So, anyone else like me? Anyone else who has been convinced to play in open thanks to powerplay?
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Well, I don't know. yet. I've been a Private Group player mostly, but I tried Open Play a little while ago in before the update, in 1.2, after suggestions from users on these forums.

I found it interesting, and something that I wanted to like, but I found that it didn't incentivise my gameplay in any useful form. I mean, when I went to RES, it was cool seeing other players there, but I found that those sessions were less fruitful because the way the bounty awarding works you actually make more money playing by yourself.

With the new changes to AI in 1.3, the NPC combat is even more challenging so, perhaps there is room for needing human players to help you, but so far, I find having the NPC police is enough for help in takedowns, but I still get my bounties. In terms of friendly-fire and new unpayable/expiring bounty rules, I also don't see any beneftis.

I've been interested in getting into the MMO scene for a while, but never found the right game to tip me over until now. With Elite, I was hoping to experience it, but with this 32 player instance limit system, it's not a real MMO, and space is too big to feel realistically populated with so few people, even when I'm hanging around in the Lavian zone, which is most popular.

Maybe, from what you say, Powerplay will make things more interesting, but right now PP itself hasn't given me any substantial reason to pledge and deviate from my gameplay style. I'm still remaining open minded about it all, but so far it's not grabbed for the various reasons I've tried to describe.
 

nighthawk71

nighthawk71
I jumped back into Open a week or 2 before Powerplay came out, the reason I stuck with Solo and/or Mobius was because of network latency issues. Seeing as how 1.2 had fixed most of the network latency issues, I was finally able to play Open with little-no issues.
 

Witcherman

Witcherman
You and I are of like minds when it comes to playing solo vs. open, but you've made a great argument for why Power Play will pull me into the open, well said and thanks for sharing! :D
 

Bertak

B
Daffan said:
Till they fix high wake i don't even play either really . pvp is a joke
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High wake is fine the way it is. A lone cmdr should have the possibility to escape if being attacked by 4 other cmdrs. Only gankers have a problem with the high wake
 
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CMDR Endincite

CMDR Endincite
If you're like me and play open but aren't interested in Pvp there are options.

Several ships are mostly immune to interdiction, because they can simply submit and then boost away faster than a typical Pvp-oriented players ship. My favourite is the Clipper, but a cobra will work. These two are the fastest ships in game and can usually get out of range before a shot is fired. Even if interdicted by something equally fast they can make it to frame shift before losing shields. That said - maximize your shields with boosters (I have 5, for instance) to get away with ease.

Another option is flying an outright combat ship for non combat purposes. My FdL is perfect for missions and PP deliveries (and is the only ship I've tried that is as fun to fly as a Clipper) , and isn't an obvious candidate for interdiction. A vulture set up for max cargo also works, but an Asp with max shields is better.


Even as a hardcore trader, I played in open. Frequent non-confrontational run ins with real people make the game richer, IMO, and powerplay doesn't feel like powerplay without the crowds of human players around.

Edit: don't be discouraged by others. Yes, open is dangerous of you're flying a Type-anything. It is far less so flying anything else. The developers have made running away easy for those who don't want to fight. There are wings out there set up for rapid kills ("rail-de-lances") but they target big game.
 
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Matzov

Matzov
I have played open for a long time, and had never been interdicted by a fellow Cmdr. Then I joined a faction and was not only interdicted, but popped, after less than five minutes from the moment I pledged. At first, I was somewhat disheartened by this. As you say, had it been pre-pledge, I would have been seriously hacked off. But now, having dusted myself down (insurance & cargo loss cost me about 15% of my cash surplus) I accepted, like you, that this was the reality of PP. I had considered this, and thought long and hard about pledging, before diving in. However, the first time it happened was still a big shock... but, it is fair. I can't argue with that.
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The thing PP has brought me, therefore, is a real tinge of danger. Jumping into a system now means a proper scan of what Cmdr's are around. A constant vigil, between arrival point and destination port, of the radar. Exchange of information with other friendly Cmdrs about enemy combatants one has seen around in various systems. I have yet to fall foul of interdiction again.
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For now, I enjoy this. Maybe I will tire of it if I get blown to smithereens over and over. I'm sure it will make me a better fight or flight player in time. If I do tire of it, I have my 'old life' to go back to and many systems to do my own business in.
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All in all, I think it is at least worth giving it a fair crack if you have some spare crédits (note insurance is reduced in some factions!) and can take a few knocks. I don't think it is hard to take a two hour break, say, from faction activity, to concentrate on making the money lost back, and using un-factioned space to do so, should be fairly safe to do so. OP is probably right to try in a cheaper ship first, at least to get the lay of the land. Wish I had thought of that!
 

ToniB

T
Matzov said:
I have played open for a long time, and had never been interdicted by a fellow Cmdr. Then I joined a faction and was not only interdicted, but popped, after less than five minutes from the moment I pledged. At first, I was somewhat disheartened by this. As you say, had it been pre-pledge, I would have been seriously hacked off. But now, having dusted myself down (insurance & cargo loss cost me about 15% of my cash surplus) I accepted, like you, that this was the reality of PP. I had considered this, and thought long and hard about pledging, before diving in. However, the first time it happened was still a big shock... but, it is fair. I can't argue with that.
--
The thing PP has brought me, therefore, is a real tinge of danger. Jumping into a system now means a proper scan of what Cmdr's are around. A constant vigil, between arrival point and destination port, of the radar. Exchange of information with other friendly Cmdrs about enemy combatants one has seen around in various systems. I have yet to fall foul of interdiction again.
--
For now, I enjoy this. Maybe I will tire of it if I get blown to smithereens over and over. I'm sure it will make me a better fight or flight player in time. If I do tire of it, I have my 'old life' to go back to and many systems to do my own business in.
--
All in all, I think it is at least worth giving it a fair crack if you have some spare crédits (note insurance is reduced in some factions!) and can take a few knocks. I don't think it is hard to take a two hour break, say, from faction activity, to concentrate on making the money lost back, and using un-factioned space to do so, should be fairly safe to do so. OP is probably right to try in a cheaper ship first, at least to get the lay of the land. Wish I had thought of that!
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have a + for adapting instead of whining and complaining and requesting to revert things back.
 

woodhouse

woodhouse
CMDR Endincite said:
If you're like me and play open but aren't interested in Pvp there are options.
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Just curious: what makes you want to play Open if you're not interested in PvP that you can't get in Mobius?
The Race to Elite is over so you don't have to. Do you want to meet more people in game?
 

emacinnes

emacinnes
Skillet said:
No, it hasn't convinced me to play in open. Open is for those that enjoy the thrill of pew pew pew, which is fine I get it :) Besides I'm a trader, makes little sense to go Open. Just me.
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I've been in Open since the beginning. Iv'e been shot at once, and that's it, and that was when I participated in a combat community goal. Usually everybody else just chats or flies on by. Occasionally you may find somebody willing to take a trip with you and act as security. It's very very far from a "pew pew" experience, just need to move away from the offending 3-4 PvP systems and explore the remaining 399,999,999,996 systems that are light on people and generally either friendly or at worst ambivalent when there is. Some quite happily shared trade route info and tips on nearby systems.

Recent example: When the diamondback was released in the Beta, I flew back to Dalton Station, and met a few commanders in supercruise, and had a number of long chats about the value of the new ship, whether it was worth it, and even attempted some joint performance tests to see how they worked, what utilities worked best, how to outfit for exploring.

Caveat: The number of combat systems is increasing a bit now with Powerplay, but then that's very easy to see on the galaxy map and avoid.

As for trading, when you wing up with other traders, all traders in the wing get an extra 5% dividend on sales, so there's an incentive to work together. They may also know of better routes too.

If you run out of fuel as well, there's a group called the Fuel Rats that specialise in that scenario and they'll scoot on over to help out.
 
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MattBW

M
I've played mostly groups until the last week or so, only really because the people I play with have played groups.

Of late more and more of us are switching to open. Why? Simply put its more exciting and the social aspect that's been sadly missing for me was there all along in open play.

Supporting Lavigny-Duval I ended up grouping with friends in a wing and supporting various expansion targets I was interdicted several times. Empire powers seem to be disrupting one another (knocking out cargo hatches and using limpets) but without all out killing. It was a fascinating evening and I saw some skilful work, it takes more skill to disrupt PP without just blowing them away. I also found myself interdicted several times in my Vulture but decided to made a run for it. I got away shields intact but it was still a rush. Also had several anacondas stalk me through the night but emergency dropping out of SC seemed to keep me safe. The few times I got snagged I evaded.

Now if I can just persuade my other friends to join.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh and had a very nice long chat with a fellow commander who hasn't seen another soul in a long time.
 
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