EVE General Discussion

So I posted a few days ago about how great this community is and how helpful everyone had been. And for the most part that is still very true. It was funny though I had a few different players come right out and mail me in game warning me about the amount of trolls this game actually does produce. Well we have now ran into a number of those trolls. But no worries every MMO has them. You know the type, get farmed if they actually try play against other players of Equal or at least close to Skill point amount.

But here is my question, So after a bit of study and doing all i can to learn the game and PvP specifically it seems to me that there really is NO skill involved. It's just who has the most Skill Points (more importantly the RIGHT skills leveled) and who has FIT their ship accordingly. Am I way off base here or is that pretty accurate. It's more knowledge then actual Skill.


Again I'm not trying to call into question any vet's I really would like to know, Gathering Knowledge and being educated on something is a skill in and off itself as well. I just feel Eve is more the preparation up to the fight then the actual fight itself.


D,

Having more skill points only gives you the advantage of having more options than someone that starts out fresh. After that, it comes down to the experience (when it comes to fitting the ship, flying and combat) that the player have.

There's only five levels. It stops after that. You'll never train the most time consuming skills anyway because they just involve space dongs and pseudo space science. And that's what alts are for.

A guy who has tonnes of pvp experience can start a new character, and within a week, totally **** up a guy with tonnes of skills and little pvp experience. End of.

In fact, any mmo for which this doesn't hold true dies a swift death.

So would you say my understanding of EvE's PvP is correct then.

Knowledge Trumps all, while SP and fittings help. There really is no real SKILL involved in the PvP encounter. It has been decided before it even began, due to the right fittings and the RIGHT skills put in.


Keep in mind im talking very small scale PvP 1v1 to 5v5 type of fights. Not your 4k mass battles.



D,

Tell us more about your theories on personal defense against trolls and other undesirables.

So you're saying that there's no skill in arranging the battlefield and choosing your encounters in such a way as to ensure your success?

What's your definition of "skill," anyway?

EVE isn't twitch-gameplay. The 1s server tick ensures that. If your definition of skill is based around quick reflexes, of course you won't see EVE as a skill based game. But then you're also excluding Chess from the realm of "games of skill."

Personally, I have always thought knowledge, knowing what you are doing, is more powerful than the skills themselves.

For instance, there are mission runners who never PvP that have the same amount of skill points as die hard PvPers. A lot of those mission runners also have the same skills trained to do their missions as well, ie shield or armor tanking and gunnery skills and so on. If they decided to duel, chances are, the person with the PvP experience would wipe out the mission runner, even if they had the exact same fits and ships and all that because the PvPer knows how to effectively use those skill points in PvP.

Like I said, knowledge is power.

Not really. Skill points matter, sure, but talk to anyone who knows their PvP and they will recommend specializing in a ship ASAP. This is to remove the skill point advantage. Beyond that, more SP just means you can specialize in more things, and have a more varied and colorful game experience.

Beyond that is knowledge, skill, and luck. Knowledge is passively knowing, being able to recall, find, or otherwise obtain relevant facts about ships/situations. Skill is actually applying said knowledge. Luck just happens.

Suppose I aim to destroy a Punisher intruding in my home system by using a Rifter.

Knowledge is knowing that he does EM/thermal damage, so I am better off with an armor tank. He also has poor tracking and only two mid slots, which I should capitalize on to reduce incoming damage, since the Punisher is much tankier than my Rifter, and in a straight slugfest he would probably kill me. Skill is actually composing the fit to do that, and fine-tuning it appropriately.

Knowledge is knowing the theory behind how the directional scanner works. Skill is actually finding the Punisher's location before he finds mine.

Knowledge is being aware of transversal/tracking mechanics, along with range mechanics. Skill is getting close to the Punisher and staying there. Hint: pushing the "orbit" button is not enough.

Knowledge is knowing the countermeasures a Punisher can use to take care of someone like me trying to break his tracking.

Knowledge is understanding the parties involved and the chances a fight will go either way. Skill is actually making it happen, especially when the chances are non-stellar, and keeping it cool while you do so.

Some people play Eve utilizing only knowledge and no skill; that's true. You can find them followed around by off-grid link alts and jamming alts, or maybe just running around in disorganized huge groups that depend on strength in numbers. You can also find many of little PvP skill in those huge epic fleet battles in nullsec you hear about so often. They just need to do what they're told; the knowledge and skill is the fleet commander's.

I hope this clears things up somewhat.

You're in a Firetail fitted with autocannons. A Hawk is landing on grid with you. Do you fight, or run away? If you stay, how do you fight? Do you maintain high transversal? Should you activate your MWD or not. What ammo is he going to be using; did you plug that resist hole? What ammo should you use against a Hawk, and did you bring any of it? Is he going to be shield or armor tanked? You have less than 10s to answer these questions, while also clicking dscan to see who else is coming.*

Thats just the start of the fight. And that's just a 1v1 manly fight. You'll have just as many if not more questions that need answering every few seconds into the fight. If you're in a fleet, then the questions that need answering are magnified. If you are the FC, then those questions will come at you faster and the answers may mean victory or a whelp of your fleet.

Being able to answer those questions correctly and fast is far more important than your SP.

*(full disclosure, I didn't answer those questions fast enough and some of my answers were wrong. The Hawk won).