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I quit EVE, I came to realize it does, in fact, suck.
dolanious
Member Posts: 186
in EVE Online
EVE is an acquired taste for sure. When I first tried the trial I hated it, thought it was lame. Time based skills? Point and click? Slower than molasis? Community is the most jerk-wad of any i've ever seen? Yeah, I hated it all. Then I got bored because there was nothing else for me to play, so I tried it again, really got into it, and subbed. I have been playing since March I think. I really loved EVE for a while, I embrassed it wholly...
But eventually, it does take its tole on you and her flaws begin to show. First of all, I want to clear up any missonceptions for people. EVE is not a true MMORPG. It's a RTS-MMORPG. It's point-and-click repetitativeness will seriously hurt your fingers (this coming from someone who plays alot of FPS mind you).
Time based skills means you will never, ever, ever reach the level of competitive play that the average vetran has....at least, not for a YEAR + or 10 million skillpoints minimum. And that's WITH all the learning skills maxed (as I had), anyone who argues otherwise is plane wrong, and they know it which is why they vehemently deny it so. I think it's pretty rediculious that you have to play a year plus before you can actually begin to enjoy the game as a pvper.
To top it off, most major 0.0 corps require a huge ammount of skill points or they wont even return your e-mails. They are the worst group of people of any mmorpg i have ever met. Again, 10 plus million sp or don't even bother.
So, since I was a PVPER, 0.0 is where it's at.... that's 90% of the game right there. But unelsss you're in an alliance you can just forget about it. You'll die, there's no reason to hunt there... no way to make money ratting since you'll get ganked faster than you can target. Lets pretend you do get into an Alliance (unless you have 10 mill sp's it'l be a shitty one)... you still don't want to travel by yourself. Everything in the game then becomes whose blob is bigger wins. Wow, that's a ton of fun isn't it? It's all a numbers game. In fact, all of EVE can be summed up in BLOB vs BLOB warefare. That's the meat right there.... and even that doesn't occure as much as it should anymor since systems can't handle it people lag out.... so whenever a station is under siege people don't even try to defend it, they just let it fall.
As I played this game more and more I awoke to my original conclusion that this game is mediocre at best, and I consider anyone who plays it to be a total sucker for it. Honestly, the only reason CCP's subs have gone up recently is from people like me who simply have nothing else to fill that 'space' mmo void that exists on the MMO market right now....
it wont last.
Comments
competitively, but these people would suck at PvP even if they had 40m
skillpoints. You can tell which players are going to be good PvPers
even when they only have a few million skillpoints. They're the ones
who don't get all hung up on "how far they are behind" and actually PvP
with what they've got.
So what if you can't beat a 3 year old player 1v1 in equal class
ships. That kind of 1v1 is never going to happen. You can beat him if
he happens to be in a HAC and you're in a Battleship. Or he's in an
interceptor and you're in a destroyer. Or if it's a 2 vs 2 or more.
In summation...
You suck. Quit whining. Can I have your stuff?
2. who wants to join a "major" 0.0 corp. Start your own or join one thats just getting off the ground. My corp has 12 people in it and we take total newbies daily. We load em up with bookmarks, fly em past the pirates and pretty much make them rich by letting them tag along when we rat in our 0.0 system.
3. Ill repeat, we take total newbies. i.e. no skill point minimum at all.
4. 12 people. thats it. 12 people. 0.0 station. no alliance. no getting ganked unless someone warps to a gatecamp without a scout. We have alts stationed at the dangerous gates and we scout for each other 90% of the time.
5. we hunt pirates sometimes when we hit the highways. They hunt us when we are out in major through-ways. Never really gets bigger than 5 on 5. Not a blob by my standards. Sometimes when outnumbered and we know they have a gate camp, we warp in on the bookmarks we set where thier snipers like to sit. We take one out fast and run. Its one of the most fun things Ive ever done in the game. Plus in our little area of space there is rarely lag. Infact I can't remember the last time it lagged.
I understand you had a series of bad experiences in Eve, but apparently thats not the only way it can play out. I have had a completely different time in eve. Maybe part of that is luck. Maybe its just being open minded. If you want too Im sure my corp would take you, you seem to be in the market for the 0.0 presence and small scale combat that we enjoy. Send me an eve-mail at Rychek.
ships" I mean, can you believe the gull? That sums up the players in EVE.
By your logic, if you can't beat them on a one vs one.... then you're even less likely to beat a group of them... and then your back to blob vs blob... Everything goes into a blob vs blob. At its core, there's little strategy... whoevers blob is bigger = winner. Unless of course the blob your going against is all 3 year old vets (as most engagements are in 0.0), which means your blob has to be a close 2:1 ratio to have a good chance.
FYI those kinds of one vs ones happen often in empire (not as much in 0.0). And your point is still null, because unless you enjoy being abused and stuck in a permanent state of 'sub par' compared to established players, then what's the point?
Like I said, for those smart enough to see the forrest through the trees, there isn't. It's why this game wont last the second another space MMO comes out.
In my understanding, a MMORPG is a game where many people can form groups, alliances, can interact in various ways. Can Roleplay (yes, EVE has a pretty active RP community, check out the interstellar summit forum, not to mention corp/alliance politics). EVE fulfills all of this, so despite it's control scheme, yes it is a true MMORPG.
Yes, I suppose, assuming you have to face your veteran opponent with the exact same setup that would be true. But...
Assuming you have good intel in what he's flying, perhaps even his setup. You can rig your ship to intellegently counter his ships/setup drawbacks, like attack him with ECM so he can't even fight you, counter SR with LR, or if he's LR fit for speed and close the distance for SR attack.
There are many methods to defeating a player who has superiour skill points. Not to mention you can bring friends along.
Plus, some like the time based system, since it takes the grind out of leveling. Plus one doesn't have to be so high in skill points to be an effective addition to a PVP fleet. A realtively new player, serving in the role of tackler, anti support, a small EW ship (easily attainable within a month or two), even a relatively inexperienced Battleship pilot can be a vital addition to a PVP fleet.
In essence, some love it, some hate it.
Also, it's been noted by the Dev team that the average player life in EVE is 7 months, if one stays longer than that, he's ahead of the curve.
Guess you picked the wrong people. I know of many 0.0 corps that are willing to take in new players. There is a lot of logic to this as well, since taking in new players, having them grow in your corp: It's an investment in the future.
Granted, some may have such strict entry reqs. They have a right to do so, but not all.
And no, alliances that allow new players in aren't shitty.
I do it all the time, instas are nice in that regard. And I hear of many people working solo in 0.0, just takes some caution.
Again not true, superior tactics and information can defeat a larger force. Much in the same way that a well equipped ship can defeat a more experienced player.
Lag can be a problem for very large fleet battles, but tell me a game that can fit so many people on a single shard and still be lag free with 200 people fighting in one system?
Some people may be like that, letting their station fall, but not all.
That has yet to be seen, a MMO space game with more mass market appeal may arise, but I doubt that EVE will be leaving the MMO scene anytime soon.
I'm sorry you didn't find EVE entertaining in the end, hope you find a game that suits you.
[quote]Originally posted by dolanious
[b]Community is the most jerk-wad of any i've ever seen? Yeah, I hated it all. [/quote]
You appear to have a bad attitude and as such probably gravitated towards others who did as well. While I've met a few jerks in game I never spent time with them in local, or chat or PvP, so the community I've seen in game has been stellar. Choose your friends well, or this kind of thing will happen no matter where you go. Sorry you appear to have chosen poorly.
You're right about this, it's more of an MMOG really, but the almost entire reliance on the mouse can hurt after a while.
You're making the same mistake everyone else that says "omg you can't have the same skills as a vet" makes, you think you need the same skills a vet has to be competitive. You don't! If you want to be able to do everyone a vet does yes, but as someone else said, specilize as a pilot of a type of ship. You can easily, 3-6m skill points, get to be one of the better pilots for a type of ship say inteceptors or assault frigates or cruisers. Whatever. Within a few months you can be equal to a vet or within 5-10% of the bonuses they get while flying the same ships. Pick a path and work on it and stop giving a crap about what overs have. Concentrate on YOUR character.
Completely wrong. Again, this goes back to the types of people you met in game. Many corps do have limits, say 1 million or so. Some of the higher quality merc corps might have around 5 million. Those telling you 10 million are either highly specilized PvP corps or just trying to shut the newbie up...
Not entirely inaccurate. Being in an Alliance does greatly expand your abilities in 0.0. If you're a lone wolf you will need to struggle though, and it should be. Don't like it, find a new alliance. There's enough of 'em covering all the space out there to be able to find one you like if you put the effort into it.
[quote]Originally posted by dolanious
As I played this game more and more I awoke to my original conclusion that this game is mediocre at best, and I consider anyone who plays it to be a total sucker for it. Honestly, the only reason CCP's subs have gone up recently is from people like me who simply have nothing else to fill that 'space' mmo void that exists on the MMO market right now....it wont last.[/b][/quote]
Any game is only worth as much as the effort you put into it. That's the whole POINT of these online games. They aren't intented to play themselves for you, you need to be involved. That's what makes it so rewarding. You seemed to be looking for something quick and easy that you can max out instantly at and have access to everything without working for any of it. That's not EVE.
You're entirely correct about the new wave of WoW idiots joining EVE because there's simply no other games out there they haven't already "finished". And thankfully they'll all quit and EVE can go back to being inhabited by people who wanted to be there as opposed to being somewhere.
Originally posted by baff
I am ignorant of how many shards Planetside has, but according to mmogchart.com
Not bashing the game, I may join it's reserve program even, it sounds like a good amount of fun.
But if it has less or roughly the same amount of subscribers than EVE has online during peak hours, and correct me if I'm wrong a smaller world. It would be difficult to make accurate comparisions on lag based on the size of fleet battles vs battles in Planetside.
EDIT: Fixed some grammar and quote errors
I'm sorry the game didn't meet your standards to become the best at it. You know, If you have Battleships at 5 and your opponent has battleships at 5, before you factor in gear....Your opponent could have 10mil Skill points yet you are both still equal.
By the way, not many games have their devs actually play their own game and actually...oh my goodness....Dare I say it...Play with the Players themselves?
God I hate trolling but, Go play WoW.
(1997) UO --> EQ -> Runescape -> DAoC -> WoW -> EVE + WAR (2008)
ships" I mean, can you believe the gull? That sums up the players in EVE.
By your logic, if you can't beat them on a one vs one.... then you're even less likely to beat a group of them... and then your back to blob vs blob... Everything goes into a blob vs blob. At its core, there's little strategy... whoevers blob is bigger = winner. Unless of course the blob your going against is all 3 year old vets (as most engagements are in 0.0), which means your blob has to be a close 2:1 ratio to have a good chance.
FYI those kinds of one vs ones happen often in empire (not as much in 0.0). And your point is still null, because unless you enjoy being abused and stuck in a permanent state of 'sub par' compared to established players, then what's the point?
Like I said, for those smart enough to see the forrest through the trees, there isn't. It's why this game wont last the second another space MMO comes out.
please, respond to my previous post as well. You can't pick and choose your criticism. (well you can but it invalidates your arguement.)
Oh ho ho, Sir. I myself have not breached 6mil in SP... Yet I can easily defeat all the 20+mil SP players in my corp, and most of the ones in my Alliance. I never cared that they had that much.. hell If I could fit more then 2 weapons to a certain caldari frigate I could probably hold a decent BS pilot to ransom... No player in Eve will ever be able to use sheer SP against a pilot that understands the Skill system. This just shows that brains beats brawns.(sp?)
Yes I may agree with a small factor of the rts-og thing... But thats only in a 100 vrs 100 fleet battle.. Something that requires planning, excecution, the ability to ave full control. Obedience, strategy... But any time other then that, Eve is pure MMORPG, role playing included, or haven't any of you read ANY of the LORE...? Unlike WoW etc, I can hate anyone for any reason, I can fight for any nation, any religion. My 'avatar' doesn't restrict me.
With the way that eve runs aswell, I do not see any chance of many 100+ ship fights outside of BoB's northern campain.(sp?) Everything else, (and especially in my corps case) is 5 and less. We are at war in 0.0 fighting over 3 systems, and not once has there been more then 9 ships in battle. Hell I doubt we will ever see anymore then that in system. Empire, yes I got there to sell goods, 0.0 with minimul sp and a lil intelligence is the best fun the game can bring... Hell I see just as many 3 week old accounts go through system in frigates then anything else.
Your bashing the game because you are stuck in the 'lvl' era. Where the one or two numbers floating above your head means everything. Eve doesn't have those numbers, we just have the number of 0 and 1's that have been downloaded into your chars head so that you can use other modules, yay he has it at lvl 5 and you only at 3 or 4.. Like it matters, he has 3%, 5% or up to 10%(rarely) better proiffiecientcy in one thing and has spent anywhere between 1 week and 3 months training for it.. Whilst you could just jam him after 20 minutes of training and just slowly eat his tank as he sits there unable to move, lock, and so attack... Player Character Skill means nothing, Player Skill means everything. When you move to this, you'll understand that it applies to life more then lvln and so it may help you get off your ass and get a real life (oh don't try and pull forum on me, your here too...)
"Just because there are other colours to use in chat does not mean you have to use them..." - Please follow
3 year player in af/inty = you use crusier
3 year player in hac = you use bs
3 year player in bs = you use cruiser (unless its a domi or a raven fitted with cruise misiles in that case feck it)
3 year player in command ship = ....well.....gonna have to blob sad to say
Least that what i do solo wise....and a t2 sniper bs'es loot buys alotta cruisers to pvp in
its funny I always see people say they cant compete in 0.0 space without belonging to a strong corp or alliance or having 10m+ sp
i just broke 8m sp last week. ive been in 0.0 space running simple lvl 2 missions to get my standings up with a particular corp for 2 months now. my battleship is over 17 jumps away and the only ship I have out there is a rupture with named t1 weapons and gear.
I must be doing something terribly wrong then
I made my own bookmarks in a shuttle, I then moved my own gear in a hoarder through multiple low sec jumps and ive been safely flying between 0.0 and 0.2 space for 2 months doing ql 16 and ql 18 missions and ratting all in a cruiser.
have I seen gate campers? oh..you betcha! plenty of -9 security rated pirates flying in and out of my systems constantly too. have I been engaged? a couple times, but they seem to have a hard time tracking me and I have always gotten away.
so..someone tell me what im doing wrong since im becoming very successful in 0.0 space all by my lonesome?
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
In EVE you have no choice , ultra specialize or just be content at generally being second best. Sure there are some very skilled poeple who can overcome the skillpoint difference but their the exception rather than the rule. And games need all sorts of players not just the ultra skilled.
Certainly everyone flames when i say it but EVE should either:
* Create an XP based server for poeple who need to see "the level above their head" as one responder put it
* OR have some in game bonuses - EG 3 months free skill points if you play 3 months etc to give the newbie a bit of a boost.
The games model will become more and more opressive over time as the skill disparity widens. Eventually most new players will probably just pass EVE buy because of the perceived imbalance. At thats the crux of the issue "PERCIEVED". Whether it is true or not that you have to be equal , perceptions for a lot of classic mmo'ers will never change. And jerks ingame who dont help or encourage newbs or gank them in one sided battles probably are in part to blame.
Definetely though , EVE is doing well as its the only type of game in its class ... the competition will heat up if that ever changes. CCP are better thinking ahead to that day then trying to react when it may be too late.
Trying for a civil discussion , but as usual flame on.
I'm sure everyone has been at this point, where they are at wit's end. I have and am right now. The big question for Eve is 'In the mean time'?
It's always gotta get, gotta have, gotta do, to do that. And untill then? Grind another 200 L2 missions waiting for a skill, buy a weap you don't have?
I just lost an L2 Apoc BS in an L3 mission. Everyone is like 'get shield hardeners, get armor hadeners, get, get, get. So I did it. I piled it on. Shields at 60-76% resist. Fly through a dead space and get hit with 22 frigs, 18 cruisers, warp inhibit and speed at 9 ms. All slamming me with missles. I know, gotta have, gotta get, gotta get. So they can pile a new L3 mission on me that I don't have stuff or skils for? Bottom line, I am exactly where I was 3 months ago. Still can't afford an Adv Spaceship command book, still can't get forward momentum.
I don't know if I will go so far as to say the game sucks. I will say and have, this game is not for everyone. It is a time sink, a massive waste of time. Time well wasted if you enjoy, stupid as it gets if you don't.
did you really try to shield tank an apoc? oh man. what did you do with your low slots? cargo expanders?
anyhow, if you dont have skills to use a BS, why dont you use a cruiser or battlecruiser? i have been playing almost one year, and spent more than 10 months without flying BS, because i wasnt skillful enough. was i getting bored? of course not!!!! i became quite proficient with my cyclone, so much that i could do every level 3 mission, and many level 4 missions.
but not only that. i spent some time mining (quite boring, but had to try it), and then trading (very profitable, but required a lot of planning), i tried building ships and then sell them for profit. i tried pvp on many ways. first as a tackler on a speedy vigil. later as a quick damage dealer (rifter, kestrel), later as a heavy tackler (stabber), then as the electronics guy in a blackbird, and eventually as a cruiser-nightmare on my cyclone.
so, do not try to rush your way to a BS. enjoy the travel. there are many things to do in this game. you can try them all during the first 1 or 2 months, and then decide what you like most.
to the OP. forget about skill points. just enjoy whatever you do now. if you are not able to have fun unless you max you levels, then it is very sad. you gotta play tekken then, max level from the start!!!!
about alliances and all that bull****, my corp lives in 0.0. we are not part of any alliance, yet we get access to many npc stations with agents to do missions, be get access to high-end minerals, npc ratting... and the only requirement to get into our corp is to have a regular account (no trial) and to spend some days on a public channel we have created so that we get to know potential new members and explain them how our corp works, so that they are sure they want to join us. that's all.
about new players not being able to beat 1vs1 a 3 year vet, i have to say it is only FAIR. come on, if you start playing basketball know, do you expect to beat 1vs1 someone that has been playing much longer? but maybe if you get 4 friends, it can be different. anyway, many veterans have no fighting skills, so you can still beat them, if that is all that worries you
Regardless I wouldn't ever run 200 level 2 missions. I would run 20 of them. then rat in low sec or 0.0 for a while. Then play the market for a while. Then gang up with my friends for a while. Then tank for them while they are mining, etc. I could go on and on forever. This game is what you make it. If you make it boring....it will be. If you make it fun...it is.
That being said, one thing that this game CANNOT be is WoW, or DAOC, or EQ or whatever you would like it to be. If you like to solo and grind levels then there are other games for you. Does that mean the game sucks? no. Does it mean you have bad taste in games? no.
Play what you enjoy.
I keep bring up good points, but no one seems to want to address them.
Lets talk about perceptions. I think the real problem here is that people 'perceive' all mmo's to be the same, because, for the most part, they have been.
There are TONS of people with more skill points than me. Does that stop me? no. Because I view the game in terms of what *I* can do. Not in terms of that other guy can do. Or his buddy. Or his granma.
Honestly I agree, we do need more ways to gain skill points. Or to manipulate the ones we have. Id like to see some way of trading in certain ones, for others. perhaps with a penalty. I don't know, its not a fleshed out idea.
This is the sort of thing the OP was no doubt refering to.
I was 'clearly' a stupid fucking idiot who didn't 'research' his ship. What does that mean? Talk down to anyone who gets frustrated, make them feel like an idiot.
did you really try to shield tank an apoc? oh man. what did you do with your low slots? cargo expanders?
No and yes. I had Armor hardeners, a named repair system that bumped my hull to 55% resist and added to armor and shield resists, some reper's and 2 injectors to get some speed. This is all quarterbacking though.
It's easy to say what I should have done. It's impossible to say what I should do. I had hauled half my junk to this system to get through the first gate that requied one set up, then another to cut through the second.
It wasn't going to matter. I was hit with warp inhibit and speed inhibit. I was a bullseye. I did research my mission. Every strategy guide I found shows me 'my mission' but it looked nothing like my mission. The thing that killed me was I was supposed to get hit by spawns and I was instead hit by every ship in the deadspace. Bug, intended slaughter, I don't know.
did you really try to shield tank an apoc? oh man. what did you do with your low slots? cargo expanders?
No and yes. I had Armor hardeners, a named repair system that bumped my hull to 55% resist and added to armor and shield resists, some reper's and 2 injectors to get some speed. This is all quarterbacking though.
It's easy to say what I should have done. It's impossible to say what I should do. I had hauled half my junk to this system to get through the first gate that requied one set up, then another to cut through the second.
It wasn't going to matter. I was hit with warp inhibit and speed inhibit. I was a bullseye. I did research my mission. Every strategy guide I found shows me 'my mission' but it looked nothing like my mission. The thing that killed me was I was supposed to get hit by spawns and I was instead hit by every ship in the deadspace. Bug, intended slaughter, I don't know.
I suppose the research comment was aimed at me. I don't see where I called you an idiot or stupid for it though. Thats an inference of your own.
Most of the guides mention the potential for bugs, such as the 'everyone aggro' one that you encountered, in any mission that might have them.
Really though, this isn't monday morning quarterbacking. Thats implying we *might* have done it different if we didn't know the outcome already. The fact is most of us would have done it different regardless.
Bottom line for me is that this is a tough game. Its unforgiving. Some of us blame ourselves when we mess up and we learn from it. Others choose to blame the game for thier own mistakes. Truth is we ALL play by the same rules in this game, and as long as that is the case the game is fair enough for me. I swear its funny to me when people make a post and sing it like the game singled them out and was being unfair to them and them alone. We have all been through the tough times in eve. Some of us cry about it and quit. Some of us learned from it and prospered.
The PvP is very unbalanced, and the outcome of the fight is decided 99% times with the fittings/ships/skills before the battle begins. Usually people do not want to risk death if they know they are going to die for sure. This is why this game's PVP is bad.
Only good for the kind of oportunistic people that makes fun on the griefing and bad karma, or the masochists. Real life is enough.
I'll tell you a funny anecdote about the community (worse then WoW):
I managed to get through a pirate gate camp and stay in a safe spot in the solar system, waiting for the pirates to go away. A few minutes later, the whole pirate gang warped to my safespot and killed me. I wondered how they had been able to group warp at my exact position, and asked them! Their answer was the following: "skill", and then they closed the chat window. So there you have your community. Three year old players with T2 ships and modules ganking newbies that go through the gate. And they say it's about "skill" in a pretty badass actitude. LOL. Shortly after that I informed myself about the existence of probes, the scanner and how they worked, pretty simple stuff. I still laugh myself thinking about their answer: "skill". That's the kind of pro and patiente community you have there. And a lot of nerve to brag about it.
And I think piracy and gate camping are very common activities in EVE. This is why, when people talk wonders about EVE, their mature community and ideal PvP, I just LMAO.
Play EVE and have your fun but, please, be a little more humble about yourselves. Make better fanboys out of yourselves
x2
The PvP is very unbalanced, and the outcome of the fight is decided 99% times with the fittings/ships/skills before the battle begins. Usually people do not want to risk death if they know they are going to die for sure. This is why this game's PVP is bad.
Only good for the kind of oportunistic people that makes fun on the griefing and bad karma, or the masochists. Real life is enough.
I'll tell you a funny anecdote about the community (worse then WoW):
I managed to get through a pirate gate camp and stay in a safe spot in the solar system, waiting for the pirates to go away. A few minutes later, the whole pirate gang warped to my safespot and killed me. I wondered how they had been able to group warp at my exact position, and asked them! Their answer was the following: "skill", and then they closed the chat window. So there you have your community. Three year old players with T2 ships and modules ganking newbies that go through the gate. And they say it's about "skill" in a pretty badass actitude. LOL. Shortly after that I informed myself about the existence of probes, the scanner and how they worked, pretty simple stuff. I still laugh myself thinking about their answer: "skill". That's the kind of pro and patiente community you have there. And a lot of nerve to brag about it.
And I think piracy and gate camping are very common activities in EVE. This is why, when people talk wonders about EVE, their mature community and ideal PvP, I just LMAO.
Play EVE and have your fun but, please, be a little more humble about yourselves. Make better fanboys out of yourselves
gatecamping is the easiest thing to avoid. if you're an experienced player or ..well just read some of the overwhelming threads on tips and tricks to the game then you'll know to make insta's. if you're too new to know about instas and bookmarks, dying at a gate by campers is..well your wakeup call.
its happened to alot of us, and a lot of us accept it. if you dont have the right instas and bookmarks, go to a station and grab a shuttle if you MUST go through the gate. you'd be surprised how inaccurately a pirate is vs. a shuttle..most of the time you'll gate long before they can lock you.
anyway, pointless discussion.. the game doesnt suck..some players do
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
Tirallum. Yes, PVP is decided by those things, but also by skillful tactics, good leadership, and a gang obedient to following the commanders orders.
As far as your pirate encounter. Yes, pirates can be a real pain, and they are quite merciless (though quite a few are honorable to keep to their word if they ransom you.) It's simply a fact of life in EVE. But I feel really gives the game spice, like it or not.
You can't judge the entire community by it's more infamous members.
As far as how they found you. Assuming you weren't in any moon, planet, or such most likely they used a covert ops to find you with scan probes, and then warp to the covert ops when he got close enough to you. You have to continually scan for those little buggers, and change safespots frequently.