Finding the common thread

     I've taken a bit of a short from frequent writing to spend a little more time considering how to proceed as well as some extra time for real life concerns. During this break I've considered if my game play activities and preferences are mere coincidences or if the have some sort of core principles or at least common thread that I can build something more meaningful from.

     Most pilots in eve remain in the same area for a very long time, frequently basing out of the same system for years on end. The build up of resources in one area has it's natural advantages but beyond my enjoyment of the nomadic approach I find I'm actually hostile to the static approach. Having the right tool for every task may be mechanically and statistically effective but it also stifles the need for improvisation.
      Players stop solving problems, they become dependent on having a correct solution to every situation and as they encounter more situations they acquire more tools. Once their tool chest so to speak becomes difficult to move, changing locations becomes a chore and many players will settle down. As much as I dislike the stagnation of this sort of thing, I hate that it's derived from a lack of interest in engaging the game and overcoming it's challenges.

     In many ways players have 'solved' many of the challenges of eve and while it may be a somewhat meta perspective I don't think of players who seek out and the follow these solutions as really playing the game. They fly fits made by some one else, using strategies and tactics discovered by others all while frequently not understanding the mechanics that make it all work.
     In terms of statistics and performance they are "good players" they operate the game in a manner considered correct and they know this. I say operate here intentionally because if nothing about your fits to how you fly comes from you then I don't think you play the game, I think the game is playing you. It's a bit of a meta perspective but if nearly everything you do in game is absent personal input than you've become more of an operator than a player.

     I think this is in part where many of my in-game dislikes stem from. The near hated of otherwise ubiquitous ships such as the VNI, gila and ishtar. To borderline mechanical "pvp" such as gate camps and suicide ganking. Trying to have an interesting discussion with many of these players about their ships, tactics, and strategies has been one of the most consistently disappointing experiences in EVE.
      It's almost always an exercise in them having a few fits and a basic explanation then either not having answers for or being outright hostile to any deeper interest "It works, why do you have so many stupid questions?"

     I don't think there are right or wrong ways to play EVE but I've come to the conclusion that I at least am hostile to allowing the community meta to play me. There's a certain amount of defiance in the kind of play-style I aim for, to know what is considered the best and choose to find your own way in spite of it.

Fleets and corporate activity

     I've run various weekly fleets for a few years now, even before trying to move the corporation I'm in to a more nomadic existence. I had always assumed that running regular fleets would help keep people interested in logging in to do things in corp, however after a few years I am no longer certain this is the case.

     Running regular formal and scheduled fleets does get people online and active but in many cases it's just for those fleets and then they hop offline again or return to playing on an alt. The ability to just drop off a jump clone and hop on at a certain time does not do much to encourage people to be online at other times. This isn't a complaint towards that sort of thing but more an observation in how running a certain kind of fleet does not necessarily increase corporate activity outside fleet times. I had assumed it would but over time I think it's fair to say I was wrong in that regard.

     Is it perhaps the approach to running fleets that is part of my problem. Running all the fleets in a formal manner means that everyone knows when and where they are and as such they don't need to be online the rest of the time. What I have begun to wonder is if having the bulk of the fleets be less formal and more spontaneous might help keep people online and active. I'd like to imagine people asking if there was going to be a fleet and others asking what everyone felt like doing. However it's certainly possible that more spontaneous fleets will fail altogether, the activity will be sparse at least due to current low activity.

     All the same I intent to go forward with mixing scheduled formal fleets with more spontaneous fleets in the future. If nothing else I'd like to see if and how that changes the ways other members of the corporation and alliance join fleets. There are a few other potential issues that might be to blame for the failure of frequent fleets to drive activity in the corporation but that's another topic for some other post.

     To wrap things up for tonight I think I'll post a little screenshot in the defense of what I often describe as messing about. I often do exploration and stop by anomalies while going places and here's the nice reward I got for stopping by for a minute at of the most basic combat anomalies in the game a hideaway.