EVE Newb

Glorious Hatemail

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:48:00 +0000

Piracy results in a good amount of negativity directed your way. I wish that we could all just love each other and give hugs and enjoy the violencing of each others boats but sometimes people just don't seem to agree! Let's take a look at examples of some of these angry folks...

NOTE: All of these are REAL hatemail from REAL dumbasses who sent them to my REAL Eve-Online mailbox! For real!

hi ,
you attack me in the belt
i´m a noob , i play eve 2-3 weeks and i have no many to bye a new ship ....
im happy that my ship is not broken by your attacks .
it was a funny fight and i have a big adrenalin kick but pls do not attack me again - i´m a NOOOB and i just want to test my fitting in the belt with rats ...
ok hf & fly save

Maybe this isn't actually that negative. He's happy I gave him a "big adrenalin kick but" and wants me to have fun. What a nice guy. Maybe I'm wrong about peoples reactions and they will generally be happy!

2008.06.25 04:40
Asshole
2008.06.25 04:49
you ass is mine!!! i come back .

dude wtf could you possibly win from destroying my ship?

Best pirate of the year award, of course!

Hello Spectre3353,
do you remember the fight against my friend an me? I wonder how you kick our ass so good. Warp jam is on part but did you use a energiy transfer modul. it was the first fight with the thorax for me and i dont know whats happend. maybe you can explain how you do it. if not ok and next time take what you want from the wracks, bying a new ship is more expensiv :-)
if something is written wrong ... german

Oh... apparently any time I am worried about potential spelling errors I can just explain by saying "german". Seems fair. That excuse probably works pretty well for accusations of starting massive world wars or as to why I have schnitzel stains all over my pants.

why do you think I was in a Rupture...I have no money ..and now I have now ship ...

...alright.

[...] Your blog was less than advertised. It only highlights your need to drop the pixels and find a real companion. We at Shadow Phoenix recommend an actual woman. No worries though, you'll meet a few when our pack hunts shameless PKers. You could always turn cool and setup honorable PvP instead of thugging it. Players with class will always draw attention and respect.

Now this I take offense to. A pony isn't a real companion? Mrs Pilkins isn't a woman? YOU THINK I NEED TO TURN COOL AND STOP THUGGING? FUCK YOU BRO!!!!!!

2008.06.28 21:14
You will regret that.

Lawl. Nah.

2008.08.06 07:52
I WILL, have you DEAD. Scum....
2008.08.06 05:05
I will find you I will KILL you
2008.08.06 03:18
YOU, have made an Enemy !

Im looking for you.

You, HAVE made me. SCARED!

That's all for this edition of "Random Hatemail I Found From 2008-2009". Join us again next post when I hunt down some more recent emotional tirades about how I killed your stupid fucking Ibis. You know you can just dock up and get another Ibis for free right? I hate you fucking guys.

RIP DON

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 04:51:00 +0000

RIP Python Cartel

The Python Cartel was active again for a couple of months near the end of 2012. We spent a couple of months having fun but we had just a bare minimum of active pilots to make things playable. Then came this fight on the 16th of November:

...where we got absolutely brutalized by FW during a planned roam with nano-cruisers. Turns out nano-cruisers aren't as amazing as they were the last time Python was heavily active. T3 cruisers tend to eat you alive from almost any range. The results of the above engagement caused several pilots to quit Eve once again and go play DOTA2 (which is a horrible shit game by the way Gamble and Felix you fucks). Without enough pilots to really keep the corp going, I got kind of bored and unsubbed for a few months like I always do. Well I am subbed once again and the first thing I did was apply to a new corp and then do this:

I love the Python Cartel. We still have active forums and people play lots of non-Eve games together still but I don't think we will ever be able to recapture what we had all those years ago. Too many folks are no longer interested in Eve and those that are have moved on to new corps and we couldn't convince them to come back for the final PC revival. So this is for you Pythons. We will always be Pythons and we will still play games together but as an Eve corporation, I am pouring one out for us:

That MS Paint picture is lower quality than you're used to because I did it myself. Next time I'll outsource to Skye again and it will be better. Anyhow, Rest In Peace Python Cartel. Well maybe. Ok probably not. See you guys in 2018 when we resurrect and then die again. And when we do it again in 2022 as well.

Almost Got Me

I moved into a new system and joined a new corp. I started to move some of my stuff in which is a fucking pain in the ass at this point. After five years of playing on and off and living in Egghelende, Gulmorogod, Evati, Resbroko, Ishomilken, Aurohunen, Passari and probably other systems I can't even fucking remember, I have stuff EVERYWHERE. Every time I go to a random system on a roam I'll dock up and find that I have 4 fully fit ships ready to fly in a station I don't even fucking remember ever having docked in. So it's a pain trying to get all my shit together and help would certainly be useful. Good thing this guy offered up his assistance randomly:

[ 03:58:31 ] Space Samuri > hey
[ 03:58:34 ] Space Samuri > XXXXX just talked to me
[ 03:58:39 ] Space Samuri > said you might need help moving stuff to low sec?
[ 03:58:59 ] Spectre3353 > well everything is in lowsec, its just about a dozen jumps away from rancor
[ 03:59:16 ] Space Samuri > need help getting it there?.
[ 03:59:27 ] Space Samuri > its free for all new guys
[ 03:59:37 ] Spectre3353 > yea if you are able that would be swell
[ 03:59:57 ] Space Samuri > what exaclty do u wnat moved
[ 04:00:03 ] Space Samuri > yea np
[ 04:00:43 ] Spectre3353 > good question... ive got a couple bs's and bc's and several thousands mods in passari/ishomilken
[ 04:01:00 ] Space Samuri > oh that's fine
[ 04:01:05 ] Spectre3353 > and lots of smaller ships but i dont think really need to move those over
[ 04:01:07 ] Spectre3353 > i can do them myself
[ 04:01:18 ] Space Samuri > ok go ahead and contract to me whatever you do need moved
[ 04:01:32 ] Spectre3353 > ok thanks let me try and figure out exactly what is worth moving and ill do that
[ 04:01:34 ] Spectre3353 > thanks for the help
[ 04:01:40 ] Space Samuri > np o7
[ 04:01:43 ] Space Samuri > i'l be on for the next few hours>[ 04:02:24 ] Space Samuri > if u have stuff in passari i can move it soon
[ 04:02:29 ] Space Samuri > i'm actually leaving there in a bit
[ 04:02:31 ] Spectre3353 > ok cool thanks
[ 04:02:39 ] Space Samuri > np
[ 04:04:21 ] Spectre3353 > are you moving stuff using a freighter?
[ 04:04:28 ] Space Samuri > yeah
[ 04:04:37 ] Spectre3353 > ok so that can fit a ton of shit right
[ 04:04:42 ] Space Samuri > yeah lol
[ 04:04:49 ] Spectre3353 > ok im used to moving with carriers, way more annoying
[ 04:05:09 ] Space Samuri > yeah freighters 4tw

What a super nice dude! I opened up my assets tab and selected everything in Passari and started to create a contract. Just to be safe though I figured I'd check Space Samuri's corp and standings. Hmm... not in my corp, not in a related corp and not blue. So I asked the person who he said had referred him to me and they said:

[ 04:08:47 ] XXXXX > no i didnt talk to that person

Well son of a bitch. I almost got scammed... and probably deservedly so. I went back and figured I'd at least have some fun with the guy and lead him on after he almost got a few hundred million ISK worth of items out of me:

[ 04:09:54 ] Spectre3353 > i have like a ton of faction mods and some faction bs's i wanted to move too
[ 04:09:59 ] Spectre3353 > youre sure you can get it in here safely?
[ 04:10:10 ] Space Samuri > yup positive
[ 04:10:22 ] Space Samuri > we make sure everything gets there without a doubt
[ 04:10:23 ] Spectre3353 > awesome, im just going to give a trade instead of courier to make it easier
[ 04:10:33 ] Spectre3353 > i have a bunch of plex in there also
[ 04:10:37 ] Spectre3353 > ill just throw them in the lot
[ 04:10:41 ] Spectre3353 > do you want to move some isk for me also?
[ 04:10:47 ] Spectre3353 > i have a few trillion in passari
[ 04:10:50 ] Spectre3353 > i need moved
[ 04:11:30 ] Spectre3353 > if the freighter doesnt have room for that much isk its ok i can haul it in my titan instead

...and he left chat without another word. What a sore sport.

Algos

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:52:00 +0000

With the latest Eve expansion comes some neat new ships! The most interesting are the new destroyers of which we have the Amarr Dragoon, Caldari Corax, Minmitar Talwar and Gallente Algos. Since the Corax and Talwar are both missile based ships I pretty much immediately dismissed them. I don't use stupid missiles. Real men use big guns! ...and drones! After messing around with the Dragoon a bit too it seems like a pretty bad choice for solo with its lack of mid-slots so that pretty much leaves the Algos as my only choice to try out of the new ships. For anyone not familiar with what this ship is:

So my first thought is obviously to fit this thing with the biggest drones it can fit and BLASTERS. This is what I came up with initially:

[Algos, Blasters]
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction

Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
[empty high slot]

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

Hobgoblin II x3
Hammerhead II x2
Warrior II x5

440 DPS normal, 480 DPS overheated, 8700 EHP. Unfortunately with a 900m optimal and no web, I'm not sure how often that full blaster DPS will actually be applied but it has the potential to drop some crazy DPS on bigger, less mobile ships. A flight of Warrior II's to protect against frigates but frankly it's slow and the Warrior II DPS isn't great so I kind of feel like this thing could get kited and reamed by a lot of the fast frigs running around lowsec right now. Let's try something a little more versitile:

[Algos, Nano]
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Medium Shield Extender II

75mm Gatling Rail II, Spike S
75mm Gatling Rail II, Spike S
75mm Gatling Rail II, Spike S
75mm Gatling Rail II, Spike S
75mm Gatling Rail II, Spike S
[empty high slot]

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Hybrid Locus Coordinator I

Valkyrie II x2
Warrior II x3
Warrior II x2

Only 228 DPS but the ability to apply it from out past 20KM. Even with Antimatter in those rails they are going to hit and seriously hurt even smaller ships at close range. This seems to be the best all around EFT Warrior fit I could come up with.

I am interested in others reports on how well the new destroyers are faring so far. Only time will tell how well they actually fit into their roles as anti-frigate platforms and how they compare to their partners in the Catalyst, Coercer, Thrasher and Cormorant.

How To Camp a Highsec->Lowsec Gate

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:37:00 +0000

What Is Gate Camping and Why Should I Do it?

Gate Camping in Eve is when any number of pilots with predatory intentions sit on or near a warp gate and attempt to destroy whatever ships jump into them. Since travelling pilots do not have any easy way to peek through to the other side, they are usually unaware of the danger lurking on the other side. Since it is always our job to educate those who aren't informed or paying enough attention, we blow these travelers up!

Gate camping in lowsec differs from nullsec significantly. While both are about using busy gates as a choke point to lock down and attack targets, environmental factors and available equipment alter the way in which you can operate. In lowsec, you do not have access to Mobile Warp Disruptors (AKA Bubbles) and attacking most targets results in a Global Criminal Countdown flag and being engaged by sentry guns. In nullsec, interdictors and bubbles are available and pilots do not have to worry about being attacked by sentries. In lowsec, we have to take a bit more care.

This guide will specifically focus on gate camping in lowsec on a gate that goes from highsec to lowsec. For example, if a gate is in a 0.6 system and jumping through brings you into a 0.4 system, this is a highsec->lowsec gate. These gates are most fruitful because you will get ignorant or unaware pilots following what a mission tells them or who are using a "safest route" auto-generated route to go one jump into lowsec.

The reasons to gatecamp are simple. You are giving yourself a monopoly on and chance at engaging every single ship that comes through a choke point. If you choose your gate wisely, you may have access to many pilots who are not prepared and thus give you little resistance. The reasons NOT to gatecamp can be just as simple. Sitting around ganking newbs is not always exciting and can provide little tactical challenge. Making sure to mix things up between roaming gangs and camps or using camping as simply a way to relax after other activities can be smarter than relying on it solely for your PvP needs.

How Do I Know Where To Gate Camp?

Knowing where to camp may be as simple as noticing a certain gate has a lot of activity and camping it to test the waters. In other situations it may simply come from word of mouth or talking to your corp mates who already know nearby systems that are good for camping. Camping far from your home station can be difficult as traveling several jumps in lowsec while flying ships that are not optimal for roaming is dangerous. It may be a good idea to leave ships intended for camping in a station that is in the system where you need them or at least nearby. Travelling somewhere via shuttle and then getting into your slower more lumbering ships only for the camp itself is a safer option. But what if you don't know of any good gates to camp at? There are ways to discover this for yourself...

The Star Map

The Star Map in Eve actually gives you way more information about the universe and its individual systems than you might realize. Among the data you can view is something called "Jumps in the Last Hour". This let's you know how much a system is traveled and thus gives you an idea of how much traffic is actually moving through it and its gates. There are other bits of data you can view such as "Average Pilots in Space in the Last 30 Minutes" and "Number of Pilots Currently Docked and Active" but these indicators aren't quite as good for telling you pilots are actually flying in and out of the system. Dozens of docked pilots does not do much for you when you want them to be out in space and dying to your lazer beams.

To view the Star Map in game, press F10 and then use the World Map Control Panel to filter down to the information you are interested in:

Out Of Game Options

If using the Star Map is too obnoxious, there are out of game options for viewing the Eve map and relevant information about how active each system is. My favorite (and many peoples go-to for Eve map information) is Dotlan Evemaps. In general though I find the in-game map to be most useful and have the most up-to-date information.

What Kinds of Ships and Gangs Should We Camp In?

What Kind Of Ships Can Handle Sentries?

Sentry guns do around 350 DPS when all guns on a gate are focused on one target. Their damage is weighted towards Thermal and Kinetic but they deal a little bit of all four damage types. The guns spread around their DPS so the bigger your gang is, the better the chance that you will only take sentries for a short period of time before they switch off to another gang member. This means that the ship you fly should be able to tank sentries for at least a burst of time and that the ships you can fly are affected slightly by the size and makeup of your gang. For example, in a gang with several members, T2 cruisers may be viable where if you were camping with only a couple of ships, some HAC's or other cruiser or even battlecruiser level ships might have trouble tanking sentries. The bottom line: Bring ships that can tank sentry guns and possibly someone shooting at you all at the same time. Frigates and destroyers are out. Cruisers are iffy. Battlecruisers and Battleships and certain tanky T2 cruisers are in.

In addition to bringing the right ship, your fit should make sense. Many ships have effective buffer tank fits. If your tank is a shield buffer, you might be fine since shields recharge on their own at a slow rate. If your tank is an armor buffer, you might be ok if your gang has remote reps and is willing to repair you every single time you take fire from sentry guns or another ship. Mostly likely though you will want to fit any armor tanked ship with an armor repairer so that you can top yourself off every time you take gate gun fire.

What Kind of Roles Do Different Ships Play?

DPS: When ships uncloak after jumping, they are usually about 15 kilometers off the gate. Flying a blaster ship isn't the worst thing you can do but it does mean that you have to approach before you can apply your full DPS. Other weapon systems such as missiles and lasers do not have this issue to the same degree. You may want to take this into consideration when deciding on a DPS ship to fly. One of my favorites is the Harbinger as you can apply several hundred DPS with Scorch crystals without ever having to move towards your target once they uncloak. Another option is sniper ships. Tier 3 battlecruisers and many battleships have the ability to fit as a long-range sniper that can hit from 150km to 200km away for big volley damage. These ships don't usually have a significant tank but they can fire from outside sentry gun range (which is 150 kilometers from the gate). The downside to using sniper ships is that fewer ships within sentry range wind up having to tank the guns and your gang becomes a bit split up. However they can still be very useful if utilized correctly.

Tackling: Any ship can tackle really. The most important thing is that they can fit a long range Warp Disruptor and have enough mid slots to fit at least a few Sensor Boosters. The idea being that one of your gangs ships should be fit to lock and tackle ships that uncloak off the gate as quickly as possible. When I camp, I prefer to bring one pilot in a Heavy Interdictor, also referred to as a HIC. These T2 cruisers can fit a massive tank as well as an infinite point tackling module. If your HIC pilot focuses his fit on being able to lock quickly and tank well then he can take a load off your gang as he handles the initial sentry barrage and ensures that even frigates won't be able to align and warp before you lock them down. Additional bonus is that any pilot who has fit Warp Core Stabilizers or has extra warp strength on their ship will not be able to escape your elite HIC warp scrambling.

Scouting: Really anything that can cloak. You want your scout on the other side of the gate to be invisible to those passing through so that they have no reason to be suspicious. I use a Helios but really anything cloaked will do.

What Are The Best Ways To Execute A Gate Camp?

Pounce Spots

When you hear the term "gate camp", you probably think about ships sitting on a gate literally just waiting. The truth is that there are much more effective (and safer) ways to camp that do not involve being on grid with the gate you are camping for most of the time. Once your gang has a GCC, they will most likely not want to sit around being shot by sentry guns. Additionally, if your targets are using scouts, you don't want your ships to be visible to it as it comes through. For this reason it is a great idea to create off grid "pounce" spots as well as slightly off scan pounce spots.

A close pounce will generally be only a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers away from the gate. Close enough that you can warp to it almost instantly but far enough that you will not be on grid or visible on someones overview when they jump through. A far pounce spot will be a lot farther, usually a little over 14.3 AU which is the max range the directional scanner would be able to detect your ships from if a scout came through and did a scan. Having these safe spots gives you a way to stay undetected by potential scouts, a way to avoid unnecessary sentry gun fire and a way to keep your gang safe from opposing gankers who cannot simply warp to the gate to engage you but must probe you out first instead.

Pilots who are camping with you and sitting in such a pounce spot should ALWAYS be checking their directional scanners on a regular basis for probes or suspicious ships. It is also a really good idea to create your pounce spots so that they are aligned with both the gate you are camping and a station in system that you feel safe docking at. This allows you to align at the gate AND the station at the same time, making it so that you can warp to either instantly in the case that a target jumps through or in the case that someone probes you out and lands in your pounce spot.

Try also to have your pilots shut the fuck up in local while you are using this method of hiding your fleet. Being vocal in local can scare away your targets by alerting their scouts just as easily as a ship on an overview.

Using Scouts

Much like if you were roaming, your scout should be controlled by a pilot who is clear, concise and alert. Your scout is the pilot who will be sitting in highsec on the other side of the gate. They should be informing your gang via either in-game text chat or voice chat about targets that are about to jump through as well as any other potential targets on scan that may be landing on the gate soon. The scout should be able to assess on the fly if the target about to jump through the gate is something you can handle engaging or if the population in local and the ships on scan indicate a possible trap.

It is important for your scout to work towards not alerting or scaring potential targets. Things they can do include flying a cloaky ship and then staying near the gate but not so near that they could become uncloaked. The scout should also be able to tell the gang when NOT to engage a target that has no chance of being caught (ie: anything that can cloak and warp) because these ships have almost no chance of being scrambled. Any time you can avoid alerting a ship that you can't catch is one less ship that you gave your position and intentions away to.

Your scout should know the system he is scouting from. If there are stations near the gate, they should be able to assess if ships on scan are simply at the station or in warp to the gate. Your scout should be watching his directional scanner and local CONSTANTLY. It is an important role that requires a lot of awareness so take it seriously (AKA not a role for stoners).

Engaging Targets

When a target has jumped in, the most important factor is to get your electronic warfare modules engaged as soon as possible. Disruptors, Scrambers and Webs will keep the ship from warping or burning back to the gate at a reasonable speed. Once your target(s) have been locked down, applying DPS quickly and efficiently to one target at a time is important. If you are lazy and slow, you give your opponent time to burn back to the gate, burn out of scrambler range, wait for friends to help or even shoot back and destroy one or more of your gang. Speed and efficiency are important. The less time you give your opponent to react, the better chance you will destroy him and return safely to your pounce spot with a fresh kill and no friendly losses.

When a targets ship does seem capable of getting back to the gate before you can destroy it, there is the important art of bumping. In Eve, when two ships collide, they are repelled away from each other. The effectiveness of a bump relies on how fast each ship is going and what their mass is. Simply approaching a target and turning on your microwarpdrive can be enough to bump them out of the way or even back the way they came but it will depend on your angle, the size of your ships and the speed of your ships as to whether or not this will have a significant effect or if you'll even hit them at all. I would recommend practicing with friends to get a feel for landing an effective bump.

Alert! Sentry guns will target drones! Sentry guns also switch targets on regular intervals but once they have chosen a target they stay on it for a set period of time. For this reason, it is best to deploy your drones AFTER the guns have started shooting and after your target has actually decloaked and can be engaged. If you leave your drones sitting out and orbiting while sentries are firing, the guns will turn them to dust before you can blink! Exclamation point!

Lastly, a lot of targets that come through will have a thin tank and be like an easy loot pinata. Be nice to your gangmates and let them get on the killmail! Fitting your ship with sensor boosters simply so you can get onto a killmail faster and land the killing blow just pisses off those who fill their mid slots with effective modules and miss out on half the kills. Obviously the safety of your gang and destruction of your targets always takes precedent but if possible, let everyone get in on the action. It's all about killboard padding!

Watching For Bait and Camp Crashers

Gate camping sounds easy! Warp to the gate, shoot at the target, profit! Generally though it is much less than a lazy activity because you have to constantly be on the lookout for those who want to crash your camp. Not only do they get the element of surprise if you aren't paying attention, but they also have you trapped against highsec (since most of us pirates are -5 or lower security status) and they get the added DPS of sentry guns (if you have an active GCC which you likely do). Even if you discount all of these things, your opponent already has a basic advantage in knowing where you are and what you are flying. Any static situation in Eve is easy to overcome if you simply organize more firepower or the right tools to approach it. Having your gang sitting in one spot near the gate with a number of easily identified ships means that eventually someone will notice and come calling. Always watch your scanner on the lowsec side of the gate. Always be aligned and ready to warp out. Sometimes you may be able to handle what is thrown at you but always remember that if you have been camping more than a few minutes then someone has already had enough time to arrange a gang to counter your ships and might be ready to warp in on you.

If your gang has members who own multiple accounts or you simply have friends who are bored and want to help, it's always fine to use additional scouts. The most important one is the one on the other side of the gate but it never hurts to place more scouts on other gates around the lowsec system you are in. This way if you see a gang or pilots massing, you know they may be preparing to to jump into your lowsec system and engage your camp much earlier than you would known have otherwise.

Bait can be a little harder to see coming. If a pilot who is clearly experienced jumps into your gang via the gate you are camping that there is a decent chance it is be bait. Just this week I lost a perfectly good Devoter to a Megathron who got us to engage and then brought in two friends in Guardians. Learn to be suspicious of everyone (already an attitude you should have in lowsec anyhow).

Conclusion

Remember that this guide is pretty specific. The advice other information are aimed towards helping you successfully camp a gate in lowsec that leads to highsec. There are other ways to camp in lowsec including camping lowsec->lowsec gates on both sides. There are also lots of ways to camp in nullsec that are completely different due to difference in what ships and equipment are allowed. Even in highsec it is possible to camp stations and gates to suicide gank valuable targets that are passing by. It's a broad topic but I hope that this guide is useful to those in low security space who wish to exploit the ignorance of highsec carebears who wander into our territory.

Many thanks to Andrea Skye for once again providing some of the most amazing Eve inspired MS Paint pictures I have ever seen.

Ever Vigilant

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:35:00 +0000

The Setup

Last night we scheduled a roam. I gave the fleet three options as to what they wanted to fly:

(1) Nano Cruisers
(2) Frigs/Destroyers
(3) Battleships

Stabber Fleet Issue

My vote was for battleships. Half a dozen folks just wandering around lowsec in battleships isn't something you get to see that often but alas I wound up getting most of the votes for nano cruisers and a couple for frigs. Nano cruisers are fine but I have been a bit sour since the loss of my good friend. I had my Cynabal for quite a while and it's a hell of a ship. Actually our corp has had a bit of a Cynabal death week as three of us lost them in three different engagements around lowsec. With it's current cost of close to 300 million ISK to replace and fit, I decided to look into other comparable options like the Vagabond and Stabber Fleet Issue. With SFI's running for only about 50 mil, Vagabonds closer to 130 million ISK and Cynabal's at a whopping 230 mil just for the hull, I went with the Stabber. The initial fit I came up with is thus:

[Stabber Fleet Issue, Nano]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II

Experimental 10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II

425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M

Medium Hybrid Ambit Extension I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Valkyrie II x3
Warrior II x2

Immediately upon sharing this fit I was berated by my corpmates for wasting too much space on speed/agility and tank. For comparison, this was my old Cynabal fit:

[Cynabal, Nano]

Gyrostabilizer II

Tracking Enhancer II

Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Experimental 10MN MicroWarpdrive I

Shadow Serpentis Warp Disruptor

Stasis Webifier II

Large Shield Extender II

425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M

50W Infectious Power System Malfunction

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Valkyrie II x5

Cynabal

The difference is pretty stark. While the SFI gets better tracking and about 4,000 EHP more of a buffer tank with these setups, it's DPS is incredibly mediocre. Less drones, less falloff, less straight up damage from the guns. According to EFT the difference is 494 DPS vs 364 DPS when you include drone damage. The Cynabal also still has a faster max speed, even with the devotion of an entire extra low slot on my SFI to an Overdrive Injector. In actual practice so far, I found that things are even worse than they look. My SFI fit does crap for damage anywhere outside of 2 KM away and I either need to (1) drop the OD and add another Gyrostabilizer or (2) stop trying to make the Stabber Fleet Issue into a ship it's not and just spend the money on a Vagabond or Cynabal.

No Drone Left Behind

We had a really great turnout, about twice as many folks as I was expecting. When all was said and done, we had 12 pilots in fleet mostly in a variety of T2 Nano Cruisers with a little splash of Nanocane and an Ares for scout/tackle. Generally when looking for trouble in the past we would roam to Tama and then to Old Man Star but the past few weeks have shown Rakapas to be the most active spot in our local region. Jammed full of faction warfares newbs, we found ourselves in Rakapas with all of our ships at a planet, encouraging an enemy gang to come engage with us:

[ 03:20:24 ] Andrea Skye > planet 4 you bunch of fucking pussies
[ 03:20:26 ] Andrea Skye > lets fucking rock
[ 03:20:29 ] Andrea Skye > you tiny balled cunts
[ 03:20:32 ] Andrea Skye > i will wreck all of you

We saw a couple of ships lands 100 KM off, take a glance at our gang and warp away. For anyone not super familiar with PvP in lowsec or really, ANYWHERE in Eve, sitting in one spot with most of your fleet visible is never a good idea. There is rarely a situation where given enough time, your opponents cannot simply pull together a fleet that is bigger than or counters what you are showing them. The longer you sit there, the more likely it becomes you are just increasing their odds of winning an encounter and ensuring your own doom.

Slight Overkill in Mara

Then again, if you want to get fights, sometimes you have to just not care. So we sat there. After what seemed like forever, ships finally started to land. A Thorax, Rupture, Omen Navy Issue, Vigilant, some other crap. Nothing that looked like it posed much of a threat to a bunch of nano'd cruisers. We primaried the Vigilant and laid into him. Soon after, two Oneiros's landed. As the Vigilant finally went down, one Oneiros became primary and the other became the main target for neuts. Then the scale tipped as several MORE Caldari faction warfare ships landed to support their gang and among them was a Falcon. With our current primary Oneiro's at about half armor, I called for the retreat and told everyone to get out of the fight zone as the squids continued to warp in and Andrea Skye flipped out over voice comms about how ECM drones had jammed him for the entire fight. In the end we lost Ospie's Curse and Lazer's Hurricane. In return we got the killmail for a faction fit Vigilant and some fun. We had quite a bit of utility in our gang but not nearly enough DPS and it showed. Had we been able to lay into our opponents more, we likely would have killed more ships before having to bail.

Like always, half of the fun was the smacktalk and trolling afterward:

[ 03:30:35 ] Andrea Skye > YOU ALL SUCK DICKS
[ 03:30:35 ] Arahabaki > CRY CRY
[ 03:30:36 ] Andrea Skye > YOU ARE SHIT
[ 03:30:44 ] Nahzgul > lol
[ 03:30:46 ] Kobrakilla > LOL
[ 03:30:52 ] Nahzgul > you guts talk alot
[ 03:30:54 ] gwa84 > rofle fuck of back to hi sec you tards
[ 03:30:56 ] dragonrider000 > cry more pls my ship needs more fuel
[ 03:30:57 ] Nahzgul > guys*
[ 03:31:03 ] XTCFreq > hi guys
[ 03:31:03 ] Senenkoroshi > someone sounds mad...get killed by noobs?
[ 03:31:09 ] Arahabaki > GO HOME WANNABE PIRATES
[ 03:31:10 ] Chavu > Like is this the first time you ever did pvp?
[ 03:31:15 ] Andrea Skye > YOU TALK BIG IN YOUR RETARDED MASSIVE GANG
[ 03:31:20 ] Chavu > This is hilarious

We Have Fun...

...and we are looking for a few more pilots to solidify our lineup. Sometime in the next few days I will set up the Python Cartel recruitment forums and we will open recruitment for a little bit. If anyone is interested now and impatient please contact Spectre3353 or Golden Helmet or Andrea Skye or Kobrakilla in game.

The Incursus Is Pretty Awesome Now

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:38:00 +0000

The Incursus Is Pretty Awesome Now

When I was very new to piracy, I was a bit of a dolt. Rather than flying the super effective and efficient Rifter, I stubbornly stuck with my Gallente roots and flew the Incursus. Years ago, you would pretty much have to fit it like this:

[Incursus, Old Buffer Tank]
Damage Control OR Magnetic Field Stabilizer
200mm Plate

1MN Microwarpdrive
Scrambler/Disruptor
Web

Light Electron Blaster
Light Electron Blaster
Light Electron Blaster

A Drone

Not spectacular. You were pretty much guaranteed to get shut down by any competently fit Rifter or Punisher or a number of other frigs and cruisers. Really the only reason I ever got kills in it was because so many people fit their ships like shit. Then I leave for a bit, come back, and the Incursus is suddenly more attractive than even the Taranis due to the balance changes. Take this fit recommended to me by Sarah xCalibre:

[Incursus, New Active Armor Tank]
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Small Armor Repairer II
Small Armor Repairer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Small Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 200

Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S

Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Hobgoblin II x1

Looks interesting. A hefty tank with Gallente Frigates V trained and good fitting skills. 160 DPS to boot and it would be higher if you swap the EANM for a Magnetic Field Stabilizer. After pulling together the ship, the mods, the rigs, the ammo and the cap boosters, I decided to take this bad boy out for a spin. My first engagement just happened to be... another solo Incursus. Sitting on the gate to a plex, I landed and quickly locked him up and started laying in with my blasters. Soon he did the same and we started into a 500m orbit dance of death... or so we thought it would be. Five minutes later, we are still both firing away and repairing most of the damage. A couple of times I see his ship dip into structure but it is almost immediately compensated for and he repairs his armor back to full. I overload my guns until they are 90% damaged and can take no more and still we have not broken each others tank. Ten minutes have gone by and we are still circling, my cap boosters are starting to run dry and I have had to reload my guns multiple times. Fifteen minutes pass and I am amazed... we are still circling, still firing and I have nearly run out of ammo and cap boosters. Will he break before I do?

Before we can finish, a Condor and Merlin suddenly land on the gate where we have been fighting. One of the things about lowsec is that no targets go unseen for long and after 15 minutes in the same spot, we have finally been interupted. My opponent throws out a "gf" into local and warps off as the intruders tackle me. I turn my drained Incursus towards a planet, overheat my afterburner and try to make a break for it but there is no escape from a Condor doing 3500 m/s with a long range Disruptor. Fortunately the Merlin has a very difficult time catching up and I find myself easily tanking the Condors piss DPS with just a single armor repairer and no capacitor boosters. Another five minutes pass of me burning towards different celestials trying to warp as the Merlin tries to catch up and the Condor tries to do more than shit for damage.

Ten minutes pass and we are now hundreds of kilometers away from the gate where the original fight had taken place. I feel like I have been in a super alert fight mode forever. I don't know if I can ever remember an encounter having lasted this long in my entire time as a pilot. Off in the distance I see a Thrasher land. He is in the Condor and Merlins corporation and begins to burn towards us at several thousand meters per second. A Stiletto also lands, a bystander who simply wants to watch the show.

Finally after more minutes off waiting, the Merlin is finally starting to catch up to me and the Thrasher has burned into firing range. I have pretty much accepted I will be dead after almost 30 minutes of nonstop armor repairing. I target the Thrasher and turn on my blasters and scramble him and blow my very last cap charge and my last few volleys of ammo. To my great surprise, his shields begin to melt and he backs off. I see the distances on all three ships begin to adjust and they blip off my overview. They warped.

Thirty minutes of combat, four frigate opponents, probably tens-of-thousands of damage repaired, no ammo left, no cap boosters left, most modules almost burned out and my Incursus didn't even die. Or get a kill. What a crazy ship this is now.

[ 00:19:31 ] Julius Tavers > WOuld have boiled down to who ran out of cap boosters first
[ 00:19:39 ] Spectre3353 > i was down to like 2 when they dropped
[ 00:19:41 ] Spectre3353 > and almost out of ammo too
[ 00:19:43 ] Spectre3353 > i think you would have had it
[ 00:19:47 ] Julius Tavers > SHIT!
[ 00:19:49 ] Spectre3353 > haha
[ 00:19:51 ] Julius Tavers > I had like 14

The First Rule of Lowsec...

...is that there is always someone stupid doing something stupid somewhere. All you have to do is put yourself in a position to take advantage of it. Like when you are roaming around in nano-cruisers and a young pilot in a Raven Navy Issue decides that flying through the Mara->Dantumi gate is a good idea.

Or when a slightly less young pilot in a Tempest Fleet Issue with an extremely expensive faction fit decides to not only jump into Aurohunen with you but to engage you on the other side of the gate instead of burning back and saving himself.

YOU ARE A BAD NOB!

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Beer #1

My Vexor might be big and beefy but she's still just a child. She has not been exposed to all the terrible things the universe has to offer. So imagine my disdain when I undocked from the station today to find this staring back at my face from just outside the station:

Oh Kerblammo...

But wait! What is this? A Drake on scan with it's pilots name written on it? Time to work my amazing social engineering skills:

[ 00:39:53 ] Spectre3353 > hi girbus.. i was hoping you could help me with a level 3 im trying to finish here
[ 00:40:22 ] Girbus Pexter > where is it at?
[ 00:40:25 ] Spectre3353 > passari
[ 00:40:47 ] Spectre3353 > its one with extra gates inside, there is a battleship rat
[ 00:40:51 ] Spectre3353 > it kept getting my armor down
[ 00:41:46 ] Spectre3353 > are you able to help?
[ 00:42:19 ] Girbus Pexter > i think im going to pass, this ship im in is mostly set up for exploration, not as much the fighting
[ 00:42:32 ] Spectre3353 > ugh ok thats too bad, i just need a little more dps i think
[ 00:42:40 ] Spectre3353 > just one more rat really
[ 00:42:51 ] Girbus Pexter > you scared the shit out of me jumping in like that by the way, maybe next time send the fleet invite first
[ 00:43:01 ] Spectre3353 > jumping in what??
[ 00:43:10 ] Spectre3353 > oh because i sent the invite im sorry
[ 00:43:51 ] Spectre3353 > well if you think you can help me with this one rat just let me know
[ 00:43:53 ] Spectre3353 > im going to keep trying
[ 00:43:55 ] Spectre3353 > thanks!
[ 00:44:09 ] Girbus Pexter > sure thing

No dice.

Beer #3

Mission running in an Ishtar in lowsec seems dangerous. Good thing this guy has the threat of war to deter any scool laddys that might try to cankil him:

[ 02:10:01 ] Golden Helmet > Hi there. If you send me 500m, we'll let you leave with your ship and pod intact
[ 02:10:28 ] Vinssent Nox > i dont have but if yopu attack me you enter in war
[ 02:10:36 ] Vinssent Nox > is the unic time for you
[ 02:10:41 ] Golden Helmet > ok, you die
[ 02:10:46 ] Golden Helmet > we're deccing your corp too
[ 02:10:53 ] Vinssent Nox > ok no is important
[ 02:11:04 ] Golden Helmet > 500m for your pod
[ 02:11:11 ] Vinssent Nox > you dont understand me?
[ 02:11:15 ] Vinssent Nox > you enter in war naw
[ 02:11:17 ] Golden Helmet > 500m or we smash your pod
[ 02:11:33 ] Vinssent Nox > you can kill the pod but ... this attack is war for the new goons
[ 02:11:34 ] Golden Helmet > either you dec us or we dec you, doesn't matter, right now we're talking about your pod
[ 02:11:35 ] Vinssent Nox > jajaja
[ 02:11:57 ] Golden Helmet > 500m or my lemmings get to scoop your corpse, deal?
[ 02:12:05 ] Vinssent Nox > i have clones and 4 acounts
[ 02:12:12 ] Vinssent Nox > you see im scared?
[ 02:12:13 ] Vinssent Nox > hahaha
[ 02:12:15 ] Vinssent Nox > nob!
[ 02:12:15 ] Golden Helmet > that doesn't matter
[ 02:12:24 ] Golden Helmet > huehuehue
[ 02:12:30 ] Golden Helmet > huehuehuehue
[ 02:12:31 ] Vinssent Nox > you are a bad nob... you and your scool laddys cankil me nob
[ 02:12:40 ] Golden Helmet > kk br scum
[ 02:12:56 ] Golden Helmet > also we're gonna send this conversation to your CEO when the dec vote goes through
[ 02:13:04 ] Golden Helmet > k bye huehuehue morde es #1

Beer #6

From the Python Cartel secret forums:

What:
- Part 1: A T1 cruiser roam where everyone fits out a T1 cruiser to be balls out DPS and we run around looking for shit to kill. We will probably roam down the pipe if we can't find anything local.

Additional:
For this op you will need a pimped out super-DPS T1 cruiser AND something that can be involved in a gatecamp (BC/BS/CS/etc). If you need help getting one or both of these things to Passari, please take care of it in the next day or two. You have nearly three days to get this shit together, don't let me down. If nobody shows up to this op and is prepared I will assume PC is dead and cry sadly as I jerk off and then quit Eve again.
Seriously though, don't let me down or I'll hate you all. Just kidding. But seriously.

They did not let me down.

Beer #11

After a long hard day, we settled down to camp the gate for a little bit. I sipped on my final beer and felt a cool calm wash over me. I kicked my Harbinger into warp and engaged the Drake that had just jumped through with my talentless, smelly corpmates. His name... it seemed familiar...

[ 03:21:19 ] Spectre3353 > hey man can you come help me with this mission still? im still having trouble
[ 03:21:24 ] Girbus Pexter > hello again
[ 03:21:46 ] Girbus Pexter > im good, just got my ass handed to me being an idiot over there anyway
[ 03:21:55 ] Spectre3353 > oh no what happened????
[ 03:22:31 ] Girbus Pexter > oh you know, make a 100 trips in and out of passari with no problem and get lazy, suddenly you jump into a gate camp
[ 03:22:49 ] Spectre3353 > oh gosh that is the worst... do you have another ship you can use to replace your other one???
[ 03:23:41 ] Girbus Pexter > yeah but outfitting it is goiing to be a bitch, just spent most of my money on manufacturing supplies and wont have anymore till the stuff sells
[ 03:24:22 ] Spectre3353 > well im here at the gate in pass, it looks clear and your wreck still is unlooted
[ 03:24:26 ] Spectre3353 > you might be able to come get it
[ 03:24:29 ] Spectre3353 > and not have to rebuy it all
[ 03:24:47 ] Girbus Pexter > lol

Hangover

[ 04:03:19 ] Deryn Angrard > i have never heard of you guys, but you seem like nice group

Readjusting To Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:32:00 +0000

Readjusting

Some things have changed since I last played this game. Tier 3 battlecruisers and Ancillary Shield Boosters now exist. Ship prices have doubled. There also seems to be some serious power creep as everyone flying around in lowsec is in a fancy faction cruiser or a Tech 3 cruiser. I'm scared to even fly my Cynabal around as the cost to replace it means I probably just won't when it gets blown up sometime soon. On the upside, the Incursus is still cheap and it seems to have magically grown a 4th low slot. Someone actually tried to tell me that the Merlin and Incursus have now surpassed the Rifter as the scariest T1 frigate which sounds like absolute blasphemy. My first stab at flying the new Incursus:

[Incursus, New]
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Small Armor Repairer II
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

Light Neutron Blaster II
Light Neutron Blaster II
Light Neutron Blaster II

Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Hobgoblin II x1

I've been told though that I should be dual-repping for maximum tank. We'll see. Flying a blaster ship with no Magnetic Field Stabilizers seems like the type of thing a little girl would do and I'm not happy to consider it.

Mission Runners Are Cute

We tackle a Drake in a mission:

[03:47:32] Evangeline Macdowell > hey
[03:47:33] Spectre3353 > hi
[03:47:38] Spectre3353 > 100 mil and you can leave with your ship
[03:47:40] Spectre3353 > you have 30 seconds
[03:47:42] Evangeline Macdowell > cmon let me go
[03:47:47] Spectre3353 > you have 20 seconds
[03:47:50] Spectre3353 > 100 mil into my wallet
[03:48:00] Evangeline Macdowell > lol you so dumb then
[03:48:01] Spectre3353 > 10 seconds

We tackle his pod:

[03:48:18] Spectre3353 > this is a ransom for your pod
[03:48:23] Spectre3353 > you have 30 seconds to pay me 100 million isk
[03:48:24] Spectre3353 > 30 seconds
[03:48:37] Spectre3353 > 15 seconds
[03:48:54] Spectre3353 > 5 seconds
[03:49:01] Evangeline Macdowell > lol my pod isnt even woth 10
[03:49:59] Evangeline Macdowell > sorry, you wasted time on me
[03:50:14] Spectre3353 > killing you is not a waste of time
[03:50:20] Spectre3353 > it makes me feel happy
[03:50:30] Evangeline Macdowell > but you made virtually no profit
[03:50:42] Evangeline Macdowell > I can understand the reason for ransom
[03:50:51] Spectre3353 > because profit is only secondary
[03:50:59] Spectre3353 > blowing you up is emotional profit
[03:51:50] Evangeline Macdowell > Well Im glad because turns out I just made a profit off of you
[03:52:18] Spectre3353 > excellent!
[03:52:22] Spectre3353 > im really glad to hear we could help you
[03:52:34] Spectre3353 > if you want us to help you get ship insurance again we would love to be of service
[03:53:16] Evangeline Macdowell > Thanks, but I see it being the other way around in the future =)
[03:53:26] Spectre3353 > youre welcome to come kill me any time
[03:53:26] Evangeline Macdowell > Have a good night.
[03:53:31] Spectre3353 > just ask and i can tell you where i am
[03:53:32] Spectre3353 > you too!
[03:53:33] Spectre3353 > good night

The Voices of Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 04:10:00 +0000

It took a few days but I remember now why I love Eve.

[ 01:29:53 ] Spectre3353 > but you should come play anyhow
[ 01:30:13 ] Spectre3353 > have some fun

[ 01:30:14 ] Spectre3353 > live a little

[ 01:30:18 ] Drazer Emolite > we are

[ 01:30:22 ] Drazer Emolite > just not with you pussies

It's not the fights. It's not the graphics.

[ 02:53:32 ] Spectre3353 > BLOBS RUIN EVERYTHING

[ 02:53:34 ] Spectre3353 > JERKS

[ 02:55:09 ] Rovain Sess > fellowships m8.. they are fellowships..

[ 02:55:15 ] Spectre3353 > fellowship of the blob

[ 02:55:20 ] Spectre3353 > the two blobs

[ 02:55:26 ] Spectre3353 > return of the blob

[ 02:55:33 ] Titus Petronius > No, the blob just got here.

[ 02:55:37 ] Titus Petronius > :P

[ 02:55:37 ] TwiceDAsiZe > one blob to rule them all

[ 02:55:50 ] Titus Petronius > I think you're mistaken, that would be the goons.

[ 02:55:59 ] Spectre3353 > and in the darkness blob them

[ 02:56:02 ] Squanto > one spectre douche to

It's not even the nice friends in Python that I get to fly with.

[ 03:26:29 ] Zalgo13 > Spectre3353 state you reason for fleet invite
[ 03:26:37 ] Spectre3353 > trying to fix a bug with my overview
[ 03:26:39 ] Zalgo13 > so im not immediatly wwarped off to a pso
[ 03:26:41 ] Zalgo13 > to kill me
[ 03:27:11 ] Spectre3353 > just need a fleet with someone in it so i can fix my overview is all
[ 03:27:12 ] Spectre3353 > no big deal
[ 03:27:13 ] Dr Goobles Lazair > he wants to have buttsex with your myrmidon
[ 03:27:37 ] Zalgo13 > no
[ 03:27:40 ] Zalgo13 > ask in local
[ 03:27:45 ] Spectre3353 > you are in local
[ 03:27:52 ] Zalgo13 > w/o fleeting
[ 03:28:04 ] Spectre3353 > i just dont have many friends, i was hoping we could fly together
[ 03:28:05 ] TwiceDAsiZe > knock knock
[ 03:28:10 ] Spectre3353 > frolick through the green meadows of space
[ 03:28:13 ] Spectre3353 > make out a little
[ 03:28:15 ] Jimar Perrin > lol

It's the smacktalk.

[ 01:11:46 ] Spectre3353 > could you give me a fleet invite please so i can fix my overview?

[ 01:11:55 ] Ulstari Monomer > shut up idiot

Some Things Never Change

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:23:00 +0000

Nostalgia. How do you explain it? A feeling is not something you can describe easily. It is not something you can explain to someone who has not experienced it. Yet as I accelerated into warp I felt it flowing over me. This feels so familiar yet I have not felt it in such a long time. Like coming home after being away for so long.

My Cynabal shuddered as it began to decelerate. In front of me stood a warp gate and I activated it immediately. I landed, locked him down and destroyed his ship with ease.

[03:47:25] Spectre3353 > if you want your capsule to survive, i require 50 mill isk
[03:47:31] Spectre3353 > you have 30 seconds to comply and send that money to my wallet
[03:47:33] Spectre3353 > or i will pod you
[03:47:37] Spectre3353 > 30 seconds starting now
[03:47:48] Angel Grace > Nice
[03:47:51] Spectre3353 > 20
[03:48:02] Spectre3353 > 10
[03:48:07] Angel Grace > peace
[03:48:07] Spectre3353 > this is your final warning
[03:48:22] Angel Grace > eat my dick
[03:49:17] Spectre3353 > i would prefer not to
[03:49:26] Spectre3353 > i enjoy less exotic meats
[03:50:01] Angel Grace > You do know I am going to skin your whole family alive while you watch and soak in their blood, right?

Some things never change.

I Made A Game

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:08:00 +0000

It is on the XBox 360 and costs $1:

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Switch/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550721

RPS Interview With CCP

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:17:00 +0000

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/25/ccp-and-the-wrath-of-the-playerbase/

Obviously

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:24:00 +0000

Andrea Skye stealing my stuff was a hoax. Andrea Skye is nice a person who likes kittens and once saved an old lady from falling into a well. Any ISK or ships he acquired from me were given to him intentionally, we just decided to have a little fun with it. I'd love to say "I got you!" but really, we didn't. Most of you are smart enough to see a troll coming from a mile away. Anyhow:

(1) Yes, it was a hoax:

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1368569

http://www.machine9.net/python/?p=75

http://andreaskyes.blogspot.com/

(2) Yes, I really intended to give a large amount of modules and ships away to my favorite joke from a few posts ago.

(3) No, the winner won't be getting anything because my account was made... "inaccessable" for a couple of days and during that span, my paid time ran out. I won't be reactivating my account right now so there is no way to transfer anything. Sorry.

Friendship Is Rare

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Anyone who has read through my blog has a pretty good idea of what has made Eve a fun game for me. I dislike a huge portion of the Eve in general... the interface is awful, the player-vs-environment gameplay is TERRIBLE and it has more bugs than anything I have ever experienced in my life. By far. So why did I love Eve so much? It was because of the creative things that its freedom and sandbox style let me do. It was because spaceships are cool. Most of all, it was because I got to play with a really awesome bunch of pilots in The Python Cartel. Our core has been pretty close for a while and I talk to a number of them out of game and we play non-Eve games together as well.

Probably the person I have been best Eve-Online buddies with is Andrea Skye. We flew together very often and had great success. We chatted outside of the game quite often, shared account information so that we could borrow items/isk/ships and I trusted him more than anyone else in the group. Until today.

I have been absent from Eve for a few weeks now, only logging on to set skills and look at my mail. Today I checked my personal email to find this message:

Hi there spectre old pal.

I know you dont log EvE anymore, so I am sending you an email instead. What for you ask?

I've liberated all you ships and Isk. All I have left you with is 0.69 isk. I thought this would be funny as you once said it was your lucky number.

Anyway. Sucks to be you, I hope we can still be friends. It was purely business.

Please be more careful when giving out your password to random dudes on the internet in the future.

PROOF http://i34.tinypic.com/2ignhuc.jpg

love

-skye

The most important part of the image he linked is this:

That is the remaining money in my wallet, a little over one billion ISK, being transfered from my account to his. He also was nice enough to take a number of ships that were sitting in my hangar in Resbroko. I don't have much use for what is left so everything I do have remaining will be given away and you can check this post for details.

I can handle a lot in Eve and the anger or effect is only about five minutes worth. This is not something I can deal with and continue to play. Having a majority of my assets taken sucks, but I could overcome it. Having my friends betray me is not.

Fuck you, Andrea Skye.

Tell Me A Joke

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Any joke. Make it funny and make it something I haven't heard before. Whichever one I like best will get a few billion ISK worth of modules and ships contracted to them. Make sure to post your in-game name along with your joke. Vulgarity is fine.

Rapin Errbody

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:59:00 +0000

Why I haven't played Eve in a few weeks:

Limbo (pretty fun)

Deathspank (really fun)

Starcraft II (really pretty fucking fun)

Why I won't be playing Eve for another few weeks:

Monday Night Combat (looks really pretty fucking fun)

What you should read/watch while I am away:

Laedy in Red

Antoine Dodson

Phallus In A Vacuum

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:13:00 +0000

WARNING: This post contains a lot of pictures of giant fake space dicks made out of ejected cargo containers. While I consider the penis to be a natural and beautiful part of the human body, some of you may not want to view this at work. Unless you work in a place where giant space dicks are encouraged and celebrated like they should be...

THE STORY OF THE PYTHON CARTEL

OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED KORPORATION MONUMENT

In honor of the most important of male organs, my corp has tried on multiple occasions to erect monuments of great proportion. The very first was put together by a team led by Lars Lodar while we were living in Egghelende:

This monument remained for several days and caused a public outcry until it was ransacked by our CCP overlords. Recently, Golden Helmet decided to recreate the massive dong as an even bigger monument outside of our station in Resbroko. He carefully follow these plans laid out by Lars:

...and created this masterpiece:

But he wasn't done yet. When this penis disappeared after a day, either from GM intervention another player destroying all the cans, Golden Helmet and friends persisted, creating yet the third Python Cartel Officially Certified Korporation Monument (or PCOCKM3 for short). The final results were breathtaking and aweinspiring and worthy of being called an Eve landmark for certain:

But yet again, within days, this carefully constructed monument that was spreading love and joy to Resbroko and perhaps all of New Eden was removed by our overbearing overlords. Golden Helmet recieved a message that displayed their blatant disregard for the personal freedom of all pilots:

Creating Lag and Inappropriate container names
From: GM CryoBunny
Sent: 2010.07.21 14:23
To: Golden Helmet,

You have been reported for creating lag to gain an advantage. Also names that you have chosen for containers are considered inappropriate. This is a EULA violation and will not be tolerated. Cease all such activity or risk further repercussions.

We had no choice but to share our story with the public. Such injustice can not be tolerated. Add your voice to this thread and let your opinion be heard. CCP can take our space penis but they can never take our pride.

Fruitless

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:13:00 +0000

Tonight, we took a small gang of T1 cruisers dozens of jumps through normally busy areas of lowsec to try and find some fun. Instead, 00sage00, Inka, IEATCRAYONS and myself only managed to find one ship to engage the entire way... a three-week old player in a Thrasher. I tried my best to ransom but it has been a while...

[03:54:37] Spectre3353 > YARRR HELLO MATEY
[03:54:45] Malshan > how much then?
[03:54:57] Spectre3353 > 100 billion isk your thrasher will be allowed to leave
[03:54:58] Spectre3353 > along with your pod
[03:55:01] Spectre3353 > you have 30 seconds to comply
[03:55:05] Spectre3353 > before you will face utter destruction
[03:55:07] Malshan > *sigh*
[03:55:22] Spectre3353 > 15 seconds
[03:55:28] Spectre3353 > YARRR PERHAPS WE CAN BARTER
[03:55:32] Spectre3353 > what would be a better price poitn for you?
[03:55:35] Spectre3353 > point
[03:55:36] Malshan > 1 mil
[03:55:42] Malshan > ship isnt worth more than that, with weps
[03:55:46] Spectre3353 > lets meet in the middle at 50 billion
[03:56:01] Malshan > look at my play tiem man, dont have that kind of money :P
[03:56:05] Malshan > 2 mil's the limit
[03:56:32] Malshan > your loss

...at which point his destroyer was... destroyed. Perhaps he would be interested in paying a ransom for his pod instead?

[03:56:35] Spectre3353 > YARRR MATEY HELLO
[03:56:38] Spectre3353 > WE WOULD LIKE TO RANSOM YOUR POD
[03:56:46] Spectre3353 > THE ASKING PRICE IS 1000 BILLION ISK, YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO COMPLY
[03:57:05] Malshan > hurry it up please
[03:57:23] Spectre3353 > ok 100 billion isk is more reasonable
[03:57:40] Malshan > stfu and kill the pod
[03:58:04] Spectre3353 > 10 billion isk
[03:58:04] Malshan > *sigh* kids
[03:58:17] Spectre3353 > 10 billion or you get splatted
[03:58:23] Spectre3353 > ok how about this
[03:58:24] Malshan > then splat me
[03:58:25] Spectre3353 > a trivia game
[03:58:28] Spectre3353 > if you get all right, you can leave
[03:58:30] Spectre3353 > cool?
[03:58:36] Malshan > i have no implants
[03:58:43] Malshan > so i really couldn't give a shit
[03:58:46] Spectre3353 > QUESTION #1 - WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF ARKANSAS
[03:58:50] Malshan > night

...at which point he left the channel and refused to take part in my trivia game. Some people simply cannot be civil. Is 1000 billion ISK really that much to ask? What a shame.

Revamping Lowsec (Update)

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:10:00 +0000

In relation to the Revamping Lowsec post that I made a few days ago, I noticed that this is now in the Features and Ideas Discussion forum in the official Eve-Online forums:

Writing New Low Sec Stories: Challenges, Process, Tools

Anyone who felt opinionated at all about this topic, I recommend heading to this thread and helping Mynxee and the CSM begin coordinating a suggested plan for an update to lowsec.

UPDATE: There is now an Ideascale project created to try and come up with the the best ideas for lowsec. Please take a look here and submit or vote on items that you think would be swell. I have submitted a couple myself based on my lowsec post from a few days ago.

The Perfect Shitstorm

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:00:00 +0000

The Python Cartel had an op scheduled last night. It's description was as so:

Amamake Defense Force : Operation Save The Children Fund

We are going to get as many ECM ships as possible and do a mining fund raiser in Amamake 3-1. We will auction ore every 30 minutes to the highest bidder and 'pull over' anyone trying to disrupt our cause.

Proceeds go to the families who've lost loved ones in the wake of Hulkageddon III.

Unlike past ADF themed operations, it was the brainchild of Lars Lodar. Being me, I decided to show up about thirty minutes late and under the influence of a certain fermented beverage. The only ship I had that fit the bill was an old Blackbird I had flown many months ago on a previous ADF op. I needed to go several jumps, alone, in order to catch up with the group. I removed the plate and signal distruption amplifier from my lows and fit instead...

Two warp core stabilizers.

Since this was a mining op, I grabbed a module I pretty much never carry around and put it in my cargo...

One mining laser.

No one would ever know that I had such embarassing modules on me and if I ran past some douchebag trying to scramble on a gate, I would be able to just warp on by. I sipped my whiskey and applauded my own genius. A few jumps later, I felt pretty fucking stupid as I sat deciding when to uncloak as a gang of half of a dozen ships waited for my Blackbird to make a move. My stabs weren't going to help much against their Devoter and this was going to be one embarassing lossmail. I made my move, attempting to jam a couple of ships as I burned back towards the gate. The distraction of these actions along with the retarding effect of the whiskey meant that I did not notice my Blackbird being almost instantly popped. By the time I began trying to warp my pod away, it was too late. I had been locked and my pod was being smushed.

It was at this point that the final kick in the balls was recieved. My clone was not up to date. I had just lost skill points.

I got incredibly lucky as I only lost 2 hours and 12 minutes worth of training off of Recon V. It was still probably the most embarassing loss I have felt in quite a while.

Final tally:

Lossmail displaying that I had warp core stabilizer's fit and a Miner I in my cargo.

Lossmail displaying that I lost my pod.

Low-grade snakes and several hardwirings worth around 250,000,000 ISK total gone.

Skill points in Recon V lost.

Sent to my old clone in a station that is dozens of jumps away from where I currently reside.

Fuck me.

Revamping Lowsec

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:13:00 +0000

In light of recent information, it is apparent that lowsec may never be revamped in the way that much of the player base has been begging for. As a way of coping with this terrible reality, I am going to pretend like CCP asked me yesterday how I think low security space should be modified to make it unique and interesting:

(1) Reduce Global Criminal Counter Timers

One of the most simple and obvious ways to reduce absolutely unnecessary frustration and a huge time sink would be to reduce the standard GCC time to five minutes. If I could have a nickel for every minute I spent twiddling my thumbs in a safe spot while waiting for a GCC to wear off so that my frigate could move on to another system, I'd have... a lot of nickels.

In all seriousness, the purpose of the sentries and GCC should be to provide an immediate response to aggression by the sentry guns. Forcing many of the pilots in lowsec to spend a majority of their night waiting out a counter in the corner of their screen, long after the battle is over, is simply unnecessary and bad design. Additionally, anyone who wants to try and argue that it is part of the punishment for piracy and unchecked aggression, you might want to note that these things are already punished by loss of security status, loss of access to highsec (which is absolutely huge) and a disadvantage in combat in any location where sentry guns are present.

(2) Create Lawbringer and Pirate Haven Systems

Right now there is nothing to being a pirate or anti-pirate other than your security status and how you describe yourself. We should take this a step further. Create scattered systems throughout lowsec that are either Lawbringer Haven's or Pirate Haven's. You will not be allowed to enter these systems unless your security status is +2.5 or higher or -5.0 or lower, respectively. These systems will provide a place where pirates or anti-pirates can gather outside of highsec and will also contain LP stores with specific Lawbringer and Pirate ships and modules. Every day that an individial is +2.5 or -.5.0, they will receive a small amount of LP towards the Lawbringer or Pirate faction. Every kill they attain against another player of the opposite security type will give a small amount of LP towards their faction.

Ships and modules attained this way should not be stronger than anything existing, unlike how many other LP stores already work. We don't need stronger faction loot but instead these rewards will be different and unique and unattainable any other way. Ships could even be slight variations on existing hulls but with models and names that are fitting for being either an officer of the peace or a bringer of chaos.

(3) Bring A Unique Resource and Industry To Lowsec

I am far from the first to suggest that lowsec needs to provide it's own unique resources and that these resources should be related to boosters and drug creation. I will suggest it again however, considering how great of an idea it is:

Create gas clouds in lowsec that are static and shown on the overview in the same manner as asteroid belts. Make the resources pulled out of these clouds vital to the creation of boosters and drugs. Create a unique type of asteroid that is found only in belts in lowsec and is common among the belts. Make the resources pulled out of this asteroid to be vital to the creation of boosters and drugs.

Remove the contraband searching done by CONCORD and the faction police in highsec. It sounds like a cool idea but in practice just discourages the carrying, sales and usage of these items. Allow people to fly around with drugs in their holds with no penalty.

Revamp the drug/booster system completely. Redo the skills. Redo the types of boosters that can exist to have many more types with more interesting effects. Have all of the new boosters require materials that are harvested in lowsec. Create an interface or add to the existing Eve UI to make it easy to select and take a drug without having to dig through your cargo.

Give industrialists new ships that make covert mining and harvesting a bit less dangerous. A "battle barge" type mining exhumer that can fit a cloak, has built in warp core strength and has a very large drone bay is an example of such a ship.

More?

Let me hear your suggestions on a lowsec revamp or even just small tweaks. CCP has told the CSM that they want to hear their vision on a lowsec revamp and the CSM represents us. All of this information may be useful to them when they send their documentation to CCP to be igno... er, considered.

You Know You Have Not Been Successful When...

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:01:00 +0000

...you take a look at the CSM5 meeting notes and read this:

CCP observed that the different space can be perceived like this: high sec is for singular, low sec for corporations, 0.0 for alliances and basically low sec could do with some love.

...

Arnar, Matt and Guilhem responded that Low Sec is a bit broken, is not what it should be and CCP are aware of this. A specific Low Sec expansion is not on the 18 month plan; however CCP is looking into a combat expansion, where combat awareness and information regarding combat would be refined for the user (not the combat mechanics themselves), which would benefit every EVE player rather on focusing just on Low Sec. At the moment CCP are focusing on Planetary Interaction and Incarna but maybe next summer there could be a combat expansion rather than a feature specific expansion. Even though CCP would like to change Low Sec it will not happen in the next eighteen months.

...

The CSM expressed concerns that Low Sec is very low in CCP’s priority order. CSM stated that Low Sec players don´t agree with CCP’s (lack of) prioritization for Low Sec and that there has been ongoing and widely discussed support on the forums, in focus groups, and in other venues in support of a significant evolution for Low Sec.

The CSM observed that a lot of players believe that certain EVE features (such as Low Sec) have been abandoned by CCP. If a cohesive Low Sec plan were identified, perhaps over time, small but related items could be implemented across several releases that would eventually evolve Low Sec into something much more fun than it is today. Matt observed that such an approach can be difficult to do; it is sometimes just easier and better to devote an expansion initially to a sweeping change such as CSM envisioned for Low Sec.

The CSM asked CCP directly if it could promise that Low Sec will receive more attention. CCP restated that there will be no Low Sec expansion in the next 18 months but mentioned again the possibility of a combat expansion, which does reflect EVE´s core gameplay. In response to that, some CSM members stated that a combat expansion would not be sufficient to improve Low Sec in a significant way.

...

CCP suggested that CSM work more with players to draft a well-supported vision for Low Sec, then submit a “foundation story” to CCP as a proposal that reflects that vision. A big picture framework is preferred, rather than detailed mechanics and content descriptions. the focus should be on the essence of what is cool, necessary, and unique. The goal should be to document the possibilities and identify the potential “stories”. Even though no action may be taken for 18-24 months, CSM is urged to get their ideas into play.

I know that this has already been beaten into the ground in the past day on several, different forums and blog posts but I can't help but be peeved at the way these notes sound. It is silly for me to judge the planning, foresight and execution of a game company that has run a successful MMO from here on my stupid little blog where my biggest accomplishment amounts to some MS Paint masterpieces. Regardless, we can only work with what we are given and what we appear to have been given is a message that the priorities in Eve-Online are not on fixing many large pieces of functionality that are broken, poorly-designed or half-complete but instead on:

An expansion based around walking around in stations that has been "in development" for about 14 years and isn't something most of us want anyhow.

A first-person shooter for consoles that may or may not even tie into Eve-Online at any point.

Lots of new functionality that gets half-baked, poorly polished and isn't cohesive with the rest of the game such as Planetary Interaction, Faction Warfare and the nullsec changes in Dominion.

All I know is that for two-and-a-half-years now we have all lived with the many, many issues in Eve and lowsec specifically with the hope that the next expansion would be dedicated to cleaning up the red-headed stepchild of security spaces in New Eden. These CSM minutes are basically a confirmation that it will be at least another two-and-a-half years before there is even a remote chance.

I guess I know the very next thing I will be reading to cheer myself up...

You Know You've Been Successful When...

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:51:00 +0000

...Your Suicide Gank Produces This:

[18:18:10] Maranx Nimb > I hate hulkageddon.

[18:22:27] Ocalan > how bad of a loss was it ?

[18:22:49] Maranx Nimb > Just a retriever, but it's still annoying.

[18:23:19] Ocalan > yep ..... was surprised how fast it all went down

[18:24:11] Maranx Nimb > What angers me the most is that I was lined up with the station to leave, but the idiot ship just lolled around while I was getting blasted.

...Someone Responds To The Ganking Of A Cyno Ship Like This:

Nice Dreads

Right At The Undock

If Only I Could Fit One-Hundred

and Fifty Ships On My Overview

...Skye Says This:

(3:04:20 PM) Skye: ill cut you

Python Vs PlunderBunny

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:35:00 +0000

Hulkageddon III Starts

The first Hulkageddon was small. By official accounts, there were 63 exhumers down and barely over 100 total kills on all ships. Targets were plentiful and the ganking was good.

The second Hulkageddon was much bigger. By official accounts, there were over 1200 exhumers down and nearly 1800 total kills on all ships. There were a lot of participants but we still didn't find much competition for our ganks and rarely ran out of targets.

So far, only two days into the third Hulkageddon, nearly 600 exhumers are down and nearly 900 ships have been destroyed. At this rate, the final numbers will be in the thousands but I have to imagine that we will start to run out of targets and the miners will start docking up before it is over. No way could they possibly be this oblivious to the danger they are in.

Right out of the gate, we have been having a bit of trouble finding defenseless targets to gank. Perhaps related to the fact that we now live in the region of the Hek highsec pocket, where exhumers seem to be a bit of a rarity and there also seems to be some stiff competition. After a first night of only taking down two ships, we gathered a few pilots on Saturday night to see if we couldn't contribute a bit more heavily to the barge genocide...

Friday Night's Alright For Fighting

Our first kill was no problem. A Covetor was hardly the most expensive or desirable target but it was only one jump into highsec and sitting defenseless. I tried to imagine in my head that the guy was probably eating bon-bon's and listening to Bette Midler's "The Wind Beneath My Wings" as we dropped out of the sky and turned him into scraps.

Our second kill was a bit more problematic. Five full jumps into highsec to get to him but fortunately he sat there, waiting for us to arrive, even if he did not know that that was what he was doing. It is nothing to be ashamed of. We are all waiting for death in one way or another, my miner friend.

Next, I put my alt in position in Hek to take out a newb in a Retriever. We were only going to send two ships in to guarantee this fella's death as Retrievers have basically no tank at all. I glanced away from my screen to grab another bon-bon... er, beer, when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. The Retriever pilot was in a pod? What the fuck just happened? I watched as CONCORD splatted his attacker and I immediately opened a convo to give a good tongue lashing to the pilot that had just stolen our Retriever gank:

[04:31:20] Spectre> WTF MAN I WAS ABOUT TO GANK THAT
[04:31:27] Spectre> YOU HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR FELLOW GANKERS
[04:31:29] Spectre> I WILL BE REPORTING THIS
[04:31:30] Surfin's PlunderBunny > :(
[04:31:36] Surfin's PlunderBunny > My finger slipped!
[04:31:48] Spectre> you big jerk
[04:31:51] Spectre> i cannot believe this
[04:31:52] Spectre> i
[04:31:52] Spectre> cannot
[04:31:53] Spectre> believe
[04:31:55] Spectre> this
[04:31:59] Surfin's PlunderBunny > I'm sorry! :*(
[04:32:10] Spectre> i will only accept your apology if you tell me a knock knock joke
[04:32:13] Spectre> a dirty one
[04:32:27] Surfin's PlunderBunny > knock knock
[04:32:30] Spectre> whos there
[04:32:33] Surfin's PlunderBunny > Go fuck yourself :)
[04:32:42] Spectre> wait youre supposed to say "GO"
[04:32:47] Spectre> then i say "GO WHO??"
[04:32:54] Spectre> then you say "GO FUCK YOURSELF FUCKWAD!"
[04:32:55] Spectre> and i laugh
[04:32:57] Spectre> lets try it again
[04:33:01] Surfin's PlunderBunny > k
[04:33:07] Surfin's PlunderBunny > knock knock
[04:33:20] Spectre> i dont want any, go away and please dont knock on my door again
[04:33:25] Surfin's PlunderBunny > HA

I decided to let him off with only a warning and we continued on our ways.

Our third kill of the night wound up being another Mackinaw, which ironically had been in the same belt as the last one we killed. He saw what happened to his friend and continued to pull in that ore, undisturbed. I like to think that he was trying to prove a point. Trying to show us that he was tough and refused to be pushed around, even if it resulted in his certain death. Realistically though, I am sure that he was just another macro.

After our third non-Hulk kill, we were determined to finish off the night with the destruction of at least one exhumer that this entire event was named after. We needed to find a Hulk...

HULK SMASH!

It is fun being the pilot that tracks down targets and stealthily lines them up for the kill. All of you miners, you might be sitting in a belt, mining and heading back to the station every few minutes to drop off ore, all while a cloaked pirate alt is watching you patiently. I personally use a Helios, watching my targets from 10 to 15 kilometers away and then slowly creeping to within a few thousand kilometers once it is time to provide the warp in point. It makes me feel like a secret fucking agent in a spaceship. Like James Bond in space or some shit. The part that sucks is that I only get Andrea Skye as my Bond chick.

So finally, with some effort, I was able to locate and provide a warp in point for a Hulk kill that would take us four jumps from our home base in lowsec. As we began to make the trek, I glanced back at my Helios pilot to see if everything was still going according to plan. It was not. On my overview, I saw that name again, Surfin's PlunderBunny in a Rupture, closing in on our Hulk! He couldn't solo a Hulk in a Rupture? Could he???

[05:10:34] Spectre> DONT
[05:10:35] Spectre> DONT DO IT
[05:11:39] Surfin's PlunderBunny > :(

The scare was averted as we landed and pasted the Hulk pilot to a nearby Veldspar asteroid. Even PlunderBunny could appreciate that...

[05:12:34] Golden Helmet > PENIS!!!
[05:12:37] Surfin's PlunderBunny > *claps*

Images

Swooping In

Stalking Our Prey

PlunderBunny Likes To Watch

Calm Before The Store

Catalysts On Parade

Tonight Is The Night

noreply@blogger.com (Spectre) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:29:00 +0000

Tonight's the night. And it's going to happen again, and again.

What:

Hulkageddon III begins tonight! For anyone who has been hiding like a hobo up in the mountains and really doesn't know what Hulkageddon is:

Hulkageddon is an event that is open to anyone and everyone. The sole purpose of Hulkageddon is to do as much damage to miners and their mining vessels as possible while the event is active. Most of these kills are generally via suicide attacks in high security space but any kills in lowsec or nullsec are welcomed. There are billions of ISK worth of prizes that you can be eligible for by posting your kills to the Hulkageddon killboard. The official Hulkageddon rules can be viewed here.

This is the third Hulkageddon event. The first was small. The second was much larger and even had an effect upon the Eve economy according to the quarterly report that came out soon after. This third event has the potential to be the biggest yet, with many, many billions worth of ISK having been donated to the prize pool.

When:

Starting tonight at 00:00 Eve time. The entire event runs from July 9th until July 18th, encompassing both weekends and the entire week in between.

Where:

Anywhere in Eve that you can find a mining barge to smush. If suicide ganking in highsec, it is best to find systems that are 0.5 or 0.6 security status as they have the slowest CONCORD response.

Who:

Hulkageddon is the brainchild of Helicity Boson, a son of the mighty Python Cartel. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Why:

Because of the tears. The sweet, delicious tears.

How:

Disco-battleships, suicide blaster boats or anything else that can deal out the pain before CONCORD arrives. There are many methods of suicide ganking but the Python Cartel prefers the classic method of blobbing with Catalyst destroyers. Our fit usually goes something like this:

[Catayst, Miner Gank]

Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I

Sensor Booster I, Scan Resolution
Sensor Booster I, Scan Resolution

Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter S

Hobgoblin I

A gang of three to four of these ships are generally enough to destroy a Hulk although the Hulks tank, the pilots skills and the reaction time of CONCORD will all have an effect. Bring five to guarantee the kill.

For blinky red pirates like us, have an alt or gang member sit in the highsec belt, next to whichever ship is your target. Have all gang members jump into the system at once and gang warp to the pilot that is already in position. Make sure to turn on your sensor boosters and overheat your guns before landing. Immediately upon landing in the belt, target the barge which should be only a few kilometers away, turn on your guns, deploy your drone and approach. Watch the pretty explosions of both your target and your entire gang as you warp your pod back to lowsec.

Good luck!

Links:

Hulkageddon III Page

Hulkageddon III Thread on C&P

Hulkageddon III Thread on SHC

Hulkageddon III on Massively.com

Hulkageddon II Page (previous event)

Hulkageddon 2009 (previous event)

Promo Video: