Nice AI response lol.
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Dyver, you’re throwing around words like “counterplay,” “decision‑making,” and “story” as if repeating them makes them true. So let’s be specific: what counterplay are you actually talking about? Because the only “decision‑making” involved in smartbombing shuttles is choosing whichever gate has the most traffic and pressing F1 on a multibox setup.
That’s not interaction. That’s not piloting. That’s not PvP. That’s farming.
And no, scouting isn’t the magical solution you’re pretending it is. To scout a route properly, you need another pilot physically entering each system ahead of you. That means a second account, multiboxing, and treating basic shuttle travel like a covert‑ops infiltration. If your argument is “just assume every gate is smartbombed and play accordingly,” then you’re admitting the mechanic forces players into permanent paranoia just to move around.
That’s not counterplay. That’s a time tax and an account tax.
Your “contacts list” argument doesn’t hold up either. There is no universal list of smartbombers. Every region has different groups, different alts, different corps, different time zones, different cloaky setups. Compiling a meaningful list would take weeks, and even then it wouldn’t solve or mend the problem. You’re describing a fantasy version of intel that doesn’t exist for new players or even some Vets, then theres returning players, or anyone who isn’t already deeply embedded in lowsec politics or knows the depth sectors of space like the chud who lives inside this game.
And others calling this “essential gameplay” is wild. Every 1v1, every fleet fight, every wormhole brawl, every roam, every hunt — those all tell stories. Entire YouTube channels exist because real PvP has narrative, escalation, choices, mistakes, triumphs, and losses. Smartbombing shuttles has none of that. It’s the opposite of story. It’s a loading‑screen execution.
If the peak of gameplay for you is sitting on a gate with a multibox smartbomb fleet deleting shuttles and pods before the pilot even loads grid, then just say that. But don’t pretend it’s deep, interactive, or meaningful. It’s not. It’s a zero‑interaction trap that punishes nearly everyone, wastes our valuable time, and adds nothing to the game except frustration.
If EVE genuinely expects players to treat every undock like a covert ops mission, assume every gate is a trap, maintain a personal database of smartbombers, and multibox scouts just to move themselves between systems, then CCP should put that in the marketing: “EVE Online — the most complicated, obscure, and unforgiving travel simulator ever made.”
Because that’s what you’re defending.
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Gerard, I do appreciate the way you’re engaging with the structure of what I’m saying. But I think we need to be honest about the practical side of the advice you’re giving.
Why would anyone want to run a 5‑degree d‑scan at every gate? Even doing it more than once or twice per trip is already too much, “obviously not the case with other ships though.”.
Turning basic travel into a sequence of constant scans, bounces, and checks isn’t engaging gameplay—it’s just tedious. When someone is simply trying to move from A to B in a pod or a shuttle, they shouldn’t have to treat every system like a covert‑ops operation. “unless their fleeing in their implant pod from just getting popped”
[WHY ARE YOU RUNNIN!!] -meme
And this isn’t happening in a vacuum. EVE already leans heavily in favor of veteran players who know every trick, every trap, every name, every region. New players and returning players don’t have that background. They don’t have a mental map of who smartbombs where. They don’t have a curated contact list. They don’t have the experience to know that “you should always assume every gate is a smartbomb trap” is even a thing. And you shouldn’t have to if you’re purely traveling.
I’ve seen some of the shuttle kills you’re talking about. I’ve seen people lose researched BPOs because they thought a shuttle was the safe option—and then they never logged in again. That’s not a rare story. It’s not hypothetical. It’s something people can verify on zKillboard: when the killmail is the last activity on the character.
So I’m genuinely curious how you would describe multibox smartbombing shuttles as meaningful or healthy for the game. What does it add? How does it improve the experience for anyone except the person running the multibox setup? Because from the perspective of someone just trying to travel, it feels less like “emergent gameplay” and more like a punishment for not treating every single undock as a high‑stakes infiltration mission.
That’s the core of my point: the amount of effort required to avoid this one specific mechanic is wildly out of proportion to the value it brings to the game.
P.S. I like how your comments are structured. How are you inputting my quotes in there like that?
Doing a 5 degree dscan at a gate when hostiles are in local is similar to watching both ways before you cross a road on foot.
It’s a basic precaution to not get hurt, and should be part of your routine.
Feel free to travel blind and run across roads blindfolded if it is too ‘tedious’ to watch where you’re going.
Traveling blind is pretty chill I guess, until you run into something that kills you.
Just don’t blame the game for your behaviour when it gets you killed, there are alternatives.
You can select the text of someone else’s post, which brings up a ‘quote’ or ‘copy quote’ menu, quite useful!
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I would agree if the ship in question is not a pod or a shuttle, or rather an option that gives a solution where people have some freedom of movement if they have nothing on them. There should be a way for players to do that without the afore mentioned level of micro management like you’ve suggested. “There are only so many jump pods I can install”. What’s the argument for it? I still haven’t heard any adequate or meaningful explanation as to why and how a loading screen execution is such an “Essential” function of the game.
Do Eve vets really just have a kink for torture? Why do this to players? Still no explanation or meaningful response.
I really do appreciate you taking the time to show me this tip.
You don’t need to do it at every gate. You do it at a gate where you suspect there might be smartbombs. Which gates those might be is usually very predictable.
You want to shuttle through low sec, both without dying and without having to think or assert any effort yourself. If you just say this you will obviously be roundly mocked, so now we all get to read a lot of disingenuous (and clearly AI generated/edited) ■■■■■■■■ that attempts to reframe the complaint such that it’s about “tediousness” and “interactivity”.
New players are capable of learning. There’s no need to infantilize the entire group just because you’re struggling.
Uh, who assumes that? That’s not a rule, that’s not guidance any experienced player is giving out. Sounds like some dumb DIY aphorism you came up with and now you think it’s how the game is played.
I have alts who have only died once or twice in 20 years because they are mostly station-bound. This means nothing.
Your entire whiny argument relies almost entirely on pretending that the “amount of effort required” is a lot and, as Gerard noted, it’s more like looking both ways before crossing the street.
This is one of the more pathetic whine threads I’ve seen of late; usually they’re at least about high sec, where it is at least understandable that players familiar with other games might have their expectations challenged a bit. “I shouldn’t have to consider PvP risks when I’m in low-sec,” is comparatively rare!
If you want to be able to warp gate to gate without fear of smartbombs then try fitting a covops cloak. That way they can’t see you coming to time the explosions.
Shuttles can carry billions worth of blueprints (I’ve linked one earlier) and pods can hold billions worth of implants.
Neither of these should be invulnerable just because you’re too lazy to scan dangerous parts on your route.
No ship in EVE should be safe with zero input from the pilot.
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So every gate? How would those obvious gates be apparent to anyone who’s not a vet?
When did I say I want total freedom of movement through the entire game? You’re the one being disingenuous here.
Fixing this gotcha mechanic is not infantilizing an entire group. Unless you’re admitting you’re a chud that spends his life camping on a gate to smart bomb shuttles. Peak gameplay there bud.
If you’re haunting these forums enough to make a statement like that, xD You give an image of a player like bob who has a infinite amount of multibox accounts, smashing those asteroids. Good for you. You’re the perfect example of the community players are receiving in this game.
I have to say I am a bit split on the issue.
On one hand I can see how it is kinda “fun” for those farming salt and/or getting kinda “jackpot” every like thousand (?) shuttle bombings because some idiot really had a BPO or something inside…
On the other hand I see the frustration of many who just wanted to reach an OP system or get back home because they died in the last OP and either you take 3 times as long for your route by having bouncespots and dscan check gates (which isn’t possible everywhere because of distances and sometimes not even a warpable celestial is near to the stargate you need to take, so you either warp to 50km, then rewarp, then again warp to the gate if it is clear…). Or you cross fingers and then suddenly “beep beep, wake up in Jita again”.
It’s not about the loss, even if the pod is empty it’s just wasted time to do those 20, 30, 40 jumps again and maybe even miss a fleet you’d wanted to go to. I have indeed seen players logging off and not playing that day any more because it just killed the fun for them.
So my usual approach is: What would benefit the game itself (as a product on a competitive market) more?
I usually don’t die to Smartbombs because I literally have bounce spots in almost every lowsec system, but in the greater picture I feel that mechanic is more an annoyance than a benefit for the majority of the players. 
I am absolutely not a player that wants to make “everything totally safe”, but at least attach some skill to killing mechanics. And to be honest, Shuttle smartbombing is a 100% no skill activity. I have done it, either the guy warps via a bounce spot then you won’t get him, or he doesn’t and you get him 100% of the time if he lands in your SB range. In my opinion Smartbombs should just fire at the end of their cycle instead of instant, so they still work as firewalls or drone deterrent in combat, but if you want to catch shuttles or pods, you’d need to run them constantly with each one having a delay to the other and not just 1-click-kill things firing them all. I’d have no problem with removing Shuttle cargo in return, I don’t think the game needs the capability to transport items in shuttles, if someone wants to transport stuff, either a speedy frig or a blockaderunner will do perfectly fine.
I know that opinion might not be popular among the “EVE is so crazy hardcore crowd” but nonetheless, from my PoV the game would be a better one with smartbombing actually requiring some skill, at least more than it takes now.
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Yeah, I’ve already mentioned repeatedly that something should be done about cargo space on shuttles. Or address the issue of the afore mentioned gotcha menchanic.
Pods and Shuttles are not invulnerable and never did I argue that this should be the case.
If there’s no-one else in system they can’t be smartbomb camping.
Unless you’re traveling through null, its pretty unlikely for this to be the case in the majority of the route, no? Unless you’re planning shuttle runs at a micromanaged time to avoid players from different time zones. At least that’s been my experience.
As a Solo Explorer. It’s a basic routine.
Does local chat just not work on your computer or something?
The implication that every risk needs to be apparent to every player regardless of their level of experience is midwit nonsense. It doesn’t need to be. It’s okay if someone gets got in a smartbomb camp due to inexperience. Afterward, they will have experience.
Personally, the risk of smartbombers does not even enter my mind unless I am in low sec, in something thin, and there are numerous flashies in local. It’s not something I plan ahead for. If the system looks like it might be smartbomby, you just check zkill or ping the gate and move on.
It’s pretty clearly the goal you’re angling for. Again, that you’re couching it in lies about "tediousness’ and “interactivity” is… very obvious.
It’s not a “gotcha”. If you play poorly in low sec, someone else will kill you. Just play better.
Smartbomb camps are basically an IQ test that you’re failing; the Eve equivalent of driving your soccer mom van into rushing floodwaters while the voice on the radio tells you not to drive into rushing floodwaters.
He confesses! You’re definiately the type of chud who smartbomb camps a gate with his multibox fleet.
Wow you got me. Mind as sharp as yours, it’s a shock that you’re struggling in-game.
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Thanks bud. It means a lot. 
You get what you give.
I don’t think he knows about local (or deductive reasoning).
Yet you complain about smartbombs being usable against them, which are the only practical weapons to kill a pod or shuttle.