For many Eve players the idea of Low Security space seems to be scary, intimidating and otherwise "off the radar" when it comes to choosing a play-style in-game. I hear it a million times, low sec is dangerous. I can't make any iskies there. It is full of criminals. The myths and misconceptions about low sec are numerous, sometimes down-right silly, but always have one thing at their heart - ignorance.
I suspect that many players who live their lives in Wormholes find the same thing to be true. I've been playing Eve for almost three years now and I can honestly tell you that the one place I've enjoyed more than any other, is low sec. Just like High, Wormholes, Null and anywhere else in Eve, low sec plays by rules. Rules that are easy to understand, learn and play by.
I encourage everyone to dip their toe into low. I honestly believe that if more people would only allow themselves the chance to play there, that more people would see it for what it really is - the best life that Eve has to offer.
So what are those rules? Well here is a quick guide to some things you should know about low:
• It IS full of criminals. Well, I don't think any of us think of ourselves as criminals, we just happen to have low security status. Mine is -10, but anything less than zero is negative. These people have given up the ability to mingle in safety for a life focused on combat. The cool thing about criminals is this, you can kill them (or try to kill them) without worrying about a hit to your own sec status. How cool is that?
• Gates. Unlike Null Sec, which is full of gate campers, bubbles (of all kinds) and instant, you have "no chance to fight back" death, low sec is mostly free of that style of combat. I say "mostly" because we still have our cowards that like to camp hi-sec entry gates and get easy kills, think of them like those that hang outside of hi-sec stations all day. They can't use bubbles to trap you, so they rely mostly on very fast locking ships, like Arazus and T3s. They are rare though and they don't have the patience of their Null space cousins.
• Missions. Low sec is full of great missions that you can make lots of iskies running. I don't do this myself, but there are those in my Corporation that make a lot of money doing this. There are other ways of making money in low sec as well, from ratting to looting to trading. Just last week I made 250m from selling looted items in Dodixie. And that was without much effort at all.
• Guns. Now one important thing to remember about low sec is that stuff has its own guns! Things like gates and stations can shoot you. If you engage anyone who is not a criminal on a gate or station, the gate or station will shoot you! This is also true for the people who live there, so if they shoot you, the gate and station guns will also be shooting them. This means it is very hard for little ships to fight on stations and gates, only ships or gangs prepared for such things can survive. This encourages frigate fights in space and keeps criminals off the gates and stations for long.
• Unlike the horribly constrained "combat" of hi-sec or the lawless sov wars of Null, low sec is really about one thing - combat - and one thing only. We all live here to fight, kill and be killed. There really isn't much more to it than that. It is an incredibly tight knit community and more so than anywhere else in Eve, that community extends far beyond the walls of your own Corporation or Alliance. I happen to be friends with many players in what would normally be considered "enemy" Corps or Alliances, in fact we share many channels with each other.
This might seem odd to those that do not live in low sec, but for us it makes perfect sense. We can be friendly, share stories and jokes, or even intel, but still fight each other if the opportunity arises. To me, this is one of the best things about living in Low Sec. The wild untamed nature of gentlemanly combat. With rules. Without borders. With the only thing on the line your own life, your personal honor and those of your friends.
More than anywhere else in Eve, you have to rely on yourself more in low sec. You can't hide, because someone is probing you out. It might even be a friend of yours.
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