Train Wrecked

Last night I had an interesting experience.  I had to work late (again) and the train's engine decided to die at a station.  A lot of people in Eve Online don't like stations games.  I don't like them in real life.

Getting home 80 minutes later than expected, I logged onto my computer just in time to miss President Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention.  Good thing I'm no longer a political blogger.  But I do blog about video games so after a quick bite to eat I logged into Eve and released the probes looking for something to do.

Finding nothing in my home system, I then traveled to a station-less system hoping to find a radar site.  Of course, since I was short on time, I found a Small Dark Ochre and Gneiss gravimetric site instead.  I'm not complaining, honest.  Dark Ochre produces 500 nocxium and 250 zydrine per 400 units refined so I just mined as much of that as I could in the time I had.  If the UI was accurate, I was mining over 1 million ISK of ore every cycle.  I just wish I had more time because I've never mined gneiss but I didn't want to leave a lot of dark ochre and its more valuable variants lying around either.  Another nice productive night.

Since I had a lot of time on the train, I did get to do some reading of the Eve blogs and news sites.  Ripard Teg reported that I was moving to low-sec because of CCP Ytterbium's post.  No, I was already moving and producing ammunition and mining crystals for my personal use.  However, Ripard did get my reasoning behind the move correct in that I received the inspiration because of CCP's intentions to nerf high sec.

I do have to admit to taking a certain pleasure in reading the analysis of CCP's intentions.  Indeed, I've engaged in a bit of it myself.  Here is the question and answer again:

• Q: ONE OF THE REASONS FOR LOW-SECURITY SPACE BEING CRAP REMAINS THAT HIGH-SECURITY STATIONS ARE TOO GOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO ADJUST THIS?

A: Indeed we do. This topic brought quite an internal discussion, and while this most likely won't be part of a Factional Warfare iteration, we do want to have a look at reducing high-security stations effectiveness to make other areas of space more interesting. Some examples could be reducing refining rates, increasing ISK payment to install jobs. Nothing is set in stone as this is not planned for the immediate future however. Another good idea we noticed here was to tie high-security tax with the war performance of its related Factional Warfare Militia. So if, by example, the Caldari Militia are losing the war in Factional Warfare, all taxes in Caldari State high-security space could go up to support the war effort (emphasis mine).

For me, the first three words of CCP Ytterbium's response are the important ones.  The rest is just, as Hans Jagerblitzen said, just shooting spitballs up against the wall.  But those ideas to give us something to write and talk about until the news about the winter expansion comes out.  This is what, my third post mentioning the quote?

I'm also happy to see a discussion about low sec emerge out of this, at least in this corner of the "echo chamber" of the Eve blogosphere.  Right now low sec is seen as either a dangerous place gate-camped 23/7 by evil, bloodthirsty pirates or a place to make your riches by joining factional warfare and circling a button.  I just want to see CCP not accidentally nerf low sec as they try to buff null sec.  Oh, and I don't want to see the high sec industrialists driven out of the game either.  That could make the economy really interesting and probably not in a good way.