There are reasons other than PvP that would inspire a player to go to Null.
I’m going to Null because, with my skills and ships, the Combat Sites (Anomalies) in High-Sec are too easy. I’m also interested in grinding LP for some of the NPC Pirate Factions.
In High-Sec, I’m tired of roaming systems scanning whatever anomalies there are, and usually finding very little content that is of interest to me. On top of that, and due to rarity, I’m frustrated with other players entering sites I’ve started, thereby creating a ‘race to the boss’; which spoils the whole game play ambience. (The above comments also apply to the Crimson Gauntlet sites. They were fun at the start, but after having done a few dozen instances and constantly having other ninja capsuleers enter the sites along-side, even they became mundane and frustrating. Maybe Null-Sec rules could apply in Combat Sites, or the entry gate is locked to other players whilst the player is inside, and unlocked if they warp out to repair or stash loot?
I’m aware and accept that PvP is a fact of life in Null, so I’ve already attempted to make peace with the locals in the area I’m interested in. My initial attempts seem to have failed, but I’ll keep trying different strategies to discourage them from blowing me up every time they see me in the local channel. Over time I will work out a way to make it possible to do what I find enjoyable in Eve whilst allowing the locals/neighbours to do what they enjoy doing in Eve. Win/Win.
What I don’t want is to be forced by the game mechanics to do things I have no desire to do. In my case, and this is a personal choice, I don’t want to have to join a gang (or Corp) that consists of people I don’t know, in order to fly in a particular area of space in relative safety.
Whilst high traffic areas will no doubt attract pirates, the idea/reality that a particular corp/alliance controls a portion of space without a game mechanic to ensure safe passage to neutral players is not much fun in the longer term. There should be a game mechanism that allows pilots who are neutral to the region’s dominant force to have access based on certain conditions. As example of my line of thinking; pilots would need to pay
- some reasonable tribute for access (which cannot be used to extort other players),
- for exporting any items found in their space to other regions,
- an import tax when unloading items from the cargo bay that were brought in from other regions into the Item Hanger.
Having said the above, I am still doing my reconnaissance in the area I want to move to, and it’s fun to try and out-fox the locals. But at some point I would like to be able to do a DED or agent mission with some level of peace of mind with regards to local pilots. I have no problems with others, or enemies of the locals coming and attacking me. By being a local, I’m effectively but informally joining the local force.
