I never play in Open for the same reason I realized in early ArcheAge alpha that I would NEVER bother with the game once the design intent behind their trader-pirate balance became clear: There is far too much risk on the trader and nearly zero risk on the pirate(s). Just as the core design kept players entirely away from ArcheAge, so too the current design in ED is imbalanced and keeps many players away from Open altogether.
However, this _could_ be fixed with a few simple tweaks to the mechanics of interdiction.
The fix is simple: If a player interdicts another player, then the GAME should AUTO-EJECT one of the T2 cargo slots from the interdicted vessel. The trader can think of it as "interdiction insurance", and the pirate can think of it as "I got a reward for successfully stalking and interdicting". But wait! I'm not done, lol. Once the ship is interdicted and the cargo is auto-ejected, then the chance for real human-human player interaction (and fun) begins! The interdicted trader runs away ONLY if they don't want a fight. And something in the system window gives them the few seconds they need to run away successfully (pirate player's guns are disabled for 10 seconds after interdiction or something like that). OR.... The interdicted player could choose to stay and fight the pirate, kill them if they can (or chase them off), and then if successfully fending off the pirate they can rescoop their own cargo and be on their way again.
This approach provides adequate reward/risk for BOTH players and puts control over losses in BOTH players' hands. Obviously, the pirate incurs significant risk by even interdicting someone in the first place: they might get blown up or damaged heavily by a stubborn porcupine. But it's the pirate's CHOICE to incur such risk. Meanwhile for traders who prefer to be "left alone" but still want _some_ thrill from playing in open, they always incur a little "sting" (the auto-cargo loss) when successfully interdicted, and at that point they have a CHOICE to either double-down and try to get their cargo back (big risk/reward), or to just accept the "sting" and run away successfully.
And let's not forget the true griefers! Pirates may have some sense of fair play, but trust me, the griefer problem in Open will only get worse. Wait till we have a LOT of traders running around in T7s and T9s. If I were a griefer, I'd be bankrolling fairly cheap vipers/sideys/eagles and just trying to outright KILL any T7/T9 I could interdict. You know, just for the lulz. Because reasons. The current system provides _zero_ protection from these types of scum. And there are many of them. With my proposed mechanics, the trader is protected from being griefed outright.
Is my suggestion perfect? Probably not, but it's sure 100x better than the imbalanced design that keeps many players away from Open entirely.
However, this _could_ be fixed with a few simple tweaks to the mechanics of interdiction.
The fix is simple: If a player interdicts another player, then the GAME should AUTO-EJECT one of the T2 cargo slots from the interdicted vessel. The trader can think of it as "interdiction insurance", and the pirate can think of it as "I got a reward for successfully stalking and interdicting". But wait! I'm not done, lol. Once the ship is interdicted and the cargo is auto-ejected, then the chance for real human-human player interaction (and fun) begins! The interdicted trader runs away ONLY if they don't want a fight. And something in the system window gives them the few seconds they need to run away successfully (pirate player's guns are disabled for 10 seconds after interdiction or something like that). OR.... The interdicted player could choose to stay and fight the pirate, kill them if they can (or chase them off), and then if successfully fending off the pirate they can rescoop their own cargo and be on their way again.
This approach provides adequate reward/risk for BOTH players and puts control over losses in BOTH players' hands. Obviously, the pirate incurs significant risk by even interdicting someone in the first place: they might get blown up or damaged heavily by a stubborn porcupine. But it's the pirate's CHOICE to incur such risk. Meanwhile for traders who prefer to be "left alone" but still want _some_ thrill from playing in open, they always incur a little "sting" (the auto-cargo loss) when successfully interdicted, and at that point they have a CHOICE to either double-down and try to get their cargo back (big risk/reward), or to just accept the "sting" and run away successfully.
And let's not forget the true griefers! Pirates may have some sense of fair play, but trust me, the griefer problem in Open will only get worse. Wait till we have a LOT of traders running around in T7s and T9s. If I were a griefer, I'd be bankrolling fairly cheap vipers/sideys/eagles and just trying to outright KILL any T7/T9 I could interdict. You know, just for the lulz. Because reasons. The current system provides _zero_ protection from these types of scum. And there are many of them. With my proposed mechanics, the trader is protected from being griefed outright.
Is my suggestion perfect? Probably not, but it's sure 100x better than the imbalanced design that keeps many players away from Open entirely.
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