Abdiel Kavash
Caldari
Paladin Order
Fidelas Constans
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Posted - 2010.12.19 10:57:00 -
[6]
I can speak from the perspective of a person who has seen a corp transform from highsec mission runners to a part of a 0.0 powerblock,so this should be at least a bit relevant.
First and foremost, this will take time. A lot of time - a year if you are determined and devote most of your time into it. Maybe two. Maybe five. If you're not ready to commit to this, just skip the rest of this post and join an already existing nullsec corp.
Never rush it, one mistake can cost you most of the corp and you will have to start all over.
Recruit a strong core of dedicated players. These would preferrably be either people you know out of game, from other -games, or just who you play with a lot. When you move to 0.0, these will be your officers with access to corp assets. They must be people you trust 100%. If you wouldn't give them your ship and let them fly it for you, you need to build more trust.
Figure out the corp structure from the beginning: are you going to run a democracy, will you have a senate, or only a few people running the corp, or a single dictator? This will be very hard to change later. Just as in real life, the more people participate in leadership, the more stable the corp will be, but the more difficult will it be to introduce changes.
Don't be afraid to punish people. Living in 0.0 requires a specific attitude, and people who don't have that attitude will be hurting themselves and the entire corp. Don't be afraid to kick people who are starting arguments or doing or asking suspicious things. People are a resource that will never run out. It might take you a week to recruit a new member. But it would take you months to rebuild if that one bad apple corrupted half of the corp.
Be territorial. Don't go flying all over the empire, pick one system and stick to it and its close neighborhood. Get used to calling a place your home. This will also let you form fleets faster. Fly in groups. All the time. Even if two people could run missions faster on their own, put them in a fleet. Once again, learn about communication and coordination. Get used to working with other people, get used to taking orders from other people.
Lose ships. Not just "don't be afraid to lose ships", actualy go and get killed a couple of times. Reinforce in your members the knowledge that everything they buy is expendable and replaceable. Play EVE like you would play Battlefield, or even Quake. If you die, you die - respawn and go fight again. If you can start running a corp ship replacement program (SRP) for ships you fly often, even better.
When you get the right attitude and a decent number of members (I'd recommend 50, but as low as 20 or 30 is sgood if they're active), move out to lowsec. I know lowsec sucks and all that, but this will give you two benefits. First, moons. You would be surprised how many decent moons in lowsec are empty or occupied only by a small tower you can take down with 20 ships. A few moons will give you income to sustain (or improve) your SRP.
Second, and maybe more important, you will get familiar with the inhabitants of nearby nullsec. There are regions that are more friendly and ones that are less, but every alliance is on the lookout for potential new members. Or new threats. Pay attention to the politics off your area, figure out who the powerblocks are, which alliances are friends, which are enemies, which are well-estabilished, which are just starting out.
Somewhere at this point you will have to pick a side. Approach the diplomats of an alliance you like and introduce your corp to them. Mention that you are based nearby, maybe even mention if you happened to win any battles against their enemies. Don't ask to join the alliance right away - that just screams "spy". Ask to help them out with fights in your area. You might get turned down - it happens. Try another group, at another time. Eventually, you will make some friends. From there, it is only a step away to joining an alliance.
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