Podded Once Again

Flanders Fields

2009-11-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 major hostilities were officially ended bringing an end to World War 1. On 7 November 1918, King George the 5th dedicated November 11th to observance of members of the armed forces who were killed during the war.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Without Carebears?

2009-09-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Recently we have had rants against carebears,

and posts countering....

The thing that makes the Eve universe exciting and dynamic is the intermixing of thousands of different stories, can you imagine if part of that world is missing?

Do people really think the universe would be a better place without miners? 0.0 combat? Lowsec pirates? Even mission runners generating a huge market?

All part of the sandbox.

I do fully support telling certain players to "Harden the Fk UP" though, especially 0.0 pilots who complain that their drake was destroyed in a belt...

Eve Personality Test - The Conqueror

2009-09-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here is my Eve Personality Test results, whats does yours say?

Conqueror
Take The EvE Personality Test today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

Eve is a game about virtual conquest. It's just like any other strategy game out there, although in Eve, the tokens moved about on the playing field are actual players. Everything in the game is put there to drive the big strategic theater, and although certain things might need to be balanced for the plebs, it's all small potatoes. What matters is gaining territory and crushing your enemy.

The Minmatar Punch Line

2009-09-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

"Bartender, Another round!" called out Hamno, relaxing at a table of new trade partners. The fact that each of his new business associates were Amarr didn't phase him at all,

"I hear you used to be a Sssslave trader?" slurred one of the Amarrians, "We dont usually find Gallente pilots who understand how to deal with the Minmatar".

Sitting up straight, Hamno replied "While that is true..actually I really like the Minmatar"

Disgusted, the Amarrian spilled some of his drink on the table, "What!?!"

Hamno grinned, "Everyone should own one!"

Bursting into drunken laughter the Amarrian responded, "I can top that, I was once flying my frigate through Matari space and tried to salvage a wreck I found at one of the gates. Sat there for 10 bloody minutes, failed attempt, failed attempt..By the gods there must be something wrong with my Salvager! Then I realized...it wasnt a stabber wreck, it was a stabber."

Hamno sighed, "Sure sure, you and half the traders that come through here have tried to salvage a Minmatar ship. How bout this.... two Brutor and a Sebiestor as sitting in the back of a shuttle, who is piloting?"

"CONCORD!"

And the night went on...and on....

Dogfighting 101 - Skirmish Warfare Alamanc

2009-09-07T04:53:00.001-07:00

Digging through some old links and came across this: 26 Ways To Fly An Interceptor

Eve online blogs will always come and go, but Leon appears to have left us with an interesting guide on interceptor combat: Skirmish Warfare Almanac

While its rather heavy in the theoretical side of the engagements one encounters it also focuses on interceptor to interceptor dog fighting and the tactics he uses. I will caution the reader however, it reads like a military textbook(which considering he mentions he is in the military shouldn't be surprising).

I couldnt confirm his performance via battleclinic though, but I recommend that anyone interested in interceptors or frigate combat flip through his guide. You never know what tidbit you'll pick up!

Operation Jump Freighter

2009-09-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I have completed one of those important goals in Eve...I bought myself a jump freighter. If you were a dedicated freighter pilot flying around in one of these would probably seem like the most normal thing in the world but for someone who has a goal of keeping himself in frigate hulls for the rest of his eve life...its bloody painful. It did involve the most painful moment I have had in Eve so far, having 4.6 billion isk in my wallet, clicking "buy" on a 4.45 billion isk Anshar and then holding my mouse over the "okay" button....should I, or shouldnt I.

Some initial tips I have learned from my first few runs in and out of 0.0.

1) Your going to need Cyno alts, at least a couple on an alternate account. Which brings me to lesson #2

2) You dont have to wait out a 10 minute cyno to log off. I am in the situation where I have 2 cyno toons on my alternate account, one is a midpoint and one is a final destination cyno. When I light the midpoint I jump in and dock immediately, log off the cyno character and then log on the endpoint cyno. Your midpoint cyno WILL REMAIN IN SPACE with thier cyno for all to kill..but if you consider it a disposable cyno clone it doesnt really matter when you have the cyno characters clone and a new supply of cyno frigs in the same station.

3) A "Kick Out Station" is a station where as soon as you undock the distance from station starts counting up. Compare this with some Caldari Stations(Jita 4-4 anyone?) where you count as 0m from the station until you are quite far out. Dont jump, dont dock, dont even glance at kick out stations.

4) I used to have lots of isk, now I have a jump freighter.

Faction Warfare Part 2

2009-09-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

The battles for lowsec continue,

I have been running lvl 1 Faction Warfare missions on and off for the last couple of days and have found them actually kind of fun. Yes, PVE...fun. (Somewhere there is a PVPer streaming in horror). Of course you can get the same mission over and over, but the missions are specifically setup so that you have to fly into deep enemy territory to carry out the mission.

Not to mention the "Come and gank the noob" beacon that lights up once you start the mission.

Now that I am running for the highest quality lvl 1 FW mission agent I'm wondering what to fly Lvl 2 missions with. The trusty & rusty Rifter? Up to a destroyer? Considering the number of solo pilots you have to sneak past to get to the agent locations a tech 1 cruiser by itself would never make it, so I may have to hold off the level 2's until I get a little more "skillpoint buffer".

The first FW fleet I joined up with was actually relatively well run with a competent FC. Once the friendly blob forms though all opposition clears away before it and its hard to get a fight, but then again..when you do finally get that fight...everyone targets the noob in a rifter first anyway.

*splat*

Dominix Navy Issue

2009-09-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Since the Eve client refuses to remain connected for me tonight I have been doing some wandering of the Eve-O forums while I uninstall and redownload the client as recommended by CCP(Doubt it'll fix anything though). Came across this interesting piece on the test server forums: linky

As some of you may have guessed by now, Dominion release will bring improvements to most in-game faction ships, as we do feel they do not perform properly in their intended roles at the time being.

This thread will focus on upcoming navy ship improvements, meaning Tech 1 hull variants from the four main empire factions (Amarr Empire, Caldari State, Gallente Federation, Minmatar Republic). Other improvements are in the pipeline and will be posted when we feel an initial balance has been reached and ready for player feedback.

The part that us Gallente pilots cant help but get excited for:

Dominix Navy Issue:

• Slot layout: 6 high, 6 med, 7 low slots, 6 turrets, no launchers
• Fittings: 660 CPU, 9900 powergrid, 350 calibration, 3 rig slots
• Hitpoints: +50% hit points on hull (9961), armor (9316) and shields (8203)
• Capacitor: +5% max capacitor (5250 capacitor, 1087.5s recharge)
• Dronebay increased by 25m3, bandwidth unchanged
• Sensor: +25% magnetometric sensor strength

The funny part though, Tier 1 battleships are to be only available from FW LP rewards. FW mission grinding anyone?

There I was, thinking I could fly a Rifter...

2009-09-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

There I was, thinking I could fly a Rifter after putting in about 6 days training into my new character. With my elite 290k skillpoints I could fit a tech 1 actively tanked plated Rifter with a trio of 150mm autocannons and a rocket launcher. Bring it on....

Jumping into system....

"Sir, one Amarr militia Punisher 15km off the port bow!"

"Excellent" I replied, eager to prove my skills.

Activating my afterburner I raced towards the enemy, locking him and getting a point. There'd be no getting away for him. Closing in to 5km I opened fire with my autocannons and rocker launcher, knocking his shield down to 50% on the first salvo.

"Keep Firing! The shields are almost down!" I called, even though somewhere I had that sober voice in the back of my head You know its going to be armour tanked...

My weapons officer called out, "its shields have failed, we are into armour!"

Looking down at my sensors I confirmed what he said..enemy armour: 98%....94%...90% "This appears to be taking a long time.." I said to no one in particular. 85%....80%.....

Finally feeling threatened he locked me back and activated his repper, enemy armour 100%.

"Uh oh" called my weapons officer.."Well on the plus side he hasnt aggressed, he must thing we are trying to act as bait for a larger force. I mean what pilot with 6 days in Eve would try to take on a 2008 character in a punisher?"

Giving Weapons a dirty look, I turned to the navigator..."get us out of here"

First Impressions of Faction Warfare

2009-08-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

So in a moment of weakness at my local game store I picked up the Eve Online Boxed set. Since I already have 2 accounts that are subscribed I decided to go the extra bit and take the plunge, triple accounting.....at least for the 60 days that the PLEXs in the box will run. But what to do with this third account? I already have a freighter alt, an industry alt, a trade alt and enough Cyno ability to keep me happy (all mixed among my previous 2 accounts) so I decided to create a third character dedicated to one thing, flying a Rifter! So what does one do with a Rifter? Pirate?...not with less than 100k skillpoints

Faction Warfare! If I were a noob the potential to sign a not-even-one-day out of the box noob into PVP would be scary as hell, but lets just enjoy the new experience:)

So, to create Faction Warefare what you have to do is take one part running around lowsec, add one part empire wardec, and add in missions and you have the beginning of faction warfare. A strange combo...

The Faction Warfare missions involve flying through enemy lowsec to a system where as soon as you warp to the mission gate it shows up as a beacon for everyone to see. Missions, lowsec, and the equivalent of a cyno beacon. Fun. Its actually an interesting twist on mission running, running a PVE mission all while watching you back for the enemy.

While running these FW missions, does one setup for the mission...or for the PVP that will ultimately happen from having that beacon pointing right at you?

So the first impression of Faction Warfare: Seems to be an interesting diversion from those times I cant commit a good couple of hours to 0.0 Alliance fleet combat!

Plus, who doesnt love a Rifter?

Ebank Insolvent

2009-08-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

In a move very similar to real life banking news EBank, through a post on the forum, announced that they would be freezing all accounts until they had built up enough value to pay off the accounts. In real life this would be the bank being delcared insolvent...

Check out the forum post: Ebank

EBank falls due to CEO theft, such is life in EVE I guess

I will not be investing my isk in any bank anytime soon..

There is no end game!

2009-08-12T14:01:00.001-07:00

But this is close:
(I'll never know if this was the friendly or hostile cap fleet though, damn lag)

Next i'll learn "click to embiggen"

Hamno's Lesson #2 - Web Your Caps!

2009-08-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

When your flying a capital ship and facing those long/painful/oh god why wont it warp align times, why not bring your dual account alt along? All you need to equip them with is a cheap frigate, Stasis Webifier 1, and an AB or WMD.

With your capital ship, select warp to your destination. As soon as you see your speed accelerate to about 1/3 of max, alt tab to your alt and activate your alts webber on your main's capital ship.

Instantly your max speed will drop dramatically but your current speed will stay the same, voila your now at the proportionate speed you need to warp.

Be careful though: Dont web your freighter before it picks up some speed, your max speed and acceleration drop so if you do it to early you may as well not have done it at all.

PS: This counts as your alt aggressing, even if you are fleeted. Your safe from gate gun fire if your fleeted, but your alt wont be able to jump in after you until their timer runs out.

Hamno's Lesson #1

2009-08-08T18:01:00.001-07:00

When the corp that gets kicked from your alliance spams CAOD about how elite they are and how much you suck, it was for the best that they were kicked in the first place.

Where should the FC lead from?

2009-08-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Greetings Pod Pilot,

I consider myself fortunate to have flown with quite a few FCs, and have realized that they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Some are better at small gangs, some excel with a large fleet, and some are just happy to run a shuttle fleet from system A to system B without any losses. As pod pilots though, we learn from them...their victories and their defeats and if you are paying attention...you can learn a lot. What I have been looking at recently is "Where should an FC lead from?" and have observed the following:

From the front: FC flies a HAC or RRBS just like everyone else and is typically the RR centerpoint.

Pros: Better direct control of the main body. FC knows distances to everything when calling targets

Cons: If the enemy knows who the FC is, your doomed. Reliant on scout.

From ahead: FC flies a cloaky ship and acts as scout. Essentially flying as a forward scout with one hell of a backup.

Pros: You know exactly what is ahead of you since you are the scout. If you lead people into a trap your podding can save the fleet.

Cons: Reliant on the rest of the fleet keeping up and doing exactly what you say. Without someone directly there they will have to rely on thier own instincts/experience which will cause them to do stuff that you may not have ordered yourself.

Cloaky ship with the fleet: FC flies a Cov Ops/Recon and stays near the main body of the fleet.

Pros: Know exactly what your main body is doing, can move them around to where you want and cant by primaried yourself.

Cons: You can have difficulty calling targets that are within the fleets optimal. Still reliant on scouts ahead to find targets for you.

Do any other pilots out there have an opinion...where do you lead from?

How not to survive in an interceptor

2009-08-07T05:41:00.000-07:00

Pulling up a chair at the station bar Hamno spoke, "So there we were, formed up and moving from system to system trying to find this hostile gang..."

Riass smiled, "Is this is part where you tell me how you woke up in the pod bay again?"

Not deterred, he replied "Dont worry, i'm getting to it. The enemy gang was a fleet of about 30 tech 1 cruisers doing a roam through our space. We had them tracked down to one particular system so we were camping the other side of the gate waiting for them to come through. Normally with a RR BS fleet we would be right on the gate, but instead our fleet was made up of sniper HACs at range with a mix of tackle."

Hamno took a sip of a beer, "So the bulk of our fleet was about 60km off the gate when the enemy fleet jumped in. A Dictor dropped a bubble right on top of the enemy cruisers and the firing commenced. Enemy cruiser down, enemy cruiser down, enemy cruiser down...and there I was in my Taranis sitting with the HACs! Not putting up with this I activated my MWD, charged at the enemy and opened fire at the target being called primary."

Looking unimpressed, Riass asked "Is this going where I think its going?"

Hamno grinned, "Yep, since the enemy fleet couldnt reach our HAC gang I was the only thing within range. So they completly tore me apart in about 2 seconds. To top it off I died inside our own bubble so I couldnt get my pod out."

"Hamno, what did you learn?"

"Dont give in to impatience, if you stick with the HAC gang you may not get on any killmails but you stand a much better chance of surviving and helping deal with enemy tacklers. In addition, when dealing with an enemy Tech 1 gang they all know they are going to die anyway so they are out to get on as many killmails as possible, so your light interceptor is going to be targetted before anything with a real tank."

Trading Tips

2009-08-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Smiling, Hamno placed a small black box in the restaurant table, "Guess what I bought.."

Blushing, Riass reached out and opened the small box...and threw it back at him, "A charisma implant? You bought me a +3 Charisma implant? Are you an idiot?"

Going pale, "No..its for me! I mean...uhm..." Hamno stammered.."I've been working on my trade skills recently and have been doing a lot of inter region trading."

Still pissed, she replied "So did you at least buy me something?"

"There just happens to be a brand new Amarr Navy Slicer sitting in your hanger...."

Taking a small sip of her drink she appeared to ponder this, carefully waiting a minute before responding she finally admitted "Your forgiven...". Finally cracking a smile, "How did you get started in this trading business anyway? When we first met you were just doing a combination of mining, ratting, and hauling stuff whenever you were told to."

"I started trading when I lived in the Providence region. I was out ratting in a battleship and was blown up in one of the belts. Fortunately the battleship was insured so I had just short of a hundred million isk to my name and nothing else. The alliance I was a part of was starting to organize to support CVA in taking space from small AAA pet, so they were trying to herd as many people in battleships as possible. While looking at the market to see if I could afford one, I noticed that while the tech 2 large weapon market was well supplied no one was touching the best named market. I figured there would be plenty of people like me who didn't have tech 2 large weapons, so I took my transport, flew to Amarr, and bought as many 425mm Prototype Large Hybrid guns I could afford and brought them back down. They sold out almost immediately and after that I was basically doing daily runs from empire to 0.0."

Riass smiled "Makes me miss Amarr lowsec...but anyway, best named tech 1 weapons tend to sell well?"

Hamno nodded, "The large tech 1 weapons sold well, the named medium did alright but most lowsec/0.0 dwellers have medium tech 2 weapons. That month long Large weapon skill is a killer though."

"So, did you pick up any other tips while trading in Amarr space?"

"Know your local rats, and avoid hauling in what they drop. In Amarr lowsec/0.0 I had a hell of a time trying to sell named beams/pulses because every other ratter has a few in their hanger. Whenever they would notice that I was selling some they would think 'oh they are selling for that much?...geez i'll list mine and just undercut whoever is selling by a big chunk so mine sell quickly'. You just cant compete with rat droppings."

Riass looked disgusted, "You just cant compete with rat droppings?"

Picking up Riass's drink and taking a sip Hamno grinned, "Yep, that's the kind of conversation you get when I don't have my +3 Charisma implant installed"

Blog Banter #10 - Politics Of Eve

2009-08-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

This month's banter leans a little, OK a lot, on the academic side. It comes to us from xiphos83 of A Misguided Adventurer, who asks the following: " Victor Davis Hanson argues that western culture, comprising of ideals such as freedom, debate, capitalism, and consensual government, are what make western society so successful at waging war. These ideologies create a warrior who's direct participation in government, ability to think freely, and desire to remain free, fights harder and is willing to suffer more than his conscripted foe. Though a military must remain a structured oligarchy to fight a war effectively, why in a world where military conflict is as familiar as breathing are there so few alliances that embrace these ideologies when governing their members?"

Even as a officer in a western military I must fight the urge to discuss the initial arguments that 1) Western soldiers are free therefore they fight better/harder and that 2) That makes us more successful at fighting war and stick to the final question as I see it: Why are there not more democratic Alliances?

1. In a way an alliance is very democratic, I can leave whenever I want. In the real world we vote once every 4 years and then largely have to endure the government we choose, in Eve I vote for my corporation/alliance when I join it and vote for it every day that I choose not to select "resign corp".

2. Democracy has its limits, especially during a crisis. Real world governments have wartime acts to deal with situations like this that remove many of the layers of democracy that comfort us, and as we all know...Eve is nothing but constant war!

3. Its a game of Internet Spaceships, if I actually had to live in a universe like Eve I would actually just find myself some nice Gallente pleasure planet and chill out with my billions of isk. Instead, I have to stop typing on the computer and go do some dishes :)

-Hamno

Tips for a lagfest, I mean epic fleet

2009-08-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Pod Pilot:

So you have been invited to a large scale fleet battle, congratulations! Very soon you will jump into a fleet with an unfamiliar fleet commander, only a vague idea who your blues are and even less of an idea who the reds are. This need not concern you, the rank and file pod pilot, just enjoy the experience. This pamphlet will offer a few tips for your first fleet battle, which really means flying your interceptor in a lag fest.

1. Graphics: Turn down your graphics to your lowest possible level. Ideally this would result in your ship being represented by a single + sign while the fat enemy cap ships would be represented by a = sign. "What?" you say, "I love seeing amazing space ships flying through space". Trust me, if you have your graphics maxed out you might as well be in your pod for all the help you are going to be. So, how do we do this? Turn every graphics option you have down to low and deselect all the graphic options. In addition turn off the sound effects, they would just stop you from hearing the FC anyway. As a final graphics tip, make sure you hide all brackets.

2. Overview: You are fighting on your overview. You have turned off all your brackets so that nice image outside your window has nothing to do target selection anymore. So once you accept that your overview is your friend your going to need multiple tabs to sort through the 250 enemy reds. We recommend you have tabs setup for to display the following 1 x tab for Capital Ships, 1 x tab for Battleships, 1 x tab for enemy Tacklers/support. Finally while it may seem obvious, make sure that any ship from your fleet or any ship that has a positive standing to you will not appear on your overview. This is for that one friendly who always seems to end up on his own alliance's killmails.

3. How to cycle your point/weapons: warp out of the battle, then warp back in. If you deselect the point it will just flash red for about the next hour until the battle is over, so bookmark your current position, warp out, and warp back in. Select your new target, activate your point and commit. Orbit with your point activated and just wait. It may not seem like anything is going on but in reality you are stopping that ship from warping out.

4. Accept your fate: So, you have activated your point, guns, and are orbiting the enemy ship. Oh crap, an enemy crow has a point on you. You will not be able to warp away, you will not be able to deactivate your guns to retarget the crow, and you cant even activate your MWD to speed away. You must now watch as it slowly plinks away your shield/armour/structure with its rocket launcher. Just enjoy the view!

The Types Of PVPer

2009-08-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Part of this could come off as a jaded view of 0.0 pilots, but these are the types of people you encounter in every MMO. I actually find many pilots extremely funny in that they don't seem to realize how hardcore they have become at a game of internet spaceships. As someone who has spent his entire Eve career in 0.0 space and will stay a 0.0 pilot I offer to you a response to the Eve Tribune article on "The Types Of Carebear"...

The Types of PVPer

1. Gods Gift to Eve(OR GGTEve): These E-Peen warriors tend to be the most efficient killing machines that have ever existed in Eve and are capable of taking down entire fleets with their small squad of HACs, until they lose a ship...then its someone else's fault. They also tend to literally rage against anyone who disagrees with them since their leet killboard status moves them above such mundane carebear criticism.

2. The Killmail Whre: Tend to fly ships with a rack of Sensor Booster II's and one weapon firing on each ship in the enemy formation. Hard to prove and many an anti-support setup could easily be accused as a killmail whore, especially by the GGTEves. Closer to the truth: All PVPers are killmail whrs in some way, we all love the killboards and have our personal page bookmarked.

3. The Alliance/Local Chat PVPer: My particular favourite, the epic pwnage that these guys could give if a fleet were worthy of their presence is the stuff of legend. They will trash anyone who is gatecamping a 0.0 to empire gate and then refuse to come help if a red fleet takes the camp. Should they finally chose to join a fleet, they will immediate look at the number of people in alliance chat, the number in fleet and start typing in caps "250 PEOPLE IN ALLIANCE AND ONLY 25 IN FLEET, WHAT ARE YOU A BUNCH OF USELESS CAREBEARS? JOIN FLEET OR I WILL PERSONALLY HUNT DOWN EACH AND EVERYONE RATTING". Should you join and ask "What is going on, is this a CTA?" the response will be, "Nah, we're just going on a HAC roam."

5. The Rank and File(Aka The Blob!): Many pilots fall into this category..They try to turn out to CTA's, join in on roams, and do their best to do what the FC says. Tend to occasionally drop out of fleet because their wife tells them they have to go out now but know enough to simply report "-1 inty, sry have to go" in fleet chat and then take care of themselves. Both #1 & 3 love to blast the rank and file because doing so elevates themselves, but in truth the rank and file are the body of pilots that the fleet needs to call upon during times of need.

6. The Gold: Fleet Commanders who know how to bring a fleet together, the people who will take time out of their day to help out others, the (non alt) cloaky scouts, and logistics pilots. These PVPers are the people that actually organize a corp/fleet/alliance and execute the mundane day to day tasks that brings the rank and file together to form something that you want to be a part of. If you lose these rare pilots the rank and file will move on, the Alliance/local chat PVPer will declare(many times) that the alliance isnt good enough for them, and the Gods Gift to Eve will just start podding everything in sight.

Stuck in a station

2009-07-30T17:02:00.001-07:00

Undocking...

As his Deimos slowly drifted out of the station undock point the fleet of enemy ships loitering around waiting for him appeared on the overview.

Nice..two carriers, a dreadnought, a couple of Recon ships and a Heavy Dictor all just sitting around waiting for me. Respectable.

Docking....

Heh, undocking games can be fun.

(Run mission on alt, alt-tab to main and run docking game, run mission on alt, repeat)

The Early Bird

2009-07-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

"Did I ever tell you about the warp core stabilized Armageddon? asked Hamno.

"How many stabs are we talking about here?" replied Reck.

"How many low slots does an Armageddon have again?...8, 8 warp core stabs", Hamno sighed "Have you ever tried to tackle a battleship with 8 warp core stabs? It isnt fun."

Reck chuckled, "I can imagine the FC wasnt to pleased."

"Heh, well the first time the Armageddon warped away he yelled, we claimed we had him tackled though." Hamno took a sip of beer, "But then he warped back to the gate, we tackled again...and he warped away."

"At least the FC might believe you on the second attempt"

"Exactly, the third time the Armageddon warped to the gate, we attacked, but then he warped away from the gate...right next to a wreck!". Hamno grinned, "So being the brave interceptor pilots we are we warped to zero on the wreck to catch up and keep the dps on him!"

Reck looked up from the bar at Hamno, "And then?"

"Just as the first couple of interceptor pilots landed at zero the Armageddon revealed that each of the 8 high slots on her was fitted with a large named smartbomb. I watched my two wingmates have their ships wrecked and their pods instantly popped as the smartbombs go off. Imagine watching that happen right ahead of you as your about to land! I was lucky though and landed in between smartbomb waves allowing me to get clear before the next one went off."

Reck poured Hamno another shot, "So, what did you learn?"

Hamno grinned, "The early bird gets the worm?"

"I swear, your jokes are getting worse."

Real lessons have to be learned

2009-07-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Riass sat relaxing after a long day of work, looking over she noticed a data pad with a half finished entry, it must be something Hamno was working on before he left for the weekend...

Lessons passed to a student recently,

"Its easy to be a leader when everything is going well. While people will still complain, when you have an enemy you can face and a fleet behind you your pilots will fleet up and fight the good fight.

When its not all going well though, that's when this nebulous "leadership" trait is required. I once had a boss tell me "Leadership starts at your level.". Unfortunately for him leadership is needed everywhere, both up and down the chain of command. Just look at the people around you, it doesnt take an officer to see it. If you see them confused as to what to do, make a decision. If the people above you are not providing the direction you need, ask them. Finally, be specific in what you need your subordinates to do and dont be shocked if they cant read your mind.

Just remember, its way easier to fix things when you have made one mistake decisively instead of having all your subordinates try to figure out your intentions because you were not sure of what to do.

In truth though, your going to ignore all of that and learn everything I just said for yourself. Just try to remember at least a little bit of it the next time you are about to yell at someone because they didnt do exactly what you would have done."

Dual Propulsion Experiment Pt2

2009-07-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Paperwork, why is it always paperwork...

Hamno grumbled as he sat at his favorite table in the station bar, well at least I can have a beer while filling this out.

Typing into his data pad...

1. CEO Sir, the following are my findings from my initial trials of the Dual Propulsion Experiment:

2. Fitting: Initial problems fitting both an MWD and an Afterburner required the use of a Auxiliary Power Core, filling one low slow that could have been used either for a tanking or damage mod. In this choice I am choosing flexibility in having the MWD available for high speed situations or the AB when I want to maintain a tight but still high speed orbit of the enemy. Additionally, unless a pod pilot were to have a particularly dedicated skillplan they may have to downgrade their blasters to accommodate the significant power demand of the propulsion systems.

3. Activation: Of particular note, if you activate one module you must wait for the cycle to finish before activating the other. This is particularly important if you have activated the MWD and are letting it run while camping a gate. One you activate, you commit for that cycle.

4. Orbit: The AB gives you the ability to orbit at a very close range from the enemy, around 1200m from a battleship at around 800 m/s. This high transversal within the warp scrambler range is a valuable ability and would serve our pilots well.

5. Combat Trials: Overall through several combat engagements the Taranis was utilized as a MWD equipped tackler, albet one with a Warp Scrambler II instead of a Disruptor. This required me to orbit at a very close range, which lead to my downfall. While in several previous engagements the Warp Scrambler allowed me to disable the MWD of an enemy interceptor/HIC this did eventually catch up to me when I faced an opponent who was able to heavily neut me since I was in close range. With all propulsion shut down, I was unable to attain escape velocity away from pursuing Warrior II's and the Dual Propulsion Experiment test Taranis was destroyed.

6. Recommendation: Initial trials show the ability of the mixed propulsion system against other small spacecraft however I recommend extreme caution be exercised against larger contacts. The close in range you are required to close within for a Warp Scrambler could potentially be utilized against you so all pod pilots should be aware of this potentiality and plan accordingly. With this setup the pod pilot is not a fleet tackler and should be reminded of this.

7. Further Trials: A new Taranis has been fitted out and further reports to follow.

There we go thought Hamno, sending the message to his CEO... hopefully the next Taranis lasts a little bit longer than the last

The dual propulsion experiment

2009-07-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

Walking up to the station bar Hamno couldnt keep the question in.."Remember my complaints about using an afterburner?" asked Hamno, barely concealing his smile.

Riass glanced over, "I remember a bad Tom Cruise reference"

His smile broke out, "Nevermind that, a corp mate of mine suggested a setup that I'm going to try, it involves fitting a MWD and an afterburner! all while using a warp scrambler"

Looking slightly more interested Riass replied "Both propulsion systems?"

"Exactly, if you need to close the enemy you use the MWD to get in close and then use the afterburner to maintain your transversal. Against another interceptor you can use the scrambler to disable their MWD while using your own AB to prevent them from hitting. Against a cruiser or above you can use your MWD to close and fly around them...."

Pondering this Riass paused for a moment, "There is logic to this, if you have a warp scrambler you wont really need that Stasis Webifier to slow down enemy frigates and if you have the afterburner you can maintain the transversal you need...all while having that MWD speed should you need it."

Downing a shot glass of some strangely coloured drink Hamno walked away from the bar, "I'll let you know how it works out!'

Riass chuckled and thought, At least he'll either come back with a story or a fresh clone...

Dealing with Anti Support

2009-07-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Speed tanking: the art of moving at a sufficiently high speed to move faster than enemy turrets can track you, thereby tanking their damage by causing them to miss.

That definition flashed through Hamno's mind at the same speed at which the beam laser seared through his shield and put him at 50% armour. Ouch..damn paper thin tank on an Ares.

It took only a quick moment to see where it had come from, the Amarr Zealot HAC had him locked up and was getting ready to fire again....

12% structure, docked with 12% structure...thought Hamno as he exited the Ares, At least the repairs here are free

Later:

"I heard some mechanics complaining about having to completely rebuild an Ares, I just assumed it was yours." commented Riass, taking the seat next to Hamno at the bar.

Laughing, he replied "I would be offended if it wasn't true..anti-support HACs were out in force".

"Anti-Support?"

"Yeah, typically a large fleet will have at least a few ships dedicated to hunting down and taking out the enemy tacklers. Usually these are a HAC that has multiple tracking computers or tracking enhancers in the low to boost both the weapon tracking and weapon optimal ranges. Remained of their lows are stacked with Mag Field Stab's or Heat Sinks to maximise the DPS that the HAC can put out."

Riass feigned looking impressed, "Sounds effective..how do you work around them?"

"Hmm...let me ponder this for a moment"

1. Avoid approaching a hostile force directly. While those remote repping battleships may not stand a chance in hell of hitting you the direct approach will only give the anti-support ships an even easier target. Try to approach on a 45 degree angle, basically center your display on the enemy and double click about half way to the edge. You will have to monitor this closely however since the HAC will have boosted its tracking ability, so be prepared to open your approach angle if required.

2. Be prepared to warp out. While a wreck could be used by your fleet to warp to for the other 99% of the time your just one more kill statistic. This is where having more than 1 tackler on the primary is essential since you and the other tacklers will have to trade off as you take damage. Note: Your FC may still yell because multiple tacklers on are on the same target, don't worry...he'll berate tacklers even more if you spread your points to thinly and the primary gets away.

3. If wrecks are already amongst the enemy fleet, bookmark one, warp out, and warp back in to the wreck. This will completely avoid having to approach the enemy directly and allow you to maintain as high transversal as possible.

4. Stay outside Stasis Webifier range, if you are that close they might just have a warp scrambler as well to shut down your MWD. No speed + warp scrambled = death of an interceptor

He grinned, "And I suppose if all that fails there is an expression someone once taught me, if you have to choose between luck and skill...choose luck every time!"

Failing to be impressed, she simply replied "Sounds like something someone with 12% structure would say."

Welcome New Pilot!

2009-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Fleet hold on outbound gate, fleet hold on outbound gate" called the FC, "Scout, jump through".

The small bubble of popped appeared off Hamno's Ares as the fleet scout, some new pilot in a Helios, jumped. Hamno remained on gate however, ready to tackle anything that came through or to jump through himself.

The 'brave' scout reported in: "I'm in, I'm in....OH NO, REF FLEET..I MEAN RED FLEET, big one! There are lots of them, OH NO THEY DECLOAKED ME, i'm taking damage, I'm dying! I'm in my pod....I'm back in station."

Well, that was useless thought Hamno, At least it provided some entertainment.

Taking pity on the new pilot, Hamno looked up an info file on reporting procedures and forwarded it to him:

Welcome New Pilot!

So, your the scout...and you found the enemy. Good job. Now what?

If you are travelling through a system it will obviously have 2 important gates to you, the inbound and outbound gate. The inbound is where you jumped in from, the outbound is where you well...jump out of. This is important to be able to tell the FC where you are.

As well you have local chat, as long as your not in wormhole space you can take a quick look at Local and see how many people are in it, how many blues, how many neutrals, and how many reds. This is important.

So, say you jump into the system, the gate is clear, and no one is in local...you would report:
"System is clear, local is clear"

Say you jump in, there are 5 'reds' in local but your inbound gate is clear...you would report:
"Inbound gate clear, 5 reds in local"
You then warp to the outbound, it is clear...you would report:
"Outbound gate clear, jumping into next system"

Say you jump into the middle of a gatecamp, why not try saying this:
"Bubble and 30 strong red gatecamp on inbound gate, 10 sniper battleships 150km off gate with 2-3 logistic support and 15 light support at zero on gate."

If a spade is a spade, isnt a red a red? Obviously as the publishers of this document we would never want to call any potential customer a 'red' but when there are multiple hostile gangs in the area you would never want to simply tell the FC that you found a 'red'. Take that extra 3 seconds to examine them and find out what alliance they belong to. Different opponents require different tactics so your FC is depending on you to tell him who he will be fighting!

Well new pod pilot, hopefully this information will bring you towards your goal of being a good scout to your fleet. Remember though, no one cares if you are going to be podded. Report all the valuable intel you can prior to that moment and then wake up in your new pod with a smile on your face.

War & Piracy

2009-07-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

(Posted as part of Roc's Ramblings Group Blog)

5 years  ago:

The Minmatar  slaves shuffled through the loading bay, their limbs weighted down with  shackles. An Iteron Mk4 was an odd vessel to be plying the slave trade in Amarr  space, but being the capable vessel it was the Iteron had a way of earning a  living no matter what the cargo.

Riass smiled,  "These seem healthy enough, should turn a nice profit once we arrive back in  civilized space."

"You really think  of highsec as civilized?" replied Hamno, barely looking up from the loading  manifest.

Today:

In other news,  Colonel Roc Wieler pleaded guilty to charges of slave trading today after being  cleared of murder charges. This unexpected twist in the case has seen this hero  of the Minmatar people fall from grace and...

Still looking at  the news prompter, Riass asked "Do you ever regret what we used to do?" The  question hung in the air for a moment. "Regret taking part in the legal  trade of hauling people for the Amarr royal family?" replied Hamno, "The galaxy  is at war Riass, pod pilot fighting pod pilot, Gallente fighting Caldari, Amarr  fighting Minmatar..its just the way it is." 

"Ham, you didnt  answer the question."

The Art Of Running Away

2009-07-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

"I myself have used the phrase Suicide Tackler many a time, however there is such a thing as not being stupid." Hamno grinned, sitting down next to Riass at the station bar.

Riass chuckled, "What did you do?"

"There was a long drawn out system battle, the kind of one that is rolling between multiple locations within the same system. Quick battle at a POS, chase them, battle at a gate, it went on and on. At one point we heard of a red fleet entering at a gate so the FC ordered Support to warp to the gate. After multiple engagements the more enthusiastic interceptor pilots had directly approached the enemy and been popped, so there were only 3 of us left. Myself and the 2 other interceptors exited warp to find a 20 man assault frig fleet sitting there waiting for us."

Riass looked surprised, "Assault Frigs, people still use those?"

"Well, I guess they were trying to clean them out of the inventory. They can be interceptor killers though, especially when your in a Taranis! So basically we exited warp, I reported them on comms and I immediately warped away. The other 2 pilots engaged and were in their pods long before the battleships arrived."

Riass looked doubtfull, "So, running away the second you saw the enemy was a good idea?"

"One more wreck would have been useless and if the other inty pilots had been smart they would have warped out as well. The system battle went on for another couple of hours and for quite some time I was the only interceptor pilot, letting the fleet get in on several kills in the process." replied Hamno, "remember, its about surviving to fight the war..not being destroyed in the first battle."

Nothing is sacred in Jita

2009-07-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

"So there I was about a week ago in Jita, just doing a regular purchasing trip for hauling out to 0.0 space" said the Minmatar known only as Slightly Reckless. Hamno took another sip of beer, "So..you move a load of goods every 2 days or so".

"Let me finish, there was when suddenly I learned something in Jita local...almost one of those where were you when you first heard moments, I learned that Micheal Jackson was dead." Hamno couldnt help but grin, "You first heard that in Jita local?"

Reck sighed, "Well, yeah...but thats not the disturbing part, less than a minute after the news was announced in Jita local the following was said in chat:

Jitacitizen> Micheal Jackson died because he did not have an Amarr Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane, make sure you buy yours today so you dont end up like him!!

And the attached contract, was a scam"

Looking up from his beer Hamno paused, "I just don't know what to say....I guess its true.. nothing is sacred in Jita."

Faction, or Tech 2 ammunition?

2009-07-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

"load all dual 150mm railguns, and load short range ammunition" ordered Hamno,

"Sir, but specifically...what kind of ammunition would you like to load?" replied his Weapons Officer.

Hamno pondered this for a moment Hmm, I have both Caldari Navy Antimatter Medium rounds and Javelin M rounds, which would be more effective for using a Railgun at short range? Lets compare... (Using the Eve Item Comparison Tool)

Some important differences for medium sized rounds:

Caldari Navy Antimatter
Range bonus: 50 %
Tracking Bonus: Nil
Kinetic dmg: 16.1 HP
Thermic dmg: 11.5 HP

Javelin
Range bonus: 25%
Tracking Bonus: 75%
Kinetic dmg: 12 HP
Thermic dmg: 16HP

So, faction ammunition does a total of 27.6 base damage while Tech 2 Javelin rounds do 28 base damage. The Tech 2 ammunition has a longer range while faction ammo has a no tracking penalty.

The whole point of loading short range ammunition is, well, to fight at short range where a higher transverse is not only likely, its guaranteed. I'm sticking with Caldari Navy Antimatter.

"Load all weapons with Caldari Navy Antimatter rounds" ordered Hamno...his Weapons Officer smiled and simply replied, "Yes sir".

WTB Professional Tackler?

2009-07-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

"Required fleet composition is short range remote repping battleships, I say again, short range remote repping battleships" called out the FC prior to an operation forming up.

Hamno took a look at his Megathron class battleship Fade To Black, glanced at his Ares interceptor and thought Oh what the hell, I'll take the battleship this time.

10 jumps out from headquarters came the call from the FC: "Why don't I have any tacklers? Someone should have brought a tackler!" A little part of Hamno died inside when he heard that. Over the next hour a small group of last minute frigate pilots were brought into the fleet to act as tackle, with limited success. A couple of lessons learned from watching them:

Spread Your Points: The FC is going to call a primary target, and a secondary, and if he feels like it...a tertiary target. Someone will call "their point"(meaning they have it scrambled/disrupted), when you hear that...go and scramble the secondary. If someone has called point on the secondary, lock the tertiary target. I know it seems obvious but its amazing the first time your in your battleship watching all the frigates swarm that one drake while the rest of the enemy fleet escapes.

Aggression: Often the FC will send forward a scout/decoy to cause the enemy fleet to aggress against him, meaning they cannot jump out through the gate they are guarding. The FC is waiting for the reliable report that the enemy fleet has aggressed before he jumps in the rest of the fleet. If you are that decoy, it all comes down to you. You will warp to the enemy gate, you will see them all lock you up...they have red boxes, they must have aggressed! "They have all aggressed!" reported our decoy. Dont be so sure, wait until you actually receive fire from the enemy. Trust me, it'll work out better for you.

"Sometimes, tackling should be done by a professional" Hamno muttered to himself while walking away from the Fade To Black, "Next time....next time..."

I feel the need, the need for...a MWD

2009-07-06T14:03:00.001-07:00

Hamno sighed, "I tried it today, I tried it and failed".

Riass looked concerned, "What? Were you doing boosters??"

"No...I tried to break my MWD addiction by using an Afterburner!" he said, admitting his inner shame. "I have read so many different after action reports where pod pilots have used afterburners, and I know that a Warp Scrambler shuts down your MWD...but once you get used to high speed flying you cant go back!"

Grinning, Riass replied "I dont think those are intended for use outside lowsec. How often are you really going to find a real 1v1 frigate duel in 0.0 space where your enemy isn't just bait for a hostile gang?"

"Aside from that noob I caught while belt hopping I guess your right...I suppose the best way to put it would be: I feel the need, the need for.."

Riass cut him off, "You finish that sentence and your next clone wont wake up properly."

On Cap Stability

2009-07-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

"Lets see, with the MWD alone running I'm cap stable, with the Warp Disrupter II and Stasis Webifier running as well my cap should last 2m 45s. That should be lots of time..."

Riass looked over, "Talking to yourself again Ham?". He looked up, "Just going over EFT, while my current Ares setup is not cap stable with the core modules running it does last 2m 45s, what do you think?"

"Not to shabby, but most from most of the stories I hear that isnt how most engagements go..I mean if you are sitting there with nothing running, see your target and then activate all your modules your numbers will work. But dont you normally sit either on the gate with your MWD running or orbitting the gate at high speed? Your cap would already be starting off partially drained!"

He nodded, "True, so even then I should still have enough time to hold down whatever is trying to sneak past the blockade." Riass picked up Hamnos EFT workpad, "I suppose i'll agree with that, your speed and maneuverability would help you out for normal engagements, but do you remember that large Cap fight against SOLAR you were part of last week?".

"Ahh, I see where your going..holding down a Capital ship long enough for the rest of the fleet to get DPS on it takes time, and nevermind the Cap after that, and the cap after that..." She smiled, "Remember what happened after your cap ran out during that fight?". Hamno shuddered, "Yeah, the Warp Disrupter and MWD deactivated lowering my speed back to normal...meaning the swarm of light drones and fighters trying to get me off the caps caught up with me."

Riass grined, "And then Splat!....why not try this.." she pushed a few buttons on the EFT datapad, "Your mid slots are to important to your job as a tackler but you do have those lows...if you know that your going to flying in a large fleet why not switch out one of your Overdrive Injector System II for a Cap Power Relay II, that way your cap will be stable at 43% with all your important mid slots running"

"That makes sense....I suppose the lesson here is that cap stability is something that not just carebear mission runners need to worry about, it may just keep us 0.0 pilots alive as well."

Mysteries of Eve Explained!

2009-07-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

Another day, another patrol. When you are in a 0.0 space holding alliance in a busy area there is the benefit that you can go out and roam for enemies without having to go to far, but still, there are down times.

"Everyone warp to the safe POS and take 10 minutes, bio break" called the FC.
Hamno glanced over his systems and aside from some overheating damage to his MWD, his Taranis was still in good shape. Noticing a small readout that said:

Taranis: 7.5% Small Hybrid turret tracking speed per interceptor skill level.

Better tracking means more hits on a crossing target Hamno thought, pretty much summing up his knowledge on the subject. There has to be more to it than that.

While sitting at the POS he came across this excellent flash driven explanation on Optimal and tracking from CCP: Tracking Guide

And this flash driven guide on how damage sizes are handled for missiles: Missile Guide

Nice, I had a rough grasp on how those concepts worked but I still learned a few things from the guides. He smiled, I'll have to remember to pass the links along to anyone else who is curious about why their ships do what they do.

Setting up the Ares

2009-07-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

"125mm railguns loaded, rocket launcher ready and MWD active" reported the engineer of Hamno's newest Ares. Ready to lock the first ship to appear on his overview Hamno paused for a moment while looking at his setup.

But why do I fit these particular modules? Hamno examined his ship's load out more carefully

High Slots:
2 x 125mm Railgun II's /w Caldari Navy Antimatter
1 x Rocket Launcher

Mid Slots:
1 x Warp Disruptor II
1 x named Stasis Webifier
1 x 1mn MWD

Low Slots:
2 x Overdrive Injector System II
1 x Inertia Stabilizer II
1 x Nanofiber Internal Structure II

"Overall, its all about the speed tank while applying the Warp Disruptor II. I would use a Warp Scrambler except that would also mean that I am inside of their Webifier range at all times..instant death for an inty. The stand off requirement is also the reason I fit the 125mm railguns instead of blasters since I never intend to close to within blaster range if I dont have to. The rocket launcher is there since the Ares can only fit 2 guns and does not have enough powergrid to fit any other DPS modules. I have been known to replace the rocket launcher with a Salvager however.

The Stasis Webifier is there in case I am tackling another frigate or a nano HAC, while it wont shut down their MWD it will slow them down considerably giving my fleet mates time to take them out."

"Sir, who are you talking to?" ask the shipboard engineer

"Just going over some notes" came the casual reply.

"Pod pilots...haven't met a normal one yet"

Your Drones and You!

2009-07-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

"Drones...drones...drones" muttered Hamno as he watched a new batch of Light Combat Drones being unloaded from his Blockade Runner by station personnel. In these days of automated machinery in every aspect of our lives he rarely gave much thought to them, drones transport goods around the station, drones can cook our food, wash our clothes, and if you visit the right Gallente vacation station they can even...well, we'll save that for another lesson.

He turned towards the station loadmaster, "Separate the Hobgoblins and the Warrior II's but be carefull, they are going to be on the market within the hour and the last thing I would want is for them to get scratched!" "Of course" came the automatic reply.

Hobgoblins and Warriors.....They sell quickly, but why? Hamno pondered, why are these two drone used so frequently while others are not? Doing a quick search of the station archives found a short sales advert named "Your Drones and you":

Drones, Drones, Drones!

Good day Capsuleer, so you have decided to purchase one of our range of Light Combat Drones but are not sure of which one to buy? Well fortunately we have a variety of drones available:

Warrior I's: One of our most popular models, the Warrior I boasts the highest Max Velocity of any of our light combat drones with a speed of 4,200 m/s therefore allowing it to maintain a firing position on some of New Eden's fastest ships. Additionally it has the highest orbit velocity, making it all the harder for your enemy to fight off your drones. Unfortunately it does have the lower damage modifier however, meaning that your new Warrior I should be best used against armour tanked vessels that have not fitted additional explosive hardeners.

Hobgoblin I's: Another very popular model, the Hobgoblin I boasts the highest damage modifier of any of our light combat drones. This will allow the drones Thermal damage to give that added punch your vessel requires to defeat the enemy! It would be best however to make sure you deploy your drones close to your enemy however, since the Hobgoblin does have the lowest Max Velocity and Orbit speed of any of this line. Your Hobgoblins will best be used against somewhat slower vessel or when you need that extra little punch.

Acolyte I's: No Amarr force would be complete without them, the Acolyte I uses the second highest Max Velocity and Orbit Velocity to quickly move in and attack your enemy. The true benefit of these drones are the laser weaponry which allows your drone to tear into the shields of the enemy with EM damage. Unfortunately it does have the lowest damage modifier of the group so once you reach armour your going to have to do the rest of the work yourself. Due to the prevalence of armour tanking the Acolytes are not as widely used.

Hornet I's: The venerable Hornet is a workhorse of any Caldari Navy force. The hornet has the second slowest speed, but the second highest damage modifier allowing the Hornet I to give a decent kinetic punch to any enemy you unleash them on. Not as widely used as the Hobgoblin or Warrior, the Hornet can be a valuable choice when flexibility in drone performance profile is required.

Hopefully our above comments will allow you, our valued customer, to purchase the Tech 1 or 2 drone you require. Remember though, your drone can serve you indefinitely if you are careful with it. Make sure to recall them prior to warping away, watch their shield and armour levels if they are under attack, and most importantly remember to have their drone memory wiped each and every time you dock. There are enough rogue drones in the galaxy already!

Lessons from the Bastard

2009-07-02T16:41:00.001-07:00

"Ran into a Bastard the other day" Hamno smiled, "Did I tell you about that?" "You didn't...you seem rather pleased about running into someone you'd call a bastard..." replied Covant, pouring Hamno another brew at the station bar.

"Oh not the "I hate the bastard", but a member of The Bastards..you know, the corp that has been mentioned in the Roc Wieler trial vids. He was out in the Geminate region solo hunting in a Taranis, I first noticed him moving from safe spot to safe spot while our fleet was moving through the area...he never spent enough time in one place for us to track him down though."

"That Wieler guy, I never did like him...even before the whole slave trading revelation, just to...flashy." commented Covant, probably only half listening to him. Hamno chuckled, "You believe anything you see on the news? Geez, next you'll be believing that you can buy things from contracts in Jita local....anyway back to The Bastard. He was flying the following setup:

Bastard Taranis Setup:
Highs: 3 x Small Ion Blaster II
1 x named NOS

Mids: 1 x 1mn Afterburner II
1 x Warp Scrambler II
1 x Stasis Webifier II

Lows: 1 x Damage Control II
1 x Mag Field Stab II
1 x Small Armour Rep II

Rigs: 1 x Hybrid Burst Aerator I
1 x Hybrid Collision Accelerator I

"And working with a small drag bubble being used to pull people away from a gate. With careful use of the scanner he was able to avoid any engagements he didn't want to fight and pounce on anyone travelling alone. Was working out quite well for him."

Covant looked curious.."You know his exact setup....did you destroy him?" "Kinda, as I said he avoided us while our fleet moved through. He didn't realize that we stopped in the next system to let a few stragglers catch up. After a few minutes we had a Deimos report that he had been caught in the drag bubble and this bastard descended on him, popped drones, and started to tear into the poor HAC."

Hamno took another sip of his brew, "Our fast support doubled back and jumped into the system, the Taranis had nearly worked the Deimos into structure when we warped to his position and swarmed him. If we had not gotten there in time he would have easily torn apart the HAC...and probably the only reason he didnt make it away when we jumped him, the poor bastard was being webbed by the Deimos while inside his own pull bubble when we warped in."

Covant chuckled, "That sucks!"

Blog Banter #9 - Do we really need to go AFK?

2009-07-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

From CrazyKinux's newest Blog Banter:
Welcome to the ninth installment of the EVE Blog Banter and its first contest, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

"Last month Ga'len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith "WebMandrill" Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely
from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?"

"Gate Fire!" came the call over the comm circuit.
"All tacklers circle the gate, make sure you call your point!" called the FC.
MWD active and Ares screaming around the gate, Hamno noticed 5 Warrior II's assigned to him by a fleet mate, If they decloak near me they'll get a nice little surprise.

The enemy pod pilot sat there looking at the show around him, a half dozen HAC's and a handful of interceptors...no challenge. As easy as activating a few modules he warped away under the protection his Covert Ops cloak provided the Arazu.

Arazu on overview...and its gone. Damn...well I guess we'd never get a cloaker unless we had a bubble. Hamno keyed his comms "Unable to lock before he cloaked". Settling back into his orbit around the gate he saw the enemy pod pilot remaining in local, 5 minutes....10 minutes...20 minutes later he was still there.

Hamno docked up, returning a few hours later after letting the technicians do some much needed repairs to his ship. Enemy pod pilot still in local....

"Another AFK cloaker?" Hamno asked his navigator...
"Yep, fifth one this week".

The game mechanic I would like to see removed is the ability for a ship to sit AFK for hours on end. What if the system actually realized you were afk(from absolutely no interaction with the UI) and logged you off?

The AFK cloaker was simply the first example of AFK-ness that came to mind as I wrote this, but I also cursed against such things each time I try to enter Jita these days. I completely understand having a 1000 player limit for the system, but does anyone honestly think that those hundreds upon hundreds of alts sitting in Jita 4-4 are actively buying/selling...or just sitting AFK waiting for their mains to be curious about the Jita price on some item.

Anyone who has been stuck at the entrance gate to Jita with a cargo hold full of valuable items must have wondered this at some point.

List of Participants:

Diary of a Space Jockey, Blog Banter: BE GONE!
EVE Newb, (EVE) Remove You
Miner With Fangs, Blog Banter - It's the Scotch
The Eden Explorer, Blog Banter: The Map! The Map!
The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, "Beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, mushroom, MUSHROOM!!!"
Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, Kill the Rats
Mercspector @ EVE, Scotty
EVE's Weekend Warrior, EVE Blog Banter #9
Miner with Fangs, Blog Banter - It's the Scotch
A Merry Life and a Short One, Eve Blog Banter #9: Why Won't You Die?
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More articles as they are posted!

Stealth Bombers

2009-07-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Stealth Bombers, why is it always stealth bombers..." muttered Hamno as he sat down at the station bar.
"Popped again?....and me on my off shift" replied Riass, pulling up a seat next to him.
"Fortunately no, but still...what is it these days? Are they giving away bombs in boxes of cereal these days or what?"
Riass smiled, trying not to react to his bad joke "Well, ever since the price drop they have slowly become more popular...What happened out there?"

"Well, we formed up to hunt down a couple of small roaming fleets in the area. The intel channels reported mostly small ships, so we deployed in a fleet of HACs, interceptors, and a couple of interdictor ships as well." Hamno paused, taking a sip of his beer. "We tracked them down near some NPC space and were camping a gate waiting for them to enter. Being near NPC space the few neutrals in local were nothing surprising but our main prey were on their way so we setup and waited."
"So pretty standard gate camp then, dictors near gate, interceptors swarming around, and HACs waiting to pop anything that moves?" Asked Riass,
"Yep, I was MWDing at approx 10km from the gate moving about 4400 m/s when suddenly I heard someone call "BOMB" on comms. I saw it and realized that since I was headed right into the blast area I wouldnt be able to clear the area in time. Fortunately though I only had a third of a cycle left in my MWD so I cut it...reducing my signature radius enough to let me make it out with only 25% armour left."
She smiled, "Not a bad move, worst thing you can do is get hit while the MWD is one...I hear its basically instant death for a frigate".
"Fortunately one of the HACs was able to rep me and we maintained the camp, but it was less than a minute before the next call of BOMB was heard. Fortunately those stealth bombers everyone seems to love are also paper thin, the HAC's managed to tear it apart almost instantly. Learned from that bombing run that if the stealth bomber is destroyed before the bomb goes off it will fail to detonate."
Riass looked at him with doubt "Relying on your HACs to destroy it....that just sounds like relying on luck instead of skill. Have your tried sitting on the gate?"
"What do you mean?"
"Sit on top of the gate at zero, MWD active but speed set at zero. If a cloaking vessel comes in you'll get a quick glimpse of them and be able to drive directly at them, decloaking them. If someone releases a bomb, you'll be able to quickly jump into the next system, out of harms way. And finally, if someone jumps into system you are guaranteed to be able to be in range to get a point."
Hamno smiled, "Not a bad idea...but what happens if I see the bomber, lock it, disrupt it and then cant jump out because I aggressed?"

Riass snickered, "Didnt you once tell me that 'its called suicide tackle for a reason'?"

Fade To Black...

2009-06-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

Fade to black....

For a moment Hamno felt calm, peaceful, and content. The basic day to day tasks that always seem to consume all his time seemed so trivial. At last he could rest....

*SNAP*

"damn" was the first word ever spoken by his new clone...Opening his eyes Hamno realized where he was, not some mystical place but being pulled out of a sterile clone vat deep in 0.0 space. "Oh dont worry Ham, I've got you..." spoke Riass, his favorite vat technician. She may have been Amarr but still, its better than waking up to that Minmatar guy.

"I dont understand" questioned Riass, "I dont see anyone else's clones being activated, were you the only one podded?".
Thinking to himself, "could I lie my way out of this?" Hamno pondered "Probably not...there is still a chance someone salvaged the combat recorder out of my Ares".
"Well...I think so. I was acting as scout for the fleet and upon jumping into a system I spotted a Hurricane sitting 30km off the gate" Hamno reported. "It seemed good enough, I mean we were the only two people in local"
"Ohh" said Riass trying to sound impressed as she helped him clean off the Clone Vat goo.
"So I hit approach to decloak my Ares, quickly locked him and activated my warp disruptor" beamed Hamno....but then the smile dissapeared from his face "Then he tore me apart with autocannons, quickly locked the pod..and I ended up here".

Riass stopped, look at Hamno and said "Are you saying, that you directly approached a sensor boosted autocannon equipped Hurricane therefore offering absolutely no transversal, activated your disrupter ensuring he had to destroy you to get away....all while forgetting to activate your own mwd?"

"Uhm....yeah..."

She tossed him a towel to cover up his naked now goo-less self, "Even I know better than to do that."

Which Interceptor should I use?

2009-06-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Ares....or Taranis?

Ares....or Taranis?

Tough choice, each will have their own preference but after having flown each quite a bit(and having them blown out from under me) I can offer some comments. While again, I fly Gallente but each race has comparable ship that fill these roles.

The Ares: Second fastest interceptor in the game, and my favorite for being a tackler in a large fleet.

Pros: -Bonus to Warp Distrupter/Scrambler range based on your interceptor skill
-Bloody fast and maneuverable
-Extra low slot over the Taranis for the extra speed mod
-Better scan resolution over Taranis

Cons: -DPS, uhm...what DPS?
-No drones
-2 small hybrids and...a....rocket launcher?

The Taranis: A favorite of solo and small party combat.

Pros: -Solid DPS with bonuses to damage and hybrid tracking ability
-10m3 drone bay!
-Better "tank" over an Ares

Cons: - Slower
-Good luck using drones effectively in high speed fleet combat(warp in, fleet warp out, warp in, fleet warp out...laaaagggg)
-One smartbombing ship/bomb and you have lost your drones
-Higher cost than an Ares (Tacklers have short life spans, get used to it)

Given fleet(aka blob) combat I'll stick with the Ares for its faster lock on, faster speed, and range bonus to the all important "point". You could almost get away with no weapons on an Ares at all(except who would do that?), as long as you point and web! As one FC put it "Your DPS comes from the man next to you".

In a less DPS intense fleet(or solo) through the Taranis is worth its weight in gold. Good DPS, extra drones to assist in decloaking while still maintaining the ability to put a point on the target its great for a fleet that isnt going to melt a target automatically and will need your help.

Purpose of this blog

2009-06-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, greetings to anyone who may eventually read this. I have started this as one way of recording various lessons learned as an interceptor pilot/tackler in 0.0 space. I completely specialize in Gallente ships and can fly everything from a Cov Ops to a Remote Repping Megathron but I find my joy in the game while flying an Interceptor!

Suppose my first lesson learned in 0.0 combat...its nothing personal. I'm not talking about the trash talking that occurs in local, the "OMG, you guys dont fight with anything less than 4:1 !!" comments by the guy who didnt bring friends, or even the spamming of "Ook" in local. What i'm talking about is the poor noob who wanders from lowsec into 0.0 looking for the mythical high bounty NPC ships or the high end ores.

Most(if not all) 0.0 dwellers will have their overview setup so that it will not display anyone who is friendly with them. Therefore, if it appears on the overview...it dies. Odds are, most will not even look at your name before activating their weapons.

Just remember, no one can tell the difference between a lost newb, and a cyno alt! (until the killmail comes and you see 5 x small pulse lasers on a Thorax).

Oh yeah and as the title of the blog refers to....we'll pod you, I mean...why not?

-Hamno