If ever I was to go to the dark side in EVE I think it would be as a high sec suicide ganker.
Its not for he "Lulz" of killing someone when they think they are safe - I genuinely don't believe I could take pleasure in that. It is because I see a certain beauty in the careful weighing of risk versus reward.I imagine that suicide ganking for profit is a masterwork of intelligence, planning and careful calculation. You know you are going to lose your ship. You know you are going to incur a security penalty which will take time to work off. If you pick the wrong target, if you bring too little force, if you bring too much force, if your timing is off or if screw up in any other way then you are likely to lose more than you gain.
I also believe that suicide gankers fulfil one of the most important roles in EVE's mythos. Suicide gankers are the boogie men. They are the nightmares that haunt the dreams of high sec carebears. Without suicide gankers there would be no reason to keep looking over your shoulder when flying the safe regions of Empire Space. EVE without risk would not be EVE.
Of course while I admire suicide ganking for profit I think that suicide ganking for lulz is just lame, immoral in fact, if such a sentiment can be applied to a virtual world. A recent EVE Dev Blog brought to my attention by the Ancient Gaming Noob discusses the fact that the risk versus reward factor for suicide gankers is currently out of skew. They intend to rebalance this in a number of ways:
1. Speeding up the response time of Concord, Eve's in game police force.
2. Increasing the security status penalty for crimes committed in high security regions
3. In the near future insurance payout will be removed for Concord related events.
I don't have enough experience of the game to make an evaluation but these sound like sensible moves. While they might not prevent some have a go idiot from attempting to gank an empty hauler just for the lulz the stiff penalties involved should dissuade them from doing it again.
The increased costs incurred will undoubtedly make suicide ganking less profitable and will dissuade many would be gankers. Nevertheless I hope that the most dedicated will remain. I hope that they will refine their calculations and strike more selectively but I sincerely hope that they will remain and that I will still be looking over my shoulder.
Its not for he "Lulz" of killing someone when they think they are safe - I genuinely don't believe I could take pleasure in that. It is because I see a certain beauty in the careful weighing of risk versus reward.I imagine that suicide ganking for profit is a masterwork of intelligence, planning and careful calculation. You know you are going to lose your ship. You know you are going to incur a security penalty which will take time to work off. If you pick the wrong target, if you bring too little force, if you bring too much force, if your timing is off or if screw up in any other way then you are likely to lose more than you gain.
I also believe that suicide gankers fulfil one of the most important roles in EVE's mythos. Suicide gankers are the boogie men. They are the nightmares that haunt the dreams of high sec carebears. Without suicide gankers there would be no reason to keep looking over your shoulder when flying the safe regions of Empire Space. EVE without risk would not be EVE.
Of course while I admire suicide ganking for profit I think that suicide ganking for lulz is just lame, immoral in fact, if such a sentiment can be applied to a virtual world. A recent EVE Dev Blog brought to my attention by the Ancient Gaming Noob discusses the fact that the risk versus reward factor for suicide gankers is currently out of skew. They intend to rebalance this in a number of ways:
1. Speeding up the response time of Concord, Eve's in game police force.
2. Increasing the security status penalty for crimes committed in high security regions
3. In the near future insurance payout will be removed for Concord related events.
I don't have enough experience of the game to make an evaluation but these sound like sensible moves. While they might not prevent some have a go idiot from attempting to gank an empty hauler just for the lulz the stiff penalties involved should dissuade them from doing it again.
The increased costs incurred will undoubtedly make suicide ganking less profitable and will dissuade many would be gankers. Nevertheless I hope that the most dedicated will remain. I hope that they will refine their calculations and strike more selectively but I sincerely hope that they will remain and that I will still be looking over my shoulder.
Comments