EVE General Discussion

I will never understand how people get this far in eve without being able to use google when they have a problem

In my opinion, a Carebear is someone that earns isk in game through PvE or non-destructive PvP. PvE activities include mining, industry, PI, running missions, incursions, ratting (belts or anomalies), plexing, POS S&I activities, etc. Non-destructive PvP typically implies station trading.

There is nothing innately pejorative about Carebearing... The derogatory tone is aimed at a subset of Carebears that feel entitled to only accrue wealth and assets in a riskless fashion. Since this is a sandbox, there is always an element of risk in most of EvE's activities (wardecs, suicide ganking, scamming, pirates, etc), and even the highly risk adverse are subjected to risks. The previously mentioned entitled carebears feel this is unfair, and strive to make their life riskless.... which is not only viewed as cowardly, but seen as a attack on the very Everyone vs Everyone foundation that makes EvE the wonderful game it is.

In short, Carebear, when used pejoratively, refers to highly risk adverse players that want their activities immune from interference by other players.

And that's why risk aversion is a poor trait to focus on, if you want to define "carebear." Everyone who's said that carebears are entitled to play how they want without having to take precautions, is saying that a carebear is someone who wants to do whatever they're doing without having to worry about risk--and therefor, about being risk averse--at all.

EVE has consequences. As long as it does, risk aversion is good strategy, and risk-averse people are playing the game on its terms (though those aren't the only terms under which you can play the game).

If I were to define "carebear" as a perjorative, it's someone in a multiplayer game whose vision of the game does not include other people intruding on their activity. That's an unreasonable expectation in any MMO, but it's beyond bizarre in EVE.

But that definition is not objective. Some people define everyone who primarily does PVE as a carebear. Some people define all high sec residents as carebears. Some people do, indeed, brandish it like a slur without any care for whether its targets meet any clear definition at all. Gizznitt's definition, above, is probably the most complimentary, and some players adopt that version to describe themselves.

"Bearing" is also (the least offensive word) used to describe PVE activity by anyone, almost always with the goal of making ISK.

This is the stereotypical carebear, I think the goal was to feel sorry for this guy. But well I think everyone here would rather just pop & pod him if someone like this logged into eve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMECGvP7UsY

That was painful to watch.

So now, for something completely different.

A carebear is someone who engages in any PvE activity, be it ratting and missioning, to mining, both moon and roid. Security status of systems is irrelevant in these situations, a bear is a bear.

The term Care bear cannot be defined or described in a few words. The qualification of the definition can mean different things to different people. Generally speaking Care bear is used to describe players with little or no interest in confrontational player versus player fighting.

The term is used in almost all MMO’s and also can vary on the level or scope of the definition. In EVE it is usually the industrialist that have spent all their skill points to make them a better producer and less effective at pvp combat.

People like to categorize miners as Care bears in an attempt to justify why they need to feed their ego killing a player who can’t fight back. After all it wouldn’t look like griefing if this was to be done to a group of players that were not hated or demonized.

Sooo true, and of course, so forgotten even amongst the so-called PVPers, who believe that PVP is akin to 18th century warfare in space, where everyone would line up opposite each other in fields (equal numbers of course, make it fair),wear bright red coats and take musket shots at each other. The warfare doctrine at the time considering warfare to be about fair, hoonourable fights. When really warfare is all about using what you got to get what you want. The solutions to blue powerblocs, afk cloaking, alliances hogging the moons, etc are all PVP yet will not be done because the 18th century style space warfare re creationists cannot think outside their box so whine to CCP, every bit as much as bear if you ask me.

To me a carebear is a risk adverse player. they are usually players who love to play EVE but dont like the standard PVP montra of null/low sec...
Though a carebear can really live in any space... like nullbears who do annoms and run for the hills when a nuet in frig cloaks in the system...

or simular a FW who runs when someone warps to thier plex...

or even in high sec for all the mission people who stay in npc corps to avoid war decs....

all these are risk adverse... though they do engage in passive pvp...

Carebears can be either casual or even hardcore...

Its not a bad term... it just describes a very important part of eve online...

though i do hope with fixes to bounties and kill rights and the ability to have concord sanctioned PVP (for high sec) i.e mini temp wardecs... this will help people take steps away from thier carebear ways and learn to enjoy loss as much as victory...