The Lonely Pilot Syndrome

Sometimes, in bars and other places I run into pilots who like to talk to me. They talk, and suddenly I find myself the recipient of their life story and personal secrets.

I have wondered why they do that.

I have asked a few pilots who have convoed me out of the blue, and they claimed they picked me because I just have a kind face.

I personally find it hard to believe I'm somehow uniquely easy to talk to, so I've started to jokingly call the phenomenon "The Lonely Pilot Syndrome".

Some of them have been good and entertaining company, so inability to make any friends does not really sound like a plausible explanation. Maybe they are so desperate for the company and understanding of other pilots?

The unsettling question is, will I ever become that lonely?

Industry and innocents in space

Sometimes, I hear opinions to the effect of not attacking innocent industrialists.

I suppose innocence as a concept is a relative thing. Where I come from, arms manufacturers and dealers are hardly considered innocent.

Hate as definition of identity

I often encounter our people saying we should avoid becoming what we hate, when they argue against some practice of our enemies (particularly the Amarr).

Even if I might agree with the idea argued for, I dislike that reason support it.

Why should we care what our enemies are like for the purposes of defining what we are like? We should strive to have an identity of our own, instead of being not-them.

Pashanai and U'K

Pashanai Ministry of War station got bombed.

On IGS, among the other discussion, U'K pilots are already flashing the possibility of offering 1 isk for Shakor's head because he denounced the attack.

The same bounty as they had for Midular.

I guess supporting somebody does not agree with that bunch much.

News from Providence

I am buried in paperwork and listen to the news trickle in from Providence. A funny region, one that so many want to attack but so few to keep.

I'm glad I'm not in politics.

Hateful see offense where none is meant

Real courtesy is not about turns of phrase.

It is about refraining from splitting hairs, about making a honest effort to try to see the meaning and thoughts behind the words. About giving people the benefit of doubt, instead of being too quick to assume the worst.

Fitting webs

Some people think battleships do not need to fit webs. Such people often reason that some other pilot can do the webbing. Maybe some other battleship, maybe a tackler, and they can use the medslot for something else.

This kind of thinking in my opinion has two problems.

First, because of tracking, short range turret battleships generally like having webs. The job of battleships is to deal damage, and the web is there partly to ensure you get to deal a larger portion of your theoretical DPS in practice. It is a medslot damage module.

And secondly, because if everybody relies on somebody else to bring the webs, not enough people will. And in the tactical situations EM usually fights in, webs are almost always necessary.

Scramblers do some of the same job nowadays, by disabling MWD.