Its been a tough month on the killboard for your humble blog hero. With only 3 killmails with my name on them as I logged in for the last playtime of the month, I figured it would be a long shot to hit 10 for November.
There was a fleet up as I logged in but before I could complete my cyno jump with a load of ships for our low sec base the fleet was hot dropped by a force of NCDOT supercarriers and carriers. Oh well. I jumped into my shiny new Arazu recon and set myself up in R3 to report on a hostile Dramiel and Taranis camping the Misaba gate.
Soon some more members got freed up and logged in and we formed a little roaming gang. We tried to tangle with the Legio guys in their pocket near us but they played smart and formed up solid numbers in heavy hulls that we figured we would lose horribly to. Instead of dying in a fire we opted to leave and look for easier pickings.
We head into the old LFA pocket, currently owned by Flying Dangerously alliance, and it was a ghost town. Deep in the pocket our lead elements found a Dominix that was ratting and logged off before aggression so we were forced to kill it before I could get there.
As we left the pocket a red was spotted headed our way and we set a trap. Sure enough he jumped into us and we took him down, one Amarr shuttle wreck coming up. Another red came our way and I was sure, being the same corp as the shuttle pilot, they would not jump into us.
However, I was wrong. One Ibis wreck coming up!
So yeah, a couple of pathetic kills (but we got the pods too so that helps take the sting out) but it doubled my count for the month and made me feel a little less useless since the move to Providence. Hopefully December brings better results.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Dotting 'i's and Crossing 't's
Since completing Gallente Cruiser V near the end of October, I've been getting a lot of short skills taken care of that I've been wanting for a long time but just never seemed to be top of the list:
- Tech II Rockets and Standard Missiles. Since I went into hybrids instead of missiles to start, I skipped those skills and only did Tech II heavy and heavy assault missiles for things like the Onyx, Cerberus, and Drake. The Tech II frigs that used missiles were never a priority. But with the Hawk and rockets getting a boost I figured it was time to close the loop on those skills and get them trained.
- Tech II Cruise Missiles. I had the prerequisites but not the skill itself.Same with Citadel Cruise missiles.
- Upped levels of Heavy Assault Missile Specialization to IV and Torpedo Specialization to III.
- Upped Information Warfare Specialist to III.
- Trained Nanite Control III with IV planned. Better booster experience is always welcome. Associated to this is Biology IV on the plan.
- Jury Rigging IV for Tech II rigs.
- Explosive, Thermic, Kinetic, and EM Shield Compensation IV. I never got around to these four skills and it is really something I need to do. At less than 7 days for all four it should have been done years ago.
- Destroyers to V so I can finally fly an Interdictor. Skipped right to heavy interdictors and never went back. Speaking of which, I have the Interdictor skill at I and it will be up to IV soon.
- Marauders III just because.
- Capital Remote Armour Repair Systems IV.
- Capital Ships IV for 5% more agility on those big berthas.
All in all the 18 skills remaining are still 37 days left with the longest skill being the Capital Ships IV at 8.5 days. But already my options have vastly improved in terms of ship fittings and capabilities so another month and bit seems like a small price to pay to catch up on these skills.
Then, Tech II lasers and Tech II Amarrian cruisers.
- Tech II Rockets and Standard Missiles. Since I went into hybrids instead of missiles to start, I skipped those skills and only did Tech II heavy and heavy assault missiles for things like the Onyx, Cerberus, and Drake. The Tech II frigs that used missiles were never a priority. But with the Hawk and rockets getting a boost I figured it was time to close the loop on those skills and get them trained.
- Tech II Cruise Missiles. I had the prerequisites but not the skill itself.Same with Citadel Cruise missiles.
- Upped levels of Heavy Assault Missile Specialization to IV and Torpedo Specialization to III.
- Upped Information Warfare Specialist to III.
- Trained Nanite Control III with IV planned. Better booster experience is always welcome. Associated to this is Biology IV on the plan.
- Jury Rigging IV for Tech II rigs.
- Explosive, Thermic, Kinetic, and EM Shield Compensation IV. I never got around to these four skills and it is really something I need to do. At less than 7 days for all four it should have been done years ago.
- Destroyers to V so I can finally fly an Interdictor. Skipped right to heavy interdictors and never went back. Speaking of which, I have the Interdictor skill at I and it will be up to IV soon.
- Marauders III just because.
- Capital Remote Armour Repair Systems IV.
- Capital Ships IV for 5% more agility on those big berthas.
All in all the 18 skills remaining are still 37 days left with the longest skill being the Capital Ships IV at 8.5 days. But already my options have vastly improved in terms of ship fittings and capabilities so another month and bit seems like a small price to pay to catch up on these skills.
Then, Tech II lasers and Tech II Amarrian cruisers.
The Fall and Rise of -A-
Despite them being the main antagonist in the war last winter/spring when we were in Paxton Federation, I never held anything but respect for Against ALL Authorities. They were neighbours, and hostile, but they brought good fights and generally kept smack to reasonable or non-existent levels. They could be depended upon to show up to protect HED-GP and sometimes return the favour in Providence.
On top of that their actions following the invasion of Catch by LFA and CVA were logical and and foreseeable. You can't go around slapping people without expecting to get slapped back and if they guy you are slapping is a lot bigger, expect his turn to hurt a lot more.
So when -A- ran into internal and external troubles this summer and was forced to abandon Catch and was chased out of sov holding space, I took no joy in it. Like many, I figured that losing all their space and having a couple key corporations leave was the death knell and -A- was entering the failure cascade.
Well, I was wrong. Take a look at their stats for the past few months. While they did lose about 1000 members, the bleeding of bodies stopped and constant fighting against The Initiative and their allies (Circle of Two, Ethereal Dawn, etc) have allowed -A- and their allies push into Feythabolis and Impass and retake some space, including outposts.
You cannot underestimate the psychological impact and morale boost this turn of events can have. While the war with The Initiative et al is nowhere near finished, I look forward to seeing how far -A- can push this advantage.
With CVA taking space back in Providence, is it possible that we might be neighbours again sometime in the future?
On top of that their actions following the invasion of Catch by LFA and CVA were logical and and foreseeable. You can't go around slapping people without expecting to get slapped back and if they guy you are slapping is a lot bigger, expect his turn to hurt a lot more.
So when -A- ran into internal and external troubles this summer and was forced to abandon Catch and was chased out of sov holding space, I took no joy in it. Like many, I figured that losing all their space and having a couple key corporations leave was the death knell and -A- was entering the failure cascade.Well, I was wrong. Take a look at their stats for the past few months. While they did lose about 1000 members, the bleeding of bodies stopped and constant fighting against The Initiative and their allies (Circle of Two, Ethereal Dawn, etc) have allowed -A- and their allies push into Feythabolis and Impass and retake some space, including outposts.
You cannot underestimate the psychological impact and morale boost this turn of events can have. While the war with The Initiative et al is nowhere near finished, I look forward to seeing how far -A- can push this advantage.
With CVA taking space back in Providence, is it possible that we might be neighbours again sometime in the future?Friday, November 26, 2010
Shopping SPREE!
In honour of my southern neighbours I went on a phenomenal Black Friday shopping spree in Jita with the ISK I made by liquidating my BPO stockpile.
I purchased:
Harpy - Sniper Configuration - I like this little ship that can fire out to about 100 km. Great for hunting pods.
Hawk - Combat Configuration - With the Hawk getting a damage boost and rockets getting improved at the same time, I want to try out this ship with my new tech II rocket skills.
Falcon - Gang Support Configuration - I almost went with my solo Falcon config but opted for the more typical warp-in and jam-everything approach that is great support for small gangs, along with probe launcher for hunting out those ratters.
Arazu - Gang Support Configuration - Similar concept as the Falcon except more DPS and no probe launcher.
Astarte - Combat Configuration - I went with the double rep version and Heavy Ion blasters. If I want a face-melter with all gank and no tank I'll buy a Brutix. This is a toy ship and not intended to survive long.
Widow - Covert Ops Gangs - ECM and jump portal, need I say more?
Skill Books - Cruise Missile Specialization for Kirith, Industry and Transport Ships for Korannon, and Jump Drive Calibration and Jump Fuel Conservation for Wyvern alt.
I purchased:
Harpy - Sniper Configuration - I like this little ship that can fire out to about 100 km. Great for hunting pods.
Hawk - Combat Configuration - With the Hawk getting a damage boost and rockets getting improved at the same time, I want to try out this ship with my new tech II rocket skills.
Falcon - Gang Support Configuration - I almost went with my solo Falcon config but opted for the more typical warp-in and jam-everything approach that is great support for small gangs, along with probe launcher for hunting out those ratters.
Arazu - Gang Support Configuration - Similar concept as the Falcon except more DPS and no probe launcher.
Astarte - Combat Configuration - I went with the double rep version and Heavy Ion blasters. If I want a face-melter with all gank and no tank I'll buy a Brutix. This is a toy ship and not intended to survive long.
Widow - Covert Ops Gangs - ECM and jump portal, need I say more?
Skill Books - Cruise Missile Specialization for Kirith, Industry and Transport Ships for Korannon, and Jump Drive Calibration and Jump Fuel Conservation for Wyvern alt.
Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 10
Note: We are getting into territory where people who flew with me back in the day might read these and say "hey, that's not what happened!". This fiction is based on those events but is not tied to them, fact sacrificed for story.
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
* * * * *
The Merlin frigate warped through space carrying me and all of my remaining belongings in it. There wasn't that much as I had sold most of the items back in Perimeter. It felt very liberating to have no other possession anywhere else in the universe other than what was surrounding me right now.
The ship itself, the Black Knife, was equipped with the best equipment I could afford and use. Two 125 mm railgun pairings from Caldari Navy Surplus, two Kaalakiota X200 missile launcher bays, a CN Standard afterburner assembly for extra speed, and a suite of shield extenders and hardeners to keep me alive.
I was burning through Nourvukaiken towards the Tama gate where Nhi'khuna waited for me. As the warp bubble collapsed and I returned to real space I saw her waiting there in her sleek golden Arbitrator cruiser. I had never seen one up close so I moved my camera drones to take a good look while my ship's AI negotiated with the stargate control.
"You ready?" she asked on our private channel.
"Roger."
"Ok, then, jump-jump."
I had been in "low sec" systems in the State dozens of times as part of the Navy. In fact the Navy didn't really recognize much difference between "high sec" and "low sec" systems as they were all part of the State and patrolled equally. But as a private citizen I was keenly aware of the difference since the CONCORD rapid deployment fleets were not stationed in low sec systems, hence how the distinction came about. With only the regular CONCORD fleets responding to distress calls, usually up to an hour late to the original call and sometimes longer, there was no protection from hostiles besides some very ineffective sentry guns and whatever muscle you brought yourself.
So I admit I felt some nervous energy when I activated the stargate and had my molecules slung a light year away without the safety net of the Navy to back me up when I rematerialized. This time, I understand the threat of low sec space.
Tama was not such a hotbed of fighting back then, before the opening up of the Black Rise region and the open hostilities with the Federation. So Nhi'Khuna and I found ourselves quite alone on the gate and quickly aligned and warp off together. Most of the jumps were uneventful like that; sometimes another ship would pass us by but I got the feeling they were casting worried glances at us despite the protection the sentry guns gave us.
When we jumped into Gallente space, I wondered if the Federation guards would stop me and take me in for questioning, being an ex-Navy pilot and all. But nothing happened. I passed by unmolested without a second glance. I remarked about this to Nhi'Khuna and she responded that the CONCORD treaties with all the empires prevented them from stopping us except in the most vagrant displays of illegal behaviour such as drug smuggling or piracy.
The highlight of the trip was when we jumped into Agoze in Placid region, two jumps from our destination in Pelille. As my overview re-calibrated a huge shadow was cast over me. A looming Megathron battleship sat there with the telltale sign of sensor boosters sweeping the area. My readouts announced in flashing red letters that the pilot's registry was coming up as outlaw in the CONCORD databases. I felt my stomach drop; I knew the sentry guns would not deter a ship of that size and its weapons and drones would easily dispatch us. The Megathron had a reputation in the State Navy for being one of the most feared Gallente vessels.
"Align and warp," Nhi'Khuna said without a trace of concern. I brought my ship around and watched in disbelief as the large battleship simply sat there and did not target us. The warp drive activated and we left it behind.
"Why didn't he take us?" I asked.
"His guns would have had an impossible time hitting you, and my tech I cruiser is not worth the sentry guns' attention," she replied nonchalantly. "Plus he was probably just looking for industrialists and not a real fight."
"Oh, I see."
"We'll get you settled and then I'll reship into something that can fight. We'll go back and see if we can bait him into a fight," she said with enthusiasm.
"By the way," she added, "welcome to IPRC."
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
* * * * *
The Merlin frigate warped through space carrying me and all of my remaining belongings in it. There wasn't that much as I had sold most of the items back in Perimeter. It felt very liberating to have no other possession anywhere else in the universe other than what was surrounding me right now.
The ship itself, the Black Knife, was equipped with the best equipment I could afford and use. Two 125 mm railgun pairings from Caldari Navy Surplus, two Kaalakiota X200 missile launcher bays, a CN Standard afterburner assembly for extra speed, and a suite of shield extenders and hardeners to keep me alive.
I was burning through Nourvukaiken towards the Tama gate where Nhi'khuna waited for me. As the warp bubble collapsed and I returned to real space I saw her waiting there in her sleek golden Arbitrator cruiser. I had never seen one up close so I moved my camera drones to take a good look while my ship's AI negotiated with the stargate control.
"You ready?" she asked on our private channel.
"Roger."
"Ok, then, jump-jump."
I had been in "low sec" systems in the State dozens of times as part of the Navy. In fact the Navy didn't really recognize much difference between "high sec" and "low sec" systems as they were all part of the State and patrolled equally. But as a private citizen I was keenly aware of the difference since the CONCORD rapid deployment fleets were not stationed in low sec systems, hence how the distinction came about. With only the regular CONCORD fleets responding to distress calls, usually up to an hour late to the original call and sometimes longer, there was no protection from hostiles besides some very ineffective sentry guns and whatever muscle you brought yourself.
So I admit I felt some nervous energy when I activated the stargate and had my molecules slung a light year away without the safety net of the Navy to back me up when I rematerialized. This time, I understand the threat of low sec space.
Tama was not such a hotbed of fighting back then, before the opening up of the Black Rise region and the open hostilities with the Federation. So Nhi'Khuna and I found ourselves quite alone on the gate and quickly aligned and warp off together. Most of the jumps were uneventful like that; sometimes another ship would pass us by but I got the feeling they were casting worried glances at us despite the protection the sentry guns gave us.
When we jumped into Gallente space, I wondered if the Federation guards would stop me and take me in for questioning, being an ex-Navy pilot and all. But nothing happened. I passed by unmolested without a second glance. I remarked about this to Nhi'Khuna and she responded that the CONCORD treaties with all the empires prevented them from stopping us except in the most vagrant displays of illegal behaviour such as drug smuggling or piracy.
The highlight of the trip was when we jumped into Agoze in Placid region, two jumps from our destination in Pelille. As my overview re-calibrated a huge shadow was cast over me. A looming Megathron battleship sat there with the telltale sign of sensor boosters sweeping the area. My readouts announced in flashing red letters that the pilot's registry was coming up as outlaw in the CONCORD databases. I felt my stomach drop; I knew the sentry guns would not deter a ship of that size and its weapons and drones would easily dispatch us. The Megathron had a reputation in the State Navy for being one of the most feared Gallente vessels.
"Align and warp," Nhi'Khuna said without a trace of concern. I brought my ship around and watched in disbelief as the large battleship simply sat there and did not target us. The warp drive activated and we left it behind.
"Why didn't he take us?" I asked.
"His guns would have had an impossible time hitting you, and my tech I cruiser is not worth the sentry guns' attention," she replied nonchalantly. "Plus he was probably just looking for industrialists and not a real fight."
"Oh, I see."
"We'll get you settled and then I'll reship into something that can fight. We'll go back and see if we can bait him into a fight," she said with enthusiasm.
"By the way," she added, "welcome to IPRC."
Thursday, November 25, 2010
See Anything You Like?
My days as a manufacturing industrialist are long past and I have no interest in going down that rabbit hole again. Unfortunately, that has left me with a slew of blueprints to dispose of.
These are all blueprint originals, most of them researched up in ME and PE to decent levels. I'm selling them at NPC price. If interested, comment here, or email me to kkodachi@gmail.com. Or twitter. Package saving deals possible.
EDIT: All of the ship BPOs have been spoken for.
EDIT 2: Here's what's left:
These are all blueprint originals, most of them researched up in ME and PE to decent levels. I'm selling them at NPC price. If interested, comment here, or email me to kkodachi@gmail.com. Or twitter. Package saving deals possible.
EDIT: All of the ship BPOs have been spoken for.
EDIT 2: Here's what's left:
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Project Hades Status Report
Yesterday I received my latest shipment from the wormhole and it marked 9 weeks of effort. I did a quick estimate of the value and combined with the sold value of the other loads I've picked up I've made about 440 million ISK in 9 weeks, or roughly 48.8 million ISK a week. That's with one character and five planets with advanced command centers.
My colonies have been streamlined and are only producing robotics, coolant, and oxygen with some surplus water being shipped out as well. My latest load had 1941 Robotics, 4435 units of Coolant, and 87189 units of Oxygen (water was negligible) which values around 160 million due to the rising prices of robotics and coolant.
I know there are people who are making more ISK with different strategies but I'm happy with the amount of effort and return I am getting now. I am considering dropping Oxygen production for more coolant factory lines, but its only a minor thought. We'll see what the new planetary interaction changes bring in Incursions.
My colonies have been streamlined and are only producing robotics, coolant, and oxygen with some surplus water being shipped out as well. My latest load had 1941 Robotics, 4435 units of Coolant, and 87189 units of Oxygen (water was negligible) which values around 160 million due to the rising prices of robotics and coolant.
I know there are people who are making more ISK with different strategies but I'm happy with the amount of effort and return I am getting now. I am considering dropping Oxygen production for more coolant factory lines, but its only a minor thought. We'll see what the new planetary interaction changes bring in Incursions.
Rough Night
Last night I was out roaming in Providence with the corp. Well, more accurate, there was 5 of us from the corp out roaming but our "FC" insisted he was not FC-ing and it was not a fleet. We were all solo roaming together in a fleet for warp ins if need be.
I should have went home and done something else because I suck at solo, not enough practice. But I remained on the field in my trusty Taranis.
Eventually while scouting the old LFA pocket we heard reports of an Initiative gang nearby in nano-cruisers. We were told to avoid it because our interceptors and stealth bombers were outclassed by those tech II ships. I, of course, jumped into a system while leaving the pocket and found myself right in the middle of them. Broadsword bubble up and in my effort to escape I failed to start my micro warp drive. FAIL. The Huginn and Rapier made sure I didn't go anywhere and I was quickly dead and podded.
Ouch. I opted to rejoin the roam in my stealth bomber this time.
We did some more roaming, riled up a hornet's nest of a response and an alliance mate in an Eos command ship stayed too long on the field and died to a large defence fleet that we had nowhere near enough firepower to engage, but as the defence fleet was breaking up a Rifter was holding on the gate. I lined up for a bombing run and was one second from launching when it warped off. Shit.
We continued on but it was getting late and I was frustrated so I headed back towards Misaba. I heard that Initative gang was still around but on a different gate than the one I was going to jump through. Just as I hit the jump button, I saw an Initiative Wolf assault ship decloak. "Oh crap," I thought, "that's their scout."
Sure enough the next system loaded with the Broadsword bubble already up. The side of the gate I was on had no celestials to warp too upon leaving the bubble so it was going to be hard to make a run for it, especially me with and an afterburner fitted. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Figuring I was dead, I picked a perpendicular angle to the line from me to the gate to move in, double clicked in space and hit the cloak. I zoomed out and watched with horrid fascination as the cruiser hulls zoomed towards me, the kilometers ticking off at an alarming rate.
In the seconds that followed no less than three ships came within 5000 meters of me and one, the Vagabond, flew within 3000 meters. Then... they gave up, jumped out, and I warped off with my heart pounding in my chest.
I should have went home and done something else because I suck at solo, not enough practice. But I remained on the field in my trusty Taranis.
Eventually while scouting the old LFA pocket we heard reports of an Initiative gang nearby in nano-cruisers. We were told to avoid it because our interceptors and stealth bombers were outclassed by those tech II ships. I, of course, jumped into a system while leaving the pocket and found myself right in the middle of them. Broadsword bubble up and in my effort to escape I failed to start my micro warp drive. FAIL. The Huginn and Rapier made sure I didn't go anywhere and I was quickly dead and podded.
Ouch. I opted to rejoin the roam in my stealth bomber this time.
We did some more roaming, riled up a hornet's nest of a response and an alliance mate in an Eos command ship stayed too long on the field and died to a large defence fleet that we had nowhere near enough firepower to engage, but as the defence fleet was breaking up a Rifter was holding on the gate. I lined up for a bombing run and was one second from launching when it warped off. Shit.
We continued on but it was getting late and I was frustrated so I headed back towards Misaba. I heard that Initative gang was still around but on a different gate than the one I was going to jump through. Just as I hit the jump button, I saw an Initiative Wolf assault ship decloak. "Oh crap," I thought, "that's their scout."
Sure enough the next system loaded with the Broadsword bubble already up. The side of the gate I was on had no celestials to warp too upon leaving the bubble so it was going to be hard to make a run for it, especially me with and an afterburner fitted. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Figuring I was dead, I picked a perpendicular angle to the line from me to the gate to move in, double clicked in space and hit the cloak. I zoomed out and watched with horrid fascination as the cruiser hulls zoomed towards me, the kilometers ticking off at an alarming rate.
In the seconds that followed no less than three ships came within 5000 meters of me and one, the Vagabond, flew within 3000 meters. Then... they gave up, jumped out, and I warped off with my heart pounding in my chest.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Next Big Step - Lasers
With the supercarrier training mostly done except for a couple levels in remote hull and armour repairing, and Gallente cruiser V settled in for a nice little Ishtar in my hanger and an Arazu on order, the question has arisen in my brain as to what the next major skill training effort shall be.
I've toyed around with getting Triage mode for the carrier for a long time, but have yet to come across an instance where I say to myself, "Gee, I wish I could triage right now!" I know people use it, I have just not come across the scenario myself. While logistics V would be nice and useful in the process, I feel my destiny lies elsewhere for now.
One of the big things I've noticed over the past year or two is the rise of Amarr ships as the premier PvP vessels, from Pulse 'Pocs to Zealots to Damnations to Guardians, Amarr ships dominate the list of requested ship types with other race's ships being secondary. Megathron? Alright I guess... Rokh? If you must... Onerios? Can't you just train Amarr Cruiser V? You get the idea.
I keep waiting for a Hybrid boost to make it a viable weapon system to opt for compared to lasers, but it does not seem to be in the cards. For the ranges in the fleets in null sec combat today, the Pulse Laser has the best of both worlds in terms of DPS and range.
So after I finish a few short utility skills, I'm training for Tech II lasers up to large energy weapons, and then Tech II Amarr frigates and cruisers. Then the Abaddon of Doom will ride again!
I've toyed around with getting Triage mode for the carrier for a long time, but have yet to come across an instance where I say to myself, "Gee, I wish I could triage right now!" I know people use it, I have just not come across the scenario myself. While logistics V would be nice and useful in the process, I feel my destiny lies elsewhere for now.
One of the big things I've noticed over the past year or two is the rise of Amarr ships as the premier PvP vessels, from Pulse 'Pocs to Zealots to Damnations to Guardians, Amarr ships dominate the list of requested ship types with other race's ships being secondary. Megathron? Alright I guess... Rokh? If you must... Onerios? Can't you just train Amarr Cruiser V? You get the idea.
I keep waiting for a Hybrid boost to make it a viable weapon system to opt for compared to lasers, but it does not seem to be in the cards. For the ranges in the fleets in null sec combat today, the Pulse Laser has the best of both worlds in terms of DPS and range.
So after I finish a few short utility skills, I'm training for Tech II lasers up to large energy weapons, and then Tech II Amarr frigates and cruisers. Then the Abaddon of Doom will ride again!
Please Tell Me The Rules
Last night I was on Kid Duty while the wife had her free night and with all the kids asleep and the house work done I was able to slip in front of the computer with the baby monitor on. "I'll just take care of some minor stuff," I said.
So I begged a cyno for a carrier jump, moving my Ishtar and a couple other cruisers to the rally base and moving a couple command ships and interceptors for alliance mates.
"Oh, there is a fleet up? Just a couple jumps away? Bashing an I-HUB? OK, be right there." Swap clones, swap ships to the Megathron, get escorted by an alliance mate in a Drake, and spent some time managing cap and drones until the I-HUB was reinforced. Take that foul heathens!
"Oh, we're going to take down an SBU? OK, I've got a few more minutes."
We travel a few jumps deeper into Providence to a CVA controlled system that The Kadeshi had planted some SBUs in. We start shooting and after a few minutes I need to log so I dock up and quit. This morning I look at the killmails and see the SBU there as destroyed but no mention of my contribution, as little as it may have been.
So what are the rules for making it on a kill mail? Last month when we attacked and killed a Titan in the drone lands I had a similar incidence where I shot at a titan that later that fight died but again I got no credit. Now that kill mail was long so I could see getting pushed off by the rest of the horde but the SBU kill mail was less than 40 pilots. Is there a timer involved? A damage dealt threshold? Do you need to be online and in gang? If anyone knows, please tell me!
* * * * *
Anyways, this morning right after downtime I made the quick run through low sec to the high sec pocket with my first load of Planetary Interaction materials and quickly got them to market. So far my PI efforts have netted me 280 million ISK since I started in the wormhole, for 5-10 minutes a day effort. I could probably make a lot more but the effort involved right now is the sweet spot for me every morning.
So I begged a cyno for a carrier jump, moving my Ishtar and a couple other cruisers to the rally base and moving a couple command ships and interceptors for alliance mates.
"Oh, there is a fleet up? Just a couple jumps away? Bashing an I-HUB? OK, be right there." Swap clones, swap ships to the Megathron, get escorted by an alliance mate in a Drake, and spent some time managing cap and drones until the I-HUB was reinforced. Take that foul heathens!
"Oh, we're going to take down an SBU? OK, I've got a few more minutes."
We travel a few jumps deeper into Providence to a CVA controlled system that The Kadeshi had planted some SBUs in. We start shooting and after a few minutes I need to log so I dock up and quit. This morning I look at the killmails and see the SBU there as destroyed but no mention of my contribution, as little as it may have been.
So what are the rules for making it on a kill mail? Last month when we attacked and killed a Titan in the drone lands I had a similar incidence where I shot at a titan that later that fight died but again I got no credit. Now that kill mail was long so I could see getting pushed off by the rest of the horde but the SBU kill mail was less than 40 pilots. Is there a timer involved? A damage dealt threshold? Do you need to be online and in gang? If anyone knows, please tell me!
* * * * *
Anyways, this morning right after downtime I made the quick run through low sec to the high sec pocket with my first load of Planetary Interaction materials and quickly got them to market. So far my PI efforts have netted me 280 million ISK since I started in the wormhole, for 5-10 minutes a day effort. I could probably make a lot more but the effort involved right now is the sweet spot for me every morning.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 9
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
* * * * *
The restaurant was small but since its clientele was mostly capsuleers that was not surprising. It made up for volume with the exorbitant prices that they charged for the food. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but not for the price they charged. I guess you paid a premium for the exclusivity.
Nhi'Khuna had requested we go to a restaurant instead of a bar as she had been "in a pod for days" and wanted "a warm meal for a change". That was fine with me and we ate together while making small talk about various topics. It had been a long time since I had a warm meal too so I found myself enjoying it and relaxing.
After the meal was finished and we had a light after-dinner wine in our hands, Khi'Khuna activated the privacy shield of our table and I knew it was time to get down to business. The privacy shield was a simple energy distortion field that surrounded the table made the people inside look as if they were on the other side of frosted glass, and it muffled all sound in the process. It wouldn't stop someone from passing through (might make their hair stand on end) but it allowed us to talk freely without being heard.
"Thanks for coming back again. I'm really sorry I ran out on you last time," I started after the field was up.
She waved off the apology while taking a sip from her glass. "It's not a problem, Kirith. I can understand the shock to the system to find out everything you thought you understood was possibly wrong. You should have seen me after I left seminary and saw the real universe beyond Amarr. I was a wreck for months."
"So I'm interested to hear about your outfit. You said you were looking for someone with my skills?"
Nhi'Khuna leaned forward and put her wine down. "Alright, let me give you the whole spiel from the start."
"What is the greatest threat to the securities of the four major empires today? Pirates? Rogue Drones? Each other? No. Its the pod pilots. The CONCORD agreements which were put in place to protect the private podders from being practically enslaved by the empires has had the opposite effect of giving too much power to them.
"Pod pilots can go anywhere, can almost never be stopped without serious effort, and have been banding together in greater numbers with more asset acquisition that is only accelerating as they push deeper in the unclaimed space where the pirates once held absolute sway.
"The empires know this but are helpless to change it or stop it from getting worse. Their hands are tied by numerous treaties with each other and CONCORD, fearing that any lone legislative attempt to curb the power of the pod pilots would only bring sanctions and isolate them to their disadvantage.
"So what are their options? Mercenaries, right? Clandestine hiring of groups to harass and weaken the capsuleers would work wonders except most conventional mercenary groups are completely outclassed by a single experienced podder. Work with the pirate groups maybe? They may have more firepower but any efforts to bring enough to deal with us would look like a full scale invasion of empire space, and the costs that the pirates would ask for would be excessive.
"No, the best option is other pod pilots. Turn them against each other, right? That's where our corp comes in. It is called Interstellar Privateers of Res Comunis, ticker IPRC. You see, there are unofficial channels for the governments- in our case the Federation- to contact us and arrange for us to patrol and secure certain sections of their space making it difficult for non-affiliated pod pilots to operate there."
"Sounds a lot like piracy," I interjected.
"We prefer to call ourselves privateers instead of pirates. After all, we are working, however far off the books, for the government."
"Won't make much difference to the people you kill."
She shook her head. "Its not like that. We take great care to make sure any crews of ships we attack are given adequate time to get to the life pods, and any capsuleers we take out simply revive in a new clone."
"I dunno," I said doubtfully. "Still sounds illegal."
"Oh, it definitely is. The officials that contract us to do what we do have to keep it all off the books. Hence we are not in a contract and not paid directly. Our compensation is often in the form of special prices for supplies and extra resources to work with. Specially trained crew members, hanger crew, ammunition, larger accomodations in the stations, etcetera."
"So how do you avoid CONCORD if its illegal?"
"We operate in the 'low security' space where CONCORD lacks the rapid resposne teams that they have in the rest of the empire. Their forces usually show up hours after we are gone, or sooner if we tip off the local law enforcement that there are escape pods to rescue.
"But make no mistake; we are doing a good thing here. We are weakening the stranglehold of the exploiters amoungst our class on the empires. The areas we secure break the strangholds of the agents and starve them of the cash they need to exploit others."
"So you work with the downtrodden pirates then?"
"No. When our patrols come across them we deal with them like everyone else. I sympathize with their plight and how they feel they have no other option, but they made a choice to be there and would kill me without a second thought if they had the chance. Plus CONCORD will still pay the bounty despite our other illegal actions and give us 'security credits' to redeem ourselves. Not sure what they were thinking when they put those rules in place..."
"Anyways, we are still careful to allow the life pods to get to safety before destroying the pirate ships. But like I said, most of our efforts go to fighting and destroying other pod pilots. We make space better for everyone with our actions, we break the power of the agents."
I had my doubts, but I felt adrift in my life. I knew I would take the chance to find something.
"I'll need time to think about it," I told her, not wanting to appear to eager.
"Sure," she answered, "take a few days. I'm not in a hurry. I do have one question for you though."
"What?"
"Are the drugs going to be a problem?"
I started to protest and say I didn't know what she was talking about but she simply raised one eyebrow as if to say I could not fool her. I stopped and cleared my throat. "No," I finally answered. "They were a... crutch. Its done now."
She nodded as if that was enough. "Its not a big deal. We have a few casual users in the corp and as long as they show up in their ships we don't care too much. If it gets in the way of you contributing, we'll cut you loose, understand?"
"Yeah," I said, "I get it."
* * * * *
Later that night I was in my room and looking at Nhi'Khuna at the view screen.
"I've decided I'd like to give IPRC a try."
"Excellent. I'll forward the paperwork and we arrange to meet in a few days so I can escort you to our base."
"That's ok, Nhi. I can fly there myself."
She chuckled and shook her head. "You're not ready for low sec. Not yet." She disconnected and I was left feeling a little embarassed and pissed at her condenscation but forced to admit she was probably right. All my experience with no CONCORD patrolled space was in the structure of the Navy with its support fleets.
I sat on my couch and wondered what to do with myself. I had to sell some extra assets; I wanted to travel light. But I could do that tomorrow. The latest holoreel? Garbage. To the clubs?
One last pill for old time's sake? The little metal container felt cool and comforting in my hand.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
* * * * *
The restaurant was small but since its clientele was mostly capsuleers that was not surprising. It made up for volume with the exorbitant prices that they charged for the food. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but not for the price they charged. I guess you paid a premium for the exclusivity.
Nhi'Khuna had requested we go to a restaurant instead of a bar as she had been "in a pod for days" and wanted "a warm meal for a change". That was fine with me and we ate together while making small talk about various topics. It had been a long time since I had a warm meal too so I found myself enjoying it and relaxing.
After the meal was finished and we had a light after-dinner wine in our hands, Khi'Khuna activated the privacy shield of our table and I knew it was time to get down to business. The privacy shield was a simple energy distortion field that surrounded the table made the people inside look as if they were on the other side of frosted glass, and it muffled all sound in the process. It wouldn't stop someone from passing through (might make their hair stand on end) but it allowed us to talk freely without being heard.
"Thanks for coming back again. I'm really sorry I ran out on you last time," I started after the field was up.
She waved off the apology while taking a sip from her glass. "It's not a problem, Kirith. I can understand the shock to the system to find out everything you thought you understood was possibly wrong. You should have seen me after I left seminary and saw the real universe beyond Amarr. I was a wreck for months."
"So I'm interested to hear about your outfit. You said you were looking for someone with my skills?"
Nhi'Khuna leaned forward and put her wine down. "Alright, let me give you the whole spiel from the start."
"What is the greatest threat to the securities of the four major empires today? Pirates? Rogue Drones? Each other? No. Its the pod pilots. The CONCORD agreements which were put in place to protect the private podders from being practically enslaved by the empires has had the opposite effect of giving too much power to them.
"Pod pilots can go anywhere, can almost never be stopped without serious effort, and have been banding together in greater numbers with more asset acquisition that is only accelerating as they push deeper in the unclaimed space where the pirates once held absolute sway.
"The empires know this but are helpless to change it or stop it from getting worse. Their hands are tied by numerous treaties with each other and CONCORD, fearing that any lone legislative attempt to curb the power of the pod pilots would only bring sanctions and isolate them to their disadvantage.
"So what are their options? Mercenaries, right? Clandestine hiring of groups to harass and weaken the capsuleers would work wonders except most conventional mercenary groups are completely outclassed by a single experienced podder. Work with the pirate groups maybe? They may have more firepower but any efforts to bring enough to deal with us would look like a full scale invasion of empire space, and the costs that the pirates would ask for would be excessive.
"No, the best option is other pod pilots. Turn them against each other, right? That's where our corp comes in. It is called Interstellar Privateers of Res Comunis, ticker IPRC. You see, there are unofficial channels for the governments- in our case the Federation- to contact us and arrange for us to patrol and secure certain sections of their space making it difficult for non-affiliated pod pilots to operate there."
"Sounds a lot like piracy," I interjected.
"We prefer to call ourselves privateers instead of pirates. After all, we are working, however far off the books, for the government."
"Won't make much difference to the people you kill."
She shook her head. "Its not like that. We take great care to make sure any crews of ships we attack are given adequate time to get to the life pods, and any capsuleers we take out simply revive in a new clone."
"I dunno," I said doubtfully. "Still sounds illegal."
"Oh, it definitely is. The officials that contract us to do what we do have to keep it all off the books. Hence we are not in a contract and not paid directly. Our compensation is often in the form of special prices for supplies and extra resources to work with. Specially trained crew members, hanger crew, ammunition, larger accomodations in the stations, etcetera."
"So how do you avoid CONCORD if its illegal?"
"We operate in the 'low security' space where CONCORD lacks the rapid resposne teams that they have in the rest of the empire. Their forces usually show up hours after we are gone, or sooner if we tip off the local law enforcement that there are escape pods to rescue.
"But make no mistake; we are doing a good thing here. We are weakening the stranglehold of the exploiters amoungst our class on the empires. The areas we secure break the strangholds of the agents and starve them of the cash they need to exploit others."
"So you work with the downtrodden pirates then?"
"No. When our patrols come across them we deal with them like everyone else. I sympathize with their plight and how they feel they have no other option, but they made a choice to be there and would kill me without a second thought if they had the chance. Plus CONCORD will still pay the bounty despite our other illegal actions and give us 'security credits' to redeem ourselves. Not sure what they were thinking when they put those rules in place..."
"Anyways, we are still careful to allow the life pods to get to safety before destroying the pirate ships. But like I said, most of our efforts go to fighting and destroying other pod pilots. We make space better for everyone with our actions, we break the power of the agents."
I had my doubts, but I felt adrift in my life. I knew I would take the chance to find something.
"I'll need time to think about it," I told her, not wanting to appear to eager.
"Sure," she answered, "take a few days. I'm not in a hurry. I do have one question for you though."
"What?"
"Are the drugs going to be a problem?"
I started to protest and say I didn't know what she was talking about but she simply raised one eyebrow as if to say I could not fool her. I stopped and cleared my throat. "No," I finally answered. "They were a... crutch. Its done now."
She nodded as if that was enough. "Its not a big deal. We have a few casual users in the corp and as long as they show up in their ships we don't care too much. If it gets in the way of you contributing, we'll cut you loose, understand?"
"Yeah," I said, "I get it."
* * * * *
Later that night I was in my room and looking at Nhi'Khuna at the view screen.
"I've decided I'd like to give IPRC a try."
"Excellent. I'll forward the paperwork and we arrange to meet in a few days so I can escort you to our base."
"That's ok, Nhi. I can fly there myself."
She chuckled and shook her head. "You're not ready for low sec. Not yet." She disconnected and I was left feeling a little embarassed and pissed at her condenscation but forced to admit she was probably right. All my experience with no CONCORD patrolled space was in the structure of the Navy with its support fleets.
I sat on my couch and wondered what to do with myself. I had to sell some extra assets; I wanted to travel light. But I could do that tomorrow. The latest holoreel? Garbage. To the clubs?
One last pill for old time's sake? The little metal container felt cool and comforting in my hand.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crossing the River Styx...
Last night Korannon completed the first stage to becoming a really useful engine...er... hauling alt by completing the training for the Charon freighter. I picked up the new ship in Jita and immediately began moving some stuff to Pimebeka for Kirith and picking up depots of planetary interaction supplies left by Korneilia from the wormhole factories.
It strikes me as funny that I never had a Charon before now being a Caldari character, but both my original hauling alt Derranna and my previous hauling alt Korneilia were Minmatar and thus flew Fenrir freighters.
Anyways, Korannon is going to complete the freighter skills and then work towards stage two hauling alt by getting Tech II industrials. Blockade Runner, here I come!
It strikes me as funny that I never had a Charon before now being a Caldari character, but both my original hauling alt Derranna and my previous hauling alt Korneilia were Minmatar and thus flew Fenrir freighters.
Anyways, Korannon is going to complete the freighter skills and then work towards stage two hauling alt by getting Tech II industrials. Blockade Runner, here I come!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Diving Back Into Providence
Last night I finished the last jump of my carrier into Sukanan and decided to run a ship over to the low sec staging area near Providence. I decided on a good solid Myrmidon called Vexo's Special which is nice and flexible for solo work as well as small fleets. I would need more ships later but I picked this one to start in case I ran into something fun to shoot in low sec.
As I arrived I got word of a fleet in action just inside Providence so i joined it. The op was short lived but I was part of it long enough to help kill a passing Dominix.
The fleet returned to low sec and disbanded with word of another action a bit later. I then realized I was still in my +4 clone and my +3s were back in Forge region. I decided that discretion was called for and I jumped back to pick up one of my PvP clones and did some shopping, buying an Ishtar for myself and a Charon freighter for my alt.
A good start after a week of moving stuff. Still have to move more stuff to the war zone but that's a lot closer and should be easily done with a single carrier jump sometime this week.
As I arrived I got word of a fleet in action just inside Providence so i joined it. The op was short lived but I was part of it long enough to help kill a passing Dominix.
The fleet returned to low sec and disbanded with word of another action a bit later. I then realized I was still in my +4 clone and my +3s were back in Forge region. I decided that discretion was called for and I jumped back to pick up one of my PvP clones and did some shopping, buying an Ishtar for myself and a Charon freighter for my alt.
A good start after a week of moving stuff. Still have to move more stuff to the war zone but that's a lot closer and should be easily done with a single carrier jump sometime this week.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Art of the Ninja Jump + Now CVA
So last week the corp was making the move from our base in The Forge region to our new base across the cluster. Since I'm gimped in being able to help I was forced to sit on the sidelines in the supercarrier watching as my corp mates proved their worth once again.
Feeling like a burden since they were talking about having a carrier escort op to accompany the supercarrier on its journey on the only night I can string together a few hours (i.e. Monday night), I decided to at least scout the route out with my cyno alt Korannon and if the opportunity presented itself, make the jump so that the others has one less jump to make to come to me.
So Friday morning, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning right around downtime, I got my alt in position in a target system and made the jump alone with the supercarrier. You might think this is a very risky thing to do but if you take the right precautions and pick the right times and systems, you are as safe as traveling in a pack. The chances of a perfect storm of being spotted, tackled by heavy interdictor (since the Wyvern is immune to regular electronic warfare), and someone having enough DPS to kill my ship in a minute (or 15 minutes if I'm careless on the ctrl+q) is low enough to be ignorable. As long as I'm careful.
And I was. For three jumps through empire no one as much as flew in to check out the cyno ship, much less threaten to uncloak the Wyvern. I was almost a little disappointed. For the last jump I had corp mates in local (shout out to Traver who guarded my cyno ship) and soon I was secure in my not-deep-anymore safe spot back in Sukanan constellation.
Sukanan you say? Isn't that back in Tash Murkon? Why yes, yes it is. More on that in a moment.
With the supercarrier secured, I put the parking alt back in it (she's training for Jump Drive Calibration skills to avoid this kind of hassle in the future) and jump cloned up to The Forge region to pick up my Chimera, the venerable Ninveah itself. A few more solo jumps, not as dangerous due to being able to dock, and it was back in the Suk as well.
What's that? OK, fine, I'll tell you.
Once we decided to pull out of RAGE alliance, we explored contacts and compiled options, debating the various merits of each, and focused on what we as a corp wanted and wanted to accomplish. This is never a trivial task as the dissolution of Paxton Federation last spring demonstrated; different people want different things.
One thing we all agreed on was that our time in Providence with Paxton was some of the best of our null sec careers, even when we were essentially on our own and surrounded by hostiles. Compared to having to go far to find fights as part of the NC, it was nice to have reds right next door. And with Providence in as much chaos as it is now, it seems like the perfect size and types of fights that m3 Corp excels and revels in.
So who's recruiting? Well, there were a few options but m3 Corp has a long memory and is very loyal to old friends. So we chatted some people up and made overtures to join an old ally which were welcomed with open arms.
We're joining CVA.
That's OK, I'll wait while you clean up the mess from you spitting your drink all over the monitor.
Alright, done? Allow me to explain.
I realize I might have in the past said something along the lines of that I hope CVA rots in low sec. You have to understand how much myself and others in m3 loved our time in Paxton and how bitter some of us were when it came to an end, apparently at the hands of CVA's bungling from this outside perspective. The reasons and faults of CVA's Providence last spring are in the past and we can't keep looking backwards but rather must look at current conditions.
1) Providence is still an exciting hotbed of mass confusion and lots of targets for a CVA friendly entity to enjoy.
2) The major power blocks opposing CVA, namely -A- and Ushra'Khan have moved on to their own time in the wilderness.
3) CVA has gone through a purge of sorts while living in low sec and may be smaller than it once was but is now more focused with clear goals and dedicated members. It may have many of the same leaders as last spring but they are hopefully wiser and more grounded.
So CVA has been rebuilding and we feel we want to try and be a part of that. Our long history with this old alliance demands that we give it a chance.
"Does this mean m3 Corp is now a bunch of role players?"
No. It means we can't go around breaking immersion for those that do partake in the periodic "Amarr Victor" and our CEO is required to make a statement that all members have sworn oaths to the Empire and Empresses. Secretly I think our CEO is a closet role player though. Make no mistake, m3 Corp is here for the pew pew.
"You're crazy for reason X and reason Y!"
This decision was not taken lightly and I admit I was initially opposed to the idea but was swung around on several convincing arguments to give it a try. I'm looking forward to what Providence is like now and getting in on some wild and crazy action. If some big alliance is coming to crush CVA tomorrow, well, no one is safe in Eve null sec politics. Intrepid Crossing/Tactical Narcotics Team/Paxton Federation showed us the folly of thinking differently.
So for now... Amarr Victor!
* * * * *
More details at Orakkus' blog, 2nd Anomaly from the Left.
After I announced in twitter that I was joing CVA, I got a lot of responses, mostly negative. The Minmatar roleplayers were welcome in their despising and anger, but the comments from regular players were amusing too.
Perhaps the most indicative of the responses can be captured in this comment from Mord Fiddler of Fiddler's Edge:
Regardless of his opinions on this matter, I give a high endorsement to people to subscribe and read his blog, its one of my favourites in my blog roll.
Feeling like a burden since they were talking about having a carrier escort op to accompany the supercarrier on its journey on the only night I can string together a few hours (i.e. Monday night), I decided to at least scout the route out with my cyno alt Korannon and if the opportunity presented itself, make the jump so that the others has one less jump to make to come to me.
So Friday morning, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning right around downtime, I got my alt in position in a target system and made the jump alone with the supercarrier. You might think this is a very risky thing to do but if you take the right precautions and pick the right times and systems, you are as safe as traveling in a pack. The chances of a perfect storm of being spotted, tackled by heavy interdictor (since the Wyvern is immune to regular electronic warfare), and someone having enough DPS to kill my ship in a minute (or 15 minutes if I'm careless on the ctrl+q) is low enough to be ignorable. As long as I'm careful.
And I was. For three jumps through empire no one as much as flew in to check out the cyno ship, much less threaten to uncloak the Wyvern. I was almost a little disappointed. For the last jump I had corp mates in local (shout out to Traver who guarded my cyno ship) and soon I was secure in my not-deep-anymore safe spot back in Sukanan constellation.
Sukanan you say? Isn't that back in Tash Murkon? Why yes, yes it is. More on that in a moment.
With the supercarrier secured, I put the parking alt back in it (she's training for Jump Drive Calibration skills to avoid this kind of hassle in the future) and jump cloned up to The Forge region to pick up my Chimera, the venerable Ninveah itself. A few more solo jumps, not as dangerous due to being able to dock, and it was back in the Suk as well.
What's that? OK, fine, I'll tell you.
Once we decided to pull out of RAGE alliance, we explored contacts and compiled options, debating the various merits of each, and focused on what we as a corp wanted and wanted to accomplish. This is never a trivial task as the dissolution of Paxton Federation last spring demonstrated; different people want different things.
One thing we all agreed on was that our time in Providence with Paxton was some of the best of our null sec careers, even when we were essentially on our own and surrounded by hostiles. Compared to having to go far to find fights as part of the NC, it was nice to have reds right next door. And with Providence in as much chaos as it is now, it seems like the perfect size and types of fights that m3 Corp excels and revels in.
So who's recruiting? Well, there were a few options but m3 Corp has a long memory and is very loyal to old friends. So we chatted some people up and made overtures to join an old ally which were welcomed with open arms.
We're joining CVA.
That's OK, I'll wait while you clean up the mess from you spitting your drink all over the monitor.
Alright, done? Allow me to explain.
I realize I might have in the past said something along the lines of that I hope CVA rots in low sec. You have to understand how much myself and others in m3 loved our time in Paxton and how bitter some of us were when it came to an end, apparently at the hands of CVA's bungling from this outside perspective. The reasons and faults of CVA's Providence last spring are in the past and we can't keep looking backwards but rather must look at current conditions.
1) Providence is still an exciting hotbed of mass confusion and lots of targets for a CVA friendly entity to enjoy.
2) The major power blocks opposing CVA, namely -A- and Ushra'Khan have moved on to their own time in the wilderness.
3) CVA has gone through a purge of sorts while living in low sec and may be smaller than it once was but is now more focused with clear goals and dedicated members. It may have many of the same leaders as last spring but they are hopefully wiser and more grounded.
So CVA has been rebuilding and we feel we want to try and be a part of that. Our long history with this old alliance demands that we give it a chance.
"Does this mean m3 Corp is now a bunch of role players?"
No. It means we can't go around breaking immersion for those that do partake in the periodic "Amarr Victor" and our CEO is required to make a statement that all members have sworn oaths to the Empire and Empresses. Secretly I think our CEO is a closet role player though. Make no mistake, m3 Corp is here for the pew pew.
"You're crazy for reason X and reason Y!"
This decision was not taken lightly and I admit I was initially opposed to the idea but was swung around on several convincing arguments to give it a try. I'm looking forward to what Providence is like now and getting in on some wild and crazy action. If some big alliance is coming to crush CVA tomorrow, well, no one is safe in Eve null sec politics. Intrepid Crossing/Tactical Narcotics Team/Paxton Federation showed us the folly of thinking differently.
So for now... Amarr Victor!
* * * * *
More details at Orakkus' blog, 2nd Anomaly from the Left.
After I announced in twitter that I was joing CVA, I got a lot of responses, mostly negative. The Minmatar roleplayers were welcome in their despising and anger, but the comments from regular players were amusing too.
Perhaps the most indicative of the responses can be captured in this comment from Mord Fiddler of Fiddler's Edge:
Gone to CVA, hmmm?
When I saw the announcement that you were leaving RAGE and it was going to be a long haul, I wondered if M3 was crawling back to CVA.Ouch! For the record, I never felt shamed or humiliated by CVA, nor do I think anyone in my corp felt that way either. We questioned some of CVA's tactical decisions and willingness to fight, sure, but then I've questioned a lot of alliances thinking processes over time.
But there's no way, I thought. Couldn't be. After what CVA done to Paxton? These guys have got way more pride than that.
Well. Seems the taste of shame and humiliation washes out of the mouth faster up North.
Must be the water
Regardless of his opinions on this matter, I give a high endorsement to people to subscribe and read his blog, its one of my favourites in my blog roll.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Wyvern Versus New Sansha Supercarrier
So CCP Ytterbium released the current test statistics of the new Sansha supercarrier today. I of course immediately decided to compare this new ship with my toy, the Wyvern.
(Attempting to embed a Google Docs document...)
Overall, the Sansha supercarrier seems designed for ganking since it has the 5% bonus to fighter/fighter-bomber damage per level of Caldari carrier and the ability to use 6 Drone Control Units. So potentially 26 fighter drones at 25% plus damage is like 31.25 normal super carrier fighter drones. In other words, it hits like 1.5 Wyverns without drone control units. Ouch. Add to that the 30% bonus to jump range and it can reach out farther and faster than its non-faction brethern.
Tanking-wise, the new faction ship loses out with only 7 mid slots for a shield tank, not to mention that shield tanking is frowned upon by the armour tanked majority (stupid Slave sets). PLus it lacks the Wyvern's 5% bonus per level to shield resistances.
Overall, its not going to knock anyone's socks off in performance. This is probably a good thing as we don't need to encourage supercap proliferation any more than it already is. I won't be training up Amarr carrier skills for this any time soon.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 8
Post number 1801! Hurray for me!
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
* * * * *
"Captain! Captain! Wake up! CAPTAIN!"
I startled awake. Its hard for a pod pilot to accidentally fall asleep when the pod is active since you can't really close your eyes or turn down the volume on all the input from the ship being transmitted directly to your brain. Usually in order to rest the pod pilot turns off all active input except a few sleeper programs to alert if something happens. But falling asleep unexpected can happen if you get so tired that your brain effectively shuts itself off.
I pulled back into consciousness to several proximity alarms going off and one of my crew members yelling frantically into a camera lens. The ship, a Cormorant Destroyer named Mission Impossible, had its thrusters all disabled and was drifting slowly towards an asteroid.
"That's it! I'm bailing!" the crew member said and I saw him begin to jog down the tight corridor.
"Relax," I broadcast on the ship's intercom, "Everything is under control." I activated the stabilizers with a thought and eased the ship away from the spinning rock. "I was just trying to lure some pirates in by acting like a derilict," I lied, "and you need to have more trust in your captain."
"Bullshit," he mumbled under his breath thinking I couldn't here him. But he turned back and stomped over to his station in engineering, passing another crew member and saying quietly, "I've had it. Next station we dock at I'm outta here."
I didn't care. My ship had a crew of 5 not including me and I couldn't tell you one of their names without looking it up on the registry. Crew were easy to hire at almost every port of call, scrambling over themselves like rats for the chance to be on a capsuleer vessel, the stories of the occasional windfalls from being on our vessels enough to attract the desperate hordes.
I brought the ship around and set course for another belt. I had landed at this one looking for some local pirates and decided to wait a bit to see if they would come to me while I checked some messages from my agent. Apparently I fell asleep. I had been working hard, almost non stop for days now. I hadn't docked in a week; I was kind of scared of what I would do.
I knew I was simply trading one self destructive behaviour for another yet I could not seem to stop myself. While on the ship either doing tasks for my latest agent (what was his name again?) or patrolling the asteroid belts, I was working myself to exhaustion. Sure, I made a lot of money, an obscene amount. I now had two Merlins and a second Cormorant back in my hanger and still had over 20 million ISK in my account. I was far richer than my father could ever be I was sure, yet still I strove for more.
But being out of the pod and back on station was worse. Out here, the constant bustle of the channels and traffic, the hunt for ships and fight for survival kept me busy, piped into my brain directly and it all allowed me to avoiding thinking about things. In station I was cut off from the flow of data and could not stop the words of Nhi'Khuna from rattling around in my skull like a set of dice. So at first I drank to quiet them, then moved on to Blue Pills and Crystal Eggs, losing myself in the pharmaceutical dreams.
So I tried to stay in space, afraid of myself, of what I might do. Filled with shame at my weakness.
We landed in the asteroid belt and again saw it was empty. The local pirates appeared to have moved on, perhaps warned of my presence and my relentless hunt for them over the past couple days. It made me irrationally angry.
On the internal comms I heard the same crew member complain to himself again, "See? Nothing, why doesn't he just give up? Shit." My anger turned to fury and I briefly considered opening the airlocks and flushing the crew out into space. Heck, I think one outside airlock door might have even opened in response to my thoughts. "No one would miss them, not really. No one important anyways," I thought to myself.
I came back to my senses and was horrified by what just happened. Now I was sure I was losing it and I knew I couldn't go on like this. I needed, craved purpose beyond just ISK. Something had to change.
"Alright crew, I know its been a long haul and its time to head in. We've had some good luck the past could days so you'll find a little extra in your accounts when we land. Say, 5000 ISK each?"
The crew cheered except the one guy who muttered "I'll believe it when I see it," but I could tell from his respiration and posture that he was much happier and relaxed. My guilty conscious about almost killing them all in cold blood was partly assuaged and I set course for the stargate.
* * * * *
I sat on my couch my current apartment with a Blue Pill in my hand. I liked Crystal Eggs better as I found their effects more pleasant and I could still walk around with it in my system (well, for the most part), but Blues were easier to obtain and a lot cheaper.
"Contact Nhi'Khuna," I told the apartment AI. The wall screen lit up with the words "Attempting to Connect..." across them. After a few seconds she appeared, looking as imperial as she did in person.
"Well, I didn't expect to hear from you," she said coldly. "Not after how you stormed out on me."
I could feel myself flush. "I was... overwhelmed," I stammered. "I needed some time to think. And confirm what you said."
"So?"
"I thought I could ignore it all, but I was wrong. I need to get out, I need something else. I thought you might be willing to continue our conversation," I added hopefully.
She said nothing for a few seconds and I could feel my flush deepen and I began to regret calling. I was just about to apologize and disconnect and pop the pill when she finally said, "OK. But no more rudeness, got it? This is a last chance."
"Of course, of course!" I agreed.
"Very well, You still in Pimebeka?"
"No, I'm in Saila now, but I can come to you if you want."
She smiled and chuckled. "I don't think you're ready for low sec, boy. I'll be there in 24 hours."
"Great, thanks, I really appreciate it," I started to say but she had already disconnected. Relieved I went into my bedroom and tossed the drug into the trash receptacle.
Well, OK, not really. I put the pill back in a little metal case with 7 other Blue Pills and closed it before placing it back in my drawer. I wanted to throw them away, I really did. But all I could think of was what if it didn't work out with Nhi'Khuna's and I didn't get an offer or I didn't like what I heard again? What then?
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
* * * * *
"Captain! Captain! Wake up! CAPTAIN!"
I startled awake. Its hard for a pod pilot to accidentally fall asleep when the pod is active since you can't really close your eyes or turn down the volume on all the input from the ship being transmitted directly to your brain. Usually in order to rest the pod pilot turns off all active input except a few sleeper programs to alert if something happens. But falling asleep unexpected can happen if you get so tired that your brain effectively shuts itself off.
I pulled back into consciousness to several proximity alarms going off and one of my crew members yelling frantically into a camera lens. The ship, a Cormorant Destroyer named Mission Impossible, had its thrusters all disabled and was drifting slowly towards an asteroid.
"That's it! I'm bailing!" the crew member said and I saw him begin to jog down the tight corridor.
"Relax," I broadcast on the ship's intercom, "Everything is under control." I activated the stabilizers with a thought and eased the ship away from the spinning rock. "I was just trying to lure some pirates in by acting like a derilict," I lied, "and you need to have more trust in your captain."
"Bullshit," he mumbled under his breath thinking I couldn't here him. But he turned back and stomped over to his station in engineering, passing another crew member and saying quietly, "I've had it. Next station we dock at I'm outta here."
I didn't care. My ship had a crew of 5 not including me and I couldn't tell you one of their names without looking it up on the registry. Crew were easy to hire at almost every port of call, scrambling over themselves like rats for the chance to be on a capsuleer vessel, the stories of the occasional windfalls from being on our vessels enough to attract the desperate hordes.
I brought the ship around and set course for another belt. I had landed at this one looking for some local pirates and decided to wait a bit to see if they would come to me while I checked some messages from my agent. Apparently I fell asleep. I had been working hard, almost non stop for days now. I hadn't docked in a week; I was kind of scared of what I would do.
I knew I was simply trading one self destructive behaviour for another yet I could not seem to stop myself. While on the ship either doing tasks for my latest agent (what was his name again?) or patrolling the asteroid belts, I was working myself to exhaustion. Sure, I made a lot of money, an obscene amount. I now had two Merlins and a second Cormorant back in my hanger and still had over 20 million ISK in my account. I was far richer than my father could ever be I was sure, yet still I strove for more.
But being out of the pod and back on station was worse. Out here, the constant bustle of the channels and traffic, the hunt for ships and fight for survival kept me busy, piped into my brain directly and it all allowed me to avoiding thinking about things. In station I was cut off from the flow of data and could not stop the words of Nhi'Khuna from rattling around in my skull like a set of dice. So at first I drank to quiet them, then moved on to Blue Pills and Crystal Eggs, losing myself in the pharmaceutical dreams.
So I tried to stay in space, afraid of myself, of what I might do. Filled with shame at my weakness.
We landed in the asteroid belt and again saw it was empty. The local pirates appeared to have moved on, perhaps warned of my presence and my relentless hunt for them over the past couple days. It made me irrationally angry.
On the internal comms I heard the same crew member complain to himself again, "See? Nothing, why doesn't he just give up? Shit." My anger turned to fury and I briefly considered opening the airlocks and flushing the crew out into space. Heck, I think one outside airlock door might have even opened in response to my thoughts. "No one would miss them, not really. No one important anyways," I thought to myself.
I came back to my senses and was horrified by what just happened. Now I was sure I was losing it and I knew I couldn't go on like this. I needed, craved purpose beyond just ISK. Something had to change.
"Alright crew, I know its been a long haul and its time to head in. We've had some good luck the past could days so you'll find a little extra in your accounts when we land. Say, 5000 ISK each?"
The crew cheered except the one guy who muttered "I'll believe it when I see it," but I could tell from his respiration and posture that he was much happier and relaxed. My guilty conscious about almost killing them all in cold blood was partly assuaged and I set course for the stargate.
* * * * *
I sat on my couch my current apartment with a Blue Pill in my hand. I liked Crystal Eggs better as I found their effects more pleasant and I could still walk around with it in my system (well, for the most part), but Blues were easier to obtain and a lot cheaper.
"Contact Nhi'Khuna," I told the apartment AI. The wall screen lit up with the words "Attempting to Connect..." across them. After a few seconds she appeared, looking as imperial as she did in person.
"Well, I didn't expect to hear from you," she said coldly. "Not after how you stormed out on me."
I could feel myself flush. "I was... overwhelmed," I stammered. "I needed some time to think. And confirm what you said."
"So?"
"I thought I could ignore it all, but I was wrong. I need to get out, I need something else. I thought you might be willing to continue our conversation," I added hopefully.
She said nothing for a few seconds and I could feel my flush deepen and I began to regret calling. I was just about to apologize and disconnect and pop the pill when she finally said, "OK. But no more rudeness, got it? This is a last chance."
"Of course, of course!" I agreed.
"Very well, You still in Pimebeka?"
"No, I'm in Saila now, but I can come to you if you want."
She smiled and chuckled. "I don't think you're ready for low sec, boy. I'll be there in 24 hours."
"Great, thanks, I really appreciate it," I started to say but she had already disconnected. Relieved I went into my bedroom and tossed the drug into the trash receptacle.
Well, OK, not really. I put the pill back in a little metal case with 7 other Blue Pills and closed it before placing it back in my drawer. I wanted to throw them away, I really did. But all I could think of was what if it didn't work out with Nhi'Khuna's and I didn't get an offer or I didn't like what I heard again? What then?
Thank You For Replying
Apparently someone at CCP (Hilmar? Is that you?) read my blog post asking for info on Incursion's release date and decided to get a dev blog posted to answer my question:
I think this is a good move, CPP. Kudos to you.
We discussed a few of the options we have with the CSM, and I think we‘re very unified that the best course of action is:Excellent. This is a best case scenario in my opinion, giving the developers a few more sprints to complete the Character Creator and Sansha Incursions features, two more sprints for the Christmas stuff, and a load of little things for November. Like what, you ask?
- Release a first-step patch with a collection of player requested improvements November 30th.
- Release a second-step patch before Christmas (Only Santa knows what will be in this patch!)
- Release key features of this expansion such as the Incarna Character Creator and Sansha Incursions in January 2011
November release (Precursor?)A hell of a lot of quality of life fixes. Nothing world shattering but definitely improvements to the game.
We have a few options for contained changes we can put out in a beefy mini-expansion in November that may include (but are not limited to):
Not all of these may make it into the November update. Some may require additional testing or design, and will be included in future patches. But we’re confident the update on November 30th will have a lot of very exciting, highly requested changes.
- 80 new story line courier missions
- Rocket balancing
- Tech 2 ammo balancing
- Adding faction ships to the market
- Fighter bomber missile visual effects changes
- Anti-aliasing support
- Window resizing, camera offset
- Meta-item indicator icons
- UI optimization to contract delivery filtering
- Cargo can now be dragged to hangar by dropping on Neocom
- Toggling probes in overview
- POS gunners now receive notifications about control towers under attack
- Sorting deliveries according to distance in jumps or regional locations
- Unique icons for Microwarpdrives and Afterburners
I think this is a good move, CPP. Kudos to you.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
RemembranceDay
Grandpa,
You didn't talk much about the war. The story of how you lied about your age to enlist and your time in England during the Blitz usually came from grandma as she loved to tell stories. I'm glad you came back. I miss you now.
In remembrance.
You didn't talk much about the war. The story of how you lied about your age to enlist and your time in England during the Blitz usually came from grandma as she loved to tell stories. I'm glad you came back. I miss you now.
In remembrance.
Stuff It In
So the corp is busy in the throes of another asset move to a new home. For me, I have to wait until I get enough time online to move my assets but at least it won't take very many trips.
The Wyvern has a Ship Maintenance Array like regular carriers but its 2.5 times as large (i.e. 2.5 million meters cubed) and its Corporate Hanger array is 5 times as large (at 50,000 m3). What this means is that the supercarrier can hold 5 assembled battleships, or fewer and a host of other ships. I got a battleship, two battlecruisers, and over 7 cruisers and a few frigates in my Wyvern and still have a regular carrier's worth of space left. The corp hanger is already full of mods and fuel for the ship itself (spare utility cap mods are huge) so my spare stuff is jammed into the Chimera's corp hanger. That still leaves me with 16 spare fighter bombers and a load of ship fuel, but it can wait until I have my freighter up and running again (less than a week now).
Now that everything is packed up, the hard part is next: actually making the journey.
For a supercarrier, low sec is safer and more dangerous. Safer because there are no dictor bubbles and only the Heavy Interdictor Infini-point is capable of keeping the ship in place (as supercaps are immune to electronic warfare); but more dangerous because you don't have your alliance telling you where the bad guys are in intel channels and you never know who is nearby and if that alt is a prober or just a passer by.
Its debatable if its safer to travel alone doing ninja jumps into empty systems near downtime, or to travel in a pack of capitals. The former takes a long time and if something goes wrong you are on your own, but in the latter the coordination is harder and you make a far more noticeable target. I look forward to when the corp has more supercarriers because, after all, a fleet of supercarriers is an offensive threat but a single supercarrier is a target.
The Wyvern has a Ship Maintenance Array like regular carriers but its 2.5 times as large (i.e. 2.5 million meters cubed) and its Corporate Hanger array is 5 times as large (at 50,000 m3). What this means is that the supercarrier can hold 5 assembled battleships, or fewer and a host of other ships. I got a battleship, two battlecruisers, and over 7 cruisers and a few frigates in my Wyvern and still have a regular carrier's worth of space left. The corp hanger is already full of mods and fuel for the ship itself (spare utility cap mods are huge) so my spare stuff is jammed into the Chimera's corp hanger. That still leaves me with 16 spare fighter bombers and a load of ship fuel, but it can wait until I have my freighter up and running again (less than a week now).
Now that everything is packed up, the hard part is next: actually making the journey.
For a supercarrier, low sec is safer and more dangerous. Safer because there are no dictor bubbles and only the Heavy Interdictor Infini-point is capable of keeping the ship in place (as supercaps are immune to electronic warfare); but more dangerous because you don't have your alliance telling you where the bad guys are in intel channels and you never know who is nearby and if that alt is a prober or just a passer by.
Its debatable if its safer to travel alone doing ninja jumps into empty systems near downtime, or to travel in a pack of capitals. The former takes a long time and if something goes wrong you are on your own, but in the latter the coordination is harder and you make a far more noticeable target. I look forward to when the corp has more supercarriers because, after all, a fleet of supercarriers is an offensive threat but a single supercarrier is a target.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
No Longer EnRAGEd
Last night our CEO pulled the plug and m3 Corp officially left RAGE alliance. This was not a sudden move on our part as we decided to leave a week before and spent the period moving our member's stuff out through a massive logistics effort. Damn if we aren't good at evacuation procedures.
I'm not going to go into the exact reasons why we chose to move on. Suffice to say we had a good time killing lots of ships and helping to give the Legion of xXDeathXx and friends a bloody nose. Special shout out to Fleet Commander Rat Salat: dude, you are a machine and I would follow you into hell.
We will not be on our own for very long. We have a new home already arranged and if all goes according to plan I can announce what it is on Monday. Until then, preparations must be made, new ships must be bought, and Fiction Friday must go on!
I'm not going to go into the exact reasons why we chose to move on. Suffice to say we had a good time killing lots of ships and helping to give the Legion of xXDeathXx and friends a bloody nose. Special shout out to Fleet Commander Rat Salat: dude, you are a machine and I would follow you into hell.
We will not be on our own for very long. We have a new home already arranged and if all goes according to plan I can announce what it is on Monday. Until then, preparations must be made, new ships must be bought, and Fiction Friday must go on!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Rise of the Alpha?
I noticed recently a lot of killmails seem to have Machariel battleships on them, take for example the killmail from Count the Sins post.
And read this entry from Eve News 24:
What do these two things have in common? Well, the Machariel is an awesome alpha shot battleship since it has bonuses for projectiles and Artillery is the alpha shot weapon. A Machariel with seven 1400mm artillery cannons and three gyrostabilizers can pump out an alpha strike of over 12000. Its not only faction ships either; a Tempest in similar configuration can pump out a strike of over 10000.
So why does a ship's alpha strike seem more important right now compared to overall DPS?
With the current popularity of logistics ships, a target primaried by a fleet can absorb a lot of damage when multiple logi ships are repairing him. Ships like the Drake with their brick like tanks can take a few rounds from the enemy and give the logi wing time to target and start repping. There are three ways to overcome this; one is to target and destroy the logi which tend to have equally good survivability either through tanks and range, and another is to get more DPS than the logi can overcome which means the enemy fleet might choose to not engage where you are strongest.
The third method is to hit the target so hard and so fast that logistics lacks the time to respond. This is why Drake Fleets with heavy missile launchers and lackluster DPS can still be deadly: all those missiles landing at once have a high alpha strike. Taking that tactic further, we arrive at the artillery battleships with the best alpha strike in the game outside of capital ships. Hence, the current trend.
The end result for me is that railgun battleships are still poor cousins of the fleet fights. In order for them to have a clear advantage over alpha striking artillery and DPS lasers, on grid warps need to be nerfed so that fleets at ranges farther than 150 km are not vulnerable to short warps by enemy fleets who get easy warp in spots from scan probes.
And read this entry from Eve News 24:
Northern Coalition. (NCDOT) is for several weeks active in Fountain region. While targeting local inhabitants and renters, their actions forced IT Alliance, the landlord of Fountain, to join the fight and support the locals.(Emphasis mine. )
In YZ-LQL (Fountain) IT attempts to destroy modules on NCDOT tower proved unsuccessful as NCDOT forced them to safety of their tower and later cleared a small gatecamp from the station.
Evenings in the fight IT and their allies, Black Star Alliance, Talos Coalition, HUN Reloaded and Blade. brought massive number of interceptors and frigates (approx 60) for tackling of the NCDOT hac fleet. Numbers were around 100 for NCDOT and 340 for IT+co.
Tens of wrecks were around the battlefield, especially at the Z3 gate. Losing 3x times as many ships, the tacklers proved effective as isk ratio was almost equal (IT+co killed 4 lokis). Combination of tacklers and alpha shot battleships had proven lethal and IT scored many more kills in this engagement that in any previous attempts.
What do these two things have in common? Well, the Machariel is an awesome alpha shot battleship since it has bonuses for projectiles and Artillery is the alpha shot weapon. A Machariel with seven 1400mm artillery cannons and three gyrostabilizers can pump out an alpha strike of over 12000. Its not only faction ships either; a Tempest in similar configuration can pump out a strike of over 10000.
So why does a ship's alpha strike seem more important right now compared to overall DPS?
With the current popularity of logistics ships, a target primaried by a fleet can absorb a lot of damage when multiple logi ships are repairing him. Ships like the Drake with their brick like tanks can take a few rounds from the enemy and give the logi wing time to target and start repping. There are three ways to overcome this; one is to target and destroy the logi which tend to have equally good survivability either through tanks and range, and another is to get more DPS than the logi can overcome which means the enemy fleet might choose to not engage where you are strongest.
The third method is to hit the target so hard and so fast that logistics lacks the time to respond. This is why Drake Fleets with heavy missile launchers and lackluster DPS can still be deadly: all those missiles landing at once have a high alpha strike. Taking that tactic further, we arrive at the artillery battleships with the best alpha strike in the game outside of capital ships. Hence, the current trend.
The end result for me is that railgun battleships are still poor cousins of the fleet fights. In order for them to have a clear advantage over alpha striking artillery and DPS lasers, on grid warps need to be nerfed so that fleets at ranges farther than 150 km are not vulnerable to short warps by enemy fleets who get easy warp in spots from scan probes.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Silence Is Not Golden
Dear CCP,
Its November now. Nov 8th to be exact. Incursions is supposed to be coming out this morning, but we don't have an announced date yet, and that's kind of disturbing.
Also, there was a flood of dev blogs for a few weeks back and lately it's been silent. Where's the detailed dev blog on the Rocket change? Tech II ammo? What about the incursions, are you going to explain those to us more? We're going on mostly rumours and half posts right now, people want to know more.
And the Sansha mothership? Stats for that please, its time to get us excited about it. Also, the other new ships you said you were putting in. More details? At least tell us what ships they will be besides the Noctis?
If you are short on time and need to cut features or change the date to December, I'm ok with that. Just talk to me. Tell me what's going on.We can help.
Cheers, Kirith
Its November now. Nov 8th to be exact. Incursions is supposed to be coming out this morning, but we don't have an announced date yet, and that's kind of disturbing.
Also, there was a flood of dev blogs for a few weeks back and lately it's been silent. Where's the detailed dev blog on the Rocket change? Tech II ammo? What about the incursions, are you going to explain those to us more? We're going on mostly rumours and half posts right now, people want to know more.
And the Sansha mothership? Stats for that please, its time to get us excited about it. Also, the other new ships you said you were putting in. More details? At least tell us what ships they will be besides the Noctis?
If you are short on time and need to cut features or change the date to December, I'm ok with that. Just talk to me. Tell me what's going on.We can help.
Cheers, Kirith
Friday, November 05, 2010
Count the Sins
Count the sins in this post on EveNews24.com by the Morsus Mihi pilot:
2) Ratting on a gate.
3) Ratting while neutrals / hostiles in area.
4) Arrogance displayed in response.
Looking at the fit in the killmail:
5) Mostly Tech II fit.
6) Dual rep instead of massive hitpoint buffer. (Not a terrible sin but he might have survived with hitpoints instead of reps).
7) Four drone control units in high slots. How many drones do you need to rat? With Carriers IV you get 17 in a supercarrier. No energy neuts, smartbombs. A neutralizer on the initial HIC tackler might have saved him.
8) Ratting in a supercarrier!!! GAH!!!
This comes as of no surprise to anyone, another supercapital class ship is destroyed in the north by Pandemic Legion.1) Ratting in a supercarrier.
The Nyx, piloted by SheiHalut, was ratting on a gate where it was tackled by a hictor and the pilot logged off. It was destroyed by the PL forces soon after he logged. Loot was transfered to the pilot who caught it.
This is officially the first NC supercapital loss in the north since PL moved into the area.
The pilot had this to say: SheiHalut > i will have a new nyx sometime
Link: https://www.pandemic-legion.com/killboard/view_kill.php?id=319333
2) Ratting on a gate.
3) Ratting while neutrals / hostiles in area.
4) Arrogance displayed in response.
Looking at the fit in the killmail:
5) Mostly Tech II fit.
6) Dual rep instead of massive hitpoint buffer. (Not a terrible sin but he might have survived with hitpoints instead of reps).
7) Four drone control units in high slots. How many drones do you need to rat? With Carriers IV you get 17 in a supercarrier. No energy neuts, smartbombs. A neutralizer on the initial HIC tackler might have saved him.
8) Ratting in a supercarrier!!! GAH!!!
No Fiction Friday This Week
There is no entry this week for one reason: I don't have an outline for Chapter 8 for how to go where the story is at the moment to where I know I want to be in chapter 9 and going forward.
Its not that I painted myself in a corner as the character Kirith is exactly where I want him to be; I just can't get the right words in my head to move it forward. I have several ideas, but they each seem incomplete and I'm hesitant to commit to two or three weeks to do them all. But I might have to or the transition to the next phase of the story might seem abrupt.
So I need another week of spare time to think on it.
For those unsure where I am going, the combined Fiction Friday series has been about taking a young idealistic individual with a black and white view of the world and his place in it and stripping those preconceptions away from him one at a time. The total character arc is now at its nadir, the character feels broken and lost with nothing but wealth as a goal. Now I can start to rebuild him as something new... not necessarily better, but new.
This is the point where comments would be most welcome :)
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Its not that I painted myself in a corner as the character Kirith is exactly where I want him to be; I just can't get the right words in my head to move it forward. I have several ideas, but they each seem incomplete and I'm hesitant to commit to two or three weeks to do them all. But I might have to or the transition to the next phase of the story might seem abrupt.
So I need another week of spare time to think on it.
For those unsure where I am going, the combined Fiction Friday series has been about taking a young idealistic individual with a black and white view of the world and his place in it and stripping those preconceptions away from him one at a time. The total character arc is now at its nadir, the character feels broken and lost with nothing but wealth as a goal. Now I can start to rebuild him as something new... not necessarily better, but new.
This is the point where comments would be most welcome :)
Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Gallente Tech II Cruisers and Battlecruisers - Follow Up
In response to last night's post dangman4ever asks about my thoughts on the Proteus and Cosmik R5 suggests going for a pure gank Astarte as they are running fairly cheap these days and can act like a heavy Heavy Assault Cruiser.
Proteus - Strategic Cruiser - Its hard with the strat cruisers to give an overall impression on their capability since they have the option of being in so many different configurations, but I'll give you a comparison to one of my all time favourites, the Gank Thorax.
Setting the Proteus in such a configuration meant maximizing blaster firepower and speed with as much buffer defence as possible. And the Proteus excels at this task:
I've probably went too far on the buffer tank with over 19 thousand hitpoints as this slows down the cruise considerably. Swapping to an 800 plate and one Trimark still gives over 12 thousand while having another rig slot. Its almost cap stable with only one CCC, has long range scrambler and great tracking on the heavy blasters. Beautiful ship for short range gang PvP and one I would probably buy and use if I could find the month of time to train the skills. Maybe in the spring.
Astarte - Gank Configuration - So I took Cozmik's advice and played with a pure gank configuration on the Astarte, playing with a shield tank instead of traditional armour.
With the drones it can achieve nice DPS but requires the cap booster to power the hungry MWD (unlike the Proteus with its cap use bonus on MWDs). I threw on some overdrive injestors to give it a boost in speed to keep up with smaller targets. Not sure if I like trying to shield tank it though, even if I switched a hardener for an extender it still seems weak for a command ship. I wish the armour repper bonus was resistance bonus and then I could go with the armour buffer tank and ignore the reppers entirely.
I think if I want a pure tech II damage dealer, I'd go with the Deimos for faster agility and speed and lower price point.
Proteus - Strategic Cruiser - Its hard with the strat cruisers to give an overall impression on their capability since they have the option of being in so many different configurations, but I'll give you a comparison to one of my all time favourites, the Gank Thorax.
Setting the Proteus in such a configuration meant maximizing blaster firepower and speed with as much buffer defence as possible. And the Proteus excels at this task:
Astarte - Gank Configuration - So I took Cozmik's advice and played with a pure gank configuration on the Astarte, playing with a shield tank instead of traditional armour.
I think if I want a pure tech II damage dealer, I'd go with the Deimos for faster agility and speed and lower price point.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Gallente Tech II Cruisers and Battlecruisers
With Gallente Cruiser V finishing this week, I've been musing on what ships I want to buy and try out and which ones I'm going to give a pass. Here are my thoughts.
Oneiros - Logistics ship - Considered by many to be inferior to the Amarr Guardian due to the fact that it has bonuses to armour reppers and tracking links instead of armour reppers and energy transfer arrays. Plus the Guardian has the bigger armour tank. As its not in demand for alliance ops its not on my list to check out.
Arazu - Force Recon - This ship is on my list. I love flying my Falcon and the Arazu has some better qualities I like such as more DPS and a huge tackle range with warp disruptors and scramblers (at Recon IV you can get the former to 43km and latter to 16km). I see this more as a small gang/fleet ship though and not a good choice for larger battles.
Lachesis - Combat Recon - With less stealth than the Arazu but more potential DPS and better starting resistances (but one less low slot), the Lachesis is like the tougher older brother to the Arazu. Has some potential for use in AHAC fleets for me, but with Remote Sensor Dampeners being less than ideal I might be tempted to give this one a pass in lieu of other AHAC capable ships.
Deimos - Heavy Assault Ship - I have a spot for this class due to the fun time I had running around in a gank Thorax in low sec a few years back. This ship is essentially a tougher and harder hitting Thorax, ideal for blasters that can deal Battleship like damage. However, short range is often a death sentence in 0.0 and the inability to fit the Holy Trinity of Tackle along with a cap booster means its very situational in it use unless you go for a more unconventional rail setup at which point I think I'd use an Eagle for better range.
Ishtar - Heavy Assault Ship - Here we go! This is the ship I've been eyeing up for over a year since I saw its effective use in pre-fall Providence. With a huge drone bay that can fit a full flight of Heavy, Sentry, Medium, AND Light drones, you have the option of fitting the ship for survivability instead of worrying about DPS as the drones can take on virtually any target with effectiveness. You can fit for armour or shield tanking, solo or fleet, electronic warfare or more DPS, the world is your oyster.
I want this ship for two reasons: one, an option for AHAC gangs, and two, a small roaming gang of the more traditional gank and spank variety that m3 Corp used to run in Providence, i.e. an all purpose combat ship.
Phobos - Heavy Interdictor - I love my Onyx and I see no compelling reason to build up a Phobos. As far as I understand it, its one of the least desirable HICs.
Astarte - Field Command Ship - I'm of two minds on this ship. On one hand, I love the pure singlemindedness of the Brutix hull in terms of going for a heavier gank ship like the Thorax, and the Astarte does for the Brutix what the Deimos does for the Thorax. On the other hand, the ship feels a little schizophrenic with its armour repper bonus, wanting to both rush in and kill kill kill while still maintaining a good tank. Plus the seven weapon turrets makes it hard on power grid without downgrading weapons to make full use of the bonus, so you either end up with a ship that ignore repping to go for full gank or a ship that has smaller damage potential with hard ass tank (that is hard on cap one should note).
Add into that the Warfare link potential of the Gallente ships is sub-optimal due to the type (information warfare? Yuck, extremely situational) and it feels less than ideal as a purchase choice for the price. Still, if I can find one for cheap, I might pick it up.
Eos - Fleet Command Ship - Take all the issues the Astarte has and throw in less damage potential due to only 5 turret hardpoints, and you have the Eos. If Information Warfare links were more useful in the general case it might be a nice flexible ship with its 210m3 drone bay and 75 mb bandwidth, but as it is its not worth buying and fitting out.
* * * * *
If you have differing opinions, I'd love to hear them!
Oneiros - Logistics ship - Considered by many to be inferior to the Amarr Guardian due to the fact that it has bonuses to armour reppers and tracking links instead of armour reppers and energy transfer arrays. Plus the Guardian has the bigger armour tank. As its not in demand for alliance ops its not on my list to check out.
Arazu - Force Recon - This ship is on my list. I love flying my Falcon and the Arazu has some better qualities I like such as more DPS and a huge tackle range with warp disruptors and scramblers (at Recon IV you can get the former to 43km and latter to 16km). I see this more as a small gang/fleet ship though and not a good choice for larger battles.
Lachesis - Combat Recon - With less stealth than the Arazu but more potential DPS and better starting resistances (but one less low slot), the Lachesis is like the tougher older brother to the Arazu. Has some potential for use in AHAC fleets for me, but with Remote Sensor Dampeners being less than ideal I might be tempted to give this one a pass in lieu of other AHAC capable ships.
Deimos - Heavy Assault Ship - I have a spot for this class due to the fun time I had running around in a gank Thorax in low sec a few years back. This ship is essentially a tougher and harder hitting Thorax, ideal for blasters that can deal Battleship like damage. However, short range is often a death sentence in 0.0 and the inability to fit the Holy Trinity of Tackle along with a cap booster means its very situational in it use unless you go for a more unconventional rail setup at which point I think I'd use an Eagle for better range.
Ishtar - Heavy Assault Ship - Here we go! This is the ship I've been eyeing up for over a year since I saw its effective use in pre-fall Providence. With a huge drone bay that can fit a full flight of Heavy, Sentry, Medium, AND Light drones, you have the option of fitting the ship for survivability instead of worrying about DPS as the drones can take on virtually any target with effectiveness. You can fit for armour or shield tanking, solo or fleet, electronic warfare or more DPS, the world is your oyster.
I want this ship for two reasons: one, an option for AHAC gangs, and two, a small roaming gang of the more traditional gank and spank variety that m3 Corp used to run in Providence, i.e. an all purpose combat ship.
Phobos - Heavy Interdictor - I love my Onyx and I see no compelling reason to build up a Phobos. As far as I understand it, its one of the least desirable HICs.
Astarte - Field Command Ship - I'm of two minds on this ship. On one hand, I love the pure singlemindedness of the Brutix hull in terms of going for a heavier gank ship like the Thorax, and the Astarte does for the Brutix what the Deimos does for the Thorax. On the other hand, the ship feels a little schizophrenic with its armour repper bonus, wanting to both rush in and kill kill kill while still maintaining a good tank. Plus the seven weapon turrets makes it hard on power grid without downgrading weapons to make full use of the bonus, so you either end up with a ship that ignore repping to go for full gank or a ship that has smaller damage potential with hard ass tank (that is hard on cap one should note).
Add into that the Warfare link potential of the Gallente ships is sub-optimal due to the type (information warfare? Yuck, extremely situational) and it feels less than ideal as a purchase choice for the price. Still, if I can find one for cheap, I might pick it up.
Eos - Fleet Command Ship - Take all the issues the Astarte has and throw in less damage potential due to only 5 turret hardpoints, and you have the Eos. If Information Warfare links were more useful in the general case it might be a nice flexible ship with its 210m3 drone bay and 75 mb bandwidth, but as it is its not worth buying and fitting out.
* * * * *
If you have differing opinions, I'd love to hear them!
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Small Contributions
Last night I logged in and moved my +4 implant clone down to low sec for logistic purposes. I have three other jump clones in null sec, one a dedicated Supercarrier pilot with expensive implants, one a +3 implant for PvE work, and another with bare bone cheap implants for PvP. This last one I jumped into before grabbing an Interceptor and pairing up with corp mate Darth Skorpius for a quick run to LXQ2-T to join in the fun.
It was a quite night, started with camping a gate before joining a fleet to kill a POS. Obviously an interceptor was going to be insufficient for that task so I docked up in the NC owned station and quickly bought an Abaddon and outfitted it with pulse lasers and radio crystals. That gave me enough range to hit the tower. I would have preferred a good Rokh or Megathron but options were limited in the market.
We killed one tower and moved on to a second. No POS modules to account for and the fleet was quite large with capitals and a titan on the field, so it was short work. There was a few hostile stealth bomber runs but we were spread out and as far as I know casualties were light. One friendly pilot bumped the titan though and got doomsdayed for his impertinence.
With the enemy towers disposed of, we went back to gate camping but the hostiles ran off and I decided to call it an early night as there was nothing else scheduled but some POS reinforcement ops that I would have had to travel back to RAGE space for.
The excitement may have been low, but every contribution helps in a time of war. Plus I'm ready for next time I log in to jump right in and die in a fire.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Blood In the Water
LXQ was not some forgettable backwater system in the Kalevala Expanse which no one except renters and ratters really care about. It is an empire entry system for Etherium Reach, a station system to boot, and is crucial for logistics to empire. Had the DRF managed to mount a successful defense, it would have been a big morale boost for the defenders as they would have in effect been proving that this invasion could be stopped. The NC forces on the other hand, would have been drained without anything to show for it, forced to begin the siege again.
But DRF failed to win the battle. In fact, it seems they lost before it began by making the same mistake CVA made in D-GTMI back in Providence last spring by not defending the system from the inside, and instead forming the majority of their fleets outside of LXQ and trying to jump in as the station timer finished. Perhaps they were expecting (hoping for?) a node death in which both sides would have had equal chance to long in and reform, but the node held and the russian fleets met the D-GTMI black screen of doom, ship on grid and pilot not.
It was, by all accounts, a massacre. The NC has a foothold in the region with a station to base out of no less, morale is high from defeating the enemy who threw everything into the fight, and DRF is forced on the back foot to try and regroup. The war might not have been won or lost on the outcome of the battle of LXQ, but the momentum goes to the winner.
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