Wartime Operations Policies and Tips

Note: since recent changes to the war mechanics, this is no longer valid for Touring New Eden members, but others may still find this useful.

CONTENTS

  1. Introduction
  2. What you need to understand now that war has been declared
  3. Wartime Operations – Corp Policy
  4. Wartime Operations – Common Sense Suggestions
  5. How to survive a wardec
  6. How to know when the enemy is online
  7. 9 Tips for Wartime Operations

1. Introduction

For Haven. alliance members:

It’s likely to happen one day, and you’re going to need to know what’s expected of you when it does. Someone, somewhere, at some time, is going to declare war on the alliance. Usually just for the fun of it, but mostly to get what they think will be ‘easy kills’. They’ll declare war on us because they think they’ll easily find you and kill you.

My goal is to help you avoid getting killed and losing your ships. But in order for me to help you, you need to understand what the consequences of a highsec wardec are and how they affect you, and then you need to understand what you should do to minimise the effect of it on your own activities.

During peacetime, make it your responsibility to plan ahead. Work out what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.

Deleted as no longer in alliance.

For the public:

The extensive information on this page was originally just provided to my corp (and then alliance) members, but I’ve decided to make it public as well. Maybe others will find if of value. If you’re one of those who do, please consider donating ISK to Black Claw in-game as a sign of your appreciation. The policies and tips on this page were originally designed explicitly for Touring New Eden, which is a pacifist corp, and therefore these policies and tips discourage fighting and encourage ways of surviving while avoiding PVP. If you want to use these policies and tips for your own corp or alliance, you may need to adapt them to suit your own needs.

Wars and War Eligibility

Only corporations that own structures or have a Customs Office can declare war or have war declared on them. 

Touring New Eden has neither, therefore we are safe from all wars. But if you’re reading this and you’re in a corp at war or eligible for wars, then this information will be important to you.

2. What you need to understand now that war has been declared

Now things get interesting. From the time war has been declared you’ve got 24 hours to prepare. There are things you will need to understand as you enter a war.

  • They are likely to have at least one spy in the corp/alliance
    This spy can access the map (F10) and see where everyone in their corp is if they’re undocked and flying in space. This means that your location may already be compromised. They could already be gathering near you, preparing to attack you as soon as the war goes live. Be suspicious of any NEW corp member that asks where you are, what you’re flying, and what your plans are.
  • Make the enemy corp red and gather intel about them and their alts
    Make the attacking corp red (-10 standings). This will allow your members to at least see if any of the enemy (hereafter called WTs for War Targets) are in their system during the 24 hours prior to the war starting. Visit evewho.com and do a search on their corp. This will give you a list of all the members of the corp. Add them to your watch list (add as a new contact and ‘Add contact to watchlist’ with -10 standings) so that you can see when they’re online. Give them a label of ‘war targets’. The information here can also tell you who past members were. You can also add past members to your watch list in the same way, with the label ‘possible WT alts’.
  • They are likely to be using alt scouts
    They will know you will be on the alert for them, so they’re likely to be using alts. These will be members of NPC corps and therefore not associated with the wardecing corp. They’ll use alts to look for you, to determine your activities and your locations, and to allow them to get into position without you being aware of them. Never trust anyone, especially strangers that ask you what you’re doing in Local, or if you need help with missions, etc. Always assume that enquiries or offers of support are attempts to gather intel on you so that they can find you and attack you.
  • Being at war means you’re vulnerable to attack in highsec
    You have no protection. CONCORD will not come to your aid. And if you have corp members scattered around New Eden (like we do in TOURING), then it will be difficult for the corp to provide aid to its members as well. (Not to mention TOURING is pacifist, so no PVP aid will be provided at all.) The mechanics of a highsec war provide the enemy with safety as they seek fights that they know they can win.
  • Every time you lose your ship in the war, the enemy gains a victory
    Every victory they gain increases their enjoyment, especially if they’re destroying ships that give them lots of expensive loot. If their enjoyment increases, they’re likely to extend the war week after week so they can continue enjoying themselves. Therefore, every time you lose your ship, you encourage them to continue the war against the corp. Try not to lose a ship. If you must fly in highsec during a war, make it a very cheap ship, so that your loss doesn’t encourage the enemy to continue the war.


3. Wartime Operations – Corp Policy

Note: this corp policy was originally created for Touring New Eden and its pacifist policies. If you’re the CEO of a corp, feel free to modify it for your own corp if you so choose.

My goal as your CEO is to help you avoid getting killed and losing your ships.

Some of you might think, “I don’t care if I die. I’ll just keep doing what I do regardless. I can afford it. Or… well, I just don’t care.”

That’s entirely the wrong attitude to have, and I want to change that for you. It’s that kind of attitude that these wardecers (declarers of war) love. Because that attitude allow them to get LOTS of kills.

You also need to know that every time you allow them to kill you, through laziness or neglect, your actions can contribute to the enemy prolonging the war. Why would they stop it when there’s so many juicy targets being made available to them? You also make it harder for other members to survive, who might be too new to get themselves into nullsec and avoid the war.

ONE – make your way to nullsec

This is because the enemy won’t follow you there. They want easy kills against you – they don’t want to risk losing their own ships in nullsec where they can be attacked by anyone. They want the protection of a wardec to attack you without being attacked by others, because they’re cowards and bullies.

Whatever you do during peacetime, while you have the freedom to do so, focus your attention on learning how to travel and explore and live in nullsec. There is always more money to be made down there anyway, and if our members decide to live in nullsec in the first place, it just means TOURING becomes a corp less likely to be wardec’d by highsec bullies.

TWO – You should avoid or minimise your highsec operations

During a time of war, you are vulnerable to being attacked in highsec. Your enemy will engage in tactics you don’t even know exist. Here’s an example:

They’ll use out-of-corp alts to scout out your location, so that you won’t even know it’s them watching you in local, OR they’ll have a spy as a member in the corp providing intel on member locations (all members can see all other online and undocked member locations in the star map). They’ll monitor your movements using their spies or scouts, and then when you’re offline they’ll move their wardec corp characters into the system of your operations, as well as on the other side of every gate exiting the system, and then log off. When their alt scout or corp spy tells them you’re back online in your favourite system, they’ll all log back in. The members who are in the system will try to attack you and kill you. If you manage to get away from them, you’ll find others waiting for you regardless of which gate you jump through. You will die.

They will move around and repeat this tactic – and other tactics – for every single TOURING member who continues to operate in highsec during a wardec.

Therefore, it’s in your interest to discontinue all highsec operations during war. Highsec operations include any of the following:

  • Missions
  • Mining
  • Hauling
  • Exploration
  • Ratting
  • Travel – consider using shuttles, rookie ships, or frigates, because if you lose them they’re cheap and won’t impact your wallet that much. If you’re experienced at using cloaked ships, then use them.

If anyone wants to do any PVE operations in highsec, they should consider using alts outside the corp, or make sure they have scouts operating in every single adjacent system to give early warnings when hostiles are approaching. Always be aligned to safe spots or stations for insta-warp to safety.

If in doubt, stay docked. Read a book. Talk in corp chat. Head into nullsec as soon as you can. Whatever you do, do not give the enemy the satisfaction of getting a kill. Eventually they’ll get bored and go somewhere else, and you can return to business as usual. 

Any war you don’t lose, is a war you win. Even as a pacifist, non-combative corp, we can win wars by denying the enemy any victories.

THREE – No TOURING member will engage in combat operations during war

It would violate our stance as a pacifist corp if we were to suddenly take up arms to attack the enemy. Just don’t do it, or you will be kicked out of the corp.

FOUR – The following behaviour must be maintained by all members during war

  • No talking in local to the enemy.
  • Do not respond to evemails from the enemy. (If it is harrassment or abuse, feel free to petition CCP to register a complaint about their behaviour.)
  • Do not talk to neutrals about the war, as they could be spies for the enemy.
  • Actions or behaviour that damages the morale of members will not be permitted. Complaining about rules or staying docked, or just complaining in general could cause damage to other member’s morale, and will result in an official warning. Three such warnings will result in you being kicked out of the corp.

ANY QUESTIONS?

Talk to your CEO, Black Claw, if you have any questions, concerns or feedback about these rules for wartime operations.


4. Wartime Operations – Common Sense Suggestions

I have some reasonable experience with wars, having been wardec’d a number of times and even initiating a couple of wars of my own (in the distant past!). I’ve never lost a war, and I never intend losing (to me, losing = surrendering or paying ransoms). My experience with wars is what I bring to the table to help TOURING members avoid dying.

These operational policies are designed to keep you safe, and maybe even help the corp win. It wins by avoiding or significantly minimising losses and making it so that the enemy decides the corp is not worth their time. But doing that requires all members to be actively engaged in helping the corp win the war. You do that by doing your best to follow these rules.

I know that TOURING members joined us because they were attracted to the idea of being able to do what they want, when they want. I try to ensure that freedom is maintained – even during wars – but I also alert members to the high chances of the corp being wardec’d and what each member should do to minimise the risks when at war.

War will naturally restrict freedom, but there’s an opportunity in it as well. The opportunity is to help you improve your skills to ensure your own freedom, even during war. The more you learn about the hazards of New Eden, in all its forms, and the more you learn about how to effectively deal with those hazards to keep you alive, the more freedom you will actually enjoy.

It’s going to be a warzone out there. You better get used to that. You might not see the enemy today, but make no mistake – they’re probably watching you and waiting for the right time to attack you.

Here’s some common sense suggestions for you. Hopefully you’ll take them to heart and use them to stay safe. But that’s up to you. Ultimately, I’m here to guide you and help you stay safe. I can’t force you.

Note: these suggestions apply mostly to highsec activities during wars.

  1. Do not mission or mine. These activities will get you killed.
  2. Do not go AFK in space, even in safe spots, unless you’re cloaked. They have probes to find you.
  3. Do not undock expensive ships with faction fittings. The enemy loves it when you do that.
  4. Do not move around expensive loot or equipment
  5. If you really want to engage in PVE activities regardless of the advice, fly CHEAP ships, and have scouts in adjacent systems for early warning.
  6. Do not engage in any conversation with the enemy. They will try to taunt you into coming out so they can attack you, or they’ll try to get you to think you’re safe. Block them if you don’t want to be bothered by them
  7. Consider moving into lowsec or nullsec. The highsec wardecers won’t follow you there!
  8. Do not initiate fights. Feel free to defend yourselves however, if you can’t get away. But understand they will be prepared for you. It’s unlikely any form of defence will be successful.
  9. What you ignore will become bored with you. Our goal is to a) keep ourselves safe from the enemy, and b) ignore them so that they go find someone else to play with.
  10. If you see REDS in local, make sure you report it in Corp chat so you can alert others to the enemy’s location (eg. enemy name – system name – ship type)


5. How to survive a wardec

One of the joys of being in a player-run corp is dealing with declarations of war, or ‘wardecs’ as they’re known. Wardecs are usually made by griefer corps (corps wanting to cause grief to other corps and players) against naive and weak victim corps who make easy targets.

To win a war we need to change the rules on them so that they’re fighting it on our terms, instead of having them force us to fight it on their terms.

One of the advantages TOURING has over many other corps is that its members have no base of operations. So there’s no one area all our members hang out in. Our members are individuals in many different areas of the New Eden cluster. It makes it difficult for wardec fleets to go roaming around the entire cluster looking for lone pilots. It usually becomes a complete waste of their time.

However, there will be times when they’re determined to find someone (anyone) and get a kill or a number of kills, to justify their war. That just might be you.

So how to avoid being a wardec target?

Go to nullsec.

That’s it. ‘Wardecers’ are bullies. They like to operate under conditions that allows them to always win. They won’t follow you into nullsec because they no longer have the immunity that highsec gives them. In nullsec, anyone can attack them, and will.

If you don’t want to go to nullsec, however, and want to continue mining operations or missions in highsec, then you have three choices:

  • continue to risk being the naive victim that they will look for and destroy you as you continue your PVE activities;
  • make sure you have active scouts operating in every adjacent system to your operation. These scouts are your ‘early warning systems’, and will notify you of hostiles approaching. Have them cloaked on the gates leading to your system, so they can advise you of when the enemy is about to jump into your system, and you can get safe or dock before they arrive;
  • create or use an alt that’s not a member of the corp, so that you can continue doing something while avoiding the war. This can be PVE activities with your alt, or using it as a scout to assist the corp with intel-gathering or as a scout for PVP activities, if your corp is that way inclined.

Leaving the corp is also an option, but not one that’s recommended. Every member who leaves the corp becomes a victory for the wardecers. That’s what they want. Don’t give them the pleasure.

Support your corp and learn how to survive. It WILL enhance your gaming experience! Wars can be lots of fun if you play them right.


6. How to know when the enemy is online

An ‘easy’ way of knowing when enemy combatants are online is by adding their members to your watch list. To do that, go here: http://evewho.com

Do a search on the corp name, and the results will show you all the current members of the enemy corp.

  1. Click on People & Places
  2. Click on Contacts
  3. Do a search for each member name
  4. Right click on them and select Add Contact
  5. Select Red for Terrible Standing
  6. Select Add contact to watch list
  7. Click on OK

Repeat this process for each member. Assign them a ‘war targat’ label so that you can separate them from the rest of your contacts.

You can also check the Leave History to show their past corp members. Add them to a ‘possible war target alt’ label so that you can also see when possible alts / spies are online. Add them as red as well to the corp (if you’re a CEO) so that all your members can see them if they appear in Local, and be alerted of possible enemy presence.


7. 9 Tips for Wartime Operations

Many of you will decide to stay docked up or even not play at all for the duration of the war. While you’re certainly welcome to do this, you’re missing out on a great part of the game, and depriving yourself of a great deal of enjoyment.

  1. First up, dying is part of the game
    It’s not the end of the game, it’s just part of it. You have clones that you wake up in, back in station. You’re immortal. You’re allowed to act that way.
  2. When traveling around, fly cheap ships. Frigates, cruisers, even shuttles. 
    This will help you avoid the ISK loss that’s associated with dying. If engaging in PVE, keep them cheap for the duration of the war. DO NOT USE FACTION SHIPS OR FITTINGS. Just… no. Make sure you can afford losses if things go bad.
  3. If attacked and unable to flee, always try to warp to another gate.
    What I’ve noticed from those who have died so far is that they are being podkilled as well. There is absolutely no need for this. The only reason this is happening is that the victim has done nothing when losing their ship, allowing the enemy time to tackle and destroy their pod as well. If you’re attacked and can’t get away, select a distant gate to warp to, and CONSTANTLY tap that ‘warp to’ button above the overview. As soon as the ship is destroyed, your pod will IMMEDIATELY go to warp and reach the gate, allowing you to jump through it when you arrive and get away from the enemy. If you wait until AFTER your ship is destroyed, it’s too late by then. Your game client is lagged briefly by the exploding ship, and while you wait, the enemy is tackling your pod to keep you from getting away. So just spam that ‘warp to’ button and always save your pod, your clone, and any implants you might have.
  4. Keep up to date with the latest intel reports provided via corp evemail or in corp chat.
    See where the enemy have been sighted, and make sure you stay away from the region/s that they’re in. You can still do highsec missions, mining and exploration if you maintain your state of alertness and awareness. Fly smart.
  5. Keep up to date with the war report. 
    You can see this via the Corporation button on the left of your screen, and then the Wars tab. Click on the button to the right, and then Open War Report. This will tell you who has recently died, and if you double click on any of the items it will open up a kill report that tells you where the kill occurred. Consider that a ‘hot zone’, including the region.
  6. You can use the war to practice your travel and survival techniques. 
    Remember – TOURING encourages you to learn nullsec travel and survival techniques, including the cloak+MWD trick to get away from gate camps. Fit up a cheap ship with an MWD and a prototype cloaking device and go look for the war targets to practice getting away from them. Use them to help you learn. Don’t be afraid of them – you’re immortal!
  7. You can jump into a cloaked ship and go follow the war targets around.
    As you follow them around you can report intel into corp chat about their location. It’s likely they’ll try to stay in the same system as you to find you, or to go to the next system over and wait for you to follow them. Refer to #5 above.
  8. You can go into nullsec and do some exploring.
    You can go exploring even if it’s just to see the sights for the duration of the war. The enemy is not going to follow you, because it’s not safe for them in nullsec. It’s safe for you though, because you can practice your nullsec travel and survival training knowing that EVERYONE is the enemy. Above all, don’t think you have to stay docked or just not play at all. When you do that, you’re letting the actions of other people in this game determine how you play, and how you enjoy it. They are not in control of your game or your way of playing it. Don’t think they are, and don’t let them be. Make sure you remain in control of your game.

Everything I teach you is NOT to help you stay docked or offline. It’s to help you learn new skills in this game that will help you stay alive and enjoy the game despite the actions of other people who will try to take advantage of your ignorance. Overcome the ignorance so it doesn’t exist, and you will develop strengths that will allow you to stay alive regardless of what others try to do.

I want you to live. I also want you to enjoy this game. I don’t want you hiding, and I don’t want you running away when I know you don’t have to. All that will do is make you wonder why you’re playing a game that keeps you offline. Take control of how you play, don’t let others control it for you.