I've written about it multiple times: EVE Online is very solo friendly MMO and does not support group play outside of nullsec Sov war (where it support huge fleets). Now I can talk about another aspect of it: suicide ganking.
I started it in the New Order fleets. I couldn't gank anything alone due to low skillpoints and no clue how to do it. I flew dozens of fleets as scout, ganker and even as FC. I learned it inside out and also gained skillpoints to T2 guns. From there I was able to hit Retrievers and Covetors with pods in 0.5-0.6, Hulks with pods in 0.5, without in 0.6 and Mackinaws in 0.5. Solo I wasn't bound to other people, I could act completely according to my own schedule. It was much more efficient, even if I was bound to 0.5-0.6 and had to pass on juicy but somewhat tanked targets. Since its easier to find targets where dozens of other people don't gank, so I moved away from the main New Order fleet and started to solo gank, never looked back.
Why is it a problem? Because it's another example of the "better alone" design of EVE. No matter what aspect of the game you look at, the skilled player has no reason to team up with others, as he can get the highest efficiency by playing alone. The best gankers of the New Order are playing (mostly) solo, therefore the fleets, where the newbie members could learn, are suffering. Of course we could play in fleets, but it would be an altruist move, sacrificing our own efficiency to help others. I saw the same with missioning, mining, trading and now with ganking.
On the one hand it's great as it allows the player to rely on no one else, therefore his results coming only from his own performance. On the other hand it's expelling social players, since it limits "team" aspect to "chatting while playing solo". I am on the minerbumping channel but my participation is limited to sharing kills and answering technical questions. We no longer play together, despite we keep on fighting the same campaign.
I'm not sure if it's a problem at all. After all I always supported a-social approach to problems. I enjoy playing this way and clearly others too, or EVE wouldn't exist. It's a weird way of "EVE is real", being much more life-like than other games where certain activities (raiding, battlegrounds) demand players to team up. In EVE not only you can do everything alone but you are better off. Sov is the only exception but Sov is itself an altruistic activity, its income is way below what you can gain in highsec.
No wisdom here, no solution. This post is just what it looks: even ganking is a lonely activity.
I started it in the New Order fleets. I couldn't gank anything alone due to low skillpoints and no clue how to do it. I flew dozens of fleets as scout, ganker and even as FC. I learned it inside out and also gained skillpoints to T2 guns. From there I was able to hit Retrievers and Covetors with pods in 0.5-0.6, Hulks with pods in 0.5, without in 0.6 and Mackinaws in 0.5. Solo I wasn't bound to other people, I could act completely according to my own schedule. It was much more efficient, even if I was bound to 0.5-0.6 and had to pass on juicy but somewhat tanked targets. Since its easier to find targets where dozens of other people don't gank, so I moved away from the main New Order fleet and started to solo gank, never looked back.
Why is it a problem? Because it's another example of the "better alone" design of EVE. No matter what aspect of the game you look at, the skilled player has no reason to team up with others, as he can get the highest efficiency by playing alone. The best gankers of the New Order are playing (mostly) solo, therefore the fleets, where the newbie members could learn, are suffering. Of course we could play in fleets, but it would be an altruist move, sacrificing our own efficiency to help others. I saw the same with missioning, mining, trading and now with ganking.
On the one hand it's great as it allows the player to rely on no one else, therefore his results coming only from his own performance. On the other hand it's expelling social players, since it limits "team" aspect to "chatting while playing solo". I am on the minerbumping channel but my participation is limited to sharing kills and answering technical questions. We no longer play together, despite we keep on fighting the same campaign.
I'm not sure if it's a problem at all. After all I always supported a-social approach to problems. I enjoy playing this way and clearly others too, or EVE wouldn't exist. It's a weird way of "EVE is real", being much more life-like than other games where certain activities (raiding, battlegrounds) demand players to team up. In EVE not only you can do everything alone but you are better off. Sov is the only exception but Sov is itself an altruistic activity, its income is way below what you can gain in highsec.
No wisdom here, no solution. This post is just what it looks: even ganking is a lonely activity.
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