A common question from young players tends to go like this, "Can X ship defeat Y ship?" Or some variation. As usual, our focus within Eve Online often falls in the wrong place. And while fittings, modules, tactics, and strength of relative ship versus ship combat is critically important - we often forget the single most important factor involved - the other person.
One of the most revelatory moments for me inside of Eve Online happened during my first few weeks of playing the game. As it slowly began to dawn on me that the other characters in this game weren't NPCs at all, but other players. People sitting behind keyboards, just like me, flying spaceships. I knew this going in of course, but it took some time for it to really sink in. As it did that knowledge became the bedrock behind my long playing career. The challenge of facing down other players and defeating them in combat, and eventually in other ways as well, was the driver behind wanting to succeed at this insane internet spaceship game of ours.
And I've noticed, over the years, that many players tend to ignore that aspect of the game when it comes to direct combat. Or, at the very least, downplay it. And that is a tragic mistake in my opinion. Knowing that your adversary is also human opens the door to a wide array of opportunities to exploit them, bend them to your will, and otherwise defeat them in combat. What is their goal? What do they hope to accomplish in the limited amount of time they have set aside to play the game? What tendencies do they exhibit that you can exploit in your favor? Who are they and want do they want. Those questions and the assumptions you make regarding the answers, can often be the difference between victory and defeat.
I'll give you an example. Most of us tend to play during a limited window of time. We all have real lives, families, work, and other pressures to attend to. Knowing this provides a window into knowing your potential target has a ticking clock running. That mission runner is going to want to finish that mission you just scared him out of. That FW plexer needs that plex he just ran out of. The guy who just docked may truly need to undock soon. Knowing this you can position yourself in a way to best exploit that knowledge and anticipate their next move. I often use this to my own advantage in single combat. I'll give you another example that is even more specific.
When fighting a kiting Slicer I know that the other pilot will, within a minute of our fight, have to make a decision. This decision will always decide his fate. The Slicer, no matter how fast or far away it happens to be, only has a small window of time in which it operates. It will run out of cap. If I let the other pilot think I am helpless during those opening seconds of the fight, he will overcompensate when that time comes and stay in the fight. When he should have left. Almost 90% of the time the other pilot will fall into this trap. Some have learned, or are experienced enough to know they should just leave. But most will not. They are invested in the fight and I can exploit that knowledge to my own benefit.
Now, I better be fitted properly to take advantage of that. Otherwise I might be the one getting my pod out. You can't have one without the other... at least not in solo fights. But in larger scale engagements you can often use whatever knowledge you have about human behavior to your benefit. And, as we all know, many of Eve's greatest fights happen outside of the game. And that combat is all based around human behavior.
And exploiting that knowledge can be extremely fun and rewarding.
Point being, don't forget that there is a person behind that other ship. People behind that other corporation or alliance. And people have constraints, goals, and tasks they need to get accomplished. Taking this into account is one of the biggest steps you can take into becoming a much better Eve player. And human being.