Seen lots of rage recently on the EVE-O forums about hi vs low vs null, buff vs nerf vs leave it. This has caused me to think about just what I want from the game I play, as sometimes I need reminding that it is just that – a game. A bloody good one which I probably play and think about far too much, but a game nonetheless.
Forget what I have done in the past, most of it is somewhere in this blog anyway. So what am I doing now [in order of time spent playing]?
Nullsec PVP
Love it, currently my raison d'être in EVE. Fleeting up with 20-30 like minded individuals under a bonkers Dutch FC, roaming round with a purpose / with no purpose, shooting shit, getting shot, running away, clicking on those links in fleet you know are going to hurt your eyes and sensibilities, reposting them the next day – all great fun. The start-up costs were high, the logistics can be a pain, it can be pricey losing too much stuff too regularly and my wallet has never been the same, but fuck it – it’s all good.
The biggest problem is squeezing it into RL and getting RL squared away for a couple of hours by fleet form-up o’clock. All other problems are insignificant compared to this one.
Hisec missioning
Great for zoning out with less risk / paranoia, making a bit of ISK, hanging with me corpies, buffing the corp wallet on Man-Love Sunday and you get to fly something nice. Also good for squeezing in to those times I either miss fleet departure or can’t devote a couple of hours to TS comms and ignore RL chatter. Can also reduce training times as I can fly a clone with learning implants.
Dull as dishwater solo though and salvaging / looting the missions while not in itself time consuming, leads to monthly trips to the trade hub to unload and flog it all and return trips to update market orders. This last point could be ameliorated by contracting it all to a trade alt and parking them in hub. This is what I will do, as I have no way of affording the Orca he’s nearly finished training :P EDIT – done.
Nullsec ratting / anomalies
Much better ISK generation than hisec, but the risk of / from ‘undesirables’ in system makes watching Local a must, increasing the paranoia factor and making it not so compatible with the RL factors keeping me out of null PVP in the first place. Other detractors include the risk of ship loss, meaning you won’t be using your shiny boat as it becomes an ISK piñata for those aforementioned undesirables. This makes room clearance times longer and of course, anoms are somewhat harder than hi sec missions. A good opportunity for chatting with corpies though.
PI
Is ok in hisec and I didn’t really see any massive benefit in lowsec, but once you have sampled the PI profits of null, you will never go back. Doesn’t take long, moving product can be a pain due to undesirables, but what I could do is put another blockade runner in my PI system to make things easier. Doesn’t take long to do if the way is clear, but I probably wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have to.
Ah…
You will notice that I have left out most of the EVE ‘professions’ – mining, manufacturing, hauling, piracy [boo hiss], hisec complexes, faction warfare, lowsec, et al, simply because I know absolutely nothing about them beyond making rigs from salvage and ammo from minerals for my own use. For a more comprehensive list, look here.
Anyway
So, back to the original point of hi vs low vs null, buff vs nerf vs leave it. It’s all about risk vs reward. I like nullsec PVP [high risk, no ISK reward], but without a decent income from high sec missions [low risk, fair ISK reward], I would be unable to enjoy it as frequently. Yes, I should maximise my PI skills to get more PI income [low risk, fair ISK reward], but I have other, more fun skills to train. Yes, I should do more null anomalies [fair risk, high reward] and be less risk averse about ISK generation. I should probably start hauling on my alt, manufacturing, trading and put up a POS too, but while I have limits to time spent playing, I just want to play.
Tl;dr
I like to blow shit up which involves getting blown up and replacing my losses. I want and need low[er] risk ISK generation abilities otherwise both my ability to play and the enjoyment of the time I do play, will slowly disappear. Yes, higher risk needs higher reward, but should lower risk income be nerfed? Not from my point of view.
Training
Large projectiles > large AC spec [and now trade skills on the alt[ar boy]].
Fly safe,
o7
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