Has priacy died out?

Zoe: "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?

Book: "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

Don't look at me, that's how it was spelt, I bet you clicked on the link saying to yourself "What an idiot, Kane can't spell Piracy, watch how I pwn him with my leet spelling skillz".

Well I don't know about priacy but Piracy is still about, just different than it used to be. As the EVE universe changes so must the Pirates to adapt or die.

Belt Piracy, gatecamping, can flipping, ninja salvaging, mission jacking, high security suicide ganking, war dec griefing, POS ransoming, random acts of violence for ISK and pleasure are all what I consider Piracy. Any endeavour that sees you profiting from the misfortune of others is piracy.

I'm a traditionalist, sticking mostly to belt piracy, which is not the most profitable but is by far the most interesting to me, the thrill of the hunt so to speak. The mission jack is another favourite past time, where teamwork is important. I have a tight knit crew that assists me but the violence is all down to me.

The old school Pirates lament how things have changed. To be quite honest, most older pilots wax nostalgic about how things were. The universe keeps moving forward, new technologies and tactics emerge all the time, pilots quick to latch on to anything that will give them the edge in combat. Some of these tactics are despised by those that are unwilling to adapt but it doesn't make them any less viable.

I too have my pet hates...

Electronic Counter Measures... ECM... I FUCKING HATE ECM... how much, a whole fucking lot!!!

If it's one thing that gets under my skin, it's the prevalence of Falcon pilots. They are the biggest force multiplier in the universe with the ability to shut down multiple ships at a range which makes it difficult to engage them. Many evenings I've spent talking to friends in our local bar about how to best deal with these ships. The most common answer is to bring a Falcon pilot of your own but that makes you part of the problem.

It's become so that if you are in a roaming gang and you don't have ECM support then your roam is going to be very short or not very succesful. You can just imagine the Falcon pilot sitting 150 odd clicks away, rubbing his hands together like a fat kid at a cake stand. "Oh look, I press this button and that dude over there can't do jack and shit, I press this button and that other dude is going to swear like a sailor at a whorehouse."

Where's the fun in that?

It takes a sick individual to be an ECM pilot, seriously. I'm not sure how it started to be honest but I imagine it went something like this:

Combat Ace > Hey guys, let's go out looking for a fight
ECM Muppet > I have a Falcon, can give them the Raspberry
Combat Ace > Awesome idea, will be an epic battle, they won't be able to shoot back
Voice'o'Reasun > Uhm, but it won't be much of a fight then
Combat Ace > Shut up you, we are uber combat pilots, they won't stand a chance, our superior skills will pwn them
Voice'o'Reasun > but they won't be able to shoot back, how are you supposed to prove you are better than them if they can't fight back, that's like punching a quadriplegic and claiming you're the greatest boxer in the world.
ECM Muppet > They won't be able to even shoot me, I'll be way over there and if they come close I'll just cloak or run away like a little girl
Combat Ace > dude, you're so awesome I want to have your man babies
Voice'o'Reasun > you guys are lame
Combat Ace > your mom is lame

Keira once asked me if we should recruit a Falcon pilot. I think it's the only time she's ever been truly scared of me. I've used ECM in the past, in the shape of ECM drones and they have never worked for me, seriously, these things are useless in my hands yet whenever I go up against someone with them I always get jammed... ALWAYS. So I ditched them, of course this is dumb but I'm making a stand against ECM.

I could of course fit Electronic Counter Counter Measures but that would dilute some tried and tested setups that I use and to be fucking honest, I don't want to, sure I'm going to lose a lot of fights but damn, at least I'll respect myself in the morning.

It's a BLOB

How many pilots are required to win an engagement? Well, it's not an easy answer, it requires a degree in Quantum Physics and a Doctorate in Advanced Matematica, neither of which I posses but I can say for certain that it's definitely more than me.

Rule number one of Piracy: IT'S ALWAYS A TRAP, YES ALWAYS... NO REALLY, ALWAYS!!!

I'm not afraid to go in outnumbered, in fact it's a prospect I relish, a 2 vs me are good odds, unfortunately it's never just two, 10 of their buddies are sitting waiting in the next system, waiting for the signal to jump in and blob out the sun and my ship.

It's an epidemic in EVE, people have no faith in there abilities to fight that they rely on superior numbers to overpower the prey, it's not just something peculiar to anti-Pirates or 0.0 alliances, the Pirates do it too. It's just too easy to form up a gang and go gank some helpless sod out of his hard earned ship.

I've been guilty of it too, flying in mixed gangs and to be honest, sometimes it feels soooo good but it dulls my senses, muzzles my skills and experience... point and shoot, like a zombie, following orders of the hive mind.

The art of solo combat is being drowned by the majesty of the blob and I for one will not go gently into that good night.

Of course this means a reduced pool of targets, having to choose with more discretion, avoiding the over obvious traps but it also means more satisfaction in the kill, marvelling at your artistry as you delicately remove the pilot from his ship... and it is art.

Where am I going with all this, I don't really know, sometimes you just have to write things down to see what they look like.

Oh yeah, I FUCKING HATE ECM!!!! not sure if I mentioned that