This far into Fozziesov I find myself grappling with concepts that are difficult to describe because the tactics turn into a complicated game of counters, counter-counters, and so on. We are a little deeper in our trudge into the long haul that is EVE with Fozziesov. Reddit is just now coming to terms with the idea that those of us who initially saw problems may have had ground to stand on. PL’s Fozziesov strategies remain immature, but they are starting to take solid shape. I began describing the state of the meta as I saw it in an earlier article. A point I tried to make is that Fozziesov may turn out fine if the winning strategies turn out to be fun. Right now the chances of that are looking poor.

“For PL the most efficient crew seems to be my alt in a triage carrier with a cyno.”

I have come to the conclusion that grind fleets should be as manpower efficient as possible. Mostly nothing happens when one side has an advantage in firepower. For PL the most efficient crew seems to be my alt in a triage carrier with a cyno. On meeting opposition, support can be called up in the form of black ops, slowcats, or a more complicated doctrine. Most of the alliance members play DOTA or something, and hopefully show up for the ping when I need help. I tried using various tanky subcapitals, but nothing was durable enough. The passive recharge drake did best but still did not last when hostiles got serious. As I have the alt out grinding for hours, I’ve been playing Diablo III, Civilization V, and a sweet little game called Crypt of the Necrodancer. That last one has been entertaining. Its music themed, requiring rhythm and I find myself tapping my foot, counting “One. Two. Three. Four.”

PL invaded Delve a few weeks ago and I started attacking Pizza’s sov right away. Yes, as systems became unclaimed I did not put up TCUs or IHUBs. That denied Pizza the opportunity to retaliate and troll us. A few weeks later when NC. showed up they seemed to be happier playing defense for TCUs. Still, the

Pizza attitude

came about because of a dude alt tabbed playing a game one step removed from Dance Dance Revolution.

In Dominion I might have been providing content for thirty or a hundred people. With no opposition I could have quickly swept the enemy structures away and moved on to another project. Instead it was me, my alt, and the dancing skeleton zombies from Crypt of the Necrodancer for hours. My reward for the effort is

this EVE mail

. Also I feel pretty confident about taking some music lessons. I just have to pick an instrument.

“…holding space is primarily a matter of ego.”

Why is this designed so that breaking enemy morale is the optimal path to victory? Why am I strategizing how to minimize my alliance’s exposure to this? Even big entities face morale problems. Kafkasov is a term that comes from

an article

published on TheMittani.com and it seems to capture the frustration the system generates in a wonderfully descriptive way. Technically speaking the big guys could abandon most of their space and let it lie fallow. Nobody needs more than a handful of ratting systems. That fails to acknowledge the fact that holding space is primarily a matter of ego. People take pride in having their name on the map. I am borrowing the term to call Fozziesov Kafkaesque because it turns that pride into a form of self harm. It turns what could have been vibrant fights into exercises of blueballing and minimization. It turns even simple walkovers into ponderously slow soul destroying experiences.

Games should be fun. Even losers should be able to find some joy in the experience. They should believe that playing and losing is a better option than not playing at all. They should be invigorated to try again. Losers should find themselves thoughtfully wondering what they can do better next time. A game system where the loser is the first guy who gives up in disgust is a stark failure. I am nearly without words. Game designers should not declare a war of attrition against their own player-base. They will win. But how is that different than losing?