Shoot More, Think Less

Faction War pilots think way too much about fights these days.

Back when I was in the Amarr, I flew under this crazy FC named Dake Darkstalker, who’s primary MO was to jump at opportunities without all the planning, discussion, and preparation you tend to see nowadays. He once told us, “shoot first, ask questions later.” And that was how we rolled.

Nine times out of ten it worked. You learned to keep up or get left behind, and at one point, our gangs were running so well together that we could respond to a situation at the drop of a hat. There was none of this ‘well, I don’t have the ship you’re asking for.’ Or, ‘can we get a scout on the enemy for a better count?’ or ‘should we bring ECM? I think they might have ECM…maybe we need more people, let’s try to get more people.”

You were at the location specified in the ship specified, or you were liable to miss the fight.


I was reading this post by Amarrian FC Almity, who relays his perspective on a recent Amarr/Minmatar engagement. I admit I laughed a little at the post. People who bring four blackbirds to take on a small gang are not looking for a good fight, no matter how they dress it up.

But I’m not really even interested in talking about the fight particularly, and I don’t care that they brought ECM or significantly more numbers, or yadda yadda yadda. What interested me most was his description of the fact that he’s risk averse.

Oh, he didn’t call it risk adverse. He said something about being a smart FC, and making his people trust him, and something about ships not being cheap. Etc. etc. etc. In other words, he doesn’t want to die and he doesn’t want to make other people die. Which is essentially the fundamental definition of being risk averse…

And it’s so common, both in the Minmatar and the Amarr. We think a little too much. We ask a few too many questions, and by the time we’re ‘ready’ the enemy is perfectly setup, or on their way home because you brought too much.

I miss the days of shooting more and thinking less. But it’s a hard habit to get back. Even out solo pvping, I find myself asking way too many questions. “Can I take on a Comet with my Condor? What are the Comet’s resists? What ammo type should I be using? Are his friends in local going to gank me? “

And then I kick myself. I’m in a cheap ass condor. Who cares? It’s worth a try. Can a condor take on a Comet? Can a condor take on an assault frigate? Can a condor take on an Algos….or a Talos? I guess if I instapop I’ll know the answer.

But , if I don’t try, then the answer will only ever be ‘no.’