There has been a lot of fuss about war declarations (or wardecs). It is time to put an end to the panic and deal with the issue on a realistic basis.
Here's a few points of interest:
1. War declarations are not made by mad scientists scheming to take over the world. In the vast majority of cases they're being made by players such as you and I that want to pvp in empire without the sanctions of Concord or the faction fleets. It's a profitable and fun business cause they get to shoot down a lot of careless and carefree players who believe that everything is safe because they're in a high-sec system.
2. Griefers (as they wardecers are sometimes called) are experts at their game. If they have wardecced a small corp, they will know where the HQ are and will camp the surrounding systems, looking for targets. They don't care if the victims are noobs or seasoned pvpers, they just want the kill. There are no grudges, there is simply efficiency. The question "why" is not valid in this case. It's because for them it's fun. Once they get their share of laughs and excitement, they move to the next helpless corporation victim.
3. Resistance is most of the times futile. They are not easily discouraged, unless they encounter impressive numbers and skill, in which case they'll go hide for a while and wait. They're also bandits, so they're not exactly looking for a fair and honest fight, at least most of them aren't.
4. Their patterns are somewhat predictable. They generally will use internal security agents (npcs that can inform about the whereabouts of a target), and will simply scout the victim's HQ, offices and staging area. They will camp a system and might use IS agents to track down CEOs and directors, in order to have the maximum demoralizing effect.
5. Their war is a psychological one. They aim to terrorize, instill into the hearts of the peaceful people of the galaxy a sense of dread and helplessness. If you don't play their game and don't give them kills (let alone easy kills) they will soon pack up and leave in search of better sport.
6. Not playing their game doesn't mean you have to sit cowering in a station. That is simply wrong and gives them the satisfaction that their job is done. It also doesn't mean you get to wander around looking for a fight alone, cause that's even worse. They'll get you eventually (remember, they're good pvpers) and it will make them happy. Remember, the goal is to make them bored and miserable. So, you can't hide, but you can't go against them either. What to do then? The answer is simple; either make a big fleet and smash them repeatedly (sheer numbers and basic fleet organisation will get the job done most of the times), or simply scatter. The last option is not bad for people with little pvp skills. Find a new agent in another part of the universe and go run missions there. It is highly unlikely they'll go out of their way for a single kill that will take them across half the galaxy. Find a nice quiet system where you can check local (not too many players) and mine/run missions without a care in the world. Have a few alts in the corp run around the HQ in small, cheap and fast ships to make them think that you're cowering in a station or system. Get another merc corp to war dec them, then watch the mayhem from afar. Run cov ops transports in different directions and mislead them. Don't give them any notice in the form of smack talk or sentimental heroic rhetoricals concerning honour in warfare. Make a couple of jump clones and have them scattered throughout the universe, then jump around to do missions/mining/trading. Don't go through the usual routes and avoid nearby high-traffic systems, cause that's where they'll camp. In short, don't give them the sport they're looking for, or give them more than they can handle.
7. Most of the war decing corps are alt corporations. The mains sit safely inside a big alliance, mining, ratting, having fun, and they're using these alts to simply let some steam out. Don't believe for a second that your boastful heroics will drive them to the ground crying for mercy. Like I said, simply ignore them. They're a nuissance, but nothing else.
8. Sometimes, alliances will pay war decing corps to declare war against another alliance, cause they're too scared to go against them themselves. Again, don't think for a minute that a single corp can take on an alliance. It's absurd even to think of it. Especially if the target alliance is in 0.0, you'll never see them there, not even in the form of a large organized fleet. Their practice when going against an alliance is to disrupt empire movement and refuelling runs, get a dozen of noobs that don't read the alliance evemails, and generally make some money with easy kills. To overcome alliance war decs you simply need to join the relevant war target channel, learn of their activity sites and avoid them, or take part in a huge fleet that will crush them (if they stay to fight).
Finally, you have to understand that war deccers are not heartless pvp machines. They're players like you and me, that simply enjoy bringing frustration to the world. I can't relate to such a distasteful tendency, but I can protect myself psychologically from its effects by simply not caring. If they're lucky and they get someone, so be it, I'll curse them thrice and spit on the ground, but that's about it.
Like Sun Tzu said: "Save your vengeance for someone who's worth it"
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Wed Nov 14, 2012 4:30 pm by