I was going to post this is a thread that has been closed while I was writing this.
But I feel quite strongly that I wanted post it to put my feeling on record. I hope writing this doesn’t get my wrists too slapped by @ISD_Dorrim_Barstorlode < gulp >
I feel that I ought to include the quote that I was responding to because it doesn’t actually mention the thread title (of the thread that was shut down - definitely not trying to open that up again, honest) but it does refer to ganking.
So on the surface there’s nothing wrong with this statement and @Gerard_Amatin is entirely right that profitable ganking, which is definitely a strategy that some players deploy, makes economic sense.
However I genuinely don’t believe that this is the case for all gankers and whilst we could argue about what percentage do only gank when it’s profitable, there is clear evidence that some pilots kill people for purely psychological or ideological reasons or because, as people, they are so full of hatred.
Somewhat hilariously while I was actually writing this, and I’d looked up several example of kills that were stupid economically, I was mining Ice and I got attacked by a well known pilot and her foul little group of < ahem > 'friends’.¹
If you’re curious, here’s the kill mail: Skiff | Mu'ad Diib | Killmail | zKillboard
I feel no shame or stupidity because I fly a pretty good Skiff set-up with high amount of EHP but when you’re hit simultaneously by 19 pilots most flying Amarr Coercer Destroyers and who, clearly, have a spy working for them in the system, whatever set up you have, there is very little that you can do about it.
Easy come, easy go - the fact is that, when I’m confronted by people like this, I feel no sense of anger, just a deep sadness and pity because they are so broken inside and yet they seemingly cannot recognise this in themselves.²
Either way, they will not win. I will not quit.
When I read @Chribba’s chapter in the book, “Internet Spaceships Are Serious Business - An EVE Online Reader”, entitled, “The Art of Selling Trust” it was a revelation to me and it remains a source of inspiration and strength. I think he’s a total hero and he’s definitely my EVE role model.
For years, I’ve tried to play the game as a good guy (just last night I was giving free stuff to newbies…) and I’ve always been told by the misanthropes and sociopaths that I’m doing it all wrong. I really struggled with this because the way that I play feels right to me - the only PvP I’ve ever done for example was during the Frigate Free for All.
The more vicious and nasty players are to me, the more I become steadfast in my desire and resolve to be a force for good in the game. The more they kill me, the more I will pick myself up, dust myself down and move on.
I will, never join the ganking side to become someone who blows up unarmed mining ships, delusionally telling themselves that this is some kind holy mission and they’re brave. They’re not.
Like graphene the more they hit me harder my resolve becomes.
To quote Ben Kenobi, “If you strike me down Darth, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
I will never give in to hatred or to the dark side.
I will always be a voice for positivity and hope in the game.
And even if I lose all my money, all my wealth and end up flying a starter ship worth a 100 ISK, I will, never, ever quit.
1 . For the record, at the time of the attack, I wasn’t AFK, I happened to be actually looking at the screen as they warped in en masse but they locked me from warping and with 19 of them there, there was nothing I could do.
I refuse to name the pilot who is the lead orchestrator of what happened. To do so would offer her some dignity which she does not deserve and oxygen to feed her insatiable ego. I’ve blocked her here and in the game because I’ve wish to read a defence of her tactics and her philosophy of hatred.
I’m sure that the haters here will take glee in ignoring this but if you do want to respond to this post I’d prefer you not to name her either. Thanks.
2 . Role playing, like acting requires people to draw upon elements of their personal psychology. Not my opinion but a matter of documented fact. If you want to be truly evil in EVE, consistently and for a sustained period, you need to have something in you to draw upon.
I prefer to live in the light.
Gankers are more than welcome to claim hell as theirs.
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Environmentalism in a game! These nuts are really everywhere guys!!