I know this topic has been around now and then, but really there should be something that would make open play win over private.
Even if you are a PvE player, just knowing that there could be someone lurking around trying to gank you brings a whole different mindset. Sea of Thieves is a good example here. The world is focused on PvE but you are forced to play with other players. So whenever you visit some island to kill some skellys or dig up a chest you have to keep an eye out on the horizon cause there could be some pirate that wants to steal your juicy loot. As a long time SoT player I can say that the catch is, there isn’t that many aggressive pirates out there than you think. Most of the players I met were chill and they were also doing some PvE stuff. Even the PvPers were mostly cool, gg-ing after a good fight.
Open play in E:D should be pretty similar to SoT. You will not encounter that many people anyways due to the vast universe, and even if you do they will likely be people like you. The problem with having a solo option is that even if the chance to meet a jerk is low, PvEers have no reason to risk their loot&ship by playing in the open. So only the good PvPers and the Jerks play in open, making RP pirates hard to find a target other than NPCs.
I also switch to solo when I have valuable loot to carry around. If FDev decides remove solo play entirely I’m totally buying it. But that likely wouldn’t happen so I say we give some advantage for open players to encourage open play. It doesnt even have to be a huge benefit. Maybe just 10%(or even 1%) boost on all incomes, or maybe you get some dividends by the end of the week from your supporting power depending on the time you played in open.
I’m not saying this cuz I’m a pirate and I want to steal from real people. I’m saying this cuz I want to meet more cool cmdrs(pve and pvp alike) in the black.
o7
EDIT: Title should’ve said incentives not benefits :p
EDIT#2: I agree that FDev should revamp the security system to make the gankers more hard to gank; like adding more authorities in mid-high sec places, or increasing the bounty for pirates. All in all Open should be for everyone, PvP and PvE alike; PvEers should have some risk with their loot, and PvPers should have HIGH risk when piracing.
EDIT#3: So ideally open should look sometime like;
– PvEers: low risk / mid reward.
– PvPers: high risk / high reward.
And to do so, FDev should focus on;
– Revamp security so that gankers risk their lives.
– Make more pve players play in open.
