Science & Industry

Have the rest of you been seeing extreme changes in the amount of highsec ganking lately? It seems to me that due to the removal of clone cost, it has become too risky to fly an industrial ship or mine in anything but a procurer or skiff.

I've been playing for years without losing a ship in highsec while in an NPC corp, but I have lost multiple ships in the last month. It seems that flying an industrial ship with anything more than 10k of cargo has become too risky.

Yes, I know how to fit my industrial ship. I also know how to MWD/cloak/warp. Yes, I know I could just go play in Null. That's not the issue.

What I am really concerned about is a fundamental shift in the balance of the game for new players. We all like that EVE is a harsh environment, but I think things may have gotten too hostile now and we will lose even more new players than before.

So, my questions are:

• Have the rest of you been suffering higher losses in highsec lately?
• If so, how are you adapting?

Personally, I am taking a break from EVE because I feel like I can't enjoy the game on weekends and I am now too limited in my choice of play styles.

I didn't say "once". Why would you make that comment?

So, the answer for you is "No, I have not seen an increase". Thank you for your reply.

I have multiple accounts. Like almost everyone else. Think, man.

You're just looking for an argument. Do you want to win? I declare you the winner. Do you feel better now?

If anyone else has insight and experience to share, please do.

Using any of them is fine, but if you are going to quit the game because you can't figure out how to deal with gankers or can't be bothered to pay attention, then you should use a Procurer.

And don't tell me you were paying attention because you got podded, people who are paying attention certainly don't get podded.

Again, I've just asked a question. Seriously, your hostility is baffling.

I know that.

That wasn't the question.

You already answered the question.

Your answer was "No, I have not seen an increase in highsec ganking".

Thank you for your input.

There is no increase in ganking lately: https://zkillboard.com/corporation/1000125/stats/

If you look at CONCORD kills they are remarkably stable since the killboard API function allied them to be reliably pulled. That means they are probably still at an all-time low as remarked on by Dr. Eyjo in the CSM minutes a few years back.

You were just lucky before, or unlucky now.

Fly a tanked ship, or pay attention. This is the choice CCP wants to force on you by thier intentional inclusion of suicide ganking as a risk in highsec.

The clone cost had nothing to do with it. Pods are 100% savable in high and low sec (barring technical glitches or extreme drunkenness) and CONCORD does not pod anyway, so the pod clone costs are not a factor that influences ganking.

For most of 2012 the api was not providing CONCORD kills to the killboards. March 2015 had less CONCORD kills than April 2013. It perhaps is trending upwards (probably due to the multi-kills on freighter gankers), but it isn't extremely different within the variation.

If you plot the concord data it's definitely showing a general upward trend, so I'd have to go with "Yes, there's an increase in ganking". It would take a considerably deeper look to be sure though, as concord kills are indicative of how many gank ships were lost, not how many actual ganks took place. If I can ever find a good way of getting at bulk kill data, I'll look into it more closely.

EDIT: Oh and I transported 12b through highsec in a single run with a T1 unfit cruiser yesterday and didn't explode, so I guess it's not everywhere. :D