I have had a busy few weeks IRL. Family stuff, work and more Family Stuff. The Family stuff should continue for at least a few more weeks. One of the upsides is I will get to see my son more often. :)
I have had a few kills in EVE despite the Family Stuff. But nothing I can chronicle, I basically logged on to change a skill and something was happening "boom" back to RL.
I have to admit being a little excited about Rubicon. I will probably be thinking about it a bit before deciding what is and isn't going to effect me.
Until then it is back to the grindstone then Family in the evenings.
o7
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
The TOS is a Changin'
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Bob Dylan, The times are a changin'
There has been a significant amount of nerd rage expressed in the various forums, blogs and tweets over the TOS clarification that CCP has released. Impersonation of a Character or the Representative of a character has been a long standing way to "scam" in EVE Online. It may or may not have been always "against the rules" depending on how you look at it, or who you listen to. It definitely is a new definition of what was and not "always has been". The magnitude of unhappy is interesting given that asides from the clarification of the definition nothing much has changed. You will still be able to scam or mis-represent, you will just have to be more creative about it. I have never had a problem with it myself and have used it to my advantage with the old "Cyno alt of XXXX" infiltration. This may be more difficult now.
What is really does bring to light is the fact that CCP is making it more difficult to practice certain nefarious activities.
Does this change the GAME?
Contract scams still happen, even though "free form contracts" were out of the game some time ago.
Miners still get ganked, Hellcity is not as active as in the past and there is no direct gain for Goons to sponsor Hulkageddon. Make no mistake, any content the Goons create is geared towards benefit for Goonswarm, as it should be. Hulkageddon just needs a good promoter/organizer to happen again.
The "Suddenly Ninja" way of life was drastically changed, some of the more clever of them have moved on to create content just as funny and just as shady. At least those that appreciate a challenge have. Overall Crimewatch was a good thing, it opened up more possibilities and changed the dynamics of lowsec PVP for the better.
The dueling mechanic was much maligned, you can see examples of it being creatively used all over new eden everyday. "I thought you would stop at hull" or "How did you pod me? That isn't supposed to happen!" or variations of are just two of my favorite lines coming from that mechanic.
You can list endless examples of "dumbing down", you can also rationalise them any way you want. Fact of the matter is; if you are upset that CCP has removed "easymode" from being nefarious or practicing your favorite nub-torture technique then you are no better than the miners, mission runners, incursion bears that most people claim to dislike. "Easy Mode" is a good thing for Bears, it is not a good thing for someone who wants to be able to beat their chest over how cool they are.
Accept the challenge, step up your game, change is a good thing, polish is a good thing. At the end of the day a "Niche MMO" with a higher retention rate and a better public image is better. There will be more wide-eyed wonder and larger pools of tears to draw that sweet nectar we so dearly love.
Or, just take the easy way out. Because it effected your playstyle so much, right?
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Bob Dylan, The times are a changin'
There has been a significant amount of nerd rage expressed in the various forums, blogs and tweets over the TOS clarification that CCP has released. Impersonation of a Character or the Representative of a character has been a long standing way to "scam" in EVE Online. It may or may not have been always "against the rules" depending on how you look at it, or who you listen to. It definitely is a new definition of what was and not "always has been". The magnitude of unhappy is interesting given that asides from the clarification of the definition nothing much has changed. You will still be able to scam or mis-represent, you will just have to be more creative about it. I have never had a problem with it myself and have used it to my advantage with the old "Cyno alt of XXXX" infiltration. This may be more difficult now.
What is really does bring to light is the fact that CCP is making it more difficult to practice certain nefarious activities.
Does this change the GAME?
Contract scams still happen, even though "free form contracts" were out of the game some time ago.
Miners still get ganked, Hellcity is not as active as in the past and there is no direct gain for Goons to sponsor Hulkageddon. Make no mistake, any content the Goons create is geared towards benefit for Goonswarm, as it should be. Hulkageddon just needs a good promoter/organizer to happen again.
The "Suddenly Ninja" way of life was drastically changed, some of the more clever of them have moved on to create content just as funny and just as shady. At least those that appreciate a challenge have. Overall Crimewatch was a good thing, it opened up more possibilities and changed the dynamics of lowsec PVP for the better.
The dueling mechanic was much maligned, you can see examples of it being creatively used all over new eden everyday. "I thought you would stop at hull" or "How did you pod me? That isn't supposed to happen!" or variations of are just two of my favorite lines coming from that mechanic.
You can list endless examples of "dumbing down", you can also rationalise them any way you want. Fact of the matter is; if you are upset that CCP has removed "easymode" from being nefarious or practicing your favorite nub-torture technique then you are no better than the miners, mission runners, incursion bears that most people claim to dislike. "Easy Mode" is a good thing for Bears, it is not a good thing for someone who wants to be able to beat their chest over how cool they are.
Accept the challenge, step up your game, change is a good thing, polish is a good thing. At the end of the day a "Niche MMO" with a higher retention rate and a better public image is better. There will be more wide-eyed wonder and larger pools of tears to draw that sweet nectar we so dearly love.
Or, just take the easy way out. Because it effected your playstyle so much, right?
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Time
Time is a finite resource. I find my self looking at schedules, responsibilities and demands to see how I could better manage my 24 hours a day to have more of it for recreation and hobbies. It just does not happen. I did have one evening in the last week and a half where I had almost an hour to play. I sat down and logged on, realised how tired I was and went to bed. :)
Some cool things with the update to the expansion's updates. I no longer get the session change choke. The choke/lag/stuttering (whatever you want to call it) was really bothering me, I built my system specifically to handle high demand FPS games while still being able to multibox EVE with all settings on high to take advantage of the big, beautiful monitors I have. Not bragging or anything but it is way overkill for what I do with it. Before Odyssey I could have 6 accounts on with no lag or choke. :) Kudos to CCP for fixing things they break. (I am still not back to being able to have 6 accounts on at once, I only have 5 now but even 5 chokes a bit)
I am starting to get used to the skill reorganization, EVE will be that little bit less confusing for newer players. I thought I was going to like the changes to the HACs but in my opinion there still is not enough of a benefit to the hulls to justify the price difference. I mostly Solo, or try to anyways, the T1 hulls are pretty darn good for their cost.
I am thinking I will like the Jump clone skills, ALWAYS NEED MOAR CLONES. The reduced timer is cool but they really should have made that skill 2 hours per level or better.
I have killed a few ships since I last posted, nothing special was done. I un-docked saw some nub in a belt and pew pew. No real hunt, no real victory, just more New Player Experience, the kind EVE is famous for.
Some cool things with the update to the expansion's updates. I no longer get the session change choke. The choke/lag/stuttering (whatever you want to call it) was really bothering me, I built my system specifically to handle high demand FPS games while still being able to multibox EVE with all settings on high to take advantage of the big, beautiful monitors I have. Not bragging or anything but it is way overkill for what I do with it. Before Odyssey I could have 6 accounts on with no lag or choke. :) Kudos to CCP for fixing things they break. (I am still not back to being able to have 6 accounts on at once, I only have 5 now but even 5 chokes a bit)
I am starting to get used to the skill reorganization, EVE will be that little bit less confusing for newer players. I thought I was going to like the changes to the HACs but in my opinion there still is not enough of a benefit to the hulls to justify the price difference. I mostly Solo, or try to anyways, the T1 hulls are pretty darn good for their cost.
I am thinking I will like the Jump clone skills, ALWAYS NEED MOAR CLONES. The reduced timer is cool but they really should have made that skill 2 hours per level or better.
I have killed a few ships since I last posted, nothing special was done. I un-docked saw some nub in a belt and pew pew. No real hunt, no real victory, just more New Player Experience, the kind EVE is famous for.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
More Links, Tears, and the End of an Era
I started out this month with a loss taking on an Algos. Not one of my finest moments but I was bored. I also somehow fumbled getting my pod out, aligned and spamming warp before I died. Oh well, had to happen sooner or later.
I went back out that night and caught an Executioner next door in Jov. I afked a bit and came back to a report of a Caracal in a belt, we blobbed him.
The next day I had a fight with a Tusker who's success against me has been 0. He/She finally won one against me. I went back next door and refit with a web instead of TD and undocked to try it out, catching a militia Atron and then shortly after the Tusker who's success against me is limited. Web is better than TD against railgun Incursus :)
I logged the links on afterwards, this was the last weekend of POS links so I pretty much left them logged on the entire weekend after this. The rest of the day was me against Tuskers in 1s and 2s. I find it pretty interesting that a group can have a Loki at their POS at times then whine when someone has a Tengu in system :) I let an Incursus catch me, then come back with a friend, Merlin - Merlin is not a match for a linked Hawk. I had family over for some BBQ and played with nephews and grand kids (I am an old dude) Then after the festivities I undock and sit around for a bit and "get caught" again by a Firetail. Who then comes back with a Tormentor and Hawk. I was unable to keep the Tormentor and Hawk held down so a corp mate comes in to help. The Tusker Tormentor warped off when Comet lands leaving the Hawk to die alone.
Monday sees another day of POS links, by this time the Tuskers are angry and won't some out to play. :) I undock to carry on my mission to kill Ventures and catch one in a Belt. I make a trip next door where we chase a kiting Tristan around till one of us and he dies. I go afk for a bit of breakfast and come back to see a mission plex open. I hastily warp to the plex and almost catch the Manticore on the gate but follow him in so he can't cloak. Manticore goes down and I nab his pod, I did not realise until later that a corp member was following on this one
A bit more AFK for family stuff finds me back at the computer. Rixx had undocked his Moa for some fun with a few random cruisers that came to Hevrice. He "misclicked" and agressed in front of the station to take station guns and cruiser DPS. I dock up and grabd the first thing that came to mind. Maelstrom time! The cruisers do not last long under the fire of 2 Maelstroms and some assorted other stuff, Caracal, Thorax and Rupture go down one right after the other.
Some more AFK and I undock a Slasher, Slasher cannot stand up against a Tristan and Incursus. I undock the Hawk again to go play around a bit when a corp mate announces a Caracal at a medium. Caracal does not last long.
I decide to take another Slasher out for a roam around the neighborhood. It was a slow day for a Labor Day Monday in the US. I manage to catch an Executioner in a Plex then played Cat vs Mouse with a Slicer. He was set up in a plex but being Slicer vs Slasher I had no interest in being Kited so I found a plex and sat at 0 on the warp-in. He wanted the fight and came at me, he got hard tackled and nueted and did not last long.
I came back to Hev and was about to call it a night when a large gang of Random frigs and dessies came in. I sat in a plex and waited for them. I managed to kill 3 Atrons out of their gang of 8 assorted crap before the Hawk went down. A bit of smack talk was exchanged in local where they were bragging about killing my Hawk :) gf gf gf. I had fun and was interested in Round 2. I fit up another Hawk and undocked, they were set up on a plex gate. I messed up on the warpin and managed to DIAF without killing anything. All in all I had fun and would do again. I can understand how they could get so excited though, seriously, killing a Hawk, with only 8 dudes, I would be proud as pie.
Last kill of the night was another Venture, he was angry, called me a jerk. I apologized and explained he had no mining permit. Good fun was had.
**************
Another interesting development; Tuskers are angry over the POSed links. :) I find this very interesting. When ST-FR first formed the Tuskers would regularly have their loki links POSed up. A gang of experienced PVPers using every advantage fighting a group of fairly new pilots with some experienced pilots mixed in. They had fun, we had fun. The tables get turned and I had fun, apparently they did not. :) It really is fairly simple, check DSCAN, see Tengu in a POS and engage at your own risk. I know I do, I also do not whine about it later. Tis a game kiddos, have fun. The Tuskers also thanked the "Scope Gang" for killing the Hawk they "couldn't be bothered to kill", that "always runs from even a single Tusker in a frigate". huehuehuehue. All Good Fun, even before the links weekends I was not doing too bad vs them :)
No matter, I am actually looking forward to trying out some of the newly balanced command ships, I was always kinda miffed that I spent all that time on Command Ships 5 to have T3 cruisers be better at links for a shorter time investment. Those changes along with the long range medium weapon buffs and the HAC "balancing" should bring some interesting new meta to the game. It is probably a good time to start brushing up on my kiting skills.
One of the fixes I am really looking forward to is the improvements to the sound engine for the game and better memory handling on session changes. Before the last expansion I rarely had any issues while multiboxing. Since the last expansion there is always some serious choke on the pretty new session changes. I hope that goes away. Along with scout alts and other support stuff one must keep ones market orders going to afford Hawks :)
I went back out that night and caught an Executioner next door in Jov. I afked a bit and came back to a report of a Caracal in a belt, we blobbed him.
The next day I had a fight with a Tusker who's success against me has been 0. He/She finally won one against me. I went back next door and refit with a web instead of TD and undocked to try it out, catching a militia Atron and then shortly after the Tusker who's success against me is limited. Web is better than TD against railgun Incursus :)
I logged the links on afterwards, this was the last weekend of POS links so I pretty much left them logged on the entire weekend after this. The rest of the day was me against Tuskers in 1s and 2s. I find it pretty interesting that a group can have a Loki at their POS at times then whine when someone has a Tengu in system :) I let an Incursus catch me, then come back with a friend, Merlin - Merlin is not a match for a linked Hawk. I had family over for some BBQ and played with nephews and grand kids (I am an old dude) Then after the festivities I undock and sit around for a bit and "get caught" again by a Firetail. Who then comes back with a Tormentor and Hawk. I was unable to keep the Tormentor and Hawk held down so a corp mate comes in to help. The Tusker Tormentor warped off when Comet lands leaving the Hawk to die alone.
Monday sees another day of POS links, by this time the Tuskers are angry and won't some out to play. :) I undock to carry on my mission to kill Ventures and catch one in a Belt. I make a trip next door where we chase a kiting Tristan around till one of us and he dies. I go afk for a bit of breakfast and come back to see a mission plex open. I hastily warp to the plex and almost catch the Manticore on the gate but follow him in so he can't cloak. Manticore goes down and I nab his pod, I did not realise until later that a corp member was following on this one
A bit more AFK for family stuff finds me back at the computer. Rixx had undocked his Moa for some fun with a few random cruisers that came to Hevrice. He "misclicked" and agressed in front of the station to take station guns and cruiser DPS. I dock up and grabd the first thing that came to mind. Maelstrom time! The cruisers do not last long under the fire of 2 Maelstroms and some assorted other stuff, Caracal, Thorax and Rupture go down one right after the other.
Some more AFK and I undock a Slasher, Slasher cannot stand up against a Tristan and Incursus. I undock the Hawk again to go play around a bit when a corp mate announces a Caracal at a medium. Caracal does not last long.
I decide to take another Slasher out for a roam around the neighborhood. It was a slow day for a Labor Day Monday in the US. I manage to catch an Executioner in a Plex then played Cat vs Mouse with a Slicer. He was set up in a plex but being Slicer vs Slasher I had no interest in being Kited so I found a plex and sat at 0 on the warp-in. He wanted the fight and came at me, he got hard tackled and nueted and did not last long.
I came back to Hev and was about to call it a night when a large gang of Random frigs and dessies came in. I sat in a plex and waited for them. I managed to kill 3 Atrons out of their gang of 8 assorted crap before the Hawk went down. A bit of smack talk was exchanged in local where they were bragging about killing my Hawk :) gf gf gf. I had fun and was interested in Round 2. I fit up another Hawk and undocked, they were set up on a plex gate. I messed up on the warpin and managed to DIAF without killing anything. All in all I had fun and would do again. I can understand how they could get so excited though, seriously, killing a Hawk, with only 8 dudes, I would be proud as pie.
Last kill of the night was another Venture, he was angry, called me a jerk. I apologized and explained he had no mining permit. Good fun was had.
**************
Another interesting development; Tuskers are angry over the POSed links. :) I find this very interesting. When ST-FR first formed the Tuskers would regularly have their loki links POSed up. A gang of experienced PVPers using every advantage fighting a group of fairly new pilots with some experienced pilots mixed in. They had fun, we had fun. The tables get turned and I had fun, apparently they did not. :) It really is fairly simple, check DSCAN, see Tengu in a POS and engage at your own risk. I know I do, I also do not whine about it later. Tis a game kiddos, have fun. The Tuskers also thanked the "Scope Gang" for killing the Hawk they "couldn't be bothered to kill", that "always runs from even a single Tusker in a frigate". huehuehuehue. All Good Fun, even before the links weekends I was not doing too bad vs them :)
No matter, I am actually looking forward to trying out some of the newly balanced command ships, I was always kinda miffed that I spent all that time on Command Ships 5 to have T3 cruisers be better at links for a shorter time investment. Those changes along with the long range medium weapon buffs and the HAC "balancing" should bring some interesting new meta to the game. It is probably a good time to start brushing up on my kiting skills.
One of the fixes I am really looking forward to is the improvements to the sound engine for the game and better memory handling on session changes. Before the last expansion I rarely had any issues while multiboxing. Since the last expansion there is always some serious choke on the pretty new session changes. I hope that goes away. Along with scout alts and other support stuff one must keep ones market orders going to afford Hawks :)
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
I did this thing, and I exploded some other things
I started one of them personal killboard thingies on EVE-KILL. I have been hesitant to do so, not that I am worried about my efficiency or performance. I am worried I will start caring about it. I have it now I will be looking at it. Once you fall into the trap of counting points or efficiencies it has a tendency to make people hesitate on engagement. It also has the side effect of making people "risk averse". Got to protect that precious rating that in all reality means nothing, unless of course it is the only way you derive fun from the game. That might be what some people are looking for, not me. I like to engage at will, uneven numbers, outclassed, over classed, etc. Makes me no difference, I want to see things explode. The hunt and explosions are where I get my fun in EVE at the moment.
******
I went out looking for targets before the weekend began and found nothing, on my return to Hevrice I was able to catch this Incursus. The next day I went out playing in my Hawk and caught this LML Kestrel before it could get range.
My weekend was kinda full with family around all day but I was able to undock a few times on Sunday. We chased down a Navy Vexor and ROFL Blobbed him to tears. Playing around in Hevrice I landed late at the end of a fight but grabbed this Wolf before it could warp off. I later took the Hawk out prowling and sat in a plex at 0 on the warp in, caught a Tristan before it could pull range and kite.
I do like flying brawlers, the fights are fun if you do not just hit orbit and wait to see who dies. There are a lot of things you can do in a close range brawl to give yourself the advantage. I manually pilot, use orbit and stay at range all at the same time while brawling. I find that if you can time the drops in transversal of your targets while your guns are actually firing your hits will be better. I do not like flying brawlers against the high amount of kiting fits there are out there. Tis no fun :) Kite vs Kite is fun, Brawl vs Brawl is fun. Sometimes you can catch the kiter while you are brawling and take them to the ownzone but I do not have much success with the "slingshot" tactic. I also am really good at being caught close range when fit for kiting, I am equally as good at landing at range from a kiter while being fit for brawl.
I decided to start trying some scram range kite fits and see how things worked out. To meet that requirement I have been flying the Breacher of late and have had some fun with it.
I undocked a breacher Monday night and over the course of an hour or so I was able to catch 5 ships and 2 pods with it. First of the evening is this belt ratting Catalyst, he does not last long under rawkits. I get his empty pod as well. Next up is this Condor who caught my Breacher named "Stabbed" while I was sitting in a Novice plex. This fight was fun but did not come near stressing the Breacher. He gets SPLODED. A bit later I land in a plex with an Atron out at 30km from the warp in, I start to AB out to him and he rushes in for the tackle! Hooraah! Sadly he does not live long, I really should be nicer to the folks who rush in for a fight, but, can, not, not pod. It is now close to bedtime but I decide to poke next door and see whats about. I see a Navitas and Merlin in a plex and figure the least I can do is run more stabbed plexers off before I go to bed. The guy must have been sleeping, I kilt the triple stabbed, double afterburnered (wtf!) Navitas and pin the Merlin down. Merlin gets mad and fights back, I was a bit in shock after killing the usually stabbed Navitas and forgot that I was in an active tanked boat and forgot to turn the ASB on. I did catch it when I hit hull and because of that it was a close fight. :) The trusty breacher was able to pull range and rep back up much to the dismay of the Merlin pilot.
Another day leads to me undocking the breacher again, I find Reciprocrat in an Incursus and go after him, the breacher is not a good ship to chase kiters down and the fight does not go well for me. I undock another Breacher and take off to find a Heron and get a taste of Waffles :) I go immediately to another plex to get landed on by an Atron and the fight does not go well for him. I try my hand at catching a Slicer before he can burn out to range and end up not doing well, especially when his Thrasher friend lands on top of me soon as I am able to break tackle. I go back to Hevrice to fit another ship I have been wanting try, the AAR Tormentor. I undock to sit in a plex and get out DPSed fairly quickly by a dual repped Incursus.
All in all a fun few nights of roaming around the semi-lawless areas of New Eden.
*********
I added a few "Campaigns" to the killboard. In reality these mean nothing. Tracking from when I joined Stay Frosty, one for me vs Tuskers just because they are in the same system. And one for me vs Ventures, because all lowsec ventures should die.
******
I went out looking for targets before the weekend began and found nothing, on my return to Hevrice I was able to catch this Incursus. The next day I went out playing in my Hawk and caught this LML Kestrel before it could get range.
My weekend was kinda full with family around all day but I was able to undock a few times on Sunday. We chased down a Navy Vexor and ROFL Blobbed him to tears. Playing around in Hevrice I landed late at the end of a fight but grabbed this Wolf before it could warp off. I later took the Hawk out prowling and sat in a plex at 0 on the warp in, caught a Tristan before it could pull range and kite.
I do like flying brawlers, the fights are fun if you do not just hit orbit and wait to see who dies. There are a lot of things you can do in a close range brawl to give yourself the advantage. I manually pilot, use orbit and stay at range all at the same time while brawling. I find that if you can time the drops in transversal of your targets while your guns are actually firing your hits will be better. I do not like flying brawlers against the high amount of kiting fits there are out there. Tis no fun :) Kite vs Kite is fun, Brawl vs Brawl is fun. Sometimes you can catch the kiter while you are brawling and take them to the ownzone but I do not have much success with the "slingshot" tactic. I also am really good at being caught close range when fit for kiting, I am equally as good at landing at range from a kiter while being fit for brawl.
I decided to start trying some scram range kite fits and see how things worked out. To meet that requirement I have been flying the Breacher of late and have had some fun with it.
I undocked a breacher Monday night and over the course of an hour or so I was able to catch 5 ships and 2 pods with it. First of the evening is this belt ratting Catalyst, he does not last long under rawkits. I get his empty pod as well. Next up is this Condor who caught my Breacher named "Stabbed" while I was sitting in a Novice plex. This fight was fun but did not come near stressing the Breacher. He gets SPLODED. A bit later I land in a plex with an Atron out at 30km from the warp in, I start to AB out to him and he rushes in for the tackle! Hooraah! Sadly he does not live long, I really should be nicer to the folks who rush in for a fight, but, can, not, not pod. It is now close to bedtime but I decide to poke next door and see whats about. I see a Navitas and Merlin in a plex and figure the least I can do is run more stabbed plexers off before I go to bed. The guy must have been sleeping, I kilt the triple stabbed, double afterburnered (wtf!) Navitas and pin the Merlin down. Merlin gets mad and fights back, I was a bit in shock after killing the usually stabbed Navitas and forgot that I was in an active tanked boat and forgot to turn the ASB on. I did catch it when I hit hull and because of that it was a close fight. :) The trusty breacher was able to pull range and rep back up much to the dismay of the Merlin pilot.
Another day leads to me undocking the breacher again, I find Reciprocrat in an Incursus and go after him, the breacher is not a good ship to chase kiters down and the fight does not go well for me. I undock another Breacher and take off to find a Heron and get a taste of Waffles :) I go immediately to another plex to get landed on by an Atron and the fight does not go well for him. I try my hand at catching a Slicer before he can burn out to range and end up not doing well, especially when his Thrasher friend lands on top of me soon as I am able to break tackle. I go back to Hevrice to fit another ship I have been wanting try, the AAR Tormentor. I undock to sit in a plex and get out DPSed fairly quickly by a dual repped Incursus.
All in all a fun few nights of roaming around the semi-lawless areas of New Eden.
*********
I added a few "Campaigns" to the killboard. In reality these mean nothing. Tracking from when I joined Stay Frosty, one for me vs Tuskers just because they are in the same system. And one for me vs Ventures, because all lowsec ventures should die.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Moar Shields!
I have been on a shield fit kick lately. Partially because I am lazy and haven't come up with any new armor fits that I want to try and partially because I am trying to make some improvements to my piloting. I always say that I play the game more for fun than I do for any sense of accomplishment. While that is most certainly true I do want to improve my piloting abilities where and when I can. I have started to look back at some of my fights thinking if I had done this, then that would have... etc. etc. For me the best way to not make the same mistake again is to repeat the situation as soon as you can and try something different. Eventually the right thing will become habit, until some mechanic changes and that habit is no longer to your advantage. :) This being EVE, and Player Vs Player it is almost near impossible to get a different player in the same ship to behave the same way some other person did recently.
************
I have had some activity in the last week. Mostly over the weekend, targets have been sparse on the weekdays. I started out the last weekend looking around the neighborhood for a fight and not finding one. I came back to Hevrice and spotted a Merlin on scan in a belt. I take the invitation to brawl and warp my Slasher in, we dance for a bit till the Merlin runs out of hull. GF! That fight was a fun one, I was trying to stay out of his blaster optimal while staying in my autocannon "best falloff"
We had a roam scheduled that a few people actually showed up for :) Comp was armor cruisers with an Auguror pair for logi. We roamed for a good bit till we got bored and started baiting things we should not have been baiting. We lost a Rupture baiting for this Maller kill, his Moa buddy warped off to let him die alone. We get the Rupture reshipped to another Rupture and catch a Caracal out of a small gang that gets away. We wind up losing the Rupture again on another gate messing around too long with sniping Nados off at range from the gate. It starts to get a bit late in the afternoon with some of us having things to do and we head home, stopping in one system to play station games for too long with a Domi and Loki pair. The Augurors get too close to the Domi and one gets murdered along with a Thorax. We warp off and head home.
The next day I see a small gang baiting in a medium plex and log the link alt on for some Moa fun, I get set up and the small gang leaves. Having gone through the trouble to get things set up I poke a few corp mates to see what we could get up to. Naka catches a Comet while we are talking so I warp in to shamelessly steal the kill from him. We mess around on a gate to a medium for a bit in the Moa and a Stabber and Naka gets tackled in his Stabber. I warp the Moa in and start to work on the Rupture that has him tackled, we quickly get swamped and lose the Stabber and Moa. Reshipping we go back out and get the Navy Exequror and Drake. Then with the hornets nest stirred up and 7 Tuskers in space we dock the 3 of us back up and let them cool off for a bit. We undock in some smaller things and all warp into a belt one right after another, managing to lose a Dragoon and a Slicer for a Hookbill kill. Things start to get busy around the house and I have to log for a bit.
I logged on last night to lose a Slasher to a Tristan because I mis-clicked on the overheat on guns at the beginning of the fight. (I am so good at this game) A corp mate avenged my death by killing the Tristan a few minutes later.
There have been a few other kills here and there over the last week but nothing worth mentioning, other than....
I continue to do the work of the Great Architect, protecting the belts holding the materials that make up the very fabric of this fine universe we play in, killing every single Venture I can catch.
************
I have had some activity in the last week. Mostly over the weekend, targets have been sparse on the weekdays. I started out the last weekend looking around the neighborhood for a fight and not finding one. I came back to Hevrice and spotted a Merlin on scan in a belt. I take the invitation to brawl and warp my Slasher in, we dance for a bit till the Merlin runs out of hull. GF! That fight was a fun one, I was trying to stay out of his blaster optimal while staying in my autocannon "best falloff"
We had a roam scheduled that a few people actually showed up for :) Comp was armor cruisers with an Auguror pair for logi. We roamed for a good bit till we got bored and started baiting things we should not have been baiting. We lost a Rupture baiting for this Maller kill, his Moa buddy warped off to let him die alone. We get the Rupture reshipped to another Rupture and catch a Caracal out of a small gang that gets away. We wind up losing the Rupture again on another gate messing around too long with sniping Nados off at range from the gate. It starts to get a bit late in the afternoon with some of us having things to do and we head home, stopping in one system to play station games for too long with a Domi and Loki pair. The Augurors get too close to the Domi and one gets murdered along with a Thorax. We warp off and head home.
The next day I see a small gang baiting in a medium plex and log the link alt on for some Moa fun, I get set up and the small gang leaves. Having gone through the trouble to get things set up I poke a few corp mates to see what we could get up to. Naka catches a Comet while we are talking so I warp in to shamelessly steal the kill from him. We mess around on a gate to a medium for a bit in the Moa and a Stabber and Naka gets tackled in his Stabber. I warp the Moa in and start to work on the Rupture that has him tackled, we quickly get swamped and lose the Stabber and Moa. Reshipping we go back out and get the Navy Exequror and Drake. Then with the hornets nest stirred up and 7 Tuskers in space we dock the 3 of us back up and let them cool off for a bit. We undock in some smaller things and all warp into a belt one right after another, managing to lose a Dragoon and a Slicer for a Hookbill kill. Things start to get busy around the house and I have to log for a bit.
I logged on last night to lose a Slasher to a Tristan because I mis-clicked on the overheat on guns at the beginning of the fight. (I am so good at this game) A corp mate avenged my death by killing the Tristan a few minutes later.
There have been a few other kills here and there over the last week but nothing worth mentioning, other than....
I continue to do the work of the Great Architect, protecting the belts holding the materials that make up the very fabric of this fine universe we play in, killing every single Venture I can catch.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
All Power to Forward Shields!
Lame Star Trek reference...
I love rainy days! I was able to spend a bit more time at the computer again this last weekend. I did have chores but was saved by some timely rain spells.
I have been trying some different ships lately, I wanted to break my standard buffer/brawler fits up and try some active tanked versions of the ships that I fly. I began Sunday with the MASB Slasher. Heading out for a trip around the neighborhood nets not a single bite. I head back to Hevrice and safe up with prop mod on to look at the other screens when I notice a Kestrel land. I promptly cut speed and change direction to make it easier for him to catch my Slasher. We get each other good and tackled and go to town. I wound up killing the Kestrel, I was a bad person and had links running from trying to bait earlier. I caught a Rifter a few hours later and was able to burn through his tank before my ASB ran out of charges. I was not a bad person this time and did not have the links running or even have the boosting toon online.
I had seen a FW pilot come into system in a Vexor and began to look through the plexes for him. I warped in on a Vexor in a medium to find it not be the young faction warfare pilot but decided to see how the Slasher performed against a skilled cruiser pilot. Turns out not very well. Afterwards I challenged the pilot to a cruiser 1v1 which he accepted in a system of his choice, so that he "would know I wasn't linked". My Moa handled his Vexor without any undue stress. (Brawler Fights = Boring to disect) We had fleeted and fought at a safe, I stayed at the wreck and planned to get him to warp back for his loot. While waiting I started the ASB reloading, just soon as I click reload an Omen shows up... We started this fight with me at 60% shields the beginning of a 1 minute reload cycle, by the time reload was done I was just entering structure. I boosted back up to full shields and had a couple of pulse cycles before reload again. My Moa went down with him in low armor 3/4 of the way through the reload cycle. Had this fight started with full shields and ASB loaded it would have probably went the other way. He was playing around with ranges so I had switched from Antimatter to Null and was too close to dying to worry about reloading again.
I went back and jumped in another Moa to play around a bit more. I tried to crash a medium plex with 6 FW dudes in it only to have them warp their frigates out when I landed. I went out and back in again to find a corp member playing around with a Tusker, we were not going to catch the AF with our Cruisers so I got out when the AF lost point on me. I got out by going into the plex again... Half dead with 2 ASB charges and loaded with long range ammo. I changed ammo when I landed and was able to burn down an Atron and Incursus before my Moa DIAF GF though :)
Ever since fighting a dual MASB Hawk with my Moa I had been wanting to try it out. I purchased Hawk and fittings, loaded way too many different rockets then undocked to try it out. I found a Venture to test DPS on :P then headed out to try something more challenging and found nothing :(
I undocked the Hawk again the next night and flew around a bit finding nothing but a small plexing gang. I have said before that boredom and lack of patience are the biggest killers of my ships and this night is no exception. I watched the farming gang on Dscan while the plex went from 4 pilots to 9 to 6 to 9 to .... All Gallente FW in system. When the system population dropped down a bit and the plex housed 4 ships I went in. Comet, Incursus, Merlin and Tormentor. My logic here was to land, grab the highest DPS ship and align out while hammering on it. I wound up shooting the Comet first and killing him before dying myself. Looking back I should have started with the Tormentor, I would have been able to pull some range after he died as he was the only one that had me webbed, then start on the Comet. 1v4 - Traded a Hawk for a Comet. It was a fun little fight though :)
Not that I didn't want that Hawk anyways... But I bought some more and will be derping them as well I am sure.
I did try and use the Maelstrom last weekend but the only chance I had I could not get the gang to engage it.
This coming weekend will either be Hawks, Moas and Slashers again or something in Armor.
I haven't decided what I want to wear yet.
I love rainy days! I was able to spend a bit more time at the computer again this last weekend. I did have chores but was saved by some timely rain spells.
I have been trying some different ships lately, I wanted to break my standard buffer/brawler fits up and try some active tanked versions of the ships that I fly. I began Sunday with the MASB Slasher. Heading out for a trip around the neighborhood nets not a single bite. I head back to Hevrice and safe up with prop mod on to look at the other screens when I notice a Kestrel land. I promptly cut speed and change direction to make it easier for him to catch my Slasher. We get each other good and tackled and go to town. I wound up killing the Kestrel, I was a bad person and had links running from trying to bait earlier. I caught a Rifter a few hours later and was able to burn through his tank before my ASB ran out of charges. I was not a bad person this time and did not have the links running or even have the boosting toon online.
I had seen a FW pilot come into system in a Vexor and began to look through the plexes for him. I warped in on a Vexor in a medium to find it not be the young faction warfare pilot but decided to see how the Slasher performed against a skilled cruiser pilot. Turns out not very well. Afterwards I challenged the pilot to a cruiser 1v1 which he accepted in a system of his choice, so that he "would know I wasn't linked". My Moa handled his Vexor without any undue stress. (Brawler Fights = Boring to disect) We had fleeted and fought at a safe, I stayed at the wreck and planned to get him to warp back for his loot. While waiting I started the ASB reloading, just soon as I click reload an Omen shows up... We started this fight with me at 60% shields the beginning of a 1 minute reload cycle, by the time reload was done I was just entering structure. I boosted back up to full shields and had a couple of pulse cycles before reload again. My Moa went down with him in low armor 3/4 of the way through the reload cycle. Had this fight started with full shields and ASB loaded it would have probably went the other way. He was playing around with ranges so I had switched from Antimatter to Null and was too close to dying to worry about reloading again.
I went back and jumped in another Moa to play around a bit more. I tried to crash a medium plex with 6 FW dudes in it only to have them warp their frigates out when I landed. I went out and back in again to find a corp member playing around with a Tusker, we were not going to catch the AF with our Cruisers so I got out when the AF lost point on me. I got out by going into the plex again... Half dead with 2 ASB charges and loaded with long range ammo. I changed ammo when I landed and was able to burn down an Atron and Incursus before my Moa DIAF GF though :)
Ever since fighting a dual MASB Hawk with my Moa I had been wanting to try it out. I purchased Hawk and fittings, loaded way too many different rockets then undocked to try it out. I found a Venture to test DPS on :P then headed out to try something more challenging and found nothing :(
I undocked the Hawk again the next night and flew around a bit finding nothing but a small plexing gang. I have said before that boredom and lack of patience are the biggest killers of my ships and this night is no exception. I watched the farming gang on Dscan while the plex went from 4 pilots to 9 to 6 to 9 to .... All Gallente FW in system. When the system population dropped down a bit and the plex housed 4 ships I went in. Comet, Incursus, Merlin and Tormentor. My logic here was to land, grab the highest DPS ship and align out while hammering on it. I wound up shooting the Comet first and killing him before dying myself. Looking back I should have started with the Tormentor, I would have been able to pull some range after he died as he was the only one that had me webbed, then start on the Comet. 1v4 - Traded a Hawk for a Comet. It was a fun little fight though :)
Not that I didn't want that Hawk anyways... But I bought some more and will be derping them as well I am sure.
I did try and use the Maelstrom last weekend but the only chance I had I could not get the gang to engage it.
This coming weekend will either be Hawks, Moas and Slashers again or something in Armor.
I haven't decided what I want to wear yet.
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