Life comes fast, even to an immortal, and if you don’t keep up, you’ll get lost along the wayside. And that was where she found herself these days; truly lost. Nathan had suggested to her that she was “at a crossroads” as the familiar saying goes. But as she tried to sort through the chaos and uncertainty in her head, she felt that a crossroads would at least be a substantially less complicated choice than her current meanderings. Left or right; that she could handle right now. It was the added “sort of left”, “half-right”, “kind-of-up”, “partially down”, “perhaps backwards”, or “run-in-a-circle” choices that now clouded her view that were confusing.

She gracefully willed her Helios into warp, the nav computer already loaded with the destination of her favorite scan spot in this system. She closed her eyes and absently ran her fingers through her red hair as she let the computer do then hyper-space flying. Stars, dust, sunlight, all streaked past her ship, flashing like a dulled strobe through the viewing window across her.

TIF was her home, or at least, had felt like her home almost since she first left the academy. This group had become her family of sorts, and through various change-ups, departures, attacks, and triumphs, they had stuck together. Then, HE had come back. After not one, but TWO massive meltdowns and self-impossed planet-side banishments, the old guard of their corp, the founder, had returned. Again. Accompanied as usual by his maddening ego, rampant sense of entitlement, and horrible managerial capacity, he had immediately demanded his old position of power back in “his” corp. She ground her teeth and wondered if he had had the audacity to consider it “his” corp when he had disappeared for months and they (THEY) had built it up into something great. She was so angry at Rez for giving in to the childish demands and consenting. And now nothing was the same, the corp she knew, gone, replaced by a new corp under the banner of “HIS” alliance.

She opened her eyes and realized the ship was stationary now in her safe-spot. She loaded up the probe-launcher, engaging her graviton rigs, and fired off the first probe into space.

He was a loose screw in her mind. That he was emotionally unpredictable, unreliable, and full of shit was ok actually fine with her, but him involving those glaring character flaws in the running and operation of her corp, her HOME, was what she considered unacceptable. And to top it off, in the shakeup of the splitting and “re-forming” of the corp, she had somehow lost her position as a director; roles stripped for transfer to the new corp were somehow never reassigned, and were similarly never mentioned.

She punched the launch button again, ejecting a second and then third probe. She turned and switched on some music, an ancient style that supposedly had come through the Eve-gate with the first of them, and somehow survived. These days it was revered as an art-form of the highest caliber and typically reserved for the upper echelon of society. Real wooden instruments, with thin wires stretched taut across them that emitted pure emotion when played well. She let the string quartet wash over her, the lush lines of counterpoint like a warm embrace.

She felt alone these days. The camaraderie she’d felt with so many of her corp-mates, “her boys” as she called them, seemed to be fading faster the more she worried about it. Ssukor had left months before to find his calling elsewhere, and few heard from him these days. Rory too had left a while ago to chase fortune and glory in null-sec, and although he stayed connected via their public com channel, his visits were infrequent. Also, he seemed sad these days. Rez and Slayer had split their co-CEOing of TIF during the change-over, with Rez taking the reins of the new collective and Slayer staying behind to run and eventually close down what was left of TIF. He was back with them now, but she felt as though something was lost between him and Rez now.

She fired off a fifth and final probe from her ship and called up the scan overview. Her thoughts in clashing disarray and in clear counterpart to the meticulous and orderly way in which she laid out the probe pattern.

She needed direction! The rational part of her reminded herself of all the time spent training into production and research, and she cursed herself for not using those hard-trained skills for anything these days. Yet, another, darker part of her willed her towards a more tempting side of herself she’d never explored before. That was the part of her that daydreamed of venturing into low-sec, or crunching down on some combat skills and heading off to throw her lot in with a bunch of blood-thirsty pirates.

Her over overview beeped as the probes found a warp-able mark, a Caldari Navy Raven it seemed by the look of the scan radius and signature. With a smirk and a small shiver, she engaged her CovOps cloaking device and pushed her little Helios into warp. She streaked towards to the scan hit and wonder momentarily to herself (as she frequently did) why it was she was doing this; why she spent so much of her time these days wandering space scanning things down. Scanning anything really. Sometimes she tried her luck finding a wormhole, or some other spacial anomaly, other times she flirted with the dark side by scanning down battleships running active missions. Though she never stole, or salvaged, or interfered in any way, and mostly stayed cloaked, the element of the forbidden and voyeurism of it was always a thrill.

She wanted someone to point her in a direction and say “this is your way”. She’d probably do it to if someone just came forward and told her.

The Navy Raven pilot pilot fired volley after volley into the swarm of Guristas ships that were failing to defend themselves in any organized way. Sitting less than 15 km away, she watched him intently, as one watches an action vid played out before them on a vid-screen.

Should she stick around with the only home she’d known? Things were getting bad: old enemies were somehow part of their alliance now; hell, the same old enemies were actually in positions of power in the corp, and in charge of “investing” the corps hard-won money. Was she the only one that smelled a rat there?

Her screen flashed white as the Raven’s torpedoes found their mark, shattering through the remaining structure on a Guristas battleship and wrenching it apart from the inside. She grinned, eyes wide, watching this free show destruction and violence. Perhaps a little action is what she needed to get out her slump. But leaving home….that thought nagged at her. She yelled outloud in her ship to no-one, momentarily drowning out the sonata in the background, and she cursed at the stars and at her own indecision’s.

She took a breath and calmed herself. “Breath,” she though, “just breath”. Her sensors went off. With a sudden start, she realized that in her outburst, she’d somehow managed to uncloak her ship. “Wonderful,” she muttered out-loud “very cloak and dagger Sophia”. Even though she had in no way aggressed the Raven, the sudden appearance of another pilot in his mission seemed to have spooked him and he began targeting her little ship. This was time for a hasty retreat, and she coaxed her ship into warp as she left the Raven pilot to clean up the last remnants of the Guristas outpost.

She sat back with a sigh, turned the music up high, and quickly plotted a course to another system. She kept telling herself she need time to think about what to do, but the time for a decision was coming sooner than she wanted to acknowledge. The time for for a choice was now.

=====

This is my first of what I hope will become a long serious of ongoing in-character fiction based off my own wanderings in Eve. This is also my frist attempt at blogging, and with my meager html-know how, hopefully I’ll have a slightly more interesting layout rolling out soon. Comments, critiques and suggestions welcomed. I can be contacted in game by way of Sophia Jackson. Thanks again, and hope you enjoy.

-Sophia

He thumped his head back and felt the pillow, far too soft for any institution bedding. He breathed deep and smelled . . . scents that were NOT industrial level cleaners and disinfectants. “Um” Ok, this was NOT a normal clone facility . . . . “think think think” he muttered softly to himself “What is the last thing I remember?”

************************************************

Always monitor your clone status and make sure it is up to date. Loss of memories can be . . . disconcerting.
If you do not know what I mean . .. look to your skill point total and make sure it is less than the current clone grade total on your character sheet. (I honestly was months before I realized what people meant about check your clone.

I’d post a ‘where you have been map . . . ” but who wants to see hisec done in connect the dots?

m

On a side note:
I have been insanely busy with work and uhm real life? But this weekend I should be able to post an update to how Renji San is doing with his skill training.. :D

That BPC is nothing major, but the Advanced Theories item is being offered for 10-12 million, so that was definitely some nice profit, or will be nice once it sells.

A little while later, I managed to find a wormhole that didn’t look like it was about to close any moment (if it’s down to less than 25% of its life, I won’t go in).  I first scanned for ships, and found none.  Can this be possible?  So I checked for some signatures.  I found a couple of ladar sites before I gave up and just figured I’d run one of the anomalies.  It looked like a class-1, with no “solar effects”, and I still couldn’t find any ships on scan, just a load of structures.

I thought about taking in the Drake, but decided on the Vagabond as it is much more maneuverable just in case something does go down and I need to GTFO.  The end result of my first encounter with the Sleepers was 3 completed anomaly sites, a good understanding of how the rats work, and some nice loot.  This was my haul from the first site:

Some nice salvage, similar to what I would have gotten from a mission site, except for two things.  Those Reinforced Metal Scraps refine into a TON of tritanium (11 units of scraps ended up as over 20k units of trit), and one of those salvage items sold for 19 million.  Unfortunately, the other two sites weren’t quite as profitable, but it was still a cool learning experience, and I never found another ship in there…other than the Sleepers…

Hmm.

Most of the other bloggers have pretty well hit the nail on the head covering basic combat principles (“Never fly what you can’t afford to lose.”, “Fly what you are good at flying, not just what you are skilled to fly”) that the only thing I would considered adding are these three things:

1.   ”Your ability to make isk determines your ability to PVP.”  It may be just another way of saying “Don’t fly what you can’t afford to lose”, but it goes a bit deeper.  Often I see, even veteran players, sitting out on OPs because they don’t have the isk to replace any losses or didn’t set themselves up in a way that allows them to participate while in the process of replacing lost ships.  Be smart and keep a supply of ready to go replacements.

2.  ”This isn’t Star Wars, and you’re no Luke Skywalker.” – There is no “Force” in Eve and no amount of hope and dreams that can save you from bad fits and bad tactics.  This is a pretty hard lesson to learn for the simple reality that most (if not all) are huge Star Wars fans, and being able to act out in the same manner gave us the initial draw to Eve. 

3.  In the end, Eve Online is about preperation.  The better you prepare, both in game and mentally, the better your game experience will be.

The only other thing I would like to have been told is how to use the markets and investing in Eve.  Learning to work with those investments would have certainly allowed me alot more isk to play with in the long run.

Gaming
1 : the practice of gambling
2 a : the playing of games that simulate actual conditions (as of business or war) especially for training or testing purposes b : the playing of video games

… so why is everyone so angry all the time? You wonder why people turn to the “dark side” and perform roguish activities and collect alllll the sweet sweet tears.. it’s FUN.. I’ll tell you a secret… it’s all digital, no manner of pixel..data..packet.. will ever lead me to believe that the person behind the toon is the exact same way the toon is being played. A “low life” in eve does not constitute a “low life” in person. Get over it.. its a game, or actually better yet.. KEEP IT UP, YOUR TEARS FUEL MY ENTERTAINMENT. Even if I’m not the one who pulled off that sweet scam, or that can flip that you lose your favorite hulk to (idiot).. its alll so funny.

Dawn of the Tempest

24km Disruptors have been the center of 95% of all successful PVP setups since the inception of T2.  The reasoning behind this is sound.  The more points you have available, the more ships you can keep locked down when you are winning.  The logic fits well in dealing with high sec combat (war-decs) and low-sec combat especially.  However, this does beg the question..

Could it be more efficent?

Really.  In High and low sec there really isn’t much of an option.  But what about 0.0?  Is it truly necessary for every ship to have a point?  Especially Battleships?  The more I ponder this, the more I’m left struck that in 0.0, the typical mixed fleets and small gangs already have the majority of bases covered.  Interceptors, typically fit HACs, Hictors, Dictors, T1/T2 Frigates, even Battlecruisers generally all carry some sort of tackle and can target much faster than battleships.

In many cases, it would actually be better to fit either a Target Painter or a Tracking Disruptor than a Warp Disruptor.  A Scram would be a nice addition, even a web for RR Battleships, but really.. why waste the midslot with an extra point, when you could instead using that slot for something that will be more effective for your fleets?

The third Blog Banter of 2010 comes to us from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera EVE Blog. He asks us: “Eve University turns six years old on March 15th; six years spent helping the new pilots of New Eden gain experience and understanding in a supportive environment. Eve is clearly a complicated game, with a ton to learn, so much that you never stop learning. So, the question is; What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you’d like to share with the wider Eve community?”

Relax. With all intensity of the Eve Universe; the learning curve, the stakes, the adrenaline rush of combat, it can be easy to lose track of what the point of a game is: having fun. And while Eve is by no means like any other game, the same holds true.

My year and a half in Eve by no means makes me an expert, but it has afforded me multiple times to fuck up and learn from my mistakes. So the list below is by no means “expert advice”, but it is tried advice based on my own experiences (just the same, take them with a grain of salt).

Its ok not to know:

I spent a lot of time when I first started having no idea what I was doing. I trained random skills that I didn’t still don’t need or use, for instance a brief period of identity crisis in which I cross-trained (half-assedly) for Gallente. Do this day, I’ve never used a blaster or flown a Thorax.

A lot of people will tell you to have a training schedule right off the bat and stick to it. While I agree that you probably should eventually, when you’re first starting off it doesn’t matter. Explore every facet Eve has to offer; mine some roids (and realize how insanely boring that is ;) ), run a mission or two, explore, whatever. Find something that you really enjoy doing in this game and then start training specifically to get better at it.

Skills:

If you are a new player, and you’ve found yourself going through this recent batch of Eve Blog Banter and reading all of these, don’t think it coincidence that almost every single seasoned player has written something about their regret at not training learning skills. They are a pain, but DO IT. They’ll save you months (hell, years) of training down the line and they are immeasurably worth it.

Also, train up your core competency and fitting skills. These will also make a gigantic difference down the line. Getting to a point where you can fit up a ship as its supposed to be fitted without gimping it due to your own lack of PG and CPU fitting skills is a good feeling.

People:

One of the reason I do what I do in this game (mess with mission runners) is my confusion about some people’s insistence on making this massive multiplayer game a solo experience. To the new player: DO NOT play Eve alone! Find a player corp with great people that suit you and it will make the WORLD of difference  in your Eve experience.

A lot of people say “get out of the NPC corp as soon as possible”. While this is true, when you do, find a corp that suits you, your goals in this game, and your play-style. Coming out of my NPC corp, I joined up with a hardcore pvp/pve group with frequent and mandatory ops, a vent server, lists of agents you could and could not run missions for, etc. While this would be a great corp for some people, it really wasn’t for me. For me, it meant taking this game a bit too seriously, and it took the fun out of it.

I hated, HATED, running shitty level 1 missions, and I was literally just about to give up on Eve altogether and close my account when I came across Suddenly Ninjas. I found Tchell Dahhn’s Ninja Manifesto ™ and Kahega’s first ninja salvaging guide and I never looked back. No offense meant to the guys of Minmatar Training Associates, but it just wasn’t for me. Whereas the Ninjas are a perfect match. They’re fun, laid back enough yet mature, and they play the game with the same open-sandbox mentality that I do. You guys are the reason I play this game (/awkward dude-love).

HTFU:

The HTFU mantra actually bugs me, but at its core its true. Train “thick-skin”, “sarcasm”, and “sense of humor” to V as soon as possible. And don’t take things personally; that can flipper or pirate that got the better of you and popped your ship probably has nothing against you personally, they’re just out having fun. I lost my first cruiser and pod to Larkonis Trassler and the Neo Spartans when a shitty, shitty level 1 agent sent me into 0.3 space (is it any wonder I quit missions and found the Ninjas?). After a few minutes of being pissed off, I bought a new ship, learned some better fittings (cut all ties with the worst level 1 agent in Eve), and got one with things.

Also stay the hell out of Jita. Really, unless you have dire business there, just stay out. There are other trade hubs and other mission hubs that don’t invoke crippling lag and aren’t crawling with fail-scammers and trolls dual-screening Eve and 4chan. I learned very quickly that the worst, most irritating players who actually spend more time in station smack talking than out playing the game all live in Jita.

Don’t be afraid:

Don’t be afraid to die. Really. It actually took me a long time to get over this and just put it out of my head. I saw losing a fight as a personal failure on my part, and looking back, there are probably fights that I *could* have won except I was too busy trying to get away and save my skin to properly fight back. Go lose ships. I promise you it will be the best learning experience you have in this game.

Above all else, please remember to have FUN playing this game, because if you’re not doing that, you’re doing it wrong. Congrats to Eve Uni on 6 years.

o7,

-Aiden

1. CrazyKinux: The Three Pillars of Wisdom
2. The Elitist: Helping the new guy/gal
3. Hands Off, My Loots: Nothing Needed
4. Rantuket: Blog Banter 16
5. EVE Opportunist: Nooby Cluey
6. Into the Unknown With Gun and Camera: EVE University
7. Zero Kelvin: We’re the young ones!
8. I am Keith Neilson: Set Your Destination
9. Prano’s Journey: Just Like the Very First Time
10. A Merry Life and a Short One: No Seriously
11. Yarrbear Tales: Nublet 101
12. A Mule In EVE: If I only knew
13. The Planet Risk Show: Dared to be Bold
14. Diary of a Space Jockey: WTH did I get myself into?!
15. EVOGANDA: Why?
16. A Memoir From Space: 16th Blog Banter
17. Death’s Sweetest Kiss: Who What When Where Why How??
18. Freebooted: Beyond the Shortcuts
19. Learning to Fly: Noobing
20. Caldari Outcast: My First Blog Banter Post!
21. Finders and Keepers: Relax
22. More to come soon…

Of all the Recon ships, the Huginn is probably considered the worst of the bunch.. if not a close second for the title.  Often, fleets and pickup gangs would rather fly with a Rapier over a Huginn, and consider the cloaking ability far superior to the additional tanking ability of the Huginn.  Yet, the Huginn is certainly not to be discounted lightly.  The simple fact remains that most people, in my modest opinion, outfit the Huginn wrong. 

Because of its resists, the standard fit is usually three mid slot with tackle (two webs, one 24km disruptor), one 10MN MWD, and use the final two slots for its tank, either two Large Shield Extenders or a LSE with an Invulnerability Field.  The low slots are then populated with a DC and whatever else the pilot decides.  Yet, it is interesting to note that one of the certifications for the Huginn isn’t Shield tanking.. its Armor Tanking.  While I tend to agree that this flies in the face of two very important facts, the first being that all Minmatar T2 cruisers are shield tanked, and the second fact that the resists on the ship clearly point to shield tanking as the optimal choice.. nevertheless, as a Recon ship, its job ISN’T necessarily to tank…

The Huginn carries two particular bonuses, the first is the often used web range bonus.. which on a Huginn can reach up to 40km using typical T2 Statis Webifiers, and 60km with faction.  Still, with only two webs an interceptor can still reach speeds of almost 600m/s without implants, still fast enough to get out of a 24km range easily, and certainly not all that hard to get out of bubble range either.  This is where the second bonus comes in.  The Huginn retains its bonus from the Bellicose hull and this adds a 37.5% increase in the strength of a target painter.  Add to that good target painting skills and you have something else entirely.

[Huginn, Armor TP Configuration]
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Stasis Webifier II
Stasis Webifier II
Target Painter II
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile

Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I
Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I

 The above configuration now brings out the beauty of the Huginn.  As an armored tanked Recon, it can blend effectively with the more popular armor tanked fleets currently in use.  With the midslots free, it can upgrade its sensors to get just shy of 1300mm scan resolution.  In practice, what happens in your typical gate camp is that once a interceptor class ship tries to MWD out of a bubble, the frigate’s signature (at best skill) shows up well below that of a small cruiser, making it very difficult to target and hit using medium and large guns.  However, replacing the 24km point with a Target Painter now brings the little interceptor’s sig radius up to around 125mm.. the size of large cruiser… and a very easy target for your allied ships to lock onto and hit.

However, I am definately new at this.. and who knows.. it might be just as fun as ventilating some U’K scum.