March 2, 2014

Interview with High Sec Mercs - Featuring Khromius, Macath, and Lord Razpataz

As I began working on this series more and more, I realized that I was going to need to get the entire story. While I may consider high sec mercenaries to be fake mercenaries, their opinions and experiences were vital in understanding the whole story. So I reached out to a bunch of the high sec merc leaders the same way I did with the others: I sent an EVEmail asking about contract numbers and types and requested an interview.

Unsurprisingly, none of the people I contacted could give me numbers, just vague responses: "A lot," one replied. I was surprised to find out why they couldn't give me hard data though. Unlike mercs in every other type of space, it turns out high sec mercs haven't really been effected like the rest of us have, at least not when it comes to the number of contracts they get. The reason I couldn't get an exact answer was because there are so many contracts taking place each week that they simply can't keep track. However, one thing that seems to stay constant no matter where you're a mercenary is that structure focused contracts are on the rise, especially with the release of high security POCOs. I should also point out that after speaking with these guys, I found that I had quite a few preconceptions that simply aren't true. So, here's an official apology to all of you high sec mercenaries who do real work!

Without much further ado, I'll let you guys listen. I'm going to try and wrap this series up here soon with one last post, probably pretty lengthy, about what I've learned, what I see as issues facing the merc community, and a few ideas I have for the future. Thank you for being part of the ride.