Greedy Goblin

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Why can't TEST live without Sov?

One of the most defining criteria of "being TEST" is that very new players and veterans play together. There is TEST_FREE, a completely donation-based newbie helper group, there are EWAR doctrine ships flyable with very-low SP, there is ship replacement program to keep those in ships who can't keep themselves and there is a general love towards newbies. However one must ask, why does someone support newbies he doesn't even know? I mean it's understandable that someone helps a friend, but when you donate to TEST_FREE or pay your tax for SRP, you are helping a player you might never-ever chat. It is a 12K alliance after all.

The solution is that 100 battleships are weaker than 100 battleships + 1 Rifter. Every new player, no matter how incompetent he is, gives the fleet power, without real costs. When you do something for the new players, you invest into your common future, into your upcoming power. However such power can only be harnessed in Sov warfare. If the timer is up, you have to form or lose Sov, you don't have the option to stand down and hope the enemy just goes away.

If you are doing either PvE or PvP in lowsec, highsec or NPC null, you want to keep your numbers to the minimum. Someone doing PvE obviously want to hide and has no reason to share his income. Someone doing non-Sov PvP wants to get fights and you don't get any if you enter with a 200 men fleet. The best is a numerically small gang which is attacked by hostiles and then win due to superior skills. If the enemy is stronger than you, you can always choose to not take the fight, you aren't forced to rageping more people.

The point is that even if everyone would have fun in NPC null, TEST would still break, as the high-skilled players have no reason to be in the same fleet as the low-skilled ones. Adding new players to your fishing fleet will just scare the fish away. Similarly, if someone is making ISK from missioning in NPC null or low, why on Earth would he pay tax to any corp? He gets nothing in return as everyone can dock in stations and no one can upgrade systems.

The problem isn't that new players can't survive in NPC-null. This is how TEST started and the oldest members remember it. However back then everyone was a newbie. The problem is that in NPC null, the new player is nothing but a burden and annoyance to a skilled player, so he will quit, even if he does the very same things as the newbies. Every single non-sov PvP organization is high-skilled, focused and numerically small. You can't get in Rote Kapelle or Black Legion with a 2 weeks old pilot.

3 comments:

X ATM092 said...

The best small gang PvP organisation the game has ever seen, The Hatchery of www.teamliquid.net, recruited people directly from their own community and taught them how to PvP from day 1. Age is no barrier, every rifter really does count in "elite" PvP, and a brand new pilot is born with no misconceptions about pre determined roles or ways to pilot. It's not that you cannot be good at the game if you're new, there are ways brand new pilots can outearn years old highsec missionrunners and outfly veterans. The issue is that you need a group of very competent, dedicated and selfless individuals to drive that process and there is no reason why anyone meeting that description would spend a minute in TEST.

Anonymous said...

Highsec PVE - solo to limit awox. skill irrelevant.

SOV alliance - as many pilots as possible. hearding cats. skill secondary.

Lowsec / NPC null - low numbers. higher skill desirable.

Super Cap Alliance - big enough to not get counter dropped. Small enough to limit awox. reputation is half your defence.

TEST Junior FC said...

Hey, GG, fellow TESTie here, just wanted to say that despite the baby-men haters on the TEST forums, as you've probably gathered (as you aren't as dense as the shitposters) that there's tons of us in TEST who love what you are doing for us, regardless of whether we agree with all your ideas or not. Keep it up and fuck the Norkzulu shit flinging fuck faces.