Khalia made a post detailing why he thinks that Ninja Salvaging is Dying. I wanted to make a quick post to clarify my position. As the Gold Ammo scandal posts indicated, being Space-BFFs doesn't mean that Khalia and I always agree 100% on everything.

I agree with Khalia that the dynamic has changed for Ninja Salvaging and Baiting. Salvage and loot are less valuable. Mission runners are more spread out. In general, Mission Runners are less likely to shoot. I suspect that Khalia and I in particular are less likely to be shot at because of the widespread popularity of MLYT.

The Orca hot-swap nerf? Meh. Although swapping my faction-fit Tengu for a shuttle and warping away was very LOL, ultimately it was a bad mechanic and needed to be changed. Though recently most Ninjas have been getting their kills by aggressing with tanked bait-frigates and swapping to pew ships from a speed-fit Orca, I never really stopped doing my ganks the old-fashioned way, warping out, swapping ships, and coming back. Some ninjas will fall back on this, and others will find something else to do.

The biggest reason that I have not personally been out ripping off carebears has been, as Khalia said, my stupidly busy schedule. My leisure times begin on weeknights at about the time that most normal people go to bed, and I'm completely unable to play on weekends. Khalia and I are having a lot of fun during the non-prime hours getting space-rich in wspace. My departure from Suddenly Ninjas was in name only--I'll always be a Ninja at heart.

I don't think Ninja Salvaging is dying. It's changing, as it always has been. As for the community "declining"? I disagree. I remember the days when Khalia, Aiden, and Zav were new to the corp. I referred to them as "the new kids" and was nostalgic for the "old crew". Now those kids are the old crew and a new batch of Ninjas are carrying the banner. Likewise, the forum community hasn't changed in maturity, only in meme-of-the-week. I would have no objection to flying with them again if my schedule allowed it. I hope to do so again someday, and make the bears sad!