Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Wrong Game Tetra

Welcome to the twenty-fifth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month's topic comes to us from @Tetraetc - "Tetra's EVE Blog" - who asks: "Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? Imagine a Null Sec where anyone could build outposts wherever. Would the reduction of the alliance game mechanic, and the removal of the sovereignty game mechanics (or the modifcation of it from Alliance level to Corp level for that matter) force more PVP into Null sec, or would giant power blocs like the NC still form themselves?"

* * * * *

Of course power blocs would still form. They exist not because of game mechanics but because of a basic fact: 2 people often beat 1 person in a fight. Reduction of alliance game mechanics would complicate the matter but would not allow a null sec where anyone could build outposts wherever. That is practically a different game and not Eve Online.

As for the original question, alliances and the sov system have no limited the amount of PvP overall. They have changed it so it is large scale and utilizes larger capital and super cap fleets, but PvP is still there.

What Tetra is really saying in this question sounds like this:

" I don't like big blob warfare and I wish me and my small group could build and own an outpost in null sec without being part of a big alliance or power bloc. Then we could live there and engage in small gang PvP without worrying about defending our space from cap fleets. Don't you agree with me?"

No, Tetra, I do not.

As for roleplay potential, Eve Online itself and the players that enjoy it limit that. Blaming the sov mechanics is just being mean.

Participants:

Friday, February 25, 2011

Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 21

Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20

* * * * *

Desperate, I shoved against the with my lower back and we staggered in a death grip with each other. Free from the wall I was able to lean back a little away from the knife and I drew upon my martial art training to attack the hand holding the knife instead of going strength to strength. It started to work and I was forcing the hand to the side and the point moved away from being directed at my heart.

Rusack growled and swung us around in an attempt to free his hand. I stumbled on a broken plate and ran into a table. He ripped his knife hand out of my grasp, held it high, and readied it for the killing blow. I was off balance and jammed against a table; I knew I was dead.

Except I wasn't. As Rusack swung me around and freed the knife, there was a bang of a weapon going off that I heard but did not register. And now with the knife hand raised up but not striking, I realized that Rusack's face had gone from a primal mask of fury and victory into one of blank surprise. And on his shirt in the middle of his chest I saw a blood stain start to spread.

He dropped the vibroblade and crumpled backwards, clutching his chest as he did so. I half ran, half staggered to the dropped weapon and picked it up, then I fell to my knees beside my wounded foe. "This is for my brother," I snarled. I jammed the blade into his heart, his ribs twisting the knife in my hand as it slid effortlessly through the fabric, skin, and muscle. I left it there.

I looked up to see who had shot Rusack and saw Derranna standing a few meters away, her dead master Blodel's gun in her hands but now pointed at the floor. She looked shocked and stricken, as if she could not believe what she had just done. As I watched she fell to her knees and dropped the gun, putting her hands to her eyes and sobbing. I didn't say anything as I was still struggling to catch my breath and my limbs were shaking as the adrenaline ran its course.

Slowly the pounding of my heart and my breathing slowed and I could take note of the world again. All the other patrons and employees had run during the fight, only Derranna and I remained with two dead men. I became aware of a voice in my ear that had been talking for a while but I had ignored in the heat of battle.

"Kodachi! You have got to get moving! Do you hear me? Kodachi? Are you there?"

Delvara. Right. My mind started working again. I had to get out of here now. "I'm here, Eamon. Things got messy."

"Well, you took too long. Security is already in the main hall, you won't make it past them to the exit stairwell now. You need to find another way out, try the.."

"Kitchen," I finished for him. That was where Rusack had first bolted towards and like any good rat he knew all the ways out of his haunts. "Tell me where the service corridors go. I am heading out the back," I told the voice in my ear.

I got to my feet and looked at Derranna. She was crying quietly now, still on her knees but holding the hand of her dead master. She had saved me twice now, both times when Rusack was about to kill me. I knew that if I left her here that the Gallente authorities would probably hand her back to Blodel's nearest relatives and she would remain in slavery. I could not allow that, especially not to someone who I owed my life and my brother's life to.

"Come on, Derranna," I said as I grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. "We've got to get out of here." She seemed in a daze and let me lead her to the kitchen doors.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

6 Years - Ninveah Greatest Hits: From Jan 2009 On

While the blog was lacklustre for Eve posts in 2007 and most of 2008, things started to change that last fall. A confluence of events:
- my Warhammer hobby ended in the spring thus freeing up the blog for more in depth Eve posts
- the twins were sleeping through the night so more time in the evenings opened up, allowing me to end my lonely solo career I had been on all summer
- I was two years in Eve and had become a veteran of the game (i.e. I knew what I was doing AND what other people were doing for the most part)

And most importantly:
- writing on the blog became a hobby in of itself.

I really got into writing articles for the Eve Tribune to earn ISK and I ported that enthusiasm to my blog writing with more reviews, guides, mechanics discussions, etc. Then I got invited to write for E-ON magazine which increased my writing desire and later I picked up my fiction writing hobby that I used to indulge in for Warhammer.

So I feel I have a number of quality posts in the last couple years and picking just three was not easy. In the end I went for representative pieces that capture the spirit of the blog. I excluded anything I wrote for Eve Tribune (such as Project Athena compilation) or E-ON mag.

Eve Master Class - Tracking Speed - April 8, 2009
I did many special posts in 2009 to document some more uncommon mechanics in Eve and called it the Eve Master Class series. While the one I selected is not my most intensive (the missiles one was by far the hardest) the Tracking Speed article was one of my favourites because it clears up a fundamental part of the game that almost no one understands coming in: what does tracking speed on a gun really mean?

Eve Meme! The Places I've Been... - May 27, 2009
In 2009 I really started to try to connect with the community more, and not for entirely altruistic reasons. You see, in January of 2009 I was nominated for Writer of the Year for the now defunct E-ON awards. I lost but became determined to improve both my blog and my presence in the community. Part of that was engaging in discussions through posts on my blog and the blogging community. This post was one of my biggest successes and even garnered me a link from Massively.com as my meme spread throughout the eve blogosphere. Might be time send it out again.

Fiction Friday - Interlude - August 13, 2010
I used to write fiction for my armies in Warhammer but never put pen to paper for Eve for a long time. Then I saw a "Fighting Spacecraft" article in Eve Tribune and decided to have a hand at making some more. It scratched my fiction bug and eventually led to Project Athena and Fiction Friday series. The post I selected is not from either of those per se, but is a favourite one of my wherein I try to use technobabble and real physics to justify the four damage types and resistances in Eve online.

* * * * *
And that's it! 6 year retrospective over. If any readers have a favourite post please mention it in the comments.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

6 Years - Ninveah Greatest Hits: My First Two Years Of Eve Online

As I spent last night going through hundreds of posts from late 2006 to end of 2008, I was struck by how boring my Eve posting was for pretty much the entire time. The first year lacks any thought provoking discussions on mechanics, politics, or ships and no meta game posts or fiction at all. Just status updates. To be fair, I was still heavily invested in Warhammer and they made up the meatier posts.

In late 2007 and early 2008 things began to improve as Warhammer took a back seat and was then abandoned and I felt I understood the Eve game more deeply. The posts get better in 2008 and my first "Eve Masterclass" article was penned in December of that year. But since mechanics and politics have changed, I picked three posts from that era that are timeless in a way.

Corporate History as told by Signatures - September 14, 2007

This is one of the first posts that was more than just a "I did this last night and I plan to do this other thing tomorrow". I've had a lot more signatures since then but it was a good trip down memory lane and captures the realization that I had been playing the game for over a year and in that first year did a lot of neat things.

Describe Eve - November 19, 2007

One of my first meta-game and thought provoking posts, I attempt to describe how Eve is a sandbox and how that is different than the typical MMO. It is a timeless post that it still relevant today.

Nano Whining - Tears at the Speed of Light - July 29, 2008

The infamous Nano-nerf is notable for not only bringing missiles and ship speed in line with each other, but also for the massive whining that preceded the changes. In this post I tell the whiners to stop overreacting and address some of the outrageous claims.

I picked it as a favourite because this cycle constantly repeats itself: something is overpowered and becomes known to the general Eve population, turning it into FOTM. A movement forms to address the imbalance and the abusers of the FOTM whine viciously to keep their power, pointing out the options the abused have. CCP annouces fix and the abusers whine massively about how the fix is going to break the game. The fix gets released and a month later pretty much everyone agrees things are better now... until a new overpowered FOTM is found.

Some things never change.

Next up, I'll pick three best posts from 2009 up to today.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

6 Years - Ninveah Greatest Hits : Pre Eve Online

This week I'm going to do a "greatest posts" retrospective in three parts (thanks Seismic Stan!).

Pre-New Eden

Simple math demonstrates that if I started Eve 4 and a half years ago and starting blogging 6 years ago than I must have been blogging about something else other than Eve. Well, I was an avid Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures games for about 17 years before kids made me give it up and this blog started as a place to record battle reports, painting progress, army ideas, and miscellaneous other gaming bits.

The posts were more like status updates so picking some gems from that era would not be very easy or good. Instead I picked three posts that capture what I feel was the pinnacles of my Warhammer career.

Post #1 - April 3rd 2006 - Eldar Megabattle Report

In terms of Warhammer, standard games are 1 versus 1. A Megabattle is where more players participate on each side allowing for games of massive scale. I've been in a lot of megabattles in 17 years but this one was one of the best ever.

The local gaming club I created and managed had a number of Eldar players (i.e. space elves) of which I was one. Six of us got together and planned an epic Eldar only megabattle and one of the players went so far as to create a custom terrain set and board representing a deserted Eldar Craftworld, staying up very late with my help to do the finishing touches. The battle of 3 versus 3 lasted an entire day and at the end my side edged out the slightest victory. The best games were always the closest ones and its rare for a megabattle to be so balanced, it was the single greatest game of Warhammer I had the pleasure of playing.

My post is not spectacular, and the Flickr gallery is lost to the sands of time, but I link to another player's posts and he still has the images for those so inclined.

Post #2 - June 26, 2007 - Chaos Versus Imperial Megabattle Report

Another megabattle, I choose this one for very different reasons. For one thing, it was the biggest megabattle I had ever participated in, with a full 18 players. The gaming board was 20 feet long and the armies were epic in size ( I forget the number but somewhere around 20,000 per side).

It was a massacre. My side, Chaos, ripped the Imperials to shreds from start to finish, a domination that was not expected at all. But that is not what made this a high point for me; the fact is I was the team lead of the Chaos side, the Marshal of the forces you can say, and the architect of the victory. It was like I was an FC of a 300 ship fleet and led it to utterly destroy an enemy fleet, supercaps included.

Now, I make no claims to being a brilliant strategist. If anything, I am pedestrian in my tactical capabilities. But this victory was not built on battlefield genius but on the ability to come up with a plan weeks prior to event, get buy in from the other 8 players, organize them into complimentary task forces, and then adapt our plan on the fly based on the actual terrain and enemy deployments. The Imperial side had nine guys show up with whatever they wanted and threw them on the table with no plan other than Shock and Awe. Well, we were veterans of Warhammer and were neither shocked nor awed.

Again the post is not very engaging and the image gallery lost, but it represents the greatest moment I had as a leader in the game.

Post #3 - November 26, 2007 - Golden Marine XII

As I mentioned, I formed and managed a Warhammer club in Ottawa for years called Deep Space. One of outputs of this club was a tournament called the Golden Marine which still goes on this day in Ottawa. I ran the tournament for years but finally passed the reins on in the twelfth iteration to people in the club. It was nice to participate in the tournament and my Eldar came in 6th overall out of 14 players.

The reason this post is mentioned is because it marks the winding down of my Warhammer career. My wife was pregnant with the twins and I suspected that weeknights rendezvous with my buddies at the local mall would be ending. I didn't organize or help run the tournament for the first time. And I had started Eve online a couple months prior and realized I had found a replacement hobby that was less time intensive overall. I had a few more Warhammer games before April in 2008 but nothing major; this tournament was my last hurrah, the end of a hobby spanning decades.

Do I miss it? Yeah, there was a lot I loved about that game and a lot that frustrated the hell out of me. Now that I'm free of it I realize just how expensive and frustrating it really was. I don't plan to go back... but all my models are still in storage in the crawlspace of the house.

* * * * *

Tomorrow, best posts from my first couple years of Eve Online, Sept 2007 to Dec 2009.

Monday, February 21, 2011

6 Years Blogging

"He's still talking? Doesn't he know that no one is listening!?"

I know I celebrated 6 years at the BMTHOKK live event in January, but today is the actual 6th Anniversary of when I started blogging on the Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah.

It started as a spot to collect my ramblings and reports but has evolved into a way for me to provide a community resource as well as an output for my fiction muscles. I'm sometimes very amazed at what I have accomplished with this little spot on the intertubes.

Here's to 6 more years!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 20

Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 19

* * * * *

I felt the slug tug at my arm as it sliced through my bicep, fortunately for me only going through the outside centimeter of flesh. Although I really wanted to shoot Rusack as I closed in on the pair, my instincts told me I could not risk that Blodel would still miss again. At four meters away I pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger and even though I was on the move I didn't miss the stationary target. Blodel was struck square in the chest and flew backwards, his right hand flying out with the gun and it skittered away on the floor.

I turned my attention to Rusack and saw him frantically scanning with his eyes for where the weapon went. I figured I didn't have enough time to reload again so I dropped my sidearm and barreled in full speed at him for a second time. He was ready and side stepped while his hands pushed away trying to send me to the floor alone so he could make good his escape or grab the weapon. But I snagged his shirt with my right hand and managed to hold on to pull him off balance and on top of me. We grappled again for position but Rusack was lower and got his knees under him which allowed him to throw a couple punches, one of which got a glancing blow on the side of my face.

I was on my back and brought my knee up to put on his chest while my right hand still pulled on his left sleeve, pinning him. His right hand tried to punch me again but I was ready now and easily parried. I was getting ready for a reversal that would put me on top, something I had practiced many times in self defence classes in the Navy, when Rusack's eyes widened and his right hand snatched something from my boot close to him. With jubilation in his eyes he brandished the vibroblade and activated it. "Oh shit," I thought.

I let go of his sleeve and thrust with my leg and hips to send him backwards away from me, hoping vainly that he would let go of the knife or magically fall on it and impale himself. I scrambled to my feet and faced him getting to his feet as well, knife still in hand. All thought of running was gone from Rusack's face now, his fire was up and he had the weapon.

I looked for something, anything, to get in my hands and between me and the blade but all I could find was a plate and silverware on the table beside me. I grabbed the plate and whipped it at his head. At this close range he could not dodge in time and he swore as it crashed into his upraised shielding arm. I followed the attack with another rush, hoping to catch his hand before he recovered. I was partially successful as he swung the knife-hand at me but it was hurried as he backed up a step, obviously not expecting me to continue to attack. I barely parried the swing and directed it upwards while driving my right hand into his gut. My left hand then seized his right wrist with the knife and tried to bend it backwards while grinding the bones in his wrist. Rusack grimaced and dropped his shoulder and drove forward sending both of us backwards and I slammed into the wall with him, somehow managing to keep my feet under me. But he leaned in and put his right hand on the hilt with his left hand and started to drive the blade down towards my chest. I pushed back with all my strength but the advantage was Rusack's.

Stranglehold

I'm in a stranglehold, by real life. Faced with commitments this week and next week it looked like I was going to miss my PvP time for two weeks in a row. Fortunately, Mrs Kodachi does not have a heart of pure cold stone like I often claim and she acquiesced to let me log in last night.

I logged in Kirith and his wingman and checked for NC Cap fleets up and running. There was one but was being FC'd by a pilot I never heard of before. I checked with my corp leadership and determined the FC was an "unknown quantity" and I should defer this night. I considering damning the torpedoes and joining anyways but I've only got one Wyvern and no means to replace it in a short amount of time (i.e. years) and after the pain delivered by the DRF in Uemon I decided to support the campaign in another manner.

So with Kirith tied up in the Wyvern and no place to safely exchange with the alt I switched over to Kla'strit and found myself in another pickle. There was a shield fleet up operating in Geminate but Kla'strit was still in Pure Blind space and his Maelstrom was still in freaking high sec. I did not plan for this contingency well.

(Side note: in the past I took care of these niggling logistic issues in the mornings before work but my morning routine got thrown all to hell with Carebear Brigade Member #3 changing his wake up time from 7:30 to 6:30, right when downtime finishes. Lately I've been lucky to take care of my PI colonies and I'm considering changing that task to a just-before-bed one. Sigh.)

With a Cheetah covert ops and a Rapier recon available to me and no chance for Eve time again in the next ten days, I was determined to participate somehow. I jumped Kla into the Rapier, joined a fleet making its way to UMI-KK (midway point to Vale of the Silent region) and undocked.

The journey was uneventful, and took a while since there was a lot of jump bridges between here and there but Kla'strit had no bookmarks until I hit RAGE space, and once there I was golden to LS-JEP, our former corp home. I didn't stop to see the old sights though; I puckered up and went alone through Geminate to hook up with the fleet. Fortunately for me the reds were not about and I joined the fleet just in time to help smack a couple SBUs down.

The fleet then moved to reinforce a POS but I was getting tired so I headed back to RAGE space and logged off. Not the best night of my Eve career but I helped hoist the m3 flag at the operation so all was not lost. I'm really going to have to get some more of Kla'strit's ships into null sec though so I have more options. Something to do before my next free night.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Rorqual Versus Jump Freighter

Yesterday on twitter there was a discussion as to why anyone would choose a Jump Freighter over a Rorqual, especially considering the cost. I gave some reasons but felt a quick post comparing them would be helpful.

Attribute	Rorqual	Jump Freighter
Cost (approx)	1.7 billion	4.8 billion
Skills Cost	864.9 million	238.5 million
Approximate Basic Training Time	84 days	98 days
Cargo Capacity	With 3 Cargo Expander IIs and 3 Cargohold Optmization I rigs: Cargo - 126,091 m3 Corp Hanger - 30,000 m3 Ore Hold - 250,000 m3 Ship Maintenance bay - 1,000,000 (but only indy and miners)	337,500 - 367,969 m3
Jump Fuel Bay	10,000 m3	10,000 m3
Fuel Consumption	1,000	3,300 (but reduced by 10% per level for Jump Freighter skill)
Example Fuel Consumption with JDC IV and Jump Freighter IV, Teshkat to Ordat (1.105 ly)	663	1312
Base Range	5 ly	5 ly
Dock	yes	yes
Use Gates	no	yes
Enter High Sec	no	yes
Can fit mods	yes	no
Base Effective Hit Points (no modules)	523,228	~326,264

Ultimately, unless you are moving ore and mining ships / industrials, the jump freighter has over twice as much cargo capacity. Is that worth the nearly twice as much cost to get the ship and the skills? You decide.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Orca Approaching

When I consigned my high sec hauler Korneilia to the wormhole life last year, I found I needed a new high sec hauler to replace her. I turned to Kirith's older brother Korannon and began the process of training him to move my stuff, first the Charon freighter, then transport ships, and finally we approach the fourth tier of hauling, the invaluable Orca.

He's got a few hours left on Mining Barge V and finally Industrial Command Ships will be his to train.

What's that? What is this all about "fourth tier"? Well, its a little invention of mine to describe the quality of a hauler. It goes like this:

1st tier - Tech I industrials
2nd tier - Freighter
3rd tier - Transport ships
4th tier - Orca
5th tier - Carrier / Rorqual
6th tier - Jump Freighter

(I considered splitting the 5th tier and placing Rorqual above Carriers, but ultimately felt that was not necessary because you likely are not going to skill for both.)

Anyway, what is next for Korannon? Well, he is only 26 days from flying a Rorqual so it is tempting except for the high cost for the ship and the skills, plus the long wait to get good jump skills makes it less appealing. So I decided instead to save up for a Rhea jump freighter for Kirith who has the jump skills already.

Instead Korannon is going to take a break and let Korneilia pick up her training, get some more Planetary Interaction skills up for one more colony in the wormhole.

* * * * *

While we're talking about skills, Kirith finally finished Logistics V last week and moved into Amarr Cruiser V with Tactical Logistical Reconfiguration for carrier Triage module coming up behind that. Then we're going to consider training Minmatar ships and weapons as Maelstrom's appear to be high on the list of ships to own these days.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Response to Percolation

I'm no Mord Fiddle, so when I make a post that I know might cause controversy I brace myself for people point out the obvious flaws of my reasoning regardless of how much thought I put into them.

So when Percolation responded very negatively to my post about the NC and Eve yesterday, I gave it a lot of thought to see how much merit his vigorous criticisms have. I decided to post my response as a full post instead of a comment reply.

3 things to your damn awful justification

1. All of 0.0 can be blue and use the same "we are not part of the same coalition we are just blue" logic, :facepalm: do you even get eve or 0.0?

Being blue to someone is not the same as working hand in hand in both offence and defence. Hence why alliances will sometimes 'temp blue' each other for a short period, even as short as a single battle. Just because AAA and CVA worked together once to catch some NCDOT supercarriers does not make them a coalition.

2. IF THE COALITION HAS AN ALLIANCE BLUE THEN THEY ARE PART OF THAT COALITION, no matter if you call yourself wank coalition, jesus tribe or MAGE wtf?

As per above, I disagree. Blue means good standings and in Eve that means we don't shoot at them. Cooperation for mutual defence is another level above that and cooperation for combined attack is yet another level above that. Equating 'blue' to 'coalition' is very simplistic in the complex interplay of eve politics.

3. NC is ALL those coalitions combined, they will never reset (much like they DIDNT in 2009) WHY? Because Vuk Lau is a RMT [edited] and his RL business needs protection.

Yes, one man can control the actions of, what, 50,000 pilots? I have my doubts. Even if Vuk Lau was paying off alliance leaderships to protect his RMT business, I have no idea how such a conspiracy would survive even simple investigation by CCP internal affairs, something that had to happen when he was part of the CSM.

But let's live in your world where he is a RMT mastermind arranging alliance after alliance as a buffer and money laundering scheme around him. Alliances are notoriously fickle in leadership as people come and go from the game, to say they all will never reset seems, again, simplistic. I notice a running theme here.

By your logic everyone in the north is FREE and independent, anyone who has been playing for more than 2 years will know NC will NEVER split because NC splitting means NC dead and RL income will be screwed.

I suspect that if RL income is involved then people would be more likely to turn on each other, not band together. Overall, most people in Eve are good honest people who abhor RMT activities. The outrage against the massive botting in the game is evidence of that.

But let's say you're right. Let's say that the NC is held together by the strings of RMT protection and not mutual defence. Such a massive conspiracy is going to get the attention of CCP sooner or later and a massive ban will happen. Do you remember the moon goo scandal back in 2008? Might have been before your time junior, but CCP banned 70 accounts and deleted a bunch of ships and POSes. Sure, it took them long enough but once the conspiracy was discovered they acted with the hammer, tech II economy be damned. So if you're right, start banging on CCP's door with your evidence (lol!) and get that slow moving ban hammer moving, the sooner the better.

/sigh I will come back to your blog one year from now only to quote what I have said and list the additional 50 extra NC alliances you will see, who will call themselves "Delve Coalition" but will still be blue to NC AND will get help from NC during an invasion but will class themselves as independent.

I'll put it in my calendar. See you then!

Worst justification ever, oh and the only reason you are justifying NC is because deep down you know how bad the NAP situation is :sigh:

Sigh indeed. I don't think I justified the existence of the NC, only that I felt it was not bad for Eve Online and that sooner or later it would collapse under its own weight.

BUT WAIT: There's more in a second comment.

PS. We left NC alone in 2009, THEY ONLY GOT BIGGER!!

Then IT came in 2010 and what did NC do? They tried to help the NAP train, as long as Vuk is making $$ out of EVE NC will NEVER split and you will see bad logic and reasons to why NC remains fat and bloated, like BFF propaganda etc

If NC is terribad and bloated and fat, etc, then shouldn't their enemies take to a smaller warfare apporach and attack the membership of the NC instead of the sov? Wouldn't that have more impact at tearing down Vuk Lau's empire rather than forcing the NC together with MAX DAMAGE campaigns? I think the failure here is not NC, its their enemies' thinking and strategy. I'm just saying.

See you in a year! Unless Eve is dead by then due to Vuk Lau.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Why The Success of the NC is Not The End Of Eve Online

With the fall of IT alliance some quarters are jumping up and down that the end of Eve is nigh. With the NC controlling half of null sec and dominating everyone in terms of sheer numbers and ability to throw together massive fleets one after another, there seems to be nothing to fight the NC and null sec wars are essentially over.

Which is all, of course, poppycock.

The Perception

First, let's address one major fact: there are more than one coalition in the group that people reference by 'the NC' and they don't always work hand in hand. In fact, outside of a major enemy invasion they often have very little to do with each other.

The Reality - Rough Edition

"So what's the difference?" Well, the difference is that such a large loose relationship is good for defence against a marauding horde but sucks for defence against small roamers or for launching bloc level attacks. Sure the NC got some traction against the Drone Region Forces last summer but ultimately failed to make good the progress in Etherium Reach (ignoring for now the effects the Pandemic Legion contract had in that eventual outcome). If the NC were a unified bloc under a single point of command then I would share concerns, but at most its a mutual defence agreement.

The second point of contention is that there is no one to stand up to the NC. Well, the Drone Region Forces demonstrated quite ably last major conflict (and with Rebellion Alliances recent collapse) that they can fight toe to toe with the NC and give as good as get. Pandemic Legion inflicted billions of ISK damage before they withdrew from Venal, and caused untold havoc in Pure Blind during their stay there. Had IT alliance been of sound body and mind it may have been able mount a better fight in Fountain instead of folding like a stack of cards. Against ALL Authorities has retaken most of its previous space and with its allies at its side represent a sizable bloc that will probably grow in the coming months.

Finally, does this coalition of coalitions mean the end of war in null sec? Of course not. There are four possible scenarios:

1) NC continues to grow and no or few bloc level entities can stand against them. Result: more and more space within the NC itself for small alliances / corporations to attack and reap the rewards of carebears and inattentive pilots, weakening the alliance bonds and eventually causing a civil war because, ultimately, pilots want to fight.

2) NC growth stalls and remains flat. Result: status quo until outside entities get stronger and stagnant NC grows weak on old PvP experience leaving and inexperience becoming the rule of the day for NC fleets.

3) NC growth stops and begins to contract as no outside pressure causes fissures in coalitions to become fractures and factions pull away from each other. Result: Civil war.

In other words, I don't think there is any scenario where the current NC remains as it is today. Except one:

4) NC growth stalls but outside forces continue to fight against it, keeping the coalitions that make up the coalition close and continue to provide experience for the pilots and FCs such that losses of experienced players leaving is equaled by pilots learning.

TL;DR - The way to kill the NC is to leave it alone and it will kill itself. After all, Eve is not like real life: the people in Eve need war, peace will not do.

Whaaaaaaat!!!!!?!?!?!?!

Shit suddenly got hot in Geminate. Rebellion Alliance was disbanded by a high level malcontent/spy putting the region into turmoil as our current arch enemies, the Drone Russian Forces, launched an all out invasion. The behemoth that is the Northern Coalition started from relative peaceful slumber and orders were given: deploy to support the fight.

So last night I logged the parking alt in and Kirith used the Ninveah to load up Wyvern Shaitann's cargo hold with spare isotopes and liquid ozone, as well as a number of utility ships in the maintenance bay. Then I loaded up the Chimera's hold as well because this was no longer a one man operation; the parking alt (alias Ian) had been training up skills and could now use capital shield transfers and energy transfers. They swapped ships and now my Wyvern had a wingmate with extra energy to top me up after a jump, as well as provide me a spot to swap modules on the fly. Not to mention a scout to jump into a system first to see what's the situation.

NOTE: It still strikes me as funny that I view the Chimera as a cheap and disposable ship.

I reconfigured the supercapital into a travel configuration (8 cap rechargers and 4 cap flux coils) and made my way to the rear deployment area, with an eye towards moving to the forward deployment area tonight, ready for combat.

Thanks to corpie Inferno for providing two cynos in my route. It saved me from having to boot up Kla'strit and get him up there right that moment. He can now follow later when I have time.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 19

We're coming to the climax of this series, I figure about 4-5 more 'chapters' to go to finish it off the way I have envisioned. Hope you're enjoying it!

Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17
Chapter 18
* * * * *

I wanted to get very close before I made my move so I advanced towards another table with a patron watching a vid screen that was sitting near the back wall where Rusack and his associates were located. I kept my eyes on my destination and let my peripheral vision watch my target. Rusack was a seasoned criminal and had looked at my as soon as I walked into the room, and out of the corner of my eye I could tell he was looking at my cross the room. I could even see the momentary look of surprise as he recognized me despite all the changes I had gone through since we last met. Well, I guess you don't get to be a survivor in his business without being sharp.

He started to rise from his seat and I swore under my breath, reaching for the gun at my back. Now, I did do some small arms training in the Navy, after all it was mandatory. But I did a lot more elective training in armed and unarmed close combat, using knives and weapons of opportunity. This is all to say that while I knew how to aim and shoot the handgun, hitting a moving target from about 20 feet away is not my strong suit. As I drew aim he was already bolting sideways from his seat in a crouch and trying to get behind other tables while bolting for the kitchen, and presumably an exit. I fired and missed, a picture on the wall behind him shattered.

With no clip and only one round in the chamber, now expended, the gun was useless and I knew it would take too long to reload it. I ran towards the kitchen doors in an attempt to cut him off. I succeeded and tackled him full speed, slamming him and I into an occupied table, the people there bowling over as the table legs gave way under our combined weight.

As we rolled to the ground in a heap my close quarters combat training took over and by instinct I drove my left fist in short punches into his floating ribs as he wrapped his arms around my head in an attempt to get me in a headlock. I felt his left fist strike the side of my skull but I had kept my face and temple buried into his chest and his blow on my hard skull hurt his hand more than me. I shifted my weight and rolled us so that Rusack was underneath me and my weight on his hip in a half guard, his right hand holding my jacket. I locked his arm to my chest with my left and started to rain blows down on his from my superior position with my right, his attempts to block me mostly failing and I bloodied his face. I let my rage explode and some of my strikes were sloppy as a result, but I knew I was going to win.

Until someone shot at me. The bullet whizzed past my head and I looked around wildly. Back at Rusack's table I saw his associates has stood up, a large Amarrian man and a Minmatar woman, and the man had an ornate handgun in both of his meaty palms pointed at me and shaking a little bit. It took me a second to recognize Blodel, the businessman we worked with back in Perimeter before Rusack screwed my brother and me out of our share of the profits, and his slave Derranna, the woman who probably saved my brother's life in the fallout of that double-cross.

I was stunned at seeing people I recognized and frozen by what to do about the weapon Blodel was aiming at me. Rusack took advantage of the situation and whacked me with a broken table leg he grabbed while I was distracted. The plastic was lightweight but hard and it hurt my forearm like a son of a bitch as I blocked the sudden attack. I leaned back and while off balanced Rusack was able to throw me to the side and start scrambling up. Blodel fired again at me now that I was clear of Rusack but the man had even less skill than I did and adrenaline in his system made his bad aim worse. But I knew even the worst shot would hit sooner or later.

"Shoot him!" Rusack yelled as he shakily got up against the wall.

"I'm trying!" Blodel yelled back. Derranna simply looked shocked at the events behind him.

I tipped over another table and crouched behind it, frantically looking for my own weapon that I had lost when I crashed into Rusack. Another shot punched a hole in the table but missed me. I swore, panic sweat running down my brow furiously now. In the back of my mind the thought that Blodel probably had a foreign dignitary permit that allowed for him to carry a personal weapon; it was not uncommon in Gallente or Minmatar dominated stations where Matari emotions at Amarrian slavers might boil over unexpectedly. I spotted my weapon on the floor and lunged to grab it, another shot punching through the table top right where my head had been.

"GODDAMMIT! Shoot him already!" Rusack was moving away from the kitchen doors and towards Blodel. I knew if the hardened criminal got the weapon I was dead and I moved as fast as I could to reload my weapon with shaking hands.

"I'm trying!" screamed the Amarrian back.

"Give me that gun," Rusack ordered and I looked over, relieved to see Blodel pull it back.

"Its my weapon, I'll do it!" he pouted like a child. I dropped the bullet before getting it into the chamber and swore again.

"This is not time for your Amarrian pride, you ass!"

"I said I'll do it, get out of my way!"

I scooped the bullet up and somehow managed to slip it into the chamber. I slammed the barrel back into position and stood up. The other two men saw me rise and Blodel took aim two handed again as Rusack stepped back. Every fibre in my being wanted to shoot at Rusack but I knew the greater threat was the man with the gun. I started running zig zag around the chairs and table towards them, wanting to not waste my second shot like I did the first one.

Blodel tried to keep his aim on me and fired.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

m3 Corp - Where Our CEO Takes Care Of Our Needs

Help Me Stop the "Help me Save 'Fiddler's Edge'" Movement

CrazyKinux updated the blog pack recently and left of Fiddler's Edge in a massive oversight. Mord Fiddle, deciding that was a sign to move on, posted:

Having said all that, I've a number of other writing projects that have been on the back-burners while Fiddler's Edge was in flight (more on those in a moment). I've been thinking this last month or so that it might be time to take The Edge off the stove and put other efforts on high boil. Frankly, I was a bit torn about it.

So I decided to let Krazy Kinux make the call for me.

As most of you know, his Krazyness is the patron saint of Eve bloggers. One of his means of promoting the Eve blogosphere is The Eve Blog Pack, where he provides linkage to the blogs he considers the best of the best. He recently posted that he was revising the list and that Fiddler's Edge was one of the blogs under consideration for inclusion in the pack.

I decided that would be the test. If Fiddler's Edge had improved enough to make Krazy's blog pack I would continue the work. If it fell short, it would be time to move on. Krazy announced his new blog pack yesterday and, as most of you know, Fiddler's Edge remains unworthy. The arbiter has spoken.

So Fiddler's Edge is closing (closed?) down. But then Crazy Kinux came to his senses last night:

Earlier this week I cleaned up the EVE Blog Pack, removing outdated blogs and adding a fresh new set of prolific EVE Online bloggers. In doing so, I turned down a few bloggers who had made the request to get added to the Pack. Last evening I set myself to the task of cleaning up my Unread emails that were related to this blog. Some of these dated back to last November.

You see, despite the fact that I may not be as productive in writing about my experience in EVE as I was in the past, I still get a ton of emails, which all warrant my attention. And sometimes, some of these request slip through the cracks. Just as great blogs can sometimes get overlooked. Fiddler's Edge is one of those.

Without realizing the terrible mistake I was about to make, I simply declined his request, once again, to join the Pack. And now, Mord seems to have decided to move on.

I've just spent the last hour, going through emails and evemails, from folks asking me to add Fiddler's Edge to the Pack. Mord even wrote about it and got a ton of comments to encourage him to continue and to disregard my blatant mistake. And indeed it was a mistake not to included him.

But hopefully it's a mistake that can be corrected. This is where you come in.

I need you to head over to his blog and add to the comments, and request that he reconsider and continue to do what he's been doing all these months; writing a great blog, for the benefit of his readers and the EVE Blogging community.

And Mord, if you're reading this, I hope you'll forgive this ol'time EVE Blogger, and provide us the privilege to be part of the EVE Blog Pack!

This cannot happen! We must stop CK from adding Mord Fiddle to the blog pack!

There are two reasons. One, his blog is too good, too insightful, too well written and it makes other blogs on the pack, namely mine, look pedestrian in comparison. Unacceptable!

Two, Mord Fiddle has joined the staff at Eve Tribune and I want him to write awesome articles for the Trib and not get distracted by writing awesome articles on his blog. His work on the Trib increases the site's cachet and as a result, I get some blowback fame from being on the Tribune as well.

Its Win-Win (for me)!

So let's stop CK's attempt to revive Fiddler's Edge. Do it for me!

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

A Tale Of Two Roams

Last week I went on a roam with a handful of alliance mates in battlecruisers, myself in my trusty Drake, and despite going through Cloud Ring and half of Fountain we failed to get any kills and lost our scout/bait hurricane (sorry Vaia!) in the process. Even worse, I logged off in Fountain figuring I could ninha myself back the next day and only two jumps from safety I got ganked (got my pod out) though.

Not a good start to February.

Last night I logged in hoping to turn that around. I found corp mate had already started a fleet for home defence gate camping so I jumped into my trusty Arazu and joined the gang. Eventually we got up to about 20 members of various tonnage so I opted for a roam around Pure Blind, attempting to catch some Vagabonds that were buzzing neighbours. They proved to be too slippery so we head back home and ran smack dab into a new red fleet that was entering our territory from Placid region. A hastily prepared bait was thrown out and taken and we jumped on the four hostiles like starving alley cats on a juicy fish. Cynabal and Sabre down (and their pods) and things were looking up.

The fleet stood down at that point and a low sec POS bash on an offline tower in Placid low sec was running so I hopped in my old Megathron from Paxton Federation days and logged in Kla'strit to get some use out of his Maelstrom and ran over to join the fun, sec status be damned. No hostiles showed up to defend the tower and I had the time to record another episode of the podcast before it blew up (Kla'Strit top damage yo!). I also helped kill a few of the batteries but avoided attacking too many so my sec status was not totally obliterated again.

All in all, I'm sitting at 7 killmails for the month and its not even half over. Its good to be back in an alliance that is active and has lots of interesting tourists.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Jump Bridges And The Art of Alliance Maintenance

In my podcast last week I talked about why I love jump bridge and how I think any discussion to remove them is unfortunate. Today I'm going to talk about how I think they should be changed to allow them to make null sec more dynamic and fluid battlefield.

While this is not totally off the top of my head, it has not been put down on paper before so buyer beware.

1) Divorce Jump Bridges from POS. Instead make them beefier in terms of hitpoints (and give them reinforcement timer as per sov structures) and anchorable at planets by themselves. In addition, like sov structures, they appear on the system overview and not just grid overview so anyone can see them and warp to them.

They need liquid ozone, they can require a password to use (but can be made publis too), and as per usual must be paired with another in range. Except anyone can use them if there is sufficient fuel and they have the password (if not set to public).

The result will be that jump bridges will be easier to use (don't need to bookmark and update them all the time) and more available.

2) Allow corporations to set up jump bridges in low sec. Not sure how to get around the whole "you need ihub upgrade to place jump bridges" thing, but I think the ability to shape low sec would be awesome. These could be like real smuggler's gates while still providing a place for pirates to investigate and camp. (Remember, they are not at POS anymore so no POS gun protection.)

* * * * *

I think that make jump bridges more visible and usable will be balanced by making them another point for more conflict and sabotage. I think that making them available in low sec will make that region of space more interesting and vibrant as it creates the idea that people can more around more freely and faster. And all in all, I'm in favour of giving players more control over shaping their own space.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Rise and Fall of IT

There are copious amounts of analysis as to the fall of IT, an alliance that had fallen on hard times but was still secure in its home regions yet still entered a tailspin. Being removed from the politics directly I can only observe and read about what others have said, like Mord Fiddle or Easly Thames or the promised report from Mansai.

However, I do think I can offer some 20/20 hindsight opinion from a removed position. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Last year when IT formed it was obviously BoB 2.0 with the goal of fighting the Goons for Delve. Forcing Pandemic Legion out of Fountain (which in the long run has probably been good for PL) was only the start of the invasion, the staging ground for the assault on Fortress Delve. The massive alliance had formed a gestalt around the goal of fighting Goons, it was the unifying concept.

When the Goon imploded, it took away the fire in which IT needed to forge itself into an alliance with a common touchstone. They completed the objective without the blood sweat the tears needed to make it truly a victory.

There was another attempt to create a touchstone, the infamous Max 2.0 assault on the Northern Coalition. Due to many factors, that failed and in turn only created further divisions in IT and its allies.

But all of that is only prelude to the real tipping point: When Against ALL Authorities was facing tremendous difficulties with Initiative and friends attacking and internal struggles, did former ally IT send reinforcements or words of encourage or offer refuge? Sadly no, the divisions of the failed Max 2.0 and other pressures caused IT to abandon its previous relationship and choose to attack the vulnerable rear of AAA. Not only did they lose an ally and make them an enemy forever, they lost e-honour (such as it is) in the eyes of the rest of the cluster and perhaps even internally.

Consider the ramifications of that decision. Fast forward to this winter with TEST and Goons invading Fountain and AAA resurgent pushing the Initiative out of Catch. Faced with pressures on two fronts and unable to win on either (due to NPC stations or numbers) the alliance fractured. Had they supported AAA even a bit (such as offering space in their vast holdings to rebuild) its possible that one of the fronts could have been placated and they could have focused their attention fully on Fountain, possibly finally giving them the touchstone to solidify the alliance.

Alas, hindsight.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Fiction Friday - Series 3: Chapter 18

Previously:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17

* * * * *

I didn't expect to be so nervous. I wasn't a kid anymore, I was an ex-naval pilot. I had killed before, I had faced death - real death, from before I became a pod pilot on training patrols on the edge of State space. But this time was different.

Ah, Mr Kodachi, yes? Come in, come in, Lady Nhi'Khuna said you would be by today. This way, to my back room where my more... specialize tools are kept. Just let me lock the door...

The deck was subdued by Gallente standards. I was getting used to the aesthetic and barely even noticed the women in their revealing or outrageous ensembles. Or the men for that matter. It was midday and the evening and nighttime crowds that populated the pavilion were absent, nursing hangovers or broken hearts. There were not obvious security camera or personnel but I felt watched all the same. Sweat trickled down my brow and back.

This here is a favourite of my customers. Its a Kaalakiota K37 Personal Security Sidearm, 20 bullet clip, 100 lead rounds included with purchase, more available if desired, and I also have depleted uranium rounds if desired. Pardon? No, you can't carry it through deck passive security checks, it must remain on this level. Really? Ok, I understand. That's fine, I have more that might be of interest... expensive though. Price is not an issue? Well then, I think I have just the things for you...

Ahead I saw the Clydesdale Dome open up and from there I could see in my head that the corridor to the north west would take me towards the Lucky Hanger Bar and Grill where Rusack was currently meeting with some business associates. As I entered the dome and changed direction, I looked for and found the alcove with the maintenance stairwell I was going to use to make my escape. I checked with sweaty palms for the umpteenth time that my pocket still held the purloined access pass.

This is vibroblade was manufactured by hand in by Matari tribesmen in a system somewhere in Molden Heath. Its not just any vibroblade, oh no! Its blade is made of tri-reinforced glass and plastic laminate sheets making it as hard as steel, and its handle is lightweight composite graphite encasing a unique carbon and silicon motor that gives the blade its 30 gigahertz vibration. It will cut through cloth and flesh and a lot of other light materials like a hot knife through butter! And completely undetectable by security detectors. They were built for infiltrators to sneak into the Amarr Empire and perform assassinations, very rare...

The vibro knife was backup. In all my self defense and personal combat training at the academy I was never very comfortable with knives. It rested in a small flat case against my upper ankle inside my boot.

I left the Dome and entered the corridor. I could see the sign for the Lucky Hanger. My heart pounded harder. Give me a ship, twenty kilometers, and a hold full of ammo any day.

But this here is my pride and joy. I don't even know who builds them, I buy them as they are available from my source, and its not cheap! Its a 10mm caliber pistol made completely of ceramic materials! Amazing, isn't it? The rounds are a special material I can't even identify but is definitely not detectable, I have tried (well, not myself but an unsuspecting guinea pig!). No clip, I'm afraid, you have to manually load the chamber like this... what? Yes, it is a little cumbersome, but its not meant for a gun fight! No no, this is another tool of the assassin my friend. Walk past any passive detectors and shoot your target at point blank range in the face. For those personal kills, you know?

I unzipped my jacket and pulled open the door to the establishment. The solid pressure of the gun at my back, another 5 rounds sitting loosely in my pocket.

"Ok, Delvara, I'm going in," I sub-vocalized into the transmitter inserted under the skin of my neck.

So, what would like to purchase? All of it? Excellent! I'll get a bag for you. Of course, if you get caught and give my name as the source of these tools, I will not be caught as I am very well placed in station security circles and will get plenty of warning before any searches occur. And I will be forced to ensure you don't talk ever again if you follow my meaning. Not trying to be uncouth, just not good for business, you understand? It takes a lot of effort to remain out of jail, my friend. Now, your credit info? ... Excellent, thank you sir and here you go! Good luck!

My eyes quickly adjusted and I saw Rusack with his back to the wall, talking with two people at his table. I started towards them and reached for my weapon.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Making Matter In Low Sec

I'm halfway through the latest Lost In Conversation podcast where Jade and the guests talk about low sec primarily focusing on the Downward Spiral of Low Sec blog post that Shadai wrote.

At one point in the conversation it is pointed out that null sec is more dangerous than low sec overall due to extra mechanics like bubbles and bombs yet it is more populated than low sec. They talk about the advantages of null sec such as having alliances protecting you and intel channels, etc, but I think they miss the fundamental point that should be made here.

Low sec is less populated because the incentive to claiming and protecting space for carebears is overall not enough to overcome the disincentives from PvPing in low sec. We need some charts!

Incentives to claiming space in null sec:
- outposts that hostiles can't dock at
- cyno jammers
- jump bridges
- PvE improvements
- group protection
- exclusive access to resources (belts, rats, exploration)

Incentives to claiming space in low sec:
- group protection
- exclusive access to resources (belts, rats, exploration)

Disincentives to claiming space in null sec:
- sov bills

Disincentives to claiming space in low sec:
- keeping anyone but flashy pirates out will kill your sec status and have to deal with sentry guns
- hostiles can dock at the stations freely in that space
- not protection from hot drops
- can't improve the space
- can't add jump bridges
- no bubbles for extra blockading

As long as this disparity exists, people won't bother to claim low sec space on a large scale. Thus the carebears and industrialists to exploit the resources there will be scarce. Thus the pirates will hold sway overall as the main organism in low sec regardless of what rewards you put there.

Also, the perception of low sec being a dangerous place where you die as espoused in the rookie channel? Its accurate. Maybe you don't die the first time, maybe not the second, but it takes a lot of experience before low sec can be traveled safely for the high sec bears.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Punisher Brochure

Check out what Seismic Stan at Freebooted made.

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