In EVE, empires constantly form and fall. Or, as the players would describe it: win and failscade. 0.0 is a place of the ultimate sandboxiness, where everything that is, is there because of the players. Stations are built by them. A value of a system is determined by them. The laws and rules are determined by them. That all is possible because they can form giant organizations of several thousand and still operate relatively effectively. In fact, a well organized alliance is no less than a tiny pixel empire, where pixel people build, conquer and defend their pixel homes. This all despite the hardships they face.
First, there is the matter of game mechanics. The easy part. This and that works the way it is. Tools are missing and people find themselves constantly compensating for something that should be there. It is not 'awesome' from a user viewpoint, but surely is from a developer view. Basically people are showing CCP how to do things, with minimal game design effort involved. Whether it is done or not, however, is another question. Promisses were made and broken, but that is not my point.
My point is, that either by being built into the game or facilitated by people, the infrastructure is there. Mess with that, and you'll open a can of worms that may well be delicious jelly candy, but more likely infectous parasites. In my opinion, CCP disregards human behavioural patterns too much, and while in most cases exploiting them beneficially, in the sovereignity warfare, it is ill-treated. People tend to band together. They are cooperating. They are networkers, and sooner or later will build up relationships with each other on every possible level.
That is why all massively multiplayeer games have clans, guilds, corps, whatever. It's the first level of organised association. Even nerds from the basement recognize the need for such element being supported from within the game. And then corps become either friendly, neutral or hostile towards each other. Corps have their own profiles with similarities banding together. And when that is strong enough they begin to realize what they can accomplish, and begin to see limits in their operation. The next level of oganization begins when differences between the lower-level groups start to compliment each other. And that, dear readers is an alliance. It is fairly common for a game to accomodate this level, too. But it does not stop there.
Now when we have an organization that encompasses different profiles and unites them into a force to be reckoned with, 'physical' factors come into play. This many people will need wast resources and space. This many people are willing to work together for a common good, and are eager to put their newfound strenght to use. They might find that their neighbors have resources they need but lack, and either strike deals or wage war with them. Soon the landscape will be riddled with the scars of battle as large groups are too ambitious or different to make agreements. And then the third level of organization hits. Leaderships realize that loose friendships are usually mutually beneficial and begin to build another network of friendly and hostile organizations. That is a coalition. And it forms everywhere, anyway.
What makes EVE coalitions so special then, you might ask? Well, the answer may not be with me yet, but there are certain factors that inveitably strenghtens the meaning of a coalition. First of all, EVE is a harsh space. Security is an unknown concept until enforced. Therefore weaker entities can only survive if they are either left alone or befriend others. Being left alone though is really rare in New Eden. If they smell your weakness, other groups will undoubtedly attempt to take what they can. This causes ties to tighten up. And when the larger entities realize that there is always a bigger fish they do the same. Team up. Aid each other. There may be some sparks between them, but their sharing makes them stronger. And that is no game mechanic. That is how we as a race became the pest of the planet. Sufficiently stubborn people grouping together always appear to win over environment.
There was talk about taking away jump bridges. That would be utterly stupid, because the purpose would be to weaken coalitions. What do you think will happen when the only way to move suppllies is a convoy? People team up against harsh conditions. They will make it so that they must only move through blue space. In numbers lies security. Alliances will team up to ensure flow of supplies. That means more, tighter coalitions, not more warfare.
Sessym out.
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