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Why Do I Live in Low Sec?

Fighter - Gym Class Heroes

I've been pecking at this post for about a week. I was surfing through some blogs that are on hiatus a few days ago. A comment from someone caught my eye:

"Low sec? Who really goes out there?"

Me. I live there. I live in low security space. I do not just go and roam in low sec, I live there. One of my accounts may be a part time incursion bear, but she is docked up in my home station in low security space right now because that is where I belong.

"There is no reason to live there"

Yes there is. I live here because I want to live here. "I want" is a valid reason. But it is not just me. Other people live here. I am not alone. Space is populated. Corporations, alliances, neutrals, enemies, we are all down here. We have our own allegiances and our own focuses. We live in this space.

When I leave high sec it is like diving into a pool on a hot summers day. It is a brilliant shock. My senses ignite. My survival instincts fully online. I don't know what is on the other side of the gate. Maybe nothing, maybe something, maybe my death, or maybe my own blues. I do not know, but as I dive through that gate I am back home. I understand this place. I am comfortable here. I am happy here. This is my home.

"Why not just go to null?"

I'm not sure if some people realize or remember that the game mechanics in low sec are different from null sec. Early on in the Delve war I was picking up a skill book from one of the school stations. Another person was in system and they were part of the CFC. We chatted for a few minutes and he said, "Hey, pod me please?"

It was not an expected request. "Uhh, no thanks."
"It's not a trap or anything. I just don't want to make all those jumps."
"It's nothing against you, but your pod isn't worth the sec hit I'd take."
"Oh. Low sec. None of this makes sense to me. Null is simple. I'll self destruct."

I am not in low sec because I cannot go to null sec. I am in low sec because that is where I want to be. I can go to null sec. Despite my vocal distaste for it I do go to null sec quite often. Going there does not mean I want to live there. I go to high sec as well. I never stay. TEXN has deployed to null sec before. They always come back. THC2 has lived in wormholes. They tire of it. Where we want to be and where we are happiest at, is low sec empire.

"Low Sec you mean LoL Sec."

I have heard it before. When I was playing around with finding a null corp for an alt I was honest about who I was and what I was doing. That's how I roll. When I linked my killboard to say, "I do have some PvP experience" he said "I hope you don't consider that impressive."

"No. It's not. It's just so you can see what I do and what I've been flying."

"I don't understand pirates. Killing people just to kill is a waste of time. But don't worry. You can redeem yourself and move past your mistakes."

I started to dislike him at that moment. I knew that I'd never be able to do anything with the group. Carelessly and unknowingly he had insulted the people whom meant the most to me in the game. The people that had taken me in and raised me. They answered all of my confused questions as we roamed and didn't laugh to much the day I got concorded with GCC by picking a wrong gate due to panicking.

PvP for sov is something I understand. It's a war for territory and land. It is about space and about stuff. People can get behind the idea of defending their space, their home, their territory. It is such a basic concept that it strums deep inside our minds to an instinctual level. Sov warfare makes complete sense.

That does not mean that I have to desire it or define myself around it.

For me, Low low sec is not about space ownership warfare. It is about the fight, the hunt, the people. My group is small gang oriented. Most of the boys can and do fly alone and they fly alone competently. Some are always in fleets. It is as much about the people, the skill, the events, the sensations, and the satisfaction that the life style brings as anything else.

It is what works for me as much as a wormhole works for a wormhole dweller. What makes a person have a favorite city or restaurant?

"You can't hack it in null."

I hear that one from interesting angles. I have heard it from people in null both sov and NPC. I have heard it from people in high sec, which amuses me. People who do not PvP and refuse to PvP yet they can look down their nose at me and tell me that I cannot make it in null thusly I must live in low security space for sheer failure to launch.

Incorrect assumption.

I understand that many people have different ideas about what should be allowed in what area of the game. Living in low sec is a viable choice. PvE in high sec is a viable choice.

"Low sec is the slums"

And someone has to be a slum lord. I will happily live here, wallowing in the perceived gutter of eve society. I know this is not sov space. I know that my systems sec numbers are not bright blue and fascinating green.

I am okay with all of that.

There is stuff here. stuff that I like. Stuff that works for me. I don't live in a world of min/max. I play because I want to play. I play because this is how I want to play. I enjoy the gutter trash.

"What you do has no meaning"
My life in low sec may not have meaning to another player. That does not matter. It has meaning to me. What it means to me is going to be greater then what it means to someone else because we are discussing an intangible context of emotional fulfillment. How and what accomplishes that is purely personal. One may go to another to seek help or opinions but the true answer lies within self.

And what satisfies one person will not satisfy every person that comes after that. My meaning is defined in what I do. Because my alliance name is not under the system name does not mean that I live and love that space any less.

Who I pewpew with rarely has any immediate personal meaning on an emotional level of 'enemy'. This is true. However, pewpew is part of my play style. My involvement in the pewpew is what matters in the engagement. What I did, what I learned, what I enjoyed are all based upon how I personally feel about the event.

I often call the residents Social Loaners.

Many people in low sec can only define their reasons to themselves and sometimes even then on an emotional level. A level of this is right and this feels good and this is enjoyment. Someone else cannot set that for them nor do they need another to set it. Yet, having others is also pleasant even if they are almost always alone.

I agree that many of the residents are their own population. Those of us who are not null corps or null branches or FW people... those of us who live here and like that life. Not so many of us, perhaps, but real and tangible nonetheless? Yes.

Do I speak for everyone? No.

It is one opinion, kissed and blown out to flow into the interwebs. The drifting dreams and swirling thoughts and opinions that ebb and flow through it.

Comments

  1. The post is a bit dated, but I still want to comment. I know your problems. I am living in Low atm, my corp has their eyes on Nullsec. I dont like Null. Its so empty, there is no hunt as the moment you enter system everybody either docks, POSes up or prepares for blob. And just like you, I get this comments on "Why low?" I cannot answer that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a relevant topic. Today there is yet another fix low sec post on the forums. It's hard to explain that we just like it here.

      Delete
  2. This post in particular is a post I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
    You simply explain why you love living in low sec and your passion for the space shines through your words.
    I love reading that passion and love the way you defend your space. You arnt abrasive but you arnt backing down either.
    I feel the same about wormhole space and everytime I jump a wormhole into our wspace static from kspace I feel at home again.
    I can tell that at this time low sec truly became your home. It is a beautiful thing to read.

    ReplyDelete

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