Originally by: Durzel

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The problem is players in EvE don't PvP on fair terms for the most part. When faced with the choice between flying solo in low-sec, and flying in a group, or camping a gate - which is the more desirable option? Which presents the least amount of risk to the pirate? Pirates don't want to lose their ships any more than their targets do - so people will always gravitate towards scenarios that minimise their risk and maximise their reward. Currently that means gatecamps, copy-and-paste nano fits, blobbing, and so on.

I used to play a game called Planetarion - a game that was designed to be an all-vs-all, every man for himself game. Even though there weren't actual corps or alliances to speak of, unofficial alliances came into effect to ensure that the status quo of the most powerful players remained in effect. Said alliances formed "no attack" pacts with other groups of people until eventually the dominant unofficial alliance was unassailable, with nearly a hundred players all flying under one banner. Anyone who attacked a member got obliterated, and every member lived with almost total immunity from attack simply because no non-alliance member dared to attack someone known to be in said alliance, or friend of said alliance, or whatever.

My point is - so far as Eve is concerned - is that most pirates are not dissimilar from carebears, although they would never be prepared to admit it. They want to fly about with the least amount of risk to their uber ships & implant clones. They will choose the path of least resistance and maximum safety simply because it is human nature to do so.

Your average players experience of PvP in Eve therefore (i.e. not the epic 0.0 alliance warfare) is players looking to kill others by means that limit their risk whilst guaranteeing almost certain victory. Blobbing, gatecamping, Loftying (until recently), nano'ing, canflipping - all examples of PvP where the fight isn't "fair" but instead designed to ensure that the protagonist wins with little/no risk to themselves. Even wardecs where one PvP-centric corp wages war on a corp they already know to be no match for them is another example of PvP "carebearism".

Food for thought maybe?

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