About Star Citizen's 10/10/2020 Anniversary Vanduul Helmet Event.
This was sent to CIG, hence the ending.
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Recently, an item was added to the game, a Vanduul mask, aka, an item that calls out to the purely PvE faction of the game. You would expect to be able to earn this item purely via PvE, unfortunately, it is the exact opposite.
This on it's own is rather upsetting, but the fact that Star Citizen has been sold as a PvE game, from the Kickstarter onwards, with minimal PvP, and ways to avoid it, show this to be an utter betrayal of the game's core design. To provide proof of this, I shall now quote aspects from the Kickstarter page-
---- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen ----
() What is Star Citizen "A rich universe focused on epic space adventure, trading and dogfighting in first person." - Please note the "and dogfighting" implying this wasn't the main focus. It also speaks nothing about PvP in this, given that dogfighting can be done between players & NPCs.
() "Single Player – Offline or Online(Drop in / Drop out co-op play)" - while this was never the promise for the PU, and in many respects only applies to SQ42, it still shows an idea. That the gameplay would be built more around Co-op play, rather than anything involving fighting other players.
() "Mod-able multiplayer (hosted by YOU)" as opposed to "Persistent Universe (hosted by US)" - while this has clearly been phased out- the idea that you could avoid PvP by having your own server, understandably morphed into trust in game systems to allow you to avoid such unwanted conflict. I'll go into why this morph happened later, as this was not a thought pattern change made without developer prompting.
() "Fully dynamic economy driven by player actions" This has been brought up by people to say that Piracy & PvP would be the driving forces behind this- yet the next line makes it clear, that this isn't even the main idea. "If too many people fly iron ore to the smelting plants of New Pittsburgh, steel prices will drop. Buy low… sell high… you hope."
It clearly speaks to the amounts moved, and prices set, not those that would interfere using violence as the main way to alter the economy.
() "play the multiplayer space combat Alpha" aka, a separate environment dedicated to senseless violence against one another. This is the only time Player vs Player is really implied as a serious form of gameplay. This idea eventually became Arena Commander of course- but this sentence is followed by "then 20-22 months in they will get to play the Star Citizen Beta, adventuring around the huge open galaxy," which could indicate the same gameplay would be carried forward into this open galaxy- but given it mentions adventuring, not combat, it's a reasonable to assume that the gameplay mentioned elsewhere on the page, would take precedent.
() "outside earth’s infrastructure and protection. The downside? No military or local police to protect you from an opportunistic pirate!" This could indicate Player vs Player action- yet again, the game only speaks about direct conflict between players once, in a dogfighting module. Piracy can, and does exist in game, devoid of player control. So those that would use this text to say it validates forced PvP - are blatantly incorrect.
() "It’s about the gameplay and your interactions with others" This section contains the strongest argument against mine- "For example, it’s a perfectly valid choice not to be a Citizen and operate outside the protection of Earth." Implying it's acceptable to attack NPCs & Players alike for piracy- which yes, it is. Though it is quickly followed by "We think there will be people that gravitate to crime or helping enforce the law or defending the galaxy from the alien raiders or just accumulating as much money as possible. " Please note when it discusses Alien raiders- a completely AI driven group. In short, this enforces the comments made previously, and puts the entire paragraph into a more co-operative light. As in, you work with people to comfit piracy, you work with people to defend the law, not necessarily you work against any player or party who is taking part in this. One would even expect, that should it have had a more PvP focus, it would have discussed competitive organizations, not merely working with existing game factions.
---- Moving on from the KickStarter ----
https://youtu.be/QvmeGoQFLlg
A direct video, which I think summarizes what we were all expecting. This is what I referenced earlier, when I said a change in thought wasn't unprompted.
() The PvP slider was brought up multiple times over years- engraining it into the psyche, and making it extremely clear, that this game would not be PvP focused. In fact, in the video linked, it is directly discusses the idea, that you could have piracy, without PvP, adding strength to my previous arguments about the base of this game being PvE, with CoOperative play.
() While this slider has phased out, it was to be replaced with an automated system, that would detect how much PvP you actually engage in, and attempt to match you with like minded individuals. Unfortunately, this system cannot be implemented yet, as server meshing is needed- but the idea still stands.
() This is unequivocal proof, particularly in this video, that one is to be able to enjoy this game, while largely avoiding PvP. In other videos, it's been stated fully lawless areas would have more PvP interaction- but not guaranteed actions. In the current game, I again reiterate that we are missing the server meshing needed to funnel purely PvP players away from those that do not wish to take part in it.
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With this in mind, all events should focus on the base ideas of the game, which most gameplay is focused towards, PvE & Co-op. This recent event, not only disregards those that do not wish to take part in PvP to get items, it forces it upon them, by making their deaths beneficial to those that want to PvP. This is a direct betrayal of the original ideas, that the game would be PvE focused. No reward should ever be locked entirely behind PvP lest it is something directly to be taken from a player- or group, such as a rare ship(Bengal Carrier), station, or homestead. (Which these will still need heavy balancing to insure griefing & rampant PvP do not become commonplace, in particular for homesteads.)
The current event, has unfortunately taken actions some players already make, senseless killing, and griefing for no other reason, than to make others feel grief- and legitimized it. Now mining is even more dangerous, as these one time griefers have a reason to shoot you down. Obviously this isn't intended gameplay, as if it was supposed to be, we would already have NPCs that would attack - which we don't have, and again, as stated above, the game is PvE focused.
While the event as a whole is a betrayal of Star Citizen's core game design, it's added sin, is that it has empowered these griefers to be even worse, and turned the community extremely toxic over night. Those that offer free rides, ships, or assistance, have all but vanished, leaving only "get gud" & "carebear" attacks to be hurled through chat. This is not the game I backed, it's not the game that was promised, and it's excessively toxic.
Please, roll back this challenge, and put in something that stands true to this game's design. Once we have server meshing, an event like this still should never exist- but something that compromises, where NPC kills count as less- but still count.
Even then, should another event like this show up, the reward should also match the hostile- not just PvP, for a PvE callout item.
I do see the logic behind "Vanduul Fighter, vs Gladius" being "Human vs Alien," & the mask of course being a better way to say Human vs Alien, without having AI- but this again, ignores the core foundation of this game, and forces everyone into PvP. If one was to have this- it should have been an "invading force of Vanduul" that upon defeat, are revealed as being humans masquerading as aliens, with stolen ships. Hence, the mask. If PvP was to be worked into it at all, an optional mission, that would give you the mask more easily, would be to join the invaders for a set of missions, that are more likely to pull players- but again, even this goes against the core of the game. Ideally, any mission put forth that makes getting the mask easier than simply defending against the invaders, would involve attacking authority(UEE) facilities, not players.
TL:DR - A PvP only event, particularly in the PU & not in Arena Commander, is a betrayal of the core design of this game. This cannot stand. This cannot be the way this game continues.
Please, undo this nightmarish event which forces everyone into PvP, and rebalance it so that those that do not wish to partake in this senseless violence, don't have to do so to get a reward, that specifically calls out the PvE hostile faction.
