Intergalactic Summit

The duelling culture in New Eden, in defence of “battleships at dawn”

From time to time we’ve all seen it happen. Pilots come to virtual blows on IGS or (in the old days) CAOD, tempers flare and in the height of passion come the words “I challenge you to a duel.” Now some may see this as a ridiculous anachronism, the concept of starships fighting single combats against the tapestry of stars. What about the crews? What about the humanity of the captains? What is settled by this anyway? All reasonable questions so let’s look a little deeper into the history of duelling in New Eden.

At root the capsuleer is a larger than life hero. We are Captains; the leaders of starships, and even the youngest pilots may well have a crew of a dozen or so on their tech1 frigate while they are out mining their first mission ore. And the name of each captain becomes an indelible part of the history of New Eden with every act and choice they make.

Some will sink off into obscurity and retire planetside; some will remain in shadows of the void content to live their life in peace and quiet. But others, (and generally always with prominent IGS speakers) will seek something more – the notoriety and fame that brings their name in lights to New Eden. This is the secret spice of the capsuleer lifestyle that some crave and others become addicted to.

So where does the duel come into this?

Well it’s a proof of courage and personality that a captain is prepared to put aside the advantages of their corporation and fleet and stand out alone and face an enemy in a test of arms. It shows commitment and it displays a few positive attributes that are important if any mutual respect between combatants is to arise in the future.

The very act of preparing a ship and meeting your enemy in a duel pays an awful lot of respect to your opponent. It says that both are more than simply empty forum noise coughing out imprecations on the IGS/CAOD or wherever. Both captains are people of substance, who have the courage of their convictions, who are players of the great game of politics in New Eden not just cheap insult proxies and throwaway mouthpieces amongst the forum hurly-burly. Both are taking part in a ritual that’s older than spaceships and modern weaponry, which goes back to the nature of leadership and reputation itself. Why would men follow anyone who lacked the courage of their convictions in this way? It’s a primal question.

But why the duel itself?

Well, as we all know New Eden rewards treachery and cunning traps. Whoever can bring the biggest fleet, lay the tastiest bait, play dirtiest, take all the advantages and none of the risks will generally win out. ECM, damping, disruption, jump bridging, neutral logistics, speed-kiting, target fritzing the lot. Space combat is a matter of never giving a sucker an even break and its always been this way. Its harsh, its brutal, and when two tribes go to war generally one of them gets brutalized and losing their ships without firing effective shots back. All the greatest victories the Star Fraction ever achieved in space generally came from surprise attacks, flanking manoeuvres’, cunning employment of tech and frankly brutalizing enemies, putting bags over their heads and kicking them mercilessly until they stop moving.

In some campaigns the height of our achievement is to project an unscoutable blacktops hotdrop of 20 bombers to a cloaked neutral covops scout right into the middle of a ratting anomaly where an enemy Paladin was making isk. And that isn’t a fight – its the New Eden equivalent of putting a cyanide-laced pillow over an old man’s face in the hospital then stabbing him twelve times for good measure. But that’s war. Its brutal and nasty and its challenging yes, but does it really give us everything we want from propaganda and publicity? Does it get us close to the measure of our foes and look them in the eye before the blade goes in? I’m inclined to think not.

You see duelling traditionally has also been used for other purposes in war. I remember way back when JF got involved in a lopsided empire conflict with Forsaken Empire in the first year of the Diaspora. They were flying Battleships, we were flying cruise missile Breachers. We skirmished up and down the spacelines losing frigates, occasionally taking down a battleship, neither side really got anywhere. CAOD was full of imprecations and boasts and insults and anger but it was clear the war couldn’t rewally end. So in the end we settled it with a clash of champions. Jade vs the FE champion in OBE system. With representatives of both sides looking on we fought a spirited single combat (that I luckily won) and the shook hands and ended the war. It turned a bitter business with no clear end or resolution into a climax and endpoint that allowed both sides to move on. In that instance it was a positive thing for all involved.

And this theme is a recurring one. Often when I’ve been involved in disputes that have gotten bitter on the IGS/CAOD and people are coughing out streams of vitriol about the cowardice of the enemy being logoff/dockmonkey/speedkiter/cloakfiend/jumpwanker/blah/insert x thing you don’t like –ites you’ll find that two pilots from either side of the fence can agree to fight a single combat and restore a little dignity and modicum of mutual respect to proceedings because pretty much everyone of character tends to respect the mythology of the duel in their secret heart however much they might deny it in public. It does demonstrate courage and the willingness to fight without overwhelming odds and tricky sleight-of-hand finesse. It says “I am not scared of you.” It signals “this is a captain with the backbone to fight.”

In New Eden you cannot really bankrupt an enemy out of space (well not anymore). You can kill any number of ships and purge entire colonies of skilled crewmen, you can camp people in the stations, you can infiltrate and steal from their hangers. But you cannot promote a reputation for courage and leadership purely by doing this.

But when you are prepared to stand up and challenge another to fight an even fight in a ritualized spaceship duel and suddenly we are on different ground with entirely higher stakes. If they refuse, well they can be accused of cowardice. If they accept (and cheat) good heavens, not only are they are coward but a bounder too! If they accept (and lose gracefully) well, you’ve actually given them a bit of reputation. And if they beat you in the duel, well, they’ve won something in the realm of reputation that cannot be bought with isk at all and must be treasured above everything.

So I think it helps to see the duel in the context of gambling with reputation. It transcends isk and possessions and gets involved purely in the realm of personal standings, honour and name against the backdrop of the capsuleer Disapora in New Eden.

And for a leader of a corporation or alliance it’s a wonderful opportunity to add a bit of colour and reputation to your leadership style. I acknowledge that some may want to promote a reputation for ninja-style never fight a fair fight cunning and betrayals etc and that’s fair enough. But for a leader who likes to stand up in the stirrups and charge the horse straight at the enemy ranks and dare the rest of his unit to keep up if they can ... well, a reputation for courage can be a great motivator because people always find it easier to follow a leader who is prepared to do themselves what they expect of others.

And I think this sums up the importance of honor even in this age of combat pretty well. Thank you.

All of this is highly situational, and specific to the people facing off.

I've been beaten down by cheap shots and smacktalk with some people, only to share a drink with them and laugh about it later on that night.

I've also soundly defeated some with class and 'dignity', only to feel terrible about it later anyways.

*sigh*

At least until accusations of match rigging and corruption surface.

In my experience, self-professed "highly skilled pilots" are about the worst pilots you can get into a fleet. Not only do they do about as many mistakes as the average rookie, contrary to the average rookie they also think so highly of themselves that they tend to ignore advice and refuse to learn.

Such a quality is a result of lack of humility, really. That's a separate issue, however.

Explain. When two individuals duel with swords, there are only two candidates for death; this should remain so with capsuleer-versus-capsuleer duels in such a structured environment, yes?

Now this is nonsense. You sound more like a sociopath than a leader worthy of the devotion of their followers.