Null sec is one of the most exciting areas of play in Eve and also one of the biggest churners of players. I decided to take a break from the politics, the cliquiness, the one-up-manship, the smug bigotry (we even made the front page of mittani.com as sexist idiots) and the negativity and have moved back to high sec for now.
I'm going to focus on pvp with Red v Blue with my main character, hopefully doing some pvp fleet commanding which I had a taste of out in null and which I really love doing. It will actually suit me better to learn the craft in a less loss averse situation than null sec pvp. Hopefully the RvB frigate pilots will tolerate me whelping the occasional fleet.
Moving all my alts was a massive logistical exercise and not one I'd like to repeat. I had 8 POSes, 15 characters, tons of ships and tons of loot all over three regions. Fortunately I was able to simply put most of the bulky stuff on the market rather than having to haul it all out or have it jump freightered.
I intend to go back to null one day but next time it will be just with my main, not with all the alts. Relocating is part of life in null sec, even if you're not getting your arse kicked. When you add to that a toxic community atmosphere which sees most players keep their heads down so it won't get bitten off it's simply not realistic to expect to be able to set up PI and manufacturing and have it churn out isk for years unmolested.
What did I like about null?
The sense of ownership is wonderful. Getting together to defend your corner of Eve is really good fun and really bonds people. Sadly we were asked not to do this on the grounds fighting people attracts more pvpers which was making our space hard to rat and mine in. I can see this argument and I'm sure that it's correct as far as it goes - I just would have personally preferred to be in an alliance which was down with being the good fights capital of Eve.
The huge fleets are amazing. I've actually been on a titan kill a couple of years ago which is an experience I'll always treasure. During this period with my most recent alliance the Honeybadger Coalition took the fight to -A- (pronounced triple A) and after a stalemate at 49- pushed on to drive them out of Catch. Some of the skill shown by our coalition FCs like Shadoo and Hedliner was utterly breathtaking as they would manoeuvre us around adeptly anticipating the opposing fleet. I also really like the chess game of fleet doctrines: drake fleet led to oracle fleet which beats it, tengu fleet led to foxcats and so on. I've heard large fleet FCing described as the best RTS you could possibly play, it's pretty good fun to be a Hydralisk too!
Most of the people are fantastic. Pretty much any null sec alliance will have people who have been playing for years who have great stories of Eve's past as well as raw newbies who are delighted and excited to get help. Even the management being annoying isn't that they're dicks, just that managing one of these entities is complicated stressful and incredibly difficult. Now that's frustrating to be on the receiving end of but doesn't make the people doing it evil, just a little out of their depth and not coping particularly well.
So all told it was a great Eve adventure but now I'm really looking forward to flying with Red V Blue (if they'll have me) and playing a simpler less high stakes game.
I'm not really seeing how 'most of the people are fantastic' jibes with 'we don't accept single women in our corps.'
ReplyDeleteIt's an alliance of about 1000 characters within a coalition of 24000. The sexist corp is about 50 characters, around 15-20 active people.
DeleteMost of the people are fantastic. The men from that corp aren't.
(1) then simply, good mangement would warn then kikck the offending corp, period.
ReplyDelete(b) So... for the Teapot or 'gainst it my good friend?
I have an alternate persona supporting the Sacred Teapot... write me, we'll either have a go at each other hammer-n-tongs, or have a go at em together!!! =]
Null sec is all about choices diplomacy and compromise. To succeed you need allies and that requires you to accept people you might not put up with in a real life circle of friends.
DeleteThat leads to a culture that is very tolerant, where bigotry is largely accepted because people don't want to make waves, don't want to challenge it. It's probably not possible to shoot every sexist racist or homophobe person without losing at the game.
I did challenge the antisemitism but although management were somewhat sympathetic there was a what can we do? policy. The perception is that "everyone" is sexist, uses jew to mean greedy money-grubber uses faggot to mean the other side and using the N-word is fine.
It's hard to challenge when you feel like you're the only one in an organisation of thousands who feels this is unacceptable. I realise that's a somewhat lame excuse and that if I were genuinely principled I'd either quit Eve or find a corner of it in tune with my ethical outlook.
PS I think I'm defending the teapot, if that's sacred to the Blue Republic. I'll send you an evemail.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(I hate typos! to begin again...)
ReplyDeleteWell... I know not of your philosophies my friend, but for me (at my age) 'principle' is of greater value than 'numbers'... (that, Logi and Hvy Interdictor Support...) Hm, one wonders why 'tis I live in holes huh?
But I am prolly not one to talk as re Null as it is not 'my game' as 'twere... I may have never been in on a Titan kill (which does interest me) but then again, we are just a very small corp living in a POS inna hole and we have built, flown and sold a Hog (Nidhoggur) and just this week commissioned our first Chimera... not a lot of small corps can say the same... =]
And yes, Blue Rep are the Keepers of The Pot and the Guardians of Tradition... against the Terrible Red Menace, the Heretics of Tea Time!! "...pew pew with the shooty gun..." indeed!!! =]
OK, at what point does one accrue guilt by association?
DeleteIf you play video games you participate in an activity characterised by bigots. Should you not play video games on principle?
If you participate in the internet you share the space with a great number of bigots. Should you not participate?
If you join a nullsec coalition of 25000 people you're moving in with a great many bigots. Even The Mittani's Cultural Revolution failed to stem the casual bigotry. He himself uses the term jew as pejorative without apparently noticing because it's so ubiquitous.
I've always though the best approach to bigotry is to participate in the activity but challenge the bigotry. It can feel like really hard work, especially if you feel like you're the only person bothered and everyone else thinks you're just some loony liberal.