PvP Why PvP is not popular in Elite Dangerous?

[Nutter]

I’ve been trying to understand why the vast majority of people are not interested in PvP in Elite Dangerous.
I’d like your thoughts on it, here are my thoughts.

For me, I like the adventure of discovering ‘what is out there’ now I know content is slim at the moment but the fact remains. I will NEVER get in a spaceship and explore the universe/galaxy in my lifetime as much as would love to. ED gives me the opportunity to do that, find weird systems and sometime amazing glitches that add to the experience.
I’ve never seen Elite as an opportunity to sit in my backyard and shoot other players, the galaxy is too big to waste time with that in my opinion.
There are thousands of games out there where the purpose is to shoot each other and do it very well. ED gives me a Galaxy to explore, why on earth would I want to do peew pew when there is a Galaxy to discover? (I’ll repeat at this point that I am aware content is thin on the ground for exploring) But at least I can find cool places to re-visit when content is added.

TLDR?
Summary – Most players purchased ED to wonder at our galaxy in their own time in their own way. For them PvP is just a waste of time and effort.

Thoughts?

Nutter
O7

 

[Wolf Starslayer]

I have pvp'd in ED, but that was b4 engineers made it too time consuming. I prefer pvp games where I don't have to 'grind' a set-up before I can play and preferably well balanced as a PvP only game.
As examples I love the Combat Mission series of war games, I also regularly play FPS my favourite being the fairly old game Planetside 2. Oh and racing games if they class as a sort of pvp.

P.s. I would play more CQC (as I like the fairly even ships without mods )but is always empty-lobbies when I tried so don't really look at it anymore.

 

[Rakaposhi]

I'm not sure why it's not popular, but I don't do it.

I play Elite for the joy of discovering. PvP does not add to that for me.

When I say discovering, I mean learning new things, not the literal in-game exploration career. Learning how to explore was of course something I did, along with learning which planets are worth scanning. I learned to mine, how to discover trade routes, how to land on high G planets, what size shields are needed for trading/PvE combat, how to engage in Powerplay, how to unlock engineers and modify my ship. How to do a range of missions from the boards, especially the SRV-related ones, and how to explore/mine in an SRV. How hard your ship needs to be to fight at a Nav beacon, and CZs, and when to submit and fight an interdiction or when to run. Learning how to wing up with mates, and how multi-crew works.

There are so many things to learn to do in ED, and I've enjoyed learning them all. I try not to google how to do stuff, so I really am generally just pottering along and enjoying my game.

PvP in ED can have very asymmetric death penalties as well as huge balance differences between ships. I enjoy PvP, but spending 2-4 hours earning the money back to pay for my death is not how I like to spend my weekends.

Maybe PvP isn't popular because there's so much other "game" in ED to play. There just isn't enough time left for PvP?

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

there is no 1 answer.

I think a lot of it comes to the type of gamers FD got a large part of the KSer funding from just are not into that kind of game

Others are put off because there is such a huge imbalanced between a fully specced PvP ship and an average specced PvE ship means they feel its unfair and they do not want to play the PvP meta build game

others do not like the fact that they know if they are attacked, the attacker will face zero consequence where as the victim faces many hrs of recovery time (it will take 100hrs+ to get my npc back to a level my last one was after my last destruction)

others do not have access to the toys that the PvPers almost always use - vanilla owners, mac players, those on weak internet.

and others ultimately just do not think ED is a very good PvP game, that there are many better.

Generally I have had poor experiences in many competitive game populations.... obviously I always try my best in games, but, I do not claim to be v good. Some of the people in counterstrike (way) back in the day when i played it, and more recently in a little dabble in dota2 were simply VILE and i have no interest in spending time with them.


i am sure there are other reasons, but the above are the ones i think apply to me - asiding from not having access to horizons.

***Dont get me wrong, i am not in anyway against PvP for those who want it. much like so many things in life i do not personally partake in, so long as it is legal - or even if it is illegal so long as it does not affect me and it hurts no one - if you like it, and you are old enough to do it... fill your boots, just dont force it down my throat. ***

***I feel largely the same about religion

 

[bitstorm]

I think it's at least partly due to the power discrepancy between players and NPCs.

PvP and PvE are not exclusive activities, someone doing a CG, there's a reasonable chance of some PvP occurring.

The trouble is for a typical PvE player NPCs are a walkover, players are not pushed, then inevitably when they're interdicted by another player it is a bit of a shock, and often they'll be lucky not to lose their ship.

Then it's back to playing vs weak NPCs for another 100 hours.

The game really doesn't put your typical player in a position where a PvP encounter is anything but an unwanted experience.


Then of course you add in the exploits being used by selected PvPers which after 4 months Frontier still haven't fixed, why would you.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Possibly because, from the outset, the game has offered every player a choice of three game modes. That alone will have attracted players that don't like PvP.

If the game had only offered a single game mode (Open) then everyone that chose to play would have done so knowing that PvP was not optional. However, that's not how Frontier designed their game - so PvP is entirely optional in this game.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Maybe many PvP players have a history in MMO games where your objective is: shoot some dudes. Usually dudes with a different coloured outfit than yours.

Shooting dudes in Elite has some hurdles to cross before the shooting of dudes can commence. Sometimes it's even impossible to shoot dudes, and with the background in gaming to these players this seems completely unfair. Dudes must be shot after all. But when dudes are in a different mode or dudes can escape easily, those of the dude-shooting persuasion scratch their heads. Why would the game prevent the shooting of dudes? What kind of game is this? I demand dudes to shoot!

Then again, it might be something completely different.

Kind regards,
Prof. Ziggy Sexist Stardust.

 

[Phosphora]

Some personality types won't enjoy the PvP playstyle. I play Elite to unwind after work, not for 'excitement'.

Cheers, Phos.

 

[Noctover]

I think its because FD have tried to target the game at every demographic rather than having an actual target audience.

 

[StiTch]

In one word: hysteria.

 

[Nutter]

Thanks for the responses, I'm sure there will be more, one thing did occor to me though.

When I heard ED was coming back and DBOBE was running a startup I jumped at the chance and I can honestly tell you that at no point did PvP even cross my mind! I just thought, Me + Panther Clipper + Galaxy + Explore - TAKE MY MONEY!

 

[goemon]

I'm generally not much into combat (last of three ranks i made elite in), so that's one reason.

i like winging up in small ships and do cooperative pve combat. playing with others i like generally.

I actually enjoy non-combat PvP gameplay .... for exampel player vs. player races. or blockade running a community goal.

i also like a friendly duel in eagles. consensual PVP combat.

i really, really like pvp srv fights around planetary installations.

if i have a huge bounty on my head, i drop a message to some channels, where i will be the next session bounty hunting in my DBS or eagle, and ask people to surprise me and get the bounty by killing me. those sessions are amazing, as every "scan detected" gives you an adrenalin rush.

so I'm not against pvp-action.

i watch pvp-combat videos and enjoy the skill of flying (if there is a lot of skill involved), or the creativity of unusual builds, or both, the tactics of a wing, etc. but getting into it for real myself i have zero motivation. i read many pvp'lers threads with interest, as they stress test builds and combat mechanics to the max. i learned a ton on using fixed weapons, weapon stats, circle-strafng, etc. pp.

the few times i have destroyed another players ship in elite non-consensual i have always tricked them with a better knowledge of game mechanics, or a specialised build.

so, while i share OPs general sentiment (elite is a discovery/exploration game for me, which even includes exploring NPC spawns, or collecting data on state effects...), and the "real galaxy" and the sci-fi-sim (with a sometimes sloppy game UI attached) is the main feature for my game of elite, non-consensual PVP-combat just don't kick it for me.

 

[Arindor]

Possibly because, from the outset, the game has offered every player a choice of three game modes. That alone will have attracted players that don't like PvP.

If the game had only offered a single game mode (Open) then everyone that chose to play would have done so knowing that PvP was not optional. However, that's not how Frontier designed their game - so PvP is entirely optional in this game.

I think a lot of it comes to the type of gamers FD got a large part of the KSer funding from just are not into that kind of game.

Exactly. I've always seen the Elite universe as a solo experience since 1984. So after the offline debacle, I satisfied myself with the idea of solo. But, if ED had been open only, I wouldn't have parted with my money and, presumably, neither would a fair number of KS'ers. Also, having experienced the laggy side of open, I decided to remain in solo because transition loading times are far better.

 

[4gui4]

Don't do it because it's boring, most of the time is wait and chasing others then wait and chasing and again and again meeeeeeeeee.

Until happens something fun takes a long time and when it happens it's that usual cowardice 3 attacking 1 , Uber ships killing nobies It's ugly

 

[Querty Out]

Sometime back there have been some polls on this forum that put the percentage of players interested in PVP at about 25% to 30%. I'm not sure what it would be today. The majority of players is PVE oriented, I just wouldn't necessarily call it a 'vast' majority.

 

[Noctover]

Thanks for the responses, I'm sure there will be more, one thing did occor to me though.

When I heard ED was coming back and DBOBE was running a startup I jumped at the chance and I can honestly tell you that at no point did PvP even cross my mind! I just thought, Me + Panther Clipper + Galaxy + Explore - TAKE MY MONEY!

Aye some people like to explore, others PVE, others PVP, some do missions, some do a bit of all. Problem is the PVP to PVE community in ED is like this:

Spoiler

Where as in other games the PVP and PVE community meet more like this:

Spoiler

This is why when they meet they spend more time fighting on the forum rather than the game.

 

[JonLuis69]

The game would be so incredibly boring if all I did was obsess over my next visit to the engineer for that 0.5% extra bit of firepower or shields.

There is something marginally psychotic about that kind of obsession, and most people aren't so obsessed. It's a game after all.

 

[hunvagy]

I personally purchased ED because it was named Elite, and offered me the chance to fly with my friends. And honestly, I only decided on buying it when it was clear that it'll offer a mode where I choose who to play with. I don't care for PvP, nor do I value it. I switch duel invites off in MMOs, don't usually participate in PvP skirmishes unless there's a specific reward worth the hassle,and stay as far away from Open PvP games as I can. It holds absolutely no interest to me to play such a game. That's why I'm happy that ED chose to implement modes as it did. Do I mind the PvP crowd itself? Not really. Would I play with them? Nope.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Thanks for the responses, I'm sure there will be more, one thing did occor to me though.

When I heard ED was coming back and DBOBE was running a startup I jumped at the chance and I can honestly tell you that at no point did PvP even cross my mind! I just thought, Me + Panther Clipper + Galaxy + Explore - TAKE MY MONEY!

The sales pitch from Braben, talking about PvP being rare and meaningful made me interested. Since I've always loved Scifi games, but wouldn't touch a full on PvP multiplayer with a 10 ly pole. So I did wonder how he thought he'd pull that one off.

When I read about modes, and having the opportunity to play and explore the game by myself, I bought the game.

 

[drakhyr]

I think it's at least partly due to the power discrepancy between players and NPCs.

Not to mention the massive power discrepancy between a combat-focussed ship and a general-purpose ship. If a player has put the effort into building a highly PvP-combat-focussed ship, then any player who comes up against them in a not-so-focussed vessel probably won't last long and probably won't have any enjoyment from the encounter.

This was the case before engineering, and engineer modifications hugely increase the difference.