EVE General Discussion

Before I go on, please note that nobody cares about your killmails, by showing how you killed a vindicator with an enyo, and then replying some crap like "wtf you talking about, there is full of solo combat", so don't try use this post as a means to show off your precious kills, nobody cares as although I am sure you might have nice kills, the purpose of this post is not to show them off. Thanks!


Now, I am wondering since experiencing this myself, as well as my in-game fellows, I am wonder what turns people off from getting into solo combat?

I understand that obviously isk is an issue. Often solo pilots need alts (2nd. account) as scouts, some go as far as taking off-grid boosters (which more and more I understand why, because they must be feeling frustrated with being ganked non-stop so they try increase their survivability), but my point is, solo fighting in eve, does have its cost. You lose 3 normal fitted Assault Frigs, you are at around 100 mio isk loss.

However, that does not have to be like this. You can fit t1 frigs and destroyers for under 10 mio isk, have them very well fitted, and at least every now and then, go for fun fight. I have solod coercers in duel rep incursus :), kill brawler comets with kite merlins, and the experience in such an engagement, is so much fun, especially the interaction you have with the other pilot as a result. The good fight in local, then the convos, the fit requests, and there ya go, you got a new in-game buddy that you stay in contact with, share fits and share your victories and losses. My point, solo combat can add an incredible amount of fun to the game. Anyway, there is so much muli-tasking that you do during such engagements, but most of the times your fun is quickly ruined as the half a dozen more t2 frigs are on scan with ECM support, and they are about to land. With other words, you are in a rifter, orbiting a enyo at that borderline range with barrage hitting it while still taking null damage, but why does the enyo have to have 5 more assault frigs come in, with ecm support? I know that they can do this, I respect it but when I research about the people in my losses, I see so many like many year old accounts with 0 solo kills. Have they just not even once tried?

Why is it so much less common then it used to be? Again, I don't care about troll replies of people that don't do pvp trying to proof me wrong, there are in-game channels (bringing solo back), as well as serious concerns of solo players in this game, that solo combat is more and more harder to find, and as a solo pilot, I can see this daily.

So, what is it perhaps except isk (like I said, you can have fun with t1 frigs and destroyers, and even cruisers since the buff and they sure are cheap to fit now), what discourages the great majority of eve players to try solo combat? They just have no clue, the fun they are missing out on.

Oh at last, please no "eve is a multiplayer team play" crap reply, which is wrong, you can do any role that you wish here, doesn't have to be in a group always, and the point of this thread is to ask what discourages people, not your personal opinion about solo combat not belonging to the game.

I solo PVP with a single account. No scouts, no boosters. What discourages people is simply the idea that it can't be done. This idea is strongly supported by the evidence - EVE is a multiplayer game in which coming up against opponents you can solo is rare, but not impossible; then there's also the chance that the 'solo' opponent you're going after isn't as solo as he appears, but that's EVE, and you try anyway, because you can.

Some people, like myself, don't like being told it can't be done, so we go and try to do it anyway. You can't do it, though, without realising at the very beginning that you're gonna lose ships. Most of the time, you're going to be flying against the odds, even if those odds aren't immediately apparent.

And you get some ****** experiences from it, and there can be butthurt, like the time I was beating a Cynabal in a rail Ferox, and the guy jumped two logi alts in. It was ****, it was dirty, it was discouraging....

But then I remember all the awesome fights I've had, like taking on small gangs completely solo in my little Ishkur and winning, or even the ones where I lose a ship but still come out of the fight with a few exceptional kills. Then there are awesome fights where I come out with nothing, and still lose a ship, and don't care cuz the fight itself was brilliant.

What you realise is you don't get those fights if you don't try, and I have a theory based on this realisation - the people who tend towards challenging themselves by flying solo (and by solo I'm referring to ACTUAL solo - no boosters, no scouts, just balls deep or bust) are the ones who enjoy the fights more than the killmails. The ones who tend more towards sneakiness and gangs/blobs enjoy the killmails more than the fights.

This just comes down to a matter of preference, but, EVE's population seems to be dominated by a preference for the latter, which does make flying solo difficult.

But not impossible.

EDIT: I remember reading from a post on these forums from a player more experienced than me once, back before I started PVP'ing, that if you are flying solo and getting as many kills as you are losses (ie 50/50 kdr), you're already a better PVP'er than most.

Read the POST over again. Like I said, this is no place to post your own kills. Nowhere did I mention that people have to agree, in fact, I welcome them to disagree, as soon as they do not bring in the regular excuses that are not even asked for (eg. Eve is a multiplayer game and solo fighting has no place in it blabla)

1. The big force multiplier in EVE is numbers.

Not ISK spent on a bling fit.
Not SP of the character.
Not even experience of the player though that counts for a lot.

Numbers.

A 10 year vet player with 100 mill SP in a 50 bill ship will still die if up against enough people with less experience and SP in cheaper ships.


2. Street cred in EVE comes from killmails and ISK destroyed. EVE players in general do not respect "honorable combat" or "dieing valiantly against huge odds". It is either how much ISK you earn per hour if your a carebear or how much ISK you destroyed versus what you have lost that matters.

3. Dem Goons doe.




That said, i know people that solo roam lowsec in things like Firetails and do rather well at it.

I have heard this a lot now, I am however someone confused (not disagreeing with you), about CCP's role. I thought with the cheap t1 cruiser buffs, that this would promote more solo combat in cruisers, but I guess I was wrong. Any more examples you can bring so I can understand this is welcome. Just keep in mind you are not the first telling me that CCP is largely to blame here.

Soloing is for masochists.

The entity which has the most DPS, most Logi power, most speed, and most EWAR has an overwhelming advantage. The easiest way to achieve this is to fly with friends. A soloist, even with links and boosts, is at a disadvantage. So if they don't carefully pick their engagement targets, or are engaged against their will, they will lose.

Most soloists (especially aspiring ones) find themselves losing more than winning. That is difficult to stomach, and many stop doing it as a result.

It is a natural response to persistent failure.

However, some of us accept that we are going to lose more fights than we win, and will probably lose the ISK war over a long enough timeline too. What keeps us coming back is the few instances where you win despite the odds. Few things match that satisfaction, and the glory doesn't have to be shared.

Yesterday I went 3 v 1 in my Scythe Fleet Issue and won for the first time. The adrenaline surge kept me awake all night. Can't wait for the next one.

Before I go on, please note that nobody cares about your killmails, by showing how you killed a vindicator with an enyo, and then replying some crap like "wtf you talking about, there is full of solo combat", so don't try use this post as a means to show off your precious kills, nobody cares as although I am sure you might have nice kills, the purpose of this post is not to show them off. Thanks!
Nothing better than a friendly start to get the thread rolling

Now, I am wondering since experiencing this myself, as well as my in-game fellows, I am wonder what turns people off from getting into solo combat?
Fear of the unknown and failure.


I understand that obviously isk is an issue.
Nope.

Often solo pilots need alts (2nd. account) as scouts, some go as far as taking off-grid boosters (which more and more I understand why, because they must be feeling frustrated with being ganked non-stop so they try increase their survivability)
Nope. For my 8 years of playing, I have never used an alt for solo PvP, and I love solo PvP. I'll tell you a secret - eve is like boxing: if you learn to move properly, you won half the fight.

With other words, you are in a rifter, orbiting a enyo at that borderline range with barrage hitting it while still taking null damage, but why does the enyo have to have 5 more assault frigs come in, with ecm support?
Because you were winning.

Have they just not even once tried?
Some people just like to play their games on "Easy".

Why is it so much less common then it used to be? Again, I don't care about troll replies of people that don't do pvp trying to proof me wrong, there are in-game channels (bringing solo back), as well as serious concerns of solo players in this game, that solo combat is more and more harder to find, and as a solo pilot, I can see this daily.
EVE and solo have been dying since 2003. Bringing solo back was a good podcast, but I'm pretty sure that the point of the podcast was that solo PvP is not dead if you don't want it to be dead. In other words, they've tried to show players completely the opposite - that solo is not dead. You only have to realize one thing - doing solo PvP means that you are flying solo; it doesn't mean that your targets are solo. If you only consider 1v1 solo, CCP has even added a tool to help you with that - dueling.

So, what is it perhaps except isk (like I said, you can have fun with t1 frigs and destroyers, and even cruisers since the buff and they sure are cheap to fit now), what discourages the great majority of eve players to try solo combat?
ISK was never a problem for me, and I mostly flew Drakes in solo PvP. Sometimes battleships (plain old t2 fitted ones). I'm a casual player and I have never sold PLEX to get ISK. There's plenty of ways to get enough ISK to fly whatever you want. As for the question, I'll repeat: fear of the unknown and failure. I'll also add: desire to play the game on "Easy".

Eve being MMO has nothing to do with flying solo. MMO only means that there are other players around you, that is all. It doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't fly solo. It's like saying that you should have passengers in your car because it has more than one seat.

When you fly alone you basically agree to be in disadvantage when confronted with a gang. And people tend to have this stupid idea that numbers on their side should somehow be respected by opposing side and matched by the laws of space bushido. If that would be a case it would be in game mechanics and we would have match making mechanisms and instanced arenas.

Solo is hard but it is possible. Once in a while you will meet another solo guy and you will have nice fight where not numbers but skills will decide who will win. But more often than not you will meet 2 or more guys flying together and you have to deal with it.

If you wanna be solo then be solo but let other people choose their ways how to play and fight.

As I said, TL;DR, only the 1st and final paragraphs are enough and I will elaborate:



I care and I want to see the video if its available.



If there is any proof (killmail) then what will come as reply will be crap?



Again... I care.

Well, enough of it, you don't care, right? Why ask? Never mind, don't bother replying, I'm not worth your time, believe me.

no offense, but the only thing I see RvB do is allie themselves up with random people to gank the living crap out of others :)