Once upon a time there was a place called Tama. It was, for all intents and purposes, the Amamake of the north. Just a few jumps from Jita with a High Sec gate and two exits into Low Sec space, Tama was the natural and organic heart of criminal activity in the region. Oh sure it was cancer. It was full of gate campers, station games, and bait traps. Trickery. Thievery. And shenanigans galore. But it was active and thriving and full of content on a regular basis. In many ways Tama fueled the entire region. Just as Amamake does in the south.
Tama was a content engine. And for a long time this engine not only fueled the north, it also provided an income stream into the play-style of hundreds of dedicated players. And a destination for thousands more. Much of this power was built on the back of a Freeport called "Space Detroit" which provided much needed safe harbor (with tether), but also free services and trade. Sadly Space Detroit was destroyed by a powerful entity and that engine, that content, has never recovered. Tama is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Kaput. A shadow of its former self.
There is a very delicate balance to all things, but few are more delicate than the balance between being a content provider in Eve Online and the drain on your wallet. Pirates are no exception. We work hard to undock and pew pew as often as possible, but every ship loss, every module choice, every moment of danger has to be balanced with the potential of our income stream. We have to make isk to spend isk. Yes that is simplistic, but it is the root effort that essentially defines all activity in our game. We all face this weight every time we log into the game. We'd all like to make more than we spend.
The loss of Space Detroit was only the most obvious factor leading to the demise of Tama. The new Pirate Insurgency system also had a major part to play in that as well. Insurgency pulled the focus into far flung systems that change each cycle. Pulling content creators away from the idea of a hub, into various other systems without a central unifying force. The timing of these factors couldn't have been more problematic for the region had they been planned.
In other words - things have changed. And change can be rough, challenging, and often extremely disruptive. My personal goal is simple - to see Piracy in Eve thrive. And to help my fellow Stay Frosty pilots thrive in that system. I'm very fortunate in that I happen to exist outside of that income balance stream for various reasons. I don't need to rely on my activity to fuel my content because I provide other services that provide me an income stream outside of that system. In many ways, I use that fortunate status to help fuel content for my corporation and alliance. But I can only do so much. I'd like to see a system in which opportunities exist for my pilots to earn income individually to help fuel their own content missions. And, right now, that is challenging.
These challenges don't all stem back to Tama. That would be a difficult stance to take. But I do believe a significant portion of it does weave its way back to this engine being on idle. And once you add in the impact that roving insurgency has brought to low sec, the impact only magnifies. It has, without a doubt, become much more difficult for us Pirates to survive in that world. Which has played a significant role in the increasing rarity of our chosen play-style.
We need a type of isk faucet that is tied into negative sec status. Not only would this help to provide additional income streams to those that choose the Pirate play-style, but would also help to encourage more players to test the waters of that play-style choice. It doesn't have to be anything insane, perhaps a new type of mission that requires a negative sec status to participate. Perhaps a type of Abyssal content that does the same. Or something else. I've long advocated for additional content that is tied into security status and I think it is long overdue. (Things like the Anti-Marshal battleship for example)
We need to complete the arc that ties all of low sec together that was started by reviving Factional Warfare and the introduction of Insurgency. Let's not forget those that strive to create a more vibrant and engaged low sec on their own dime.
We need love too.
PS: Counter-Insurgency Gate Guns need to generate a killmail to encourage people to kill them.