Intergalactic Summit

Woah, woah Arrendis. From the perspective of the pilot participation in the militia conflict makes complete sense. It's a good source of income, a great primer for all the skills required to become a combat pilot who specialises in killing Capsuleers - still the deadliest game in New Eden, and it also provides one with near-instant credibility as a Loyalist for your birth nation. With time one can even 'convert' to a different nation through dilligent service - I know plenty of people who have done this.

Even though I've long since ceased to believe that I can actually profit the State through service in that arena, the profit that I gained through service is undeniable. I adopted a 'Knights of Space' attitude during my time in the militia that meant I didn't even need to carry the emotional burden of three years of near-constant warfare - your opponents are simply 'the other team', the neutrals you kill are 'pirates' and the gain and loss of terrain carries roughly the same stigma as losing a match of Splinterz.

To be honest, I feel less like the pilots are being abused and more like they're taking advantage of a very generous system.

Not for nothing, Pieter, but that's bunk. There are plenty of other places to learn those skills, and make more of a profit doing it. What's more, the capsuleer becomes used to actually working with others, of being part of a cohesive group, instead of being a lone stalker. And while yes, there are some groups—like PYRE—that provide that, they aren't the majority of the participants. For most, you just go down to a militia-run station, sign up, and get access to a new channel on the neocom. No guidance, no training, just 'welcome aboard' and get out there looking for someone to murder.



That's because it is just a sporting event, Pieter. But do you really think most of the baseliners on those ships are thinking 'ok, the other team is trying to score, I hope they don't' when 'scoring' involved hull ruptures and venting bodies into vacuum? Most of the baseliners are there because they're zealots, because they are True Believers in The Cause™. They're Kim, without the jacks. And as she herself demonstrates, a fair number of the eggers involved are no less devoted to fighting for their ideals. Sane or not, misguided or not, they'd be out there doing it one way or another because that is what they believe they should be doing.



I never said the pilots were being abused. I said their activities are pointless. And they are. Nothing done in the 'warzone' arenas matters one little bit. The only thing it does is provide a defined area for 'you are here and not on my side, so I will kill you'.

And this announcement from Fading Light is nothing different. "You are here and not on my side, so I will kill you."

It only feeds the goals of the CEWPA. It gives the empires more evidence that the system works. It cannot succeed, and so is just as pointless and futile as any attempt to actually conquer that space.





It does plenty of harm. The question is: would removing the CEWPA do more, or less? So far, there's no indications of 'less'.

If you want peace, you have to be willing to trust

And Lo! No answers, no substance, just more platitudes.

If you want peace, remember that having everyone involved waste all of their time arguing on the Galnet instead is the next best thing?

Drat, our master plan has been identified! Back to the drawing board...

I kid, of course. It's merely a bonus.

I think you've demonstrated you have no plan, merely a set of justifications for slaking your own bloodlust.

Someone still has to explain to me how the Sov Shuffle differs from the Pendulum War in anything but scale, anyhow.

Yes I took position.

Yes I enjoy to deflect.

You are in error if you think I must defend my answer to satisfy your needs.

Carry on.

I'm not a fan of either, but there's an argument to be made that Sov actually does matter a bit. It's largely a matter of scale, sure, but it's an important one. The sheer industrial output of a developed nullsec area along with the sheer number of lives spent on the resource that is a nullsec system is so vastly superior to anything in the Pendulum wars that it's like comparing candles to stars.

And of course, the important part (to me at least): Once you strip some of the pompous nonsense from public statements and claims of 'Empire building' and all that nonsense, Sov warfare has honest motivations. They want riches and wealth. They want power and territory. They want bloodshed and war. It's instigated by capsuleers, for capsuleers, and no one else. It matters because they say it does. It truly matters to them.

The Pendulum War is a lie. It's a pretense of mattering. Fight for the State! Fight for the Rite! Fight for the Slaves. Fight for the Free. Fight for a cause!

Fight for unadulterated horse manure.

The flags you put down? They don't matter. They don't deny anyone else resources or gain any for your own. The only thing that changes when the pendulum swings is who is dying the most or taking a breather in their stations.

Sov warfare, however much I find it tedious and worthy of loathing, is at least somewhat honest. It matters to those involved for real reasons. It matters because the people aren't dying over a lie. They die over honest greed, powermongering and more. Disgusting, but real.

@Arrendis: Don't do that. In this case, guilt by association is a real thing. Enabling death and destruction may be one step away from pulling the actual trigger, but that step is very short and it's not a path that can't be traced directly back to you. You are better than that, take responsibility for who and what you are. You know that is important.