Intergalactic Summit

http://community.eveonline.com/news/news-channels/world-news/results-of-molden-heath-conflicted/



"We don't go to Molden Heath" jokes aside, I'm forced to question exactly why the Thukker Tribe seems surprised by this. At present, the only real interaction that capsuleers and clone mercenaries actually have besides charmingly awkward conversations on The Summit is the ability for capsuleers to stand in for war barges when providing orbital strikes, and this ability is currently only available to members of the four factional militias. Clone mercenaries and capsuleers really have very little else to offer each other at present. Apparently, clone mercenaries have not yet been cleared to execute attacks against a capsuleer's planetary infrastructure, nor to defend it.

Indeed, there isn't any economic or logistical infrastructure in place to allow a capsuleer to hire a squad of mercenaries, nor any compelling reason for a capsuleer to do so, and apart from increased variety of orbital strike munitions, the reverse is also true. Outside of small and often incomprehensible "bonuses" or "penalties" in factional warfare, capsuleers receive no tangible benefits or drawbacks whatsoever for the presence or absence of clone mercenaries, and outside of being able to request alterations to the tactical parameters of their orbital strikes, the presence or absence of capsuleers is of very little concern to clone mercenaries.

A discussion of the presence or absence of capsuleers in Molden Heath, then, really revolves around the same factors that affected the attractiveness of Molden Heath as a region before the clone mercenaries were given leave to occupy territory on its planets - for diplomatic reasons, those factors will not be discussed herein. Simply put, the situation in Molden Heath has not changed for capsuleers by any measureable degree, the factor of cloned mercenaries being all but completely irrelevant to the matter. We have no significant way to interact with them - and more importantly, no significant way to benefit from them - and this is what needs to change if the Thukker Tribe desires a capsuleer influx to the region.

Those aren't jokes. Molden Heath is just one of those places people gladly avoid in Empire space, much like the Bleak Lands and Solitude.

It takes a special brand of person to live out there willingly.

No major trade routes, primarily low-sec space, poor market viability, no specific resources, no mission agents of particular interest, and only one significant thoroughfare - the Republic's only link to the Great Wildlands and Thukker space. There's nothing of significance for a market hub to coalesce around (Dodixie and Jita, for instance, both sprung up around high-ranking Naval agents) so commodity supply is low, and it doesn't lie in the path of any major travel routes; the route into Amarr space goes through the much safer Odatrik-Jark jump at the Heimatar-Derelik border. Looking at current maps, the only possible travel use I can think of for Molden Heath would be if an outlaw in The Forge needed a back-door route into Ammatar space, which surely must happen occasionally, but not very often.

A strange world we live in, where dropping ordinance from orbit is considered positive.

I’m not disagreeing with you. I just find the whole situation quite macarbe. You know that you’ve grown insensitive to the world and the people within when dropping super-accelerated railgun charges from orbit on some poor, hapless stranger is, I quote, a small plus.

It’s even slightly disturbing to acknowledge that I recognise this fault or disconnection in myself. Still it’s all for a good cause. That’s what we tell ourselves.

At any rate, feel free to ignore me. My recent time planetside has allowed some inward reflection on what exactly it is we do on a daily basis. I'm just projecting my thoughts.

Wait i'm in the militia and my home is in Molden Heath and i didn't even realise there's dusties to shoot around here. Now i got to try it sometime - i just need to figure out who exactly needs shooting and where.