I have played eve since 2010, playing mostly in null and have plenty of group combat experence. Group pvp is all eve has to offer, as 1v1 fights are 99% of the time predetermined based on ship type. I have had countless fights in FW over the last few months giving solo pvp a real try. I am afraid I was right all along and have wasted my time trying to get out of the blob and not have a FC basically flying my ship for me. Solo pvp in eve: 1) Control+click ship in overview 2) Press F1 3) Wait ------ Outcome = Which ship type has the weapons or resists that counter the other, EXCEPT when one ship is fitted with more expensive modules, or is a faction ship that has a greater base price. So its rock paper scissors + isk spent
The skill obviously comes in planning and outfitting your ship and skills properly to counter the other guy. It's called strategy and tactics. Hard to believe you've actually played the game for 4 years and don't realize this. EVE is a strategy game. Not a twitch combat game. That doesn't mean there's no "skill" involved in it. Quite the opposite there's quite a lot of skill involved in learning and remembering all the different variables and preparing for a fight well.
Why is it that most people that claim to be elite solo pvpers always fly the most expensive ship types the can in Factional Warfare? Most the guys I've seen that play eve solo are nolifers that are rich in real life and can buy all the isk they want, or spend all day grinding isk to fly the most expensive ships possible to avoid the rock paper scissors aspect of the game and simply out isk their opponents. However, like I said in my OP there is nothing wrong with group fights in eve, and there is certainly player skill involved for the FC, however as a peon taking orders from a FC you are basically letting someone else play the game for you. Most eve players only pvp in groups, and in my opinion when your taking orders you aren't really even playing the game. You may aswell be watching a stream of the fight rather than be there, as either way you won't be contributing anything mental or player skill wise to the fights.
That's one thing I didn't like about Eve. You don't control the physical movement of your ship. you just right-click and select options. This whole flying circles around each other is silly. Have you ever watched ship battles (other than one-man fighters) where the ships were doing a circle-jerk around each other? No, ship engagements are a bit more strategic with moves being important and having big ramifications. It's been a long time, but does EVE even have weapon firing arcs? I don't think so.
Playing since 2010 hardly does you put into the veterans corner. That said.....playing since beta (teehee) you couldnt be more wrong about solo pvp. If you encountered solo PVP as lock and press F1 and wait for the income I can sense that you lost the vast majority of your fights. If not: you had the luck of picking unknowing newbs as opponents.
Why is it when people lose lots of fights the other guy anyways had better gear and that's the only reason they won? EVE is a game that is fairly easy to match your opponent gear for gear in once you've trained the skills. I doubt many people in FW fight in anything beyond T2, if that even, and yes you should be able to earn enough ISK in game assuming you aren't just throwing away your ships. OP does realize in EVE it's more important to not lose your ship than to try and win a hopeless fight right? In EVE you don't fight for "fun", it's win or go home broke.
Solo PVP is tilted a bit in the favor of higher end ships and fits. Faction ships are slightly better, but having the knowledge on how to identify and counter fits you come up against is the best skill a solo player can have. This is no different from many other MMOs. Timing the usage of your skills and items is vital to winning in EVE just like in other games. Just as knowing what skills work best for each situation. I.E. if you're flying a brawling ship with short range against a ship using railguns for longer range; the best way to counter that is to use a propulsion mod to keep transversal velocity high enough to exploit the slow tracking of railguns. Also, people seem to forget that not all fights can be won no matter what. Success is solo PVP involves knowing what fights to take and which ones to run from.
