I’ve been sitting back pondering the current state of nullsec and thinking about putting some words to screen. Not from the perspective of what changes CCP can make to improve it, but rather what our actions as players have seemingly led to. Luckily, Snot Shot released an article on EN24 and that acted as the kick in the arse I needed to just get it done, hopefully with a bit less bias. For the record, despite the fact that I pen the occasional article for EN24, I am a member of the CFC. If you think that makes me a Kool-Aid drinking apologist, then so be it; I cast my blame pretty far and wide.
This article isn’t about perfunctory skirmishes, roaming gangs or hot drops. I don’t really care how far anyone has to travel to find someone to kill because they’ve blued up half the map. Rather, this is more about the state of nullsec warfare and the politics behind it, which in my opinion, is in a pretty sorry state. The problem anyone faces in writing about this topic is that very few people in the game have access to the unvarnished thoughts of nullsec leaders regarding their true vision of warfare on a macro level. At least in terms of accepting any blame for the lack of it. The leaders themselves don’t say much that isn’t infused with either propaganda or calls for change from CCP in order to motivate their want to fight. So in the end, like it or not, I just decided to go with my own observations.
First Off, let’s address that Snot Shot article as well as the concept that we are in a cold war. I really do enjoy reading articles about EVE, especially those I disagree with, and I don’t typically single out a particular author.
However, this article was laced with so much false narrative and grrrr Goon bias that it really detracted from what I saw as an underlying message that truly does need to be addressed: nullsec is stale as fuck these days and players do have a role in that. But is the answer, as he seems to suggest, that CFC alliances should stop being dumb, abandon Goons, and allow N3PL to usher in some golden age of EVE? Nah, that’s just Goblinesque rhetoric. Does the current state of nullsec fall at the feet of one maniacal despot, The Mittani? No, it doesn’t. Sure, he rides herd over a pretty sizeable coalition, but I really doubt the likes of Vince Draken, Grath Telkin or ProGodLegend, among others, are lining up to bend a knee to some nefarious plot hatched by Mittens. It’s far more likely :tinfoil: that some level of collusion is going on than one man pulling the strings. Ultimately, it was pretty hard getting past the bias to find the kernel of a point. I’m not sure if it was ignorance or just willful bias, but I just think any writer should be able to could come up with a better reason than Goon-brand Kool-Aid being at the root of the problem. However, I think he pretty much confirmed the bias aspect with his comments following the article.
As for the current state of nullsec being in a “cold war”, stop buying into propagandized excuses for the lack of war. There is no cold war going on. A cold war would imply that tensions exist, and quite frankly tensions do not exist. Nobody got kicked in the nuts at FanFest (a missed opportunity maybe). By and large there are just a bunch of players who are bored with EVE and bored with the structure-grind meta. In conjunction with this boredom, coalition leaderships seem unwilling to risk their empires and income streams by committing to anything that might result in a decisive outcome. Tough talk is used to to rile up the masses, but neither side seems very willing to let loose those riled up pilots towards the annihilation of the other side. Despite all the grrrr Goons sentiment and propaganda, apparently nobody actually thinks the other is literally BoB.
As I said at the beginning, the state of nullsec has been on my mind for a while now. Mainly because of the boredom associated with waiting months for the next “war” while also dreading the fact that it will probably just result in “make work” sov grinding to try and tease out some fights along the way. However, it has also been on my mind because I think some have lost sight of what war in EVE used to be like and what the “Age of Coalitions” has done to stymie a sense of real conflict. Great Wars of the past were indeed great. While infrequent, that didn’t mean nullsec wasn’t burning. Smaller, more localized wars occurred much more frequently and the parties were more limited. Why? Well partially because the universe was just more fragmented with neighbor fighting neighbor, but also because force projection wasn’t as advanced as it is today. Alliances could actually fight one another without some outside behemoth sticking their nose into every battle. In the Age of Coalitions, that just doesn’t happen the way it once did. Most nullsec alliances are either part of one of the only two coalitions that really matter, or they are blued up with one of them. Very few consequential independents remain, at least in terms of those active in null. As a result, rather than multiple hot spots dispersed across the map, we now have what seems like a seasonal war calendar interspersed by extensive lulls.
I could be completely wrong and maybe the rank and file players just enjoy this level of inconsequential warfare. I’ll admit that it does make life easier to know that the ultimate risk of losing one’s space has been minimized. However, in return, it also makes each battle, each war, feel a little less significant. “Wars” now seem to be about just meeting up at some pre-defined neutral location in order to provide content for the bored masses. Maybe that’s cool for newer players who haven’t experienced the ups and downs of a war that could result in the loss of their territory or the dissolution of their alliance, but are the veterans digging it? Like I said, my concerns may be totally overblown and the majority of players may be in favor of the present situation. I just don’t get that impression when the discussion comes up. Not from outsiders who bitch about blue donuts and not from insiders who recognize it is a bit stale.
Ever since PL and NC. tossed out Solar and its allies and consolidated the East, we’ve seen two “major” conflicts that involved today’s two primary super powers: the expulsion of TEST from the south and the Halloween War. Were either of these really wars? I don’t recall either side going for the jugular of the other. In the case of Fountain/Delve, PL and N3 were there, but not in force or seeking a full-on confrontation with the CFC. Better yet, no real attempt by any of the grrrr Goon community was made to hit the Goon homeland and create a second front. Yeah, I know Elo got bought off, but Black Legion are a wild card, not the lead anti-Goon banner men. That role falls to NC. The opportunity was there, yet not taken.
Well what about the Halloween War? Despite all the “third party” propaganda, here at last we had both sides embroiled in an escalating conflict. The nearly unstaoppable N3PL Wrecking Ball versus the CFC. At first, the CFC played with drone assist, but that was relatively ineffectual against the Wrecking Ball. So they moved in more caps and supers and the potential was there for shit to get real. And then it did. First with the node abortion of HED-GP, but then later with the battle of B-R. The fights in between may have been hit or miss, but B-R was certainly a climactic battle of historic proportions. This was more than just historical in the annals of EVE, it had the potential to be a game changing event. And what did it lead to? Basically the end of the conflict. Wait, what? No raping and pillaging of the NC. homeland? Nope, just went home, chilled and took out some trash.
There’s no doubt it had been a long deployment, but to leave without attempting to put a stake in the heart of the enemy seemed a little anticlimactic. This wasn’t Desert Storm. The CFC wasn’t going to lose public support for the war by going all the way to Baghdad. Who knows, maybe :tinfoil: the decision was made to leave N3combat effective because they are they only enemy left that can provide any semblance of a sustained fight. Maybe both sides realized, despite all the hurf blurf, that if either side wins there will be nothing left to fight for quite some time. Maybe that is where the Age of Coalitions has brought us: holding back from destroying the only opponent left to fight.
In the end, today’s nullsec consists of two primary sides with a smattering of others floating around that are being farmed for off-peak content or allowed to grow into something worth farming in the future. Maybe, as some have said, it is indeed CCP’s fault for not getting on with changing sovereignty or force projection or whatever other excuses people use to explain why two sides so outwardly opposed to one another won’t get down to business. Or maybe it is just business. Perhaps risking all that they have built up just isn’t worth it anymore. Perhaps nullsec has entered a post-modern era where wars are now secondary to diplomacy and economic partnerships that guarantee the revenue stream for all sides. Sadly for the rank and file pilots, guiding the metagame and role-playing the Council on Foreign Relations doesn’t really require action from most of us. Thus we are left with the occasional content fleets and content wars to occupy the masses.
Again, I have no definitive insight and neither do most of you who are reading this. I know a good many people will say that nullsec isn’t stagnant and this has all happened before. No, it hasn’t. Not on this scale and with this level of organization. Mistakes of the past have been learned from and the likelihood of mass implosions occurring and causing a void is much more limited today. While I do agree that CCP needs to get busy with some changes to mechanics, we can’t just lay it at their feet and wait around for that to happen. The players of EVE are a resourceful bunch. If we can adapt to changing environments then we can assuredly adapt to a stagnant environment by choosing to make it less stagnant. Stagnation in EVE is very much akin to global climate change. There may be other contributing factors (CCP), but we are the only ones that can actually do anything to mitigate the damage in the near term. Because who really wants to wait around for the world to fix it for us.
EVE isn’t dying, but maybe we should all be playing like it was. Imagine an EVE with one year to live. That would be an exciting year.
