CCP Misses the 'Micro' in Microtransactions

        The inital round of Incarna's Noble Exchange does not look promising. Remember last post when I said I buy virtual clothing in Second Life? Well let's take a look at that for a moment.

        Players create SL content and sell it for game currency - Linden Dollars. The basic exchange rate is 250 Lindens per US Dollar, though it varies based on demand, as RMT is sanctioned and there is a semi-open-market currency exchange managed by Linden Labs. Players define their own prices for their content. Going rates for typical items of clothing range from free (for benevolent sellers) to L$500 for very nice items of clothing. Ornately detailed items of clothing can possibly go up to a thousand, and good avatar skins go for a couple thousand apiece, as they are complicated to design and look lifelike. Convert to USD and we have $2 for great items of clothing, $4 for superb pieces of clothing, and $8 for a really good skin. Cheap enough for people to afford easily, right?

Now we look at CCP's initial prices. This is taken from EVENews24:

Exchange Rate: 3500 AUR = 1 PLEX = $17.50 = 400 mil isk at Jita (New Eden main trade hub).

- Looking Glass Ocular implant – 12k AUR -> 3.5 PLEX -> $61.25 ->1.4 Bil ISK

- Men’s ‘Sterling’ Dress Shirt – 3.6k AUR -> 0.97 PLEX -> $16.97 -> 388 Mil ISK

- Women’s ‘Sterling’ Dress Blouse – 3.2K AUR -> .91 PLEX -> $16.00 -> 364 Mil ISK

- Men’s ‘Comando’ Pants – 3k AUR -> .85 PLEX -> $15 -> 340 Mil ISK

- Women “Impress” Skirt – 3.6k AUR -> 0.97 PLEX -> $16.97 -> 388 Mil ISK

- Women’s ‘Sterling’ Dress Blouse P – 4.4k AUR -> 1.25 PLEX -> $22.00 -> 504 Mil ISK

- Men’s ‘Precision’ Boots – 1k AUR -> 0.28 PLEX -> $5.00 -> 112 Mil ISK

- Women’s ‘Greave’ Knee-Boots – 2.4K AUR -> 0.68 PLEX -> $12.00 -> 272 Mil ISK

        About the only thing close to being competitively priced in Aurum is the Men's Boots at $5, and even that is very pricey by SL standards - L$1250 can more intelligently buy several full outfits.

        Now considering many people are very spacepoor, this seems like a big slap in their faces. Many new pilots I talk to in my corporation struggle to afford a battlecruiser, let alone items that are the price of one or two fully-fit battleships. Don't get me started about how ridiculous that monocle is...

        Now there is a rumor on EVENews24 that CCP is looking for more ways to incorporate microtransactions. A supposedly leaked memo details the areas CCP is considering, such as items, ammunition, ships, faction standings, and lots of aspects of DUST, since the console folks pay a one-time fee instead of a subscription. This memo also voices the desire for recurring microtransactions, as once a piece of clothing is bought, you don't need to buy it again. Temporary advantages or perks, therefore, are preferred. To that end, they want to make cyclical offerings of limited-edition items that introduce a sense of rarity. Also on the plan is consumable items, especially weaponry, as it is a fundamental part of the game, highly desired, and highly advantageous.

        Money for power is damning to any game. CCP counteracts it with the skill training system. You can buy as much currency as you want, but beyond implants it's useless to make you a better pilot if you lack the needed skills.

        Money for faction standings gives you instant Level 5 missions, instant jumpclones, instant research agents, instant ability to launch a POS in empire space, and instant elimination of transaction taxes. That's an uncomfortable amount of power IMO. Selling advanced weaponry for cash is equally destabilizing and dangerous, and the memo acknowledges this, but proclaims the desire to do it anyway because it will be a surefire seller. I don't doubt that for a second. I don't think it's fair either.

        The reason for all of this attention to microtransactions is revealed as well - everyone else is doing it, so we have to do it too in order to stay "competitive." This sounds like the typical short-sighted idea conceived by upper management, who fails to consider the consequences of their decisions.

        I don't like the direction this is going. And seeing that this is just the tip of the iceberg, I feel like I'm piloting a freighter named The Titanic. Or perhaps The Hindenburg.

Goodbye, Station Spinning

        Like it or not, Incarna is here. What will be the first thing you check out?

        I think, for me, it will be the following in order:

1. Captain's Quarters. I hadn't seen them on SiSi yet.
2. Aurum clothing. I buy virtual clothes in Second Life. I don't imagine EVE being very different.
3. New turrets! My Dramiel already looks badass. I can't wait for the new turret models to make my ships look more badass.

        As for what's new with me, I've got Medium Energy Turret V in the queue for patch day. Because patch day inevitably turns into patch week with something new and large such as this.

        I've been debating over whether to train Minmatar Cruiser V first, or Amarr Cruiser V. So I decided to train both. They will hit the queue after I get Medium Pulse Laser Specialization trained. After that I'll be training the Tech II cruisers to IV, followed by AWU V. That takes me to the middle of September and brings with it a lot of versatility: Logistics, Recons, HACs, and Hictors for both Shield and Armor fleets.

        My grand plan is to put a Zealot to use running Incursions, since they seem to be very lucrative. I also have another money-making plan in the works, but that's another month or two away before the plan can be revealed.

CCP Gets Greedy

        I will be brief in response to CCP's plan to charge $99 a year for any commercial application that uses their Intellectual Property: ISK isn't money. If I earn ISK for my site's services, I am not earning money because I cannot (legally) convert it to money, hence it is not a commercial venture. Ad-supported sites, sadly, I must agree are making money and must pay the fee.

        It's also ironic that this plan was created with respect to Capsuleer, but now Capsuleer is discontinued and will not return. I fear how this will impact the community as a whole. And right before Incarna's release, too.

Amarr-ked Improvement

        After taking a grueling amount of time training up Tech II Projectiles, Knee took a small trip back to Empire space via Jump Clone Express. His old home base doubled as a great place to make a skillbook run. Able to put Tech II guns on Maelstroms and everything smaller, Knee decided his Minmatar training was adequate at the moment and he needed to embrace his humble side.

        Despite TEST employing Shield fleets in their Maelstrom-fielded strategic ops, there were also other fleets regularly formed that called for Armor. Since Gallente ship performance has lately been considered lackluster, and Minmatar choices are limited to the Hurricane and the Loki, the best option is to fly Amarr.

        Like most slave children who are lucky enough to be rescued by their Matari brethren and sent to be raised in the Heimatar region, Knee grew up with strong prejudice against everything dealing with the Amarr. Still, the older he has become and the more exposure he has had with the people themselves, he had to admit two things. First, that Amarr people aren't all bad guys out to enslave him. Second, they can build an array of truly impressive ships.

        One such ship is the Zealot. A Heavy Assault Cruiser that is difficult to supersede. It's fast, it has a small signature making it hard to hit, and "Short Range" Pulse Lasers can do amazing damage at 35km when using Scorch crystals.

        Knee liked the concept of infinite laser ammo. He never liked having to estimate how much projectile ammo to haul around, though being able to choose your damage type is handy. Lasers simplify the process to selecting the optimal crystal for your engagement range, with no reload delay.

        Within a few days, Knee had learned the basics of Amarr ships and Laser turrets, all the way to Battleship level. Taking that knowledge to Tech II would take a lot more time, but since Beam Lasers seem to go unused, that simplifies the training a bit. Still, the plan contains three big time consuming skills that cannot be ignored for this type of ship:
Medium Energy Turret V (10d)
Amarr Cruiser V (16d)
Advanced Weapon Upgrades V (20d)

        Everything else in the plan is another 22 days - Assault Ships to Heavy Assault Ships and Pulse Laser Specialization. It will be worth it, though, for it will enable Knee to be able to fly Armor or Shield at any time.

Incursion 1.5 Thoughts

        I always find it amusing that CCP brags about their sandbox environment where one can do anything they like, yet they are constantly releasing patches that push forth an effort to influence what people should be doing.

        Today's offering makes Highsec missioning more available and lucrative than ever before. My corpmates are saying that it's ridiculously easy to get to the reputation level needed for level 4 missions. I'll be testing out that theory in Serpentis space, flying a dirt-cheap Rifter and flying in the face of the resident hooligans who are claiming Serpentis space for themselves in the wake of TEST's failed effort to drive them out.

The Best-Laid Plans...

        It feels like things have stagnated a bit. There was a large call about a month ago to move our base of operations right next to Serpentis NPC space so we can take over the area and run Archangels missions, turning in the loyalty points for shiny faction ships. So far that plan hasn't gone well. After we moved our staging system I was expecting to see lots of planned fleet ops to roam around the area and catch any enemy stragglers who happen to be hanging around. That hasn't happened very much. In fact the inhabitants seem to be holding on to the neutral space quite well, which does not bode well for our potential mission runners, myself included. There are the likes of Interceptors, Instacanes, and even a Carrier camping the stations. And like the 0rphanage, they hide in their hole anytime a fleet shows up.

        The problem is that we are not displaying our show of force like we did in the siege of 6VDT. An ideal alliance would have ships in each of the seven NPC systems, even some with cynos fitted so that they can hotdrop on a carrier who tries to take a potshot at our fleet and think they can hold on to their tank for a minute while waiting to de-agress.

        Instead what does it feel like we've been doing? Shooting a tower here, saving a tower there. Not much else. On the forums there's a general feeling of a lack of direction. I tend to agree with that sentiment. I have my own plans for improving things but I can't do it alone. In the meantime I'm focusing on a little bit of liquidation. Not because I'm wanting to move anywhere else, but to be ready to do so in case the situation with the alliance changes.

Tech II Guns Take Forever

        Medium Artillery Specialization is finished. Sharpshooter V is required for Large Artillery Specialization, as is Large Projectile V. In total about 24 days of training for those two skills alone. So much for April.

        The good news is that the guns will see plenty of use.

Greeting The 0rphanage

        Two weeks ago, TEST decided it was fed up with constant wardecs by The 0rphanage. In true newbie-loving fashion, we stormed Jita 4-4 with one hundred Rifters. This was the result. We exploded our ships hilariously and did 200 million in damage compared to 30 million in losses. 0rphanage retracted their wardec a few days later.

        Three days ago, they declared war again. We decided to pay them another visit, and this time we were upping the ante. I had to join in the hilarity.

        We assembled a fleet of Stabbers and Thoraxes. Able to fly both, I chose a Thorax for its greater DPS. Our scout surveyed the field and out of 12 or so hostiles, we decided the Legion was the juiciest target. We sent in bait. The Legion aggressed. Within seconds we pounced and decimated it. This time the damage was 460 million.

        The ambush scared the rest of 0rphanage into the station. We regrouped at our launching station. They came out and camped it. We decided to engage them anyway. This time the juicy targets were gone but we still took out a Harbinger, another Harbinger, and a Drake. We lost most of our ships in the second engagement, but  totaling up the encounter shows we did a total of 650 million in damage with a 463 million loss. This included our scout and bait ships. The cruisers were provided to us by the FC, cheaply fit, and fully insured. By blowing them up, we were paid to participate. It was a pleasure.

What's New?

        Skill Training: I've completed Minmatar Frigate V and can now fly Assault Ships, Interceptors, Cov Ops, and EWar vessels ... though who would want to fly a Hyena anyway? The WoW Rogue player in me loves Cov Ops. I have a lot of missile skills to train before I can fly a Stealth Bomber effectively, so right now I'm just having fun scouting around in a Cheetah.

        The next step is the long, arduous, but necessary path to Tech II guns. Projectiles are the flavor of the month and my Gunnery has been neglected for far too long.

        Please support the relief efforts in Japan. So far I have donated 12 PLEX to CCP's campaign for good. I encourage everyone else to participate if they can.

        I should have an interesting Op to talk about tomorrow.

Neural Remap

        Everything was prepared ahead of time. It was just a matter of throwing the switch.

        For the past seven months, Knee's learning plan had been focused entirely in support and infrastructure. All the non-combat tools that he would need to be a better combat pilot. Sounds contradictory, but take into consideration that a fighter pilot needs more than guns. He needs engines, shields, armor, and even a few tricks up his sleeve. Some of those tricks include overheating modules, jury rigging, electronic warfare, and astrometrics. Knee knew them all. He was ready.

        He sat calmly in Medical while the doctor's aides busied themselves around him. Some were taking scans, others were hooking up equipment, and still others were running calculations. Neural remaps were not everyday procedures. Official regulations limited their use to once a standard year, though occasional grants by special request were possible. Knee was well-trained in Science but still did not understand the technology behind changing the brain to influence a person's mental capacity. Something about optimizing neural pathways. The scientists explained it best as "flashing" the brain the same way a data storage chip is written. Both are electrical systems, after all. When you abstract it to that level, it simply becomes a matter of circuit design. Knee was comfortable enough with the concept of implants supporting the brain's functions, but rewiring the brain itself was beyond his comprehension. He trusted the people around him.

        When the aides confirmed everything was ready, the attention turned to Knee. He was focused, almost trancelike, on completing the final skill in his set, drawing in data from the invisible voice in his head. Finally he opened his eyes and Aura, connected to his implants, proudly announced "Skill training completed." He looked at the head doctor and nodded. One of the nurses applied a quick sedative and the experts went to work.

        Within moments, it was finished. They removed the sedation and Knee regained consciousness. As he regained his bearings he could feel the eerie effects of the procedure. His willpower was higher than ever before - he knew no fear. His perception was nearly off the charts. He was able to predict the aides' actions and movements almost to the point of seeing into the future. He reveled in the feeling. He felt superhuman. He felt like a Capsuleer.

EVE Blog Banter #25: Subtracting Sovereignty

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?"

---

        I believe there is a large hurdle for alliances to leap over in order to get into capturing sovereignty. Namely, playing the reinforcement game. Getting a fleet together is simple. Getting a fleet together that has the firepower and patience to reinforce a tower? Quite a significant commitment. Getting that fleet together three times in a row at different times on different days? A heroic effort.

        For those who are ignorant of the current mechanics, here's a quick explanation. Unclaimed space is claimed with a Territorial Claim Unit (TCU). When that goes online, the system is yours and you can start placing buildings - Infrastructure Hubs (IHUBs) and Stations. All three of these building types are invulnerable as long as you hold uncontested sovereignty.

        To take someone else's sovereignty, you have to plant Sovereignty Blockade Units (SBUs) at over 50% of the system's gates. At that point the IHUB and Station become vulnerable. Taking them down requires shooting them and waiting out the reinforcement timers. When those buildings are down, the enemy TCU is vulnerable. Destroy it and the system returns to a neutral state, ready to be claimed by its conquerors.

        So what happens when you start tearing that system apart, piece by piece? First of all, the reinforcement timers. If reinforcement did not exist, an enemy fleet could storm a system and capture it within half a day. SBU's take 3 hours to come online, and TCU's take 8. In the middle of that is the timeframe for the IHUB to be destroyed and the Station to be conquered. A blob of supercaps would make it easy. This change alone can make a huge upset in sovereignty holdings, as a large alliance that is slow to react can lose systems literally overnight. For working types like myself, I'm away from EVE for 16 hours in a row every day when considering work and sleep. A successful alliance defense would require round-the-clock guard shifts across all timezones.

        If taking down the IHUB and Station was not required, then the attack can be reduced to a single player in an Industrial carrying the necessary SBU's and TCU, plus a small gang to destroy the enemy TCU.

        These changes would force such delicate instability that maintaining any amount of territorial claim would require eyes everywhere at all times and a reactionary force of minutemen available to repel any attack within a matter of hours. The week-long round-the-clock siege of 6VDT-H performed by my own alliance just a few weeks ago would be reduced to a lazy Saturday's activity. That hard work could be undermined the very next day. Establishing a flourishing market and profitable IHUBs would be next to impossible.

        Breaking down sovereignty from alliance level to corp level would surely make things more granular, but it could also splinter the effectiveness of an alliance. Each corp would have its own staging systems and the coordination between corps could easily fall apart.

        So the way I see it, removing some of the sovereignty barriers would definitely cause more PvP simply by making it easier for one group to force another group's hand. But make it too easy and the ability to change sovereignty becomes trivial with a blob force, and impossible to maintain when the opposing blob force shows up, all the while draining all the fun away from building a productive home.

        So what happens when sovereignty disappears or it becomes utterly pointless? Then nullsec simply becomes lowsec without the GCC. Anarchy. A pirate's dream. All PVP all the time. Alliances degenerate into nomadic blobs or bubbly gatecamps. Lowsec becomes the carebears risking a shot at making more money versus the solo PvPers hellbent on stopping them. Meanwhile supercapital ships have nowhere to hide, and the prices of any kind of nullsec equipment skyrocket. Well, at least it wouldn't be safer than highsec.

Other responses to EVE Blog Banter #25:

1. CrazyKinux's Musing: EVE Blog Banter #25: And by Alliance you mean.....?
2. BB25 What sov changes will come? | A Mule In EvE
3. Confessions of a Closet Carebear: Alliances and Sovereignty
4. Blog Banter 25: Nerfing Nulsec « OMG! You're a Chick?!
5. Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? | Nitpickin's
6. Blog Banter #25: Alliance and Sovereignty Limiting PvP in 0.0? | Sarnel Binora's Blog
7. Blog Banter #25 - Mad Haberdashers
8. Alliances and sovereignty | Eve Online Focus
9. ...Shall we not Revenge?: BB 25: What if the Alliance vanished?
10. Blog Banter: Alliances and Sov
11. EVEOGANDA: BB25: Sov 'n Go!
12. » TBG:EBB#25 – Alliances and Sovereignty To Boldly Go
13. Freebooted: BB25: Leviathans of the Deep
14. Wrong Game Tetra ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
15. EVE Blog Banter #25 – Human nature what art thou? | Way of the Gun
16. Who cares about Sov? - Hands Off, My Loots!
17. The 25th EVE Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty - The Phoenix Diaries
18. Achernar: The space commute
19. Wandering the Void…my EvE musings. – Blog Banter: Alliances and sovereignty
20. (OOC) CK’s Blog Banter #25: How To Break EvE. « Prano's Journey
21. Captain Serenity: Blog Banter #25 - Crappy mechanics
22. Helicity Boson » Blog Banter #25 Nullsec and sov.
23. BB #25 – “With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?”
24. Boom! Hull-Shot?: It's the End of the Eve as We Know It
25. sered's lives: EVE Blog Banter #25 - Size does matter
26. 25th EVE BB – Medieval Solutions to Spaceship Problems | Inventions of a New Eden Industrialist
27. Eve Blog Banter #25: “Have Alliances and Sov Limited PvP and RP in 0.0?” « Align Outbound
28. Banter 25: Sovereignty, Alliances and Power Blocs | TheElitist
29. Blog Banter 25 – But I just left all that! « A Scientist's Life in Eve
30. Nobody likes losing « One capsuleer against all
31. >>>Vigil Ant: Alliances and SOV by Munny's eyes.
32. Latro's Bunker: Blog Banter 25 -Nullsec and Sov
33. A "CareBears" Journey » Blog Banner #25: Alliances and Sovereignty, and their affect on PVP and RP
34. Blog Banter #25 – Unstoppable « Roc's Ramblings
35. Nobody likes losing « One capsuleer against all
36. EVE Blog Banter on PVP in Null Sec « Evehermit's Blog

One Week Till Remap

        EWar is finished. I saw the power of ECM during Alliance Tournament VIII and I had to buy in to it. Should I choose to fly a Caldari ECM ship, I will be evil in it. The alliance loves EWar people too.

        So what's left?

• Nanite Operation IV and Nanite Interfacing IV for heat repairs.
• Anchoring IV for drag bubbles.
• Salvaging IV for looting.

        That's it. Less than a week away. I'm excited!

The First Anniversary

        Today marks my first anniversary of playing EVE - Knee's birthday.

        Coincidentally enough, it also marks a nice skill-training milestone. Cynosural Field Theory IV finished today, putting me at just over 20 million skillpoints. An average of 2280 sp/hour.

        So, the year in review?

        After going through the tutorials, I pack up my free ships (Thrashers and Slashers and Wreathes, oh my!) and haul them 22 jumps from Matari space to my coworkers' home just outside Jita. From there I go up the missioning chain - Level 1's in a Thrasher, Level 2's in a Rupture, Level 3's in a Hurricane, and Level 4's in a Dominix. I get over 8.0 standings with the Caldari Navy, allowing me to keep some jumpclones in highsec for times when I need to go skillbook shopping.

        That's where the blog begins. The general malaise of solo missioning causes me to head to nullsec for some fun. Meanwhile I'm training exclusively Int/Mem skills in anticipation of a Per/Will remap which should last me for a good year or two. Having looked at some character skill profiles who have skillpoint totals over twice what I have, I'm pretty confident in my support backbone, and when I add Tech II ships and guns to that, I should be pretty solid.

Life in Fountain, Day One

        Rigging training is complete. Onward to the final set of Electronics skills - 11½ days. Removed a couple of unnecessary skills from the plan, saving three days. It's now a total of 18½ days until the remap.

        My courier contract is already completed. All of my equipment is now here. Awesome service!

        Researched the market for buying a Maelstrom in the future. The station is well-stocked with the hulls, guns, and faction ammo necessary for the job. Very impressive.

Moving South

        Knee noticed the level of activity around the station was higher than normal. Things were usually quiet around Deklein these days, as the military operations were focused in the South. Knee took it as an opportunity to continue his recovery and soak up some training on the fine arts of Jury Rigging.

        Today, however, was impossible to ignore. Nearly every capsuleer was either on the hangar floor or in motion to and from it. Knee asked a hangar attendant what the story was.

        "We're moving."

        "What? Where to?" Knee inquired.

        "Fountain."

        "Everybody?"

        "Everybody. TEST is packing up and giving Deklein back to the Goons."

        Emotional reaction would normally be the first thought to such sudden and life-changing news. Instead, Knee's mind was already worrying about logistics. He had a lot of ships and cargo stashed here. He was already familiar with liquidating assets from leaving Lonetrek to come here. He just wasn't used to having to plan things so quickly.

        First to go were the ships. He went through his ship inventory and stripped the lot, repackaged all but one, and priced them aggressively: 30% below market. Only fools would pass up such prices. He was not among fools; the ships sold within a matter of hours.

        Next was his stash of ammo. Ammo was disposable, fungible, cheap, and took up too much volume in his bay. It had to go. 30% off.

        Then there was the mass of equipment. A load of modules he couldn't possibly go though in a short timeframe to sell individually. Luckily the alliance was hosting a courier service for just a couple of days to deliver things like this to Fountain via Jump Freighter. Only problem was the launching point for the freighter was several jumps away. He quickly bought a Wreathe and loaded it with the whole lot. Nearly 4600 m³ of goods. Before leaving, he bought one final piece of equipment - a cloaking device. That one piece was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was simply too large to fit in cargo, but it was necessary for the final step. Knee grumbled and pondered.

        "Wait. This ship's got a high slot, doesn't it?" He quickly consulted the fitting. It had one. Perfect. "Plug it in!"

        The lowly industrial creaked its way out of the docking bay. Knee swore at its sluggish operation due to the heavy load it was barely carrying, and at his own ability barely being adequate to fly the thing. An industrialist he was not.

        At the rendezvous point, Knee set up the courier contract, stripped the Wreathe and put it up for sale, and headed back for the last piece of equipment - his most precious one: The Darkblade.

        The last time Knee made a suicidal solo run through nullsec was in a Reaper with nothing to lose. This time he had something to lose. His implants. Clone jumping would not transport them, it would simply transport his consciousness into another body. The only way to move the implants was the old fashioned way.  In person.

        The ship of choice for the mission was his beloved Dramiel, named after Kirith Darkblade, a Matari pirate famous for using frigates as his ships of choice. It amused Knee that the smallest ships had potential to be the most devastating when used correctly. He purchased the Dramiel after learning that Kirith's had achieved over 70 kills before finally meeting its demise.

        Knee fit for absolute worst case scenario. Inertia and Warp Core stabilization, Microwarp, Medium Shield Extender, and the Improved Cloaking Device he hauled in the high slot of the Wreathe. He couldn't force anything else into the hull without starving its CPU. The ship would only do so much and Knee would have to do the rest.

        Satisfied that the rest of his logistics were taken care of, he set out for the 30 jump journey. The jumps out of Deklein were quick and uneventful. It wasn't until he entered Pure Blind that he encountered a threat. Three hostiles in Local among the friendlies. No vision on any of them. He quickly warped to a planet near the gate, cloaked up, and waited. No change in activity. They were either hiding or waiting. Knee consulted the solar system map and looked for a route to lead him to the next gate. A series of planets was in between the gate and his current position. He warped there and cloaked again. He was now about 16AU from the gate. He activated the directional scanner. Drake, Daredevil, Guardian. No way to tell if they were friend or foe, better to assume the worst. The cruisers posed no threat, but the Daredevil made him uneasy - another pirate frigate potentially deadlier than his own when up close with blasters. Knee couldn't fit dual-prop to escape such a situation - there simply wasn't enough CPU. One warp scramble and he was dead.

        Wait. 16AU from the gate. That's too far for Directional to reach. He narrowed his angle of scanning and pointed at the gate. The ships disappeared. They were behind him, but were there more at the gate? Knee warped to 100km from the gate and triggered the scanner for all it was worth. Still no ships. He was safe. He burned for the gate like a madman, screaming into the jump at 5000 m/s.

        Cloud Ring was empty save for his allies from Wildly Inappropriate. Fountain was equally quiet, despite gatecamps reported on intel. He had made it. He docked into station, chatted with his corpmates for a while and made arrangements with Medical to transfer his emergency clone to this new station. He found the market to be sparse, but that would improve once the logistics team finishes their fine work.

        He sat back in his new suite and wondered how difficult it would be to procure a Daredevil for his hangar. He would have to restock his ship collection, after all. Might as well make it interesting...

Happy Birthday Dreddit

        One year ago, a small corporation with its meager frigates sought out a small portion of 0.0 space.

        Today, that corporation has succeeded in toppling one of the largest power centers in the EVE universe. IT Alliance has officially disbanded. Fountain is ours. Quite a nice birthday present, don't you agree?

One Month Till Remap

        The agonizingly-long Int/Mem skill plan is nearing completion. Today marks the end of training all Astrometrics skills to IV. Next on the agenda is about 9 days' worth of Rigging.

        I mixed up the plan a bit - added some things and took some other things out. I decided to put off all the Subsystems skills until later when I finish training Cruiser V. It may be less efficient but I'm getting impatient. In place of Subsystems I substituted Anchoring IV so I can use Large Warp Bubbles. Should be a handy skill to have in 0.0.

Incursion = Raiding 101

        EVE is beginning to catch up to World of Warcraft.

        What? Heresy you say! How dare I suggest EVE is inferior to World of Warcraft!

        Well, in terms of PvE content, it is.

        Before Incursion, the toughest PvE content in the game was Class 6 Wormholes, requiring 9 to 12 pilots faction fit for spider tanking. Incursion raises the bar up to 50 ships for the largest encounters. Capsuleers are finding it hard to handle these larger encounters. Welcome to World of Warcraft about 6 years ago. I was there.

        Molten Core was the first Raid instance in World of Warcraft back in 2005 - the first of several 40-man dungeons. The encounter immediately preceding it was Upper Blackrock Spire, a 10-man dungeon. Noticing a trend here?

        Such a transition was a huge wakeup call. The first encounter of Molten Core was two humongous lava giants. It took literally months to figure out how to defeat them. They weren't even a boss. They were the first of many groups of normal enemies in the Core!

        Learning how to raid took a huge amount of coordination, planning, and threat management, and this is a discipline that the EVE community is just beginning to learn on a large scale. The wormholers may have had a head start on it, but now it's something at the forefront of every Capsuleer's mind, and much more easily within their grasp.

        The days of soloing the toughest PvE content are over. People are going to have to get used to cooperating with each other instead of looking for the easy gank. Making progress within these encounters may seem slow and fruitless and first, but as soon as a group starts making headway, the morale boost causes them to steamroll over everything they meet. It happened to me. It can happen to you.

A New Face

        After driving himself to the point of sickness over a month ago, Knee had to take time out to recuperate. While the infection was cleverly dispatched via a clone jump, he still remembered his doctor's orders. Being in a pod for weeks at a time was taking a toll on his body. No amount of clone jumping could solve that problem because it would be the same body, with minor variations, as the one he transferred from. The only solution was good old-fashioned diet and exercise.

        After the diagnosis, he was placed on doctor-enforced medical leave until he could show signs of improvement. That meant no piloting of any kind. It was a cruel sentence, considering the recent news of the Alliance making headway in the Fountain region against IT. He wanted to join them. He turned his fervor towards helping the war effort locally - moving equipment in station, preparing ships for docking and undocking, and assisting capsuleers on the hangar floor. The physical labor was helping his body to recover, and the cerebral downtime helped him relax and concentrate on the long term plan - becoming mentally equipped for the future through skill training.

        Today was his checkup. The nurses took his vitals and sent the data off to be processed. A few minutes later the doctor entered, busily scrutinizing a pad in his hand filled with the diagnostic results. He seemed satisfied. He turned to address his patient and paused with surprise. "You look different somehow, Knee."

        "I tied my hair down. It keeps it out of the way when I'm moving stuff."

        "No, aside from that. You look healthy. You look like you're ready to fight a war."

        Knee smirked. "That's why we're all here, isn't it?"

        "Indeed. You've improved dramatically. I'm ready to sign your release. Let's take a baseline so we can update your clones."

        After what seemed like an eternity of scans, the clone update was complete. Along with a clean bill of health, the doctor handed Knee a small envelope.

        "What's this?"

        "Photographs. I thought you'd like to see how much you've improved."

        Knee studied the photos for a moment, shrugged, and made his way to the hangar to board his pod.

Before:

After:

EVE Blog Banter #24: Whooooo Are You? Who, Who? Who, Who?

Welcome to the twenty-fourth 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 Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the "Where the frack is my ship" blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

---

       Ah, a wonderful topic. How does my roleplay mesh with my gameplay?

        Long story short, I play the game for myself, not for Knee. I don't play in-character and I don't think about Knee's role in things until later when I start writing. This causes some roleplay conflicts at times. I have portrayed Knee as terribly racist, with a loathing for the Amarr and a strong dislike for the Caldari by association. How could Knee tolerate working for the Caldari, to the point of killing his own brethren sometimes in missions? Such an act must be abhorrent to his character, so the answer is simple - he doesn't tolerate it at all. I make him regret his actions and attempt to atone by quitting his service to the empire. The real story was that I was bored of solo missioning and I wanted to give nullsec a try. But that makes a dull story.

        Knee's character is half newbie, half badass. A flawed hero. He grew up proficient in physical combat, but translating that knowledge into piloting a ship as a Capsuleer is a very foreign concept to him, a huge learning experience. It's fun to write about the triumphs and humble to write about the failures. In this way I can express my own little successes and failures as I play.

        Knee is a follower, not a leader. This is because of my own style. I don't want to be the FC. I want to be the loyal soldier who brings the pain. As a heroic type, Knee tries to be a good guy despite his shortcomings. But to contradict this, I've contemplated exploring the darker side of EVE. I want to participate in Hulkageddon. I want to ninja loot someone's mission and smash their carebear Marauder with a Machariel. I pod people without question in 0.0 if I am able. How can I justify such actions in-character? This forces even more creativity into the creative writing, and creates a better product. Life doesn't always turn out the way you planned. That's what keeps it interesting.

        Now, how has EVE augmented my own story? For starters, being a member of Dreddit has unsurprisingly gotten me hooked on Reddit and awestruck by all the things they have done for the common good. Just like in EVE, it makes me want to be a part of something grand done entirely by the community, without any kind of external prompting.

        I guess EVE has also made me more wary, since EVE is scam and gank central. Creating months-long skillplans is also a lesson in discipline - creating a plan and sticking to it. Now if only I could train a skill to cut my taxes by 10%. Sigh.


Other responses to EVE Blog Banter #24:


CrazyKinux's Musing - Be, All That You Can Be, And So Much More!
Where the Frack is my Ship? - Behind The Keyboard
EVEOGANDA - Real Life & EVE
A Mule in EVE - RL + EVE =
Confessions of a Closet Carebear - EVE and Real Life
The Hydrostatic Capsule - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Alt
Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah - Reflections
A Scientist's Life in EVE - The Other Side of the Screen
The Durzo Chronicles - Who is More Real??
A Lush in Space - Worlds Collide
Captain Serenity - Personalities
Diary of a Space Jockey - I Am Me
Freebooted - You Talking To Me?
Drifting Through The Stars - EVE and Real Life
EVE A to Z - EVE and Real Life
Fiddler's Edge - Game Face
Yarrbear Tales - In Real Life
Victoria Aut Mors - Where EVE Meets Real Life
Prano's Journey - I Am Prano
Mike Azariah, A Missioner in EVE - Who Are You, Who Hoo Woo Hoo [Great Minds Think Alike]
Roc's Ramblings - Me
EVE Blasphemy - EVE and Real Life
Phoenix Diaries - EVE and Real Life
Play the Game - Personalities In Game And Out Of Game
Progression's Horizon - Synonymous or Anonymous
Aggressive Logistics - Do Unto Others...
The Lathspell of Mithrandir - To Play Or To Live...
Wanderlust - I Am Not Who I Am In EVE
Latro's Bunker - EVE and RL
Shall We Not Revenge? - Multiple Personality Disorder

New Year's Resolution - The Master Skillplan

        For quite a while now, I've been working on my master skillplan. My ultimate goal is to be able to fly any sub-capital warship and be awesome at piloting it. This will increase my versatility and hopefully my overall experience. Thanks to EVEMon, that ultimate goal is about 2 and a half years away.

        Such planning takes discipline. Support skills in EVE are more important than the ship skills themselves, as the ship is useless if the pilot can't use it to its full potential. To that end I have been training exclusively Int/Mem skills for the past few months. Today marks the day when the Navigation branch of the plan is completed.

        Without further ado, commence pretty graphs! Here's my current skillpoint distribution:

        As I promised in School's Out, I dumped my reimbursed Learning skillpoints into Leadership fleet boosting, an excellent investment that will be useful in a Battlecruiser, a Command Ship, or even a Strategic Cruiser.

        I'm still debating at what point I cut the umbilical cord and get into the sweet, sweet combat skills, but it's looking to be sometime between Mid-February and the beginning of March. At that time, the distribution will look like this:

        During that time, I'm planning to train some more levels in Rigging, Astrometrics, EWar, Tech III Subsystems (Defensive, Electronic, and Engineering), and a couple of other vital skills.

        After that it's remap to Per/Will for a long long time, hence why I want to get everything else out of the way beforehand. First priority will be to skill for a Tech I Maelstrom since that's the current fleet flavor of the month. That's just a few days away. After that will be a fairly logical progression:

Tech II Minmatar Frigates and Tech II Small Projectiles

Tech II Minmatar Cruisers and Tech II Medium Projectiles

Battlecruisers V and Command Ships

Advanced Weapon Upgrades V and Tech II Large Projectiles

Minmatar Subsystems (Offensive, Propulsion) and Strategic Cruiser

All other Gunnery Support skills to V (Rapid Firing, Surgical Strike, Trajectory Analysis)

        The remainder of the year will then go to cross-training Amarr, starting the process anew - Frigates and Small Lasers, Cruisers and Medium Lasers, Battleships and Large Lasers. This will allow me to be useful in Armor fleets. By the end of Perception / Willpower Year 1, the skillpoint distribution will look like this:

        2012 is devoted to boosting up my Drones skills: getting Tech II Sentries and Heavies, as well as Drone Interfacing V. I also sneak in Gallente Frigate V and Cruiser V so I can play around in an Ishtar and use Dramiels and Cynabals to their full potential. The remainder of the year is devoted to the Caldari, training all the Missile skills as well as Caldari ships. After 2012, it will look like this:

        2013 wraps things up by skilling up Gallente and Hybrids in the same manner. After that, who knows? Capitals, perhaps?