As I mentioned earlier, it was a little premature to post the mission and goals of Interstellar Tritanium (Ticker: ITTRI), but I honestly needed to post it having not posted anything on the blog for a while, and the fact that I have been sitting there doing not much except performing some of those said roles instead of recruiting and getting people on-board with it. Let me try to explain a little more about the purpose of Interstellar Tritanium....This is another lame attempt at writing well, I also wrote this in a rush, but here goes with round two of the initial recruitment docs and orientation about who we are and what we do.
First and MOST importantly, the mission of Interstellar Tritanium is to get more people into Low Sec. Yes that means by increasing ITTRI membership, but that's a small sliver of the mission. It is ITTRI's mission to get OTHER poeple out to Low Sec. Why would we want to do that? Well most people once they've either taken heed of others or experienced the perils of Low Sec on their own and paid for it and DON'T want to go to Low Sec unless they have aspirations of Piracy and Faction Warefare. Currently low sec is like a DMZ, on one side you have High Sec which is controlled by CONCORD and the Empire Factions, on the other side you have Null Sec which is sporadically controlled by alliances. Pretty much, if you stay in your own space, either in High Sec or you own alliance owned Null Sec regions, you are fairly (though not completely) safe. In the middle you have this DMZ or no man's land, where there are really no consequences to being out there other than being vulnerable...honestly though you are only vulnerable due to your own weaknesses, but I digress.
Wait a minute, rewind a little here. Why would I want to do this?
There are more valuable things to do in Low Sec than in High Sec, but no one except the very confident, daring or stupid go to low sec. Why? Because of the added Risk vs. Reward factor. Currently since nearly the only folks that inhabits Low Sec as a home are Pirates and Faction Warriors, and of course yours truly, the risk to spend time in Low Sec to get that better percentage of value is too high, but that real value is there. There is more valuable ore not to mention more of it since no one is mining it, the missions and complexes are usually much better. There are more Ice Belts, there are OMGWTFTONS of empty queues for Manufacturing and Researching. There are OMGWTFTONS of EVERY resource left untapped and wasted.
Ok so why don't you go out and grab it?
Well I am, that is what I am doing right now on my own and doing it successfully from a profit margin standpoint, but I have also realized this space would become a LOT more valuable if more people came out here.
Why would more people make it more valuable?
One word. Volume, but .... Well because right now using myself as an example, for it to be effective I have travel all around 5 regions in a Deep Space Transport (much much safer than a freighter) gathering all kinds of different stuff at fuck cheap prices from minerals to ammo to modules to ships, to bring it all to central staging points in High Sec, so I can pick it up from those staging points, carry it in a freighter to drop it off in another staging point in High Sec to near a Low Sec Market turn around and bring it back out to Low Sec in way far too many DST trips to sell it at Market. It takes days and weeks to make a single complete cycle. I operate profitably and I have a constant flow of merchanise because there is real demand for stuff in low sec, but by keeping my prices really low, I make sure that people buy from me rather than hop into freighters with their alts, go to Jita to buy expensive stuff (which puts money in OTHER people's pockets). That's a little backwards IMO, and I think it would make more sense if there was a more viable economy right there in low sec where I am working.
Huh? Who cares?
Ok, so lets say I am mining in Low Sec and I now have all these wonderful minerals that could be used in manufacturing. If I want to make a profit from these, I have one of two choices, I can haul it all back to Oursulaert or Jita or Hek or whereever else, and turn quite a tidy profit, but I have to haul it all there...in order to do that safely, I need to use either blockade runner or deep space transport (I prefer the DST for low sec hauling BTW), but those ships are so so tiny compared to a freighter, but I really can't safely fly the freighter in low sec because of the danger involved. OR I can dump it on the market, and sell it to the highest regional bidder (currently yours truly). The first way, ensures I make more profits for what I mined, but the second way means I can stay put and mine some more. However, hauling it out has it's risks, you have to get through the gate camps to and from your mining spot and high sec. And if you get your ship blowed up, it was full of sparkly highly valuable minerals that you just lost. Plus you loose valuable time hauling it. The second option is safer because I am not running gate camps full of minerals (which are likely more valuable than my mining ship), I am risking only the loss of my ship and with a modicum of sense and piloting skill I can get to safety with relative ease. Not only that, do I REALLY want to carry Tritanium and Pyrites over multijump routes to get them to a market? It is really worth it?
Wait a minute though, there are all these unused research and manufacturing facilities out here. What if I could just drop my minerals off here where I already am. I wouldn't have to haul them away, and because I am not wasting my time I can sell them for a little bit less that I would have to if I were hauling them all the way to market and I can make more money because I can mine more minerals. Not only that, but the people using these facilities wouldn't have to bring their own minerals either, meaning using these facilities would be a LOT more attractive for all parties...AND AND (yes that's right two) because everything is a little cheaper and less work, THEY can afford to pay someone to haul the products out so "I" don't have to do it (well what I mean is, "I" want or someone else wants to haul YOUR shit for you), or EVEN BETTER sell that shit right where they are, or only a couple jumps to the closest market hub, which incidently the closest market hub will likely be in Low Sec, instead of in Oursulaert which is probably 9 or 10 jumps away. Gosh can you imagine how much easier all that is? It's like High Sec, but not as congested. Being able to mine, manufacture and sell stuff all in the same station or system, or Holy Shit even just in the same constellation would be nice for a change.
Have you ever tried getting a manufacting or research job in Oursulaert? Really, have you tried it? How long are the waiting lists? Did you look in the rest of the region? I am willing to bet that in Oursulaert the waiting list approaches 2 months before your job even starts. In the rest of Essense High Sec, it probably trickles downward the farther out you go to a average of 1 month, and if you are lucky MAYBE you can find a single slot with a job that can start in 5 or 6 days because no one grabbed it yet, but it's 12 jumps away and you gotta haul all the materials out there before you can queue up the slot, better hope someone else doesn't jump on it before you can pick it up. Lets not even talk about queue camping. Ok, back up again....There are a CRAP TON of empty research and manufacturing queues in low sec....Did you catch that?
So this is how more people getting into low sec makes it more valuable for EVERYONE, and that includes for ME too because now I don't have to haul this shit to and from kingdom come to make this work alone.
Ok this actually makes some sense, but how are we going to do this? I mean there are still pirates out there looking for exactly this opportunity finding a fleet of hulks in an asteroid belt and drooling over the t2 components that are gonna drop when I get killed...
That's a great question really. And this really applies to all scenarios in Low Sec. Pirates are looking for targets regardless of what that target is, miners, haulers, mission runners, etc etc. I have developed a friendship and trust, and I am working with the various prominent Low Sec organizations to foster an unofficial alliance or blue chip corp/alliance wide standings to help make our job a little easier (by not shooting down our members). By us reciprocating Blue Chips with each other will help in two important ways; 1) Since we're blue to them, they won't shoot us, 2) since they are blue to us, we know we have are in the presence of friends.
Why would pirates want to give up targets? Why would they let us pass and do our business freely?
Because of the mutual benefit. Yeah on face value it looks like they are giving up targets, but honestly without the arangement YOU wouldn't be there anyway right? So they havne't given anything up. Further, if you consider everything I mentioned above, we are going to be DRAWING customers out to Low Sec, all those customers are fair game, it's only our corp and alliance that enjoy the negotiated peace. Plus once all those people do start coming out, there is some safety in numbers. If a pilot is flying around solo in low sec, you can almost guarantee that if a pirate is hunting, they are hunting that solo pilot, but if there are 50 other random pilots flying around, the buffer of additional pilots dramatically increases the chances of that one pilot flying away safely. The more people there are in low sec, the better the place will be for everyone, carebears, faction warriors and pirates alike. Safer for the carebears and more fun for the pirates.
But why would I want to help a bunch of asshole pirates?
Well most people who are carebears don't really understand very well how this game works. And I don't mean from a spreadsheet understanding the math and mechanics of the game. I am talking about those two or three buzzwords, "the sandbox" and "the butterfly effect". Carebears tend to think this game shouldn't be a PvP game, or think that since I am a carebear you should leave me alone mr baddy pirate. And groups of carebears tend to hold hands and perform the "carebear stare". Well it doesn't work, but that's besides the point. Before you get your panties in a ruffle, understand...I am a carebear...we actually, I am an industrial/trader pilot who doesn't consider himself a carebear. Why? Because I face PvP on a minute by minute basis flying around 5 regions of low sec to perform my "carebear" stuff. PvP isn't just head to head or blob to blob combat, and this is where people seem to not understand this game at all, especially the carebears. Here I explain why and what's missing from their understanding.
A trader is constantly PvPing with other traders for money. We are constantly trying to get the best deal before everyone else, we are taking their money and putting it in our wallets. But at least I am not shooting anyone. Aren't you? When you are trying to make a buck trying to sell your stuff or buy your stuff and that guy ALWAYS seems to get his order for one penny better than you before you can move your stuff? You can't seem to sell it for a profit because someone is always making the deal sweeter and putting you out of business a little, or forcing you to mark down your items below profit margins. That's not PvP? Well ok, but what about me? I am just a miner and all I do is practice Player vs Rock, I don't PvP at all. That's what you think, how much fun is it when a corporation operation comes in and wipes out all your asteroid belts in your favorite systems and leaves you nothing but scraps. How about when you spend hours just looking for a belt to mine and can't find one? Or how about this? What do you think those rocks they were mining is going to be used for? How about your rocks, what do you think they are going to get used for. Sure you are just selling your rocks on the market or dumping it on some cheap buy order, but you aren't PvPing are you? I am afraid you are...there is only ONE reason you are mining, you are gathering the materials required to blow up someone else. What the fuck are you talking about? That's right...your rocks are getting other people killed. You think your rocks are going to get used for some peaceful activity? Sure in some stages of the game, maybe. They'll get used in science and manufacturing, sure sure, that's true...but why is that person doing that? To make shit to blow someone's ass up. Funny thing is, it's very possible that you even got your self blowed up because you mined the particular minerals that we used to make the ship that blew your ass up. That's what this game is about, blowing shit up...end of story really.
Yeah but pirates are still assholes and they suck.
Really? Why do you think you have a job in Eve? ..... Anyone? Because someone blew up someone else's ship up. Just as much as I tell the pirates to shut the fuck up because they owe carebears a debt of gratitude for doing the stuff you don't want to so you CAN do what you want, you carebears also need to shut the fuck up because you owe the pirates a debt of gratitude for making it possible for you to do what makes YOU happy. You wouldn't be mining anything at all if it weren't for pirates because they blow shit up so YOU can sell your stuff. Pirates are a VITAL part of the economy in Empire, both High Sec AND Low Sec and also have an effect on Null Sec too because that's where lots of the T2 building materials come from.
Well you are wrong, most ships are blown up in alliance wars and elsewhere in null sec.
Well that's true for the most part, but what you seem to misunderstand is that most of those big giant deep space alliances support their own independent economies. They have their own groups of miners, scientists, researchers and manufacturers. Most stuff they produce on their own and get blown up all on their own without having the slightest effect on life in high sec. Yes it's true some of it does trickle up to high sec, but very little in fact except the T2 building materials I mentioned previously compared with the amount of ships blown up by pirates and NPCs. Besides, what's the difference? Someone got blowed up that didn't want to get blowed up, maybe most of those battles can be considered "consensual PvP", but the whole game is PvP, miners, traders and everyone are PvPing on one level or another. And anyway, do you REALLY think that when an alliance totally destroys another alliance that it's not the same or worse than you loosing your mining ship to pirates? Holy shit, that hurts a whole crap ton more than the pain you feel when you get blowed up, or when a salvage ninja comes to get your wrecks....Honestly. People loose trillions of isk, and have to abandon several freighterfuls of stuff in stations they'll likely never visit again, but their asset window will unendingly remind them of their massive massive defeat. Of course they could just "trash" the stuff so they don't have to look at it anymore. How would you feel to "trash" a few carriers, mauraders, and billions of units of isogen?
Ok ok I get it. So now back to your corp, what's the catch? What do I gotta do?
No catch. You gotta be able to support yourself. You have to commit to align with the corp mission and actively work towards that goal. You need to be comfortable losing your stuff, cause it's gonna happen and you need to be ok with it. We'll provide training and coaching on how to pilot safely in low sec, but after that it's up to you to practice and keep your senses and reflexes keen. The only thing I ask you to do is practice your career in low sec, in a coordinated fashion with the rest of the corp to maximize our footprint and prevent intra-corp and intra-alliance competition. I.e. one person takes gallente ships modules and ammo, another specializes in Minmatar kits, another does mining vessels, another does minerals trade, implants, rigs, etc etc. Keep the market divided by product so we can all work together on the same systems with the same goals without getting in each other's way. Once we have a good economy growing in one region to the point where we have drawn competition into low sec with us (remember that's good), we can continue growing our numbers take advantage of MORE of those untapped resources and finally spread to other surrounding low sec regions and make us all some more money.
Low sec was designed to be a bridge between High Sec and Null sec, instead it became the pirate's private little hell where life is hard. Lets turn Low Sec around and build it into the bridge where null sec alliances and high sec citizen comingle together and do business with each other as was intented. Pirates get a kick back from this, all teh extra targets that otherwize would have said at home.
