Warfare & Tactics

We are sometimes prone to double-speak in eve … especially when something happens that we do not like.

Before I go on, my credentials: I am bad at eve, I am especially bad at PvP, but I’ve been around a while and have seen and done a lot of things in this game.

Target selection is a huge part of successful PvP in eve. For example I am usually happy to solo-tackle a Hurricane in my Pilgrim, but I leave Drakes and Ishtars well alone. Similarly I love the opportunity to tackle a svipul or two, but if they’re part of a 20-ship gang with their buddies waiting on the next-door gate then I stay vewy vewy quiet.

Similarly intel is also very important. For example I know certain characters to often be flying cyno ships and it’s the same ol’ TEST names that turn up to try and tarp me after I’ve managed to kill one of their brethren. I also keep eyes watching nearby systems and spies in some of my target’s corps. If my targets are formed-up and on a titan, or if their capital/supercapital hotdroppers are in ship and inspace, then I know it’s likely that my next juicy target is going to be tanked and cyno-fit.

Implants, boosters, and links are also important in allowing you to get the edge over your opponents. For a while I was using links to help my pilgrim by increasing its tank and speed, decreasing its effective size, and increasing the range of its point. That allowed me to get more kills because fast ships were less likely to be able to pull range and escape, I could keep them nearby long enough for me neuts to become effective.

Friends are also a huge benefit to PvP … be they other players or your own alts. A PvP gang is going to be able to kill a wider range of targets than any one member in isolation. Because TEST started destroying my anchored bubbles I woke-up a sabre alt and he’s been helping me out and, more so nowadays, getting more of the kills than I am.

So to me target selection, intel, performance augmenters, and friends are all legitimate things to improve your PvP. Why on earth would you be thinking that somebody who does all these things represents some sort of ‘cancer’ in eve? To me that guy is simply demonstrating half-intelligent gameplay and using the game dynamics and current meta to his advantage.

IMHO the cancer lies in the people who seriously suggest that sensible game-play is somehow a bad thing. Sure, there are folk who play disciplined solo-PvP with no boosts or scouts or buddies … and that is absolutely fine, it’s their choice. The folk who do that also seem to be realists, wishing for more pure-solo PvP but acknowledging that everyone plays eve differently and that it’s up to them to adapt and adjust to the various gameplays.

“His gameplay is pretty cancerous to EvE as it's 100% risk averse.” Nah, codswallop. He's undocked and he's engaging in small-gang PvP. It sounds like he's skilled, careful and tends to outsmart and outmanoeuvre most (all?) the people here. He also gets outsmarted from time to time. To my mind that's skill, not cancer ... the cancer lies in lazy incompetent players believing they somehow have a right to dominate over skilful players who put in the effort.

You completely missed my point. The counter to risk averse play is yet more risk averse play. Less content all around is the result. Running a second account that makes your entire gang 25-30% better in a half dozen categories has nothing to do with skill. The cancer lies with players who feel they have a right to dominate based on their RL cash investment rather than their in game choices and relationships. And with those who refuse to take a fight where they aren't assured of victory; those who are totally reliant on players with balls to bring them their content.