Monday, January 25, 2010

Drums of War

War is raging in null sec.  The NC is defending against a variety of attackers after the fall of Geminate, AAA and CVA are sparring over a high sec pipe, and IT alliance is settling into the areas once held by Pandemic Legion and Sons of Tangra.
 
No one can argue that Dominion didn't bring war to New Eden.  One can only speculate about whether IT will be challenging Goons for Delve, or turn their attention elsewhere as they consolidate in the west.  The churn is impressive. 
 
We still haven't seen a rise in smaller alliances as a strong trend after Dominion.  While 0.0 can now support much more player density, big fleet engagements continue to control the political map.  I don't think a small alliance can hold space without backing from a major PVP alliance at this time.  I am interested to see if there is a selective evolutionary pressure that will reward Alliances that pursue increased density and system development over time as this can provide significant income through taxation and station fees.  The problem is that in 0.0, it all boils down to how many skilled pilots you can muster in a fleet.  Filling space with PVE and Industrial players may make the corp ISK and keep the market stocked, but it also makes your space a big target.  You have to be able to shoot any non-blue who comes near your space if you want to utilize it.  Null sec is harsh.  It's the best place to be in EVE!

2 comments:

  1. Just FYI -A- , and CVA are fighting as CVA attacked the combined forces of -A-,SyS-K, Stain empire, C0ven, in conjunction with Goons. Goons in turn have shown up to fight WITH CVA.

    The small alliances are really kinda screwed IMO The TCU and all the upgrades needed to make space good for your members... frankly eliminates the ability for small alliances to even GET into 0.0

    One good note is that the alliance now DO need miners and what not to be able to maintain their space at a high level ( there is now an activity counter places in systems that needs to be maintained in order to keep your upgrades actve.

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  2. The -A- vs. CVA conflict is really interesting. Given the first Delve system has fallen, I am not sure if Goons will help CVA that much.

    On the Sov upgrade issue, we have noticed that the Industry upgrades seem to degrade way too fast. Mining is also not very efficient for adding to Industry activity. Running Plexes seems more effective at sustaining an improved Industry rating. I personally think CCP should slow down the decay or boost the contribution of mining. I haven't mined myself, but I have heard buzz that people are frustrated at maintaining Industry upgrades.

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