To What Extent has Highsec Been Nerfed?

These days, the forums are awash with carebear tears demanding non-consensual PVP in highsec (ie ganking, awoxing and wardeccing) be nerfed. The result is the nerf to wardec costs, to barge EHP and Crimewatch, to name the more recent and more important ones. Some carebears will say "but it was only to counteract the buffs to gankers." But was it?

It is true that destroyers received a large increase to DPS in the Crucible expansion, and hybrids were buffed, resulting in making the Catalyst a premier ganking boat. This caused tears, and said tears resulted in the above features, overcompensating for this change. Another thing you will hear carebears say to add to this argument is that tier 3 Battlecruisers completely replaced battleships as ganking ships, but this is a less reasoned argument since tier 3's are barley used for ganking anything other than Freighters, which could also face a buff due to tears. The sensible carebear arguments that I can see reasoning in end here, and beyond this we enter the territory of "but I want Eve to be Wow" suggestions. Other points that suggest highsec has not been nerfed to the extent some people believe it has include the changes to the hangars of Orcas, making them less safe to carry expensive stuff in, and changes to the wardec cost formula meaning that the number of corps wardecced dosen't affect the cost of the wardec. Could this be a light at the end of the tunnel? I doubt it.

And now we come to the features CCP has added/changed to help protect those people who are stupid, ignorant, foolish or a mixture of all three. There have been various nerfs before the Crucible expansion, but they were insignificant. The first nail in the coffin to profitable highsec ganking was the removal of insurance for ships that were concorded. This effectively ended profitable miner ganking, which was often done using Brutix's rather than multiple Catalysts, which is frequently done today. Wardecs were the main casualty here, as the cost for wardeccing a corp was ramped up from 2mil isk to anywhere up to 500mil, depending on the number of members. Yet the biggest effort for the protection of the endangered species in highsec known collectively as the 'Stupid', CCP buffed Mining Barge and Exhumer EHP and yield to ridiculous levels. This was mainly because the miners were too stupid to realise that if they didn't tank their ships properly they would be destroyed, they were too eager to maximise their yield. The flawed Crimewatch, added in the Retribution expansion, made life more difficult for the casual ganker due to killrights, though there is an easy way these can be bypassed. However, the bounty system affected miners themselves more than the gankers, since a Mackinaw will be able to pay out around 40mil isk, increasing the potential for a profitable gank.

So to summarise, Highsec has not been nerfed that much, yet CCP could be going down a path that could lead Eve into a darker age. Overall gankings are down, and save for New Order inspired tear posts so is general miner rage. Will this stop our beloved Eve from becoming another WoW? Let's hope not.