Dealing with Loss(mails)

There's been a fair bit of discussion about killboards within the corp from time to time as we rummage through the KB history of the various entities which we encounter from day to day in the depths of Anoikis and of nullsec.

We don't really care about highsec griefers (or "PVP"ers) and most lowsec guys are either pirates camping gates, FW guys thrown through the meatgrinder, or just randoms no one cares about.

You can tell a fair bit about a player or his corporation via their killboard, even if it is incomplete. The typical gang sizes, compositions, and so on. Efficiency is a good attribute, but as said previously, it can also be a good indicator of the degree of butthurt he's going to feel when, for example, he cops his 11th loss ever.

It is the sting of loss which is interesting, and in many ways, is why KB efficiency and history and forensics are so unique to EVE. Hell, even the simple fact you have killmails to brag or troll with is pretty much unique to EVE. All other games, like World of Tanks (which I no longer play) etc, you have measures of efficiency, damage dealt, and so on. But you never really have someone link a killmail to you and troll you about the fact you fit a mixed tank.

Trawling through a corp's KB history is essentially unique to w-space. You need to know who you are up against, how old the toons are, how hardened they are, and how blobby they are. This is the only intel you may get (aside from fleeting d-scan readings or lurking a hole for hours) on what level of threat your foe really presents.

I have pondered the response of Rootie Golden and pals, which went as predicted, and the fact one may predict this from what was essentially a cursory glance over his KB and that of his corp (and, obviously, knowing who Adhocracy is).

Alts can be extremely efficient on killboards. My alt is. In the latest corp, it's currently 8.85 billion in 56 kills, to 2 losses for 40M (being a covetor). Overall, however, due to the stint in FW and many, many hero tackles with the Cheetah of Doom(tm) it isn't quite as spectacular as that.

But, by the same token, when I finally lose the ship I've stuck my aalt in more or less permanently for the past 3 months, it won't sting. This is because I have more or less achieved my goal of a 10:1 ISK efficiency with the ship already, I've had at least 6 bullshit close shaves already, and I've lost well over 4.3 billion in ISK in 74 losses since 2009 when she was born. that's close to 10:1 and well in excess of 10:1 ISK.

On Trinkets friend, I'm not quite holding 10:1 kill:deaths. The advent of killrights requires you to shed them with alts for 1 ISK a pop. This shows, to the forensic examiner, I'm ganking Macks and Hulks and gaming properly. So, as we do, if one excludes all these losses, the analysis changes slightly.

Nevertheless, do i regret any losses? A few. The CNR I lost to 2/3rds of a bottle of whisky while playing on sattelite modem from a mining camp near Paraburdoo. A couple of Rapiers where i screwed the pooch badly.

But overall, I'm happy to haave played the game. I'm happy to take the Augoror navy in 4 v 1 on a hole and killdozer / brick tank like a bawss knowing, since I'm purposefully shunting myself off the hole to get a fight, shit may go bad. it might show up on my killboard.

I think the key to dealing with loss in EVE is to learn to fit your ships respectably. Then, even if you die because you suck as a pilot, or have no situational awareness, or just get blobbed, you not only avoid people trolling you on Battleclinic and elsewhere, but you eliminate fitting as a contributing factor.

Secondly, you need to realise no one is perfect. People rolling ridiculous killboard stats and claiming they are better than everyone, they are gaming it somehow. Or, like quite a few people in big corps, they are hiding in the long grass and will suck hard when taken out of their context. For me, it's 100MN ships and station games. Null, low, w-space, I do OK.

For many, it's not having 20 guys backing you up. or not having off-grid boosters, snake sets and pimp and Falcon. Get them away from those advantages and they fall apart. So, when you get pwned try to work out what their edge over you was. Often it's the fit, sometimes it's OGB's and pimp, sometimes it's finding that he's got your hard counter. But some times, it's just being better than you.

Thirdly, when faced with a stinging feeling upon getting your spacepixels assploded, you jjust have to realise it's a game. You pay to play it, and sometimes you pay to fly ships. If you haven't got enough enjoyment from your money (and, at US$15/mo this is cheap entertainment, lets be honest) then find ways to do that. Often, it involves downsizing your risk to frigs or cruisers or T1, and just getting used to blowing up.

When you get over it, you'll be happy when someone smacks in Local and says they've got a 90% efficiency and a 10:1 K:D ratio and you suck because you rock only a 80% and 8.6:1. So what? Every lossmail was purchased with time and/or money, and you had fun.