So what's the dividing line here?

At what point does a fleet become a blob? What's the deciding factor?

I have an opinion, but I'm more interested in the commentary of people who've actually participated in PvP fleet fights.

For the purpose of the argument, "any time you're simply outnumbered," shall be considered a cop-out answer, since fleet engagements historically have depended on either having numbers, or by having your enemy so outclassed tech-wise or tactically that he never stood a chance.

One uses the resources of an Alliance.
The other abuses the resource of lagg.

And no, during the war up north last year when giant fleets of titans were stomping around and threatening Deklein, I was in many fleets that fought outnumbered and accomplished all strategic objectives.

There is one main defining factor between "fleet" and "blob": order.

50 people following FC orders and having the exact ships/fits asked for will resemble a fleet. The same 50 dudes just camping a gate on a friday night with their favorite ships would look like a blob.

Of course, when severely outnumbered, even the most organized fleet will look like a blob since you can hardly notice the difference.

When you accuse someone of "blobbing", you are essentially saying they are throwing quantity over quality at you.

This statement actually illustrates part of what Im curious about. Since it's possible to take ****-tons of losses and still achieve objectives when one is prepared to do so.

My understanding, limited as it is is that a fleet is a mixed variety of ships in support of one another, caps supported by battleships, battleships supported by cruisers and all supported by recon/tacklers and cyno ships.

My idea of a blob is a massive glob of ships of either the same ship type or class with little to no variation that pretty much use the "if you can't fix it with a hammer, get a bigger hammer" approach. all alphaing the same target rather than having coordinated heirarchies with individual objectives.

Kinda like in starcraft when you make like 500 hydralisks and roll them out across the map all at once.

There is one main defining factor between "fleet" and "blob": order.

50 people following FC orders and having the exact ships/fits asked for will resemble a fleet. The same 50 dudes just camping a gate on a friday night with their favorite ships would look like a blob.

Of course, when severely outnumbered, even the most organized fleet will look like a blob since you can hardly notice the difference.

When you accuse someone of "blobbing", you are essentially saying they are throwing quantity over quality at you.

A fleet is where the FC calls you by your name.

A blob is where the FC calls out ship types.

I didn't say we lost the battles :).

I've been in fleets that fought outnumbered and straight up slaughtered the opposing fleet, and I've been in fleets that accomplished all objectives while losing on the field. This is a large part of why TEST and Goonswarm are so damn successful in their wars - unlike nearly every other alliance in EVE, members don't give a rats ass about K/D ratios, they care about winning the actual war. When denying station systems to an opposing force, losing a fleet or two is a small price for completely denying their ability to stage. In most other alliances, that would be a morale-killing "KB is red" moment that would cause everyone to think "OH GOD WE'RE LOSING!" without seeing the big picture.

I can't say I've been on the giving or recieving end of that particular thing, hence why I call them anecdotal accusations.

TiDi.

I've been on a 750 man fleet where the FC would call people out by name, FYI.

"x up for ___"

"Ok Johnny McDoe, I need you ____ doing ____".

Your definition is bad and you should feel bad.

My alliance had a discussion about this awhile ago.

You are merely "outnumbered" when the enemy brings 2 ships for everyone 1 of yours. You are "blobbed" when the enemy brings more than 3+ ships per 1 of yours.

Then we broke it down...

Ewar ships count as 2 "people."
You add 0.5 a person for every ship class above your fleet's average class.

My alliance had a discussion about this awhile ago.

You are merely "outnumbered" when the enemy brings 2 ships for everyone 1 of yours. You are "blobbed" when the enemy brings more than 3+ ships per 1 of yours.

Then we broke it down...

Ewar ships count as 2 "people."
You add 0.5 a person for every ship class above your fleet's average class.

Well this casts Rifterlings-LNA fights into a whole new light.

Silly blobbers.

Ed: What do OGBs count as?

edit: I hate acronyms. OGBs?