David Corbett
   |
Posted - 2006.06.24 19:15:00 -
[1]
Well, I don't know what the 'secret answer' to defeating BoB is, but I'm pretty certain that it's not posting yet another thread about them. I've seen a lot of people on this forum instigating for a BoB vs. ASCN or a BoB vs. D2 or BoB vs. LV or any permutations thereof campaign of attrition or whatever. I get the feeling that they only want to do this because such a war would result in plenty of targets for 'unaffiliated small-unit PvPers' (read: lame gankers) and an ability for smaller alliances, outclassed by any of the bigger alliances, to assert their influence.
However, when it coems to big alliances in EVE, I am reminded of the downfall of the Curse Alliance. That was, to my recollection, mostly internal, as all great alliance collapses claim to be. They were also going through a massive war with just about everyone in EVE; all the way from oldschool SA/SE to FA to XF to (IIRC) BoB, and no doubt many others. I would suggest that the internal differences had a far greater chance to manifest themselves thanks to the war, but I'm fairly certain theirs was an extreme example, to say the least.
Most alliances - indeed, all successful ones - in times of peace can gloss over the differences and work them out. The point of a large-scale alliance war, in my opinion, is to demoralize and disorganize alliances to such a point where the previously bearable internal differences become unbearable. This is as opposed to hunting down every lone alliance member stuck in a SS with a stabbed up Kestrel or something similarly pathetic after stripping every single POS and secure can from the region.
I am of the belief that BoB has always understood something like this, though I may be wrong. If you ever get around to reading DB Preacher's excellent history of RKK articles, you will notice that they are clear on some of their historical points during the GNW. One that sticks out especially in my mind was their forum campaign designed to give opposing PA members their side of the story and reveal exactly how well the war was, or was not, going for them. BoB certainly has not abandoned this, if you recall all their spoon posts.
Now on to the point. BoB right now is very powerful not just because of the fact that they own excellent real estate or lots of T2 BPOs or other things that you can measure wealth with, though I would suspect that those would play a part. One of the things that is incredibly important in alliance warfare is MORALE, and BoB has that in spades. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this, but a caveat would be that said morale would not be there if they were no good at combat and lost all their battles. Their morale, skill, and assets are all part of their strength, as is their organizational structure, which has proven efficient time and time again, and their leadership, which seems to me to be rock-steady. All these threads stroking their ego certainly don't hurt, which is why I am of the opinion that they are (to opposed entities, anyway) counterproductive.
How to defeat BoB? Well, you'd have to find a way around the fact that they have almost all of the advantages going for them. They have good pilots in experience and SP terms, good leadership, good equipment, good space, and good numbers for their playstyle. People are often bitter about this, but they shouldn't be, because BoB acquired all this as honestly as it comes. A better question to put forth would be WHY to defeat BoB - I don't think any of the major alliances are in any way interested in it, right now, and it'll take a lot more than just some narcotic-inspired post alt.
|