A Piece of a Conversation

(A partial thought)

I was in a discussion where the question, "What did CCP plan for low sec when they made it?" cropped up. I chimed in and said, "I think that low sec just happened and we, the players, ran with it."

Eve is split into four basic areas. High sec, low sec, null sec, and wormholes. However, only two of those areas were part of Eve's original layout. That would be Empire Space and Null Security space.

Doing the history blogs has been fascinating. The original Eve had no COncord. That is well known. JUst as the fact that Concord was originally tankable. Before Concord there was faction police. Gate and station guns were put in later. The security status gradient was just that. A gradient. It seemed to affect resources and agents. Later exploration came along. It was somewhere around the development of things like Concord, criminal flags, and such during the end of the first year and into the second that low sec came into existence.

I may be absolutely wrong but I think low sec as its own, unique area, was unintentional. It was supposed to be more dangerous Empire. I've written before that there are 'themepark rails' under some of Eve's structure which is simply due to its age and growth. But, similar to the way that wormholes were supposed to be for day trips and not for living. Low Sec appeared as CCP started to mold New Eden.

I feel that it matches some of the irregularities. There are no barriers other than the popup when you jump into .4 sec. I'd love to find when that popup was added. Perhaps, I will. Consider that sov did not exist at first and null sec was just null sec. The dronelands were added at a later point. Faction Warfare was not an original addition as well. In a way, I think it was the start of defining Low Sec by CCP. Which also makes sense if one looks at the war mechanics and rules.

The entire purpose of rehashing that was that I got asked about my opinions on low sec by someone who wanted to quote me. Quotes feel weird. It is not that I am ashamed about anything that I say. It is that quotes feel weird.

I had been asked "What is low sec" and "Why do I think low sec is broken." My response was some of the above. I think that low sec grew into what it was instead of being created as what it was. Because of that it suffers. It seems broken because it is incomplete. They feel the same but to be broken is to have a mechanic that is not working properly vs not having any mechanic.

And mechanical was an important word to me. I said that sov null is a mechanical part of Eve. The groups there have learned those mechanics and used their talents and abilities to master them. The mechanical parts of low sec are more limited outside of faction warfare and I think that is a great thing.

I think that the unexpected organic growth is what gives the place so much individuality. If every area was created neatly by mechanics I believe we'd have a lot of overlap. People tend to use current mechanics they like to fix problems. That means you hear suggestions to fix Null using complexes similar to FW and to fix FW by using Sov type mechanics. Wormholers have to keep their sticks at hand to beat off people trying to remove the annoying feature that make wormholes what they are.

To me, homogenization is a curse word in Eve. I love that things are different. I want to preserve the differences because with it comes the ocean of opportunity that is gameplay.Null needs to be fixed. Low is starting to develop some definition. Wormholes need some petting. High Sec needs some new curtains. It is a constant game of work but whatever happens the areas of space need to maintain their individuality.