Dictatorship in Eve

There is only one mechanic for running a Corporation in Eve - someone has to be CEO. There are no other choices.

Within that extremely limited framework many variations have emerged over the last decade in actual Corporation management style. Small groups of friends sharing power, democratic votes, committee shares, role-players, yadda yadda on and on, probably just about every way you can think to govern - someone has tried it.

But surely the most prevalent and most popular CEO style in Eve is the Dictatorship. Supported by a Board of Directors or not, orders come from a single source. Mandates arrive from on high. Direction is pointed at and it is expected that others will follow. Individual styles vary in the execution of ultimate power of course, some dictators tend to be better than others. Some more ego-centric, others more inclusive, and some just down right driven by near madness.

Over the years I've served under them all. From the "buddy" Dictator to the "AFK" Dictator who rarely appears in the actual game. And everything in-between. It all comes down to the individual in charge, their personality, confidence, experience and mental issues. Or social maturity.

Typically the CEO has a dream, a vision, or an idea about how he sees the world of Eve and how others should see it. He ( or she, I'm not trying to be sexist here ) wants others to help him achieve this idea of his. Mining rocks, building stuff, invading or gaining territory, blowing up other people, whatever it might be.

And this is where the Cult of Personality comes into play. You either have "game" or you don't. Let's not sugar coat it, you get three total strangers to join your Corp or you get three thousand to do it, the personality of the Boss is ultimately the reason why it happens. Why else? There are literally hundreds and hundreds of other Corporations to choose from? Why you?

I've had great CEO bosses and I've had not-so-good CEO bosses, but I have to be honest here - I've never had a terrible CEO. ( Not counting that Corp I was in once for less than a day, I never got to know that CEO )  Maybe I've been lucky, but I have learned a lot from the people I served under or with over the years.

The best CEO I ever served with was easily LJB, the CEO of one of Eve's longest running Corporations - Dissonance Corp [DION]. ( Founded in October, 2003 ) Not surprisingly LJB is a real-world politician type person and a truly nice person. I spent a lot of the first half of my Eve career in Dissonance and I learned a lot about how to run a successful Corporation from my good friend.

But I've learned something from all of them. A piece here, a style there, and all of it jumbles up and messes around in my head. But I've also learned a lot from my own failures, more than anything else, failure is a powerful teacher. Stay Frosty is the fourth Corporation that I've started since I began playing Eve. You learn a lot by living thru that, the school of Hard Knocks is a brutal one in this game of ours.

I'm not a Dictator. My grand scheme doesn't involve climbing a ladder, forcing our will on others, taking new ground, expanding ideology, or anything more than ensuring the successful propagation and continuation of a very specific play-style. A play-style which I personally happen to be enamored with and believe to be particularly awesome.

That is my own flag. And I've planted it as securely as possible in our corner of Eve. I listen to my members, I encourage everyone to have an opinion and to feel empowered to take on any responsibility that they feel is important to them. Ultimately my "job" isn't to dictate one thing or another, but to steer the ship on a steady course. To keep the forces of elitism away from our doors, to guard against the forces allied against us and to beat the drums about how awesome each and every pilot in our Corporation is.

I'm more of a Steward Cheerleader than Dictator.

That just happens to be my style.


PS: Stay Frosty now has an actual recruitment thread up and running on the Eve Forums!

Stay Frosty Updates

Click for more individual member wallpapers

The above is just one in a series of custom wallpapers I'm creating for each of our members that donated ISK or Supplies to Stay Frosty during our first four months of operation.  We are a 0% tax ebil pirate corporation and operate on a shoe-string budget, so any help is always greatly appreciated. And when I say I appreciate something, I mean it. The above series is just one way I can show that appreciation.

As I write this we currently stand at 154 pilots in Stay Frosty. For the third month running we are the most active corporation in Verge Vendor (activity being measured by kills and losses added together for those of you headed to the comment section right now to tell me something different, please read instead of jumping to conclusions). Being active is all we measure by the way, we couldn't care less about much else. I want my members undocking and fighting, the rest will take care of itself.

I finally got around to posting a recruitment thread on the Eve Forums. We've never actively recruited anyone frankly, I write about the corp here and on tweetfleet, but that's about it. I have no membership goals or anything, I just want active pilots who are excited about fighting internet spaceships with us. It isn't complicated and so many Eve corporations tend to make it more complicated than it needs to be frankly. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for serious business... it's just that Stay Frosty is not it.

We are doing things a tad different and we will continue to do so, even when it doesn't make much sense to anyone else. As long as it makes sense to me and my guys, who cares what everyone else thinks?

August has been a tough month for me, family stresses, vacation, my mom's cancer, increased activity at work, a lot of stuff piled on all at once there. But it is slowly getting back to normal now.

I hope. In the meantime, Stay Frosty.

Derp Scorp

I realize I've been cruising down memory lane a bit this week, can't explain it, it is what it is.

This screen shot was taken on June 11th, 2009 in 7MD-S1 in Providence, a fleet of 67 apparently. And yes, I remember exactly why I took this screen shot.

We used to have this FC, I won't mention his name, who had the nasty habit of warping us to zero just as the bad guys were jumping. This happened a lot. So much so that eventually the higher-ups removed his "approved FC" standing and saved us all from further derps.

Almost immediately after this picture was taken, my Scorpion died at one such gate. Scorpions being primary and whatnot. This was the last Scorpion I flew for a very long time afterwards. Heck, I wasn't skilled enough to be flying it then! What was I thinking?

I have flown them since, but not in the last two years. Moving to Low Sec changed my opinion about ECM a tiny bit.

I do love the new Scorpion model though and I have an un-fitted one sitting in my hanger. I might just fit it up again to use for very specific types of fleets, or as a rescue ship. What is a "rescue ship" you might ask? Well, sometimes my corp mates get into trouble they shouldn't and need to be rescued. lol.

Funny I just finished training Cruise Missile V after all these years. I don't even own any T2 launchers or ammo!

And so it goes.

True New Newbs

See that picture? I drew a circle around the idiot in that picture. Yep, that's me at three months old, cloaked above a belt in low sec, in a T1 fitted Drake.

I was once a True New Newb.

Because my Drake is invisible (!) you can't see how scared I was at that moment. Lots of ships were coming and going below me and they were exploding each other at a furious pace. It was chaos.

Y'know what I did? I waited. And watched. Remember, I am about four months old at this point, I don't know the first thing about fitting a ship, how to use a cloak, or what the Hell low sec is all about. On this day I have less than 10 kills to my name, most of which were group kills. I was a tourist in Low Sec, living mostly in Null space at the time. I was curious. And I was scared.

But I watched. And a rhythm slowly revealed itself to me. The ballet below started to make sense. I had been plopped down in an alien world that slowly revealed itself to normal pace, reason and rhyme. Reds, nuetrals, ships fighting and dying. I can still remember the scene even almost five years later.

The field eventually cleared. Wrecks littered the belt and local dropped. A lone ship wandered from wreck to wreck looting. Every few minutes a transport would warp in, pick up the loot and warp off. Guarding the belt was a Sac.

If you think I was stupid for fitting a cloak on my Drake, you are really going to laugh when I tell you it had T1 Cruise Missiles on it. Oh god.

My plan was to kill the transport. I de-cloaked and aligned to the nearest rock. I suspect that the Sac pilot probably wasn't worried at this point, this is what I suspect today looking back on this. At the time I thought he best be worried, I was in a Drake with Cruise Missiles bitch.

The moment the Transport appeared on d-scan I warped. The Transport never arrived. I had landed right on top of the Sac. I crapped my pants. I fully expected to die. I didn't know what a Sac was, but I expected it to be nasty. It was red after all. But it just floated there and nothing happened.

So I shot it. Over and over again until it exploded.

My first solo kill in Eve was a mistake. My second was a friend. My third was an un-fitted Condor. And my fourth was a AFK Sac.


Yesterday I exploded a True New Newb and ended up speaking with him afterwards. It reminded me of me, and what it was like coming into this game totally unaware, blind and stupid.

But it also reminded me about the freedom being stupid affords you. How I'd often just go fly around space and watch things until I exploded. I wasted so many ships back then to just dumb luck and trial and error. But it was fun. And I didn't care.

My advice has always been to embrace your stupid. Don't be ashamed of it, or afraid of it. Embrace it. Learn from it and try not to be stupid the same way twice.

Stupid is just another word for daring, adventure, boldness, and awesome... gone wrong.

Was it dumb to fit a cloak to a Drake? Oh god yes.

Was it stupid to fit T1 Cruise missiles to a Drake? Are you kidding me?

But I lived. And I killed a Sac with it.

So you tell me. Funny, over 2,500 kills later and I can still remember the details of that engagement from five years ago.

That's Eve.

The Inglorious Corp

Way back in March 2009, when I had been playing Eve a total of six months, I decided to start my own corporation. Not only that, but I decided to leave Null and journey to Piekura and start a Mercenary Corporation.

This is how little I understood Eve back then.

I had maybe 5 million skill-points? I remember I had just trained T2 launchers for my Drake for goodness sake.

Believe it or not a few people actually joined our merry little band, but for the most part it was just three of us.

What we did was kind of brilliant in its own way for a bunch of newbs. We "made up" Merc contracts and War Dec'd corporations pretending to do it for "other parties". In general we accepted payment from the offended party in exchange for terminating the War Dec. We'd usually fly to their home system, blow up a few ships and then wait for the convo's to start. This actually worked a few times.

In one hilarious example you can see that I mistakenly War Dec'd a Corporation located way far away in Null Space. The entire thing was a massive boo-boo and based on some seriously wrong intel.

2009.03.30
Motseth > hi
Motseth > any reason in particular?
Rixx Javix > for what?
Motseth > war
Rixx Javix > war is madness
Rixx Javix > and i tend not to ask to many questions
Rixx Javix > tbh "spectre division" sunds kinda scary
Motseth > lol
Motseth > u really four guys?
Motseth > wanting to kick our ass?
Rixx Javix > seems that way
Motseth > lol
Motseth > I really hope u come visit me in G-5EN2
Motseth > Im there
Motseth > waiting
Rixx Javix > let me see, war isn't sced until tomorrow
Motseth > will u all come here to get me?
Rixx Javix > probably
Motseth > u can bring friends, its 0.0
Motseth > I hope u have a better alt than this one
Rixx Javix > now u r hurting my feelings
Motseth > lol
Motseth > how much u want to tell me who hired u?
Rixx Javix > you could always pay us more to go away :)
Motseth > naaa
Motseth > we can handle this just fine

Remember I have about 5-6m sps at this time and no friggin' clue what I am doing frankly. We dropped that War Dec ourselves cause it was simply just too far away.

Despite some early success, our entire scheme primarily relied on ONE person in our Corporation who was much more experienced than me. To this day I am still not sure why he decided to follow us on this stupid adventure doomed to failure, maybe he was bored? But Master Selin was our hammer. Without him we wouldn't have won a single fight most likely.

But then he disappeared. Just at the time we War Dec'd the wrong group! (Nothing nefarious, the man had personal issues to deal with and ended up selling the character)

We ended up War Dec'ing a Corporation that had active members and things like Bhalgorns and shiny ships that they would use to camp us into station. There was nothing at all that we could do against that.

All I had was my wits. They even brought in a character with 67m skill points to help them kill us!

Bonkers2000 > mate i could take so cash solo
Rixx Javix > oh yeah?
Bonkers2000 > yup
Rixx Javix > casue they're a bunch of noobs huh?
Bonkers2000 > no becuase ive been playing this game for 4 years
Rixx Javix > really?
Bonkers2000 > and i have 67 mill skill points
Rixx Javix > gosh your old
Bonkers2000 > they are lucky if they have it total between them
Rixx Javix > i'm impressed

What they all didn't know was that our Corp was done even before the War Dec started. With Master Selin on hiatus, the remaining few members had vanished into the shadows. It was only Angor and me by this time. So the only thing I could do was distract them, move my assets during their off-time and then run away right under their noses while they watched me do it.

Which I did manage to do.

Turns out that Bonkers guy was determined to get me.

2009.04.17
Bonkers2000 > right i cant just let you walk away
Rixx Javix > well you can
Bonkers2000 > just come out in somthing crappy
Bonkers2000 > that why you come out in summit rubbish i kill it then you have been killed i tell the others to stop
Bonkers2000 > Deal?
Rixx Javix > oh sure, why not?
Rixx Javix > one thing
Bonkers2000 > no pod
Bonkers2000 > of course
Rixx Javix > waht r u in?
Bonkers2000 > somthing cool
Rixx Javix > i bet
Rixx Javix > are you outside station?
Rixx Javix > ok then, ive changed my mind on the ship
Bonkers2000 > go
Rixx Javix > u first
Bonkers2000 > no i mean
Bonkers2000 > your free to go
Rixx Javix > ?
Bonkers2000 > all i wanted you to d was undock
Rixx Javix > lol
Rixx Javix > heck i do that all the time
Bonkers2000 > told you it would be fun
Bonkers2000 > lol
Rixx Javix > nice nighthawk btw
Bonkers2000 > thanks
Rixx Javix > fly safe
Bonkers2000 > you too bud

Our paths did cross again, several times, down in Providence. Good guy, not sure if the character is still active or being played by the same guy these days. But it is nice to know I have way more kills than he does. lol.

Inglorious Basterds lasted less than two months. And then I went straight back to Null once more. The entire episode was so darn silly in hindsight, but at the time I remember how simple and awesome it sounded. There are so many lessons we learn in Eve, but the ones that stick with us, the ones we remember, are the ones learned the hard way.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. And I learned a lot in those two months. And I don't regret a single second of being a really stupid, full of myself, Newb with no idea at all how Eve worked.

Ignorance might be blind, but it can also be a Hell of a lot of fun.

Some sample kills from back then:
Me fighting in a Raven
And in my new Crow

Revenge is a dish...

Over on the Mittani's news thingie someone called me out on a post about tears.

"I never provide tears. It's a fucking game, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, deal with it.

Also, Rixx Javix, I know you are reading this, you killed me when I was a newbie miner once. I was mad for awhile. Now I'm in null PvP-ing daily (not because of you, just a natural progression), but it's time for some sweet, cold-hearted revenge.

I am coming for you."


Oh boy. I get a lot of threatening emails, local rage, bounties, and other forms of hate/threat/anger aimed at me on a daily basis. It comes with the territory. I explode people in ships and they often don't really want to be exploded. Despite their presence in space where I happen to be flying. Which is counter-intuitive, but let's go with the facts.

This guy was a "newbie miner" once. That doesn't help things much, for him or for me. I never target a specific kind of ship to explode. As I've explained many, many times here at the magazine, I shoot everyone. So I suppose it is entirely possible that I exploded him once when he was a "newbie miner", cause I have exploded a lot of miner type people. I never do it out of malice, anger, revenge or to 'teach them a lesson'. I really don't think about it that much frankly.

"Now I'm in Null PvP-ing daily". Well that's good. I'm in low-sec (trying!) to PvP daily. (I've been sooooooo friggin' busy since getting back from vacation my Eve playing time has been zilch sadly) He brings this up because he thinks it'll scare me I suppose. He probably doesn't realize that I grew up in Null, my resume is rather solid when it comes to Null space. So fear is not what I think about when it is brought up. Actually the opposite.

His user name is "just got into -A-" which is also just an awesome thing. -A- and I go way back and I've exploded an awful lot of them in my career. I've also fought three wars against them, admittedly we lost all three of those wars. But I suggest that I wasn't a significantly contributing factor to those failures. Yet another reason why I left Null. That whole "not being a significant factor" bit bothers me.

I wish I could tell you that any one of the hundreds of threats I get ever turn out to be anything, but they just never do. Never. No one comes to hunt me down and make me pay. I really wish they would. I'd enjoy that very much.

So, to the former "newb miner" who just joined -A- and wants revenge, I say this. Please, please, please come and kill me. I hang out in Verge Vendor in a system called Hevrice. It is populated by over 150 close personal friends of mine, all of whom will stand aside and watch if you want a 1v1. And heck, I haven't even mentioned all the other pirates in local or in surrounding systems. Some of them might even help you. lol.

Come get me. Please.

Back From Vacation

What you don't see in that photo is his eight foot long buddy lying just under the water in the foreground, silently swimming towards me.

Even Alligators camp.

For the last week I've been away from Eve on a family vacation. I didn't post or log in since the Friday before last. Everyone needs a break from time to time and I am no different in that regard. I did continue to run some of the Stay Frosty business, post on forums and try to stay involved as much as possible. But otherwise, I needed a break.

Summer is almost over and that means a lot of things when it comes to Eve. It means a new patch is coming up and it means more people will be returning from vacation. It means the long slide of Fall and Winter are at our doorstep and things will start to heat up in space once again.

For Stay Frosty our three months of Summer are almost at an end. ( I call them the three months even though they are slightly over three months because it is easier that way, no one wants to say "our three months and three weeks of summer are almost over". )

This means several things, but mainly it means getting serious. In a Stay Frosty manner at least. With 150 members it is now time for us to start recruitment. It is also time to organize things a bit more, re-load the Corp Hangers and start developing some goals. It means kicking things into another gear, training programs, gang comps, and organized roams. Not that we haven't been doing those things already, but again it is time to kick it up another notch.

I'm really looking forward to it. Everything is proceeding according to plan and we are right on schedule. Heck, we are way ahead of schedule in most areas, so that's even better than planned.


The Alligator camp failed because my son was smart enough ( Thanks to Steve Irwin! ) to notice his buddy in the water before he lunged. We saw him coming.

There is a lesson to be learned in that.

A Manifesto in Onyx

It is almost impossible for us to imagine. True, soul-damning darkness and isolation. But deep down in our marrow is the racial memory of millions of years of our scared, frightened ancestors huddled around the campfire. Not ten feet away a wall of impenetrable darkness beyond which... well, who knew? What was that sound? Why did the Moon disappear and re-appear like that? What exactly happened to Uncle Carl that time he wandered off into the darkness and never came back?

I often imagine my own distant ancestor huddled there at the edge of the light. He'd be as scared as everyone else of course, he was a participant in his own time - just as we are. But he'd also be thinking. And he'd be growing increasingly tired of the stupid, ignorant questions from his fellow sub-humans. I imagine that one night he'd finally snap. And in his rage he would invent an entire history of ignorant - but very creative - answers to those questions. Answers which would eventually give rise to witches, demons, angels and monsters. Such creativity would give birth to religion of course and one day science. But someone had to KNOW, didn't they? If only to quell the fear, the fear that unchecked, might doom us all.

Apologies for my ancestor. I never met him. But he was a good story teller.

The campfire provided warmth, light, and a small measure of safety. And far away, in the distance, other campfires burned. But that gap between them must have seemed as big as the entire universe to those early savages. And to those that followed them. It is incredible when we consider just how long mankind spent huddled in that environment. It was only a blink of an eye ago when we tamed that wall of blackness. But, we are fooling ourselves, that wall isn't truly gone. It is still there. Hiding in the corner, under your bed, in the curtains, waiting for you. Waiting for all of us.

This is how I imagine my home in Eve. The darkness between campfires. The birthplace of the unknown, the shadow of chaos. The place where Uncle Carl wandered off one night and never returned.

I'm headed off on a family vacation for the next nine days. I'm not sure if, or when, I might be writing again until I get back. So pardon my prose, I have some things I want to share before I go.

Low Sec is my home in New Eden.

I treasure it in ways that are difficult to define. Or explain. It is a treasure trove, a constant source from which I pull each day to write this journal. The people are colorful, charismatic, driven, egotistical, insane, creative, tactical, genius, cowardly, frightened, tempted, and among the very best people you will find in-game or out. I love them all. But especially those in Stay Frosty of course.

I am rather passionate about it. I freely and openly admit it, I am biased about it. 100%. And I want it to be great. Greater. Better. Somehow. But, maybe not.

After a decade of development I think we've finally come to the place when the old ways will no longer work. When Big Ideas are truly needed. Fresh thinking and ( i hate myself for saying it ) outside-the-box concepts. The Poo-Poo'ers are out in force, the way-things-are crowd, the that's-the-way-we-doers are strong and they want things to be this way... forever. But nothing is ever this way forever. Everything changes, grows and eventually dies. And then something else will grow.

Something fresh and new.

I don't know what that is. I can throw ideas at you until I am blue in the face, but I freely admit that I do not know what that is. I do not have an answer. Not yet.

I do know this. And this is true to ALL of Eve and not just Low Sec. If we tie our hands by what has come before, if we allow ourselves to be constrained by the complacent, by the way things are crowd, we will lose it all. Eve will wither and die. It is as unstoppable as the tide.

Over the last week I've tried to poke a stick at Low Sec. Stir the pot. And I've been watching the bees swarming. Lots of my fellow bloggers have taken up the thread and given us even more to chew on. There are many good, solid ideas out there. As always I encourage even more. Keep reaching, thinking and exploring.

Does Low Sec really need transformed? Maybe. Maybe not.

I think that is the fundamental question. Certainly it needs the usual amount of tweaks, nerfs and buffs, but does it need more? Or will it cease to be low sec if we tamper too much?

Deep down in the marrow of my bones I feel the darkness. And I want nothing more than to take a Mega Pulse Laser and mow darkness down to the pod!

I leave you no better then. And for that my sincere apologies.

Like my ancestor before me, I am the story-teller. And I will keep spinning yarns until the sun comes up and everyone else has to go to work feeding us. I don't have to work the fields of course, because the Great Serpent Benjamin has selected me as his Holy Priest y'know.

True story.

See you all on the other side of a week.

Saving Low Sec: Embracing Villainy

Based on yesterday's post I've decided to start a series of discussions to explore ways in which Low Security space can be improved, without destroying the core value that it currently has. Enhanced Low Sec.

Yesterday I threw out some quick ideas regarding rare minerals and a sort of "Sov Lite" concept. Both of those have their pros and cons, but both have complications that need to be considered. The last thing anyone wants is to turn Low Sec into Null Space for the lazy, or give us structures to grind.

So I thought I'd start this series off with perhaps the easiest idea of them all. One that requires very little work on CCP's part, since the infrastructure already exists. It conveniently fits within the current Meta and enhances the story-line in unexpected ways.

Pirate Corporations whose mean average Corp Security Status remain under -5 should be allowed to join a Pirate Faction.

Guristas, Serpentis, Angel Cartel, Blood Raiders and Sansha's Nation are all currently existing Anti-Factions that exist in New Eden. They are the Bad Guys. It would only be natural for nefarious organizations to align themselves with one or the other to fight the established Empires and their Faction War puppets.

Doing so would work in much the same way that the current FW system works, just in a villainy way. Destroying FW ships in Plex would not only continue to be a fun way to spend the afternoon, but would also earn LP. LP that could be exchanged for discounted anti-faction gear/ships/mods in the local LP store.

With me so far?

This step would go a long way towards explaining why Low Sec continues to be Low Sec, give the Faction War people a reason to hate us even more, and also give pirates that choose to participate, rewards for doing so. It would encourage activity in Low Sec without destroying the very foundations of how Low Sec is built.

And it would add meaning to that activity, beyond personal satisfaction. It impacts actual play-style very little, but adds rewards that make sense and are valuable to the participants.

It is a relatively "DUH" thought.

This week we've talked about the role that Lore plays in New Eden, this is yet another step towards integrating the back story even further into real play.

Honestly, as much as I've tried, I've yet to think of a single negative that would stop this idea from happening. I only wonder why it isn't an option already?

And no, I don't think this is "the idea" that saves Low Sec. ( We could argue that Low Sec is in need of being saved, since I like it just the way it is, but that's another post. ) But this seems to me like a no-brainer addition that takes advantage of current in-game infrastructure, requires little additional coding or content development, and that could be implemented 'as-is' for the most part.

Thoughts?

Low Sec Disney World

During the recent Crossing Zebra's podcast in which MArc Scaurus and myself talked with Xander about Low Sec, I made the point that Low Security space is still looking for its Disney World.

What exactly did I mean?

Let's face it, the interior of Florida is a friggin' Hell Hole. Swamps, humidity, bugs, alligators and waste-land as far as the eye can see. If you've ever been there you know what I'm talking about. But imagine it BEFORE Walt Disney decided to plant his magical kingdom there and transform the natural waste-land into an artificial waste-land that attracts millions of tourists every year. No insult intended for anyone that lives in Central Florida, but it is pretty horrible.

But it has Disney. And Disney begat an entire industry of like-minded tourist attractions that caused Central Florida to thrive over the past half-century. It isn't a Hell Hole anymore ( well, the humidity, bugs, alligators and trailer parks still survive, but so do a lot of other things that aren't so horrible, including a lot of very nice people. Not one of which knows where anything is, don't get me started on that hellish adventure! Back to our story ).

Low Sec is Central Florida in the 1940s. Full of hardy souls who trap Alligators for their skins, rejects from the coasts, retired millworkers, adventurers looking for their pot of gold, and those that really just don't care what the rest of you think. Disney and Air Conditioning haven't yet arrived.

All of us that live in Low Sec love it for its natural beauty. In fact, most of us think it is the purtiest darn place in all of New Eden. But even we have to admit that jobs are scarce. The heat isn't the dry kind. And our neighbors are kind of pompous truth be told. High Sec gets all the goods and Null gets all the glory. And best we not talk about the precious ones living in the Spa Lands of Wormhole space.

What can be done? What should be done?

How can we get those rich folk from up north to drag their sorry asses down to Low Sec and spend their Madison Avenue salaries in our neck of the woods? We need a serious attraction. Something that you simply can't get anywhere else. We need a Disney World. Or Land. I always forget which is which.

I have some idears I'll shove at you good readers. Feel free to mock them in the comments.

• UNOBTAINIUM

I don't know what else to call it. But it is a mineral that can only be found in Low Sec belt rocks. You need this mineral to do important things that carebears do in order to make the things we buy. This seems like a pretty easy one to swallow and I'm not sure why we don't have this already. I've been asking for it for a really long time. So duh.

• PIRATE CONTROL

So every pirate corp/alliance has a home base. Stay Frosty owns Hevrice, Shadow live in Goinard, Brave Newbies just moved to Bart, BrB lives in Osti, etc etc. These systems are known to us that care and to those that fear. Why not make it more official? How about a system of "Pirate Controlled Systems"? Based purely on activity a Pirate group could obtain control of a Low Sec system officially, it shows up on the overview or something. This system is Stay Frosty's or something. Much like owning a Null Sec system but without the structure reqs. In exchange, that pirate group can tax activity in that system and reap the rewards for protection rackets, ratting, mission running and FW activity.

Details to be determined but this is such a weird idea that just popped out of my head I need more time to think about it. But I like the idea of it.


Those are just two and I'm sure I could come up with more. But the idea is to give Low Sec something of its own. Something other regions don't have.

To be honest I'm torn. I like Low Sec just the way it is right now. Do I really want to turn it into a Theme Park? An over-developed waste-land of water parks, miniature golf emporiums and cheap eats?

To quote Civilization, maybe "the old ways are best"?

BB#48: Lore is our soul

This month's topic is a request from CCP Sisyphus who wants to know how important is Lore in EVE Online?

How important is “fluff” in Eve online? Would eve online be the same if it were purely numbers and mechanics, or are the fictional elements important to the enjoyment of the game? Would a pure text, no reference to sci-fi or fancy names still be an engaging game? Should CCP put more or less emphasis on immersion?

Oh man, this is a tough one.

Bear with me. I love the lore in Eve. I read as much of it as possible. I'm a huge, huge fan of Eve Travel and Mark's work on the Lore Guide. But honestly, it doesn't impact my day-to-day play at all. Not even one tiny, itty bitty bit.

Stepping aside from my own personal viewpoint can get a bit tricky, but this is where the tough part really comes into being. Lore is essential and non-essential all at the same time.

It is both meaningless and meaningful. It doesn't draw players into Eve, but it helps to keep them there. It is possible to imagine New Eden without lore, but would you want to? I know I wouldn't. It is the perfect example of a powerful, engaging, and deeply interesting painting that has nothing to do with how the artist intended to paint. Or what he intended to paint. Or even how he paints.

Lore is the back-story, the history, the legends, the meaning behind everything that happened in New Eden up until about 11 years ago. "Story" is what has been happening since then. The story of New Eden continues to be written, as does the Lore. Both are an evolving, adaptable, newly discovered tapestry of engagement. One is driven by players, the other by players who hear God's voice in their heads. ( God in this sense being CCP )

Lore should never, ever be used as a crutch. Or an excuse. Just as our own history is usually ignored, but never forgotten. If you think about it from a real world standpoint it starts to make even more sense. Of course History is important. It is in many ways, crucial. It forms the framework for everything that happens in our world. And yet, it has no impact at all on the day-to-day lives of a single human being. Except perhaps the historians, archivist and non-fiction writers among us. You cannot separate history from the world, or its lessons, but you can live without them. And most do.

Likewise I think most players are not actively aware of Lore within New Eden, but I believe most of them would miss it if it was gone.

As our own "story" fades into "lore", which is happening more and more right under our feet, the telling, archiving and meaning of history becomes even more important. I personally believe that our Lore is a treasure to be guarded, loved, and learned. It is a living thing that forms the fabric of the soul of New Eden.

Without a soul? New Eden becomes an arcade.


For more posts on this Blog Banter visit this link.

Crossing Zebra's Podcast: Low Sec

This past Saturday night Marc Scaurus and I spent some time with Xander Phoena recording the newest episode of the Crossing Zebra's podcast, this one focused on Low Sec. It is an hour long conversation that covers a tremendous amount of ground about the very best play-style in all of Eve.

The direct link.

The Page over on Crossing Zebra's.

Thanks to Xander for a great conversation. I hope you will take some time to listen and enjoy!

WCS & ECM

My hatred of Warp Core Stabilizers ( WCS ) is legendary by now. I've been on an anti-WCS crusade for years and I won't be stopping any time soon. I believe that Eve is no place for "get out of jail free cards" and I will continue to think that until the day I am podded for real.

I believe it is time to expand the "limited region" feature that is a hallmark of some of Eve's more devious mechanics. For example - Warp Interdiction bubbles in their various forms. A scourge of Null Space, but not to be found in Low or High Sec Space. Can't use 'em. Same with Bombs. Can't fire 'em.

Why is that? Bubbles and Bombs are great! But they just don't work in the more cultured sections of New Eden. It is a rule that expands outward to other parts of space and affects many modules, rules, ships and effects.

It is time to expand that list to include WCS and projected ECM.

• WCS should only work within 150k of a StarGate or Station. This is where they make sense, you have an important ship to move, or cargo to get out, I get it. I may have moved ships with WCS on 'em myself from time to time. This is a feature that saves that benefit without transferring it across all of known space. There is some kind of transponder thingie that activates the feature when in range, but disables it when it isn't.

• ECM should be scaled. In other words, in Low Sec the use of projected ECM, from a Falcon for example, should balloon the sig radius of the Falcon to 2x its normal radius. In hi-sec the sig radius should bloom to 4x the normal radius. This will fairly give the defending party the chance to destroy the ECM ship instead of sitting there helpless while he is destroyed for the next five minutes. There should be danger involved, consequences to engagement. Right now there just isn't enough.

I'd also support the concept of ECM working against specific weapon systems, instead of just a general "you are helpless now" mode we have today. For example, my guns won't fire while being jammed, but my drones still work and I still have point. Something along those lines would also be far superior to what we have now.

Even as a pirate I am not against self-protection. In fact I want everyone to defend themselves and to do so extremely well. I am pro pilot. I am pro PvP. But Eve has suffered long enough under general, blanket effects. It is time to declare the next decade the age of refinement and work towards making specific, targeted, and regional effects the norm. Not the exception.

That is my rant.

What do you think?