EVE Online Sci-Fi Sharecroppers

[Cody Bye]

In the open-ended and highly competitive world of EVE Online, it pays to know the mistakes of the past to avoid them in the future. This week's Sins of a Solar Spymaster column penned by GoonSwarm's The Mittani explores what can occur when a smaller corporation becomes a "pet" of a larger alliance. The results of such an arrangement can be catastrophic, so make sure you check out the article and learn from the universe's previous errors.

Pets, vassals, tenants: there are many derogatory nicknames for these sci-fi sharecroppers. In the social hierarchy of EVE Online, they rank somewhere below Empire-bound mission runners and slightly above people who take WoW pvp seriously. Despite this, pets positively litter 0.0 space, and the 'pet system' has existed more or less unchanged for years. One of the largest alliances in the game, Shadow of xXDeathXx, is entirely comprised of the pets of Legion of xXDeathXx - and every month, like clockwork, the pay their rent.

To learn more about the "pet" arrangement in EVE Online, make sure you click here!

[Kinjuru]

An excellent article and I agree with much that has been said here. Especially here...

The more onerous the rental agreement, the less reliable the pet.

I'm a pet you see, currently chafing under some these onerous agreements you speak of and I would go a step further. If our systems were ever in the slightest bit in danger of a concerted "land grab" I would expect our "Masters" to front the hardware to defend it, after all I have paid through the nose for it. If they expected us to do it all ourselves all they will get from me is the finger and a hasty retreat.

The sad truth is the alliance I'm in would not and could not offer any meaningful resistance to any serious fleet. Pretty sad when there are 4-5 hundred players in the alliance @ any time and because of the rules we suffer, I'd say 95% of the dedicated PvPers that were ever any part of our so called alliance have left for pastures greener.