Nothing but thoughts on Eve Online

Welcome to the twenty-fifth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month’s topic comes to us from @Tetraetc – “Tetra’s EVE Blog” – who asks: “Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? Imagine a Null Sec where anyone could build outposts, wherever. Would the reduction of the Alliance game mechanic, and the removal of the sovereignty game mechanics (and the modifcation of it from Alliance level to Corp level for that matter) force more PVP into Null sec, or would giant power blocs like the NC still form themselves?”

My Response:

I say, “no, PvP has not been limited.”  Here is why (and it’s a long “why”):  ISK has value.  It takes labor and time to accumulate it.  If you want to experience all Eve has to offer, you need a fair bit of it.  It’s painful to lose, and when someone destroys assets you purchased with your ISK, you’re right put off.  Unfortunately, the chances of losing assets is high when you have only yourself to depend on.  Therefore, we ISK-lovers take steps to protect our ISK:

1. We relocate to locations where the potential to earn good ISK/hour is high, which is a form of risk mitigation.
2. We partner with other like-minded pilots who realize that it’s better to live in a pack than alone to protect those assets.
3. We either welcome the combat-minded to protect our industry, or we welcome the industrious to furnish us with the logistics to facilitate our combat.
4. We like our autonomy, but recognize that it’s good to have friends, so our packs create friendly relationships with other packs, which will come to each other’s aid when needed.

This has in fact happened in Null-Sec, and the presence of an alliance and sovereignty game mechanic is not required for it to exist.  There were clans in MMORPGs well before developers coded tools to facilitate them. If there was no alliance game mechanic in Eve, pilots would still congregate, and would use lists, and the standings system, and meta-gaming tools to organize.  Even if there wasn’t a sovereignty mechanic, you’d know whose system was whose when you jumped in and were accosted by the pilots who are fleeted to protect industrial operations of their colleagues.  Dissolve alliances and sovereignty, and you won’t have a free for all or a uniform distribution of pilots, with 7-8 in each of the 5000 systems that make of New Eden.  You’ll have a more nebulous mob rule that operates from stronghold systems.  All you need is for a few of those mobs to get well organized, practice some diplomacy, and set engagement rules (NRDS or NBSI) and you’re on your way to the present.

I would argue that not only is there plenty of PvP to be had in Null-Sec, that PvP has a real purpose.  It is in defense of your livelihood, your home, and your security.  Sure, it is often fun and often for sport, but when it comes down to it, we form massive fleets because they’re the best way to assure our own security and prosperity.  We play to win.  Why else would we play?

With regard to roleplay, I recognize that holds appeal for some.  While Eve has a rich canon of storyline and lore, this type of roleplay can be hard to achieve, since not everyone you come across in Eve is interested in participating.  This is because the real roleplay in Eve is contained in the drama that can be found in the struggles between alliances, coalitions, pirate corporations, mercenary groups.  The very mechanics with which some seem to have such a problem provide a stage for the best immersion of any MMO anywhere.  No game marries real life mechanics like politics, greed, loyalty, ambition, business management and family with make-believe mechanics like internet spaceships and warp theory, just to name a few.

In conclusion, there are many different flavors of Null-Sec, and you’re likely to get a different feel no matter where you go.  Some areas are extremely secure for inhabitants, and are always struggling to find a balance between plenty of neutral hostiles to keep the locals from getting restless, and relative safety to protect ISK-producing operations and logistics.  Some areas are on the borders of two hostile alliances or coalitions, and are deadly.  Others have less capable defense fleets and intelligence networks, and neutrals have great success harassing the locals.  There’s PvP to be had practically everywhere, no matter what side you’re on.  Just remember, in Eve, there’s no such thing as a fair fight.

Participants:

1. CrazyKinux’s Musing: EVE Blog Banter #25: And by Alliance you mean…..?
2. BB25 What sov changes will come? | A Mule In EvE
3. Confessions of a Closet Carebear: Alliances and Sovereignty
4. Blog Banter 25: Nerfing Nulsec « OMG! You’re a Chick?!
5. Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? | Nitpickin’s
6. Blog Banter #25: Alliance and Sovereignty Limiting PvP in 0.0? | Sarnel Binora’s Blog
7. Blog Banter #25 – Mad Haberdashers
8. Alliances and sovereignty | Eve Online Focus
9. …Shall we not Revenge?: BB 25: What if the Alliance vanished?
10. Blog Banter: Alliances and Sov
11. EVEOGANDA: BB25: Sov ‘n Go!
12. » TBG:EBB#25 – Alliances and Sovereignty To Boldly Go
13. Freebooted: BB25: Leviathans of the Deep
14. Wrong Game Tetra ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
15. EVE Blog Banter #25 – Human nature what art thou? | Way of the Gun
16. Who cares about Sov? – Hands Off, My Loots! ~ well sorta like an entry! :p
17. The 25th EVE Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty – The Phoenix Diaries
18. Achernar: The space commute
19. Wandering the Void…my EvE musings. – Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty
20. (OOC) CK’s Blog Banter #25: How To Break EvE. « Prano’s Journey
21. Captain Serenity: Blog Banter #25 – Crappy mechanics
22. Helicity Boson » Blog Banter #25 Nullsec and sov.
23. BB #25 – “With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?”
24. Boom! Hull-Shot?: It’s the End of the Eve as We Know It
25. sered’s lives: EVE Blog Banter #25 – Size does matter
26. 25th EVE BB – Medieval Solutions to Spaceship Problems | Inventions of a New Eden Industrialist
27. More to come…