EVE General Discussion

Don't know if they are bots or not since I haven't checked the state of the bots in nullsec for a while, but IT IS very possible that players are reacting like OP mentioned.

Here's nullsec ratting 1on1 that I have been using for years and was teaching it to others:

- Always watch intel channels and local;

- Report reds in intel channels when there's a need for it. Even if you don't speak English very well you can always: drag the system name to intel chat, drag the name(s) of red(s) from local to intel, hit scan and try top determine his/their ship type(s), then post all of that in intel. If there are multiple reds (say 5+), skip linking all their names and just post "XY reds" instead. Of course, report in intel only when you are safe (in warp or at a POS);

- You should always be aligned to a POS, even if the station is in the system. Station is one and can be bubbled, but there are multiple POS-es that can't be bubbled that easily;

- If you are not always aligned, watch intel channels and align as soon as the reported reds are 2-3 jumps away. If you are in a battleship, you are heavy. Starting to align only when you see reds in your system is usually too late;

- Hit warp as soon as you see reds in local (while already aligned, of course). Leave your drones if you have them out, they are not as expensive as your ship;

- Always kill warp scrambling rats first - this should become your habit and something that you do automatically. This will allow you to get out if there's danger reported in intel channels;

- Never trigger a new spawn of rats if reds are reported nearby. Remember that you must be able to kill scrambling/webbing rats and be fully aligned to a POS before reds enter your system. Having a new wave of rats will not help you save your ship;



These advices are usually well accepted by carebears (as play style, no pun intended) and new players because they are mostly scared to lose their ships, especially if they have some expensive mods on. Older and more experienced players are more prone to mistakes made by not following these simple ratting rules, because of their confidence or laziness .

Renters are usually carebears or using carebear alts for renting, so it makes sense that they know what they are doing. So even if the local is delayed for 5 seconds, you would still fail to catch most of the well trained ratters, because you lost your prey as soon as you got reported in intel channel.

If you don't like intel channels and local in general, W-Space is more than happy to accommodate your play style. Many players who play in nullsec don't see this as an acceptable option for their play styles and that's why local and intel exist.

What's the point of the OP posting this topic if they can't handle people pointing out their tactics could be improved? Demanding gameplay changes is a really bad idea via ranting and indicating you don't really have a clue what you are doing. Blaming bots and demanding gameplay mechanic changes basically ticks all the ranter boxes and blocking people who disagree invalidates the whole thread. There's no point bothering posting topics like this in the first place purely to nerdrage. Some of the responses are valid, regardless of how abrasive they are.

I'm saying this as someone who has done multiple null-gank roams, particularly in DRF space 2009-2011ish and seen the kind of activity described. Actually I remember a corpie logging in 17 times once in an anom to catch a botting carrier (which he got, but he was seriously annoyed by that point). Null farmers (especially in renter alliances) are generally about as careful as empire mission runners afking through a 0.5 in their officer fit pimpmobiles. They're not watching intel channels and staying aligned consistently. It does seriously wind null-roamers up when they hit 60 odd systems and see this kind of behaviour. Even if the OP is popping out probes and being really obvious about it, there are botting pockets and it's disingenious to try to suggest otherwise.

Although I've seen more bot behaviour in Empire tbh, which is why I think ganking has it's place. Odd that the OP has such a massive problem with ganking and claims to be a "hunter" when in reality these types of targets are basically ganks outside of highsec.

Some of the responses here would be more credible if you relinked tactics to overcome the problem rather than rushing to slap the OP down and suggest he's exaggerating the problem. Even if he is a bit arsey, there are other readers who might pick some useful tips up.

If you post a thread then block everyone who disagrees with you, you can easily convince yourself that you are infact correct.

its almost like they have an intel channel or possibly a cloaked alt watching the gate on the far side

It is unfortunate that the OP brought up the bots issue, as it ended up derailing his very valid point.

The bot issue has become smoke and mirror in this thread...

Jesus Christ, OP is my mother. I KNEW she was here somewhere trolling me.

Oh, they were obviously bots, but poorly configured ones.

Why should we tell you, how to kill us? Plenty of others can, so the OP, if he's smart, should be able to figure it out. If he can't, then, it sucks to be him.

A | B | A -> B

T | T | T
T | F | F
F | T | T
F | F | T

Botting is indeed a serious issue, but this whole thread was about the OP assuming that everyone in nullsec is botting. Meanwhile CCP proves this wrong every year with a lovely picture full of dots. Guess where the dots are most numerous?