And.....FIGHT!

 I've read quite a view blogs discussing risk averse pilots and what this means for EVE. I speak only from my perspective and what I enjoy in EVE.

I have spent most of my time in low sec, and in what would be described as a pirate corp. I however would probably not describe myself as a pirate, I consider myself a lowsec pvper. I have killed non combat fitted ships, I spent a large part of last summer irritating gunless plexers. But for me the thrill of EVE pvp lies in chasing a target who wants me dead just as much as I want him so. I fly in frigs, mostly because I enjoy the fact that they are highly disposable, and most people are willing to engage them.

With the increased benefits of FW there are, or so it feels, more people in low sec. The new plex system means that they are usually within 10k of the beacon, thus encouraging pvp. There are still a lot of pilots who will warp and not fight, often fitting warp stabs and running at the first sign of danger. I find this disappointing;  fighting in low sec often appears at the FW plexes now, and it is possible to go on a roam through 20-30 systems and have every person that you find run away from you. The most successful roam that I had recently was when I was in a frigate and engaged destroyers, there are many people are out who will only fight if they feel that they seriously out gun their opponent.

I split people being risk averse into two categories:
1. Bears- these people are risk averse because their prime motivator at the time is making isk, they are not interested in fighting, you trying to kill them is just interrupting them making their isk. I don't care if you run from me, if I kill you then I'm pleased because I got an explosion and possibly a reasonable fight, or a shiny killmail; but if you get away that's fine, you've succeeded in not losing any isk, I've only missed out on what would probably be a dull fight.
2. Got to win pvpers- Everyone who has fights wants to win, any fight I engage in I hope to have at least a 30% chance that i'll win. Pilots who always have to out gun someone in the fight, whether through ship type, number of people or links. Winning means different things to different people, for me knowing that my personal skill is what won me the fight is more important then anything else. Will this style of play ruin EVE? No, it just makes it harder for the predominantly solo pilots like myself to get to do what we enjoy the most.

 Can anything be done to encourage people to fly solo more? I don't know, the FW plex limitations are great for restricting the size of ships that are fighting at any one time but do not prevent multiple players from engaging you at once. The limited engagement mechanic is an interesting one and is designed to make 1v1's easier, I got challenged to a duel the other day which I lost, massive derp on my part, my guns were pre overheated and ready to lock when I landed, along with my scram and web and they just never started to fire, it then took me far too long to realise this and I never stood a chance. The issue in low sec with this mechanic is the lack of Concord, anyone can join in on the fight and all they lose is sec status. So far so gloomy, I really don't know how to get people to appreciate my play style and enjoy the thrill of finishing a fight with 10% structure knowing that you gave your all and were successful and out played someone.

 For me the best fights are like a game of chess, you start with the same number of pieces, it's how you use them that counts.