EVE Blog Banter #23: I'm Walking in Stations, Now What?

Welcome to the twenty-third 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!

With Incursion giving us glimpses of what Incarna will have to offer (the the Character Creator), this month's topic, by @Minerpewpew, comes just at the right time. He asks "What are your thoughts on how Incarna will effect the current EVE Online social dynamic?" I'd like to see this questioning go a bit further. How will this affect EVE's player base? Who will Incarna attract? New players to the genre? Seduce old players back into the game? Will we see new players come in that will never leave their station? Please explore to the best of your abilities!

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        Commercialization does funny things to online games. When Team Fortress 2 began receiving class content updates, the focus of the player base was to cooperate and acquire all the achievements necessary to unlock the new weapons. Occasionally a few hats were introduced to give players some flair to wear as they were fragging each other. Then the "Mann-conomy" update appeared. All the content which was previously found through achievements or luck of the draw was suddenly purchaseable and tradeable. Suddenly the weapons which gave players tactical advantages in combat took a back seat in players' eyes. The thing most coveted in Team Fortress 2 is hats. Lots and lots of hats, traded as bargaining chips for bigger, better, more rare hats. Tens of thousands of dollars being spent on virtual items that simply look pretty. It put a standard FPS in a whole new light.

        I can hear the jealous wail all the way from Iceland.

        Despite the claims from diehard capsuleers that The People are not interested in Incarna, I will argue that EVE players ARE interested in vanity, and CCP can harness that vanity in Incarna. Simply look at those who feel the need to stockpile every ship in their hangars with Test Dummies, Spiced Wine, Tobacco, Pax Amarria, and Exotic Dancers. Those same players will be scrambling to get together a proper winter ensemble for their avatar when the weather outside gets chilly.

        Another guaranteed way CCP can generate interest in Incarna by capitalizing on players' vanity is through rarity. There is a common thread between MMO's and Trading Card Games. They both thrive due to items that not everybody can have. EVE is not a stranger to rare items. Three Frekis were lost by Circle of Two during Alliance Tournament VIII - mere frigates with street values of over 30 billion ISK apiece due to their limited-edition rarity. Imagine the adornments CCP can conceive which will cause people to part with their ISK and even PLEXes due to being limited-edition items. In a year we could see an Alliance Tournament award medals of valor for the winners which can be affixed to their avatars.

        So we've established that Eternal Pursuit of the Shiny will cause some people to enjoy Incarna. What about the people who don't care about that? How will Incarna change the social game? That part is a bit trickier because the story essentially hasn't been written yet. Harken back to Mynxee's recap of the October CSM Summit and you will see that they point-blank asked CCP if there will be gameplay in Incarna, and what is planned, and CCP basically responded, "Hmm, good question. Why don't you tell us what you want?"

        This reaction is a very dangerous tell. CCP has stated before that they are making Incarna in order to fulfill a self-imposed desire to diversify. Through what medium? They don't know, just as long as it sells stuff via microtransactions. The problem with that is that you cannot force a game into existence without knowing what its content is going to be, and still expect it to be fun. Look at Spore - a game that had the most potential of any concept imaginable, but ended up completely lacking in depth and substance. A game has to be compelling on its own without a need for the concept around it. This is why Incarna is going to be extremely difficult to create. CCP's purpose for building Incarna is to generate a social following. To that end it has to attract people into a social context. Think Facebook. What draws people to it? Making new friends, keeping in touch with existing friends, social networking, blogging. And then there's Farmville, Bejeweled, and Texas Hold-Em Poker.

        EVE Hold-Em is already a player attraction, and an Incarna version that cuts out the middleman would surely gain a following. That has a side benefit at least - the ability to play for ISK. The other games are just gimmicks. Remember that you're in EVE. You're already playing a game. Why play a game within a game? There has to be incentive. In fact the most important requirement for Incarna to succeed is if it's fun to play WITHOUT leaving the station. It has to compete with EVE itself. There has to be a compelling reason for Incarna's existence to create social interaction beyond what already exists in chat channels. Looking at avatar bling is not enough. Creating and selling avatar bling, now that's something that has potential. In order to compete as a chatroom-with-benefits, Incarna has to rival the likes of Second Life as a social gaming platform, which already has the advantage by sanctioning RMT through an in-game currency exchange. Imagine selling ISK for cash through EVE's website. That'd elevate the scamming incentive by quite a bit, I'd bet.

        How will Incarna affect the rest of EVE? Let's say CCP does everything right and Incarna develops its own entire player base. There is still outer space to contend with. Just like item logistics, you gotta get to the station in order to attend the party going on inside it. With this in mind, I don't think the core player base will change much. EVE outside of stations is still the cold, harsh universe it's always been, and new players will not appreciate the callous admonishments when their sparkly new ship goes poof because they thought 0.4 security space was safe. Despite the potential for social enrichment, I think most station-dwellers will be primarily worrying about their chances of winning an all-in with pocket Kings so they can buy their next PLEX. Or hats. Hats are purty.

Other responses to EVE Blog Banter #23:

I am Keith Neilson - Incarnal Desires

Bob From Marketing - Incarna

Confessions of a Closet Carebear - Who Enters The New Incarna(tion) of EVE

OMG! You're a Chick?! - Nobody Will Use Incarna - The Remix
An Amarrian Capsuleer - Incarna
Interstellar Privateer - Depth of Vision
Latro's Bunker - Incarna and EVE's Social Dynamic
EVE A to Z - Incarna
New Eden History Student - On Incarna
Blastrad Tales - Incarnate
Tai One On - Incarna
Serenity One - Force Fed
Roc's Ramblings - Shiny
Aeroxe's Assault - Stretching Your Legs
A Mule in EVE - What Comes With Incarna
Ardwulf's Lair - These Aren't The Legs You're Looking For
Progression's Horizon - These Legs Are Made For Walkin'
CrazyKinux's Musing - Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, Neither Was New Eden
Drifting Through The Stars - Topic: Incarna
Diary of a Pod Pilot - The Incarna Effect
The Hydrostatic Capsule - Generations
Aggressive Logistics - 'Tis The Season To Be Shiny

Massive Fever

        Knee was finding it hard to concentrate. He had been working long hours clearing the asteroid belts of Gurista presence so the mining fleet could have a safe operation. Everything on the ship's instruments indicated things were working perfectly, but the mental effort to drive the ship and its subsystems seemed a bit more taxing than usual. The pod diagnostics were showing a biometric anomaly, but heartbeat and respiration were normal. Still, Knee took it as a sign to check in to headquarters. After delivering a mortal shot to the last Gurista battleship in the belt, he recalled his drones and headed for the station.

        The docking procedure was normal. As soon as Knee pulled himself out of stasis and back into consciousness, it hit him. A migraine headache. Nausea. Fatigue. Disoriented, coughing, and in a slight panic, Knee stumbled his way to Medical.

        "Is this your natural body?" The doctor asked.

        "Unfortunately not. I lost that one a long time ago." Knee grimaced as he recalled the thundering force of projectile ammo rendering his first pod asunder. The sound alone would have deafened him if he had survived the incident.

        "Have you consumed any performance-enhancing drugs lately?"

        "No, never have." Knee was trained in Biology and knew about the so-called combat booster drugs that improved capsuleers' performance with the possibility of crippling side effects. He had not yet faced a situation that would require the risk.

        "Well, here's what I see. You have a massive fever, you're congested, you're malnourished, and your muscles have begun to atrophy from non-use."

        "Meaning what?"

        "Well, aside from being in that pod for too damn long, you've gotten yourself sick as well."

        "Sick? How?"

        "All the standard ways diseases are transmitted. Aspiration, ingestion, physical contact, etcetera. The problem is that when you're in pod stasis there's no way to control the germ. The system is shut down almost to the point of death, with just heartbeat and respiration keeping the brain alive. With the immune system suppressed to the point of non-existence, a contracted infection has essentially free reign in the body and you wouldn't even know it."

        Knee gripped his aching head. "Lovely. What can you do?"

        "The only option is to get some rest. Some real food and some light exercise would do you some good as well. I don't like the things I'm seeing from you staying in that pod so long. It's destroying your body."

        Knee chuckled to himself. He laughed louder as he looked up and met the doctor's questioning gaze. The doctor shook his head. "I don't --"

        "Destroying the body!" Knee exclaimed between fits of laughter. He calmed down and looked at the doctor with a giddy grin on his face. "Doc, if I biomass this clone, I take out the infection with it, correct?"

        The doctor nodded. "Correct."

        "I'd rather not resort to that since I have some pricey implants in here." Knee tapped his cranium. "Now, what happens if I clone jump instead?"

        The doctor recited, "Well, your consciousness transfers to the clone in reserve at a remote station and the remaining body ... " His voice trailed off as he realized what Knee was thinking. "The remaining body will be kept here where the infection can be eradicated at our leisure."

        Knee smiled. "Hook me up, Doc. I have a sudden need to travel."

        Clone jump transfers were initially traumatic when jumping into a new clone that had never been used before, but jumping into an old body was much less so. Knee found it useful to exhale at the point of transfer so the impulse would cause the recipient clone to do the same action and prevent inhaling the fluid it was submerged in. He found himself lying down. He calmly sat up, wiped the fluid from his face, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. A doctor and a small group of nursing attendants were peering at him. "Evening, gentlemen." Knee bellowed.

        "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

        "Much better, thanks." He waited to be unhooked from the vat and made his way to the shower.

        Being in a fresh body was invigorating. After cleaning up he chose a light jumpsuit for his attire and took a jog around the station, followed by a hearty, satisfying meal at the commissary. It was expensive to transport the animals from the local planets to the station, but the taste of real meat does wonders for a man's constitution. He would not let his body fail him again.

School's Out!

        Read the latest CCP Dev Blog and rejoice!

        It's been a hotly-debated topic for what seems like forever - the Learning skills. Like most beginning pilots, I mocked the fact that I had to spend an entire month to learn how to learn before I could learn the things I wanted to learn, lest I give up time due to the lack of efficiency.

        Now CCP has announced their intent to implement what seemed to be the most agreeable compromise, unsurprisingly devised by the CSM. Learning skills are going away and we're receiving +12 to all attributes instead, plus a reimbursement of all skillpoints invested into Learning.

        "Great," I thought, "I can accelerate my skillplan and be a month ahead of schedule." Then the comment feedback got my wheels turning.

        First was Trebor Daehdoow's suggestion that if your neural mapping allowed for Learning skills to train at a rate higher than what you were currently working on, then train Learning skills now before the reimbursement and get a return investment of skillpoints that's greater than what you would have gotten if you had just continued with your skillplan.

        Then came a comment from Ishina Fel who said, "Time to make a list of all those CHA-based skills I want maxed..." With CCP Zulu's announcement just a few days ago that the PLEX-for-remaps idea was getting scrapped, I was annoyed that I would have to train Charisma skills at a low rate because I don't see a Charisma remap plan as worth a year of training time. I would run out of skills that I would want.

        Wow, what a double whammy to solve both of those problems. I have switched to training Eidetic Memory V which is bringing me more skillpoints per hour than my current skillplan. Then I can drop those reimbursed skillpoints into Leadership at an equivalent rate of 2200-2300 an hour instead of 1350 without the need for a remap!

        What will this buy me? With currently 2 million in Learning which will turn into about 3 or 4 million by the time we get reimbursed, I can go from zero in Leadership to having Leadership V, Wing Command III, Warfare Link Specialist III, and a couple of levels each in Skirmish, Armored, and Seige Warfare Specialist. Not bad. It may be a little bit of a sidestep, but it's a perfect opportunity to take advantage of Learning skills one last time.

War Sacrifices

        "Amarr? Are you kidding me?!"

        The outburst caused some heads to turn. At the same time, the group sitting with Knee Anderthal promptly shushed him down.

        "Seriously," he said more quietly, "Why Amarr?"

        "Because it's the best ship for the job."

        The attention turned back to the instructing Fleet Commander. The lecture resumed. After it was finished and the students began to depart, the FC motioned Knee over to talk.

        "Is there a problem, son?"

        "I don't see why Amarr ships could possibly have a tactical advantage."

        "Armor tanking! What else do you expect to fly in an Armor HAC fleet? An Ishtar?"

        Knee frowned. "Okay, but why armor at all? Why not shield?"

        "You're a solution looking for a problem. Look..." The old FC's patience did not falter. He touched the panel in front of him and the presentation display on the wall sprang to life. "Build the fleet. Spec out your assault ship." The screen showed an empty fitting diagram. The FC handed over the input panel.

        Knee pursed his lips and set to work. He summoned a Vagabond into the interface and began dragging imaginary modules into the fitting. A set of guns here, some shield extenders there, and a set of gyrostabilizers. Satisfied, he looked up at his instructor.

        "Not bad, but you're forgetting something."

        "Hmm?"

        "You built this out to be a dogfighter - close combat. But you only have enough mids for Microwarp, point, and tank. What happens when someone scrambles you?"

        "Dual prop?"

        "I would agree, except now your EHP drops down to 22,000. And it was only 31,000 to begin with."

        "Well, what else am I supposed to-"

        "Like I said, a solution looking for a problem. Armor fit it now. See what you get."

        Knee was stubborn, convinced he was right. Still, he wiped out the fitting and started over. He grimaced at replacing his damage-enhancing gyros with armor hardeners, but he was able to improve the mid slot usage. He completed the fit and looked up.

        The FC pointed at the diagram. "Now, you see? You've doubled your EHP to 50,000 and you can fit dual prop on there for when you need it."

        "Yeah, but my DPS got cut in half as a result."

        "Unfortunate, but a ship does more damage than a shipwreck."

        The sheer logic gave Knee pause. "Okay, but still, you're trading gank for tank. I don't see how it improves things. You'd need twice as many ships."

        "Not necessarily. Look at this." The old man called up the Zealot fit he designed. "The problem with your Vagabond is that it didn't have enough lows. This HAC has two extra low slots where we can fit in Heat Sinks, and suddenly we have a ship with the damage of your shield fit, but the EHP of an armor tank."

        "What the hell?!" Knee exclaimed incredulously.

        "Best ship for the job." the FC reinforced.

        "I will not be caught dead in one of those abominations!"

        "First of all, you're correct; you won't. Not on my watch. Second of all, what do you have against Amarr ships?"

        Knee gave him a look which transcended speech. It was a look of pure emotion. Fear, anger, loathing. The old man read it and understood. "You need to shake off your preconceptions of the Amarr, son. You may have had a brush against their ugly side, but everyone has an ugly side. That doesn't mean that's all they are. We have plenty of Amarr folks here in corp. Have you ever talked to any of them?"

        "I've ... kept to myself." Knee admitted.

        "Another mistake. We're all here to work together. We are at war, and it's not against the Amarr. You should talk to them. They have the same agenda that you do - the success of this corporation. Do you understand?"

        "Yes sir." Knee's stomach was twisted in a knot but he knew that some of them were different. He just found it easier to keep his guard up.

        "We all have to make sacrifices. I suggest you make your pride the next one. Now go out there and show me you've learned something, and maybe you can actually fly in my fleet instead of sitting in my classroom."

        An hour later, the skillbook quartermaster looked up at the hulking Brutor in front of him. "Yes sir, what'll it be?"

        Knee swallowed and spoke with restrained emotion. "Amarr Frigate and Small Energy Turret, please."

Rifter Swarm FTW!

        The honorable and multi-talented Rixx Javix of EVEOGANDA has been well-known in the EVE Universe as an accomplished artist who does commissioned pieces for people's blogs, corp websites, and anything else they like. As of late he has added some EVE merchandise to his repertoire in the form of Cafepress designs for sale on T-Shirts, Mugs, and Tote Bags. A couple of weeks ago he added this design to the collection: Rifter Swarm FTW!

        As a proud Minmatar player and a member of Dreddit, a corporation famous for encouraging days-old newbies to join combat in null-sec in anything they can fly - especially Rifters, I had to have this shirt. Rixx said in his blog post that he would hope to see someone walking around in this shirt. Well Rixx, this is for you!

        So to recap: Read EVEOGANDA. Check out his Cafepress Store. Buy his stuff - all proceeds are donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Fly Minmatar.

The Darkblade

        He had heard its name frequently among the whispers of other pilots. He had even seen a few of them on holoreels, especially those from the annual Alliance Tournament. But he had never seen one in person until it was staring at him in his hangar.

        Knee Anderthal gazed in awe at the ship which most pilots considered to be the deadliest frigate in existence: The Dramiel. And now it was his. A pirate ship of Angel persuasion, it bore ill repute among the people he knew in high-sec from working for the Caldari. They associated it with crime and violence. Knee agreed that they got the violence part right.

        Having Minmatar and Gallente training, he had already known he would be capable of flying it, but its austere appearance made him feel intimidated. As he approached the vessel he ran a hand down one of its pointed tusk-like wings. "This thing looks like a giant claw!" Knee remarked to his hangar attendant. "Yep, she's a beaut." he replied. "Care to take her out for a spin?" Knee gave him a look which said it all. "Unload my Reaper. I brought her a gift basket."

        A cargo hold full of modules was quickly unloaded, unpackaged, and mounted on the hull. He brought exactly what he would need. Once it was complete, he climbed into its pod and eagerly awaited its undocking procedure.

        A matter of seconds later, he was in space. They say among capsuleers that the agility of a ship from the inside fits like a glove. The nimble frigates are like surgical gloves, cruisers like winter mittens, while the battleships are more like a gauntlet - strongly armored yet cumbersome. This ship did not fit like a glove. It fit like a third hand. Knee switched on the microwarp drive he installed and screamed away from the station at 5000 meters per second. No other ship he flew before had that much speed packed into it.

        He transmitted his approval to the attendant back at the station.
        The reply came back, "Going to fly her for a fleet operation?"
        "No, not yet at least. This girl's going to be for a special occasion."
        "A keeper, eh? Got a special name in mind?"
        "I'm calling her 'The Darkblade' - after a particular pilot I know."
        "A friend of yours?"
        "Hardly. One of the most dangerous pirates I've heard of. It's perfect for a ship like this."
        "Heh. What would you say to him if you ran into him while flying that thing?"
        "Fifty Million or your pod gets blown to pieces."
        The responding laughter echoed in Knee's mind as he engaged warp and brought his new toy home to his toybox.

RL Distractions = Level 5 Skills

Being on call this week at work, I don't have the privilege of blowing up spaceships at my leisure. It's a perfect time to train an 11-day skill.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of purchases to talk about. Stay tuned.

On Downtime and Exploits

        So it seems my alliance managed to create a nice bit of controversy. EVE was taken down for half a day to apply the Tyrannis 1.2 patch. Before the server went down, TEST planted Territorial Claim Units in areas of unclaimed 0.0 space. They normally take 6 hours to complete the claim, during which the unit can be destroyed. Due to the downtime, however, nobody could contest the claim and TEST returned to EVE several systems richer. Apparently the former owners (or non-owners to be more accurate) did not like this chain of events and petitioned the GM's who revoked the claims on the territory.

        So the first question is: was this an exploit? Probably. My personal thought as a programmer is that timed items like this should not elapse while the server is in downtime. As soon as the server came up and was accepting player connections, then the competing alliance should have had 6 hours from that point to contest the claim.

        So now extrapolate that. What if the downtime was arbitrary, like the two-day unforeseen outage caused by moving the database? The timer starts when the server is up, but how can a group organize when the server comes up at a random time with real-life constraints sometimes preventing you from acting?

        Also, consider what timers stop and which ones continue. Skills continue training because they don't affect other groups directly. What about reinforced towers? Other sovereignty timers? Planetary Interaction? Research and Industry? Capital Shipbuilding? My opinion is that any timer that can cause a loss to someone should stop. That means that towers and sovereignty freezes and everything else keeps going.

        It's not perfect, but it's better than provoking GM interference in the shadow of the whispers of favoritism of which CCP will probably never rid themselves.

EVE Blog Banter #22: Corporate Loyalty

Welcome to the twenty-second 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 topic is brought to us by L'Dene Bean of Nitpickin's who asks: Why, and how did you pick your corporation? Is your loyalty solid or just until a better placed organization "recruits" you. The shorter version:  Who holds your Unshakable Fealty and why?

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        I've been playing EVE for nearly nine months now, but I still feel like a newbie. Call it a disciplined newbie. My initial corporation was a real-life group of coworkers playing together. We made a pact to train up characters in specified roles and kick some ass as a tight-knit group.

        That was the plan, anyway.

        Turns out that many of my coworkers were either too impatient, too bored, or too disinterested to continue playing EVE. My CEO moved on to join Dreddit, and left the corporation in my hands. I continued on solo. I became a decent mission runner, eventually able to handle Level 4's alone without a problem.

        Then I hit a mental brick wall. What was I trying to accomplish? How the hell did I end up here? As a solo pilot with his own corporation, there isn't much to accomplish. Running missions is about as boring as grinding daily quests in World of Warcraft, which I wasn't about to pick up again. I kept telling my bored coworkers that all they needed was a good large-scale war to pique their interest, but I wasn't taking that advice myself. Then my former CEO contacted me and invited me to join Dreddit with him. All I needed was a Reddit account. I figured, what the hell. I've had enough of highsec. Let's make it interesting and jump straight to null. So that's exactly what I did. I sold my highsec assets, I resigned from my corporation, and I flew to nullsec in a Reaper with nothing more than the ISK in my wallet.

        Out here I've had a blast. But the question brought up in this banter interests me. Is my loyalty to Dreddit solid? For the moment it is. I won't consider myself a decent fighter pilot until I have a year's worth of additional Perception skills under my belt - right now I feel inadequate because I can't fly the ships I want and I can't fit them the way I want. Dreddit allows me to feel relatively safe in nullsec, with it currently being the largest single corporation in the game. It's like EVE University with a vengeance. Would I ever leave it? Maybe, but not for now.

        Overall, I feel that EVE corporate loyalty is a lot like real-life company loyalty. If you're not happy with it, it's hard to get them to change things, and you're usually better off leaving; though it's never wise to tell them that.

        Of course other cultures have other views. The Japanese are fiercely loyal to their companies, to the point that the ultra-capitalist Caldari are modeled after their practices. A salaryman is referred to his job title before his name. They stay in the same company for life. They take care of their company, and their company takes care of them. Rather than fire a bad employee, the company is compelled to work things out with them and come to an agreeable solution.

        We Americans are much more selfish. A bad employee is a liability to a corporation, and they will gladly cut their losses. A person working in a job that does not treat them well or pay them well will seek out another.

        EVE is much more harsh.  You can do a lot more damage to an EVE corp than you can to a real company without being sued for it - theft, espionage, sabotage, conflicts of interest, corporate coups, convincing other employees to leave, working for competitors after you quit, etc. Likewise, a vindictive corp can wardec you after you leave it, or even hire a mercenary group to ensure you never have a safe trip outside a station again. Loyalty goes both ways.

        My personal view on corporate loyalty is that EVE is primarily a game meant to entertain me. Thus my corporation must be entertaining and engaging. However I will not be able to devote a lot of time to it. I already did the game-feels-like-a-second-job thing with World of Warcraft. EVE is a social game, so it is both the individual people and the group mentality that will be judged by my loyalty, combined with the ambition of what I want to do. If all of those match, then things are cool. I'm in a learner's corporation with plenty of people who have similar attitudes. I feel I'm in a good place so far.

Other responses to EVE Blog Banter #22:


Nitpickin's: Who holds your Unshakable Fealty and Why?
The Elitist: Corp Loyalty (Oh how original)

A Scientist's Life in EVE: Corporation Loyalty - Brothers and Sisters till the end?

Evil Silents: Corp Loyalty

Progression's Horizon: Loyal til Underverse Come
Chocolate Heaven: Arise Lady Chumpington
Diary of a Garbageman: Corp (dis)loyalty
Interstellar Privateer: Not a Nice Game
Sarnel Binora's Blog: Corporation Guilt?
EVEOGANDA: Corp Loyalty
Free 2 Kill: Where Does Blood Run Thickest?
A Mule in EVE: Loyalty Isn't For Sale
An Amarrian Capsuleer: Corporation Cooperation
A Merry Life and a Short One: Lie Back and Think of England
The Reformed Anti-Pirate: Loyalty
Drifting Through the Stars: Corporation Loyalty - Brothers and Sisters till the end?

Hands-on Training

        Despite the lawlessness of 0.0 space, CONCORD was still out there. Not in any official policing capacity, mind you, but their scouts were out there. Capsuleers fighting over solar systems were of no interest to them. It was the pirate factions they were keeping tabs on. These same pirate factions were constantly pushing their way into Empire space, and it was CONCORD's job to monitor their activity at their nerve centers here in nullsec, and reward the capsuleers who took it upon themselves to act as local police.

        It was in this capacity that Knee Anderthal was flying his Dominix with a group of seasoned pilots and new recruits. The purpose was threefold - to give the new pilots some combat experience, to try and discover hidden complexes that would yield lucrative custom equipment reserved for the Dread Guristas, and to collect the bountiful compensation doled out by CONCORD for their efforts.

        It was during the clearing of one of the Guristas sanctums that a simple training exercise became a bit more real. A rogue Crusader Interceptor warped in to the sanctum 100km away from the fleet. One of the new pilots set after him, but the fleet called him back. Not only would a simple frigate be unable to catch an Interceptor, it would be outgunned as well. So the Interceptor was ignored for the moment as the fleet continued assaulting the Guristas.

        Suddenly the Interceptor decided that if the fleet was not going to fight it, it was going to fight the fleet. It warped on top of the fleet and pounced upon a defenseless salvaging destroyer just 15km away from Knee's Dominix. The fleet immediately rallied for tackle and Knee sent out his Hornet drones normally reserved for Guristas frigates. What was a battleship pilot to do?

        Normal fleets would not have warp disruption handy, but extra precautions are taken in zero. Although the Interceptor was able to take out the salvaging destroyer, it was overwhelmed and exploded marvelously before it could escape. A three-million loss for a twenty-million gain.

        The training for the morning was complete.

On PLEXes for Remaps

I feel the "PLEX for Remap" issue is being terribly blown out of proportion by the player base. People act like it will give people a huge advantage when they don't stop to consider that you still have to train the skills after the remap. Even when your stats are optimized, the training time is still significant. Why have attributes at all, then? There's still the opportunity cost. You either train things you're optimized for, or you train other things anyway at a suboptimal speed, or you wait a year to remap, or you pay a PLEX and remap now. Each time you take the PLEX route you diminish the significance of attributes, but you pay a large sum for that privilege.

I know people who stuck themselves into a remap that outlived its usefulness and would give a PLEX to reset and train other things. Plus, would it not make sense during one of your annual remaps to take a small detour down Charisma Lane, knowing you weren't going to spend an entire year in it, but getting good things like Trade, Social, and Leadership skills out of the way, then dropping a PLEX to remap again to the next important attribute set? Maybe if Charisma had a more significant role in the skill set such that there might actually be a year's worth of its skills worth training, it wouldn't be the neglected stepchild that it is now in the eyes of the remapping capsuleer. But that's a separate issue...

Save Capsuleer!

The folks behind the Capsuleer application for the iPhone have announced that they are discontinuing the project. The reason being that CCP has not yet granted them a license to give them the rights to sell their app, despite previously giving them overwhelming praise and promises of cooperation.

As a developer, an EVE fan, and a blogger, I'm compelled to lend my support. We need to get this issue brought to CCP's attention. These guys deserve it for the time and money they have invested.

Nashh Kadavr has created a petition on his blog.

There is a thread in the Assembly Hall to get the CSM's attention.

Please do what you can to increase the visibility of this crisis.

Old Troublemakers

        "Make sure your ship is fully insured and you've got no implants in your head."

        "Check." Knee replied. Even when going for broke, it still pays to be frugal.

        Knee Anderthal had run in to a couple of old acquaintences from his previous corporation - one of them his former CEO who had passed him the reins in order to come out here to Deklein. Shortly thereafter Knee handed off the responsibility to the next in line to join him in nullsec. Leadership wasn't quite his forte. He found it easier for someone else to call the shots while he worried about focusing the guns.

        Tonight was a celebration of sorts. A battlecruiser roam among old friends. An opportunity to pick some fights and make their presence known, even if it meant getting killed.

        Knee selected a Myrmidon outfitted for close-quarters combat and set out. Two jumps out from home base they encountered a small group of neutrals causing strife - a Cynabal, Curse, and Hurricane. Knee fired his Microwarp toward the Hurricane and Warp Disrupted him, but found the enemy ship too fast to hold. A Nano-cane. Knee frowned at his ship selection as he knowingly admired the tactic being used against him. The Curse began to open fire and Knee opted for a tactical retreat. There's more than one way to fit a Hurricane.

        Knee returned to base and swapped out for a corporate fleet favorite: a Sniper-cane. No need to chase people down when you can hit them from 80km away. Knee returned to the action but found the neutrals had moved out. The gang decided that since the fight did not find them, then they would find a fight.

        Jump after jump found empty systems until the jackpot. An enemy system full of reds. With directional scanners gently probing the dark den of the system, the crew moved from belt to belt, planet to planet. Nothing. Even vastly outnumbered, nobody wanted to come out and play.

        The group moved on, heading to the border to high-sec. A gate camp of friendlies guarded the entrance to hell. They jumped into Torrinos for some shopping. Skillbooks were rare commodities in nullsec. Afterward the attitude became more desperate. It was too far to fly back. They had to pick a fight somewhere, and it might as well be here, CONCORD be damned.

        A couple more jumps and they found a jackpot - a Hulk pilot in the middle of an asteroid belt, seemingly unfazed by the band of Guristas frigates firing on its shields. While it wasn't particularly alarming to see an Exhumer class vessel shielded strongly enough to be able to ignore the meager assault upon it, what was alarming was that it was not mining.

        Occasionally a Capsuleer will relinqish the control of the ship to its crew, accepting the inefficiencies that come with it, in order to take care of other matters. One would think, however, that a mining vessel as prestigious as the Hulk would be constantly at work in order to justify its cost. Were they taking a break? Were they asleep? Perhaps the illusion of safety in high-sec caused them to lower their guard to the point of grossly negligent malaise. It was time to wake them up.

        The battlecruisers landed out of warp and prepared all weapons systems for overdrive. Drones at the ready, target locked. "Fire in the hole, gentlemen."

        In less than a second, the Hulk went from a glistening pinnacle of industry to a blue explosion. Alarm chimes rang, and Knee found his ship suddenly being assaulted by the local police force. His capacitor drained, his engines locked, his hull taking heavy fire. He was the lone captain going down with the ship, having sent out the entire crew of his battlecruiser ahead of time. Though the destruction of the subsystems of his vessel brought sensations that were borderline painful, he felt a glory of losing the battle, yet winning the war.

        The ship was torn asunder, leaving him in his pod, naked in space. He docked at the nearest station and brought himself out of unconsciousness with the adrenaline still flowing. "What a rush!" he thought.

        Knee watched the CONCORD official report come in. Bureaucracy liberated him of his ship for the crime of liberating someone else from theirs. That made things even in the law's eyes, but monetarily it was very much in Knee's favor. A report of the ship destruction saw a credit to his account for the insured hull. The insurers turn a blind eye to the fact that the loss was due to crime. No-fault insurance was immensely popular among the more unscrupulous capsuleers for this very reason. Knee lost ten million and cost an idiot of a pilot a hundred and forty million. Money well spent.

        After the police presence cooled down, Knee quietly purchased a Probe frigate, warped back to the scene of the crime, and looted the Hulk's wreck. The same Guristas frigates were there, and scolded him for his presence with their guns. Knee made haste for his old base in Lonetrek with two of the Hulk's Strip Mining lasers in his cargohold. They would do well to help offset the cost of "business."

Reinforcements

        "If you come back from this alive, I will blow you up myself!" Strong words from a fleet commander to lead you into battle.

        The corp was feeling antsy. It was time to go on a roam. The Goons were planning to take over some Ev0ke territory and we were going to help. In frigates. We assembled in throwaway ships with the intent to kill something or die trying.

        The cruise to Cloud Ring was uneventful. The SBU still had an hour to go before coming online, so we had time to kill. We went to the Syndicate region to cause some trouble over there. Several points along the way we saw hostiles and neutrals in system, but nobody in plain sight. Finally, we landed upon an unsuspecting Vagabond at the Z-6NQ6 gate. He jumped through, we followed. He made a mad dash for the Orvolle gate but we caught him at a bubble in front of the gate. A neutral Rapier showed up but we ignored it, concentrating fire on the Vagabond. The Rapier ran for it as we destroyed the Vagabond and took out the pod for good measure.

        Looking over the CONCORD report, it turns out the Rapier was not the Vagabond's ally. He took a potshot at him as well before retreating.

        Satisfied, we returned to see the SBU come online and an ungodly swarm of Goonfleet ships begin assaulting the Ev0ke tower. It was reinforced within minutes.

        At this point, the fleet commander began to succumb to the side effects of the boosters running through his body. A rogue Manticore caught him by surprise and bombed him, but luckily his shields held. A stealth bomber preying upon frigates keeping watch at a gate was not a good place to hang around. Knee decided it was time to head home, with the Vagabond's Tech II Autocannons as his trophy. Death would have to wait.

The CSM and CCP Play Nice Together

        Big news on the Dev Blog today. The CSM and CCP announce 19 improvements planned for Incursion that were directly proposed by the CSM. This is a huge win for CCP, the CSM, and us, the players. I patiently witnessed the outrage after June proclaiming that the CSM was the same old story and that nothing would be done. I was personally miffed that CCP would postpone core game development for fringe features that the public didn't really clamor over, and rubbed it in at Alliance Tournament VIII with a guy wearing a "No New Features" shirt as he was talking about the new features!

        But we can put all of that angst behind us now. This is proof of progress. It may be slow, but it exists, and that's good enough for me. I'm confident that the momentum will pick up as time goes on. This seems to be a very passionate and strong-willed council, especially with Mynxee at the helm. I wish them continued success.

On Salvaging and the Noctis

        New Ship Arriving! If you haven't heard the news, go here now!

        Oh, good, you're back. Picked your jaw up off the floor yet? Great! Let's talk salvaging.

        If you don't know me, I love me some salvaging. When I was carebearing in Lonetrek I looted and salvaged every mission I did. I salvaged every single one in a Catalyst, which I believe is the most efficient salvaging Destroyer:

[Catalyst, Salvalyst]
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II


1MN MicroWarpdrive I
Cap Recharger II


Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Salvager I
Salvager I
Salvager I
Salvager I


Small Salvage Tackle I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I

        The drawback to this ship is that it only carries 829m³. Level 4's can have upwards of a couple thousand m³ worth of loot, necessitating two trips. This caused me to look at larger ships. When I moved to nullsec I purchased a Hurricane devoted to salvaging:

[Hurricane, Salvacane]

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

10MN MicroWarpdrive I

Large Capacitor Battery II

Cap Recharger II

Cap Recharger II

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Medium Salvage Tackle I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I

        This loyal soldier has a respectable 2700m³ cargo hold - plenty for what I'm looting nowadays. However I always wondered about how viable a salvaging battleship would be, so I did a spreadsheet comparing them. Only four appear here - I ruled out the others for having inferior stats. I'll spare you the loadouts on them since they follow the same pattern as the Cane, but here are the capacities and speeds when microwarping at all level 5 skills:

Typhoon: 4527m³, 814m/s

Megathron: 4890m³, 677m/s

Armageddon: 5542m³, 652m/s

Apocalypse: 4890m³, 611m/s

        So with those stats in mind, let's check out the Noctis.

Cargo

        With a base cargo bay of 1460m³, three low slots, and three rig slots, we can do the math of adding in Expanded Cargohold IIs and Medium Cargohold Optimizations and come to a maximum cargo of 4602m³. Swap one rig for a Salvage Tackle and it's 4002m³. Blows the Hurricane out of the water and competes strongly with the capacity of the battleships.

Cost

        Thankfully CCP showed us the blueprint and its Bill of Materials. If we do the math and add up the cost of the metal using average mineral indexes, we come to a price of approximately 37 million ISK. Surely it will be cheaper when you consider material research, so let's knock off 10% and call it 33 million. The price of a Hurricane, cheaper than all of the Battleship hulls mentioned above.

Speed

        With the inherent bonuses in the new Ore Industrial skill being granted to us, the Noctis will salvage faster than any ship in the game. But how fast can it travel when chasing down faraway wrecks? The multiplier factor for a microwarp at all level 5 skills is roughly 6.33. Multiply that by its 155m/s base speed and you get 981m/sec. Even faster than the Hurricane, which clocks 925m/s at all level 5.

        Usually a drawback to a speedy salvager is its tractor speed. Tractors only pull things in at 500m/sec, and your microwarp can easily outrun that amount. The Noctis compensates. With its inherent ship bonuses, at Ore Industrial V it will have a tractor range of 60km and a tractor speed of 1500m/sec. Thus you can microwarp with impunity, never worrying about outrunning your tractored wrecks.

CCP knocked it out of the park with this one. When Incursion arrives I will have a new ship order for my hangar:

[Noctis, Noc Kneed]

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

Expanded Cargohold II

10MN MicroWarpdrive I

Cap Recharger II

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Small Tractor Beam I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Salvager I

Medium Salvage Tackle I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I

First Blood

        "Incoming neutrals." the scouts reported.

        Knee Anderthal knew this was a chance to taste real combat. Even though the pilots were not at war with the alliance, general policy in nullsec is that that today's neutrals are tomorrow's opponents on a scouting mission. Deny their intelligence and your establishment is safer for it.

        The Rifters were already built and fitted. He wanted to be ready at a moment's notice and have spares on hand should he get into a bad situation. He selected one and took off.

        His allies were prepared. Disruption bubbles were set up 10km away from the gate leading toward his new paradise. He orbited the bubbles and waited eagerly, configuring his neural display for combat targets. He caught a couple glimpses of a neutral Rapier, but the ship obviously had a cloak, as it didn't hang around his vision for long. Already the capsuleers were showing they were smarter than the Guristas.

        Suddenly, he detected three hostiles inside the solar system. The team was ready and waiting. The hostiles warped in. A Stealth Bomber, an Interceptor, and an Interdictor. They flew directly into the web and the spiders descended with aplomb.

        Maybe capsuleers weren't so smart after all. It certainly wasn't elegant or even fair, but it was First Blood nonetheless.

Transportation

        As if it were at the flick of a switch, Knee Anderthal was suddenly an employee of a new corporation. He had never been part of a large corp before. Sure, the Pator Tech School housed hundreds of capsuleers, but it was artifically supported by the Republic. This was a living, breathing, self-sustained corporation at the edge of the known universe. It was a scary and exciting change.

        The first order of business was physically getting from Lonetrek to Deklein. He considered the capsuleer trick of having his medical clone regenerated in the corporation's main station and simply podding himself over, but that seemed cowardly. Matari aren't keen on suicide.

        No, the warrior's path is to charge headlong into the enemy. He would fly there to get the full experience of the journey. But what ship to use? "A true warrior can go into battle empty-handed and come out victorious." His grandfather's wisdom confirmed the decision. Knee headed to Medical.

        "I'd like to activate my jump clone in Sobaseki." he proclaimed to the administrator. It was the first time he had used one of these things. Medical clones were one thing - a necessary precaution in case of emergency. This was simply a matter of insurance; he had expensive implants in his head that he didn't want to waste should he fail to complete the trip.

        He was a bit nervous as he stepped into the clone vat. The attending nurse was telling him some of the things other capsuleers did to prepare for the consciousness transfer. Some took a deep breath. Others grit their teeth. They always seemed to brace for impact in some way. Knee wondered why.

        The operator's panel lit up with a bright green glow. Sobaseki was prepared to receive the transfer. The nurse checked the connections on Knee's skullcap and stepped back with a look of satifaction. "Ready?" she asked. Knee exhaled, closed his eyes, and relaxed. "Go."

        Pain!!!

        It felt like a lightning bolt struck behind his eyes. Knee reflexively jerked his head back and gasped, only to find himself submerged and breathing pod fluid. He flailed about and found his feet touching the smooth surface of the clone vat. He attempted to stand, but found no friction and flipped backward into the pod goo. He suddenly felt himself grasped by his arms and pulled up to a standing position. He coughed for a minute, expelling the pod fluid he had inhaled, then stood up straight, pulled the front of his skullcap up from his eyes and squinted. An unfamiliar face greeted him warmly. "Welcome to Sobaseki."

        Knee could feel himself aching from head to toe as he showered off. He hobbled out of the shower and was greeted by the same fellow, whom he found was the station's clone specialist.

        "Why does this hurt so much?" he implored the doctor.

        "This what?" he asked.

        "Everything!" Knee shouted.

        "You realize this is the first time you're using that body." the doctor replied. "It's getting used to being driven rather than sitting idly in a tank."

        Knee grunted as he rubbed his eyes. "How soon can I get in my pod?"

        "Anytime you like, though we prefer our capsuleers stay overnight for physical and psychiatric evaluations."

        "That won't be necessary. If I survive till the end of the day then I'll be all right."

        The doctor chuckled, thinking Knee was joking. He wasn't. Not where he was going.

        Knee checked out of Medical and headed to his assigned hangar. The attendant opened up a Market feed and asked, "So what's your pleasure? We have a wide assortment of frigates, cruisers, and battleships in every size and flavor, Matari and otherwise."

        "I'll take the Reaper."

        The attendant grimaced. "I can assure you that we offer competitive prices compared to Jita." Sobaseki's proximity to Jita frequently put them at odds, with only the regional separation preventing full market competition.

        "I'm not going to Jita. I'm flying to zero-zero."

        "What? In a Reaper? Are you-" the attendant caught himself.

        "Insane? Maybe. Call it a trial by fire."

        No implants, no assets, and the most meager ship he could find. Just the ISK in his wallet kept him from total poverty. He made the 16 jumps to the border almost absent-mindedly. Then the big jump. There was no low sec. This was jumping from empire space straight into null. He steeled his nerve and activated the gate.

        Keeping his senses aware, he continued the journey. Gate after gate yielded no resistance and led him closer to the edge of the universe. In the middle of it, he hit a single warp disruption bubble which flung him into preparedness, but there was nobody around. Just a leftover barricade on the battlefront.

        Another warp found him surrounded by a couple of hostiles at the gate, but his mini-frigate was much too quick for them to react. Another advantage of travelling light.

        As he got closer, he saw more and more allies light up in the comm channels. He felt at ease. He had made it safely. He made the final jump and docked into his new home.

        He lay in a new bed with a Market datapad in his hand. The prices were a bit higher than Empire, but not exorbitant. He bought a Dominix, a Hurricane, and five Rifters, plus fittings. Like Lonetrek, Deklein was Gurista territory. Knee smiled as he knew he could fall back upon battling a familiar rival, but his real focus was on a higher echelon of combat. It was simple for a capsuleer to outmaneuver a regular captain, but other capsuleers was the new challenge he faced. He would start from the ground up, beginning with the Rifters and going from there. His purchases complete, he managed to sleep despite his aching body and the sweet song of Astrometrics filling his head.

Resignation

        The jump clone was prepared, the arrangements were made. All that was left was to pull the trigger. Knee Anderthal knew this day was approaching, but was still a bit apprehensive over it, despite the overwhelming wealth of freedom it promised. Old habits are hard to break.

        He tapped a button on the comm panel in front of him. A video link sprang to life, putting him face to face with a diminutive, brown haired Ni-Kunni. "Hey there, whipping boy, what's up?" she said cheerfully.

        "Hey, slave driver." he replied, with a grin on his face. "I've decided it's time to go crazy. I'm heading to zero-zero."

        "Whaaaaat? Not you too." She looked glum. Their previous CEO had done this just a few months ago -- decided that high-sec was too boring and wanted to head off to null in search of adventure and fortune. Knee thought he was crazy, but the promotion to CEO was welcomed nonetheless.

        "So what's going to happen to the corp?" she asked.

        "Why do you think I'm calling?" Knee grinned wider.

        After a second, the frown turned to a look of surprise. "You're kidding!"

        "Congratulations, gearhead. You wanted your own production outfit, now you've got it!"

        "Oh, wow! I'm - I'm honored." she stammered. "I don't know what to say."

        "You could say 'Thank you.'"

        She regained her composure, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "Knee?"

        "Yeah?"

        "You're fired. Pack up your stuff and go to nullsec immediately."

        "You're welcome, dear." He smiled.

        "If I see you in high-sec again, I'm declaring war against your sorry ass."

        "I'd like to see you try. You're going to throw ore at me with your Hulk?"

        "You forget that I'm well-trained in Caldari warships."

        "With no missile skills, I might add."

        "We'll see about that. Dismissed." She tried to look authoritarian but the excitement kept her smiling.

        "At your service, milady." Knee exaggerated a bow and switched off the comm.

        Chuckling to himself, he pressed a button which sent out corporate correspondence notifying resignation due to pursuing new interests, blah blah blah, extolling the virtues of the new appointee to CEO, etcetera etcetera, all the glurge and annoying paperwork to make it official. He was glad to pay for that service.

        Satisfied, he began tapping in another contact. It was time to meet his new employers.

Liquidation

        "Get me the Hoarder!" Knee Anderthal proclaimed as he climbed into his pod.

        "Not the Dominix this morning, eh?" his hangar attendant chimed back.

        "Nope. Got some hauling to do."

        "Yeah? Got a courier contract or somethin'?"

        "You could say that." Knee grinned as he stretched the pod interface skullcap over his eyes and began connecting its sockets to his implants. "I've decided it's time to clean up shop." With his free hand he pointed at the rows of packaged equipment neatly organized at the far end of his hangar. The spoils of war, nearly every piece scavenged and salvaged from his previous conquests.

        "Someone's bought all that stuff from ya?" his attendant looked puzzled.

        "Not yet." Knee replied. "But they will." He closed the pod and settled in.

        It took three trips to move his 50,000 or so cubic meters of wealth into the beehive of Jita 4-4. He was a bit nervous at first as he began calculating the net worth of the goods he was moving in each trip, but with the sight of freighters lazily drifting into and out of the station in abundance, he felt more at ease that his cargo was just a drop in the ocean.

        After the equipment came the ships. Two Wreathes, with each one carrying a Thrasher, then one final trip in the Hoarder to pick up the frigates. He only left behind a few ships, his favorites. They might still see some use, he thought. For now he just wanted to get away, but it didn't make sense to leave all this gear he had amassed, especially the laser turrets he couldn't even use. Accursed Amarr technology.

        The move was fairly easy. The selling would prove to be much more time-consuming. Playing the part of salesman was never one of his strong points. He queued up some trade skills and actually found the content relaxing as he drifted off to sleep. By day he was astounded at the accommodations provided to the capsuleer tradesmen in this station. Jita 4-4 offered personal neural market links station-wide, so anyone could monitor their bids at all times and make adjustments on the fly. Normally capsuleers took advantage of their pod's computer or station terminals to process such information. Jita's technology left them free to move about the station and take advantage of everything else it offered. It was sickeningly extravagant, and yet terribly convenient. They knew how to get people to spend, and the lavishness of the station's amenities showed just how much the Caldari Navy's cut of the action added up.

        In just a few short days he had cleaned out his inventory. He priced aggressively to sell things quickly, and surely disturbed the margins of the mainstream traders who constantly squabbled over hundredths of ISK.

        Satisfied, Knee brought his Hoarder back to base, his wallet about 300 million richer. That would buy a lot of Rifters, he thought. There was more to be done, but having a lot of cash on hand would certainly help. He queued up the third lesson on Cynosaural Field Theory as he settled down into bed. Boring material, but he would need it where he was going.