Tasha Aramata – 2010.08.24

SIRadio would like to congratulate Bryan Ward aka Rixx Javix the author of the EVEOGANDA Blog for the creation and successful running of the Death Race!!! We hope it is just the first of many Death Races that will occur in the EVE universe.

By all accounts the event went off “without a hitch.”  Sixty of the seventy five racers entered made it to the starting system of Assah, and raced through the heart of Providence.  In the end it was Persephone Astrid that took the checkered flag, and will be forever known as the first winner of the DEATH RACE (2010)!

You can find final results and race information here.

Thanks for tuning in…

~Tasha

Welcome to the twentieth 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 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 out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

With the recent completion of the 3rd installment of the Hulkageddon last month, @CyberinEVE, author of Hands Off, My Loots!, asks: “Griefing is a very big part of EVE. Ninja Salvaging, Suicide Ganking, Trolling, and Scamming are all a very large part of the game. What do you think about all these things? You can talk about one, or all…but just let us know your overall opinion on Griefing, and any recommendations you may have to change it if you think it’s needed.”

Greetings my fellow corp men, women, & blog readers!!!

The four items listed above: Trolling, Scamming, Suicide Ganking, and Ninja Salvaging I do not see as “greifing.”  I define “Greifing,” as intentionally targeting a person to make their game less enjoyable, repeatedly.  I agree that the four items listed can be frustrating, and can make the game more difficult.  However, all of them can be avoided with proper planning and play of EVE.  Manasi clearly tells you how to do that here.

You see… I view other players in EVE as I view a NPC Sleepers or Rats.  They are an obstacle that can result in the gaining or loss of isk (& ship).  So to complain that I am attacked by them makes no sense in my humble opinion.  EVE is not just a game of ships, it is also an economic game.  An attack or loss of isk can occur during market transactions as well.  Just as in the real world, “buyer beware.”  If you don’t have time or brains to do the proper research of the transaction you are about to enter, you might as well buy a faction battleship, fit it with officer modules, and take it down any pipe leading to null sec.  The result will be the same.  You will lose a ton of iskies.   All though the second option will be posted as a killmail, and everyone will be able to see just what an ass hat nub you really are.

EVE is not a game for noobs to get their one hour fix of success.  (Log on to WoW, and you make a level per sitting, maybe two!)  In EVE not everyone gets the gold star.  EVE is for the patient player, who works to get better, who works to accomplish things, and is willing to risk it to get better.  You lose your ship, it is GONE.  All those hours grinding out missions to get that T3 ship… Lost!  You don’t run back to your wreck (corpse) and collect your things and carry on.  Your gear (what is left of it) is now in the possession of someone else.

So you know… I have been the victim of two of the four items listed, Scamming & Suicide Ganking.  In Amarr I wasn’t paying attention and purchased some Radio L crystals for 5,000,000 isk and not the 50,000 isk price I thought they were.  I purchased 10!  It seems I had accidentally clicked on the price column to list the highest price at the top.  I can tell you looking at my wallet a few purchases later resulted in a WTF moment.  But I had to laugh.  Why?  Because I knew better, and was dumb enough to say, “That will never happen to me.”  I now hope it won’t happen again, and triple read each transaction before I accept.  The second loss was a suicide smart bomb attack outside the Amarr trade hub station.  It was a Bestower loaded with some supplies.  Luckily it was mainly T1 stuff, the most expensive items were a set of +3 Learning Skill implants.  At first it was a WTF moment, to find myself in a pod.  However, again I had to laugh at myself… why?  WELL…  I was in a rush, wasn’t paying attention to all those folks screaming in local about what was happening.  It was a good lesson to learn.  Now, when I move high value items I insure to have the appropriate scouting, support, and tank.  Does that sometimes mean I have to make two trips instead of one?  Yes, but it is how I PLAY the game to be successful and avoid those obstacles.

The other two…  Trolling, I avoid forums.  Ninja Salvaging, I’ve been lucky enough and did most of my mission running days off the beaten path, but now reside in null sec.  There is no Concord in null sec.  However if I were to go back, I would have friends or noobs to salvage behind me.  I tell you what… if you want a chance to meet some new folks in EVE, invite a noob to salvage for you.  They will be SO excited of the isk they will make, that they probably be too shocked to realize they could steal it all.  Often you even get a “THANKS,” in return.   ***Consider it EVE Karma***

The only thing I would like to see changed…  Insurance and the Suicide Gank!  IF, you do suicide gank, and your ship is Concorded, you should not receive an insurance payout.  Insurance should not cover ships used in the commission of a crime in Empire Space.  However, suicide ganking should remain in the game.

Fly Safe… Stay Profitable…

Ag

Astrometrics V

Astrometric Acquisition V

Astrometric Pinpointing V

Astrometrics Rangefinding V

And thanks to my corpmate Tal Istrom, I am the proud owner of a Poteque Pharmaceutical ‘Prospector’ PPG-2 Implant.  That leaves me the Poteque Pharmaceutical ‘Prospector’ PPH-2 and the Low-Grade Virtue Set to complete my quest for Epic Level scanning skills!

A quick check of contracts shows complete Low-Grade Virtue sets listed between 2.9 & 3.0 billion.  That’s right billion!!!  So this goal is gonna take me a bit longer than expected.

But what else is do I got to make iskies for?

So what has this gotten me so far?  Well flying my Legion setup for probing (Emergent Locus Analyzer & 2 Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrades) grants me with Sister Combat Scanner Probe strength of 62 & Sister Core Probe strength of 125 with no implants.

Why do so much for so little gain?  Because I can!  This is my sandbox experience… go build your own castle.

Fly Safe…. Stay Profitable…

Ag

“Unofficial” Press Secretary Report

Tasha Aramata – 2101.08.19

Greetings my fellow corp men and women & blog readers!!!

By some of the complaining I’ve read, not a lot of folks have anything new going on during the summer months, but I can tell you from my perspective… a lot is happening.

To begin with, our little pocket of space in Providence has gotten a bit “smaller.”  Noir. has sold one of the systems to Luminance Alliance.  I logged in earlier this week to find a number of neutrals in my local window.  Luckily it was due to the fact that our leadership hadn’t been on yet to flag them as blue.  EVEmails went out to inform the rest of the corp, and no friendly fire incidents occurred.  Some of the corp think the pocket might be a bit to overcrowded.  I for one think it will make the pocket better.  As they claim sov it will mean more upgraded system(s).  With their members the current upgraded systems will be less likely to drop in their sov levels due to lack of activity, and we may have the numbers to properly run mining ops.  Yes some of those juicy anomalies will be claimed a bit faster, but in the end… it can only mean more of them.  Now all we have to do is to see if they “play nice.”

Secondly, in one week I will have finished my last Astrometrics skill to level V.  I then begin to work toward making the isk to get all the necessary implants I discusses in my previous blog.  At my current skill levels and ship’s equipment my Sisters Combat Probes have a strength of 58 (base strength of 22).  Needless to say I can’t wait to see what it will be with the implants.  One last item regarding scanning…  ***Tip – You can increase the strength of your scan results as much as 7% but just moving your probes to be on the same plane as the signature you are scanning.*** When I get my skills maxed and implants loaded I plan on doing a few tests, and will report the results.

Fly Safe… Stay profitable…

Ag

Greetings my fellow corp men, women, & blog readers!!!

There appears to be this general lack of enthusiasm of late.  Some folks are upset over recent CSM reports of CCPs lack of resources devoted to their concerns.  Others are upset at the general lack of activity due to the summer month slump of the online population.  Others just can’t seem to find the “fun” often described in blogs.

First let us understand… anyone that takes the time to spend hours upon hours playing a game, has to be a fan.  If not, then you’d have to be a masochist.  If you are not enjoying the game, then you have to ask yourself two questions:

1. Do I like the game?  (Is there something in the game that makes me want to play it?)
2. Are there things I think that are fun, but I am not doing them? (ie You are not having that much fun, but you think you could be having a lot.)

If you answered “YES” to both, then continue to play EVE…  and ask yourself the next question:

What corporation am I in and what is it they do to provide me fun?

If you answered, “I’m not in a corp,” then you need to get in one ASAP!

If you answered, “I’m in corp *insert corp name here*, and they are doing nothing that makes my gaming experience more fun. “  Then you need to make a change.  Unless you are one of those folks that join a MMO to play by yourself, and seek no interaction with your fellow players, a corporation is the quickest way to enjoy and experience the most in EVE.  I bumbled my way through EVE until I joined my first corp.  It was amazing.  I finally had an actual people I could talk to about the game.  They could explain the game mechanics, and how the hell to do things, like the best way to keep my ship from getting blown up.  I even found out that the guys in the corp were pretty decent guys.  They were much like me, even if they lived in different parts of the world.

I can say I didn’t do a lot research prior to joining my first corp.  I was just happy someone would have me.  However, that can be one of the first mistakes a player can make in EVE.  You join a corp, get to know the folks, and determine you like them.  They help you learn the game, and then you realize they aren’t doing the things in the game you enjoy.  You then spend a lot of time either doing things without your corpmates, or doing those things you don’t enjoy.  Either way you are defeating the purpose of playing a MMO…  TO PLAY A GAME YOU ENJOY WITH OTHER PEOPLE!

I can honestly say that once you find a group of guys (or gals) that are of like mind in the game EVE really begins to shine.  However just like everything else in EVE that can be difficult to do.  Look at my corp history… it is a testament of my trials and tribulations over the years.  What I found consistent in all those corps, was that they were all good bunch of guys (even those I butted heads with), but they lacked or were not in line with my ideas of what I wanted in a corp.

SO without anymore explanation, here are some things you should consider before clicking the Submit Application button to any corp:

Corporation Focus & Level of Professionalism – What is it that the corporation does?  Some corporations are very specific in their focus.  There are corporations that are solely dedicated to mining, production & markets, PvP (pirates, mercenaries, small gangs, large fleet), wormhole exploration (PvE & PvP), missioning/ratting in High Sec.  Then there are other corporations that dabble in the various aspects.  Some corporations are based on Role Playing.  Other corporations focus simply on the social aspect of EVE.  You must first decide what is it that YOU want to do in EVE.  That way you can at least align yourself with others doing the same thing in the game that you enjoy.  If a corp has a particular focus you have to ask, “What is their level of professionalism or commitment to that focus?”  This will determine what their expectations will be of you as a corp member.  A PvP focused corp will often expect a certain level of killboard efficiency.  A mining based corp could expect you to take part in a certain number of mining operations per week.  Role Play focused corporations often establish what ships you can and cannot fly. (No self-respecting Amarr would be caught dead in a Minmatar ship!)  If you aren’t willing to meet those obligations, you better move on.

Alliance – Often overlooked, but very important!  Being part of an alliance has its pro’s and con’s.  Alliances can offer a corporation and its’ members additional number of pilots to fly with and other benefits if run correctly (0.0 access, jump bridges, stations).  But a new alliance or poorly run one can be a drain upon a corporation.  If those additional pilots aren’t willing to add their numbers in a War Declaration, then you may find yourself getting podded in High Sec, as weak alliances tend to bring multiple and repeated threats of war from PvP minded corps.  I found myself dodging more folks in High Sec due to another corporation in my alliance getting War Dec’d, and losing more ships trying to fight off those attackers, than the corporation that brought the War Dec to the alliance.  In addition a new alliance trying to claim SOV or with poor SOV defenses may not be able to offer those 0.0 benefits for too long.  I have had to move my stuff across 0.0 more than once because of “FAIL Alliances.”

Membership Size, Activity Levels & Time Zone Presence – Let’s face it, you want to play with your corpmates!  If no one is online when you are…

Maturity Level – I try not to ask what the average age of the corporation membership is, but it can be a factor.  I am an older player.  So some of the games or the antics a younger player will engage in does not interest me.  (ie smack talk in local, griefing new players, etc)  Now notice I listed maturity level.  There are older folks that have the maturity level of a nine year old, and there are plenty of teenagers wiser beyond their years.  Do you want to play with adults or children? ***Tip – Avoid the Emo Rage***

Leadership – The greatest thing that will make or break a corporation (or alliance).  You have to have and active leadership element. If only to insure all the functions of the corp are done.  Such as paying rent, accepting new members, insuring the day to day functions of the corp are met, getting and keeping members involved.  In every corp, that I have been in, where the leadership took a break from the game the corp began to suffer and/or failed.  Another aspect is how those leaders run the corp.  There are dictatorships, democracies, councils, and free for alls…  Which leadership style do you work best with, and are you willing to live by their rules?

Corporation Assets & Income – What does the corp have to offer?  Do they have a ship replacement or discount program, killboards, forums, ships provided for corp operations, SOV in 0.0, POS’s, etc?  The more a corp can offer is usually a sign that it is a well run and active corp.

If you have any suggestions or criteria you think folks should consider, please feel free share them…

One last thing…  Changing corps isn’t the end of your friendships with your old corpmates, you’re just moving on to make more!

Fly Safe… Stay Profitable…

Ag

Greetings my fellow corp men, women, & blog readers!!!

Things have been pretty quiet down in Providence.  It would seem that we are in the typical slump of summer.  It is time when everyone finds it much more enjoyable to be out in the sun, with friends and family, instead of flying internet space ships.  Damn you all that have real lives! How dare you…

Needless to say that hasn’t stopped a few of us in SI Radio to go out and have some fun.  We moved out to 0.0 to give PvP a shot, and that is exactly what we have attempted to do.  Null sec means small gang roams, gate camps, and pew pew pew.  To that end someone has to take the reigns and lead their fellow pilots to… a great blob of death… err I mean… victory!  So I decided I’d give this FCing thing a shot.  How hard can it be?

Ok it is a bit harder than it looks, or sounds… but it is good fun if you enjoy working under pressure.  I have conducted two little roams recently, and decided I’d share their results and lessons learned.  I consider my roam record to be 0-1-1.  I am positive that I will not be teaching anyone with any fleet experience anything new.  However, if you are trying to improve on your noob status, then please learn from my mistakes.

First, if you are going to FC learn the common terminology used by most pilots.  I have a bad habit of saying “jump to gate” instead of “warp to gate,” or vice versa.  This can confuse folks, and can get half your fleet to advance beyond a gate or keep them from jumping to the other side when you need them to.  There are terms that people will expect to hear.  To make things up as you go only creates more confusion, and causes a need for more detailed explanations.  Lots of talking reduces your efficiency to move your fleet and to get them on target as quickly as possible.  Additionally when you tell someone to “warp to” be aware if you want them to warp to 0m or to their optimal ranges for a fight.  You don’t want your E-War or Logistic ships landing in the middle of a gang setup for short range gank.  Luckily I haven’t done that yet, but I have been the victim of it.

Second, if you are going to run a small gang you need some kind of scout.  Preferably they should be flying something small and fast, or small and cloaky.  IMHO you can’t have too many scouts.  However when you have a scout, you must be sure to keep track of their location.  You shouldn’t have to continually ask, “where are you scout?”  If you don’t know, then they aren’t going to be able to use the information they pass.  I like to tell them what gate I want them on or to head to.  I make it clear if I want them ON it or just have EYES on it.  Then it is up to the scout to fly his ship as he feels best, to keep himself alive.  Additionally instruct your scouts what information you want them to pass.  I recently learned why most FC’s don’t want to hear scouts report blue activity or presence in system.  On our last little roam my scout jumped in and reported 23 in system, blue and neutral.  Now I want to clarify what I believed I HEARD! In my mind I saw 22 blues and a single neutral in system.  Guess what…  yep you guessed it was almost totally the opposite.  I didn’t get a full count, because as soon as I saw my local window fill with faces with no blue boxes next to their faces I was giving orders to the group to quickly warp to and jump on contact to our next gate.  There were only three of us, and I wasn’t going to stick around long enough to see what they were flying.  Mistake number two… jumping into a system you don’t have eyes on. (I should have retreated back through the gate we came from)  So we entered another system full of more neutrals, and warped to the next gate…  Oh did I mention they were camping that gate, and it wasn’t a small gang.  It was a full  group of gank fit BCs with Interdictor and Interceptor support.  Up went the bubble.  As we held cloak for a bit, I was asked do we fight or run for gate.  We had a Thorax, Hurricane, Curse(me), and Anathema(me).  I ordered a run for the gate, as I was on the edge of the bubble I was gonna attempt the “cloak and pray tactic.”  I had debated taking my Pilgrim instead of the Curse.  Had I done that, I probably would have survived.  The Thorax was first to break cloak and was almost immediately tackled.  Estar knowing he was going down, immediately responded by launching drones and targeting a Sabre.  This allowed him to take out the Sabre.  I broke cloak only to immediately cycle the MWD to get out of the bubble and cloak up along the way.  This brought the attention of most of the others.  This allowed our Hurricane make it back to the gate, get out, and make best speed home.  As you can tell by this killmail, their efforts to de-cloak me were successful.  Lesson learned… Have your scouts report neutrals and reds and their numbers ONLY!  …and take a Recon that can warp cloaked.

Third, try not to be a scout or dual box when FCing.  There is just too much going on.  You can’t afford to split your attention with small tasks, when your job is to maintain the big picture.  I almost lost the Anathema with that Curse doing just that.  It was our rear scout, and had de-cloaked near the gate.

Fourth, trust your pilots to fly their ships.  Don’t micromanage them.  Don’t be afraid to let them know of your expectations or to give them advice (if you have a clue).  If they mess up, the worst thing that will happen is that you lose a ship from your fleet, and hopefully they learn something along the way.  This is PvP you are going to lose ships… haven’t you learned that yet?

Fifth, have fun.  It is just a game.  If you cannot have fun in your failures as well as your success, then you are taking things way too serious!!!

BTW – Feel free to respond with any tips, or links to good posts or FC guides!

Fly Safe… Stay Profitable…

Agatir

Rixx Javix, author of EVEoganda has gone and done it!

DEATH RACE 2010 is on, and has its own official Blog Site.

If you think you have what it takes to boldly go where everyone is out gunning for you

and YOU THINK YOU CAN OUT RUN THEM!!!

Then you might have what it takes to make a few iskies proving it.

Enough said…

Go check out the official site, and sign yer ass up!

http://deathrace.evepress.com/

Greetings my fellow corp men, women, & blog readers!!!

Welcome to the nineteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week 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 out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This months topic comes to us from @evepress, who he asks: The CSM: CCP’s Meta Game? The CSM, an EVE players voice to CCP. Right? In the grand scheme of things yes, the players bring up issues and the CSM presents them to CCP. But in its current iteration the CSM was supposed to be given small authority to assign CCP assets to projects that the CSM thought needed work on. As it has come out, this was not the case. So fellow bloggers, is the CSM worth it, has the CSM improved the game in any way, or is it just a well thought out scam by CCP to give us players a false sense of input in the game? What’s your take?

Ok folks,

Agatir here…

As everyone on the blog pack loves to get involved with CrazyKinux’s brain child…

This was something I had planned to comment on for my next blog, “Really it is all CCP’s & CSM’s fault… Really…” However it seems to be the “hot” topic.  I had organized my thoughts and was about to put them to paper…  But then two Blog pack members stated EXACTLY what I was thinking!!! So instead of trying to restate what they have said, I’d rather use this time to promote blogs which I read regularly!  These guys are consistent bloggers who love and play EVE.

RIXX JAVIX – EVEOGANDA

BTW folks Rixx has begun promotion of his brain child DEATHRACE 2010! If you think you have what it takes to burn past gate camps and avoid hostile fire…  You could make some iskies in this hi-speed game!!!

ROC WEILER – ROC’S RAMBLINGS

I was surprised to find another disgruntled SWG player here.  I have to give two thumbs up on this post… one for his EVE point of view, and a second for his SOE commentary.  It would seem we share the same soap box on the second topic.

If you like EVE based fiction and Minmatar this is the blog for you!!!  Roc is a born again health nut in real life, so you can find some good recipes too.

If you check out the EVEOGANDA and ROC’S RAMBLINGS posts then you see I’m a fan of what CCP is attempting to do.  I believe the direction CCP is heading will only make the game better, and will make it last longer.  That is what I want and desire as a fan of this sandbox we call EVE.  I have seen what poor decision making can do to a game. (ie SOE & SWG)  CCP is not SOE!  Remember this… a sandbox is full of SAND and each time  you play in it, or build something in it, it will never be the same again.

As a side note:

It is sad to say that we lost an EVE icon in Kane Rizzel – A Pirates Persepective.

If you have read any of his posts you can see that Kane has been looking for some Low-Sec love for some time.  He hasn’t gotten it, nor will get in the near future.  Kane is a solo player.  He is proud of his ability to work alone.  So he has decided to quit.  It sad to see him go as an EVE blogger, but unless your a fan of pirates you probably won’t miss him.   I’m not sure why the Emo rage quit…  but if he isn’t enjoying the game, it is probably time to move on.

Fly Safe… Stay Profitable…

Ag

Greetings my fellow corp men, women, & blog readers!!!
If given a choice to either run plexes for isk or go lose some isk pvping?  I would gladly choose the later of the two.  NPC AI just bores the snot out of me.  I equate it to my early arcade game experience with Pac Man (yes I am dating myself).  Once you discover the correct route (or tactic) against the computer, you cannot fail.  It is just a matter of repeating the same course of action again and again that dictates success.

However meeting another player will never reproduce the same fight or outcome.  It is just human nature.  We adapt to overcome.  So in each engagement, though we may have particular tactic that works most of the time, we must be prepared that it may not work.  This is what makes pvp exciting.  You always have the anxiety of the unexpected, and the thrill of success or the disappointment of failure.  No matter which you experience you learn from it and then desire to go at it again.  Probably more so in defeat, if only to prove to yourself… that won’t happen again!

Such has been my experience in 0.0 PVP.  As a person who got his start in pvping by wormhole hunting, 0.0 fleet fights have proven to be a whole new animal.  In wormholes I am usually the one picking the time and location of a fight.  It is almost always a quick hit at run fight.  I try never to be caught in the position where I do not have the advantage.  I like to think that I have been pretty successful at wormhole hunting.  Here is an example where my corpmate Purity called me in for some assistance while we were exploring in a wormhole.  He had just been forced out of a worm by some stealth bombers and a Vexor.  He was able to kill one of the stealth bombers, but was taking too much damage, and had to jump back out.  He informed me, as I jumped to his location, that they had a bubble anchored on the wormhole, and that he had a session timer on the wormhole.

Tactically I understood it would be my T3 Strategic Cruiser vs a T1 Cruiser and 1 or more T2 Stealth Bombers on a wormhole.  Emperor’s Wraith II has good resists, cap stable with an active tank, and ignores the effects of warp disruption bubbles.  I’d be on a wormhole so if things got too bad I could bug out.  Things would have to go really bad for me to lose her.  Evaluating risk vs reward I crossed my fingers and jumped through.  On the other side I took note of a Nemesis Stealth Bomber, and the Vexor.   They sat outside of the edge of the warp bubble just past 24km.  Just outside the range of my T2 Pulse Lasers.

I broke cloak, activated my resists and armor repairer, and began locking both targets.  Expecting bombs I did not activate my MWD so as not to increase my signature radius, and thus increase the incoming damage from the bomb or torpedoes.  As I acquired my targets in came the first bomb.  I took relatively little damage, the Nemesis now warp disrupted exploded rather quickly.  Another Nemesis decloaked, was locked and promptly destroyed.  Keeping an eye on my armor showed that the Wraith’s tank was holding, and was ahead of the damage.  A Manticore appeared and was dispatched.  I then turned my attention to the Vexor.  She was at the edge of my disruption range so I pulsed my MWD (turned on, then immediately off) and headed in its direction.  Already target locked, it was just a matter energizing the disruptor and guns.  As the shields disappeared on the Vexor and I started into its armor, another Nemesis appeared near the Vexor on the edge of the bubble.  In came another bomb.  I quickly locked the Nemesis, and made the decision to transfer guns and warp disruption onto the Stealth Bomber.  I knew I’d break its tank before the Vexor’s.  I wanted the guaranteed kill.  Additionally it was closer to my escape route and I had already ordered the Wraith to approach the wormhole.  It was obvious I had kicked a bees nest, and they were ready to defend their home.  The Nemesis was quickly reduced to a floating wreck and the pilot podded.  Unfortunately the Vexor, which must of have been aligned to jump out, was long gone.

Now I clearly got lucky in this fight.  My corpmate Purity stated after the fight, “They must have been the worst stealth bomber pilots ever.”  He only observed the fight via ventrillo and killmails.  I would like to think of them as inexperienced or unlucky.  The mistakes they appeared to have made are ones I might have made myself back when I first started flying Stealth Bombers. (cause I’m such an expert… I might have one killmail with one!)  First the stealth bombers were equipped with Remote Sensor Dampeners with Targeting Range Dampener Scripts, and not Target Painters.  Emperor’s Wraith targets out to 68km.  If you halve that target range they were still well within targeting range.  Target Painters would have increased bomb and torpedo damage.  Second when they made their bomb approaches they were not aligned to immediately warp out, or were in their own warp bubble.  This allowed me to lock, point, and explode them.  I believe this may have been a result of jumping to the wormhole or attempting to jump to range off their Vexor friend, and thus they got pulled into their own bubble. (***Tip*** If you are going to use bubbles and Stealth Bombers set a “bounce” or “tactical” bookmark so you can warp to the wormhole without getting dragged into the bubble.  Then have a bomb run bookmark set off the wormhole but in a position that you can align past your target during your bomb run.  You can warp through a bubble on grid, but not out of it.) Third, the Stealth Bombers decided to conduct their bomb runs and/or start their attacks at different times.  This allowed for my repairer to catch up on any damage taken.  Had they used the same type of bombs at the same time they could have dropped all 3-4 bombs at the same time (bombs have high damage resists of the same damage type for just such purposes).  Heck coordinating their attack might have made those Remote Target Disruptors effective?  Sometimes you are the fist… other times you’re the face…  I got to do the punching this time.  Again I think I got really lucky in that fight…  A few things go the other way, and I’m running out of that wormhole. (Total SI Radio Damage)

SO on that high, I decided to join an impromptu pvp roam with our Noir. friends with my corp mate Purity.  Again, I am a wormhole pilot so 0.0 pvp is a whole new experience.  Not wanting to risk a T3 ship to learn a new game, I asked them what I should fly? (I know what Manasi would say T1 frigate until you master it!  Sorry I’m not that smart.)  I offered up the Pilgrim Force Recon Ship or the Sentinel Electronic Attack Frigate.  As speed was the thing of the day, it was the Sentinel.  I figured I could help with a point, turret disruption, and maybe add a bit of energy neutralization.  I had brought three Sentinels down to Providence to practice and learn.  E-War is a part of the game I am trying to wrap my head around.  I have to admit I have far too many skill points in it, and nowhere near enough experience to effectively use it.

Have I mentioned that is why I love EVE?  Unlike other games where your character’s strength is based mainly on your character’s level, EVE skill points are not the deciding factor in an engagement.  Low level players that know how to fly their ships will crush a high skill point character in pvp.  IMHO that is the reason players that enjoy the “carebear” aspect of EVE have such heart burn when they get ganked in pvp.  They can’t understand how a frigate can kill their battleship setup that crushes level 4 missions?

Back to the roam…  So we head out of our pocket, and begin moving down the pipe looking for some targets.  Now I have to give the Noir. guys and gals some credit.  They allow us SI Radio guys to join them on roams when they are not on contract and hunting outside of their pocket.  They are very proficient and knowledgeable when it comes to small gang pvp, have great communication discipline during a fight, and do not tolerate stupid ship loses (especially from their members).  After each roam, they debrief and do an after action report (AAR).  They expect us, SI Radio guys, to explain our loses too.  Their FCs take it personal when anyone in their fleets loses a ship, and feel in part it is their fault (but we SI Radio guys will admit it is usually our own damn fault).  I applaud them for their tolerance of our ignorance of pvp.  They inform you of the correct way to do things, and then they treat you like an adult and expect you to get it right.

Well needless to say… their tolerance was not sufficient to make up for my ignorance.  As we made our way to I7S-1S we came across another group of ships.  The Noir. folks decided that they were most likely fit for short range damage.  The FC laid plans to bait them at a gate, and engage them at range having E-War superiority with a Falcon on our side.  My performance can only be described as, “I am the worst Electronic Attack Frigate pilot ever!” First, my fitting included a warp disruptor instead of a Senor Booster.  This meant I had to be within 49km of an enemy to use my turret disruptors, instead of being as far as 67km.  Second when I warped “at range” to our bait ship on the gate I did not jump close enough, and began to burn toward the melee to get within targeting range (be aware of what your optimals are btw).  Only to have our enemy, who were speeding toward my position, quickly over take me, and proceeded to disassemble my ship.  The first barrage from the Rupture sent me well into armor…  I panicked tried to align out and did not warp out till I was in my pod. (Boy do pods align out quick or what?!?!)  Did I mention I am very proficient at catching fists with my face?

As I sped back to the pocket in my pod, I enjoyed listening to the conflict unfold via ventrillo.  In the end both sides disengaged, with isk loss ratio going in favor of the other gang.  This battle report is missing the Noir. Falcon that went pop.

Fly Safe… Stay Profitable…

Ag

Next Report: Really it is all CCP’s & the CSM’s fault…  Really…