Intergalactic Summit

Looking back at history, I concluded that when the Empires encouraged our proliferation because they were in need of weapons that could turn the tide of their respective wars of the time into their favour. The Caldari State was the first to receive capsule technology and with it, the State had intended to acquire the trump card against the numerically superior Federation Navy and their swarms of drones, for example.

Then the rest of the Cluster, feeling threatened and not wanting to fall behind the technological arms race, proliferated capsuleers of their own to compensate. Now, in a state of pseudo-Cold War, the Empires made more capsuleers to match up against each other as some kind of deterrent and to keep up with each other's military power. After all, if their most powerful assets can't be destroyed so readily, then the only thing to do to maintain military power is to simply have more of these assets than the other guy.

Of course, having a whole class of people who cheat death on a regular basis and has the keys to weapons that could leave an asteroid belt worth of recyclable resources in any battle that lasts more than an hour is also threatening. They could shut down our clone bays, true, but this also means giving the advantage to the opposing side. So instead, they appeased us and kept us busy and working through their agents.

Not that it stops many of us from simply striking out into the black looking for more prestige and power, of course. As humans, we are a bunch of greedy bastards and being greedy bastards, sometimes we just want more of everything.

As for why the Jovians gave the Caldari State capsule technology at all, well...I do not know. We can speculate forever about this and be either right or wrong and not having any confirmations unless the Jovians or their representatives decided to come clear and tell us about it.

Though I remember the State and the Federation being at a stalemate for a very long time even without the capsuleers being involved. If the Joves wanted to keep that war going they didn't need to lift a finger.

We came about because, like all good things, people were so preoccupied with the question "Can we?" That they never asked "should we?"

Theres also simple economics to consider, even us independant capsuleers still pump huge amounts of ISK into empire businesses. How many of you have ever gone shopping for modules in Jita or bought a ship in Dodixie for example, the empire gets their cut every time isk changes hands inside their borders even if the goods then get shipped out to some lowsec station or null outpost. There simply isnt the manufacturing capability to keep us supplied any other way and the empires have a very powerful vested interest in keeping it that way.

To some? Yes.

To most? No

It's just a shame that those who know the answer are not saying. No matter how much we beg, plead, barter, whine, grovel or demand.

Still the theories posted here are quite enlightening.


For my 2 Isk's worth.

War whilst costly, breeds profit in additional avenues. Ships are needed and with only 4 major races to chose from (Pirates/Faction are discounted as they're just opportunistic entrepreneurs) the BULK are generated with taxes, industrial payments, material gains all going to the 4 major races. The longer the wars progress, the greater the funds pushed back into the warring sides. Even with capsuleers pushing deep into unknown reaches bpo's and c's, pos's, citadels all have to originate from somewhere and usually the roots can be traced back to one of the 4 races.

All in all, the capsuleers have been the mainstay of funding for the major races. 'WHY would they want that to stop?' would probably be a more astute question

We aren't really just weapons. More like... reusable control module for a weapon.
And we are controlled. Controlled by CONCORD and rules of capsule interface usage. Even Navy captains are way less controlled than we are.