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Of ISK and Tags

Like a cold, startling plunge into a pool on a hot day I docked into a Concord station and stripped away my outlaw security status. It actually took a bit more than that. I purchased some tags. I farmed some of my own. I dropped some ISK and finally I adjusted my security status up. I figured that I might as well use the feature I had talked about so often.

I felt no different. However, people are not as prone to shooting me all of a sudden. Surprise, surprise. One of my newest fun things to do is sit on the station while my cyno alt winds down and see if someone will go suspect by shooting her so that I can shoot them back. Not being flashy red means they don't get a freebee to shoot me anymore. My cynos are lasting much, much longer.

Now to talk about consequences.

Consequence 
  1. the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier: The accident was the consequence of reckless driving.
  2. an act or instance of following something as an effect, result, or outcome.
  3. the conclusion reached by a line of reasoning; inference.
  4. importance or significance: a matter of no consequence.
  5. importance in rank or position; distinction: a man of great consequence in art.
A close second to "Risk vs Reward" is Consequence for ones actions when it comes to the themes of playing Eve. Consequences are the key to what makes Eve such an intense experience for people to play. Even thou that hate Eve tend to hate it passionately. Often it is because the game is not fun. When one starts to strip away the labels for the core of what is not fun the reason runs down to consequences. Eve kicks you in the face for not thinking and it doesn't apologize as it wipes your blood off its booth in the grass and walks off.

Often we use consequences as a negative term. Yet, consequences can be positive. The consequence of taking the time to read about and learn about Eve is often success. Additive success that means something. That to is a consequence.

But what consequences are not is punishment. Punishment may be a consequence but it is not the definition of consequences. When someone calls out that Tags4Sec have removed consequences from the game what they are really saying is that they do not feel that people are being punished appropriately for the violence of others internet spaceships in a way that violates the internet spaceship space law laid down by CONCORD.

That is a completely different topic than consequence. The consequence of losing security status and regaining security status now comes in the form of ISK or time or some hybrid of both. There are still consequences attached. No one took them away. It may not feel as harsh to those that are on the opposite side of our turrets but that does not mean that it is not still harsh to us. I know quite well that I stand on the side of the pirate. We get to have a voice too.

One reason my security status stayed poor and only grew worse was because I hated ratting once I passed below a -3 or so. Above that, it was not so bad to chew on a few battleships in my Jaguar and drag myself back up. Yet, somewhere below a -3 it became terribly tiresome. During the great broken security status gain for fleets time, everyone just gave up and stopped improving their security status. It was already miserable but once it could no longer be done in a fleet everyone just lost the will to do it.

I posted my security status back in September when I was hovering just above a -5. It was an exciting time for me. I felt bold and I felt like a fake. Who was this person who did this PvP and had lost their ability to enter high security space. Most of my security status gains were not from ratting but from doing DED sites.
2012.09.04 03:45 -1.9255% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.04 15:34 0.0733% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 18:35 0.2358% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 20:35 0.2012% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 20:45 0.1955% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 20:56 0.1955% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 21:45 0.1208% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2012.09.04 22:26 -0.4711% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:26 -0.4753% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:26 -1.9019% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:27 -0.4735% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:27 -0.4742% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:27 -0.4935% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:27 -1.8945% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:28 -0.4719% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:28 -0.4732% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:28 -0.4803% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:28 -1.8880% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:28 -1.8954% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:28 -1.9028% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:29 -0.4743% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:29 -0.4745% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:29 -0.4764% Combat - Aggression
2012.09.05 00:29 -1.9223% Combat - Ship Kill
2012.09.05 00:30 -1.8984% Combat - Ship Kill
In December of 2013 Retribution was released. Retribution brought Crimwatch which changed the way the game saw combat in low sec. It also chnaged the way security status was gained and lost. We started to just see one security loss, for when we intentionally made the illegal act of aggression a non legal target. Before we lost our security status for attacking and for killing the target. While it seemed that this should have decreased our security loss the rest of Crimwatch's changes instead accelerated our security status loss due to everything becoming a worthwhile target with the removal of the 15 minute time out Global Criminal Countdown mechanic.

I wrote a tongue in cheek piece about Crimwatch back in December as I plunged into the depth of a -9 security status. I knew that I was probably never going to get out of that hole. To avoid ratting for security status I was willing to throw away Sugar's access to high security space and turn myself into a legal target for anyone to shoot. I received no advantages from these two things. Sugar is my primary combat character for PvP and PvE. With her banned from high security space and the support and safety net of CONCORD I had to hunt my ISK in low sec where I was the hunted as well as the hunter.

I gained nothing for my negative security status. Not only did I receive no gains for it but I was willing to place myself at a disadvantage and lose access to large parts of the game and place myself in situations of increased personal risk, just to avoid ratting for security status.

Of course that is my choice. I choose to shoot people that I am not supposed to shoot then I accept the consequences that come with it. I've never had a problem with that basic formal. It is one that follows us around Eve. If I shove my freighter full of 20 billion ISK in items my shock should be zero when I am ganked.

Before Odyssey was released, ratting in its most productive means ment going to null security space, finding a pocket, and spending several days jumping from system to system, shooting the largest NPC with a bounty that you could find. Because the sec gain tick was ten to fifteen minutes, the loop that was made needed to allow the tick to happen and the security status to be gained before it all started again.

It sucked. One may say that any grind sucks. That is true. Yet, do we not ask CCP to improve the girnd of missions? Do not people make suggestions to improve the boredom of mining? Do not people make suggestions to improve handling the endless click fests of industry. Why, is gaining security status exempt from improvement? Because it involves shooting other players? I will touch on this later.

Odyssey brought forth the ability to use ISK to change security status. It also changed the tick of security status gain. This is my current security status gain, with the new five minute tick and some PvP sprinkled in.
2013.06.06 20:34 0.0216% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.06 20:41 0.0575% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.10 01:07 -0.8258% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.10 22:02 0.0661% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.10 22:37 0.0661% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.10 22:53 0.0661% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 00:02 0.0632% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 00:11 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 00:35 0.0862% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 00:43 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 00:50 0.0216% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 01:15 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 01:39 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 02:04 0.0604% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 02:09 0.1840% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 02:14 0.1840% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 02:20 0.0288% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 02:39 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 03:37 -1.0200% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.11 04:05 -0.7264% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.11 04:05 -0.7304% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.11 14:53 0.0575% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 14:58 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 15:46 0.3450% Law Enforcement - Security Status Gain
2013.06.11 17:44 -0.9208% Combat - Aggression
It is very different from the above. It is a more productive gaining of security status by doing the exact same thing as before. Ratting. The only difference is that I am doing it in low security space and I am doing it with a goal beyond improve this security status number. I've not used a single tag to improve my security status but for the first time in seven or so months I am over a -9.  I then went and shot some things.
2013.06.15 21:33 -0.9104% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.15 21:37 -1.0888% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.16 00:25 -0.8229% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.16 15:39 -2.78 Handed in tags
2013.06.16 18:03 -0.6194% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.17 03:08 -0.8839% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.18 15:35 -1.0801% Combat - Aggression
2013.06.18 15:35 -10.8088% Combat - Aggression
The last one was a pod kill. Simply because, I could not resist it when I was able to catch it. However, it is a nice showing for this list to see how dramatically different the security status loss is for ship kills vs pod kills in low sec. Also, the -1.0801% hit is for a pilot with a 5.0 security standing. My Sec has plummeted back down to a -3.7.  That is a level that is grindable for me and I will work on it while I attempt to gain a few more tags instead of paying my hard earned ISK for the immediate gain.

Comments

  1. Your CYNOs last long time?!
    Lord help me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I dropped to -8, and slowly ground my status back up to -2... which took me three months. And yes, I still killed a few ships while I was at it.

    It took me 450mil and 20 minutes to return from -5 to -2.

    The pain from three months of grinding was greater than the cost of my isk.

    ReplyDelete

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