So… how does it answer what I just said?
NRDS, refusing to be part of a bloc, and trying to benefit newer players are three different elements, that you can potentially mix together (which Provi tried to do), but can be done individually too.
You can be a small Alliance that is trying to carve out a piece of the EvE map for themself and teach new players, without following NRDS.
NRDS in itself is just the idea of not shooting neutrals. That stops here, really.
NRDS allowed non-members, neutrals, to live, mine, rat, explore in that space. In that respect it was kind of a non-committal boot camp. They could choose to become a member of one of the corporations there, or leave and try to survive in other parts of nullsec or w-space with what they learned in NRDS space and from its members. The only proviso was they had to do their pvp outside NRDS space (unless agressed by the many non-NRDS visitors that roamed Provi daily - because they had nothing else to do in their blue donut or were seeking out potentially weaker opponents).
So, it was slightly more than just “not shoot neutrals”.
Do you realise that all of this still doesn’t justify the part where you said that “It is what allowed a feeling of freedom and the ability to carve out a part of the map for yourself”, which is what I originally quoted and answered too?
Sure, NRDS makes life as a neutral easier. I mean, obviously, since the whole idea is not to shoot them.
Sorry man, I don’t really understand where I lost you. Having the ability to live under a small NRDS umbrella, learn from them, gather some funds and then set out on one’s own adventure of conquest is VERY different from joining another NBSI bloc, living under their rules, and having nowhere else to go but in that same blue donut, under the same decision makers and the same domination. That is, I suppose, the justification, although choice doesn’t need any justification.
Even if NRDS only offers hopes and dreams of conquest for potentially new content creators it’s a good thing to have in the game, no ?
From my point of view, not really.
It probably feels different in some aspects while you are still in the learning process, trying to gather your first ISK.
But what does it have to do with “your own aventure of conquest”? It’s not gonna change anything to what will happen to you once you actually try to conquer some lands.
Hell, it’s probably even detrimental, because you will be less used and prepared to what is waiting for you in your next adventure in terms of aggressiveness.
I would argue that if you wanna take a part of the map for yourself and inevitably put yourself at risk of fighting the blocs at some point, you are much better prepared for it if you did live in a bloc and know what they are about, rather than a safe little spot of Provibloc only to leave you with the crushing surprise of a Null Bloc’s slap in your face.
Well… Yeah. But I don’t think that NRDS offers that in any way. And if it does, it mostly open doors for big disappointments more than anything else, when they will face the reality of their dreams.
I had been having fun building a fort out of toilet tubes and cellotape, even chased off some wardecs using a desk lamp and making myself look big.
Then CCP decided I needed to pay an extra billion for the privilege.
So yeah, why bother dreaming when you can just survive seems more the angle these days they would like us to go for.
Aye, and that’s exactly why, in answering @Ramona_McCandless, I gave my views on the blue donut phenomenon, of it stifling the game, reaching the end goal of total domination, having to play/behave under the rules of domination etc. You can’t attract and hold newer players to a game were conquest used to be a thing but no longer, because the powers that be are too powerful to be challenged. What would be left for them ? Even some honest big bloc leaders state that the blue donut is not good for the game.
Giving big blocs the finger by not becoming a member and live on the fringe is one way, carving out a modest place of your own, fight off the slum lords if you can is another (and probably more rewarding) way if one does want to belong to a group with some stamina.
That’s a fair point, but that’s also something extremely hard to balance.
On one hand, you can’t attract new players if all the conquest are done already.
But on the other hand, you can’t keep old players either if you put too much limits on it, basically telling them that “This is a game about conquest but if you are doing too well you are gonna get nerfed/reset/whatever in order not to afraid newer players”. That’s not worth investing your efforts into conquest if you know you are gonna be limited if you ever happen to be succesfull at it.
So… Yeah. Hard to solve. A lot of strategy game go for the “Reset after X period of time” strategy. I personnally hate it.
Very true, completely agree here.
That is also why, in my own Your Opinion on (Providence) NRDS thread I asked the question if " * … it (is) a shared responsibility of the major blocs (panfam, imperium, legacy, etc) to keep the zone more or less intact when it really matters ? Is it in their interest ?"
A positive answer to that question (which was not popular, btw) would probably be a modest way to find some semblance of balance for the aspect you raise.
Of course, from within the game it doesn’t make any sense at all, any region should be conquerable in some way, and some small bloc should not get preferential treatment.
On the other hand, looking from outside of the game, on metapolitical level, Provi bloc has survived that long undoubtedly because the large entities allowed it to (and because Provi didn’t hold any really valuable resources, of course). These large blocs seem to have forgotten having NRDS nerds around was actually beneficial to them and the game itself too, lost interest, changed leadership or whatever other reasons.
But I do believe that it still is in the interest of the game to have NRDS in some way, shape, and region. It requires some self-restraint on the part of the biggest entities, evidently.
Yeah, and so is the NBSI (Not Blue Shoot It). You shoot everyone and claiming space has nothing to do wih it.
Claiming space and mechanics behind it are just tools in this sandbox.
If you get enough presence and firepower in any of those play styles you can start claiming space if you choose to. That is what many NRDS players forgot about and left in despair.
Further still NRDS was just a side effect of Role Players brining Amarr Civilization to Providence. They forgot it wasn’t about claiming space either.
So to every NRDS players and Amarr Loyalists: Our strength lies in those playstyles, not in the sovereignty and not in the end-game that others think you should follow!
Keep the fight going, spread the word, and don’t buy into this red propaganda!
Amarr Victor!
But is there actually something to join, or do I just hope that enough people happen to show up in system when I feel like ratting?
You can join an NRDS group if you choose to. Communication leads to more information and that can save your ships.
Well, that’s a general misinterpretation of NRDS people have, that you can safely make isk there.
NRDS is primarily a PVP game style.
The fact that you can do some PVE in NRDS controlled space in relative safety is a result of NRDS presence.
You on your own must know when it’s rather safe to do PVE and when it’s not.
The risk is always there however.
Lol, yep, it’s NBSI on steroids
I feel youre missing the point.
What leverage are you proposing to enforce this NRDS policy in the wake of CVA going doa?
The leverage is Amarr Victor!
Don’t buy into this propaganda guys. Just fight and spread the word!
I guess its amorphous “We Must Struggle!” season again.
I think thats two or is it three this week?
CVA, and you @Caldranna are both walking contradictions. How is NRDS even remotely related to the draconic ‘slave empire and purge non believers with holy beam lasers’ Amarr victor doctrine? If anything it should be closer to Gallente federalism/diplomacy, where you don’t immediately engage hostilities but instead share in the fertile land(so to speak)
Nothing contradictory about it. Does the Amarrian navy shoot all non Amarrians in it’s space? NRDS is an essential part of any civilization. Just because you don’t like Amarr doesn’t mean Amarrians see themselves as the servants of evil.
I too wish to be a part of something bigger, the few people I had come in contact with are mostly pirates, traders who hardly ever leave stations or miners who want to be left alone.
Its seems like I started playing this game 10 + years too late.
Seem like it will take that long to find the group that will fit the balance of thing we all want to do within EVE lol