EVE General Discussion

I've been reading another thread recently about changes to lowsec and it has got me thinking about the roles of each area of space, and the kinds of players who go there. I believe it could be helpful to think of both player groups, and areas of space in this way when attempting to make improvements.

EvE's four areas are separated from each other by one distinction, that is security level, although wormholes bring extra differences.

High-sec:
The safest area of space, this represents land in this analogy. On the land you are able to run, walk, stand, or even lay down; the amount of effort you put in is entirely up to you. Certain people look for this type of environment in their games, these would be the people who never leave highsec in years of playing EvE. Many players would mock them for this decision, but how a player chooses to spend his time is entirely up to that player. Due to the fact that the effort level can be as low as you like, it is entirely possible for certain players to spend many hours logged in. There are carnivores and herbivores on the land, and plenty who eat both; the carnivores feed on other players, while the herbivores feed on what grows (PvE).

Low-sec:
Next down in terms of safety, this area is the shallow sea surrounding the land. The dangerous areas of space are all waters, as you must swim at all times to survive, unless docked. If you stop swimming, if you stop expending effort, you will die. Inherently a person only has a certain capacity to expend effort, so play sessions will not last as long as those of highsec players. In these waters are mostly predators, feeding on each other due to a lack of prey. As a result, there are plenty of parts of lowsec which are empty, and others that are near certain death. The shallow waters allow plenty of room for individuality or small group play, though large groups can exist here.

Null-sec:
Completely lawless. Null is the deep ocean. Here you move in a shoal to prevent being singled out by predators. You also have the opportunity to see threats from a distance, even further with friends, and hence can create large defended bases. The expanse of the ocean brings a form of safety, but it also provides no limit on the size of a potential threat. In a way, the effort to survive is shifted from the individual to the group. This brings its own type of player, one who is willing to put in effort while logged in, for the good of the group.

Wormholes:
Probably the toughest to come up with an analogy for, the closest I've got is rivers. Constantly moving, putting you near different places each day. The turbulence makes it more difficult to swim than in other areas, and so the effort to live here is even higher. Probably the most fun in my experience but most wormholers can tell you it can get tiring. Here there is room for groups of all sizes in the different classes. This attracts the type of player who likes to put in a lot of effort for the potential high rewards of wormhole space.

Improvements:
When thinking about improvements it is worth thinking of these differing player groups who live in each of the sec status areas. If EvE is to grow as a game, each area needs to appeal to the types of people who would naturally call these places home. For highsec this means accessible content of varying degrees of effort. For lowsec this means creating reasons for traffic through, to provide food for the predators there. I would suggest splitting up the empires with lowsec, creating islands. For null, there needs to be more conflict between groups, but with the cooperative mindset of most of the players there that is unlikely. I'd suggest there need to be more colossal fights that cause earthquakes in the political landscape, few groups currently hold too much power in their supercap fleets so they are practically unassailable without supercap support.

I don't propose to have all the answers, but hopefully this analogy helps when attempting to think about how the game could be changed to grow the playerbase of the various sectors.

Market speculation is in a way consensual pvp though, nobody forces you to make buy or well orders except your own desire to see a return. I'll give you that NPC null is different enough from sovereign null to be it's own entry, but I don't know enough to comment on those players. I'd wager it's the same types who would live in lowsec, only they prey on the sov dwellers instead, hot drops, roams etc. They have plenty of targets in a way.

It's right enough that everyone likes variety, but people have different limits. It makes sense to maintain the current distinctions between sectors, but keep in mind the player groups when designing improvements. I also don't doubt you have characters in null and high, I'm sure many do. They offer a lot of similarities even if protection in null is provided by the group.

Your analogy is about as much good as a frog with a guitar playing stairway to heaven.

In terms of ecological systems, I agree completely with your post.

EVE is, both in physics, and otherwise, a fluid environment.
Any action, anywhere, has repercussions throughout the system
Hydaulic pressure exerted at point A, causes fluid results at all points throughout the system.
No matter what you do, or dont do, you affect the whole.

And we have that,
highsec is safer relative to the others as barrogh pointed out,
However it's far from safe and the misconception that it is leads to some truly stupid losses resulting from complacency.

Nowhere here are you supposed to be safe, it's one of the defining things about eve that sets it apart from everything else on the market.

My initial reaction to your question is: if you want to eat fruit from a bush untroubled.....you are actually looking to play a different game, something other than EVE.

EVE is about conflict, competition, survival of the fittest.

In your context, EVE is about swimming, so you either sink or you swim.

So basically, you're telling me to go play something else. This mindset can only lower player numbers. I don't see that as a good business move.

Yes eve is about conflict, competition, etc. Eve is also about creating, and was about being a universe you could live in. Why can't eve have some land for those who like to be able to relax while still playing eve.

This article describes well, how all is interconnected in EVE.

https://interstellarprivateer.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-cycle-of-fear/

Higher numbers of people who are unhappy with eve and want to change it to wow would be a very bad business move.
I relax playing eve all the time, despite being in a non-stop combat environment, not because of that.

The idea that everything is interconnected is from boring old discredited systems thinking.
What people insist on calling 'everything' is actually one thing.

At this point in the post, you realize the OP is either a noob or is trolling. :)