Mate, that’s just called living in null. You damn well bet if I find an interloper in my space I’m killing them. That’s how the game works. It’s the territory that belongs to my alliance, if you want to use it, come and take it.
I think that you’re not understanding Ridley, is that in any area of space, you are open to engagement. While @Destiny_Corrupted used the example of killing someone in null sec, the fact remains that even in high sec, if you are lockable you are indeed a valid target for any playstyle.
You may raise the point that high sec doesn’t have sov mechanics, but I would counter with the fact that in the last high sec groups have laid claim to systems, by using wardeccs and ganking to control an entire system or group of systems. A recent example would be when Hogs controlled Osmon for a short time.
The fact remains that EveOnline is very much a PvP game. You may disagree, you may think of Eve as a sandbox. But at the end of the day CCP has intended for ganking and PvP to be a part of the game from the moment you create a character, and even more so if you undock. If you wish to play Eve without non consensual PvP then you are welcome to use the test server where you may mine and krab to your heart’s content, and only engage in consensual PvP. But if you find that distasteful, despite all other mechanics being the exact same as the main server, then I would invite you to question yourself as to why. I think the answer that you and many other anti gank players will find, is that you like a game where there is a sense of danger and competition with other players.
Eve is a PvP game. We see that from CCP’s earliest advertisements for the game. Eve is fundamentally oriented around player versus player interaction in all areas of space. Ganking is not immoral nor is it a path to the dark side as you characterized it, because there is no dark side.
Eve is simply a game with PvP that occurs in all areas of space, with PvE functions within the game as well. No one gets mad for killing someone in Fortnite, or Halo, or any number of war games with PvP and PvE functions, why should Eve be any different? The only difference I can think of is a difference in expectations of the players, that some players expect to not be aggressed. But in that case they need to alter their expectations of the game, not the game itself.
I myself was a gank victim — and it was the best thing that ever happened to me in game. I still look at the moment I lost my first venture to CODE, as one of my defining moments as a capsuleer. After that moment, I stopped mining, and began to rat so that I could learn how to PvP effectively. Ganking forced me to reevaluate my unprofitable playstyle, find a more profitable one, and to engage with other facets of the game. I’m happier for it, and I never was ganked again.
Gankers are not evil. They are not griefers. Gankers are engaged in combat in a game that supports it. Perhaps you may not understand their motivations, or goals, but they are here to stay and it’s a valid playstyle. Personally I don’t really do much ganking — I prefer low sec and null and I’ve done some headhunting as well, but I will ride like hell for gankers like @Aiko_Danuja and their right to gank. I also recommend talking to gankers and pirates and learning from them and engaging with them. Hell, go on a fleet with them sometime. That’s how you become a better player.
The ISD closed the other thread so this is in part me responding to some of the points that were made there.