EVE Journey

Been awhile since my last update. Every character is basically now in Empire and with a rather small mining fleet, that’s what’s mostly occupies the time when I choose to login. However, mining is rather boring even if it allows multi-tasking to catch up on reading or re-watching BSG.  Mining fleet essentially makes up of maxed-Mining Director with Orca and 3 Mackinaws (Hulks with tiny cargo-holds don’t work well now).

As for rest of activities:

• Mission grinding is a bore when there is no new mechanics there
• Wormholes isn’t too suitable with limited time
• Null-sec is pretty much not the right environment when you have 2-3 hours per week.

So, when I saw this post EVE Online Development Strategy (CSM Public), it seemed like the CSM is discussing points which are very valid on getting subs more engaged.

The competitive advantage of EVE is the enduring community of players CCP has earned over the past decade, whose ambitions, successes, setbacks, betrayals, and battles provide infinitely more content and headlines than giant-panda-themed dungeon bosses. CCP’s challenge is to maintain this advantage by keeping existing subscribers engaged while steadily attracting new players.

Agree fully with the sentiment here. CCP seems to have gone full-on “iteration” mode and forgotten the need for new incremental content. While it’s great to see ships being re-balanced, UI issues being fixed, there needs to be growth in the gameplay. They seem to swing wildly from lots of new fluffy stuff (which is forgotten) or lots of good work on the existing game. Perhaps a better balance is needed to attract the vets.

For the time being, with 4 subs, I’ll still continue to support the game (as there is nothing like EVE Online) but with games like Star Citizen, Elite: Dangerous and X-Rebirth coming up, sure seems there is going to be many pull factors to focus attention on them instead.

Mica recently got REALLY bored and decided to try out all the T3 cruisers (except for the Proteus since it feels like a Deimos). He’s just about to hit 50mil skill points and is really into spaceships. I can’t say I share the passion but have willingly contributed some ISK since he has helped the corp a lot with security duty.

Proteus: Freedom is liquid, supple, mellifluous. It surrounds us, engulfs our bodies, drowns our fear. We plumb freedom’s depths and consume the nourishment within. From these waters, we are born; when we die, we shall return to those waters.

Out there, among the stars, are the waters, freedom incarnate. That dark, endless void is our destiny, our path, our goal. We must not fear it, nor should we control it. Rather, we should embrace it, trust it, love it. Its ever-changing face, its protean existence, is our very essence. We are those stars, the void, the awesome waters of space: ancient, forever, free.

- Jinsente Parmen, The Gallente in New Eden

Tengu: When we first saw the flock, we were surrounded, caught in a spectacle of stimuli. Brilliant colors, dancing lights, beautiful cacophonies, wafting ambrosia. Those birds surrounded us, each one a different shape, an altered species, a new wonder. I tried to follow a single bird, but my efforts were futile: Transformation is natural to their existence. Imagine it: an undulating mass, a changing mob, all those beasts partaking in wonderful transmogrification.

These were our augurs, our deliverers, our saviors. Standing amidst the flock, we should have feared their glory; instead, we drew hope. This moment is the first time I understood what it meant to be Caldari: Divinity in the flock, delivery in flux, one being, many changes.

- Janto Sitarbe, The Legendary Flock

I spent some time in the Tengu with the cross training to missiles/shields and have found it an excellent ship. Interestingly, the mechanics decided to play a trick on Tengu owners one day and installed the propulsion modules backwards. I can imagine Jita having interesting day when Tengu owners undocked.

Legion: Revelation burrows through the material world, devours creation’s soil, digests the thoughtless void, and produces significance with God’s grace. From emptiness comes meaning, essence from existence, soul from matter.

Is God through the wormhole? Did God grant us this boon, this new technology, a revelation from on high? These weapons are God’s new prophecy, domain, and blessing. Let us use God’s grace and prepare New Eden. We are God’s soldiers, weapons, glory. Our people are God’s army. Together, we are the legion.

-The Heresies of Hinketsu

With it’s sleek lines, the Legion is definitely pleasing on the eyes and Mica is warming to the idea of lasers instead of drones providing DPS. It’s oddly satisfying to see the lasers carve through space and instapop rats.

Loki: For many Minmatar, the high mountains of Matar hold wonders unknown to the rest of New Eden: hidden glens, beautiful creatures, buried customs. Not surprisingly, the Krusual tribe lay claim to these mountains, their home for generations and base to their machinations.

Krusual elders whisper ancient tales among their huddled tribes, describing the glory of heroes past and enigmatic prophecies of old. On the darkest day, at the most hopeless moments, an elder may speak of loki, in reverent tones and excited hushes. In the ancient tongue, the loki are the crux of Krusual thought. There is no direct translation for this word; in fact, loki translates differently among the elders. It can mean “hidden wonder” or “secret passage”, “changing mask” or “unseen dagger”. Regardless of its context, loki has one meaning common to all its tales across all the elders: “hope”.

We haven’t had much time with the Loki after the build and Klen has had more time on it after he eagerly jumped into it when we first brought it back from Jita. We’ve not seen him since .. the sly fella.

Long time associates who have been providing blueprint research & copy services have decided to call it quits after 2+ years. It was founded on 2009.05.04 on the back of several dramas as we moved from Providence to Outer Ring.

A few of us recruited some junior researchers and till now have at least 5 active researchers constantly seeking to provide us with copies for T2 invention. With 27 T2 batch runs completed, this has contributed to 7480 T2 modules (62 unique items), 20 T2 ships, 580 T2 drones and a quite a few ammo for pew pew.

The POS was named “Unknown System J100145” after the wormhole system which I spent a fair amount of time while exploring the new phenomenon.

With the researchers slowly spending less and less time on the work at hand, running the POS (a Shadow Control Tower) at almost 265mil/30 days in POS fuel costs is slowly grinding away the wallet.

Should I create another smaller POS?

30 x research agents (Core Complexion, CreoDron, Duvolle, Roden, Lai Dai)
30 x manufacturing slots (with 10 more to come)
40 x research/copy/invent slots

One can do a lot with this resources.

AMARR MASS PROTEST – NO MT IN EVE!, a photo by Jar Calhoun on Flickr.

Amarr local @ 552

MASS PROTEST – NO MT IN EVE!, a photo by Jar Calhoun on Flickr.

Jita Local @ 1529

Join in-game “MASS-PROTEST”

Huge fan of Ian Chisholm’s work on Clear Skies and his latest production “Clear Skies 3″ is out!

http://www.clearskiesthemovie.com/default.htm

CPP should just hire the whole crew who delivered this great trilogy and get a whole tv series out!

It’s been a long hiatus from Eve. Reestablished contacts and have since managed to get some industrial activity spinning again in my high-sec bases. It’s been slow going but will have to take time to re-learn and get in touch with people again.

Dominion went by and some significant changes were made to system sovereignty. Catching up on news channels, seems that the first 0.0 region I used to call home in Catch/Providence has since been conquered by AAA and friends (Ushra’khan,etc). It seems they are planning to establish NRDS again so that will be interesting.

Mica’s brief time in Fountain with Sons of Tangra also saw the region change hands. Thus is the volatility of 0.0 space. Makes me miss the good times now that I’ve logged almost 1 year in high-sec since leaving 0.0.

Tyrannis was recently announced and with that the land rush begins. We’re finally able to do something with the gorgeous planets that will slowly take away our reliance on the npc corps which have for so long provided us with essential goods. I’ve taken a good look at POS fuel manufacturing and have asked an associate to begin studies and trials on how we can benefit from this asap.

Eve University has also rather generously created some tutorials on the subject which you may find useful.

CCP’s introduction is also worth a watch.

I’m now part of “The Scope”, a small sized corporation with global extent. The new corp chat shows 258 present but I’m just another person joining the ranks. Finally took the plunge to drop from TGIND as I’m not able to devote the energy and time necessary to get things working again. There are many things to fix and I wish Page well in rebuilding the corp.

Since I had roles, the action of dropping roles actually requires a 24 hour standby period. Interestingly Nova got war dec’d by OuterRim Jobs and fighting could legally start before I could quit so I helped out by talking to locater agents to find the “scumbugs” who declared war on us. Level 4 locator agents allow you to query a person on his whereabouts. Within 10 minutes, an evemail is sent indicating their location. There is a 15minutes interval before you can use them again so its worth going to a region where you can use a few locator agents at one time. Eve-agents.com has a great database of all possible agents you can work with.

2009.06.05 22:52
The sleazebag is currently at Nourvukaiken II – Moon 1 – Modern Finances Investment Bank station in the Nourvukaiken system, Okela constellation of Lonetrek region.

Mica has already moved to the forward base and I heard he had an interesting encounter but he’ll also be moving on after the war dec. Hope we get back to 0.0 soon.

Minmatar ships, they look like they are taped together but once you fly one, you’ll love the speed. The Republic Fleet Firetail has been high on my list of ships to test out ever since seeing it in action during the recent Alliance tournaments.

The Firetail is modeled off a fighter frigate known as the Shamrock, a design used by a small, now-extinct pirate faction known as Lazari Dromitus.  The blueprint found its way into the hands of Matari military forces after a raid on Lazari Dromitus’s headquarters succeeded in killing its leader, thus beheading the organization and scattering its remnants to the four winds.  It has since been improved upon and upgraded, and the Firetail is now a mainstay in most Republic Fleet patrols.

Minmatar Frigate Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to maximum velocity and 7.5% bonus to Small Projectile Turret tracking speed per level

Speed is a thrill .. Cap stable at 76% and speeding along at 1641 m/s (even faster if I have Minmatar Frigate V trained), the technicians have given me one hell of a zippy devil. I look forward to using this in fleets one day. Meanwhile, Gone Berserk mission is offered and I pursue the terrorist fanatics. Had to swap fits to get more DPS out of the ship and dumped the stasis webifier since it wasn’t helping much. Had to remind the weapon technician to load more rockets as I actually ran out right at the end! These fanatics sure don’t know when to quit!

[08:11:32] Message > EoM Priest:  More vermin have showed up on our doorstep.  Purge the unbelievers, in the name of the Lord!

[08:16:02] Message > EoM Priest:  Brothers, our own are suffering at the hands of these infidels.  Come to their aid at once!

[Republic Fleet Firetail, Mica - PvE ]
Overdrive Injector System II
Overdrive Injector System II
Gyrostabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
Tracking Computer II, Tracking Speed
Peripheral Weapon Navigation Diameter

‘Malkuth’ Rocket Launcher I, Foxfire Rocket
‘Malkuth’ Rocket Launcher I, Foxfire Rocket
200mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun, EMP S
200mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun, EMP S

[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]

Got a new mission while out testing the faction frigates. The Seven’s Brothel Objective : Find and eliminate the leader of the ‘Seven’s’ forces within their compound, then report back to your agent.

Great time to test another faction frigate from the collection! I’ve not been a fan of the aesthetics of Caldari ships (what is with the all the blinking lights?) but the Caldari Navy Hookbill actually looks pretty good.

Long struggling with a reputation for being the ugly duckling of the Caldari ship repertoire, the Hookbill recently got a new lease on life, being upgraded from a routine patrol vessel into a fleet-standard frigate. With the advancements brought on by the upgrade, the time is nigh for this little slugger to prove itself on battlefields throughout Caldari space and beyond.

Caldari Frigate Skill Bonus: 10% bonus to Shield capacity and 10% bonus to Small Hybrid Turret optimal range per level

Shield tanked, this ship hardly broke a sweat against “Sarah”, the leader of the forces I had to eliminate. DPS was comparable to the Comet and slightly faster at 970 m/s. Losietes was definitely pleased when I reported success in a rather quick time.

[Caldari Navy Hookbill, Mica - PvE Blasters]
Power Diagnostic System II
Power Diagnostic System II
Overdrive Injector System II

1MN Afterburner II
Small Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I
Small Shield Booster II
V-M15 Braced Multispectral Shield Matrix

Light Neutron Blaster II, Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Antimatter Charge S
‘Malkuth’ Rocket Launcher I, Gremlin Rocket
‘Malkuth’ Rocket Launcher I, Gremlin Rocket

[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]