The essential question at the heart of this article is based on a very simple premise - where have the revolutionaries in Eve gone?
I've been playing Eve since 2008 and in those days I spent almost all of my time in Null Sec. For over two years I was indoctrinated in the power of Sov, the rewards of owning your own space, and the need to protect it at all costs. I fought in multiple wars defending that space, and then in several other wars invading that space. During all of those early years Null Sec was a dynamic, constantly changing, undulating, powerful mix of waring states. It was constantly exciting.
That is why I kept coming back over and over again. Everything that happened in Null in those days was driven by individuals, people who led great armies. The names are well known to those that care about history. But, in the years since I left, Null has slowly and surely become a placid blue ocean. A splash here. A ripple there. But all succumbed and overwhelmed by the blue tide.
The essential question then, as Taz asks, is who is at fault here? Is it CCP? Is it the Mittani? Is it Moon Goo? Is it the proliferation of Super Caps? And while these things certainly play a role, none of them are answers.
To find the true answer one only has to look at history, real history. One of the things I found fascinating about Null when I first started playing Eve was just how contradictory to human nature it seemed to be. Throughout human history conflict has been driven primarily by a sense of security. The unknown must be subjugated to the will of powerful principles in order for the unknown to be pushed away. Darkness, ignorance, all need to be defeated (in one way or another) for our people to feel safe. We can't have barbarians raiding our cities and killing our people, so we need to kill the barbarians, or at least drive them further away.
Eventually there are no more barbarians. Borders become relatively stable, states descend into trading, people are educated, people make money, states become (more or less) uninterested in killing other people so much. Conflict resolves into ideological, philosophical or religious camps, outdated and ancient baggage still unresolved. But, for the most part, stable and predictable. Borders seldom change much.
I found it interesting when I was in Null that this wasn't happening. That Alliances who held a certain amount of space were not content, and instead initiated conflicts, instead of building allies. This seemed counter-intuitive to human nature. Was this because of Sov mechanics? Why was this happening?
What I failed to realize until much later on, was that it was happening. It was just happening very slowly. Even in 2008 the seeds were being planted, the allies being formed, that would eventually lead us to the Null we have today. The process was already under way. Over the years I've gotten into some rather heated debates with some of my fellow bloggers about this very fact. It wasn't until I left Null that I could see what was happening to Null. My perspective was altered. And over the past four years it has become rather obvious where this was all leading.
Back then I attributed the conflicts in Null to the power of Eve. It was Eve that drove the conflicts, that kept human nature at bay. We'd all be the beneficiaries of Eve's desire to see us all shoot at each other until the servers went dark. But it wasn't Eve. That was a lie. Eve is only a sandbox after all. And human nature cannot be subverted, even by game mechanics.
In my humble opinion it is time that Null sec was set on fire. It needs to burn to the ground. I'm tired of hearing about it. It is dead, it died a few years back and now is nothing more than the artificial playground of the rich and famous. It is boring. It is blue. It is dead.
But who will burn it down? How can they achieve such an ambitious, some would say impossible, goal?
The same way it was done the first time. Slowly, over time, and with great conviction. By a few motivated people. Who are these people? I have no clue. But I am telling you right now that it can be done. It is not impossible. Null sec needs an enema.
The revolutionaries are playing Eve right now.
Viva la revolución!