In EvE there is a certain rhythm to things. Corporations and Alliances grow and contract. Players achieve amazing heights only to end up burning out and afk'ing for months at a clip. In the nearly four years I've been active in this game I've come to a sort of acceptance. What is impenetrable today will become a sponge tomorrow. Walls can crumble, and sometimes all it takes is a gentle breeze.
Recently I've had the good fortune to get into some really good fleets and I've enjoyed them immensely. The FC's I've flown with are great and all the pilots I've had as fleet-mates are more than competent. From the outside, looking in, all would seem wonderful. But knowing the game, and people in general, I expect this to be a temporary phenomenon.
During the disbanding of a recent fleet, I caught a faint whisper among friends on comms. Part jealousy, part desire just to see the world burn, a couple of pilots expressed a frustration. The frustration that their power and strength is dependent on outside forces, namely the ability to pull together fleets manned by pilots that are normally neutral at best, or, enemies at worst. I understand that frustration. I also know that the power they feel is a result of what is frustrating them, not in spite of it.
And that brings me to the title of this post, "Strength Is A Fallacy". Everything in EvE is situational. For my fellow Sinners, I'd suggest that our recent success with new "friends" be considered just that, situational. Someone, somewhere, will throw a monkey wrench into the machine. Don't be misguided into thinking the current status quo will remain. Now is not the time to get cocky.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Isk vs. Reward
In the last podcast the Ransoms and Roams crew discussed what makes a pirate versus just being a low-sec pvp'er. The long and short of it was that it takes more than just a -10 sec status to be a pirate. One thing we discussed was making some isk from piracy, namely ransoming people. Many "outlaws" never, or almost never, use this tactic. Some only ransom pods. Only ransoming the pod though is limiting your possibilities for a payout in my opinion. Others find the idea silly, who wants a wallet flashing for a few seconds when you can a shiny kill on the board forever? For a dedicated pirate though... it can be a really exciting way to help support your pvp career.
There is a lot that goes into ransoms, you have to have a target that is worth something, has an ability to pay, you have to negotiate terms, you have a time investment that can get you hunted down by others during the process, etc. For some it's just not worth the trouble. For others, myself included, it's an art form, and when successful is sometimes it's own reward far beyond the isk generated. It's a good feeling to stick a gun in someone's face, demand their cash, get paid, then watch them leave system with a little less isk and a lot less dignity.
One road block to demanding ransoms I think some people face is a desperation to put kills on the board. This can be a real problem in the case of heavily competitive corporations, or it can be entirely imagined as might be the case for pilots that feel stats and numbers are the end-all-be-all of gaining respect. If you find yourself in either of those scenarios, well then my friend, you're doing it wrong. Especially if you consider yourself a Pirate.
Pirates of the 18th century were free men, they elected their captains democratically, they sought to make their livings through combat rather then tedious manual labor, or even worse, they had escaped servitude and had no other means to sustain themselves. I think there are many of us who call ourselves "pirates" in eve that romanticize the notion that pirates are the true free men, going into the dangerous waters and taking what we can, while avoiding capture and punishment. We have no other means of support. Combat must be profitable if we are to continue doing it. You certainly won't find us mining in a .9 system or running lvl 4 Caldari Navy missions. Life in a 0.0 alliance, ratting for our isk? Not a chance for us true free men.
Another argument for ransoming people, and this one is more practical and less philosophical as above, is the additional rewards you can sometimes obtain. If you are a seasoned ransomer you may have found yourself in situations where people that have paid you will sometimes come back and offer to pay you for blue-status. Sometimes your services may be requested for a fee. Other times, having demonstrated your self a man of your word as well as skilled with weapons, you are invited into intel channels. A true goldmine can await in those channels at times. I remember a particular "carebear" that sold ships in a high-sec pocket surrounded by low-sec, many times he would give us pirates a heads up on sales of Orca's and BS's in exchange for a fleet invite for his alt to get in on the action. We got some decent kills from that arrangement.
Well, I would never tell another pirate how to fly, but I hope I've made at least some one out there reconsider ransoms.
There is a lot that goes into ransoms, you have to have a target that is worth something, has an ability to pay, you have to negotiate terms, you have a time investment that can get you hunted down by others during the process, etc. For some it's just not worth the trouble. For others, myself included, it's an art form, and when successful is sometimes it's own reward far beyond the isk generated. It's a good feeling to stick a gun in someone's face, demand their cash, get paid, then watch them leave system with a little less isk and a lot less dignity.
One road block to demanding ransoms I think some people face is a desperation to put kills on the board. This can be a real problem in the case of heavily competitive corporations, or it can be entirely imagined as might be the case for pilots that feel stats and numbers are the end-all-be-all of gaining respect. If you find yourself in either of those scenarios, well then my friend, you're doing it wrong. Especially if you consider yourself a Pirate.
Pirates of the 18th century were free men, they elected their captains democratically, they sought to make their livings through combat rather then tedious manual labor, or even worse, they had escaped servitude and had no other means to sustain themselves. I think there are many of us who call ourselves "pirates" in eve that romanticize the notion that pirates are the true free men, going into the dangerous waters and taking what we can, while avoiding capture and punishment. We have no other means of support. Combat must be profitable if we are to continue doing it. You certainly won't find us mining in a .9 system or running lvl 4 Caldari Navy missions. Life in a 0.0 alliance, ratting for our isk? Not a chance for us true free men.
Another argument for ransoming people, and this one is more practical and less philosophical as above, is the additional rewards you can sometimes obtain. If you are a seasoned ransomer you may have found yourself in situations where people that have paid you will sometimes come back and offer to pay you for blue-status. Sometimes your services may be requested for a fee. Other times, having demonstrated your self a man of your word as well as skilled with weapons, you are invited into intel channels. A true goldmine can await in those channels at times. I remember a particular "carebear" that sold ships in a high-sec pocket surrounded by low-sec, many times he would give us pirates a heads up on sales of Orca's and BS's in exchange for a fleet invite for his alt to get in on the action. We got some decent kills from that arrangement.
Well, I would never tell another pirate how to fly, but I hope I've made at least some one out there reconsider ransoms.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
I'm A Stalker
I've seen a particular pilot in local the last few nights. I don't want to mention his name but let's just say he is in the top 20 on BC, this week he has 100 kills in 3 days time almost all of which are solo, and is a sneaky bastard. Even catching him on d-scan is hard, he flies a cloaky Tengu generally. Basically the only time you actually see him is when he's shooting you or someone else in the face.
On the second night of seeing him in local getting kills while I was sitting around twisting my nut-sack, I decided to grab a cloaky and keep an eye out for him. Maybe learn a trick or two, maybe steal a BM for later use, just gather some info on his style really.
So here is some of what I gathered:
1) He likes to sit cloaked on the stations with short undocks. It's a damn effective technique.
2) He generally doesn't leave wrecks or corpses sitting there if he plans on being there for a while.
3) He seems to change his position frequently.
4) He cycles thru systems, kinda like a roam but not really. More like a patrol.
5) He is an opportunist in every sense of the word. Every conceivable kind of target is on the menu for him. Noobs, haulers, pirates, pvp'ers, any type of player or ship will do.
You might be thinking, "Hey, I do those things!". Trust me, you don't do them like this chap does. It was impressive to watch because it was all standard stuff, just done with a sort of precision that you don't see often. I wouldn't say I learned much, but what I will say is that I see why it's good to be precise. If anything, I felt a little more motivated to step my game up. That was the real value in watching this guy fly. Not to learn new stuff, but to see the old stuff done right.
I had a short convo with this fellow in local last night. Real nice guy. I'll leave you with the words he signed off to me with... "Solo is an art-form!"
On the second night of seeing him in local getting kills while I was sitting around twisting my nut-sack, I decided to grab a cloaky and keep an eye out for him. Maybe learn a trick or two, maybe steal a BM for later use, just gather some info on his style really.
So here is some of what I gathered:
1) He likes to sit cloaked on the stations with short undocks. It's a damn effective technique.
2) He generally doesn't leave wrecks or corpses sitting there if he plans on being there for a while.
3) He seems to change his position frequently.
4) He cycles thru systems, kinda like a roam but not really. More like a patrol.
5) He is an opportunist in every sense of the word. Every conceivable kind of target is on the menu for him. Noobs, haulers, pirates, pvp'ers, any type of player or ship will do.
You might be thinking, "Hey, I do those things!". Trust me, you don't do them like this chap does. It was impressive to watch because it was all standard stuff, just done with a sort of precision that you don't see often. I wouldn't say I learned much, but what I will say is that I see why it's good to be precise. If anything, I felt a little more motivated to step my game up. That was the real value in watching this guy fly. Not to learn new stuff, but to see the old stuff done right.
I had a short convo with this fellow in local last night. Real nice guy. I'll leave you with the words he signed off to me with... "Solo is an art-form!"
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Alts Can Save Your Ass
Logging on this morning before DT, I decided to camp a gate solo for a bit. Lesbotrain local was empty minus 2 docked up toons, so I set myself up in a pounce with an alt on the other side of the gate. Normally this is all I would need for a little solo-camping fun. Today I decided to try a third alt in a neighboring system just to give myself an extra heads-up in case danger lurked just over the horizon.
It was damn slow. More then 30 mins passed without much traffic into Lesbo or the rear system my backup alt was watching. One Hurricane from the rear, looked like he went to a safe then back to the out gate. But not much else. Finally, just what I've been waiting for, a T2 Minmatar hauler lands on the Lesbo gate, and it's the non-cloaky, NICE! Before I warp down to the gate and claim this ship and it's precious booty I have a quick look at scan on the backup alt. Wait-a-minute! 3x Hurricanes, I narrow scan down to my in-gate, yep on 5 at the gate. Well crap, I don't like the looks of that. I mean if the hauler is untanked I should have time to pop it and run but I could lose the cargo to the 'Canes, or if it is tanked I could get caught. I decide to pass on it and see what happens.
Hauler jumps in, sits there until it's cloak fades, still sitting there, still sitting there, +1:30, +2:00, finally it warps. Hauler goes right to the rear low-sec gate and jumps. I switch over to the alt in there and notice a nifty little convo in local. "Go back through and slow boat this time". Hmm. Wonder what this is about lol. Well the hauler pilot does just that. But I ain't biting.
Hauler pilot finally makes his way down slowly to the gate, holds for a minute, then jumps. It was so damn obvious it wasn't funny. I wanted to shoot it badly but not worth losing a HIC over it. Like that really sexy chick from down the street, till you find out who she's been fucking, then you wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Well a few minutes later the Hauler pilot is back at the gate. This time in a cov ops. LOL. He jumps and immediately starts dropping probes. Combat probes. I bug out and dock. Effectively cock-blocking these baiting faggots. I'm the only Sinner online so no chance of taking the gang on. I don't know what I could really take 3x Hurricanes with solo. I suppose a Machriel, but I don't fly or even own one of those. Oh well. Need to get ready for work anyways.
Moral of the story... The more eyes you can have the better. That might sound super obvious but it's lesson I think people keep needing to learn over and over. I know I'm guilty. It's something I want to start subtly getting my fellow Sinners to employ. We lost a fight the other night that we would have seen the back-up coming had any of us with nearby alts just had them parked next door to see the backup coming.
Fly paranoid,
Terror
It was damn slow. More then 30 mins passed without much traffic into Lesbo or the rear system my backup alt was watching. One Hurricane from the rear, looked like he went to a safe then back to the out gate. But not much else. Finally, just what I've been waiting for, a T2 Minmatar hauler lands on the Lesbo gate, and it's the non-cloaky, NICE! Before I warp down to the gate and claim this ship and it's precious booty I have a quick look at scan on the backup alt. Wait-a-minute! 3x Hurricanes, I narrow scan down to my in-gate, yep on 5 at the gate. Well crap, I don't like the looks of that. I mean if the hauler is untanked I should have time to pop it and run but I could lose the cargo to the 'Canes, or if it is tanked I could get caught. I decide to pass on it and see what happens.
Hauler jumps in, sits there until it's cloak fades, still sitting there, still sitting there, +1:30, +2:00, finally it warps. Hauler goes right to the rear low-sec gate and jumps. I switch over to the alt in there and notice a nifty little convo in local. "Go back through and slow boat this time". Hmm. Wonder what this is about lol. Well the hauler pilot does just that. But I ain't biting.
Hauler pilot finally makes his way down slowly to the gate, holds for a minute, then jumps. It was so damn obvious it wasn't funny. I wanted to shoot it badly but not worth losing a HIC over it. Like that really sexy chick from down the street, till you find out who she's been fucking, then you wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Well a few minutes later the Hauler pilot is back at the gate. This time in a cov ops. LOL. He jumps and immediately starts dropping probes. Combat probes. I bug out and dock. Effectively cock-blocking these baiting faggots. I'm the only Sinner online so no chance of taking the gang on. I don't know what I could really take 3x Hurricanes with solo. I suppose a Machriel, but I don't fly or even own one of those. Oh well. Need to get ready for work anyways.
Moral of the story... The more eyes you can have the better. That might sound super obvious but it's lesson I think people keep needing to learn over and over. I know I'm guilty. It's something I want to start subtly getting my fellow Sinners to employ. We lost a fight the other night that we would have seen the back-up coming had any of us with nearby alts just had them parked next door to see the backup coming.
Fly paranoid,
Terror
Friday, August 5, 2011
A 1v1 before breakfast.
Finding myself with an hour of freetime this morning I decided to log on an alt I've been training up and head out to low-sec for some fun. With just a basic Rifter fit and a desire to kill, I set out on my way. The area was quiet. Seven systems in a row with little or no activity. Then, upon entering the last system on my predetermined route, I spot three Rifters and a Hookbill on D-scan. Only six in local, one is me, one is a 3 day newb, the other four are piratey types. YESSS!
I make sure to be spotted on d-scan and begin hitting the belts. While leaving the third belt, a Rifter lands just as I enter warp. This gives me enough time to get the pilots name and look him up quickly. Now, sitting in a safe and aligned, I put out a request in local. "Hey (name-withheld) wanna 1v1?".
The response was delayed. By now these guys have figured out I'm in a safe and ganking me probably won't happen as easily as they thought. After four minutes I finally get a response. "Sure. Pick a belt or a planet." So I warp to a belt and give my location in local. I've warped in at "0" hoping this pilot is not an arty rifter coming for me at range, if so I'm screwed. Nope, He's standard fit, and lands 2200 off me.
And so it begins. Immediately we lock and point each other. What? No web? I'm not webbed? He's way out DPS'ing me but now I begin pulsing my AB, messing up his tracking just enough for me to hold on. Due to fitting issues on this new alt I'm using 125's and tracking just fine. Then, I capped out. That's right, completely dead as far as cap goes. Web and scram drop, I'm into hull and no juice to run the repper. So I start pulling away hoping to get some regen while outside gun range. The other rifter was already aligned to something the whole time, no idea why, he was winning. So I'm quickly able to get out to 25k from him.
Now this guy's buddies begin showing up. But they are 50-75k from the warp in and sitting still. Good, they aren't going to interfere. I spot my opponent turning towards me and see his speed rising. This new alt has really only basic skills so I need to relock as I've gone out of targeting range by now. The distance is closing quickly and at 18k I begin clicking in space, spinning my ship up then around, getting some transversal and hoping he glides right into my waiting web. I'm not going to point him this time. That might sound stupid to you but my reasoning is that he probably won't run with his buddies watching, he's not MWD fit, and I just need whatever cap I can save.
The fight resumes. Same as before. I'm not webbed? This time I settle my orbit in as close as possible and hope for the best. I'm getting smashed again, but so is this guy. He's not repping anymore! His point drops! He's capped out! I've got enough for one or maybe two cycles on my repper. I'm below half structure at this point and screaming at my repper to "hurry-the-fuck-up" thru it's cycle. And yes, just enough armor to hold on for another few seconds. The other Rifter is about 90% structure now. Then 75%, then 50%, then 25%. I'm almost thru his hull and I'm sitting here on fire with about 10-15% hull left on my own ship. Then the shiney explosion. It's him, he's popped. I instinctively lock the pod, then think better of it and warp the hell out. His buddies might not let me get away with podding this dude.
I get convo'd by the dead rifter's pilot. He thanks me for the fun then immediately starts in with the excuses. That's pretty normal. A lot of people feel it necessary to tell you all the reasons they think they lost. But this guy begins telling me his web was offlined from burning out his mids earlier, repairing in station, then forgetting to online it before undocking. That makes sense. It's unfortunate for him, nice for me. Even so, this guy had everything else going for him, gang bonus's I'm sure, a ton more SP's, more DPS, more tank, better cap, etc. I may sound arrogant but I think I just flew better, I never once saw this guy give any indication of manual piloting or deviating from any of the basic tactics. It was a nice feeling to out fly that guy.
I make sure to be spotted on d-scan and begin hitting the belts. While leaving the third belt, a Rifter lands just as I enter warp. This gives me enough time to get the pilots name and look him up quickly. Now, sitting in a safe and aligned, I put out a request in local. "Hey (name-withheld) wanna 1v1?".
The response was delayed. By now these guys have figured out I'm in a safe and ganking me probably won't happen as easily as they thought. After four minutes I finally get a response. "Sure. Pick a belt or a planet." So I warp to a belt and give my location in local. I've warped in at "0" hoping this pilot is not an arty rifter coming for me at range, if so I'm screwed. Nope, He's standard fit, and lands 2200 off me.
And so it begins. Immediately we lock and point each other. What? No web? I'm not webbed? He's way out DPS'ing me but now I begin pulsing my AB, messing up his tracking just enough for me to hold on. Due to fitting issues on this new alt I'm using 125's and tracking just fine. Then, I capped out. That's right, completely dead as far as cap goes. Web and scram drop, I'm into hull and no juice to run the repper. So I start pulling away hoping to get some regen while outside gun range. The other rifter was already aligned to something the whole time, no idea why, he was winning. So I'm quickly able to get out to 25k from him.
Now this guy's buddies begin showing up. But they are 50-75k from the warp in and sitting still. Good, they aren't going to interfere. I spot my opponent turning towards me and see his speed rising. This new alt has really only basic skills so I need to relock as I've gone out of targeting range by now. The distance is closing quickly and at 18k I begin clicking in space, spinning my ship up then around, getting some transversal and hoping he glides right into my waiting web. I'm not going to point him this time. That might sound stupid to you but my reasoning is that he probably won't run with his buddies watching, he's not MWD fit, and I just need whatever cap I can save.
The fight resumes. Same as before. I'm not webbed? This time I settle my orbit in as close as possible and hope for the best. I'm getting smashed again, but so is this guy. He's not repping anymore! His point drops! He's capped out! I've got enough for one or maybe two cycles on my repper. I'm below half structure at this point and screaming at my repper to "hurry-the-fuck-up" thru it's cycle. And yes, just enough armor to hold on for another few seconds. The other Rifter is about 90% structure now. Then 75%, then 50%, then 25%. I'm almost thru his hull and I'm sitting here on fire with about 10-15% hull left on my own ship. Then the shiney explosion. It's him, he's popped. I instinctively lock the pod, then think better of it and warp the hell out. His buddies might not let me get away with podding this dude.
I get convo'd by the dead rifter's pilot. He thanks me for the fun then immediately starts in with the excuses. That's pretty normal. A lot of people feel it necessary to tell you all the reasons they think they lost. But this guy begins telling me his web was offlined from burning out his mids earlier, repairing in station, then forgetting to online it before undocking. That makes sense. It's unfortunate for him, nice for me. Even so, this guy had everything else going for him, gang bonus's I'm sure, a ton more SP's, more DPS, more tank, better cap, etc. I may sound arrogant but I think I just flew better, I never once saw this guy give any indication of manual piloting or deviating from any of the basic tactics. It was a nice feeling to out fly that guy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)