'Anatomy Of A Fight' was the fourth in our "VidBR" series (separate to the Clarion Call series) and covers an interesting battle from the summer of 2011. It was an unusual video in that it was made to serve a purpose in the meta-game.
At the time, CCP had initiated discussion in the community around removing the ability to refit modules in combat. As our viewers will know, refitting has been featured in our videos as early as Clarion Call 1 and plays an important part in our gameplay.
Here, however, refitting in combat takes center stage in the tactical narrative.
The video was a success and many forums and blogs of the time credited it with playing a role in preserving the refitting mechanic in the game.
Aside from serving the meta-game purpose, the video has also proved very popular from an entertainment perspective, with over half a million downloads and views across its mirrors and sources. I suspect part of this is down to the romantic combat aesthetic of adapting under fire. To call for more resources/manpower is fairly common in warfare of all kinds - but to adapt and look inwards with only the resources already deployed, has a special sort of military mysticism, for lack of a better expression.
An analogy I enjoyed when making the video was with the armored bears of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. When under attack from the air on a mountainside, a few sharp words have them assembling Fire Hurlers and linking steel to respond to the threat. Purposefulness is sexy.
The other reason the video has persisted is, I think, because of the strength that Supercarriers enjoyed in the meta-game at the time of the battle. Standing up to that with conventional carriers, albeit in unconventional ways, is again a romantic notion.
- Maldoror, February 2015
