EVE General Discussion

As a resident of lowsec, I can't resist to respond to this.

IMO the issue at hand isn't mining yield per se... our corp does activities in lowsec and while it doesn't make billions, it provides enough ISK (and fun) to be worth the effort. Now, we kind of guard our systems but people just passing through don't really harm our ISK income. In fact, those that visit the station may even contribute to our income by buying our stuff. Popping every ship coming over a gate might, in fact, harm our own business. This is why we don't camp gates often and if we do, we pick our targets. I'd rather roam the system looking for ratters and probers. People that keep to the gates/stations are not harming us in any way. There's no point in camping the gates unless we are moving valuable assets over it or something.

The only thing keeping people out of lowsec is proper organisation. People ratting solo tend to jump when a -10 sec stat character from 2003 drops into local, and for good reason if you are not looking to get podded. If you are not into lowsec just to PvP (but in there to make some bloody money), then there's no point in engaging an experienced pirate solo. It's more cost-effective to flee the system or warp around and get back after local cools down. Lowsec entrepeneurs can also counter with patience, the most deadly weapon in EvE. That means that you won't see them around for a while when local spikes.

It's kind of an "eb and flow" situation in lowsec. Fortune seekers come to make ISK, and start trouble by kicking other people out. This marks the system in the map window when looking for "Ships killed in the last 24 hours". In turn, this attracts pirates, giving the fortune seekers a hard time. So they jump the system, trying to give the pirates zero targets. After a while local dies down again and the blockade runners / ratters / campers will re-appear. Once you are aware of this flow and can manipulate it, low becomes far more fun. There are as many people in low, as low is fun to be in.