Ponderous Thunderstroke
Minmatar
Eve University
Ivy League
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Posted - 2007.03.04 10:11:00 -
[1]
Always, what's more important than what is written is what's not written. So far, in this writer's opinion the war against MC-BoB hasn't really started yet. There's been a lot of probing on all sides, but most of the savagery has been in the RA/Goons/TCF vs. LV front. Now that LV has been knocked out, my opinion is that consolidation will continue in the southeast with some raids and reprisals until the 'coalition' is ready to move forward in force again.
But as I said, what's not written. Logistically, so far MC-BoB has the advantage. They themselves have not suffered serious losses, and their core systems (some of the most lucrative in the game) are solid. What works against them though, is that they have hostile forces on 3 sides. LV collapsed before BoB could deal a telling blow against the invaders from the North. If they could have knocked the North out with heavy losses, this war would be decidedly tilted in BoB's favor. Instead, they still have the united NAPpies in the fight from the north. The southern 'coalition' threatens the SE, and BoB's pet mercs are matched against a force that is easily their equal in AAA.
The unwritten facts are that BoB & friends are numerically outnumbered on all fronts by angry mobs bent on their complete destruction. Some like the RA and Goons will undoubtedly fight to the last newbie frigate and while dismissed as rabble by some, they seem to have good resources. There is no way I ever see either of them quitting the fight under any circumstances. BoB has the advantage of defending an area they hand-picked to claim SOV over. They know the choke points and their regions are very lucrative for their tenants to exploit.
BoB can't be everywhere, however. Their numerical disadvantage leaves them open to simple blobbing. Now that the 'feature' on how BoB miraculously recovers from nodecrashes is widespread knowledge, their ability to magically destroy much larger attacking blobs arrayed against them will be much lesser. People like K(censored)men are exposing all of BoB's tricks and as a result, their enemies are learning to recognize and counter them. By tricks, I'm not talking illegal chicanery, I mean carefully researched and tested use of game mechanics, which BoB has proved masterful at. BoB also still has the advantage of possessing a driven cadre of some of the most battle-tested and experienced (SP-wise) pilots in the game.
I am 3 months into this game as a paying customer. I have followed the game for approximately a year through friends and third-party forums. You'd be surprised how many people are fans of EVE but do not play, and how closely the politics, battles, and personalities are followed outside of the game. This is what brought me into it, and I am super glad I did at the time I chose to, because this looks to be an awesome spring and summer coming up for EVE. I freely admit to not having 'all the facts' at any given time. I further freely admit that my observations are likely flawed in some respects, and that if I was leading an alliance or corp based on them, we'd possibly be mining Veld next week in Rens. I am 'for' the underdogs in this case, all the forces arrayed against BoB & friends, because I believe they were getting too strong and need to be knocked back before they became too strong for anyone ever to overcome. But I'm also not afraid to admit what's what, and if BoB wins out, you won't hear me crying HAXX. Good fights and happy flying to all involved. And sorry for the wall of text -- once I get going, I go...
[I am not in any way speaking for my corp or alliance, both of which are probably going to put my genitalia in a blender for posting here]
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