Rene De'Labou
S-Words And Snakes
Shadow of Fate
10
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Posted - 2012.12.02 05:12:00 -
[1] - Quote
We are now witnessing the extinction of the "elite PvP" alliance, though they are not going without a fight. Eventually Super Coalitions of Alliances will be the generally accepted practice in EVE, the term blob will no longer be a perjorative term. But there is still much road to travel before an actual competitive force rises to meet what some coalitions are already benefiting from this level of organization. On that road there will be many stops along the way to acceptance, one such stop could very well be a pronounced uptick in Mercenary invovlement in Null Sec politics.
Having read over the history of EVE there are many examples of small mercenary groups even an alliance or two popping up and being useful. The Great War in EVE for example saw some very prominent actions before political bickering lead to dissolution of a Client-Contractor relationship. After that there trail began to ran cold or very well my research skills are not up to snuff being a new person to EVE.
We also see plenty of flash in the pan announcements about "Merc's For Hire" advertisements in local, recruitment and posts here on the forum. It is usually comprised of a few members, or if its an existing entity in Null or Hi Sec its membership simply isn't large enough to register an impact on the virtual battlefield of EVE. Mercenary groups for the most part are either ignored, written off, or simply fail to register as a threat worth sending a major fleet after. They are currently best suited to harassment actions like camping, bombing and generating mails that your structure is under attack. Again this is nothing new to any pilot in Null Sec.
It also should be no great revelation that Null Sec politics themselves never made mercenary contracts a viable option. First the attitude of "elite PvP" makes using mercenaries incompatible with long held dogma. Second, have been historic problems with Client-Contractor relations. Large alliances expecting much from small mercenary groups, client fleets retreating and abandoning their mercenary fleets to the enemy, client organizations taking credit and marginalizing mercenary victories. These two problems should sound like mercenary work simply has no appreciable or practical place in EVE. Simply put anyone starting a mercenary group just came up with a really bad idea proven to impractical. That is until the birth of Super Coalitions and their organizational success in dominating Null Sec.
While your current "Elite PvP" alliance abhors forming large coalitions of blues, lacks the diplomatic skills to do so, or simply forms a coalition of "elite PvPers" with no appreciable growth in numbers to match the threat before them, mercenaries don't face such problems. What matters to the mercenary is the payday. Does the client have money? Will the client carry out their end of the arrangement? Can the mercenaries effectively carry out a mission and chalk one up in the win column to tout as a reason to be hired in the future?
In the past when alliances were the primary force in Null Sec, before the dawn of these incredibly large coalitions a mercenary outfit could be a boon on the battlefield. It certainly helped BoB till they caused their contractor to leave in disgust over internal politics. Now with these super coalitions a single Mercenary Alliance won't do. An actual Mercenary Coalition, not an alliance simply called Mercenary Coalition, is required to ensure the paydays keep coming in. Since mercenaries are not bound by dogma or "honor" they will be the ones to really build up coaltions. Now BoB being representative of the "honor" culture in EVE was fine with hiring mercenaries. Its an acceptable practice when you think about it, all great empires in history have used mercenaries. While some like Machievlli did not approve of relying on mercenaries as the primary means of maintaining power, he also recognized their usefulness.
So what does that mean for the current "elite pvp" crowd out there. Well if they can put together a body of their best pilots in a sizeable and appreciable force, they can supplement their force projection by contracting out to a super coalition of mercenary alliances. It permits them to have another ally on the field that won't doom them to being forever blue. Instead the promise of perhaps one day fighting the very people they contract means good fights and a dynamic political situation to keep things interesting. Couple that will new rewards for mercenary coalitions like SOV. Now you have a group of people that can be called upon when the chips are down, but also have a nearby group of people you can shoot at that don't take it personally. After all one clients isk is as good as another and mercenaries simply engaged in "good fights" find them to be just that. People stay sharp, enjoy a wild west atmosphere of friends one day, foes the next.
Imagine a number of mercenary coalitions popping up in the North and South of Null Sec. Each holding small "feifdoms" of SOV, politically neutral yet an available ally when things start to go pear shaped. "Elite PvP" has its option of engaging in clever politics, defending its assets, and having someone to fight in boring times. Most importantly mercenary fleets mean less SOV grinding fleets. Mercenaries can be paid to do it, mercenary fleets mean actual fleet engagements since they are paid to find and kill you, and by the nature of mercenary work only the most reliable will develop and stick around over time. Certainly if this stop is made onto the path of accepting HBC or Goon-like coalition sizes, we should see some interesting times in Null Sec and its politics. |