As my remaining two readers know, I spend my EVE life in Wormhole space, flying with Anomalous Existence (NOMEX) based out of a C2 hole. However fun this is, between real life job(s), family and other stuff I barely can make 2 hour / week piloting work and consequently lost much of the “edge” that I used to have may have had . Basically, I screw up a lot these days and while this is humorous occasionally and solo, in fleet operations it can put the whole fleet at risk. And here follows the tale of the screw-ups that nearly ended badly:
Big picture. NOMEX lives in a C2 but had reasons to make an Astrahus in a C5 go away. I have no idea why, don’t ask, don’t want to know but I like explosions, so of course I volunteer. As usual, the fleet combo is something like DPS+Scout+Logi and my always preferred roles for “Scout” were already taken. The DPS fleet ships into “Leshaks”, these newfangled ships for which I have so far been too arrogant to train for and that leaves me with flying Logistics. Actually, that works, I am reasonably confident that I know what I am doing and I certainly could use the practice. But wait! Why use a standard corp-approved Guardian if I could make things far more complicated and fly a T3 Cruiser? Logi-Proteus is a “thing” these days, I already have a hull. Its expensive, risky and unnecessary, just what my corp didn’t ask for but the FC grudgingly approves. Someone smarter than me gives me a fit and I head to Jita with a song on my lips. This is what I buy: Continue reading →
EVE Online used to have two distinct reputations: a) its a spreadsheet game played by the hyper nerdy, basically those who are so socially inept that their D&D group threw them out and b) total and complete immoral bastards who plan for years how to stab their best friend in the back. Like all stereotypes, these are vastly exaggerated but have a kernel of truth: EVE is complicated and driven by numbers and mechanic lets you be a total asshat as long as you can deal with the in-game consequences. The same mechanic that lets you be a dick also lets you (and the group you fly in) actively reject being dicks. There are pragmatic reasons behind not being a dick, especially in smaller wormhole outfits. By nature of the wormhole mechanic, we run into each other all the time and getting a bad reputation is a recipe for an eviction. On the other hand, being true to one’s word allows rapid, temporary coalitions to form to help in a defense situation or when fun demands it.
The video that my corp-mate Seraphessael recently posted shows off the bizarre nerdiness that EVE is and the honor code that our small world lives by. See, in the video, Seraphessael chose to show the entire engagement, not just the juicy combat parts. That’s a little unusual but I personally love it, it really shows so much more how a team functions than just the choice parts where missiles are in the air (well, vacuum, whatever).
So, first, full disclosure. I came into this really late, I had had the audacity to eat dinner while the corporation had been “rolling for content” and I only logged in when the ping went out.
In wormhole space, you push enough heavy ships through a wormhole, it eventually dies and a new one spawns soon after. The mass-calculation, the fleet coordination, the fits of the various “rollers” are finely tuned and a good corporation can crush a hole within a few minutes, scan down the new one and have scouts in there to search for targets. Its entirely routine and in Seraphessael’s video, the first 2:14 minutes show the team in rolling action, coms are relaxed and people goof around. However, when the scout finds a mining fleet with their pants down, the tone and content changes dramatically. I love this inflection point because in good corporations, within seconds a PvP fleet forms, pings are sent and everyone gets down to business. Unlike Nullsec, its not always organized, there are no real FC’s but the roles are flexible. Much, much hangs on the scout – whoever it is at this time. A second experienced person quarterbacks the fight relying on the word of his scout and the competency of his team to execute. In the video, shooting starts at 4:48, basically 2:30 minutes after the target was first seen.
The fight itself was short and brutal, it could have ended either way since nobody (not our target, not us) had any idea what they were really up against. We won – this time – but next time we may be the victim. In this light, notice the call not to loot the field, keep the very expensive mining drones on-field and basically not be dicks. We had what we wanted (kills), now was the time to display our honor code.
Of course, we could have spammed /local with taunts. Instead we typed “gf” and nothing else. We could have looted everything denying our target valuable assets. Instead we chose to leave the field unlooted. We could have podded everyone, laughed about them on /r/eve, sent meme-gifs and basically be dicks. Instead, we chose not to any of these things because it goes against our “bushido” and dishonor would have been worse than defeat.
Edit This just in. A fast/furious little skirmish that started as a rapid gank on a Gila that ran one of the event sites and escalated when our target dropped a Bhaal plus many other things on us. RIP my little Stratios, you will be missed replaced.
As my last remaining reader knows, I moved to a new corp “Anomalous Existence” and am happy as a clam in this outfit. They are small enough to know all the guys and gals but big enough that stuff goes down all the time. Unfortunately most of the times when I see a ping, I can’t log in for Real Life reasons. I don’t mind too much right now, as long as NOMEX doesn’t kick me out, I am happy where I am. My reduced online time however means that I have to scrap all things EVE extraneous like PvE, reading about EVE and of course blogging. Continue reading →
Most of my remaining two readers will have realized that had the EVE Blues. It was a combination of three things:
Z3ro Return Mining, my ancestral home in EVE, the corp that I joined as a pod-pole 7 years ago, where I learned Wormhole flying and in which I found true friends is slowing down. People age, families grow, recruitment is hard work and attrition has shrunk the corp to a few good friends with limited time online. It just “happens”, there is no drama but as a game it wasn’t enjoyable for me.
CCP made some wild design decisions that in fore- and hindsight have been disastrous and bit them in the ass. Rather than focusing on the diversity of players using the multitude of things to do in New Eden as their driver, they channeled all development and marketing activity into one thing and one thing only, Sov Nullsec. It worked, thousands now log in only to experience a big fight with the entirely predictable result that the servers crash and people are disappointed. I grew tired of being treated as third class paying customer and unsubbed 2 of my 3 accounts.
I personally had changes in my life, good or bad but they didn’t allow for “regular” play. Long, boring story, everyone has those phases, mine started in summer 2017. Its only now that I have more of a balance and can re-engage in things that are not absolutely necessary to life (like computer games).
But sometimes, all it needs is a short, sharp kick in the ass to get motivation back. I suddenly realized that I truly missed EVE and that I don’t have to stay with Z3ro. I am allowed to leave. But where should I go? Continue reading →
A journey through the mind 