A recent post by Azual Skoll, writer of the Altruist (an informative blog I’d recommend to any pvper out there), has been toying with my head for quite a while now. His blog post explains how ganking new pilots create a mind-set of avoiding low security space at all costs. With the addition of the Venture in the new pilot’s arsenal, they’ve been flocking to losec in herds, and pirates all over are destroying these vessels with great pleasure. I myself fitted a reaper for just that purpose and had my first victim yesterday.
Is this wrong? Should we allow them safe passage just because they are new to sucking pod goo? Just the other day I destroyed a Merlin being flown by a wet-behind-the-ear pilot who was aimlessly floating near a station. I was sporting a Malediction, and not wanting to risk the sentry guns I let him be, but after some time I still noticed him just hanging there and decided that this cocky attitude just won’t stand. I aggressed him and warped off, fully expecting him to run back to the closest gate. He didn’t and I returned to finish the job. Even then his pod was still hanging there, and only after locking on to that did he decide to run away. Local came to life as he demanded to know what my problem was. Trying to keep things witty, I explained that the station had a “no loitering” policy. He then quite rudely informed me that he only acquired his pilot’s license a week earlier and that he was reading the in-flight tutorial when I interrupted him. I told him that the lesson he learned was better than any tutorial out there, and I was subsequently told to go have sexual relations with myself, and then to go die. Tempting, but having done both quite recently I decided to pass and continue looking for victims.
Was this wrong? Should I have let him finish his tutorial? Consider this, yesterday while patrolling Adirain in my Rifter I noticed a Stabber, Vexor and Merlin on scan. The Merlin pilot offered to team up against the Stabber and Vexor pilots, asking me to ship up as he was getting his Drake. I didn’t have anything in system to ship up in, and after informing him of that, our conversation ended. Then, running a directional scan a Mackinaw popped up on my readings. Working fast I narrowed it down to top belt. Bait? I took the chance as a Rifter was well worth sacrificing for a chance to slay this beast. I warped in, locked the Mackinaw and after pointing him and overheating my 150mm Autocannons, started terrorizing him with bullets. His drones bit small chunks from my armour and the nearby Serpentis cruiser was doing the same. Soon, the Drake landed on grid as well. Hoping that our previous convo still made us “friendly,” I ignored him and continued shooting at the Mackinaw. Enter the Stabber and Vexor. They immediately sent drones to bite at me and now my Rifter was taking strain. The Mack was soon in structure, but so was my Rifter, the race was on and I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave before that Mackinaw was down. Soon there was an explosion, the Mack was down! I wasn’t pointed so I made my escape in low structure. I went to station to repair my valiant Rifter, but alas, it was too late to attempt some form of support for the Drake.
What is my point here? Well, unless that Mack was some very expensive bait, that pilot brought his trophy ship to losec and immediately warped to top belt. He didn’t notice the amount of pirates in local, didn’t even bother to check the d-scan. My point is he didn’t fully understand the dangers of losec. Maybe he didn’t suffer that mining frigate loss when he was but a week old. He was completely ignorant. The same can be said for the Hyperion warrior from my last post, or this Retriever merrily mining without a clue to the dangers he’s in.
Don’t get me wrong, that Hyperion and Mackinaw looks great on my killboard, but I get what Azual is saying. Making these ganks at least educational for them might inspire them to come back, better prepared. This might not sound like a pro-pirate viewpoint, but in the end, the more people coming to low sec results in a more target rich environment.
Teach the fish to survive longer and they’ll grow bigger. You might end up catching less fish, but the ones you catch will be so much better! Quality is always better than quantity I say.
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