Open Letter to "Wu1f"

First off, I need to say that "Wu1f" is so far beyond lame. It actually pains me to think that someone raised such a person with so little creativity that "Wu1f" was the best they could come up with.

I can only hope that he purchased the character and it pains him every time he has to log in.

As I wind down Odinsdagrting, I am calling for votes to unlock the BPOs so I can sell them and pay the investors. I've gotten a couple of eve-mails from "Wu1f" asking me to stop spamming him. I can't respond, since he has blocked me. If anyone knows "Wu1f", then please pass this on to him:

Mr. Wolf,

Take this as a courtesy and a lesson on how to play Eve.

You, or the corporation that you control, owns one or more voting shares of stock in Odinsdagrting [ODNDT]. As a result, you will receive notification everytime there is a call for a share holder vote.

If you do not wish to vote, you do not have to. If you do not wish to own the stock, feel free to sell it. It is currently traded on the Block Ships and Ammunitions Corporate Stock Exchange (http://www.bsacse.amxg4.com/stocks/index.php).

Vol Jbolaz, CEO
Odinsdagrting


--------------------------------
Spam
From: Wu1f
Sent: 2011.03.15 17:41
To: Vol Jbolaz,


seriously man stop spamming me.
i have nothing to do with your corp or your alliance so stop sending me these messages i really dont give a shit about these things you want to unlock

New Player Resources: Mining

I am not a miner. In all honesty, the only way I can stand to shoot at rocks is if someone might shoot back. While I do, rarely, join a mining op in high sec, I'm not even remotely interested in mining unless we are at least in low sec. Mining in null sec is finally getting to some fun.

In other words, a mining op is no fun if it doesn't require a security detail.

That being said, I've had a few, "I want to be a miner," applications from newly licensed capsuleers to my mostly non-mining corp. I don't mind. They can mine by themselves, or join me for mining ops in low sec.

Still, I feel the need to collect what knowledge I can here.

As a new capsuleer, don't waste your time. Seriously. You have the ability to mine, but you completely suck at it. Go find an agent and run missions.

I'm not saying don't go into mining, I'm saying you should lay some ground work. If you want to be an uberminer, you will eventually need to learn the skills that will make you an uberrefiner. That is something you can get started on from day one.

When cutting rocks, you get raw ore. That ore gets hauled to a station or outpost and refined into minerals that can be used in manufacturing. The minerals are the goal of mining. The refining process has quite a bit of loss in it.

When a new capsuleer refines a bit of ore, they only get back half of the minerals in that ore. There are skills that will boost the refine efficiency. Those same skills will make you better at mining.

To use a Tech 2 mining crystal, one has to have Refining V, Refinery Efficiency V, and the ore specific processing skill to IV. All of those skills will lower the amount of waste when refining ore.

That still doesn't explain why I recommend run missions.

In addition to ore lost to inefficiency, the station takes a cut. The higher your standings with the corporation that owns the station, the lower the cut. To get perfect refine, one needs more than perfect skills. They need a standing high enough to reduce the refining tax to zero.

My advice to new miners is be a mission runner first.

As to the actual practice of mining, there are a few good resources out there on how to cut rocks. A good place to start, aside from Google, is Evelopedia. The Evewiki has a pretty exhaustive article, too.

Starting a Podcast

I know, it is weird. It is probably a very bad idea, but I'm doing it.

I am starting yet another Eve-related podcast.

In all fairness, this podcast will have a very small focus. I will try to publish it every week, but I only expect it to be between five and eight minutes long. My goals are simple.

• Publish a market report, not unlike PRI's Marketplace, or the Eve Morning Report.


• Expand to not only cover minerals and ice products, but PI products and any active stock exchanges.


• Report only weekly changes, since daily isn't of too much use to me. And report on trends over time, too.


• Report only the numbers that have actually moved in the last week. No need to bore everyone with numbers that only changed .27%.


• Get the show syndicated. While I don't mind producing and publishing it weekly on my own, I really feel it would fit nicely in someone else's show. They can edit it in.


• Get another host. One of the reasons the Eve Morning Report died is because it was just one guy. While I don't see two people doing this at once, I do see me and one or more people taking turns, so we can make sure someone can do it every week. And the format is simple enough.

I'm doing this to support my main business, to fill a void, and because it may be kind of fun. We'll see how it goes. I won't be doing big shows with interviews and in-depth news and such. I am not an economist. I am not a business major or anything. I don't really know how the deep details of the economy work. This is all a wonderful fun hobby for me. Just like making a publicly-traded corporation work. This is a big escape from reality.

If I can get it to work, I'll hopefully have the first full episode ready for download this weekend. I've already passed a demo out to a few others. If you are interested, let me know.

Establishing Trust

Being a Capsuleer means one is forced to live by different rules. Capsuleers are, first and foremost, immortal. Punishments for crimes are severely limited in their effectiveness. Capsuleers also have much more mobility than humans have ever had in the past. Not only do they have access to faster-than-light ships and access to instant point-to-point jump gates at much higher rates than non-capsuleers, but they have access to jump clones. Capsuleers can literally move from one end of known space to the other at the speed it takes him to step into the medical facility.

All of this gives Capsuleers a level of untouchableness. They can exist above laws. However, this is not the end of it. Every Capsuleer may be tied to any number of capsuleers at a level that can not be tracked anywhere in New Eden outside of the super secret internal workings of the medical facilities. This means that any Capsuleer could potentially be willing to sacrifice himself to biomass reclamation, because he knows his mind can live on in a new Capsuleer. The only thing lost is the skill training, agent standing, and the scarlet letter of the crime they are seeking to absolve themselves of.

This makes Capsuleers paranoid.

This makes Capsuleers who are CEOs even more paranoid.

I live by a, "Don't trust me, and I won't trust you" motto. It is really is manifested in more of a trust, but verify manner.

When I was with Sturmgrenadier I rose to the position of Director of Industrial Logistics. I was in charge of all of the internal corporate manufacturing, mining, and POSes. The latter two had very dedicated assistant directors. This let me focus on the former. SG offered, for free to all regular members, all T1 frigates, cruisers, ammunition, and modules. We had battlecruisers, barges, industrials, and, occasionally, battleships, to loan to members. We had three offices that had to be stocked, and POS hangars.

We had thefts. The mechanics available to capsuleer corporations and station hangars is simply inadequate. We could not prevent the thefts without making everything entirely too cumbersome to maintain. The best we could do was set up firewalls. If someone did steal, audit trails made it obvious who stole. The limited amounts available at any time limited what could be stolen. This put more work on my team, but it was a balance. If anyone were to steal, they would have to do it on the way out, and they couldn't get but so much.

After leaving SG, I started a couple independent ventures. Odinsdagrting [ODNDT] is my most recent one, but I'll speak more on that in a moment.

One of them was Prydwen Technology Group [PRYD]. Even after leaving SG the corp, I was still in the syndicate, and still had close ties with them and their alliance, Fountain Alliance [FA]. I offered a limited stock purchase to SG and FA members, and paid modest dividends. I also offered small, unsecured loans to SG and FA members. This was all a bit risky, thus I limited it to people that I thought I could trust. In the end, I had no loans default.

But in the end, I burned out. I had one outstanding loan, and before anyone could ask for another, I paid off that loan from my own wallet and closed up shop. I liquidated the company, selling off all of the BPOs the corp had (manufacturing was one of the revenue streams). I then paid out the entire corp wallet as dividends. Because the corp was now worth more than it was when it started, those that bought stock now received their initial money back, plus some, on top of the dividends they had been receiving.

There was nothing that made me do that, though. I did that because I thought it was the right thing to do. There is no mechanic to enforce that. I had to ask people to trust me, and I don't like doing that.

There is also the matter of, what if I couldn't liquidate and repay? What if, instead of a burn out, it was 'hit by a bus'? I thought I had a solution for that with my latest venture, Odinsdagrting. I had a friend that I got into a capsule. I see him every week, and I've known him for years. I know I can trust him as a partner in a corp. If I get hit by a bus, then he can try to continue alone, or he can pull the plug and pay everyone back.

He is leaving the capsule, though. It just isn't for him. That is fair. It isn't for most people.

I have instructions for him, though. If I'm hit by a bus, it is my hope that he'll get into the capsule long enough to melt the company down and divide the capital up among the owners, the stock holders.

The Billion ISK Primae

This is a tale of how I am covered in epic fail.

I was puttering around The Forge, buying BPOs, scouting out offices. One the side, I was looking for Covetor BPCs. The Alliance was just coming out of its latest war, so I was looking at local.

Already, I'm doing several things I don't normally do.

Someone in local posted a link to a Primae auction. I was curious as to how much these worthless little things were going for. The auction had just started, and was starting at 1,000,000.00 ISK.

I didn't expect it to stay at 1 Million ISK. I expect it to get between 10 and 20 Million. I didn't have any interest in a Primae, and wasn't going to bid. But I figured, sure, I'll be the first bidder. I'll get the little auction rolling. And when I get outbid, I really won't care.

The next day, I'm not in New Eden. I'm at my office, most everyone is gone. I'm just trudging through some annoying work. I start to think about the Primae, just in general terms. Then I think... wait... did that auction say 1 Million or 1 Billion?

In a panic, I pull out my iPhone and fire up Capsuleer and refresh. My wallet drops by 1 Billion ISK.

Somehow I had missed it. Somehow I had missed that there was already a bid on that auction of 1 Billion. I was not bidding 1 Thousand over a 1 Million ISK bid, I was bidding 1 Million over a 1 Billion ISK bid. All of this for something that I didn't want, and didn't expect to win. Just because I was poking around in Contracts while warping from gate to gate in The Forge.

And to add insult to injury, I had built up that money as commissions and dividends since September. This month, Odinsdagrting was planning on having a public stock offering. That 1 Billion ISK, in fact, nearly all of the ISK I had, was going into that investment.

Now, not only did I lose 1 Billion of my ISK, the vast majority of my ISK, but Odinsdagrting loses out on that Billion ISK. And since the number of shares offered will be limited to the number of shares I can buy (since I want to maintain control), the corporation loses out on the potential for 2 Billion ISK (mind you, I doubt there are that many interested investors).

It is safe to say that my emorage meter spiked. But, whatever, I've demonstrated before that I'm a loser. There is, however, some adolescent griefer that just creamed his shorts.

I can now completely identify with his girlfriends: It's a regrettable hassle and not nearly as satisfying for me.

Lessons Learned

I should've taken all of that money and dumped it into the wallet of a character that I don't use. The corporation has several wallets, so I can spread its money around. The wallets act like firewalls, to keep stupid mistakes like this, or corp thefts, from doing but so much damage.

As an example: on the same day, I accidentally bought 23 copies of a 675,000.00 BPO when I only meant to buy 2. The three is next to the Enter. Fortunately, they were small, and they really are worth 675 Thousand, so I can recover.

Lessons Learned Planetside

With the build-up to Planetary Interaction, I thought I was not going to like it. I went in upset that it couldn't be a corp thing. One can anchor for the corp. One can buy, sell, and contract for the corp. Why can't we run planets for the corp?

I was afraid that it would be hard for the corp to formalize Planetary Interaction. But, I think I've found a way.

I also thought I would hate Planetary Interaction because of how much babysitting it might require. I was pleased to find that colonies can be not only maintained but completely rebuilt from regions away. Storage is so plentiful that I don't need to fly out to low sec and pick up my wares every third day. I can wait a week, or even two.

Not only all that, but I'm liking the way one builds colonies. It is a little bit of a click-fest, but it is interesting. I kind of would like some sort of way to tune ships like this.

On the initial release day, I set up four colonies. I rebuilt two of them.

There are a few things that I learned that wasn't obvious to me before I got involved. I watched StevieSG's YouTube tutorial. I should've done more research before hand, but I didn't.

Some of the things I've learned:

Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there.

I have seen as many as eight installations on one planet. 'Course, I may have counted one more than once. But they don't show up readily. I turn on a scan, then slide the heat map so the whole planet is white. When I find a little spot, I look around for the command center. When I click on it, the entire network and all the buildings show up. They weren't there before.

Storage is important. Don't over do it.

While I can build a storage facility, the spaceport alone holds as much as two storage facilities. Since I can edit my colony from regions away (that's right, regions away you can rebuild the entire thing), I wait to build extra storage. No need to build it if I don't need it.

Plan. Plan. Plan.

There are several levels on which I plan. One is just deciding what I want to create as an end products. Some of the P3/P4 items I use in my T2 production. Some of them I want to build some items that are built completely from planetary products.

I have to decide which items to source from which planets, which items I want to haul to another planet for a more reactions, and so on.

Another thing to plan is how the buildings are to be laid out. This is very important for each individual colony. Laying the paths out wrong can cost another extractor or two.

Links can be upgraded, and messed with.

I didn't know this to begin with. As I was routing products, I exceeded the capacity on a link. When I clicked on that link, I found that they can be upgraded. That helps a lot.

When routing a good, the route will always take the fewest number of links. Even if there are two links to the destination, the product wont' route if one link is over capacity. While it can be upgraded, sometimes it is worthwhile to build the longer links first. Route as many goods as that set of links will hold. Then build the shorter links. Then route the rest of the goods.

Examples

This is the part when I want to introduce pictures.



This is a crazy web of links. There is no real need for links set up like this. And links consume resources.



This one does have the web, but there are links that aren't needed. There is no need to link everything to the hub. Link buildings to the building closest to them. Goods can be routed through other buildings.



The extractors here don't need a link to every destination. Items can be routed through other buildings.



This is an example of one of the ones that I rebuilt. There are a few things that I'd like to change, but here you see how linking and routing can be done to save powergrid and CPU.

Here though, I could drop the storage facility. I could also have brought everything closer to the CC to use it as a route point.

Also, having the facilities outside of the storage means that the link between the facility and the storage gets used three times. It causes congestion.

Widescreen Isn't Just Letterboxing!

When Tyrannis was released, I immediately noticed something was wrong with my HUD. I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then I was directed to the a forum thread: So why did "widescreen" go the way of "medium shader" again?

That was it. Parts of my HUD had, at one point, been in the letterboxes. Now, the widescreen feature has been removed.

CCP Eris Discordia offer the excuse that adapting changes to work with the feature was too much of a burden.

Several in the thread have pointed out that the unintended advantages the letterboxes gave to the visually impaired were being exploited by macroers.

Yes, I am upset to see the widescreen go. I am more upset, however, to see the number of idiots in the thread that didn't realize that the widescreen mode actually let you have a wider field of view. You could see more. It wasn't just letterboxes laid overtop of the display to crop it and create a widescreen effect. The field of view was actually increased. For that to fit on the screen, it had to be letterboxed.

So the non-widescreen option is actually a cropping of the widescreen option.

The same is true for movies. The letterboxes aren't just for dramatic effect. Movie theater screens aren't merely bigger. They have a different aspect ratio for a reason. Humans have a much better side-to-side peripheral vision than they do up-down.

I could rant on and on, but the internet is full of articles that have already covered this. I invite everyone to check with Google and read for themselves why widescreen actually shows more. Another great place to start is Wikipedia's article on apect ratio.

Helping Others... Or Not

Odinsdagrting is recruiting. As a result, I've been visiting the official forums. After harassing more than a few threads in the recruitment forum, I wandered over to the Science and Industry forum.

There are an expected number of threads where new and aspiring industrialists ask questions. There is an eagerness to answer them. I think that is true for most forums: the desire to be the person with the right answer.

There are an expected number of threads where people are crying foul over some actual or perceived problem. Some of these are real problems, some aren't. Some are likely just trolls.

The posts that really surprise me, or more to the point, upset me, are the ones were people are intentionally misleading others. The post look genuine. I read them, and my first thought is that they must have the math wrong.

Then I wonder if I am doing the math wrong.

I double check my math, and re-read the post. The tone makes me think that this person is intentionally saying it ever so slightly wrong in the hopes to lead others astray.

In the realm of PvP, everyone seems open to share their tactics, their fits, their little tricks and advice. Part of it is because some of these things are hard to hide. Part of it is likely because sharing tricks is just as much of a victory as actually employing them. It strokes the e-peen.

I'm sure part of it is also because knowing the tricks of another warrior is not always enough of an edge to beat them. Market PvP doesn't have anything more than tricks. Twitch, nerves, gangmates, blobs, camps; these things don't affect market PvP.

The misleading forum posts are probably a valid tactic in market PvP, but they feel very underhanded to me, deceitful. They are a tactic that doesn't distinguish between intended targets and innocent bystanders.

Then again, there may not be innocents in market PvP.

Eager for Action

I've been busy keeping Odinsdagrting going. Money hasn't been bad, and the corp is now twice as big as it was when I formed it. But, I want some action.

I have a problem that I imagine most others don't have. I don't have an industrial alt. It is just me. I can build and sell an Oneiros, and I can fit and field a Scimitar. Regrettably, I only get to build the ships as of late.

I've made an offer to haul ships in my Mastodon out to low security space, just so I had something slightly dangerous to do. I'm looking forward to Planetary Exploration because I want to go into low security space and set up some planetary operations there.

I did finally break down and buy my Loki. I dubbed her Hellcat and flew her back home. I still haven't settled on a fitting, yet, but with the interdiction nullifier and the covert ops configuration, I feel pretty confident running around null sec. I just don't know if there is much of a reason for me to do that, yet.

I'm not going to do anything crazy right now and risk the Loki, but I don't mind risking Mastodons and Prowlers. Maybe I'll take a barge into low sec and see if anyone jumps me.

Out of the Pod

I will be going on vacation next week. If anyone cares, this will delay the Odinsdagrting monthly report and dividends.

If anyone really cares, I'll be in Florida. I will be trying to watch Discovery launch for STS-131. I can't really say as I'm all that glamorous to meet, and I will have the family with me, but... if there is any sort of ad hoc Eve Meetup, let me know.

A Day in the Life...

I've been so very busy lately. I have a project entering the final stretch at my planetside employer, so I am busy working on documentation and training material and trying to get the last few bugs worked out of the system.

My work week is measured Monday to Monday. Today on Saturday, I have logged 58 hours for this week. Being salaried, I don't get paid any over time. All of that, and I haven't even gotten around to do the work I wanted to get done this week. My mother-in-law has the children this weekend, so I am hoping to work on some more documentation.

All my time spent there, however, means I have less time to work on getting Odinsdagrting to the point where it runs... more without me. To get to the point where I can work less, I have to work more. I need more hands, I need more time to get some logistics sorted and running smoothly, and I need time to make that happen.

Prior to this week, I did try to record my time off world, either in station or in a capsule. In five days that I was able to keep track, I snuck in nearly 21 hours. Mind you, a lot of that time was while I was also working on stuff for my planetside job, so I was having to multitask.

All of that time was spent hauling raw materials to the factory, hauling produced goods to market, tending market orders, tending build jobs, tending invention jobs, monitoring the corp wallets (to see who has sold what so I can track profit from sales and commissions), and tending the massive Google Docs spreadsheet used to run it all.

My Eve life sounds terribly, terribly boring.

Yes, I do want to get into some real, organized operations that run the risk of armed combat. But I find that I do enjoy pushing bits around, squeezing out more profit, and growing the corp. As boring as it sounds, as boring as it looks, as boring as it probably is, I wouldn't give it up.

Blog Banter #14

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, 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 to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of 2010 comes to us from the EVE Blog Father, CrazyKinux himself, who asks the following: As we begin another year in New Eden, ask yourselves "What Now?" What will I attempt next? What haven't I done so far in EVE? Was it out fear, funds, or knowledge? Have I always wanted to start my own corporation, but have never dared doing so? Is there a fledging mercenary waiting to come out of its shell? Or maybe an Industrialist? What steps and objectives will I set myself to accomplish in order to reach my ultimate goal for this year? EVE is what you make of it. So, what is it going to be for you?

My answer has to come in three parts: The Possible, The Hopeful, and The Wildest Dream.

The Possible

My primary focus is my corp, Odinsdagrting. I would like for it to remain open this entire year. I would like for it to grow not only value, but in membership. I'd love to have at least four main inventors and builders with people responsible for selling and procurement. I'm not against a mining division, worm hole activities, and high sec POSes. I also want to push into low sec and, along with United Trade Syndicate, build markets.

I've tried running my own little corps, and I've been in a senior position in other people's big corps. I'd like to try running my own big corp.

The Hopeful

I've often tried to find a ship that would define me. I don't have to be in it all the time, but it would be the ship I'd use most of the time. The ship that I'd specialize in. The ship that I could be known for.

Most of the time, I'm in my Mastodon, Holtby, or my Prowler, Bisycmaplinis.

I do really like the Jaguar. I would've liked it even more if the AF speed boost had been included in Dominion. I can't see the Jaguar being a ship that could be used in enough situations to be a signature ship, though.

My past performance would indicate an affinity for the Blackbird. I do like it. It would make sense to make the Falcon a more permanent choice, but it is slow.

And Caldari.

I love the Typhoon and the Bellicose (mini-Phoon), and should look into the navy variants.

However, I think fate sealed it during the Hellcats Party. I was there for less than five minutes, and then was wifed. My name was drawn for the Loki, and I wasn't there.

Not only is it Minmatar, and badass, and works great in a group or solo, but it is very versatile and could be a ship one uses most of the time. Thanks to some gifts after the party, I am on my way. Once my corp is more stable, I'll likely save up enough and get myself into a Loki. I've never flown anything more expensive than a Tempest.

The Wildest Dream

I have an idea for a meta-game website. Something like Eve-Metrics or Eve Online Hold'em. I think it would be wildly successful.

I also think the Bellicose is a fun ship, so clearly my opinion doesn't mean much.

My wildest dream for this year is to talk some others into my idea, finding crazy amounts of free time, and coding up a web site that would add one of those real-world industries to a game that clearly wasn't built for it. I have an idea like EBank, just built with better safeguards.

p.s. A list of participants. I have to admit to not having had time to read all of these. I feel linking to content that I haven't looked at, but it has taken me so long to have the time to post this list that I feel I should post the entire list:

1. CrazyKinux's Musing - A beginning is a very delicate time...
2. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility - Words, words, words…
3. My God It's Full of Stars - What Now?
4. The Elitist - Plans for 112yc
5. Into the unknown with gun and camera - Show me the money
6. Ecliptic Rift - Enabling the future
7. Inanity and Doom - New Year's Resolutions, New Eden Style
8. Break Vol - Blog Banter #14
9. Guns Ablaze - What Now?
10. Adventures in Mission Running - The Way Forward
11. Diary of a Pod Pilot - Things I want to do
12. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah - The Year That Will Be
13. Roc's Ramblings - WordPress ate my blog
14. Vive Virtual - Frontier Living
15. A Mule in EVE - Next on the chopping block
16. Prano's Journey - I Peer Into My Crystal Pod...
17. Life in Low Sec - Expanding the Franchise
18. The Light of Stars - Testing the claims of CCP
19. A Memoir From Space - A New Direction
20. The Chronofile - Blog Banter 2010
21. FlashFresh - What now for Flash?
22. EVE Opportunist - Fyreite in 112
23. Mike Azariah - Jiorj
24. Yarrbear Tales - Year in Review
25. The Independant Analyst - The Year Ahead
26. The Travels of Black Claw - Where ma I going?
27. Warp Scrammed - What to do this year
28. Sered's Lives - Searching for directions in 2010
29. Finders & Keepers - New Tears, Same Great Taste
30. The Captain's Log - To Dream of the Future
31. The Lathspell of Mithrandir - Resolutions
32. The Midnight Sun - EVE Blog Banter #14
33. EVE What? - New Heights to be Reached
34. The EVE Chronicles - New Year – New Blog – What a way to start the Year!

[ Delicious Tags: eveblogbanter14 ]

New Player Resources: Corp Roles

Odinsdagrting has been running over a month now. It is just me and my three newbie friends. So far, I've been doing most of the work. It isn't a complaint. My work so far has been an investment. This post, however, is born from an email to my corpmates. I figured this was worth sharing.

Hauling

This can be a corp role onto itself. There are, however, many other roles that can use these same skills.

In this case, though, there are two focuses for one's skills. One I call a container ship, and one is the tramp freighter.

When hauling large amounts of cheap materials, such as minerals and ore, one wants an n-tier industrial, such as the Mammoth or Badger Mk II in the role of a container ship. When fitting these ships, they should be fitted to maximize cargo room. Every low slot should be a cargo expander. Every rig slot should be a cargo expander. The idea is, the ship should carry as many giant containers as possible.

The tramp freighter is for when one is hauling small, more expensive goods, such as salvage, advanced components, or manufactured goods. The tramp freighter needs to be fitted with the intention of reducing time-to-warp. It doesn't need to carry more than one giant container. It needs to slip into warp as quickly as possible. For this reason, it should have initial stabilizers and nano-fibers fit. It may also want to fit warp core stabilizers.

In either of these cases, the ship should have as large and strong a buffer shield tank as possible. High sec, suicide piracy is a very real possibility. These pirates will easily be able to over come any active boosting. A large buffer won't save your ship, but it may keep it intact long enough to get into warp, into the station, through the gate, or until CONCORD arrives.

To see the skills needed for this, just play with ship fittings in EFT or look at ships and modules in EveMon.

Corporate Sales

This is a role that often requires the tramp freighter to quickly carry manufactured goods to the market hubs.

This role also requires the Trade skill. Depending on the volume, this role may also require the Retail and Wholesale skills. It is worth noting that Retail only requires Trade II.

Helpful for this role is also Accounting and Broker Relations. Both of these will reduce costs and save money.

Another skill that would be handy is Daytrading. This skill allows for the remote modification of orders. The Marketing skill will allow one to post remote sell orders, but in most cases, one is delivering the goods to the station and can place the initial order then. Being able to remotely participate in the penny wars is very helpful.

Procurement

Depending on what materials are being procured, this job may require either the container ship or the tramp freighter.

It doesn't require any skills to buy off of existing sell orders. The buyer doesn't pay a tax or broker's fee.

However, it is sometimes cheaper and easier to just place buy orders. In these cases, one will again need to get into the Trade-Retail-Wholesale tree. The Procurement skill replaces the Marketing skill, and is much more handy.

Research Assistant

One of the bottlenecks in Tech 2 production is the limited number of research slots one has available. Some jobs can take days, further slowing the entire process down. It is helpful to have more hands helping with this.

One of the simplest research jobs is copying blueprints. To install a copy job, one simply needs Laboratory Operation which requires Science III.

There are skills, such as Science, that will speed up these jobs. Metallurgy will speed up Material Level research jobs (very useful) and Research will speed up Time Efficiency research jobs (not as useful). However, these types of research jobs only ever need to be done once. Copy jobs have to be done nearly constantly.

Another useful skill is Scientific Networking. This will allow the remote installation of research jobs.

Inventor

To build Tech 2 products (without one of the old Tech 2 blueprint originals) one must invent. The skills required to run an invention job on any given blueprint are listed on the blueprint itself. In this case, it is just a matter of looking into which blueprints you'll want to or be expected to handle.

It is worth noting that the skills to run an invention job are the same skills needed to have a research project with an R&D agent once on has Research Project Management and access to an appropriate R&D agent. The datacores purchased from R&D agents are the same ones needed in the invention process.

Manufacturing

To actually install a standard production job merely requires Industry. There are, however, items that require more skills than this to be built. Those skills, just as the ones for invention, are listed on the blueprint.

For My Fans

It seems I have put more than blogger in a tail spin. It seems the kind of moment that makes one want to coin a new phrase: Yarrbear Whines.

Mind you, I don't like the name calling. I am not a carebear, and it is illogical to suggest that I am simply because I am not a pirate. I am just a PvPer who really enjoys the industry side and doesn't currently have a chance for PvP.

There are those that toss around carebear in a purely derogatory fashion. There are those that think that carebears are substandard players, that have no business playing Eve, and should be removed from the game. These are likely what I would want to call Yarrbears; players that like to call themselves pirates, but who are actually griefers. They give real pirates a bad name. These same Yarry types are likely the ones that cry foul when someone uses warp core stabilizers or when their win button of choice gets nerfed.

Whatever, HTFU, and all that good jazz.

Contrary to public misinterpretation, I have no desire for PvP-free zones. I have no desire to change the engine to make PvP impossible. And yes, I am distancing myself from some comments I've made, but that is because they didn't come across as I intended. I am sorry for that.

I do, however, want to make piracy harder across the board, so that only real pirates will do it. And trust me, I can find some real pirates. They have some fantastic operations going on. It is quite tempting, actually, to become a pirate. But at the end of the day, I like to have something a little bigger to show for it. Besides, low sec warfare is nothing compared to null sec warfare. One day, I'll get back to 0.0.

Why do I want to tweak PvP? I propose an experiment for anyone with the free time to do it (read: not me, since I have no free time).

Build a high sec suicide ship of your choice. If I were doing it, I'd build a battlecruiser. Insure it with the best insurance you can. The reason I say build it yourself is, the Gold and Platinum insurance cover more than the cost to build a battlecruiser. If you have a really good BPO and get your materials cheap enough, even the silver will cover the cost. The battlecruiser now costs the difference between the insurance premium and the return on the insurance. Put on the cheapest high-damage, suicide fit that you can and find your hub of choice, or your 0.5-system-with-good-traffic of choice. I hypothesize that one could nearly strike at random and at least break even. I hypothesize that if one were to sack a good sample rate of suicide ships in this manner, one would find that they aren't losing nearly as much money as one would fear, if in deed they were to lose money at all.

To me, that is what is broken. One should have to think about it. One should have to lay in wait and strike targets carefully, with some thought, and with some great risk. Otherwise, the only ones taking a risk are the haulers. Again, it isn't my goal to make the game easier for non-PvPers, for carebears if you like, but to make the game equally hard for PvPers and non-PvPers alike.

In all of the discussion, someone suggested a rugby match analogy. Analogies are prone for failure, but I'll expand it bit more just for fun. The flaw in the original analogy, to my thinking, is that the pitch is not high sec. The pitch is low sec. Waiting in line at the concession stand is 1.0. One should be able to wait in line at the concession stand without fear of mugging.

Mind you, if one waits in that line with money hanging out of his pockets and more bling than Cadillac pitch at a hip-hop concert, then he should constantly live in fear of mugging. I won't feel bad if he is exploded in line.

But again, see my experiment above. I think one could probably not go broke just popping random people that roll into or out of Jita.

I will admit, I don't know why I really harp on this. I have never been the victim of random violence. So I can't say for sure that it is a rampant problem. It is entirely possible that my hypothesis is wrong. It is also possible that my hypothesis is right, but that it is actually much too boring for anyone to do.

At last, I'd like to close the ninja salvage discussion.

Unlike everyone who responded to me, I have actually found a legitimate reason why salvage is "easy" (doesn't provoke PvP) and looting isn't. By allowing anyone to salvage, there is the possibility that more salvage makes it to market and controls the price of salvage and thus the products built from salvage. I imagine there is a bit more price control in that the ninja salvagers don't have the same bills to pay that the mission runners do, and thus they may be willing to sell for less.

That does make sense. But I think it is the wrong approach to fixing the problem. First off, I don't see why salvage and looting are different. They are the same action. They are both made possible by the same series of actions. Yes, I could understand the idea that both looting and salvaging should be "easy" actions. After all, why should a wreck by owned by anyone?

But, being a gamer, and not merely someone that plays games, I am interested in the mechanics and dynamics and balance behind it. I think provoking PvP gives more opportunities for player interaction. I think it simply makes more sense from a game point of view that one would want to make the harsh game of Eve harsh, not just a free ride for the ninja salvagers.

To make sure that wrecks don't go unsalvaged (after all, there are mission runners, I'm sure, that can't be bothered, are too full, or don't think it is worth their time) I think ownership of a wreck should have a timer. After 30 or 60 minutes, the wreck goes from being yellow to white, and anyone can loot and salvage without provoking PvP.

I think that would be a good compromise to insure that salvage makes it to market and that the game is hard for all parties involved.

Again, I think all spawns should be sleeper-smart, and I think spawns should be balanced such that PvE fittings are much closer to PvP fittings.

Mind you, I don't run kill missions, so I don't have a personal problem with ninja salvagers. I'm not sure why I care to fix it.

Then again, perhaps an objective third party is what is always needed.

Next week, I promise, I'll talk about market PvP (unless we get into low-sec and something interesting happens).

Cold, Harsh Mistress

I made the mistake of getting into a conversation in the Eve Bloggers channel. Lesson learned. That wasn't too much better than the forums. It seems I cried many a carebear tear because I disagreed with everyone. It seems that simply the desire to have a balance between pew and non-pew means you are a crybaby. Clearly, I don't get it. And now I have lost respect for some.

To highlight the discussion:

Criminally tagged capsuleers can enter a high security system in only their capsule, and the local authorities will ignore them. They can board a ship in space, like one pulled from the ship maintenance bay of an Orca. The discussion started on what part of that needed to be nerfed.

Someone related that there was calls in the forums to have the Orca nerfed. I don't think it makes sense to nerf the Orca just because it can be used for piracy. You don't hurt the pirates, you just hurt the miners. I don't mind if pirates smuggle ships of war into high sec. But common sense to me says that if they approach a gate or a station, then the standard faction spawn should appear.

I don't know how that works, but apparently I'm too much of a carebear, using common sense and all. Clearly, the authorities are blind, and they can only attack you if somehow you enter through a gate or undock. Pointing this out, apparently, is an act of carebear crying.

Another part of the conversation spawned from ninja salvagers. Personally, I don't think it makes sense. You now have a zero-risk occupation. The ninja salvager should risk something. I don't see why the loot in the wreck should be protected, but not the wreck itself. The easiest answer is, salvage or loot, you go flashy.

Again, this is me crying great carebear tears, using common sense and all. What I truly don't understand, are some of the defenses used to protect these behaviors.

"CCP has been very clear about this topic."

CCP has also made mistakes in the past. A lot of them. Big ones. CCP is not infallible. To use the defense that it is structured that way, intended that way, legal that way, is very scary, in New Eden and out. Something is just, balanced, and fair based on its own merits, not because the game designer says so.

I like that Eve is dangerous and you are never completely safe.

Yet, the same people who say this, also think that ninja salvagers should keep their risk-free lifestyle. I'm sorry, but I have to think that the people using this defense really mean, "I like that Eve is dangerous for the mission runners." To my way of thinking, it should be dangerous for everyone equally. There shouldn't be a no-risk occupation that is built around harvesting the spoils of others.

Again, I don't think that ninja salvaging is wrong. I don't think it should be stopped. I just think it shouldn't be risk-free, particularly since it does directly involve another capsuleer who has extremely limited means of recourse. And is anyone complaining about ninja looting? They should be the same.

New Eden should be dangerous, but it shouldn't be the responsibility of griefers to bring the danger. There are very common sense solutions that would make piracy dangerous such that only smart pirates will actually do it.

1. Transferable kill rights. How often does anyone actually have the ability to claim a kill right? It isn't a deterrent by any measure. Again, I don't want to end piracy, just make sure there are pressures acting against it so there is balance and people have to work to succeed.


2. Looters are flashy. Today, the suicide pirate falls onto your kill rights board, but the hauler next too him does not. Why?


3. When CONCORD is involved, there is no insurance payout. Immediately I'm sure there are those that will think I'm trying to break the back of high sec piracy and end it. I am not. One can make more than enough money in suicide piracy to pay for well fitted suicide ships. What I seek to end are the silly upside down attacks. Suicide attacks involving a battleship? Against a barge? Barges can't hold much. They don't have many slots and aren't likely to drop but so much. The only way this is profitable is because the battleship is nearly free. I am not a pirate, and even I can find targets that will not only pay for the ship involved, but will pay for ten more so one can continue suicide attacks even when droppings are slim. Again, it all goes back to life should be hard for everyone.

In the course of full disclosure, I am not a mission runner by trade. I run some missions for standings, and as a result, I run courier missions because they are quicker. I rarely run kill missions. I've never had anyone bother me in a mission. I've never had anyone flip a can while mining (even when I'm bored and leave bait cans). I also would not consider myself a carebear. I currently have limited access to PvP, but there are reasons for that, and eventually I'll have the chance to either return to the militia or return to 0.0. And yes, I've been in 0.0 wars, before there were cynos, before there were dreads and titans and doomsdays. And yes, that is tougher (and more fun) than anything in low sec.

p.s. It seems that this has been dragged out into the Tweeterverse and into other blogs. That is fair, and to be expected, I guess. But I have to admit that I'm really bothered that others have made this so personal and can't seem to make a comment without following it up with how I am a carebear crybaby or that I am simply and completely wrong.

I also am disturbed by the mindset of some that those that do not engage in PvP are inferior. That really bothers me. I love this game. I love to play it my way. I don't get missioning. That doesn't mean missioners are less of a player, aren't as good as me. I enjoy 0.0 wars, and I think they are much harder than FW or any low sec combat. That doesn't mean I think FW or low sec pirates are inferior to 0.0 warriors. I completely don't understand how anyone could enjoy scamming others (seriously, dude, where is the fun in that? "Your shoe's untied. Made you look." was only funny once.). That doesn't mean I should consider them inferior.

Okay, in all honesty, I would never knowingly hire a scammer into my corp.

I am not upset or worked up by this, but I do feel there has been more personal attacks against me than appropriate. And as a result, I feel I've lost some respect for capsuleers that I was really eager to work more closely with.

There is also some confusion, I feel, over just how anti-PvP I may seem. I am not anti-PvP. I do not think the game mechanics should be changed to the point where there is no PvP, or PvP-free zones. But I do think that New Eden needs to be harder for those that instigate unprovoked attacks. I do not think they are wrong, I just think they have it too easy.

p.p.s I meant to mention this earlier: all spawns should be like Sleeper spawns. I don't like kill missions cause they are just one big rinse/repeat. The only way the mission can defeat you is through sheer numbers. It should work smarter, not harder. Making the spawns smarter will not only give the missioners a challenge, but make things more interesting for the ninjas.

Blog Banter 13

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, 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 CrazyKinux. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of this 2nd year of EVE Blog Banters comes to us from Zargy, A Sebiestor Scholar, who asked the following: On the EVE Fanfest 2009 page are pictures of prizes for the Silent Auction that was held during the event. One of these photos was entitled "Design your own EVE mission". My question now would be what kind of mission would you write if you got that prize? What would the mission be about? Would it be one using the new system of epic mission arks? What would be the story told by it? Feel free to expand upon his questions and put together your very own mission!

I've read a couple other banter posts, and so far, I feel everyone has the same general response to this. We aren't simply proposing new stories, but whole new ways to do missions. I have two, and I'm sure my two are echoed by one or more other banters.

Player Created Missions

I think this is really a no brainer. Players can create contracts, but they are rife with problems. One of the contracts that I'd like see made into a mission is the courier contract. I'm sure mining missions would be easy to do, too.

I would want this to be structured and anonymous, to a degree. The mission runner doesn't know the name of any capsuleer that put out the mission, and the mission requester doesn't know who is running the mission, or that it is even being run, until it is complete. I would not want capsuleers to be able to randomly create missions, though. I would want it to be a grantable role in a corporation. The corporation would have to hire mission agents (like renting an office) and missions would be posted on behalf of the corporation through the agents.

When one completes a mission, there is a standings increase toward a capsuleer corporation. Corporations at war, or in alliances that are at odds, can negatively impact standings.

Basically, I want to recreate the existing mission system, but have the whole thing fueled by the capsuleers.

Opposing Missions

Ms. Minme Tar accepts a mission. The mission is to defend a mining operation that is under attack. There are a few waves of hostiles that descend on the mining operation. Once the miners are done though, the mission is over, and Ms. Tar can return to her agent.

Meanwhile, Mr. A. Mar accepts a mission. His mission is to clear hostiles away from a gate and allow friendly warships to move through to complete their own mission. Eventually, one of those waves will return and report that the mission was a success or a loss. It depends on how quickly he can get reinforcements through the gate.

The careful observer will notice that these two capsuleers are increasing the difficulty of each other's mission. The faster Mr. Mar gets the gate clear, the faster waves descend on Ms. Tar.

I see too much abuse if capsuleers were to directly encounter each other in a mission, so I suggest a system where the mission they are in affects another mission in progress. Mind you, there may be times when the missions have to be time shifted. So, the activities of one mission are recorded and played back for an opposing mission some hours later.

This could be made as complex as one likes. Perhaps there was a mining mission first. The miner's performance dictates how long Ms. Tar must defend the operation.

Participants

• Blog Banter #13: Missions with player adversaries by Escoce


• EVE Blog Banter #13: Fatal Rabbit by Hallan Turrek


• EVE Blog Banter #13: Your mission, should you decide to accept it... by CrazyKinux


• EVE Blog Banter #13 - A question of impact. by James


• [OOC] Blog Banter #13: Distressing the Damsel by Myrhial Arkenath

Yes. Yes, I am that loser.

For those of you who didn't keep up, today was The Party. I mentioned it to my wife, and twice yesterday, but didn't receive positive traction. She gives me such grief for the Wednesdays I spend with "the guys", so I didn't press it too much. In all honesty, she is better than the wives of many of my other friends in that regard.

I did attend the party briefly. The three year-old was still napping, the six-year old was playing quietly, I was doing some corp bookwork and the party started. I signed up for the door prizes, and turned on Voice and started to tune into SI Radio.

I was in the party for three minutes, when the three-year old woke up. I scurried to get to her to tell her to be quiet so she didn't wake her mother.

I logged out of the party. At this point, I could rant how I did nothing. I let my wife sleep longer, I cleaned the kitchen and did laundry and let the kids play by themselves. I could rant how I could've just as easily been at the party.

And I was looking forward to the party. I was looking forward to the social aspect, but I was also looking forward to going out to Evati and losing some Rifters. I've been doing too much carebearing recently, and would enjoy just some fun, no-stress pew pew.

Then came the tweet.

Pastor_Phelps @vol_jbolaz You won the Loki in Hellcats party. Type x in Hellcats Pub in the next 5 min to claim it.

The tweet was already forty minutes old, so even if it weren't a joke, I was too late for it to matter.

I had a laugh, thinking that Pastor was picking on me. Sage seconded Pastor's comment. Again, I can only think this is a joke.

The party ends as the kids go up for baths and bedtime. I go through that routine, getting more indications that it really isn't a joke. When I finally log in, I learn that I indeed was chosen for the Loki.

Sage pastes the announcement from Mynxee into the Eve-Bloggers channel. She had called my name for the Loki. It was me! I had won!

Yes... yes, I am that loser.

And I had to log out. I had to decompress for a moment.

I got lots of sympathies, and I do appreciate it. It makes me feel nice. It really does, and I do thank everyone for that.

Luminus Aardokay has offered to make a signature gratis. I do appreciate that. I think given the circumstances, it should have a Loki in it. I've been wanting to get everything running smoothly with the corp so I can get to a point to start advertising. So, I'll probably ask to get something with Odinsdagrting instead of my name.

I'll seriously consider getting a t-shirt that reads, "Yes. Yes, I am that loser."

The evening wasn't a complete waste. In addition to the sig offer from Luminus, I finally made my way to Evati in Adventurer. I got a couple of the left over party Rifters and lost them, one even to Mynxee herself. I finally undocked Adventurer and decided to have a second round with Mynxee.

The first 1 on 1, I only got Mynxee into half armor before her like fitted Rifter destroyed mine. My second 1 on 1, with me0de, went a little better. I managed my range better, and overheated sooner. I got him into structure, but again, capped out and lost my second party Rifter.

The third 1 on 1, with Adventurer went very well. I did like the results, but Mynxee and I both agreed that it was a much better fit than the party Rifters. For starters, it used an afterburner instead of a microwarpdrive.

Not that it mattered in the end. I don't recall how badly damaged Mynxee was, but she destroyed Adventurer.

As a final note. I have posted the fittings and killmails to Battleclinic. But I don't like their killboard. I haven't found them again to get the links. I'll do that in the next day or so for anyone interested and update this post.

Adventurer was one of my Rifters from the militia. She had seen combat and had been on four killmails. Feel bad losing it, but I do like that it was lost to someone like Mynxee.

Dueling

First off, I need to help promote The Epic Celebrity Death Match. It will be a two-on-two featuring Nashh Kadavr and Mynxee against Luminus Aardokay and Quivering Palm of Planet Risk.

Teadaze has put up a teaser. The match has already taken place, but it will be one of the main events at the upcoming Hellcats Party.

I know no one will miss me, but I would like to be there. I would even fly into Evati just for the party. But alas, I won't be there.

Now, announcing all of that isn't really the reason behind this blog. I've just been working on this blog for a little while now, and I figure all of this is a nice lead into my thoughts on dueling.

I've been following Nashh's Celebrity Death Matches, and I've been poking at the idea of joining Eve Arena (since I don't have a chance for PvP at the moment), but I do have a slight complaint about both of these. This complaint extends really to all arranged 1-on-1 matches, and is the biggest reason I've never bothered going to Evati and challenging anyone in the Hellcats Pub channel to a duel.

It always seems that the duels have to have some rules laid out before hand. The two most common are no warping away and no ECM. I do understand why people ask for such restrictions, but to me, they are artificial ways of nerfing aspect that don't seem to need a nerf through out the rest of New Eden. They also remove abilities or cripple ships that usually shine, and they remove, to me, the biggest part of any engagement, the part that requires the most skill.

Take for example the Rifter and the Punisher. I've seen enough evidence that on paper, I would argue that a Punisher is tougher, stronger, and more deadly than a Rifter. Recently, there was even a duel between Sage and Spectre to stress this point.

However, I would always opt to pilot the Rifter. The reason being is simple, the Rifter has more speed. The Rifter has the option to disengage. The Punisher doesn't. Once these two ships commit to a fight with each other, the Punisher has to stick it out to the end.

The Punisher pilot has to hope that all the work he did before the engagement can carry him through the engagement. After all, as long as the two pilots do their jobs nearly equally, the deciding factors are the ship fittings and the influencing skills (and implants/boosters) of the pilots. It doesn't matter how good a pilot one is, if they don't have the skills to mount a better fit, or have a ship that isn't adequately fit for the circumstances, chances of surviving are dramatically lowered.

I'm not saying the Punisher is a bad ship, but the Rifter is chosen by low sec capsuleers much more often for a very good reason: The Rifter can evade that which it can not destroy outright.

The no warping away rule puts a Rifter in an artificial position. Now, knowing that, I would opt for a Punisher in a frigate duel. The idea there is bring the right tool for the job. But I think the duel would promote a tool that wouldn't have quite the same real world application.

I think Nashh's range-tanking Kestrel is a good idea of this, too. If the Kestrel wants to stay at range, then he runs the risk of his adversary warping away, only to return at a more advantageous range.

The no ECM rule is similar, but in the opposite direction. It might imply that certain ships are less successful in the real world.

The other thing these rules do is avoid the biggest part of the engagement. Selecting a target, electing where to engage, and sometimes chasing or letting them chase are all part of the tactics that happen before an engagement. These will often play a bigger role in fleet versus fleet engagements, where sometimes your goal is too pick off stragglers and use herding techniques to cut the other fleet into manageable portions, but it has its place in one-on-one engagements.

I've not had much time soloing. That was the point behind my A-Riftering project, but what I have learned, or what I think I've learned is, two things: The outcome is decided before the ships open fire, and don't panic.

I still panic, so I'm no good at these things, yet, but everything that goes into training skills, fitting ships, and choosing when and where to attack affect the outcome of the attack more so than what one does during the engagement.

The question is, how does one fix the dueling problem (assuming they recognize a dueling problem)? I don't have a good answer. I have some ideas, but I think they are are lacking.

Simply requiring combatants to bring tackle gear isn't enough. Even with the appropriate webifiers and warp disruptors, the Rifter could still outpace and eventually evade the Punisher.

One idea is simply don't duel. Instead, people who agree to a duel should simply agree that they will make an effort to hunt each other. Who ever gets the first kill, or gets the most kills in a certain time period, wins the duel. This isn't as dramatic. It is long and drawn out. This type of duel would also require some war declarations or be limited to low/null sec. Also, good capsuleers are not alone. They have friends. This style of duel would require some weird workings with friends. This duel wouldn't need any restrictions, though.

An idea that I like better is to simply broaden the borders of the duel. Instead of limiting the duel to one scanner grid, limit it to one planetary system or one solar system. Combatants may warp between the moons and asteroid belts of a given planet, or within a given system. This would require that the combatants don't use safe spots or cloaks.

A last idea is to set a third target where the combatants play a game of assault. One capsuleer would have to defend a hauler or can or structure while the other would be tasked to destroy it. Either one could warp away, but they would be forced to return if they wanted to be successful. This would require multiple rounds since the defender should have a slight advantage. This would require some set up since the target would have to be made ready. This idea could be adapted to be one camps a gate/system that the other must pass through.

Responses

I had a problem posting a response to my own blog in follow-up to responses that others posted. Instead of fixing that problem, I'm just going to respond here. If you, too, had problems posting a response, just send me a mail.

Wait... I had three responses, and only two people read this, so... nevermind.

The first response was from Helicity:

Making money from piracy is much harder than you think, this is mainly due to the low droprate on player modules.

No, making money from piracy is as hard as I think. The problem is, there is no pain for those that don't make money. They just get their money from somewhere else and wreak havoc yarring. A pirate doesn't have to make money as a pirate to be effective at taking money from others.

I'd also like to see upkeep on ships. It costs nothing for a blob of battleships to undock and camp a gate. If no one shows up, nothing is lost save some time. Some form of upkeep would help cut down on blobbing gate camps through out New Eden, not just in low sec.

I'd like to make piracy just hard enough that only those that are smart enough to figure out how to make money actually do it.

Mind you, I would like all aspects of the game to be that way, its just I don't think we have too many industrialists that continue manufacturing when losing money, or too many mission runners that can't keep themselves in ships, and so on. I think piracy and faction warfare are money-sink occupations, and I wish they were both fixed.

Mynxee followed with a few points. The first:

...don't be misled--piracy is an extremely difficult profession. Its biggest reward is the fun it offers

That fun is probably what drags in the griefers. I don't mind piracy, I just think that there are more griefers hiding behind the defense of "piracy is legitimate, you whiny carebear" then there are actual pirates. Again, I think the Hellcats and The Bastards Alliance have done a lot, at least in Republic space, to demonstrate that piracy can be profitable if you work at it.

Again, the fun is the only draw for FW. That may change with Dominion, but I still see FW as a money sink for most of the participants. I do think that should be addressed.

Mynxee's second point was,

"No alts" would be a losing proposition for CCP.

Yes, which is why it would never be considered. Still, I think it would dramatically improve the game.

She went on to say,

But were such a thing implemented, it wouldn't only affect pirates--it would affect solo players, 0.0 alliances, high sec mission runners, etc. Alts are as necessary as having multiple ships in your hanger for a good many players with widely varying play styles once they reach a certain level of experience in the game.

She was seconded by Selina:

As a 0.0 dweller, and not a pirate, I have to agree with Mynxee. I heavily rely upon my alts for moving goods in haulers through empire to the logistics point for our jump freighters. Soon I'll need them to move built goods through Empire so that I can keep my main industrialist at his work station. Think of it, as many call it in blogs, "associates" that work for you.

I have to disagree, ladies.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit to actually using one of my "associates", Ven Tamnej. I also have to admit to having a Power of Two account at one point, Vris Jungos.

Vris was a covert ops pilot who would run escort for me in Aridia and Fountain. It was a wonderful boon and made life much easier. Vris was sold after the six months.

Ven maintains a position as an occasional CEO alt and market tender. He can also run five copy jobs.

Still, I have to disagree. Yes, alts are nice, and they help, but they undermine one of the core tenets that CCP is trying to promote: players working with players. Why should I be allowed to run an operation from beginning to end completely by myself? Why not share that? Why not spread the wealth and build the teamwork and build the communities?

I've recently formed Odinsdagrting with a few close friends. They are still fresh out of the academy, so it is just me as the engine for this corporation. As a single personality, I'm still shocked at how much I can produce. My bottlenecks right now are the free time to stay on top of my jobs, and the money to buy the materials to actually build stuff. I can turn over battleships worth of materials in just a couple days, and I'm not really dealing in high-end stuff. So, with alts, wow!

Yes, alts are great, but they can make formidable operations out of a single player. Just as CCP wants to bust up the power blocs that are 0.0 alliances, I would like to see the high-sec production individuals forced to rely on others more. I'd like to the see the profession opened up more.

Really, I don't ever want any part of Eve to feel full or hard to get into. I want everything to always feel like the wild west. Lots of opportunities for those brave enough to dive in, regardless of the profession they chose.

I do realize, though, that a lot has to happen before this can happen.

A last point from Mynxee was,

I'd like to see the bounty system overhauled and made more interesting and into a true profession. There have been some good threads in the Assembly Hall forum with interesting proposals on this topic.

I have to admit to not being active in the forums. There are entirely too many trolls and short-fused flamers. I should at least give the CSM forums a look though. I don't think I could ever consider running for a seat, but I would like to be more involved in things. Perhaps if there were political parties I could help be an organizer.

A few last notes, so you can stop reading now if you are bored:

I don't comment on other blogs nearly as often as I should. I do appreciate comments. They let me know that at least someone is reading. And I have no delusions that I am always correct, so feel free to disagree.

In that vein, a gold star to Mynxee for being the biggest supporter of this blog. Thank you, I do appreciate it. Just goes to show that some pirates are nice people.

Or some nice people are pirates.

Helicity's Quiz

I want to make clear that I do not think piracy should be driven from New Eden completely. I want to make clear that I do not hate all pirates. I also want to clear up the confusion that I am not a pirate. Yes, I do frequent the Hellcats Pub channel, but I am not a pirate.

My response to Helicity's quiz can be summed up as, "When piracy is hard, only pirates will do it."

My complaint with piracy is that it is too easy. And by that I mean, pirates don't have to rely on piracy as their income. I would wager that most pirates don't make money at it. Most pirates likely have a side business, possibly through an alt, or a steady supply of PLEX.

That isn't to say that all pirates fail to make money. I think The Bastards Alliance demonstrates that one can make quite a healthy living off of loot and ransoms. My run in with Teff nogero has taught me that one can make a healthy living off of suicide piracy.

I will admit that I don't have the ability to survey piracy in New Eden. I doubt anyone does. I can't say for certainty how widespread these situations are. That aside, I am still going to give these examples as the basis for my complaints because no one can get better data.

As to solutions, my first answer, and I'm sure the biggest game changer, is to remove all alts. Not just second accounts, but remove the two alts on any single account. I know this would never happen, but it would do a lot to cut out those pirates that are really just griefers. It would cut out those pirates that can't make money at it.

Consider for example the high-sec suicide pirate. He has an alt in a hauler, waiting to loot the wrecks, the victim's and the suicide ship. That venture becomes less profitable when there are really two mouths to feed and not just the two alts of the one mouth.

Consider for example the low-sec pirate. These pirates tend to be proud of their -10 security rating. This security rating is a badge of honor, not the hindrance that CONCORD intended. Without high-sec alts to make beer runs, these pirates would have to pay a premium to get their goods, either through low-sec traders, or though high-sec supply contracts.

On a side note, I would be more than happy to help fill the new market needs that emerge from this stripping of alts.

That isn't to say these ventures wouldn't still be profitable. And that isn't to say that I think these ideas are wretchedly horrible and should be banned. It just shouldn't be so easy and so prevalent. Pirates should have to work for their ISKies just like the rest of us.

Another solution that I want to propose is selling kill rights. There is a bounty system in place today, but several pirates just have themselves offed by a corp mate with the bounty gets high enough to cover the clone. They pocket the rest. The bounty system doesn't create the encouragement to have bounty hunters.

In high-sec, suicide pirates should be more susceptible to kill rights. Currently, members of the victims corp may respond for a period, but this means that the corp has to have PvPers. This may be the same corp that hires mercenaries during a war. Can they hire mercenaries for kill rights? Again, there is no market for bounty hunters.

I don't see this being as big a deal in low-sec. The only time the kill rights will really matter is on the gates and stations where there are guns to respond to illegal aggression. Still, it may give an incentive for more people to move to low-sec if they can be hired as bounty hunters.

A third solution that I would like to offer is to change the way security standings are calculated. Low-sec pirates are proud of their -10, and I do applaud them for that. If they were willing to be brave enough to do that in a world with no alts, I would have much respect for them.

High-sec pirates will yarr for a bit, then trundle off to grind back their security status so they can yarr again. The security status doesn't become an accurate indicator of the intentions of a pirate. CONCORD suddenly considers him not so bad because he busted up some lowly Angel's?

I would like to see positive security status either awarded painfully slowly, or awarded only for dispatching someone with a equally low or lower security status. In other words, pirate with a -6 has to defeat the pirate with -6 or lower to raise his own. I would hope this would promote some pirate-on-pirate violence.

I might only give them a reason to have rookie frigate evenings where they all reach around and raise their security status together.

My last solution is simply to open up a capsuleer's interaction with the environment. Why is System X only a .5? Why can't a corporation invest in or work with CONCORD to raise it (and why can't pirates work to lower it)? This idea starts down a rabbit hole of possibilities that tie into New Eden as a platform spanning beyond what capsuleers do in Eve. And I'll leave that and SimStation and other ideas for a future post.