Click to embiggen! |
The last 1v1 EVE COMIC ran back in August. I took a short break to clear my head and get some distance. It isn't easy keeping the extremely high-level of humor that the 1v1 series represents... ok, obviously that isn't true. Mostly I don't have any idea why I stopped doing them. So, here is the new one. You can see ALL 72 and more by clicking here.
Fight Stories
Yesterday I caught a Venture mining in Mara, which is a low sec system next to Caldari high sec (Piekura). There are often high sec tourists in Mara, which is why it is typically camped by one or more groups of people that enjoy camping. For my part it is usually the last stop on a long solo roam swing thru Black Rise and Verge. I almost never find anything that I can solo there. The Venture did a good job of warping away several times, but he made the mistake of doing so to zero at belts. The third time I caught him and my Comet made short work of him.
His pod did not quickly exit. So I pointed it and closed in. Since we were alone in local I told him about aligning and warping away after your ship explodes. I also explained that normally he'd be dead and podded by this time. And then I let him go.
I have always kept my own counsel on who and why I pod people. I understand that people in my profession typically take whatever kills they can get. I make no judgements on how others play Eve, I only have opinions about how others play Eve. For me, podding is something I usually do as a point to an engagement. Sometimes it serves a tactical and strategic purpose by removing re-shipping from the list of possibilities. And sometimes people just deserve to be podded.
I usually let younger players escape. I'm not convinced that this is the best strategy. No one did this for me when I was young. My very first PvP engagement ended with me getting podded for the very same reasons I let the Venture pilot go. I had no idea back then that getting podded was even a thing that happened.
Do young pilots actually learn a lesson by being let go? Will the Venture pilot take heed of my warnings and learn how to escape? Or will he take this as a sign of weakness and mock low sec Pirates? Perhaps he has a false sense of just how dangerous low sec is now?
I don't know.
This is the conundrum of Eve. The harsh, unforgiving nature of Eve made me want to learn and succeed. The dense, complicated, and hard curve of Eve is what attracted me to the game. And, honestly, what keeps me engaged seven years later. Does "going easy" on young players do the same?
The very first gang I was in that went into low sec jumped the Mara gate from Piekura. There were three of us. The moment we jumped we got slaughtered by three insane ships on the other side of the gate. That was a good lesson for a months old player to learn.
I'd still let the pod go. I'm not going to change the way I play Eve. I want to encourage more people to play and enjoy the game I love. But I do wonder.
There are no easy answers.