Saturday, August 9, 2014

Freighter Logic: Why Not Buy a Permit?

Non-compliance can be deadly.


Some startling facts for the unlicensed freighters of highsec: Since April, the New Order has suicide ganked at least 349 freighters and 19 jump freighters. Outside of the Burn Jita weekend, we were responsible for more suicide ganks of freighters than everyone else in EVE. Our antimatter fell upon the tanked and the anti-tanked, the blingy and the empty. Trillions of isk worth of damage inflicted.

Now, the good news: These ganks can be entirely avoided by purchasing a 10 million isk mining permit (good for a year!) and obeying the Code.

Back in June, I issued a public service announcement to remind all highsec freighter pilots that they require a mining permit to travel safely in highsec. A few back-of-the-envelope calculations later, many freighter pilots sought out our Agents and purchased the necessary documentation. But, sadly, far less than the 100% we were hoping for.

At first blush, it seems crazy that any freighter pilot who travels through highsec would refuse to purchase a mining permit. At 10 million isk per year, it's too good a deal to pass up. For simplicity's sake, imagine an empty freighter costs just over 1 billion isk. That's one hundred times the cost of a permit. If there's even a 1% chance that a permit prevents a gank, it's well worth the purchase.

Of course, most freighters aren't empty. The whole point of a freighter is that it's packed with stuff. Take, for instance, this 10 billion isk jump freighter. The owner didn't have a permit, so he lost a ship worth over 1,000 times the permit's cost. It would have been sensible to buy a permit if there was even one-tenth of a one percent chance of averting the gank. To put it another way, if there was a 99.9% chance that the permit wouldn't prevent the gank, it still would have made sense to get the permit.

The numbers don't lie: Permit-holders come out ahead every time. It's the economically rational choice, even if you don't trust our Agents. So why wouldn't a freighter pilot buy a permit? There is an explanation--but it's not the explanation a carebear will give you if you ask. Let's take a look at some of the most common excuses, why they're demonstrably illogical, and then discover the truth.


"A permit won't do anything, so it's a waste of isk."

It's a well-known fact that our Agents honour the permits. No less than the Eve University Wiki admits, "...there is some evidence that the New Order honors these 'indulgences'." Even the carebears know our word is good! But, as I pointed out, the math says you should buy a permit even if you think there's a 99% (or greater) chance of the permit being ignored.


"If you buy a permit, they'll raise the price."

When the New Order began over two years ago, the price of a permit was 10 million isk. It's still 10 million isk. Despite this easily verifiable fact, you'd be surprised how many carebears worry about the price going up. The price of a PLEX might go up, but a mining permit won't.


"If you buy a permit, they'll just revoke it for no reason."

This is the equivalent of a permit not doing anything. If your permit was revoked, you only lost 10 million isk. Again, even supposing a 99% chance of revocation, it's still rational to give it a try, because the cost is so low compared to the loss of a freighter.


"If you buy a permit, they'll mark you as a freighter pilot and attack you."

Buying a Michi's Excavation Augmentor might put you on someone's list, but buying a mining permit won't. Our freighter gankers generally camp the same few systems and don't lack for targets. They don't chase around someone on their contacts list using locator agents, hoping they'll eventually bring out a freighter.


"If you buy a permit, anti-Order gankers will attack you."

Anti-Order gankers, to the extent that they exist at all, have never ganked a freighter. There's no recorded instance of a licensed freighter being ganked by anyone.


"A permit won't do any good against all the other gankers out there."

The New Order is not one of many freighter ganking groups. We're the most active one, and nearly the only one. We suicide gank more freighters than the rest of EVE.


"I hate the New Order, so I don't want to support them with my money."

Because permits are so cheap, they comprise only a small percentage of our budget. More importantly, if you lose a freighter, we get your money anyway. Half of freighter loot drops. Our Agents have recovered countless billions of isk from the freighter pilots who refused to pay. Unlicensed freighter pilots support us with their money. Indeed, with much more of their money than the permit-holding ones do!


As we've seen, there is no rational explanation for a freighter pilot refusing to buy a permit. Thus, to explain the behavior of the carebears, we must look to the irrational. The New Order has made it our business to study the carebears and find out what makes them tick. The revolutionary discovery of bot-aspirancy made this possible. We now know precisely why a carebear will refuse to buy a permit, even when there's no logical reason not to do so.

Bot-aspirants, at their core, wish to play a single-player game. In the mind of a carebear, all challenges to be overcome must be designed by the game developers. They don't want a multiplayer game with obstacles created by other players--especially obstacles of the emergent variety.

This is why a bot-aspirant can't bring himself to spend even the tiniest amount of isk to another player. He'll gladly spend hours figuring out how to min-max and optimize and streamline everything to make his money as best he can--but only for concrete, in-game, CCP-structured mechanics. The slightest deviation into a multiplayer atmosphere is unacceptable to him. All of his obsessively-tweaked economic calculations are put aside when it comes to emergent gameplay. The moment another human being enters the picture, the bot-aspirant's system crashes. The slightest economic calculation becomes impossible, because he refuses to cope with it. He is entitled to a single-player experience, despite EVE being an MMO based on player interaction.

The 10 million isk permit is a litmus test. It tells us whether a player is willing to play EVE or not. The bot-aspirant fails every time.

50 comments:

  1. Here it is, the most important tenant of the Code, laid out intelligently as well as eloquently. I do not understand, after reading this post, how anyone can deny the prowess of James 315 and the system he promotes.

    Every confused carebear should be linked to this post. If they do not understand the virtual pixel space world they live in after reading this, then there is no hope for that simple-minded individual.

    Thank you James 315 for creating something bigger than yourself and continuing to present it in the highest standard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carebear video game logic best logic.

      Btw, since when did the carebear community become racist?

      Delete
    2. Is there really a moral difference between racism and homophobia?

      Delete
    3. Lol, CODE is simply a group of nerds that never get laid in real life, so they stay in their rooms all day and pick on players with less skill than themselves in order to give the illusion of power, some what of a paradigm. So glad I'm not indulged in EVE as much as I used to, the game has turned into a pay to win piece of shit run by nerds that only know how to troll. P.S. these people also have no skill in PVP which is why the suicide gank, they never game to fight, they simply press a button, no logic no skills involved. This is trolling at it's finest., And the people of CODE simply want a response because as I said, in real life, they are nothing.

      Delete
    4. Anon 1034, your failure is not realizing that there is more to EVE and the Code than what we (the eve universe) are able to do when our skill timer is done ticking down. You also failed at the correct usage of the word 'paradigm'.

      Delete
  2. Your logic is so unbelievably flawed, you code monkeys fail again...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Feel free to explain yourself, I highly doubt you can do so in a coherent manner like in the post you just read.

      Delete
    2. What Anon 7:45 said. I would like to hear an explanation as to where the logic is "so unbelievably flawed" instead of reading a line that screams "logic is flawed because, you know, it's code".

      Delete
    3. Best logic = Code logic = winning logic.

      Ergo, the Code always wins.

      Delete
    4. Another Care Bear with a knee-jerk response.
      At least he didn't resort to gay slanders or other hate speech!

      Delete
  3. One day, as each freighter jumps into system, every pilot will wave to the New Order agents as they inspect his permit. Agents will have to remain on their toes for the ocassional illegal who tries to sneak by. It will be like paradise, with nearly 100% compliance. Forum posts will pop up once in awhile where a loan freighter pilot or miner will question this mining permit or the Code, and swarms of good highsec citizens will answer all his questions in a cheerful manner, telling stories of how they once were unbelievers but found the light.

    This day is coming. But until then, we need lots of isk in the form of shares and more agents. Be part of history. Gank illegals, give James 315 isk.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can buy a single share for just 1,000,000 Isk. Even if your purchase doesn't make it to the 'Top Supporters' column up left there, you can be sure that your money will go towards providing those on the frontline with the kit they need. You will be a vital part of every fearsome fleet.

      All Hail James 315, Father of the New Order, Saviour of Highsec!

      Delete
  4. Looks like Gorila couldn't resist. Gankerbumping is back.

    The CODE always wins!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gorila is back to try and get code members banned by playing the victim in regards to his own wife's death. I guarantee he will find something else to quit over tomorrow or the next day as normal.

    Just ignore him and it will annoy him alot more

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gorila is like a polar opposite of our esteemed Saviour. Where one never fails to make goodposts, the other never fails to disappoint.

      Delete
  6. I'm calling bullshit. What does a permit do? Nothing. They will still gank you even if you are obeying the code. Don't buy those permits. Don't fund their ganking activities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr Miner,

      Your outbursts grow increasingly desperate in tone - but are reassuringly as empty of content as ever.

      Delete
    2. Everytime I read a comment by Sasha, I hear it in his magnificent soundcloud voice.

      Delete
    3. BM,

      Killmail or it didn't happen and I call BS on you.

      Delete
  7. If I was "flying" a freighter, I wouldn't be buying a permit because I know that the only way I could stand using it would be on autopilot*. Meaning my permit would get revoked. So it's perfectly rational for those freighter "pilots" who rely on the autopilot to not pay for a permit because their actions will get it revoked.

    They will get ganked either way. The only difference is that they out a further 10 million to pay for a revoked permit.

    *Which is the main reason why I don't intend to ever train freighters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mr Edward,

      It is possible to fly freighters manually, but one does need to consume many pints of strong lager in order to do it & maintain any semblance of sanity.

      Delete
    2. Flying drunk isn't against The Code, but could be viewed as a form of being AFK from reality.

      I guess it depends on your ability to type in local and the particular agent. Why risk it either way - get a Permit, get a freighter, say hello to the Agents in Local, say hello to everyone else.

      It is supposed to be an MMO after all, so you may as well introduce yourself to as many people as you can, right?

      Delete
  8. Dont forget to loot material from a freighter you need a freighter,too (or many smaller transports)

    Why not shooting suspects haulers?

    Why not not looting the expensive material ?

    Perfect for any new corps with small fleets that need money (also mercenaries, bounty hunters or just ppl interesting in nice kill mails)

    Never forget you cant prevent a freighter gank, its impossible cause all agents will stay docked until they swarm out.

    But you can loot, attack their suspects haulers and do many other funny things

    Get rich by stealing New Order loot

    Get nice killmails by shooting suspects

    Gain easy money by following the freighter gank fleet

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. living in someones shadow sounds incredibly fun, where do i sign up?

      Delete
    2. Yes, please do this. Didn't want those ibis looting alts anyway. Also the more targets the better. Also the DST.

      Delete
  9. I do not understand the permit.

    I understand the Code.

    If you understand the Code, there is no need for a permit, because you will be watching Local. You'll know what to look for. You'll stay aligned. You'll warp out before they even get to the belt.

    In short, your permit does absolutely nothing to prevent ganks. The permit is simply a much, much smaller version of Erotica's Bonus Room.

    Getting ISK from either:
    A. Players stupid enough to think they can mine AFK just because they have a permit, which is against the code, and subjects them to permit revocation.
    B. Fanatical ganker-miners who mine the material for their own ships.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Until agents you're not familiar with show up and explode your ship.

      Delete
    2. True. Ganks happen. But it pays to be paranoid.

      It also pays to do your research, and pick systems that don't see a terrible amount of traffic. If Local jumps by anymore than 2, I align, and check bios and sec statuses. If anyone is too new or too low in sec status, it's time to dock up / jump clones.

      I've been ganked when making stupid decisions in null, low, and auto-piloting.

      Never in an asteroid field.

      It's easy to gank stupid players. Harder to catch smarter, paranoid ones, and if I am caught, they did their homework, and absolutely deserve the kill.

      I'm considering buying some shares.

      Delete
    3. You sir are a good miner! I wish there were more like you.

      Delete
    4. I've been more involved with indy than pvp over the last few years, mostly as a Trader & Freight Hauler. I've run every freighter and at one time had 6 pilots in the stable. I've only every lost one freighter... when I was green. I learned that lesson well... never lost another one and near the end I was running the big collateral runs. No AFK, manual all the way, and adjusted flight path depending on the current hot zones. Easy stuff and common knowledge... if you have brains and actually PLAY.

      There is no reason for the massive slaughter that took place in Aufrey except for lazy stupidity. Fas as I'm concerned they got what they deserved... exciting game play when they least expected it. They should be thankful.

      Delete
  10. I run freight through Hi-sec regularly, at the keyboard I might add. I don't disapprove of the New Order's vision, however buying a mining permit for my freighter would lump me in with Hi-sec miners, folks I do not wish to be associated with. If there were a seperate hauling permit I would gladly buy one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Would you be interested in purchasing a Hauling Permit for 10 mil?

      Delete
  11. When we lump people into groups, quickly label them, and assume we know everything about them and their life based on a perceived world view, how they look, where they come from, etc., we are not behaving as full human beings. When we truly believe that some people are monsters, that they fundamentally are less human than we are, and that they deserve to have less than we do, we ourselves become the monsters. When we allow our emotions to be hypnotized by the excitement of petty bickering about seemingly important topics, we drift further and further away from the fragile and crucial human bond holding everything together. When we anticipate with ferocious glee the next chance we have to prove someone "wrong" and ourselves "right," all the while disregarding the vast complexity of almost every subject -- not to mention the universe as a whole -- we are reducing the beauty and magic of life to a "side" or a "type," or worst of all, an "answer." This is the power of politics at it's most sinister.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You sure are right about that one. Too bad we have been doing things the wrong way since the beginning of time. But besides that, Eve being the fantasy space universe that it is, I don't think it has to follow such a high standard of protocol, being that this is an outlet and what-not. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you applied such a standard so absolutely to a game.

      Delete
  12. In reproving Mankind for the narrowness of his views you are expressing an opinion redolent itself of a kind of stricture. I don't think you intended to do so. It's probably best not to teach until you have learned, or learned how to learn.

    Mankind is both simpler and more complex than you imagine!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love how nowhere in this post does it say "if you buy a permit and follow the rules, you won't get ganked." As a matter of fact, by saying that you may as well buy a permit in case it gives you a 0.1% to 1% not to be ganked, it implies the exact opposite.

    ReplyDelete
  14. James you've missed the main reason I for one will never give you money: I will not write your words in my bio.

    ReplyDelete
  15. thanks to the New Order, I have saved LOTS of money not playing this childish game run by thugs.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I haven't checked this website for over a year and it hasn't changed a bit! ROFLMAO,,,,still the same whining, pathetic, "I'm a big fish in my little pond" mentality is funny, even a year later! What a sad group the New Order is

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is a wonderful piece of drivel.

    Clearly, this little rag tag group of basement virgins have a firm grasp on it all. Seriously, check your logic. Whatever fevered mind came up with this compost is very mistaken indeed.

    Get ready for this revelation mouth breathers, because I know it's gonna take a moment for it to sink in past all the cult brain washing. You are thugs. No better than the mafia. I for one, will never pay your fee. Not because it would crash some weird illusion, that you've cooked up in your own mind btw, but because I am not a puppet that will dance on the end of your strings. I bow to no one irl. And as surely as maybe 10% of your alliance has seen a clitoris up close in person (I'm being generous), I surely will not bow to you virtually.

    While your manner of game play might not be illegal, it is not welcome. If you keep pulling the cats tail, eventually it will show you it's claws.

    Mark my words, you will fall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So much hate and so many idle threats and all over a year-old article. Has a nerve been touched? You might want to calm down dear.

      Delete
    2. AHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAAAAA!!!
      I'm going to save this, and quote it in italics with -Anonymous Miner at the end. This is gold.

      But, just in case you're serious, your options have always been: Pay, Join, Leave, Quit, or Die.

      Because you most certainly won't be hurting the New Order with all the wrath and fury of a common miner. The New Order will simply win over you, and continue to win, until you choose a more appropriate option and attitude.

      Delete

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