Low-sec = ???

This is an unofficial Blog Banter post because I can't be arsed to copy/paste stuff and track everyone that's writing about this. I'm sure CK is ok with that, and if not he can come tell me in person at the next Montreal EVE Meet (October 9th 7PM at Brutopia if you're interested!).

Here's a revelation that I'm sure will shock everyone: Low-sec sucks. Apart from looking for some The PvP there is currently no reason to live there. I have never ransomed anyone but I can bet my mom that ransoms do not pay for all of a pirate's expenses. So the Low-sec population these days currently looks like this: pirates, passer-bys, capital/cyno pilots, and clueless people about to be ganked. There is no resource that would make a Hi-sec carebear disregard his sacrosanct safety for the prospect of earning more ISK. This has to change.

Lately I've been flying a lot into Low-sec to get some action but I'm not into it to become a pirate and ransom every ship I come across. I'm more into making pirates pay for their choice of profession. I'm not saying that it works all the time but it does happen, and let me tell you, if anything, pirate tears taste even better than carebear tears! Pirates very rarely get offended, but when they do it's priceless :)

But I'm not a PvP-only person. I actually happen to like some PvE every so often; Hell I even find ratting relaxing because the only thing you have to think about is to blow shit up. Oh, and reload your guns! But here's one of the reasons Low-sec sucks for the average ratter, apart from the dangers that may appear in Local:

• Ratting Hi-sec (1 hour): 100k ISK bounties (a joke)
• Ratting Low-sec (1 hour): 200k-750k ISK bounties (if you catch a BS)
• Ratting Null-sec (1 hour): 5-10 million ISK bounties (more if you're good at chaining)

Easy to notice that bounties are kind of lopsided. Add to that the fact that if you are in a big alliance it is a lot safer to rat in 0.0 by a large margin... yeah, no wonder pirates just can't find targets in asteroid belts and are reduced to camping gates in heavily tanked battleships (which can die to interceptors I might add!) and station f... unmanliness. So if Hi-sec is the downtown area, and Null-sec is the lush countryside full of wildlife, Low-sec is the slum with crumbling buildings because no one is taking care of them. And unless CCP does something about it, it will stay that way.

But there is a core of players who are willing to do something about it. CSM Chairman Mynxee and a team of players varying from -10 outlaws to pure carebears looking for a lucrative revenue without having to move to the butt-end of Nowhere are currently looking into ways of Making Low-sec Matter, and I happen to be a part of the team as the "kind-of-anti-pirate-weekend-hunter-who-may-also-like-a-way-to-make-some-good-ISK" type player. It's only been a few days since the ball has started rolling but ideas are already starting to flow like a rushing stream. Low-sec has been ignored for too long, and it's time someone gives it some love.

Never fly safe... it's bad for you

o7