So I finally was able to leave the Wyvern in the hands of my alt and jump clone out to pick up some assets to bring to Vale of the Silent region.
And found myself in Providence. You see, when we were suddenly forced to evacuate by Ushra'Khan and the New Holders I had a jump clone still in station I could not extract because I was tied to the prow of the supercarrier. Fortunately, everything had been evacuated (including the Chimera thanks to Max) so all I had left was a little Ishkur assault frig. So this morning before downtime I figured the locals would be snoozing or ratting and I undocked from 2-TEG station for the last time for the foreseeable future. The jumps through Providence were uneventful; the systems were either empty or near empty or everyone was docked up.
I soon reached Misaba and set destination for Teshkat in nearby Tash Murkon region to warm up the engine of the old Ninveah itself.
SIDE NOTE: I'm having a huge internal debate over whether or not to rename the Chimera to something else and then rechristen the Wyvern as Ninveah. It seems like such a minor thing on paper but I can't stop thinking about it! Gah, to have the heart of a roleplayer is a cruel thing.
I checked the old carrier's ship maintenance array and saw a Myrmidon (Vexo's Special), a Kestrel (Ethereal Nightmare), a Crow interceptor, and a Vagabond belonging to my alt Kla'strit. In my high sec base I had the venerable Insisto Oblivium II Rokh battleship. The Vagabond was going to stay here as but the rest would form the basis of my new fleet.
The question arises: what else would I need?
As part of a spaceholding alliance, a sniper battleship is mandatory and the Rokh would suffice in that role. The Northern Coalition also often rolls in what they call Close Range Battleships which translates to 80-130 km optimal range. I'll get a Megathron for that once I'm back up north.
Battlecruisers are common due to their low price and decent utility so I have the Myrmidon for short range roams.
I'll need to purchase a Rook for certain HAC gangs and an Eagle for sniper HAC gangs (I know a Zealot is more ideal for that concept but I'm no good with Amarr ships or lasers). I'll probably get a Falcon because I love warping cloaked and being a jammer.
For small ships I have the Ishkur and Crow already. Might pick up a Buzzard with probes for having handy.
I'll get a Basilisk logistics even though Guardians and Scimitars are the preferred logistics ships these days. Always best to be prepared and in a war there is always something needing repairing.
Finally I will need a ship to help with ISK making efforts. If I have the ISK, a Tengu would be perfect as its small and agile yet still packs a punch. If not, a Nighthawk might suffice. If I'm really strapped, a Raven.
I got a lot of work to do, but first is getting the carrier to the north.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Another Podcast Episode!
Seems like Monday nights are my recording nights for the time being. Got another episode done, go here and give a listen.
Loading up my iPhone tonight, going to listen to Casiella's first episode where he/she talks about Eve fiction. Check it out here. Also looks like Jade and Jayne have a new one for Lost In Eve Season 2. Later in the week hopefully we'll get another Not A Lot Of News Newshour with Jason and Erin. Still waiting on another episode of Unknown Eve too; summer vacation is over guys!
Loading up my iPhone tonight, going to listen to Casiella's first episode where he/she talks about Eve fiction. Check it out here. Also looks like Jade and Jayne have a new one for Lost In Eve Season 2. Later in the week hopefully we'll get another Not A Lot Of News Newshour with Jason and Erin. Still waiting on another episode of Unknown Eve too; summer vacation is over guys!
Reminder: M3 is Still Recruiting
From our recruitment website, the m3 Corporation is recruiting.
If interested, follow the link above to read more details and feel free to join the "m3_public" channel and ask some questions. Also feel free it hit me up on evemail, email, or twitter and ask questions anytime.
m3 Corporation is a mixed race corporation, our main corporate activities are PVP, Mission Running, Ratting & exploration. Primaritly we are a PVP corporation and the focus is on nightly combat. We only have a cottage industrial arm which can provide combat ships for members. We DO NOT participate in any pirate activities as we operate as an Anti-Pirate corporation and a NBSI policy is in effect for the Corp in 0.0 and NRDS in Losec.
We are currently an active member of R.A.G.E Alliance based in Vale of the Silent.
We provide:
- A reliable strong bond within our leadership within m3. With the CEO and Directors being together for a long time, the plans of the corp are often discussed ensuring a secure and smooth running of the corporation.
- Friendly community. The initial plan of m3 corporation was to gain a good group of friendly players who enjoy playing EVE together, we have succeeded in this and we plan to keep it that way. Friends stretch far beyond corporation members, we have formed very strong allies with other corporations over our time in EVE and gang activities will often include members of our allies.
- Guidance and support. Every corp member gets 100% support off the other corporation members, we really like to focus on what the player wants to achieve and we'll help the player develop their character so they can do what it is they want to do within the corporation.
- Fun fun fun. We aim to make our members game play as enjoyable as possible. We are serious game players and we want members to push through and make their mark on the corporation. While the corporation has a senior command of a CEO Co-CEO and two directors, members have equal say into the activities and involvements of the corporation.
Drought Is Over
Last night I logged in for my weekly night of Eve action and found... nada. No corp ops, no alliance ops, no coalition CTAs. There were lots of fleets in fleet finder but nothing appeared local and I wasn't sure about randonly trying to join a non-RAGE fleet when I wasn't familiar with the North that much.
(I even checked the combined caps channel to make sure there was no need for the Wyvern and considered sending a message to Kesper saying "I'm here!! X-ing up now!!" but figured he might not get my frivolous sense of humour. )
Plus I had some logistics to do.
- The Wyvern parking alt is ready to park the supercarrier so I needed to get her the bookmarks of the region and move her into place.
- I'm pulling Kla'strit out of M3 to save on corp taxes as having two extra alts in corp is not needed once Kirith is able to be useful combat character again. That means moving his clones and ships out of null sec.
- Once Kirith is free, he needs to go get some stuff from the south in Empire and begin pulling together a fleet of ships for use in ops.
I started working on this when I so a fleet invite link in Alliance chat. It was not for a RAGE op but a Razor/Morsus Mihi op forming up for a roam. I checked the rally point location and saw it was merely 11 jumps away. With Kesper's indictment still ringing in my ears ("XTFU!") I decided logistics could wait and set destination and got on comms.
The fleet was asking for long range HACs or Battlecruisers but Kla'strit had already discharged all ships except for a Rapier into the transportation back to empire. Figuring that a force recon capable of heavy tackle, scouting, and making warp in points would always be welcome I saddled up and hit the warp lanes. I arrived as the fleet was moving into position to take out a AFK Hurricane in a safe spot and he provided no resistance as we melted him and the pod.
We continued the roam into Cobalt Edge and soon an Intrepid Crossing gang was moving to intercept. At this point I was struck how I was in completely new and unfamiliar space, flying with people I had never met or worked with before, against an alliance I used to be part of, and how much I was loving the game.
We got ready for a tussle and saw that the enemy fleet was mostly in battleships with a few battlecruisers so we were going to have to really rely on our superior agility to avoid getting smacked down. They jumped into us and the fight was on. I helped kill the initial Mrymidon that we primaried but was just out of range of the Eagle we killed next, it going down just as I got to the 34 km range of my webbers. We retreated after that kill and regrouped, killing an Eris interdictor that got too close to us near a planet.
The next engagement found the enemy getting a drop on us and we lost a couple ships, but then they pulled back to a station one system over. We baited them out but lacked the DPS to kill the Drakes and battleships fast enough with the station to dock into right there. Instead we decided the gig was up and the odds growing against us so we headed back towards home space.
With the two killmails I was in on the monkey on my back was gone and I felt a little better. Nowhere near the goal of 10 for august but at least I was out there killing something instead of dying. Had I brought a proper sniper HAC I could have gotten in on a couple more killmails and been almost halfway to the goal in one night. Just goes to show I need to overcome my fear of new situations and, as Kesper so eloquently put it, XTFU.
Here's to a better September.
* * * * *
As an update to the parking alt stuff: this morning before downtime I successfully exited the Wyvern and installed the alt into it, freeing Kirith to dock for the first time since... well, I don't remember when. I then jumped cloned to down south to retrieve my carrier and ships...
wait a minute....
why does the ticker say the region is ... Providence?
AH CRAP!
Wrong jump clone.
(I even checked the combined caps channel to make sure there was no need for the Wyvern and considered sending a message to Kesper saying "I'm here!! X-ing up now!!" but figured he might not get my frivolous sense of humour. )
Plus I had some logistics to do.
- The Wyvern parking alt is ready to park the supercarrier so I needed to get her the bookmarks of the region and move her into place.
- I'm pulling Kla'strit out of M3 to save on corp taxes as having two extra alts in corp is not needed once Kirith is able to be useful combat character again. That means moving his clones and ships out of null sec.
- Once Kirith is free, he needs to go get some stuff from the south in Empire and begin pulling together a fleet of ships for use in ops.
I started working on this when I so a fleet invite link in Alliance chat. It was not for a RAGE op but a Razor/Morsus Mihi op forming up for a roam. I checked the rally point location and saw it was merely 11 jumps away. With Kesper's indictment still ringing in my ears ("XTFU!") I decided logistics could wait and set destination and got on comms.
The fleet was asking for long range HACs or Battlecruisers but Kla'strit had already discharged all ships except for a Rapier into the transportation back to empire. Figuring that a force recon capable of heavy tackle, scouting, and making warp in points would always be welcome I saddled up and hit the warp lanes. I arrived as the fleet was moving into position to take out a AFK Hurricane in a safe spot and he provided no resistance as we melted him and the pod.
We continued the roam into Cobalt Edge and soon an Intrepid Crossing gang was moving to intercept. At this point I was struck how I was in completely new and unfamiliar space, flying with people I had never met or worked with before, against an alliance I used to be part of, and how much I was loving the game.
We got ready for a tussle and saw that the enemy fleet was mostly in battleships with a few battlecruisers so we were going to have to really rely on our superior agility to avoid getting smacked down. They jumped into us and the fight was on. I helped kill the initial Mrymidon that we primaried but was just out of range of the Eagle we killed next, it going down just as I got to the 34 km range of my webbers. We retreated after that kill and regrouped, killing an Eris interdictor that got too close to us near a planet.
The next engagement found the enemy getting a drop on us and we lost a couple ships, but then they pulled back to a station one system over. We baited them out but lacked the DPS to kill the Drakes and battleships fast enough with the station to dock into right there. Instead we decided the gig was up and the odds growing against us so we headed back towards home space.
With the two killmails I was in on the monkey on my back was gone and I felt a little better. Nowhere near the goal of 10 for august but at least I was out there killing something instead of dying. Had I brought a proper sniper HAC I could have gotten in on a couple more killmails and been almost halfway to the goal in one night. Just goes to show I need to overcome my fear of new situations and, as Kesper so eloquently put it, XTFU.
Here's to a better September.
* * * * *
As an update to the parking alt stuff: this morning before downtime I successfully exited the Wyvern and installed the alt into it, freeing Kirith to dock for the first time since... well, I don't remember when. I then jumped cloned to down south to retrieve my carrier and ships...
wait a minute....
why does the ticker say the region is ... Providence?
AH CRAP!
Wrong jump clone.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Fiction Friday - Interlude 3
This is the last interlude piece before I start series 3 and get back to Kirith Kodachi and his journey from person to podpilot. Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Non-Signatory Factions to the Yulai Convention
By Professor E. Carlson, Professor H. Hetrickolut, & Assistant Professor D. Pelso
Univeristy of Callie
[page 16/43]
Chapter 2 - The Levels of Command
Last chapter we talked about the existence of these mini-empires (Sanshas, Guristas, Blood Raiders, Serpentis, and Angel Cartel) outside of the control of the five major factions (Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, Jove, and Minmatar) and, more importantly, not signatories of the Yulai conventions. In future chapters we'll discuss how they manage to avoid assimilation despite being much smaller in terms of both population and military extent, for now we'll discuss how they are organized in their levels of command.
In general, despite vast differences in culture and philosophy, all five of the "pirate" factions organize their extended fleets much the same way.
The Core
What we call "the core" of the faction are those pilots and fleets with their hands on the levers of power and a say in the future of the faction. Another way of thinking of it is that these are the true citizens of the faction. They tend to stay close to the home colonies, have hulls and equipment far superior to even the navies of the major empires, and are relatively few in number. When CONCORD databases recognize the signature of the ship or the pilot's broadcast name, they return a qualifier so that interlopers can determine that the ship facing them is of a higher class of danger.
For example, Guristas ships of the core are designated with the qualifier "Dread" in the CONCORD database. Serpentis Corporation ships flown by the core are called "Shadow".
The number of "core" pilots and ships is very low, smaller than even some of the larger capsuleer alliances. The reason the capsuleers have not overwhelmed the renegade factions is due to the next two classes.
The Members
The members of a faction are those that guard the borders and provide the basic tactical leadership to the masses of the pirate fleets while the Core provides the overall direction. Again the CONCORD database qill return a qualifier when the sensor telemetry picks up the appropriate cues. In our example, the Guristas member ships are designated as "Dire" and the Serpentis known as "Guardian".
The quality of their ships are not as advanced as the core but are still impressive, matching typical naval hulls in performance and endurance. Their numbers are much high, approximately 10 member ships for every core ship, thus bulking out the factions considerably. Pilots and crews of this class can work towards promotion to the inner core and access to more power and resources, thus they tend to work tirelessly for the faction and have been known to be extremely competitive with their own fleet mates.
The Transients
The final class we identify is referred to as the transient class. The CONCORD database does not have a single designation for these ships as they are so many, but instead breaks them into five designations based on ship hull size.
For example, ships of the Guristas transient class are called:
Pithi - Frigate
Pithior - Destroyer
Pithum - Cruiser
Pithatis - Battlecruiser
Pith - Battleship
[page 17/43]
The quality of these crews and ships/equipment varies greatly, with some being nearly equivalent to naval vessels of comparable tonnage and some being "buckets of bolts" with crews made up of "planetsiders, slackards, and criminals". These ships can be found in fleets spread all over the area of operations of the faction and often even farther beyond, sometimes led by officers from the "member" or "core" classes, but often led by whatever charismatic person is nearby. The numbers of "transients" varies but is estimated at 10-20 times that of the member class, depending on the faction and recent events.
The reason we call them transient is because, for the most part, they treat the faction as a flag of convenience, flying it for access to whatever resources they can leverage to their advantage. For example, many of these ships cannot get licensed through CONCORD so they join the nearest pirate faction to gain protection from the local police who are often bribed to leave the local pirates alone (more in chapter 3). Also, they gain access to the secret outposts and smuggler's gates to bypass any imperial interference. For the most intrepid, they have the option of trying to make it in space outside of the empires, especially if they have some success at piracy and are starting to gain notice of the local authorities beyond what bribes can deflect.
The crews of this class are not always pure pirates. In fact, a majority attempt to make a living by mining asteroid belts beneath the notice of local governments and only resort to piracy as a last resort or when opportunity presents itself. The upper levels of this class often eschew mining, however, and work hard at raising themselves into the member class and all the privileges thus implied.
* * * * *
The Non-Signatory Factions to the Yulai Convention
By Professor E. Carlson, Professor H. Hetrickolut, & Assistant Professor D. Pelso
Univeristy of Callie
[page 16/43]
Chapter 2 - The Levels of Command
Last chapter we talked about the existence of these mini-empires (Sanshas, Guristas, Blood Raiders, Serpentis, and Angel Cartel) outside of the control of the five major factions (Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, Jove, and Minmatar) and, more importantly, not signatories of the Yulai conventions. In future chapters we'll discuss how they manage to avoid assimilation despite being much smaller in terms of both population and military extent, for now we'll discuss how they are organized in their levels of command.
In general, despite vast differences in culture and philosophy, all five of the "pirate" factions organize their extended fleets much the same way.
The Core
What we call "the core" of the faction are those pilots and fleets with their hands on the levers of power and a say in the future of the faction. Another way of thinking of it is that these are the true citizens of the faction. They tend to stay close to the home colonies, have hulls and equipment far superior to even the navies of the major empires, and are relatively few in number. When CONCORD databases recognize the signature of the ship or the pilot's broadcast name, they return a qualifier so that interlopers can determine that the ship facing them is of a higher class of danger.
For example, Guristas ships of the core are designated with the qualifier "Dread" in the CONCORD database. Serpentis Corporation ships flown by the core are called "Shadow".
The number of "core" pilots and ships is very low, smaller than even some of the larger capsuleer alliances. The reason the capsuleers have not overwhelmed the renegade factions is due to the next two classes.
The Members
The members of a faction are those that guard the borders and provide the basic tactical leadership to the masses of the pirate fleets while the Core provides the overall direction. Again the CONCORD database qill return a qualifier when the sensor telemetry picks up the appropriate cues. In our example, the Guristas member ships are designated as "Dire" and the Serpentis known as "Guardian".
The quality of their ships are not as advanced as the core but are still impressive, matching typical naval hulls in performance and endurance. Their numbers are much high, approximately 10 member ships for every core ship, thus bulking out the factions considerably. Pilots and crews of this class can work towards promotion to the inner core and access to more power and resources, thus they tend to work tirelessly for the faction and have been known to be extremely competitive with their own fleet mates.
The Transients
The final class we identify is referred to as the transient class. The CONCORD database does not have a single designation for these ships as they are so many, but instead breaks them into five designations based on ship hull size.
For example, ships of the Guristas transient class are called:
Pithi - Frigate
Pithior - Destroyer
Pithum - Cruiser
Pithatis - Battlecruiser
Pith - Battleship
[page 17/43]
The quality of these crews and ships/equipment varies greatly, with some being nearly equivalent to naval vessels of comparable tonnage and some being "buckets of bolts" with crews made up of "planetsiders, slackards, and criminals". These ships can be found in fleets spread all over the area of operations of the faction and often even farther beyond, sometimes led by officers from the "member" or "core" classes, but often led by whatever charismatic person is nearby. The numbers of "transients" varies but is estimated at 10-20 times that of the member class, depending on the faction and recent events.
The reason we call them transient is because, for the most part, they treat the faction as a flag of convenience, flying it for access to whatever resources they can leverage to their advantage. For example, many of these ships cannot get licensed through CONCORD so they join the nearest pirate faction to gain protection from the local police who are often bribed to leave the local pirates alone (more in chapter 3). Also, they gain access to the secret outposts and smuggler's gates to bypass any imperial interference. For the most intrepid, they have the option of trying to make it in space outside of the empires, especially if they have some success at piracy and are starting to gain notice of the local authorities beyond what bribes can deflect.
The crews of this class are not always pure pirates. In fact, a majority attempt to make a living by mining asteroid belts beneath the notice of local governments and only resort to piracy as a last resort or when opportunity presents itself. The upper levels of this class often eschew mining, however, and work hard at raising themselves into the member class and all the privileges thus implied.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Ask Nicely And I'll Do Anything
I got an email asking for some publicity. Compliment me and my blog? I'll pretty much put up a post for Satan with that kind of flattery.
That'll be 100 million ISK. (just kidding)
Hey!There you go Melleia. I can't verify the authenticity of this lottery but it looked low risk and I like to help the community when I can.
I've been reading your blog for awhile and have always loved it's content and your writing style. You also seem to garner a lot of traffic, which leads me to my main question...
Would you be willing to put up a little post/mention about a free Lottery that myself and two other third parties are putting on? Its open to everyone who plays Eve and we make no profit off of it (other than getting our names out a bit more).
We've already submitted a lead to the ISD, so hopefully we'll get some front page action :)
http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic& threadID=1373309
^ link to lotto
Prizes are...
1. Cruor
2. Any T2 Cruiser
3. Any T2 Frigate
Lemme know if you have any questions or concerns!
Thank you,
Melleia
That'll be 100 million ISK. (just kidding)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Solid Pilot
Orakkus over at 2nd Anomaly from the Left hits the nail on the head with his post about being a Solid Pilot.
Go, read.
Also, a new blog/news site was shown to me through twitter (sorry, I forget who) and I like it so far: Eve News 24. Check it out.
Go, read.
Also, a new blog/news site was shown to me through twitter (sorry, I forget who) and I like it so far: Eve News 24. Check it out.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Measuring Success
Despite my increase of playtime as of late, this has not translated into any killmails whatsoever.
1) Participated in a roaming gang that saw the gang have some success but I lost a Claw and Rapier.
2) Participated in a home defense effort that killed a couple ships before I got there.
3) Logged in one night to help with ISK making and had to log just before an operation.
4) Participated in a defense of an allied system but depsite spending over an hour I didn't get any killmails.
That last one was partly my fault for bringing a Rapier recon to a system where a fleet was shooting at POS mods and there were no reds in system.
So I'm making the best effort I can with the time I have available. When I was in Providence I had a lot more luck and managed at least 10 killmails a month easily, but I'm hoping its just bad luck here and it will turn around as I get more settled.
The corp has a goal of getting 10 killmails a month which I support. But my failure in August to get on the killboard has me all defensive and I have to restrain myself from prostrating on the forums with excuses and whines. The leadership is aware of my real life situation and lack of playtime and I assume if they are unsatisfied that I will receive notice. Still, I want to exceed expectations and contribute more.
So when it was suggested that upping the ante to a goal of 20 killmails a month I had to step back and ask "for what purpose?" And really, does 10 versus 20 make a difference if effort is being applied? And what about scouting and logistics. Although I don't show up on killmails I did some scouting in a couple of those engagements.
I like the idea of a goal to encourage new pilots to get stuck in, but a pilot getting over 100 killmails a month might consider 10 to be too low a bar to set. Logistic pilots might think 10 is too high. For me, 10 has been perfect up until this month of bad luck (ignoring March to July when log in time was near nil).
Of course, pilots making efforts in non-PvP fashion don't get any number to show for it on the killboard either. Carrier pilots moving stuff into 0.0, POS technicians making sure the towers are fed, leadership fielding convo requests and alliance discussions, Fleet commanders ironing out the fleet doctrine and ship setups, recruitment officers vetting the applications with interviews and background checks... and even me, the humble blogger, making the corp visible to the public and pushing possible recruits to the webpage like a publicity officer on the street.
Fortunately in M3's case the leadership is very aware of participation and effort outside of PvP and does take it into account. Otherwise they would have kicked me out a month or two ago.
So, 10 or 20, how do you measure success? Simple. The success of the corp.
Do things with others.
1) Participated in a roaming gang that saw the gang have some success but I lost a Claw and Rapier.
2) Participated in a home defense effort that killed a couple ships before I got there.
3) Logged in one night to help with ISK making and had to log just before an operation.
4) Participated in a defense of an allied system but depsite spending over an hour I didn't get any killmails.
That last one was partly my fault for bringing a Rapier recon to a system where a fleet was shooting at POS mods and there were no reds in system.
So I'm making the best effort I can with the time I have available. When I was in Providence I had a lot more luck and managed at least 10 killmails a month easily, but I'm hoping its just bad luck here and it will turn around as I get more settled.
The corp has a goal of getting 10 killmails a month which I support. But my failure in August to get on the killboard has me all defensive and I have to restrain myself from prostrating on the forums with excuses and whines. The leadership is aware of my real life situation and lack of playtime and I assume if they are unsatisfied that I will receive notice. Still, I want to exceed expectations and contribute more.
So when it was suggested that upping the ante to a goal of 20 killmails a month I had to step back and ask "for what purpose?" And really, does 10 versus 20 make a difference if effort is being applied? And what about scouting and logistics. Although I don't show up on killmails I did some scouting in a couple of those engagements.
I like the idea of a goal to encourage new pilots to get stuck in, but a pilot getting over 100 killmails a month might consider 10 to be too low a bar to set. Logistic pilots might think 10 is too high. For me, 10 has been perfect up until this month of bad luck (ignoring March to July when log in time was near nil).
Of course, pilots making efforts in non-PvP fashion don't get any number to show for it on the killboard either. Carrier pilots moving stuff into 0.0, POS technicians making sure the towers are fed, leadership fielding convo requests and alliance discussions, Fleet commanders ironing out the fleet doctrine and ship setups, recruitment officers vetting the applications with interviews and background checks... and even me, the humble blogger, making the corp visible to the public and pushing possible recruits to the webpage like a publicity officer on the street.
Fortunately in M3's case the leadership is very aware of participation and effort outside of PvP and does take it into account. Otherwise they would have kicked me out a month or two ago.
So, 10 or 20, how do you measure success? Simple. The success of the corp.
Do things with others.
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Return of Kirith Kodachi
Last night while online there was a CTA and there was a cap fleet that, in theory, I could have participated in with the Wyvern. But I declined and opted for the conventional support fleet. The reasons are because I haven't had a chance for getting familiar with RAGE cap fleets specifically and NC cap fleets in general and I had the new machine that was lacking all the necessary channels and voice comms. In a normal carrier, I might have been more adventurous.
The good news is that the parking alt is almost done Advanced Spaceship Command V, with less than 20 hours to go. That means in about a week I'll be able to extract my ass from the Wyvern and get back into the game. There is a lot to do:
1) Get new clone setup with the optimal implants I want for the Wyvern. My current clone is an all purpose with +4 normal implants.
2) Get Chimera out of storage and into the area of operations.
3) Get conventional PvP ships up and ready to go including battleships, HACs, HICs, inties, and Recons... ECM recons. I miss jamming people.
I think I'll continue to use Kla'strit as a PvE character because I want to continue to increase his security status (currently at -4.06) and the Maelstrom is a good PvE ship until Kirith rebuilds his fleet.
Speaking of skills...
Kirith has just over 5 days left for Sentry Drone Interfacing V for those Tech II sentry drones, and after that I'm throwing in Gallente Cruiser V just cause I want some funky Gallente ships. My alt Korneilia just started Minmatar Frigate V for access to the Covert Ops class of ships for probing.
ALSO: Episode 13 is up.
The good news is that the parking alt is almost done Advanced Spaceship Command V, with less than 20 hours to go. That means in about a week I'll be able to extract my ass from the Wyvern and get back into the game. There is a lot to do:
1) Get new clone setup with the optimal implants I want for the Wyvern. My current clone is an all purpose with +4 normal implants.
2) Get Chimera out of storage and into the area of operations.
3) Get conventional PvP ships up and ready to go including battleships, HACs, HICs, inties, and Recons... ECM recons. I miss jamming people.
I think I'll continue to use Kla'strit as a PvE character because I want to continue to increase his security status (currently at -4.06) and the Maelstrom is a good PvE ship until Kirith rebuilds his fleet.
Speaking of skills...
Kirith has just over 5 days left for Sentry Drone Interfacing V for those Tech II sentry drones, and after that I'm throwing in Gallente Cruiser V just cause I want some funky Gallente ships. My alt Korneilia just started Minmatar Frigate V for access to the Covert Ops class of ships for probing.
ALSO: Episode 13 is up.
Upgrade!
Back in the day when Warhammer 40K table top gaming was my raison d'etre I didn'd have much need for a high end gaming PC. I played games but they tended to be strategy games with abstract squares and circles or static pixelated models that an on board GPU could handle. A big boxed stored special off the shelf had more than enough horsepower for those games and mainly saw use for browsing the internet forums for new army ideas and fighting in holy wars over rules interpretations.
When Eve came into my life, the Shelf Special PC could not keep up. It often crashed warping into belts with three other players, and had performance issues all around with the graphics. So I upgraded.
But I was still fairly afraid of hardware (my strengths being in software) and I was constrained by budget on how much I could spend. So I went to Dell and in March of 2007 I purchased a Dell Special for my gaming needs. With a 19 inch monitor this PC proved adequate for Eve and other games; some lag was encountered but overall it was operable and playable.
Then in Christmas 2008 I upgraded to the 24" widescreen monitor which looked beautiful... but gave my Dell Special graphics card a stroke in trying to keep up drawing Eve in 1600x1200 display. So I delved into the complex and archaic world of hardware, specifically graphics cards, and managed to get a decent card to help my PC overcome the extra real estate. It took some wrangling, including bending some cooling sink prongs and sacrificing my DVD drive's ability to burn DVDs, but it worked and Eve was beautiful once more. The only time Eve lagged was in situations of gas clouds or grids with lots of structures and ships like complexes or missions.
But all was not well in my world still. Switching to voice comms to change channels often meant 10-15 seconds waits between alt-tabs, bringing up a browser sometimes was good and sometimes caused my machine to thrash for 30 seconds, and as the corp moved into 0.0 and did complexes together I found the client lag very frustrating and trying.
But most importantly, my wife discovered that her photo editing was taking longer due to a new 12 megapixel camera. Since she was taking more photos of large size, they had to be moved to an external drive and the lag involved with browsing them and editing them was driving her crazy. I got the green light to get a new PC.
The Search
I didn't want to make the mistakes of the past, but at the same time I was leery of trying to construct a PC from scratch. Worried about socket compatibility, adequate power, distilling the best parts for a reasonable price since I still had a modest budget... it was all very stressful.
I avoided Dell and the big box store knowing now that they cut corners on quality and use big numbers to try and make the sale sound good, and I went to a local shop that specialized in servicing the more knowledgeable clientele. I saw that they had a series of "bundles" built for various purposes and I found one that was in my price range. I then took every piece of hardware in it and checked up on reviews on the internet, confirming that the piece appeared adequate for my needs.
Motherboard with decent CPU? Check.
Graphics card with comparable Frames per second in benchmarks to my old one? Check, big improvements actually.
Memory? Harddrive? Check.
Windows 7 64 bit compatible? Check.
I checked with some corp mates into PC hardware and got confirmation: decent setup for the price. I pulled the trigger last Thursday and went home with my new PC. MUHAHAHAH!
The Result
Last night I logged into Eve from the new PC, setup voice comms and overview settings, and overall I have to say.... WHAT A SWEET RIDE! Client side lag in the fleet gate camp I participated in (~200 ships) was non-existent with high graphic settings and all effects turned on. Switching programs to Teamspeak was seamless, and the browser loading was not even noticeable. So far, its been extremely satisfying.
I haven't tried dual clients yet, nor compared windowed mode versus full screen mode, but I'm confident it will all be good for the next three years for Eve playing. Next big challenge will be to see how Batman: Arkham Asylum looks and performs on the new PC. My old PC didn't even match up to minimum requirements (CPU was too low) yet I slogged through it and finished the game anyways on worst graphic settings and horribly laggy fight scenes in some cases. We'll see.
When Eve came into my life, the Shelf Special PC could not keep up. It often crashed warping into belts with three other players, and had performance issues all around with the graphics. So I upgraded.
But I was still fairly afraid of hardware (my strengths being in software) and I was constrained by budget on how much I could spend. So I went to Dell and in March of 2007 I purchased a Dell Special for my gaming needs. With a 19 inch monitor this PC proved adequate for Eve and other games; some lag was encountered but overall it was operable and playable.
Then in Christmas 2008 I upgraded to the 24" widescreen monitor which looked beautiful... but gave my Dell Special graphics card a stroke in trying to keep up drawing Eve in 1600x1200 display. So I delved into the complex and archaic world of hardware, specifically graphics cards, and managed to get a decent card to help my PC overcome the extra real estate. It took some wrangling, including bending some cooling sink prongs and sacrificing my DVD drive's ability to burn DVDs, but it worked and Eve was beautiful once more. The only time Eve lagged was in situations of gas clouds or grids with lots of structures and ships like complexes or missions.
But all was not well in my world still. Switching to voice comms to change channels often meant 10-15 seconds waits between alt-tabs, bringing up a browser sometimes was good and sometimes caused my machine to thrash for 30 seconds, and as the corp moved into 0.0 and did complexes together I found the client lag very frustrating and trying.
But most importantly, my wife discovered that her photo editing was taking longer due to a new 12 megapixel camera. Since she was taking more photos of large size, they had to be moved to an external drive and the lag involved with browsing them and editing them was driving her crazy. I got the green light to get a new PC.
The Search
I didn't want to make the mistakes of the past, but at the same time I was leery of trying to construct a PC from scratch. Worried about socket compatibility, adequate power, distilling the best parts for a reasonable price since I still had a modest budget... it was all very stressful.
I avoided Dell and the big box store knowing now that they cut corners on quality and use big numbers to try and make the sale sound good, and I went to a local shop that specialized in servicing the more knowledgeable clientele. I saw that they had a series of "bundles" built for various purposes and I found one that was in my price range. I then took every piece of hardware in it and checked up on reviews on the internet, confirming that the piece appeared adequate for my needs.
Motherboard with decent CPU? Check.
Graphics card with comparable Frames per second in benchmarks to my old one? Check, big improvements actually.
Memory? Harddrive? Check.
Windows 7 64 bit compatible? Check.
I checked with some corp mates into PC hardware and got confirmation: decent setup for the price. I pulled the trigger last Thursday and went home with my new PC. MUHAHAHAH!
The Result
Last night I logged into Eve from the new PC, setup voice comms and overview settings, and overall I have to say.... WHAT A SWEET RIDE! Client side lag in the fleet gate camp I participated in (~200 ships) was non-existent with high graphic settings and all effects turned on. Switching programs to Teamspeak was seamless, and the browser loading was not even noticeable. So far, its been extremely satisfying.
I haven't tried dual clients yet, nor compared windowed mode versus full screen mode, but I'm confident it will all be good for the next three years for Eve playing. Next big challenge will be to see how Batman: Arkham Asylum looks and performs on the new PC. My old PC didn't even match up to minimum requirements (CPU was too low) yet I slogged through it and finished the game anyways on worst graphic settings and horribly laggy fight scenes in some cases. We'll see.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Fiction Friday - Interlude 2
Essay - The Unintended Rise of the Capsuleer and its Effects on Cluster Politics
By Professor G. Kellarran, University of Umokka, Political Science Department
In YC 105 the capsuleer technology came to the empires and they began using them in military applications but found the process time consuming and resource intensive as training and testing the candidates required the utmost care and deliberation. In order to offload some of the difficulties and cost the Minmatar Republic licensed the process to corporate interests so that they could create private citizen pod pilots. The other factions soon followed suit in order to maintain the balance of power since a single ship flown by a capsuleer is magnitudes more powerful than standard vessels of the same class.
However, the four main empires and all other political entities in the cluster would soon begin to realize their mistake and all attempts to put the genie back in the bottle have failed horribly with unintended and far reaching consequences.
The Start of the Spiral
While capsuleer vessels in the military are useful, they are still bound by the restrictions all military must have in order to prevent militarization of the government. In addition they must be held accountable and their actions must not reflect poorly on the leadership. Right from the start independent pod pilots were not bound by such restrictions. While ostensibly being employed by mega corporations the demand for the services of the powerful mercenaries meant that the mega corps could not exert any coercive control over their newly created pilots; instead they could only offer rewards for service and had to compete with any other corporations.
The result was that the mega corps hired agents to hire the capsuleers for work that the navy and local police forces were too busy or too weak to deal with. Or for work that was in the grey areas of legality. As competition for the services of the capsuleers grew the rewards increased; as the capsuleers became more affluent, they were able to use more expensive ships and weapons and accomplish much more difficult tasks; and as the tasks became more involved, the rewards increased further.
Along with the monetary rewards, there were other perks as well. Entire decks of stations dedicated to the sole use of the pod pilots. Complete industries arose to provide services and special items like exotic drugs or advanced implants. Legions of exotic dancers and indentured servants. Specialized custom designed star ships. The list goes on.
This spiral of inflation had two major effects: the first was that it created an environment of entitlement to the capsuleers which began to isolate them socially from most everyone else; and secondly it gave them much more opportunity to become mobile to search out better business dealings.
The Loyalty Detachment
As the capsuleer community developed into its own social circle, the barriers to cross faction cooperation slowly dissolved1. For example, a Gallente capsuleer on an Amarr station has more in common with a Caldari capsuleer on the same station. Plus both individuals share a common language, monetary system (i.e. ISK), job hazards, associates, etc.
When CONCORD recognized the formation of Capsuleer alliances of corporations in late 106, it was already a fait accompli. Corporations owned and operated solely by capsuleers had been in existence since late 105 and cooperation between them started almost immediately afterward. Where a single capsuleer was deadly to standard ships, groups of capsuleers were forces of nature. Independents operating under pirate flags were virtually wiped out of high security space in a matter of months and all efforts to infiltrate those systems have proven futile.
These social developments meant that many capsuleers began to experience a sense of detachment from their "home" civilization. Their loyalties became more focused to the pod pilots in their fleet and less to the government they were considered citizens of.
CONCORD's Unintended Interference
During the rise of the capsuleer the officials at CONCORD sought to use these new mercenaries in an effort to bring law and order to low security space and null security space. To to this CONCORD signed a treaty with the empires (but more intended for the capsuleers) specifying that bounties would be paid to private individuals or corporations for the destruction of ships of the "pirate" factions (the amount paid determined by a schedule based on identified ship class). Since most corporations had defence forces capable of disuading minor attacks but not capable of launching massive assaults on pirate strongholds, only the capsuleer benefited from this new treaty and they immediately began to wage an unrelenting war on the bounties.
The unintended upshot of this development was the increased pressure of pod pilots to work together in pseudo-military fashion to attack further and further into the pirate territories. This cooperation forged tighter bonds and in a matter of months turned the capsuleer community from a collection of individuals to a number of organized military forces both in low sec and null sec.
The Development of the Alliance and Coaltion
The sense of loyalty replacement is further exacerbated for pod pilots who seek their fortunes in the space beyond the control of the four major empires. In the lawless space the capsuleer alliances become the local governments handing down rules and rulings on a daily basis, competing with the existing "Pirate" factions and other alliances for control of the vast resources found there. Sometimes several alliances form mutual defence pacts and form what is roughly referred to as coalitions which can comprise of thousands of pilots and untold tonnes of war ships.
The Balance of Power
The total number of capsuleers currently in the combined empires' navies is roughly a quarter of the number of currently active private capsuleers2. Fortunately, several factors prevent this new faction from overwhelming cluster politics.
1) Most capsuleers have no interest beyond self interest - they just want to make themselves rich and don't bother with inter-cluster politics.
2) Many capsuleers have not completely disengaged from their home societies - the Minmatar especially are drawn back to Pator and Rens to reconnect with their fellow Matari. Some even join the faction sponsored war for establishing administrative control of low sec areas between the empires.
3) The largest and most organized capsuleer alliances exist in lawless space and compete with each other for resources there.
Should some event drive the capsuleers together, they would form a single industrial-military faction as powerful as any of the four empires.
The Future
With the recent CONCORD announcement3 of the revoked prohibition on capsuleer ownership of planetary resources, the accumulation of power in this new class of society continues to accelerate. Thousands of small local corporations have already closed doors or been purchased in this new land rush. Since even the poorest capsuleers are millionaires many times over (current market value trading has 1 ISK = 1032 State Credits) the limit on what they can accomplish is continually being pushed back.
Is it not inconceivable that faction politics and CONCORD are already being unduly influenced by these military moguls. And we have to ask the question: are conspiracy theorists right4 that the Jovians' most damaging attack on the empires was to unleash cloning and pod technology upon them? Could the rise of the capsuleer be an effort to disrupt the empires beyond all repair?
* * * * *
References:
1 - The Scope's Cluster Census for YC 106
2 - DED Enforcements Military Analysis Guide '08
3 - CONCORD Press Release 09/06/12
4 - Jovian Politics and Motivations by G. Turner
By Professor G. Kellarran, University of Umokka, Political Science Department
In YC 105 the capsuleer technology came to the empires and they began using them in military applications but found the process time consuming and resource intensive as training and testing the candidates required the utmost care and deliberation. In order to offload some of the difficulties and cost the Minmatar Republic licensed the process to corporate interests so that they could create private citizen pod pilots. The other factions soon followed suit in order to maintain the balance of power since a single ship flown by a capsuleer is magnitudes more powerful than standard vessels of the same class.
However, the four main empires and all other political entities in the cluster would soon begin to realize their mistake and all attempts to put the genie back in the bottle have failed horribly with unintended and far reaching consequences.
The Start of the Spiral
While capsuleer vessels in the military are useful, they are still bound by the restrictions all military must have in order to prevent militarization of the government. In addition they must be held accountable and their actions must not reflect poorly on the leadership. Right from the start independent pod pilots were not bound by such restrictions. While ostensibly being employed by mega corporations the demand for the services of the powerful mercenaries meant that the mega corps could not exert any coercive control over their newly created pilots; instead they could only offer rewards for service and had to compete with any other corporations.
The result was that the mega corps hired agents to hire the capsuleers for work that the navy and local police forces were too busy or too weak to deal with. Or for work that was in the grey areas of legality. As competition for the services of the capsuleers grew the rewards increased; as the capsuleers became more affluent, they were able to use more expensive ships and weapons and accomplish much more difficult tasks; and as the tasks became more involved, the rewards increased further.
Along with the monetary rewards, there were other perks as well. Entire decks of stations dedicated to the sole use of the pod pilots. Complete industries arose to provide services and special items like exotic drugs or advanced implants. Legions of exotic dancers and indentured servants. Specialized custom designed star ships. The list goes on.
This spiral of inflation had two major effects: the first was that it created an environment of entitlement to the capsuleers which began to isolate them socially from most everyone else; and secondly it gave them much more opportunity to become mobile to search out better business dealings.
The Loyalty Detachment
As the capsuleer community developed into its own social circle, the barriers to cross faction cooperation slowly dissolved1. For example, a Gallente capsuleer on an Amarr station has more in common with a Caldari capsuleer on the same station. Plus both individuals share a common language, monetary system (i.e. ISK), job hazards, associates, etc.
When CONCORD recognized the formation of Capsuleer alliances of corporations in late 106, it was already a fait accompli. Corporations owned and operated solely by capsuleers had been in existence since late 105 and cooperation between them started almost immediately afterward. Where a single capsuleer was deadly to standard ships, groups of capsuleers were forces of nature. Independents operating under pirate flags were virtually wiped out of high security space in a matter of months and all efforts to infiltrate those systems have proven futile.
These social developments meant that many capsuleers began to experience a sense of detachment from their "home" civilization. Their loyalties became more focused to the pod pilots in their fleet and less to the government they were considered citizens of.
CONCORD's Unintended Interference
During the rise of the capsuleer the officials at CONCORD sought to use these new mercenaries in an effort to bring law and order to low security space and null security space. To to this CONCORD signed a treaty with the empires (but more intended for the capsuleers) specifying that bounties would be paid to private individuals or corporations for the destruction of ships of the "pirate" factions (the amount paid determined by a schedule based on identified ship class). Since most corporations had defence forces capable of disuading minor attacks but not capable of launching massive assaults on pirate strongholds, only the capsuleer benefited from this new treaty and they immediately began to wage an unrelenting war on the bounties.
The unintended upshot of this development was the increased pressure of pod pilots to work together in pseudo-military fashion to attack further and further into the pirate territories. This cooperation forged tighter bonds and in a matter of months turned the capsuleer community from a collection of individuals to a number of organized military forces both in low sec and null sec.
The Development of the Alliance and Coaltion
The sense of loyalty replacement is further exacerbated for pod pilots who seek their fortunes in the space beyond the control of the four major empires. In the lawless space the capsuleer alliances become the local governments handing down rules and rulings on a daily basis, competing with the existing "Pirate" factions and other alliances for control of the vast resources found there. Sometimes several alliances form mutual defence pacts and form what is roughly referred to as coalitions which can comprise of thousands of pilots and untold tonnes of war ships.
The Balance of Power
The total number of capsuleers currently in the combined empires' navies is roughly a quarter of the number of currently active private capsuleers2. Fortunately, several factors prevent this new faction from overwhelming cluster politics.
1) Most capsuleers have no interest beyond self interest - they just want to make themselves rich and don't bother with inter-cluster politics.
2) Many capsuleers have not completely disengaged from their home societies - the Minmatar especially are drawn back to Pator and Rens to reconnect with their fellow Matari. Some even join the faction sponsored war for establishing administrative control of low sec areas between the empires.
3) The largest and most organized capsuleer alliances exist in lawless space and compete with each other for resources there.
Should some event drive the capsuleers together, they would form a single industrial-military faction as powerful as any of the four empires.
The Future
With the recent CONCORD announcement3 of the revoked prohibition on capsuleer ownership of planetary resources, the accumulation of power in this new class of society continues to accelerate. Thousands of small local corporations have already closed doors or been purchased in this new land rush. Since even the poorest capsuleers are millionaires many times over (current market value trading has 1 ISK = 1032 State Credits) the limit on what they can accomplish is continually being pushed back.
Is it not inconceivable that faction politics and CONCORD are already being unduly influenced by these military moguls. And we have to ask the question: are conspiracy theorists right4 that the Jovians' most damaging attack on the empires was to unleash cloning and pod technology upon them? Could the rise of the capsuleer be an effort to disrupt the empires beyond all repair?
* * * * *
References:
1 - The Scope's Cluster Census for YC 106
2 - DED Enforcements Military Analysis Guide '08
3 - CONCORD Press Release 09/06/12
4 - Jovian Politics and Motivations by G. Turner
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Cargo Scanning Primer
From the forums: Mythbusters Cargo Scanner:
Recently an old and popular topic came up again: How to protect cargo from the eyes of others.Read the whole thing for his tests and results.
It annoyed me a bit, that you get at least 3 different answers to that question. It's said that ...
- password protected containers help,
- password protected audit log containers help,
- contract boxes help.
Some of you might know the 4th and true answer already (tl;dr): None of this helps! Well, not alone at least.
Edit: Answer 5, as Minchurra and Serpentis Smile pointed out: The corp hangar of the Orca is safe from other's eyes.
Colonies Redux
Last week I showed off my two colonies and a lot of feedback showed where I was being inefficient and losing materials. I revamped my colonies and added two more, one on a gas planet to produce Oxygen and another on a Plasma planet to produce Enriched Uranium. Here are the revamped and new colonies.
Storm Planet
I kept the extractors but moved the factories to the new launchpad and route everything into it. I was able to add two more base factories to keep up with demand. I know the whole centre of the complex could be moved to make the links from the extractors more efficient but I couldn't be bothered.
Barren Planet
The advanced factory is so out of place because it was part of the original design without the launchpad. The extractors are also the old ones, but the launchpad and four basic factories are all new as well as all the links. Producing Mechanical Parts here.
Gas Planet
Since Oxygen is a P2 resource there is no need for two types of P1 resources to process, thus the complex is very compact and efficient.
I'm considering the distributed processing methodology where I do nothing but extract on resource planets and ship the P1s to barren / temperate planets in high sec for production. My next phase where I exploit wormhole systems might rely on that type of colony setup to maximize return on investment.
Plasma Planet
This is the rarest planet that I've setup a colony on and it produces Enriched Uranium slowly. I made a mistake when creating the colony and forgot to build a launchpad and instead used the Command Centre. This of course caused me to run out of space pretty darn fast. I fixed this after one day but the resulting re-jiggering has the launchpad and the Command Centre in the opposite locations. Oh well.
Due to the slow rate of production, this is the only colony I wish I had Elite Command Centre for to increase resource extraction.
Final thoughts
Compared to invention, I find Planetary Interaction much more satisfying as an industrial experience. There were times when setting up invention jobs where I just wanted to scream and die. Only ten at a time and each one was a journey of agonizing clicks.
While I agree that PI is very clicky at least its fast and I'm hopeful that the next iteration will add some shortcuts to the process of setting up extractors for a new round.
My next project is to find a wormhole to exploit and see if the resources are considerably more plentiful than in low sec, and if so, how much more and if it would make it worth the logistic hassle to exploit it and ship P1 and/or P2 material out. If any wormhole dwellers have some info on that topic, I would love to hear it (comment or email).
Storm Planet
Barren Planet
Gas Planet
I'm considering the distributed processing methodology where I do nothing but extract on resource planets and ship the P1s to barren / temperate planets in high sec for production. My next phase where I exploit wormhole systems might rely on that type of colony setup to maximize return on investment.
Plasma Planet
Due to the slow rate of production, this is the only colony I wish I had Elite Command Centre for to increase resource extraction.
Final thoughts
Compared to invention, I find Planetary Interaction much more satisfying as an industrial experience. There were times when setting up invention jobs where I just wanted to scream and die. Only ten at a time and each one was a journey of agonizing clicks.
While I agree that PI is very clicky at least its fast and I'm hopeful that the next iteration will add some shortcuts to the process of setting up extractors for a new round.
My next project is to find a wormhole to exploit and see if the resources are considerably more plentiful than in low sec, and if so, how much more and if it would make it worth the logistic hassle to exploit it and ship P1 and/or P2 material out. If any wormhole dwellers have some info on that topic, I would love to hear it (comment or email).
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Perfect Maelstrom
Last night I got my Eve time and went to the computer to log in.
"Emergency Downtime"
Well crap. So I puttered around with various things like Gratuitous Space Battles (would have been Batman but it was uninstalled for space) until Eve came back and I could log in again. I found the corp was gearing up to take out a few anomalies so I jumped Kla'strit into the Maelstrom and buckled up for a test flight.
I was pleased with the 1200mm artillery range and DPS. At optimal the salvo could punch holes through the shields and into armour, battlecruisers especially melted under my weapons in seconds. The multiple flights of drones are so nice (FIX THE ROKH) and the tank was impressive enough that even when I caught most of a spawn's aggression I handled it without sweat as the X-Large Shield Booster II fixes over 1100 points per cycle on this ship with this setup. Overall, more than acceptable as a PvE ship. But.....
But.
But its not me.
Its been months but whenever I log in and fly as Kirith I feel like an impostor. I've gotten familiar with Minmatar ships and projectile weapons (ignoring the fact I had 2000 rounds of the wrong tech II ammo in my hold last night) but I miss my Caldari ships, my Gallente backups, and my railguns and missiles. I miss my carrier. I miss my name in local and my ugly mugshot.
The good news is that Kirith will be free to leave the confines of the supercarrier in a bit more than a week as the alt is nearing the end of its training. I can't wait to cruise down to Tash Murkon and shake the cobwebs out of the Ninveah.
"Emergency Downtime"
Well crap. So I puttered around with various things like Gratuitous Space Battles (would have been Batman but it was uninstalled for space) until Eve came back and I could log in again. I found the corp was gearing up to take out a few anomalies so I jumped Kla'strit into the Maelstrom and buckled up for a test flight.
I was pleased with the 1200mm artillery range and DPS. At optimal the salvo could punch holes through the shields and into armour, battlecruisers especially melted under my weapons in seconds. The multiple flights of drones are so nice (FIX THE ROKH) and the tank was impressive enough that even when I caught most of a spawn's aggression I handled it without sweat as the X-Large Shield Booster II fixes over 1100 points per cycle on this ship with this setup. Overall, more than acceptable as a PvE ship. But.....
But.
But its not me.
Its been months but whenever I log in and fly as Kirith I feel like an impostor. I've gotten familiar with Minmatar ships and projectile weapons (ignoring the fact I had 2000 rounds of the wrong tech II ammo in my hold last night) but I miss my Caldari ships, my Gallente backups, and my railguns and missiles. I miss my carrier. I miss my name in local and my ugly mugshot.
The good news is that Kirith will be free to leave the confines of the supercarrier in a bit more than a week as the alt is nearing the end of its training. I can't wait to cruise down to Tash Murkon and shake the cobwebs out of the Ninveah.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
*Waves to CCP xHagen*
I'm at home off work today, mainly helping my wife as the entire family recovers from a headcold. I had it pretty bad yesterday but I'm feeling much better today; unfortunately, SWMBO is suffering a lot more today and is in no shape to wrangle the carebear bridgade.
A couple quick notes: I did find some time to record episode 12 of Broadcasts from the Ninveah and last week Jason of Notalotofnews Newshour had a special interview with CCP xHagen who is the CSM advocate at CCP. I highly recommend you give it a listen.
Best part of the interview is where CCP xHagen acknowledges that he knows of my blog. So a shout out to one cool Icelandic dude. *thumbs up*
(If other CCP employees are jealous and want their own shout outs, contact me. My loyalty can be purchased with ISK real easy.)
A couple quick notes: I did find some time to record episode 12 of Broadcasts from the Ninveah and last week Jason of Notalotofnews Newshour had a special interview with CCP xHagen who is the CSM advocate at CCP. I highly recommend you give it a listen.
Best part of the interview is where CCP xHagen acknowledges that he knows of my blog. So a shout out to one cool Icelandic dude. *thumbs up*
(If other CCP employees are jealous and want their own shout outs, contact me. My loyalty can be purchased with ISK real easy.)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Battlestar Galactica: Great Game or Best Game?
On Saturday I got together with old friends for Andrew's 3rd Annual Bachelor Party in which we eat a decadent breakfast and then spend the rest of the day playing board games, drinking caffeine, and eating unhealthy snacks.
The board game we chose this year was Battlestar Galactica from Fantasy Flight Games. Its not the typical game we would pick as we tend to go for games with empires and army build up with massive clashes and invasions of conquest. With Battlestar Galactica (aka BSG) there is no long term build up and conquest strategy; instead it is a constant immediate decision tactical game as players work cooperatively to stay alive (i.e. not run out of the four resources) long enough to reach the destination.
Well, mostly cooperative. You see, the game includes a traitor mechanic in which a number of players can switch from helping the group of humans to survive to secretly attempting to sabotage them and make the humans lose. These are the Cylons and these are what turns a pretty standard coop game into a literal mind-f*ck and one of my favourite games ever.
There was five of us playing which meant although we picked characters and set up as humans, before the first turn secret loyalty cards are dealt out which has a possibility of turning two players into hidden Cylons. Halfway through the game the rest of the loyalty cards are dealt so you are guaranteed of having one Cylon but most likely two at that point. As a human you spend a lot of effort trying to suss out who the Cylons are by their actions because unrevealed Cylons are dangerous to the fleet and can cause skill checks to go badly throughout the game. If you think you know who a Cylon is you can send them to the brig where their impact is lessened a lot. However, you guess wrong and put a human player in the brig they can't help out anywhere near as much and trying to convince people you are not a Cylon is surprisingly hard.
We played the game twice. In the first game the population resource was hit hard by a massive attack so the fleet was reeling even though there was no Cylons out initially (not that we knew though). At the mid point Brian and I became Cylons but Brian overplayed his hand in a skillcheck he decided to sabotage and got thrown in the brig early. Realizing he was cornered he revealed himself and got sent to the Cylon areas where he could do more than in the brig. Unrevealed Cylons are by far the more powerful.
I played my status very carefully, helping out on skill checks and strategy most of the time and sabotaging skill checks that were the most crucial. (Skill checks are done by a hidden card mechanic with a random element thrown in to give Cylons some cover for subtle sabotage.) At one point I thought us Cylons had won the game through a failed skill check but Dave came through with a special card and removed all doubt he was one of the remaining Cylons.
Finally I felt I was in a position to weaken the humans by revealing myself after throwing Dave in the brig so I did that and we went in the final turns where Galactica ran out of fuel and thus lost the game for the humans. Go Cylons!
* * * * *
In the second game, we were much more focused and ready for the mechanics but that made the mind games all the more intense as we watched every player's move with scrutiny reserved for bank dealings. This time unbeknown-st to everyone both Cylons were active from the start of the game and were Dave and Metin. That left Andrew, Brian, and I struggling to keep the fleet alive.
During an early crisis I opted to throw myself in the brig instead of making myself look guilty by throwing someone else in the brig like I did the former game. However this act made me look suspicious (combined with the unrevealed Cylons throwing wood on the fire) and they would not let me out, actively working against the skill check to do so. No matter the protesting I did I was accused and under suspicion and that was that.
I spent most of the game in the brig (at one point telling everyone I hoped the Cylons killed them all) and finally Dave was revealed (he has a terrible poker face) and Metin's actions finally convinced everyone else that he was not kosher. Still, it was several turns before I could be freed as Metin was able to block the efforts with his character's special ability.
The game ended in a flurry of attacks as the Cylons went full out to bring us down but the three human players were able to hold it together and escape to Kobol. Go humans!
* * * * *
This game is highly recommended for groups of 5 or 6 (four might work well). The paranoia is intense and definitely one of the most enthralling gaming experiences I have had the pleasure of participating in. The action is constant and I was never bored or idle.
I'll link to Andrew's review once he posts it.
EDIT: Here is Andrew's report.
Well, mostly cooperative. You see, the game includes a traitor mechanic in which a number of players can switch from helping the group of humans to survive to secretly attempting to sabotage them and make the humans lose. These are the Cylons and these are what turns a pretty standard coop game into a literal mind-f*ck and one of my favourite games ever.
There was five of us playing which meant although we picked characters and set up as humans, before the first turn secret loyalty cards are dealt out which has a possibility of turning two players into hidden Cylons. Halfway through the game the rest of the loyalty cards are dealt so you are guaranteed of having one Cylon but most likely two at that point. As a human you spend a lot of effort trying to suss out who the Cylons are by their actions because unrevealed Cylons are dangerous to the fleet and can cause skill checks to go badly throughout the game. If you think you know who a Cylon is you can send them to the brig where their impact is lessened a lot. However, you guess wrong and put a human player in the brig they can't help out anywhere near as much and trying to convince people you are not a Cylon is surprisingly hard.
We played the game twice. In the first game the population resource was hit hard by a massive attack so the fleet was reeling even though there was no Cylons out initially (not that we knew though). At the mid point Brian and I became Cylons but Brian overplayed his hand in a skillcheck he decided to sabotage and got thrown in the brig early. Realizing he was cornered he revealed himself and got sent to the Cylon areas where he could do more than in the brig. Unrevealed Cylons are by far the more powerful.
I played my status very carefully, helping out on skill checks and strategy most of the time and sabotaging skill checks that were the most crucial. (Skill checks are done by a hidden card mechanic with a random element thrown in to give Cylons some cover for subtle sabotage.) At one point I thought us Cylons had won the game through a failed skill check but Dave came through with a special card and removed all doubt he was one of the remaining Cylons.
Finally I felt I was in a position to weaken the humans by revealing myself after throwing Dave in the brig so I did that and we went in the final turns where Galactica ran out of fuel and thus lost the game for the humans. Go Cylons!
* * * * *
In the second game, we were much more focused and ready for the mechanics but that made the mind games all the more intense as we watched every player's move with scrutiny reserved for bank dealings. This time unbeknown-st to everyone both Cylons were active from the start of the game and were Dave and Metin. That left Andrew, Brian, and I struggling to keep the fleet alive.
During an early crisis I opted to throw myself in the brig instead of making myself look guilty by throwing someone else in the brig like I did the former game. However this act made me look suspicious (combined with the unrevealed Cylons throwing wood on the fire) and they would not let me out, actively working against the skill check to do so. No matter the protesting I did I was accused and under suspicion and that was that.
I spent most of the game in the brig (at one point telling everyone I hoped the Cylons killed them all) and finally Dave was revealed (he has a terrible poker face) and Metin's actions finally convinced everyone else that he was not kosher. Still, it was several turns before I could be freed as Metin was able to block the efforts with his character's special ability.
The game ended in a flurry of attacks as the Cylons went full out to bring us down but the three human players were able to hold it together and escape to Kobol. Go humans!
* * * * *
This game is highly recommended for groups of 5 or 6 (four might work well). The paranoia is intense and definitely one of the most enthralling gaming experiences I have had the pleasure of participating in. The action is constant and I was never bored or idle.
I'll link to Andrew's review once he posts it.
EDIT: Here is Andrew's report.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fiction Friday - Interlude
Common Damage Types Used in Naval Parlance
By Cpt D. Gallieo
In both literature and common discussion around the Navy you will hear the term "damage types" used in referring to four specific categories: Electro-magnetic or EM, Kinetic, Thermal, and Explosive. The more astute amoungst the class might note that they are all just different names for energy and question how thermal is to be unique from kinetic and so forth and so on. In this article I will explain that these "damage types" are for convention and refer to four classes of energy transference as used in weapon technology.
Energy
You should all recognize the basic equation for energy:
E = mv^2
Where m is mass and v is velocity. Primitives throw rocks at each other to fight and quickly discover that bigger rocks and rocks thrown faster hurt more. For all our advancements this rule holds true and in reality we are all just throwing rocks at each other from space ships instead of caves. That our rocks are atomic particles and our throwing speeds are relativistic to the speed of light is beside the point.
So with this handy equation in hand, let's look at how it works in the four damage types.
Electro-Magnetic
In EM damage we are referring to nearly mass-less particles like photons moving at the speed of light. Furthermore, the particles also have a frequency velocity associated to them so that infrared light is the same vector speed as ultraviolet light but the latter is more energetic due to its shorter and more energetic wavelength.
Despite these particles having infinitesimal mass they can still do damage as the weapons that utilize them generate them in massive quantities and focus them in tight beams, i.e. Lasers. These particles are not as damaging to dense materials like tritanium armour plates (although they do strip electrons off at a decent clip which leads to matter disintegration in the right scenarios) but are especially damaging to high energy fields and electronics, both important components of shielding used by star ships and stations.
Thermal
If we move from photonic particles to subatomic particles we enter the thermal damage type, so named because the effects of such attacks are typified by resulting high temperature radiation in the infrared range. Essentially the subatomic particles are considerably heavier than photons but are still lightweights compared to the matter they come into contact with. Instead of simply stripping off electrons and causing some radioactive decay, dense matter literally "heats up" in a catostrophic manner.
While no where near the sheer number of particles in EM beams, Thermal beams are still considerable in particle density and hence are effective against high energy shielding as well as being very effective against armour plating and superstructure of ships.
Kinetic
Kinetic damage type encompasses any weapon that directs atomic particles or clumps of atomic particles at a target. This is broadly typified by the "hybrid" weapon systems that accelerate atomic and subatomic particles to relativistic speeds and more primitive slugs fired by projectile weaponry.
Because the mass of atomic particles is many magnitudes greater than subatomic particles, the speed to get them to cause comparable damage is far less thus while Thermal damage is delivered around speeds of 0.1c to 0.9c, Kinetic damage is more in the range of 0.001c to 0.003c. Shields are naturally effective against kinetic damage because the particles are so slow thus giving the shield energy matrices enough time to deflect or destroy the incoming particles as it passes through them. Dense materials like armour plating do not far as well as the particles collide into them with 99.999999999% energy and smash the atomic structures to bits, much like shooting an arrow through a piece of tinfoil.
In scenarios of larger "slugs", the speeds are even less and can be measured in kilometers per second but the end effect is the same: shields very effective while armour plating is more likely to be punched through with all the difficulties that implies for the target ship.
Explosive
In the navy we use the term Explosive as a damage type to not so much describe the incoming particles as per the other three, but rather to describe the area versus magnitude. In EM, Thermal, and Kinetic damage we are dealing with focused beams of particles at various speeds and how the shields and armour deal with the impact sites. Explosive damage is an area effect damage type often delivering all three classes of particles at once but in a dispersed pattern.
The end result is the shields can easily deflect the incoming particles while armour plating can be buckled and stressed beyond endurance as well as punctured. Many naval strategists recommend that regardless of the normal damage type a ship deals, once the target's shields are inoperative that switching to explosive weaponry is ideal.
Since device explosions radiate out from a single point and thus become less powerful as you move away from the point of origin (at a squared rate) they often require a delivery system to get them on target. Missiles are one such common choice, and the other is projectile weaponry as perfected by the Minmatar Republic. In that case the warhead is launched from a "bullet" at the projectile and uses proximity fuses to detonate beside the target.
Summary
Now you should have an understanding of what your instructors are referring do when they talk about the various damage types weapons can deal and resistances that star ships can have.
By Cpt D. Gallieo
In both literature and common discussion around the Navy you will hear the term "damage types" used in referring to four specific categories: Electro-magnetic or EM, Kinetic, Thermal, and Explosive. The more astute amoungst the class might note that they are all just different names for energy and question how thermal is to be unique from kinetic and so forth and so on. In this article I will explain that these "damage types" are for convention and refer to four classes of energy transference as used in weapon technology.
Energy
You should all recognize the basic equation for energy:
E = mv^2
Where m is mass and v is velocity. Primitives throw rocks at each other to fight and quickly discover that bigger rocks and rocks thrown faster hurt more. For all our advancements this rule holds true and in reality we are all just throwing rocks at each other from space ships instead of caves. That our rocks are atomic particles and our throwing speeds are relativistic to the speed of light is beside the point.
So with this handy equation in hand, let's look at how it works in the four damage types.
Electro-Magnetic
In EM damage we are referring to nearly mass-less particles like photons moving at the speed of light. Furthermore, the particles also have a frequency velocity associated to them so that infrared light is the same vector speed as ultraviolet light but the latter is more energetic due to its shorter and more energetic wavelength.
Despite these particles having infinitesimal mass they can still do damage as the weapons that utilize them generate them in massive quantities and focus them in tight beams, i.e. Lasers. These particles are not as damaging to dense materials like tritanium armour plates (although they do strip electrons off at a decent clip which leads to matter disintegration in the right scenarios) but are especially damaging to high energy fields and electronics, both important components of shielding used by star ships and stations.
Thermal
If we move from photonic particles to subatomic particles we enter the thermal damage type, so named because the effects of such attacks are typified by resulting high temperature radiation in the infrared range. Essentially the subatomic particles are considerably heavier than photons but are still lightweights compared to the matter they come into contact with. Instead of simply stripping off electrons and causing some radioactive decay, dense matter literally "heats up" in a catostrophic manner.
While no where near the sheer number of particles in EM beams, Thermal beams are still considerable in particle density and hence are effective against high energy shielding as well as being very effective against armour plating and superstructure of ships.
Kinetic
Kinetic damage type encompasses any weapon that directs atomic particles or clumps of atomic particles at a target. This is broadly typified by the "hybrid" weapon systems that accelerate atomic and subatomic particles to relativistic speeds and more primitive slugs fired by projectile weaponry.
Because the mass of atomic particles is many magnitudes greater than subatomic particles, the speed to get them to cause comparable damage is far less thus while Thermal damage is delivered around speeds of 0.1c to 0.9c, Kinetic damage is more in the range of 0.001c to 0.003c. Shields are naturally effective against kinetic damage because the particles are so slow thus giving the shield energy matrices enough time to deflect or destroy the incoming particles as it passes through them. Dense materials like armour plating do not far as well as the particles collide into them with 99.999999999% energy and smash the atomic structures to bits, much like shooting an arrow through a piece of tinfoil.
In scenarios of larger "slugs", the speeds are even less and can be measured in kilometers per second but the end effect is the same: shields very effective while armour plating is more likely to be punched through with all the difficulties that implies for the target ship.
Explosive
In the navy we use the term Explosive as a damage type to not so much describe the incoming particles as per the other three, but rather to describe the area versus magnitude. In EM, Thermal, and Kinetic damage we are dealing with focused beams of particles at various speeds and how the shields and armour deal with the impact sites. Explosive damage is an area effect damage type often delivering all three classes of particles at once but in a dispersed pattern.
The end result is the shields can easily deflect the incoming particles while armour plating can be buckled and stressed beyond endurance as well as punctured. Many naval strategists recommend that regardless of the normal damage type a ship deals, once the target's shields are inoperative that switching to explosive weaponry is ideal.
Since device explosions radiate out from a single point and thus become less powerful as you move away from the point of origin (at a squared rate) they often require a delivery system to get them on target. Missiles are one such common choice, and the other is projectile weaponry as perfected by the Minmatar Republic. In that case the warhead is launched from a "bullet" at the projectile and uses proximity fuses to detonate beside the target.
Summary
Now you should have an understanding of what your instructors are referring do when they talk about the various damage types weapons can deal and resistances that star ships can have.
EPIC FAIL MAIL
 | |
| EPIC FAIL MAIL |
1) Expanded probe launcher taking up a high slot. Come on, surely a cheap alt with a tech I astro frig could handle that duty?
2) Three drone control units because 17-20 drones is not enough already to kill rats.
3) A-Type deadspace shield booster, X-Large. On an armour tanking ship with capital armour repper.
4) I can sort of forgive the drone upgrades in the mid slots... on a Dominix. Seriously, 17 drones of many many types. Drone upgrades are a waste unless you are lazy or stupid.
5) Inertial stab and nanofiber mods in the lows because you needed to be just that much faster and agile.
6) Dropped modules: two deadspace mods and two officer mods. Sweet!
7) Killed by mostly sub-capital fleet (saw two carriers and a dreadnought).
Anything I missed? So sorry I missed this.
Vicbar Fighter, consider yourself named and shamed.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Screeshot Thursday
Here are some screenshots of my first real attempt at manufacturing coolant on a Storm planet.
I initially started with four extractors each for the aqueous liquids and ionic solutions. Once I proved to myself I was actually able to make coolant, I upgraded to seven each.
One time while surveying for new deposits I saw a little control centre marker near one of my links. Clicking on it brought up someone else's colony. Someone is steal my stuff!
As I looked at his layout I wondered if it was more efficient than mine. I've done zero research into best practices for layouts so I guess I should actually attend a 201 course on planetary management. :P
Here is an image of my Maelstrom I purchased for Kla'strit for doing PvE stuff like complexes and missions. I do like the look of this ship.
Into the unknown...
I initially started with four extractors each for the aqueous liquids and ionic solutions. Once I proved to myself I was actually able to make coolant, I upgraded to seven each.
As I looked at his layout I wondered if it was more efficient than mine. I've done zero research into best practices for layouts so I guess I should actually attend a 201 course on planetary management. :P
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Supercarrier Too Super?
I dislike Superman. He's too strong/invulnerable/good. I like my heroes to have a little vulnerability to them, a weakness that is not "oh look, more of that rare green meteor rock!" I believe no one should have it too easy and Superman with his get-magic-powers-from-yellow-sun BS has it easiest of all. I'm a Batman fan; I like that the guy is just a human that has to train and dedicate his life to crime fighting in order to be on top. I'm talking round the clock training, OCD style.
OK, where the hell am I going here?
There is a sentiment in the Eve community that supercarriers since the upgrade are too powerful, and being a supercarrier owner it is a topic close to my heart (and wallet).
The evidence is scary. Multiple millions of effective hitpoints with resistances easily reaching 90% across the board, incredible DPS from the fighter bombers as well as hordes upon hordes of utility drones, immunity to common electronic warfare, and a jump range equivalent to a dreadnought. An alliance with a small fleet to call upon for hot-dropping has a chilling effect on any minor offensives a competing alliance might try to launch without it own fleet of supercarriers.
The startlingly high increase in the number of the ships as shown in the latest QEN leads one to wonder it their propagation is a good thing for the end game as massive alliances pump them out of the construction arrays. Normal battleship fleets are virtually useless against these behemoths and destroying them in the 15 minute logout timer (due to aggression) is next to impossible without capital support. To make matters most alarming, losing one of these supercarriers is no longer an significant economic blow to a large null sec alliance. Its fairly easily replaced and back in action.
Should something be done to curb these engines of destructions? What can be done? Do the same concerns apply to Titans?
I'm interested in hearing thoughts on the subject.
OK, where the hell am I going here?
There is a sentiment in the Eve community that supercarriers since the upgrade are too powerful, and being a supercarrier owner it is a topic close to my heart (and wallet).
The evidence is scary. Multiple millions of effective hitpoints with resistances easily reaching 90% across the board, incredible DPS from the fighter bombers as well as hordes upon hordes of utility drones, immunity to common electronic warfare, and a jump range equivalent to a dreadnought. An alliance with a small fleet to call upon for hot-dropping has a chilling effect on any minor offensives a competing alliance might try to launch without it own fleet of supercarriers.
The startlingly high increase in the number of the ships as shown in the latest QEN leads one to wonder it their propagation is a good thing for the end game as massive alliances pump them out of the construction arrays. Normal battleship fleets are virtually useless against these behemoths and destroying them in the 15 minute logout timer (due to aggression) is next to impossible without capital support. To make matters most alarming, losing one of these supercarriers is no longer an significant economic blow to a large null sec alliance. Its fairly easily replaced and back in action.
Should something be done to curb these engines of destructions? What can be done? Do the same concerns apply to Titans?
I'm interested in hearing thoughts on the subject.
Expanding My Domain
My coolant producing facilities on a Storm planet in low sec are working quite well and with that handily under control I decided to add to my empire by creating a sister colony on a barren planet to produce mechanical parts to add to the POS fuel generation. While the amount being produced every day is small right now as I ramp up production, its very easy as I don't need to visit the planets in order to manage them. That's +1 for CCP.
I'm debating where to expand to next. I could either get two more planets to produce coolant and mechanical parts on and go from there, or I could look at producing Oxygen or Enriched Uranium. Oxygen is easy being a P1 product and requiring only one resource, but Enriched Uranium would require a rarer Plasma planet for both heavy and noble metals or two planets for the extraction of the resources. I'll have to see what is available nearby.
Another option is to go for the Robotics production. Being a P3 product it will probably require at least two planets, one for producing more mechanical parts and another for producing consumer electronics. I think I might leave that effort for another day as I don't want to overwhelm myself with PI work.
To help my planning I've been making extensive use of the PI Tools website of the 4WARD Inc corporate website. Highly recommended.
I'm debating where to expand to next. I could either get two more planets to produce coolant and mechanical parts on and go from there, or I could look at producing Oxygen or Enriched Uranium. Oxygen is easy being a P1 product and requiring only one resource, but Enriched Uranium would require a rarer Plasma planet for both heavy and noble metals or two planets for the extraction of the resources. I'll have to see what is available nearby.
Another option is to go for the Robotics production. Being a P3 product it will probably require at least two planets, one for producing more mechanical parts and another for producing consumer electronics. I think I might leave that effort for another day as I don't want to overwhelm myself with PI work.
To help my planning I've been making extensive use of the PI Tools website of the 4WARD Inc corporate website. Highly recommended.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
NON Eve Post! You've been warned...
So on my iPhone I've been playing a lot of Battle for Wesnoth in my spare minutes. It has lots of campaigns and I like the style of game, turn based hex based unit strategy, a lot like Panzer General and Panzer General II which I loved to death in the '90s.
The main campaign, Heir to the Throne frustrated me a lot when I first started playing. One scenario crashed the game every half turn so I had to save every minute to not lose a lot of progress (this was fixed with the latest free update, game is far more stable now and rarely crashes) and I reached another scenario where I could not win. Just could not beat the mission. I tried like ten times before I stopped playing and went back to other games for a while.
But then I came back, tried some other smaller campaigns, and then finally started the main campaign over again. I asked myself, why am I dying so badly in that mission? What am I doing wrong? Well, for starters the enemy hits hard with his attacks and my small but elite forces were getting chewed up. Every unit killed or wounded to near death left the rest that much more vulnerable. I realized I needed more cannon fodder to take the enemy charges so I could counter charge with my veteran units and then follow up with yet more cannon fodder to take the ground.
The problem was I didn't have enough gold to recall my veterans as well as recruit newbs to throw into the grinder. Until I realized there was no penalty to going into debt with the gold and making the money back through taking villages for income later in the mission or getting the early finish bonus.
With this change in tact I found I had a lot more success and not only got through the stumbling block mission, but defeated it on the first try in my new run through. With that momentum I completed the rest of the campaign successfully (25 missions) and have moved on to other campaigns, some long, some short.
Moral of the story? Sometimes you are just doing it wrong and you can't tell until you are 7 missions in.
(I was going to post a bunch of Eve screenshots but left them at home. Oh well.)
The main campaign, Heir to the Throne frustrated me a lot when I first started playing. One scenario crashed the game every half turn so I had to save every minute to not lose a lot of progress (this was fixed with the latest free update, game is far more stable now and rarely crashes) and I reached another scenario where I could not win. Just could not beat the mission. I tried like ten times before I stopped playing and went back to other games for a while.
But then I came back, tried some other smaller campaigns, and then finally started the main campaign over again. I asked myself, why am I dying so badly in that mission? What am I doing wrong? Well, for starters the enemy hits hard with his attacks and my small but elite forces were getting chewed up. Every unit killed or wounded to near death left the rest that much more vulnerable. I realized I needed more cannon fodder to take the enemy charges so I could counter charge with my veteran units and then follow up with yet more cannon fodder to take the ground.
The problem was I didn't have enough gold to recall my veterans as well as recruit newbs to throw into the grinder. Until I realized there was no penalty to going into debt with the gold and making the money back through taking villages for income later in the mission or getting the early finish bonus.
With this change in tact I found I had a lot more success and not only got through the stumbling block mission, but defeated it on the first try in my new run through. With that momentum I completed the rest of the campaign successfully (25 missions) and have moved on to other campaigns, some long, some short.
Moral of the story? Sometimes you are just doing it wrong and you can't tell until you are 7 missions in.
(I was going to post a bunch of Eve screenshots but left them at home. Oh well.)
Monday, August 09, 2010
Witty Post Title Indicating I'm Back
Yes, the vacation is over. It was busy and sometimes stressful (do we really need all that crap for a day at the zoo?!) but overall fun.
Once the vacation was over and I was back home, SWMBO and I negotiated a New Deal that allows me one Eve night a week in exchange for taking the baby one night a week so she can do whatever it is that non-gamers do with their free time, scrapbooking or emailing or photo editing or some such stuff.
Last night was my first under the new deal and I logged into to find that there was no major ops going on but there was a Home Defense fleet up to catch a dual boxing Gila-Falcon pirate. Gila, being the Guristas faction cruiser and very expensive, was the prime target and before I arrived they caught the Falcon alt and gave chase. The Gila was cloaked up in a safe spot be the time I arrived and we camped him until he logged off.
With no other PvP in sight, I returned to repairing Kla'Strit's sec status in the handy ratting Vagabond (only forgetting to recall drones before warping off once) and made good progress on that front getting up to the -4.26 range. I then moved my PvE Maelstrom to the centre of M3's ISK making area and logged into Korneilia to take care of her Coolant manufacturing lines which is slowly chugging along. Might add another planet to the empire to produce something else, we'll see if time permits.
It was late, but I took the time to record another episode of Broadcast from the Ninveah to save me trying to do it in the morning.
* * * * *
In other news, Caldari Carrier V comepleted finally and I'm currently working on the skills for Tech II sentry drones, a gaping hole in my otherwise sound drone skills. After that, not sure; maybe Tech II Gallente Crusiers which has been a dream of mine.
Korneilia is working on probing skills for wormhole probing, and the Wyvern alt is getting closer to completion every day with the end of the month looming.
Finally, let's do another check in with the carebear brigade who seem to be working better together recently.
Errr.... I'll get back to you on that.
Once the vacation was over and I was back home, SWMBO and I negotiated a New Deal that allows me one Eve night a week in exchange for taking the baby one night a week so she can do whatever it is that non-gamers do with their free time, scrapbooking or emailing or photo editing or some such stuff.
Last night was my first under the new deal and I logged into to find that there was no major ops going on but there was a Home Defense fleet up to catch a dual boxing Gila-Falcon pirate. Gila, being the Guristas faction cruiser and very expensive, was the prime target and before I arrived they caught the Falcon alt and gave chase. The Gila was cloaked up in a safe spot be the time I arrived and we camped him until he logged off.
With no other PvP in sight, I returned to repairing Kla'Strit's sec status in the handy ratting Vagabond (only forgetting to recall drones before warping off once) and made good progress on that front getting up to the -4.26 range. I then moved my PvE Maelstrom to the centre of M3's ISK making area and logged into Korneilia to take care of her Coolant manufacturing lines which is slowly chugging along. Might add another planet to the empire to produce something else, we'll see if time permits.
It was late, but I took the time to record another episode of Broadcast from the Ninveah to save me trying to do it in the morning.
* * * * *
In other news, Caldari Carrier V comepleted finally and I'm currently working on the skills for Tech II sentry drones, a gaping hole in my otherwise sound drone skills. After that, not sure; maybe Tech II Gallente Crusiers which has been a dream of mine.
Korneilia is working on probing skills for wormhole probing, and the Wyvern alt is getting closer to completion every day with the end of the month looming.
Finally, let's do another check in with the carebear brigade who seem to be working better together recently.
Errr.... I'll get back to you on that.
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