Nullsec has an approximate 11% decrease in kills between this month and last month, and a 16% decrease on June. Compared to last year this August is 11% down there too. Consider that there will also be no more big capital fights that end up in international non-gaming news sites, and it's hard to see how this is a good thing. I'm Imperium though so obviously I'm lying just to keep on making all that isk that I make trading in highsec.

It seems you took two numbers from a statistic and made an argument out of it. A decrease in kills does not say anything about the mechanics or the people experiencing the new sovsystem. The decrease could have some very different reasons. Secondly there will be big capital fights. People can always escalate with capitals and they will. Your picture of the situation is one-sided and i call that lying. The new system is revolutionary and it will draw more people to this game in the long term. CCP is doing the right thing and lets people participate in sovwarfare. That is how you make a game fit for another decade.

The stats are the stats. If the system promoted more fighting then they would be up. They aren't.

And while capital escalations might happen, they will be rare. None of the big groups want to play around with the dull mechanics enough to invade anyone and they certainly don't want to leave their systems with reduced defense so nullified frigates can come throw all of the timers, so you're unlikely to see many fights between two big groups escalating very far except for staged fights.

And can people really participate in sov warfare? Most small groups will be crushed by the bigger groups near them once the dust settles. Also, I don't know of many people that would say "a game where you can click a button then fly around a structure for 15 - 45 minutes? Count me in!"

What? How does the system promote more fighting? The optimal strategy is to avoid fights and go after as many points as possible at the same time hoping some of them get through while running away when engaged.

The numbers are decreasing because the mechanics are boring and most people don't want to use them. There are unclaimed systems just sitting there to be taken and people can't even be bothered to take them. Even these "small groups" are starting to complain about the dullness of the mechanics, and they'll complain more when the bigger groups settle and forcefully evict them.

And no, concluding after a month that these mechanics suck is not ridiculous. Even CCP seems to agree that a lot needs to be done to fix the problems we're seeing right now. It's just the waiting now for them to decide how to approach it.

We're not running away, that's what the attackers are doing. Defender have to commit to a fight, they have no choice if they want to keep their sov. Attackers have to commit to nothing.

And yes, CCP have made comments that seem to support what most of us are saying here. You should read reddit, for some reason CCP tends to respond a lot more there.