# Shuttle Smart-bombing Is Anti-Gameplay, Not PvP **URL:** \ **Category:** Warfare & Tactics\ **Created:** [June 8, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885 "2026-06-08T04:18:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Meridan\_Night](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/meridan_night/32/488304_2.png) [@Meridan\_Night](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Meridan_Night)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/63 "2026-06-11T03:38:33Z")
> [@Gerard\_Amatin](#): > > What’s wrong with it though if traveling long distances takes time and feels like long distances? > > If travel times are short space feels much smaller and gameplay elements like hauling and other logistics become trivial. > > EVE’s space is big and dangerous. > > I get the feeling some people want it to be smaller and safer instead. > > No thanks! I never said I wanted to reduce space or for it to be safer, so there is no need for that in response to my post. I am the last person in the game who will want to reduce space and not long ago I argued against 1 idiot here who wanted to do exactly that because ‘‘EVE has too many systems and you can’t find content’’. This isn’t about that. One can understand how something can be frustrating (turning a 29j journey into a 45j journey, for example) without wanting to change the core elements of the game. It was pointed out how travel in the game between systems is already slow (which is fine), extra bouncing around will multiply that slowness. There is a limit somewhere where too slow is just too slow (if it takes 12 hours to go 30 jumps I hardly believe anyone will want to do that or find it enjoyable). There is a balance point somewhere where adding even more delays and obstacles on the way will just make it unreasonable. I can understand that. That balance point is obviously also at different points for different players. You and I might stick around and not complain when it takes 2 hours to go 40 jumps (just a rough time estimate for a longer version of the route), but there are players who aren’t gonna put up with that, and I can understand their viewpoint in that it isn’t exactly a fun or an exciting way to play the game. It’s just something you gotta put up with. Sure, I agree, it feels more realistic that it takes a long time to go long distances. But again, there is a balance at some point there. EDIT: I hate this forum feature where it automatically deletes quotations in my posts. I have to edit them back in after posting. What the hell is that all about? ---
**Author:** ![Gerard\_Amatin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/gerard_amatin/32/481361_2.png) [@Gerard\_Amatin](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Gerard_Amatin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 4:00am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/64 "2026-06-11T04:00:16Z")
> [@Meridan\_Night](#): > > extra bouncing around will multiply that slowness. Extra bounces are only a fraction of the total travel time though in my experience. You don’t do them every time, but only whenever you see possible danger, which in the majority of systems I visit whenever I do long trips appears to be none. If I do a round trip in my blockade runner to sell a bunch of stuff in HS that I couldn’t sell in null, and to pick up new items I first travel to the edge of HS. Bunch of blue space these days, but I do a quick check on the route in [EVE - Check before you jump!](https://eve-gatecheck.space/eve/) to tell if any bubble or smartbomb camps are on the route if they are. Within HS the trip to Amarr is uneventful, sell or pick up some. The trip through Ahbazon to Jita is more spicy where I pay special attention to Ahbazon itself, but haven’t had any trouble there yet. Then back from Jita to home, in which case the first low sec systems are where I pay attention as well as the route through null. Only that last part has been trouble for me once back before Pandemic Horde fell, when a few of those systems was still a corner of their space. A bunch of them noticed my ship and started chasing me with probes and dictors, lol. Besides a few dangerous locations (NS - HS border, Amarr, Ahbazon, Jita, HS - LS border, NS border between empires) the vast majority of the route is simply empty and I can warp straight from gate to gate. > [@Meridan\_Night](#): > > EDIT: I hate this forum feature where it automatically deletes quotations in my posts. I have to edit them back in after posting. What the hell is that all about? If you start with a quote and that quote comes from the post directly above you the forum automatically deletes it. I assume because the forum assumes it is redundant. Very annoying indeed. You can always copy the quote, open your post again and edit the quote in after it has been posted, as this behaviour only happens during post creation. ---
**Author:** ![Elias\_enDiabel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/elias_endiabel/32/505359_2.png) [@Elias\_enDiabel](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Elias_enDiabel)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/65 "2026-06-11T15:32:27Z")
Warp to a ping, warp at range, warp to a nearby planet or some such; this is easy to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/66 "2026-06-11T17:03:31Z")
Not if you land next to a SB BS when you jump into a system. > [@Meridan\_Night](#): > > I never said I wanted to reduce space They should have jump bridges in HS that charge a fee. Why do only the big blocs in NS have this luxury? ---
**Author:** ![Honzas\_Krutas](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/honzas_krutas/32/497382_2.png) [@Honzas\_Krutas](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Honzas_Krutas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/67 "2026-06-11T18:00:46Z")
> [@Pure\_Capitalist](#): > > Not if you land next to a SB BS when you jump into a system. Which cannot happen. Ever. And even if it would, you are invulnerable till you hold cloak and you are invulnerable when you start warp. ---
**Author:** ![Gerard\_Amatin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/gerard_amatin/32/481361_2.png) [@Gerard\_Amatin](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Gerard_Amatin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/68 "2026-06-11T18:01:15Z")
> [@Pure\_Capitalist](#): > > Not if you land next to a SB BS when you jump into a system. That is not how smartbombing battleships work. The spawn radius around gates is massive compared to the range of smartbombs. They’ll be in front of the other gate to smartbomb the people who warp straight to that gate, but no other angle. ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/69 "2026-06-11T18:07:10Z")
You’re both FOS. I have jumped into a SB and lost a shuttle and pod. Tama, maybe 15 years ago. Maybe 20. ---
**Author:** ![Malak\_Starfire](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/malak_starfire/32/501915_2.png) [@Malak\_Starfire](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Malak_Starfire)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/70 "2026-06-11T20:05:14Z")
> [@Pure\_Capitalist](#): > > Tama, maybe 15 years ago. > > Maybe 20. Yeah and your memory isn’t foolproof. No one’s memory is perfect with that length of time. ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/71 "2026-06-11T20:19:52Z")
I’m sure that it happened. > I was there. ---
**Author:** ![Honzas\_Krutas](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/honzas_krutas/32/497382_2.png) [@Honzas\_Krutas](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Honzas_Krutas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/72 "2026-06-11T21:14:56Z")
Sure buddy, and you also have trillions ISK in the game and other nonsense that AGs spouts… Meanwhile you are posting from 18day old alt with zero killboard history just like every AG. Which means that nothing you write has any weight. And you clearly have zero knowledge of the mechanics just like every AG… ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/73 "2026-06-11T21:37:07Z")
> [@Honzas\_Krutas](#): > > ISK in the game Okay… ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/original/4X/e/8/d/e8d6300a9510d85352ff980990e6aaef2bca7773.png) ---
**Author:** ![Lara\_Agnon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/lara_agnon/32/377122_2.png) [@Lara\_Agnon](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Lara_Agnon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 8:43am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/74 "2026-06-12T08:43:52Z")
> [@Calder\_Briggs](#): > > Smart-bombing shuttles at gates is one of the most harmful and least defensible mechanics still present in EVE Online No, it is not. Your assumption is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/75 "2026-06-12T13:10:47Z")
> [@Lara\_Agnon](#): > > Your assumption is wrong. Based on what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![MB\_ThePhotographer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/mb_thephotographer/32/373722_2.png) [@MB\_ThePhotographer](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/MB_ThePhotographer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/76 "2026-06-12T23:59:24Z")
> [@Pure\_Capitalist](#): > > Based on what, exactly? Based on that if you get smart bombed in a shuttle, you’re not that smart. Edit; Or drunk. That’s my excuse and I’m gonna stick by it. 🍺 ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/77 "2026-06-13T01:39:25Z")
**Deleted by User** ---
**Author:** ![MB\_ThePhotographer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/mb_thephotographer/32/373722_2.png) [@MB\_ThePhotographer](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/MB_ThePhotographer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/78 "2026-06-13T01:57:25Z")
Why did I never encounter that problem? The only time I lost a shuttle to a gate camp was a Leopard flying into one from camp side while drunk/bored/in a hurry? Guess we don’t use shuttles the same way. But I sure learned a Leopard wasn’t invulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![Lucy\_Alfrir](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/lucy_alfrir/32/382506_2.png) [@Lucy\_Alfrir](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Lucy_Alfrir)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 11:17am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/79 "2026-06-13T11:17:09Z")
> [@Pure\_Capitalist](#): > > I jumped through the gate to it. You jumped through a gate in a shuttle, and landed next to the smartbomber? Or did they have the whole of the gate covered in smartbombers? ---
**Author:** ![Pure\_Capitalist](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/pure_capitalist/32/502764_2.png) [@Pure\_Capitalist](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Pure_Capitalist)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/80 "2026-06-13T12:39:26Z")
**Deleted by User** ---
**Author:** ![Lucy\_Alfrir](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/lucy_alfrir/32/382506_2.png) [@Lucy\_Alfrir](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Lucy_Alfrir)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/81 "2026-06-13T13:50:14Z")
Seems you were staggeringly unlucky then. ---
**Author:** ![Syzygium](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/syzygium/32/510263_2.png) [@Syzygium](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Syzygium)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885/82 "2026-06-13T14:29:28Z")
Sry for the late reply, I was on vacation for a few days. Usually I wouldn’t relight that discussion, but I actually consider you one of the more reasonable forum members that I enjoy a honest discussion with. The others I will simply ignore for now. Regarding “Pipe Bombs” - I don’t argue that they are not _based_ on the same smartbomb aoe-damage mechanic. However, the order of magnitude to correctly execute a classic RnK pipebomb is _magnitudes higher_ than some guy sitting solo on a gate-spot smartbombing shuttles. You realize that RnK used _a Titan_ to bridge in ships on a perfectly made up spot with a dragbubble and bombed a a dragged-in fleet with an own fleet of ~20+ pre-setup Smartbomb battleships? That you’d need a fleet of ~30 people who all know perfectly what they have to do? And time things exceptionally well? And risk billions (even not counting the exposed Titan) if things go wrong? That is the reason both have little to do with each other. Yeah they use the same base mechanic, but nerfing shuttle smartbombing would not affect pipepombs the slightest. The killing-effect from Pipebombs doesn’t come from a 1-shot instakill but from multiple dozen Smartbombs of dozens of Battleships firing cycle after cycle after cycle until the trapped fleet is dead. For pipebombing a delayed “spool up” mechanic for smartbombs would literally make no difference at all, since they deal their damage over time. Can we agree on that one? Regarding “Shuttle scouting”. I also don’t argue that it cannot be done or is _never done_. I argue that nullified shuttles have become _any kind of problem_ after the implementation of nullification. From my perspective there isn’t any problem with them _at all_. Any competent group will have cloaked and nullified CovertOps scouts near the other side’s fleet anyway. And those who don’t could simply use them. So we can agree that the implementation of nullified ships (especially shuttles) actually was a good change? It still allows ship/gang/fleet combat but removed parts of the easy farming of more or less unarmed ships (shuttles, haulers, covert-nullified-gimped T3s usually used for exploration or safely rolling WHs). Final thoughts about our question “well how to catch shuttles then”: I know it’s controversial, but at the moment I simply think: **You don’t**. It’s just a shuttle man. Let it pass. It’s a dude who want to go elsewhere to just play the game with his group. Let him. I am not convinced any more that the game _needs_ killing mechanics for everything everywhere anytime. Maybe I have just grown old or I killed too much stuff in the game to really believe any more that “smartbombing shuttles” (and other instakill mechanics like dock/undock-camping with ArtyGanking ships) and the basically requirement to have a legion of bookmarks all around the game just to not get instapopped if you want to go somewhere and the wrong dude is “camping” there are really good game mechanics and be required in the game for it to be enjoyable at all. If it was up to me, all that stuff could go away. EVE can be _so good_ once you learn how to combat ship-vs-ship, gang-vs-gang, fleet-vs-fleet - in a scenario where both sides actually make decisions that sooner or later end with victory/defeat for one side or the other. And yes, occasionally one can snack up an unlucky hauler or other defenseless target that did stay too long or didn’t pay attention. But being called “lazy” because you didn’t had a bounce bookmark in a system you visited never before and may only visit once in a few months or even years, so you totally deserved to being killed and sent back to Home Station… I would have to stretch myself quite a lot to get on board here. I really can’t see how that makes the game better. Cheers! [Previous page](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885.md?page=3) [Next page](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/shuttle-smart-bombing-is-anti-gameplay-not-pvp/512885.md?page=5)