With the new year comes thoughts at a leadership level of what the corporation and alliance should do.
Many organizations that form fresh from experienced pvp pilots follow a similar path: occupy low sec, gain strength, define identity, and move into 0.0 space where they either flourish or die. My last corp, Strife, followed that perfectly to the "or die" part.
M3 corp and the alliance is at a crossroads. We've accomplished the first two and much of the third ("we are a pvp corp / alliance") but we are led by mature enough players to realize that a sudden move into 0.0 while we are insufficiently prepared could spell the doom of Blackwater (I feel that the core of m3 is more than strong enough to resist collapse, especially in light of surviving its time in Wicked Creek with Friend or Enemy alliance last year).
There are many options open to us:
- continue to occupy Sukanan constellation and suffer the frequent security status hits from fighting hostiles who are not red-flashing pirates;
- move into Providence with CVA's blessing and exist as a "renter" there;
- move into some other power bloc's sphere of influence and be a "renter" there;
- move into some other power bloc's sphere of influence in force and occupy space there;
- move into NPC 0.0 space like Syndicate or Curse and grow in strength there;
- become mercenaries in empire and run the risk of becoming more cavalier about targets (i.e. abandoning NRDS for the more unfriendly NBSI).
This highlights why low sec is usually so unoccupied: pilots can't adequately defend the space without ruining their security status in the process making 0.0 space so much more attractive. But that's old news and until CPP changes things it can't be helped.
Part of the deliberations is thinking about the new content in the next expansion, specifically Tech III (a.k.a. Lego Ships) and Wormholes to possible claimable pockets of space. I've offered up my services as researcher to compile all available and upcoming information on these topics for the corp's leadership to digest. If nothing else, I'm good at that kind of task as evidenced by some of my articles in Eve Tribune like the Boosters articles and the Tech II versus Best Named article.
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Moving into Provi or Curse will bring you into the same conflict the U'K and myself are in. Catch will be the main battleground of a huge offensive by the Goons and NC against AAA and perhaps BoB. The U'K will be caught in the middle because of certain ties, but we've been prepping for it for weeks. It started last Friday.
ReplyDeleteI suggest, if you're at all worried about the fragility of your alliance or your determination in such a conflict is not hard as steel, avoid the above regions entirely.
I'm telling you this as a favour, and I'd probably get in trouble if my alliance found out I was telling you this.
If you do come around, since you're CVA-friendly, I'll see you on the field.
Having had to consider this carefully myself I'll point out to you that if you're a "PvP" alliance NPC space is probably a better fit. Since you can't claim sovereignty in NPC space you don't need to bother with setting up the industrial side of an alliance. As a bonus the stations aren't conquerable so you can't be locked out of your possessions (may become a little hard to get to if you get chased off but you can undock with your stuff).
ReplyDeleteIf you're a PvP alliance you'll have trouble with keeping pilots in the long run unless you can deliver the promised PvP. NPC space is a hotbed of gang based PvP usually. Just check out any 24h "pilots killed" map and look at Curse.
On the flip side it'll be more difficult to run any industrial stuff. So it's a tradeoff - if you're intent on 0.0 PvP without the industrial infrastructure then NPC space is the way to go. Otherwise make sure you can field a cap fleet.
Sukanan is a low sec pocket, therefore the real pirates haven't touched you guys yet. Living in a pocket like that and then moving to a place like curse, syndicate or providence will spell doom for your inexperienced pilots.
ReplyDeleteNPC 0.0 space sounds best. If the alliance wants to continue it's industrial, then maybe keeping a lo-sec pos within range of NPC 0.0 space might be better than a pos in 0.0. There are still logistics and defence issues, but it might be easier.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree it would be doom for inexperienced pilots. I've been an inexperienced pilot in Syndicate and Fountain - I took some lumps, but it was worth it. With good support from experienced players, it's fine, especially for those with an adventurous attitude.