Operation Trident

Is making super deep safe spots using log off emergency warping mechanics an exploit? I don't think CCP has classed it as such but I've heard rumblings that they are changing the mechanics to prevent it from occurring in Tyrannis which I oppose as I think they are far too restrictive with the game mechanics already. If I want to warp 100 AU in a random direction towards nothingness... LET ME!

But I digress...

The utility of ultra deep safe spots is unquestionable, even if they are not perfectly safe due to the probing mechanics we have now. If you have a ship with a cloak any old safe spot is good as the next. But if you are uncloaked or are cynoing in a fleet, ultra deep spots are better because they are less likely to be probed out in case of the former and take precious time to warp to in the case of the latter.

And when you have a supercarrier that cannot dock, an ultra deep safe spot is a good idea to jump into a system so you have time to warp away and cloak up before any curious hostiles arrive. Of course, as soon as that cyno beacon shows up on everyone's overview many AUs out of the normal system space, they will bookmark it and it won't be so safe next time so having multiple deep safes to use is always a good idea.

Last night I had two 20 minute sessions which I decided to dedicate to practicing the making of these ultra deep spots. It took a few false starts but eventually I was getting it to work and before I knew it I was over 100 AUs from the nearest celestial object. Excellent. Now that the process is understood I can make some more as its always good to multiple options and backup plans.

The Return of Insisto Oblivum II

Back in the darkest days of my newbie-dom, I had suffered a series of losses including a Raven to a Burn Eden gate camp and a Rokh named Insisto Oblivum to a new mission with warp scrambling rogue drones. I nearly quit at that point, unable to even afford a battlecruiser. But I didn't, and I slowly worked myself back up to a Drake and through level 3 missions rebuilt my wallet and trained better drone skills and purchased and outfit a new mission running Rokh Battleship.

That ship was the Insisto Oblivium II.

I've come a long way since that time and yet the old faithful ship is still with me. Its been out to Etherium Reach where it got stuck in a hostile station behind enemy lines until I braved 30 jumps through hostile null sec alone to get it out, its been to Wicked Creek where it arrived to only be part of an ad hoc evacuation as the Goons turned on our just-joined alliance, and its been through wormhole space as part of that evacuation. More recently it spent time in Providence fighting in the fleets there as a sniper before I pulled it out as part of my paternity leave.

So when it came time to liquidate my assets, I refused to part ways with this vessel. Instead I stripped it down once more and rebuilt it into a mission running Rokh for those occasions when I log in and corp mates in high sec are making ISK and I can help out.



I know its not the most-uber-mission-running-ship in the cluster, but it gets the job done and is more fun than usual missile spam. One shot popping off frigates rushing towards me at 100 km away never gets old.

13 Billion and Counting

The Wyvern Project goes well. Most of my assets have been liquidated, with only a handful of PvP ships and a number of items in my industry alt's care still owned. All told the tally is at 13 billion ISK, all of which is in the hands of my trade alt and running market orders when I have some time.

I figure I need at least 15 billion before I have a chance at a purchase, and probably closer to 20 billion for a complete package. Lots of work to do yet.

I estimate my trading alt is making between 20 and 50 million per day right now. If I had more time, I could make more but my time is what it is and I have to focus on items with less competition and yet still decent volume. I have to get back in the Eve Tribune saddle and start writing for them again to add to the ISK flow. This Wyvern is not going to equip itself!

I would kill for the ability to build this ship myself, but our space is Providence is under dire threat and I'd hate to lose the whole shebang on a sovereignty loss. Ah, to anchor X-Large Ship Assembly Bays anywhere!

If anyone hears of a great Wyvern deal on the intertubez, let me know.

Roamin', Roamin', Roamin'...

Last night was my weekly Eve session and I logged in to find some corpmates already in a roam with allies. I wanted to jump in but there was a problem: the required ships were Pulsepoc (i.e. Apocalyspe battleship with pulse lasers), EWar like a Falcon or Scorpion, interceptors, or logistics. I had an assault frig. Bit in the ass by the liquidation project.

"Give me five minutes." I jumped cloned down to Providence and purchased a Crow on the market, and between the market and corp hanger (m3 for the win!) I had a decent tackle interceptor ready to go.

Unfortunately, the delay of me not having a ship ready to go (combined with a wrong turn at out of date jump bridge bookmarks) caused me to arrive at the major battle just as it was ending. I had enough time to put a tackle on a Hurricane but the Hobgoblin II drones forced me off before I realized I could call for logistic repair. He warped off and I sighed. Just my luck.

I stuck with the fleet for the rest of the evening as we fished about for more enemies to kill, but it appears they were all wise to our presence and stayed out of our way. The one exception was a Anathema covert ops frig that showed up at a gate and sat there long enough for our interceptors to warp there and tackle him. We killed him in short order and it helped to satisfy my frustration from the escaped Hurricane.

It was nice to be in a fleet and looking for trouble again.

Fiction Friday- Series 2: Chapter 1

Links to all of Series 1 can be found here.

* * * * *

I was going to not bother talking about my time in the State Navy, rather I thought I would pick up my hunt for Rusack and my run in with him and Blodel, but I realized as I started to compose it that it might seem a little jarring. After all, despite my adventures with the seedier side of Caldari life I still was a patriot that believed that the Gallente were hedonistic and morally bankrupt, the Minmatar little better than savages, and the Amarr religious zealots stuck in the past. It is hard to reconcile that child's cloistered naivete with the man that  bitterly left Caldari space as soon as the Navy was done with him and gladly destroyed State vessels for the Republic Fleet less than a year later.

So I'm going to peel off painful scabs and reminisce about people I haven't thought of in years and events that I'm legally instructed to never describe. But any legal power the State had over me had long since faded.

Where to start? Well, might as well be where we left off I suppose.

The recruiter's full spiel was well rehearsed and easily delivered. He was good and he obviously enjoyed his job and, more importantly, believed in what he was selling. For someone with no money, no home, and no friends or family left that could help, the pitch sounded really good: modest income, training in modern and useful technologies, pension and support networks after discharge, and a chance to see the universe. I know that last might sound trite to those of us who travel the width and breadth of the cluster and realize that one seedy station bar is much like the next, but to me back then it added a certain amount of attraction especially since the events of the past week had left me feeling small, insignificant, and ignorant.

I was sold and I asked where to sign up. The recruiter had a good chuckle at my desperate enthusiasm and knew such feelings could change with a good night's sleep. He gave me a voucher for a cheap (but respectable) hotel on station for two night's stay and told me to come back then to catch the weekly Navy shuttle for new recruits. I found out later the shuttle runs every day (moving recruits and enlisted alike back and forth from the Navy installation) but in hindsight the experienced soldier wanted to make sure I wasn't going to wake up the next day with "enlistee's regret".

I crashed that night in the bed and got the best night's sleep in a long time. The next day I was free to do whatever so I mailed my parent's to let them know what I was doing and what had happened to Korannon; whether or not they read the message was up to them but I figured they should know. Then I tried to visit my brother in the hospital but since he was company property now he had been whisked away to a private ward. Fortunately a nurse recognized me and my plight and helped me sneak in for a quick minute to ease me mind. He was still in an induced coma but several advanced medical machines were hooked up to his injured areas and I felt better knowing that he was getting good care and would recover as much as possible from the blaster wounds. The company was good to its word and I only hoped he would get a decent job within the organization after he recovered.

The second morning I woke up early, reviewed everything carefully, checked out, and went to the docking level. There I found the correct hanger and saw the old Navy recruiter standing there with a pad. He smiled as I approached and asked, "Decided to go through with it still?"

"Yes sir, sign me up."

"Excellent, Kirith," he beamed as he handed the pad and stylus over. "I think you're a good catch for the Navy, I'll be following your progress through the ranks. Someday I bet I'll be saluting you!" For the first time in days I felt good. Hopeful for the future even. I smiled back and I meant it. "I hope so," I replied.

I boarded the shuttle, stored my meager belongings and sat in the back in a section marked clearly for civilians. A few other nervous new recruits were there and I introduced myself to them.

"Nice to meet you," a dark haired girl said, "my name is Cryst and this is my new friend Jace." The young man with dirty blond hair gave a handshake and added, "It's short for Jacellon." We exchanged pleasantries and moved into what we knew of the coming weeks as the shuttle disembarked and prepared to warp. My friendly nature worked its magic and soon we were laughing and talking like old friends. For the second time that day I felt really good and the future looked bright, my faith in humanity (or at least in the Caldari version) being restored.

iPhone Games

No time for Eve besides updating my buy and sell orders (about 35 of them all told) so today I'd figure I'd discuss some of the games I have on my iPhone for those moments between twins.

Ant Wars Lite - Free version, very fun. Will buy the full version some time in the future.

Plants Versus Zombies - Kind of a tower defence game, it is really fun and well done. I went through the campaign and only died once. Definitely worth the three dollars.

Simcity - I love the Simcity franchise and this version is merely ok. While it manages to capture the feel of Simcity 2000, the lacking parts such as no highways, elevated terrain, advanced buildings (fusion power and garbage incinerator for examples), subways, etc made the game feel tiny. Plus the map felt very small too early. Not a game I plan to come back to.

Space Miner: Ore or Bust - This is my current go to game, its essentially an updated Asteroids game with story and achievements. Having lots of fun and can see myself playing this for a while. I like that the first two levels of the game are free to try as a demo, and you can export your progress to the full game once you buy it. Definitely worth the money.

Faction Items for Sale

As part of the great 2010 asset liquidation, I have a bunch of faction modules gathered over the years that NEED TO GO! I'm offering here first before going on the public forums in a couple days. The prices are about equal to current lowest contract prices in high sec, and all items are located in Amarr system.

Propulsion:
Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner - 12 mil
SOLD - Domination 100MN MWD - 25 mil

Armour:
Shadow Serp reflective plating - 750 K
Shadow Serp Thermic Plating - 750 K
True Sansha Reflective Plating - 500 K
True Sansha Thermic Plating - 500 K
Dark Blood Energized Magnetic Membrane - 2 mil
Shadow Serpentis Energized Thermic membrane - 1 mil
Shadow Serpentis Medium Armour Repairer - 38 mil
SOLD - Shadow Serp Armour Kinetic Hardener - 7 milSOLD - Shadow Serp Armour Thermic Hardener - 10 mil
SOLD - True Sansha Armor Kinetic Hardener - 11 mil
SOLD - True Sansha Armor Thermic Hardener - 10 mil

SOLD - 2 x Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane - 35 mil each
SOLD - True Sansha Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane - 35 mil
Turrets:
2 x Ammatar Navy Mega Pulse Laser - 55 mil each
2 x True Sansha Mega Pulse Laser - 55 mil each

Shields:
Gistii B-Type Small Shield Transporter - 1 mil
Pithi C-Type Small Shield Transporter - 1 mil
SOLD - Gistii B-Type Small Shield Booster - 40 mil
SOLD - Domination Invulnerability Field - 50 mil

Misc:
Shadow Serpentis Medium Plasma Smartbomb - 3 mil
Domination Stasis Webifier - 75 mil
SOLD - Domination Warp Scrambler - 80 mil

Will consider reasonable counter offers and multiple item discounts. Email kkodachi@gmail.com if interested.

Why Planetary Interaction Is Important

I've seen a lot of disinterest and disparagement about the core of the Tyrannis expansion being Planetary Interaction (aka PI). I'm very excited about it so I thought I would write a post why I think PI is important and will have lots of positive impact for many pilots in the game. Counter opinions are welcome in the comments.

1) Superior immersion. Planets simply need to be more than warp beacons in space. They are the single most important thing in a solar system for role playing purposes as they are where the bulk of the billions of inhabitants in the universe live, most of the manufacturing base, research, politics... everything. In nearly every sci-fi setting planets are the backdrops to much of the action. Currently in Eve they are decorations.

2) Increase potential player density per system. What I mean is that the maximum number of players that can live permanently in a system or a constellation is limited by the amount of ISK the players can pull out of the system through their activities. PI gives an easily accessible ISK faucet that will allow more players to make a living in the same amount of space. Higher pilot density means greater opportunity for interaction (either cooperative or combative) which is good for everyone.

3) Increase player investment in territory. By allowing players to invest effort and ISK into a particular system or constellation, it gives players more feeling of ownership and something more to fight for should competition arrive. This is vitally important for players without the wherewithal to run and protect a POS (even a small tower is mammoth work for a small group) but still want to build something tangible.

4) Decrease NPC involvement in the markets. Its been indicated that the production facilities of PI will be separate from current production lines (Tech I, Tech II, Tech III, Drugs) and be used to build things currently provided by NPC orders on the market. This is a good thing as it allows the players to provide services in more areas, opening up more opportunities for players to participate in the complex market.

5) More incentive for Low Sec. The competition for resources in high sec will be fierce and decrease production for a lot of players. Low sec with its lower population density will be more lucrative, thus attracting the more adventurous pilots, thus providing more opportunities for interaction with pilots already there. I.e. more targets for low sec denizens.

6) More structure for Wormhole space. One of the problems with wormhole space is that a system can get drained of sites to exploit and there is no moon mining or respawning static belts to provide income. Since the planets will continue to provide income it will allow some wormhole groups to make more permanent homes.

7) Stepping stone to further development. PI had to start somewhere, and I really think this is a stepping stone to deeper interaction in the future. While combat on planet surfaces is not in the cards yet, its not hard to see how attacking other players installations is a logical next step. This opens up the possibilities of planetary bombardments and landings from our spaceships. Its also where DUST 514 will hook in.

To summarize: Planetary Interaction will deepen the experience and open more opportunities for pilot interaction, both cooperative and combative. This is a good thing in my opinion and will affect everyone in some form or another.

Skills!!!

Long time since I did a post on skills, might as well fill the gap.

During the sabbatical I've been refining skills that needed topping up, like Caldari Dread IV, Tactical Weapon Reconfiguration IV and getting Cruise Missiles V so I can train Citadel Cruise Missiles which I just finished yesterday. Essentially, making sure if I get in a Phoenix there is no question I can fly it properly and efficiently. Today I'm working on Large Blaster Specialization IV that only has a day left on it, then probably Remote Armour Repair Systems V so I can get access to Capital Remote Armour Repair Systems skill.

I had planned on doing Gallente Cruiser V but put that off for the time being, figuring I should fill in the holes. If the dread comes true and I do purchase a Wyvern, a whole bunch of other skills become important. But let's get to 15 billion ISK first.

Derranna on the other hand has been plugging away at Minmatar Battleship V in lieu of having to actually take care of her skills. It sets me up for capital ships should I decide to go that route, or at least tech II battleshps. She has a lot of gunnery skills left to train and a ton of drone skills, so she'll be busy all summer.

Regular blogging to resume in 3, 2, 1...

I won't bore you with details of fatherhood and the art of wrangling almost-two-year-old twins. Suffice to say the peace and quiet of a full time desk job is a welcome respite this morning.

In the past two weeks I had exactly two play sessions of Eve where I could sit down and log in to participate in any meaningful way. I talked about my adventures in the Ishkur last week already and last night I helped Max and corp mate Xenon with a level five mission. Nothing special to report other than two Golems and a Nightmare had a good go at the mission and only needed to warp out a couple times when the neutralizing towers were particularly nasty.

With the little 15 minute breaks I have had over the past week I've been continuing the "simplify" plan I talked about a couple weeks ago. In essence, I'm in the process of selling every asset I had gathering dust in my hanger for months on end and using the ISK to reinvest in my trading alt. So far I'm at around 6.5 billion in various buy and sell orders on that alt, and Kirith has another 1.8 billion in assets and orders left to liquidate. I've kept a handful of ships: The Ninveah carrier of course, a sniper Megathron, my old faithful Rokh Insisto Oblivium II, a cyno ship, a Mrymidon battlecruiser, and my dueling Kestrel Ethereal Nightmare. The Golem I used last night is a temporary renter and will be gone as soon as I get to market.

What do I plan to do with all this ISK? Well, the new goal is simple and yet hard: a Wyvern supercarrier. I figure I need 15-16 billion ISK to go looking for one, and probably closer to 20 billion for a decent setup. I'm not in a hurry, and I have a few more assets to liquidate and a few months of trading to build up the coffers. And if I change my mind and decide the Wyvern is an unfeasible goal, I still have all the ISK.

Dominix

Latest Fighting Spacecraft article at the Eve Tribune: The Dominix. I wrote and submitted it last month but issue at the Tribune have held it back until now. Enjoy

Date For Tyrannis

In the Tyrannis teaser video from CCP we see at the end that the due date for Tyrannis is May 18th. Sooner then expected.

Reports From Sisi

I got online a few nights ago on the test server and had about 10 minutes to snap some screenshots. Spent most of my time trying out the new planetary interaction but didn't have time to experiment. Its till very early though so no hard information you can depend on anyways. But in the process I got some wicked shots of the new Scorpion hull in the Tech II Widow colours.

Enjoy!

The Flight of the Unintentional Bait Ishkur

We had a small to medium gang roaming around Providence when word of a U'K fleet of interceptors and assault frigs nearby reached our ears. I was in my Ishkur named Isuldur and was asked to provide eyes in the next system and "get off the gate" which means 150+ km so I can scout and still hop-warp to the gate if need be. Unfortunately, I didn't have any such bookmarks in that system so I foolishly decided to make one instead of hugging the gate.

Six enemy ships were in system, three Crows, a Wolf, a Jaguar, and something else I do not recall. I warped away from the gate and then back at 100 km and started to burn out with my afterburner to 150 km. A few seconds late, when I was at about 120 km, the enemy fleet warped to the gate. I was too far to snag but two crows warped off and I knew they would be back at 100 km to cut the distance. I should have warped off at that point but I was 134 km away from the game and moving fast, I thought I could reach 150 km and then warp to the gate before they caught me.

I was wrong.

I hit 150 km as they warped back, but the slow down to turn around 180 degrees gave them the time to land and lock me. Just as I reached almost 75% speed to warp, they scrammed me. Since flight was out, fight it would have to be!

I figured I was dead. Too close to the gate for most of my fleet mates to warp to me, to far to burn out to. Regardless, I locked up the two Crows and activated my weapons (3 blasters, 1 nos, 1 warp scrambler, and 1 tracking disruptor... yes, I know, they don't work on missiles but I was in "throw everything at him!" mode) as well as my defenses, a small armour repairer and a damage control unit. My shields were gone in a flash but momentarily the armour held pace with the damage and a smidgen of hope blossomed in my breast. "Warp to me if you can!" I pleaded to my fleet.

Suddenly the Crows attempted to break off and a warp disrupt bubble expanded around me as some fleet members were able to warp and a Flycatcher dropped a bubble in hopes of catching the enemy. But they made their escape. Well, all but one. Remember that Crow I locked and threw everything at? Well, once I remember my drones and had my warp scrambler on him... he started to take a beating. I'd like to think I would have killed him myself but I don't mind sharing the killmail with a mate in a Hurricane.

That was a close one. I'm one lucky bastard tonight.

I Didn't Know Spectre Worked At CCP

When I saw this image in the latest Dev Blog on planetary interaction, I immediately thought of Spectre:

I'm really liking everything I'm hearing about planets, sounds like a lot of fun for a OCD empire builder player like me. I'm looking forward to building up a production network without the hassle of a POS or empire waiting lines.

Baby update: Everything went well on Monday, baby #3 is doing fine, big and strong. Mrs Kodachi is also well. I'm home last night and today with the twins for a break.

Fiction Friday: No Choice

Welcome to the last "chapter" of my story arc. Hope you enjoyed it!

Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

* * * * *

"I'm sorry Mr. Kodachi, there is nothing else we can do."

It was the thirtieth time that day I had heard someone tell me that and I was so sick of it I felt like punching someone.

I was too tired to think about what my father's curt message really meant when I got back to my room and I simply took some pain relievers and crashed into my bed. Ten hours later I popped some more drugs and had a long hot shower to clear my thoughts and wipe away the lingering smell of my brother's burned flesh. I threw out the clothes; I figured I probably would never get the combined stench of my unwashed body and his injuries out of them.

Finally coherent I pondered what to do about my father's message. I tried a return message but it came back unread and informed me I was blocked at that end point. I then messaged my mother to try and get a feel of what was going on but her reply held no comfort for me. She told me how my father was furious and raging about our ineptitude and how he had no sons anymore. I could feel her sorrow at being unable to help her boys but truth is my father was a tyrant and held complete control of all the family's finances such that my mother was for all intents and purposes his slave.

I was wondering how long my father's wrath was going to last when I received the message from the infirmary about our insurance coverage being revoked and asking me to come to them as soon as possible. My stomach lurched and I then knew just how furious my father was.

* * * * *
"I'm sorry Mr. Kodachi, there is nothing else we can do."

That sums up my first conversation with the infirmary official. My brother was in stable condition but without the insurance coverage to pay for further care I had two very unattractive choices: I could allow them to remove the advanced life support and transfer him to a public ward where he would most likely linger for a few days or weeks before dying from an infection or blood loss, or as his closest living relative I could sign the contracts that bind him to serve the infirmary's parent corporation once he was healed until such time as his accrued bills were paid, in essence turning him into an indentured servant.

I stalled for a bit while I tried to contact my father and mother to explain the situation, but my father refused to answer and my mother's endpoint was blocked as well, probably my father exerting his will over my helpless and enslaved mother. I tried contacting friends of the family in order to hopefully get a message through or elicit some monetary goodwill but the reception was cold or rebuked at every turn. My father was a powerful man back home and the news of his displeasure at his sons had traveled faster than the speed of light it seemed. More than ever I felt very alone and so wished I could talk to my brother, but he was still locked in a coma for his own good.

I couldn't let my brother die and the faceless bean-counters behind the infirmary's caring facade knew it. Reluctantly, I signed my brother's freedom away.

* * * * *
Not only was the insurance coverage gone, so was access to what little funds I had left in my account. I discovered this upon returning to the hotel and being told to pick up my things in the loading dock when my key pass didn't work anymore. I swore profusely at the desk clerk and was quickly and roughly escorted from the premises by security guards that looked more like Sarum Plains Buffalo. Unsurprisingly, most of our stuff had been rifled through while unwatched on the loading dock access corridor, and I was only able to salvage a single suitcase of clothes. "It doesn't matter to Korannon," I thought bitterly, "the corporation that owns him will provide for him now."

So that is how I found myself wandering the station's promenade with a single case of clothes dragging behind me on wheels, practically oblivious to my surroundings and with no where to go. My legs got tired after an hour and I found a bench to plop myself down on. I felt numb. I just didn't know what to do.

"Hi there."

I looked up numbly and saw a man in a naval uniform smiling at me. It wasn't full dress uniform like you saw at formal occasions, but it was perfectly creased and clean. I wondered what he was doing here. "Hi," I mumbled.

"You look like a man whose lost his way."

I was about to snap back an angry reply but suddenly realized I had walked far from the main promenade and was in an offshoot where a lot of small companies had offices where people worked. Behind the military man I saw a State Navy recruiting office that was brightly lit and empty.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

He sat down beside me and took on a fatherly tone of voice that I had heard in holos but never heard from my own father.

"When you're lost, you can either go back the way you came even if it means crawling through shit you can't stand and giving up stuff along the way, or you can stay where you are and hope someone finds you. Or you can go forward and not look back."

I looked at him. He was in his mid forties, grey at the temples and face lined but content. I knew he was trying to see if he could recruit me, but I appreciated his laid back approach. I was alone and any friendly face was a welcome site.

"You look like hell son."

I gave a rueful smile and tried to keep from breaking down. "I've been through hell." He nodded and pulled out a card from one of his pockets. "Here, take this. Its the address of a hostel on the surface. Tell them Randal sent you, they can set up up for a while until you figure out what you are going to do." I took it.

"Now I have to do my job," he said in a joking voice. I was cheered by his kindness and responded, "go ahead."

"State Navy is looking for strong young men. We pay a decent wage, giving you training in advanced technologies, and.... "he looked at me conspiratorially, all part of the act I assumed, "there is a new program for volunteers looking to become a capsuleer."

I perked immediately up at that last part, thinking to Barak Vorn and the other pod pilots I had heard of, immortal and respected the cluster over. "I'm listening."

He saw he had a foot in the door. "A regular tour is five years of service. One year training, four years on duty. You can apply to the capsuleer program after the year's training and then its another year of training and evaluation if you get accepted." Extra emphasis on the 'if' I noticed. "Then you spend six years serving the navy as one of its pod pilots, then you're free to go."

I thought for a minute, and being a good recruiter, he knew when to shut up and let me convince myself. The pay was better than living in a state welfare complex in some backwater moon, and the prospect of becoming a capsuleer was too enticing to pass up.

"I want to know more."

He affected surprise. "Don't want more time to think about it, consider options?"

"That's not necessary. There is nothing else I can do."

I'll Be Back...

On Monday we're off to the hospital to get the newest member of the Carebear Brigade going, so I'll be AFK for the next couple of weeks. I may still be seen in game from time to time as life permits, probably moving excess assets to Amarr and liquidating them. If you're looking for a rigged Domi, Megathron, Armageddon,  Abaddon, or Nightmare at a fair price drop me a line.

Tonight I'll be writing the last entry of my current Fiction Friday arc. Hope you enjoyed it, I might start it up again in the summer when things quiet down at home.

Call Me Lord William

More information about Tyrannis' planetary interaction can be found from this Ten Ton Hammer interview with a senior producer from CCP. Some points of interest...

So the general idea is that everybody can play EVE, every player can do stuff on any planet, and the more people that use a particular planet, the less valuable it is for that particular player. And of course there are over 65,000 planets in the game. And you can interact with each and every one of them. Including those that are in wormhole space, which can actually be quite challenging.

 Emphasis mine.
And:

TTH: Right, right. Will there be a new set of skills that players will need to master?
Torfi: Yes. Absolutely. Your ability to master a planet, to manufacture, build up, and manage it, will be bound by skills. But again, the barrier of entry is really low. We want people to get in on and get a feel for this feature early. And also, I should mention that the planetary interaction should not be thought about as a feature to replace any action that is already going on in EVE, today. It's more augmenting and re-experiencing EVE. It doesn't require you to sit and grind. You go and you build up infrastructure, but then you set up some manufacturing cycles and infrastructure, and that interacts while you are playing the game. Then you can go back to it and make sure that everything is going well. Lube the machines, so to speak. And collect stuff from them to sell to someone else, or pick it up. But in general you can actually be playing and profiting from planetary interaction while doing all of the other interesting things that you can do in EVE.

More:

We're not saying that your installation in high-sec is going to get blown to smithereens the day DUST hits the market, but for low-sec and zero-sec, DUST 514 will definitely play a part of allowing you to mess up other peoples' infrastructure and have interesting gameplay connecting the planets and mercenaries down on the planets in a very meaningful way. A way that is yet to be revealed, of course.

Not done yet:

TTH: Will the planets have some manufacturing and research possibilities that are currently done on stations?
Torfi: They won't have the same, no. We are not going to be competing with the industry, research and manufacturing on the stations. And they're not going to be competing with mining. We are not replacing any of these game systems. They will be a separate ecosystem, so to speak.

And finally:

TTH: Any timeline on this? I know you said it was a summer expansion.
Torfi: The goal is to have it out on the test server in little more than a week. It's going to be very embryonic. It's funny, because it's a recurring debate: we choose to put our stuff out really early, onto a test server, even if the UI isn't finished, the core experience isn't finished, and the pipeline isn't finished. Both to get player feedback, and also just to get people hammering on it to see what it can take. Some of us would prefer not to release anything until launch day, but we feel that it's better to get as many eyes on the feature as possible, and as many fingers clicking the buttons as possible, as soon as possible. But often it's confused or mistaken for a beta or for the real thing. What they're watching is just active software development.

Very exciting! I can't wait to see it in details on the test server.

At What Point...

... does the insane network of political coalitions fall apart?

 This image, shamelessly borrowed from A Mule In Eve (link above) shows the "Southern Coalition" on the left, the Northern Coalition on the upper right, and tiny little Provi-Bloc on the lower right. At some point it all has to unravel... right?

RIGHT?

Simplify

I started trading again.

I took 850 million ISK, put my trade alt in a hub, and told him to make money or get shot in the face. Not really sure why, its not like I need the money as I have a ton of ships already. I think I figured with time being constrained for the foreseeable future, I wanted something easy I could do to still log in and be active in Eve.

As part of this summertime activity, I think I need to simplify my hanger. I'm going to move a whack of assets gathering dust to Amarr and sell them. Then take the ISK and invest it in more trading or whatever. After all, I don't really need several battleships doing the same thing (short range low sec brawler) and I think I'm good after the third sniper cruiser. Perhaps if I played more often and lost ships more frequently I would do well to have lots of spares, but right now all I'm doing it collecting ships that I have barely any experience with.

We'll see how much money I'm left with after selling off extra assets and playing the casual trading game. If I get half way to affording a Wyvern, I might decide to make the push and go for the ship. We'll see.

* * * * *



Let's take a moment and check in with the Carebear Brigade! Its been a while since I peek in on my high sec miners...

Why those lazy layabouts! Time to whip them back into shape!

Tactical Withdrawal

With the new member of the Carebear Brigade due on Monday my life has been shifting gears. The pregnant wife can't get around as much to take care of household chores or the boys, so I've been picking up slack there, and when the new baby arrives, I'll be pretty much AFK for two weeks if not more.

This would not be a problem if Providence wasn't burning on the edges.

I like to have a lot of ships in my hanger, a ship for every purpose and doubles of important ships like sniping battleships. I roughly tallied up the value of the ships in my hanger in Providence, and the list started like this:

Carrier
Dread
Widow
Tengu
2 x Megas
Rokh
2 x Domi
Armageddon
Abaddon
Tempest
Typhoon
Raven
...

And then I started into the Battlecruisers. All ships fitted out too (except the Raven that I got on sale). Needless to say the thought of coming back from leave and finding the outpost in enemy hands with several billions ISK worth of ships was not attractive. So I began a pull out of assets from Providence to low sec within one carrier jump away. On Sunday I finished and breathed a sigh of relief, my hordes of ships safer in low sec.

I think if I get some spare minutes here and there I might trim the fleet down to a more manageable level.

Anyways, the process of the multiple jumps (carrier can only carry two battleships at a time) took up all my reserves of fuel so I had to send Derranna out last night to pick up some more in case I do find some time and I jump back with a couple PvP ships to Providence for one more go.

They Can't Shut Me Up!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of recording with Darren and Karen for Shut Up We're Talking episode 59, in which we talk about Ubisoft's DRM and Eve Online.

Had a great time, love podcasting.

Axis & Allies : The Fall of Germany

I got the original Axis & Allies board game when I was the perfect age for such a game: old enough to understand the rules, and young enough to have a lot of free time to play it with friends or solo. That original game became played out after many rounds and results and as an adult I found myself enjoying the more detailed Pacific and Europe versions instead.

But when I heard the old original had been updated with new rules and extra units (Destroyers and Artillery!) the urge to revisit the game was strong and for Christmas my wife bought me the game and I coerced Andrew, another early adopter of the original game, into playing me this past weekend.

Note: if you haven't played the original Axis & Allies, this post is not for you.

The first thing we noticed different was the map changes. A lot of sea zones had been added to slow down movement of ships and planes, and a few land zone changes in Europe and Africa would vastly change the ground war there.

We randomly picked sides and I winced a little as I got the harder Axis forces. I prefer defence in strategy games and knew that Andrew was my superior in taking apart offensive strategies. Still, I gamely setup and pondered how I would approach dealing with Russia and UK in Europe, and the American navy in the Pacific.

Another game changer: Soviet Union has the first turn! In the original, Germany got to go first giving them a step up in the attack. In this version, the Soviets were able to go on the offensive and take out my lead units. I tried to mount a counterattack but found I was always short infantry and tanks for the rest of the game despite purchasing almost nothing but those units.

I tried to make an attack in Africa, but despite battleship bombardment and outnumbering the British 2 to 1, my landing was repulsed and on the UK turn Andrew brought in the Indian Ocean navy to crush my hopes of Mediterranean Sea logistics. I retaliated next turn by putting his Atlanitic ocean transports to the bottom of the sea, but it was a short reprieve as the Soviets continued to push into German territory and roll back the waves of Volkstrurm and Panzers I poured at him.

By sending the British Indian navy fleet to the Mediterrean, Andrew gave up India to the Japanese (another game changer: victory is determined by controlling 9 out of 12 cities on the map, India containing one of them) and I did the standard "Pearl Harbour" attack. I made some progress in the land war in Asia, but a smart move by Andrew to eliminate my transports followed by a disasterous attack against the Soviets from Manchuria crippled my efforts and at one point I had no territory in Asia proper. I remedied that quickly but the lost turn was enough to ensure that Japan's days were numbered, especially after Andrew's fourth D-Day assault on Western Europe finally had enough forces to actually hold it.

I conceded at this point (actually, I admitted defeat a long time ago but we played on because we were having fun seeing how the Pacific theater would evolve) and moved on to some games of Panzer General which Andrew covers here.

I'm not sure what happened in Europe. I was on the back foot early and never recovered. I'd love to switch roles and see how Andrew plays the situation.

Next time Anderson! *shakes fist*

EDIT: Added images.

Shameless Blog Flogging

A great member of M3 corp, Lumenarious Rex, has started up his old blog, A Scout's Domain and in the process has posted a pretty insightful post on the current fighting in Providence.

Go take a look.