EVE General Discussion

Indeed, which is why work should not focus on CONCORD security status but on activities that characters engage in. I'd much rather see what % of characters were engaged in combat, missions, industry, mining, etc. as that would give one a better gauge of what systems in EVE needs attention and needs to be either boosted or reworked.

This whole obsession with security status is just dumb. People who harp on about it should go back to their PvE server

Boosting lowsec mission / exploration payouts will never work. It practically rains money in nullsec once you know what you're doing, but requires connections that take time to cultivate, as well as a willingness to warp away from whatever you're doing to go pvp when a roam starts or hostiles show up. Nevermind the fact that nullsec life is considerably easier than lowsec life - I was a -10 pirate for years before I joined by current corp and headed to Stain, and I can rat, anom, and explore away for hours at a time when things are slow; in lowsec I made all my money from wormholing because constant neut traffic made doing anything else unfeasible, I could make more money sitting on a gate shooting people.

People who can't or are unwilling to handle that kind of an environment are much better served in highsec. Lowsec was envisioned to be a kind of middle ground but as it stands right now there's no reason not to just head to nullsec - they're called nullbears for a reason you know :D.

The best thing that could happen to low is to give it a unique purpose. Factional warfare was a step in the right direction, as was PI in my opinion (which is actually possible in lowsec and more profitable than highsec). I've seen plenty of good suggestions on these boards as well.

I am one that tried lowsec for the possibility of making more money. Heck, I still have a base of operations and a jump clone out there that I use from time to time.

However, while the rewards for missioning are higher in lowsec...they really aren't when you factor in everything.

First of all, you can't mission in your hi-end, pimped out pimp ship....the one that deals huge amounts of DPS to specific rats. A Drake is probably your best 'low-end' isk-wise ship to do lvl 4's. However, A Drake has issues as well...it is slow to jump and very easy to scan down. Therefore, A Tengu is your best bet...but if you lose it...it is expensive while a cheap drake fully insured is much cheaper. Because you are not missioning in a pimped out mission runner, your mission completion rate will be slower and your bounty will be lesser making it comparable to hisec.

Second, you must constantly spam your dscanner and watch local. This takes effort and so could detract from your efficiency. You must ALWAYS be paying full attention...no watching "The Walking Dead" while missioning. This can be fun but it wears on you more so you mission less...cutting your income.

Third, the market is usually slim and so you must bring in stuff like ammo. Not a big deal but it is still a distraction/loss of efficiency.

Fourtth, you will lose ships. Not as many as you think but it will happen from time to time...lessening profits plus you need to logistics replacements.

Fifth, traveling to and from mission sites/systems takes more time as you need to be careful. Still a loss of efficiency.

Sixth, salvaging is lessened. Just not worth it usually.

Seventh, you really need a stealth alt to watch for gate camps. You can't just go jumping through gates...you have to know what is on other side.

Next, you can get pinned from time to time meaning you can't mission. Some times a group just takes a liking to you and messes with you so you have to play another toon until they go away (you don't log off as then they know when you come back...best to bore em to death camping your toon while you play another toon.

I;m sure I'm missing some, but you get the idea. The greater rewards of losec are pretty much eaten up by less efficiency. IME, I can make about the same as hisec...maybe a bit more...but from a pure isk-analytic cost/benefit analysis it doesn't pay for the increased risk.

I don't dual acct when missioning in hisec...but many do. I imagine this would be MUCH more difficult in losec...and so people that do this in hisec find this makes losec even less attractive isk-wise.

I still do it from time to time but more for the variety/spice than the isk.

I've tried lvl 5's...but they always seem to be camped. However, I haven't REALLY tried to give lvl 5's a shot so maybe there are agents out there not perma-camped.