eve-o preview (how to hotbox right)

okay, so without too much preamble, here is my most current eve-o preview desktop layout vs my cascade technique. In my cascade version, i'm forced to use 1072 resolution (the smallest eve offers) whereas the eve-o layout gives me latitude to enlarge my resolution and play with zero cascading.

Eve-O frees up my actual gameplay layout in that i'm not forced to keep critical info panels all jammed up into the small area visible in cascade mode (like the overview, and local), plus a larger resolution means i can enjoy the aesthetics of the game more.

besides the ability to avoid overlap (cascading) the corollary to that is i find the ability to spot my flashy chat rooms very cool indeed.
The other thing i noticed was the lack of worry of clicking on the wrong thing while switching active window.

step by step planetary interaction setup

1. First i fly to a safe spot and cloak up. You can do multiple planets from one location while cloaked.
2. Second i plunk down my command center and upgrade to maximum (it'll only cost more if you upgrade by degrees)...I do this right away without moving the planet around - Just zoom in and plunk down. Hit submit
3. Third i place the rarer commodity's extractor first, whilst making sure i'm not too far away from the more abundant commodity's hot spots...I place them smack in the middle of the hotspot, assuming i need two commodity types that will combine to make a tier 3 item. Say like oxides (the one in the above picture example on a gas planet.) Hit submit
4. Fourth, starting from right next to the rarest commodity extractor, i place 2 basic, 1 storage facility, then 2 basic angled away then 2 advanced and 1 spaceport forming a "Y" with the second set of basics pointing towards the other extractor...I then create links between them in a chain (this saves pwr by using the diameter of the industry to save on link lengths, plus gives a visual guide to everything.) Hit submit
5. Fifth, i balance the output of the two extractors...Set the duration/size of the extractor heads to 5 days...Don't bother adjusting the head locations much beyond their default...Just make a simple pattern like the one in the picture.
6. Sixth, i begin the reaction sequence by routing the extractors' 'products' to the storage facility...Then the schematics for the advanced facilities with the route to the spaceport...Then the basic schematics routed to the storage facility. Hit submit.
7. Seventh, click on the 'routes' icon of the storage facility and adjust the 'quantity' column to sort high to low...Start routing the tier 1 items to their respective basic industry facilities...Then adjust the column to sort low to high...Route the tier 2 items to the advanced facilities. Hit submit.

stick a fork in it, it's done
sometimes i switch between routing the extractors' products and the schematics, in the sequence, but it still works just fine. let me know how you do your setup if you like.

EDIT (dec23rd'14) - i decided a week's duration is much better than 5 days

CEO 101

fresh recruits can:

1. see combat loss mails (even ones to npcs), 
2. send and read corp evemails, 
3. copy and create corporate bookmarks, 
4. see corporate fitting management, 
5. see corporate contacts (standings), 
6. view corp mates locations on map (if in space only), 
7. see locations of all offices, 
8. ability to put items/ships into any corporate hangar, 
9. view a member list showing last known logins (how many hours ago), 
10. shoot any corp member without any repurcussions from CONCORD (and even be remotely repaired by a third party outside of corp without said pilot being flagged), 
11. be able to view and engage in corporate chat window without moderation.

quite powerful as you can see.

An experiment in planetary interaction

So i got a few mobile cyno jammer structure BPCs i want to take to production.
Broadcast Nodes (biocells, silicate glass, supertensile plastics, microfiber shielding, polyamarids, transmitters)
Organic Mortar Applicators (Oxides, Coolant, mech.parts, consumer elect., micro organisms)
Self-Harmonizing Power Core (Silicate Glass, Rocket Fuel, microfiber shielding, enriched uranium, polyaramids, gen.enhanced livestock)
Sterile Conduits (Water, Construction Blocks, Miniature elect., livestock, viral agent)
Wetware Mainframe (watercooled cpu, coolant, consumer elect., nanites, livestock, construction blocks, test cultures, synthetic oil, fertilizer)
...plus guidance systems (watercooled cpu, transmitter)

so that's biocells, silicate glass*, supertensile plastics, microfiber shielding*, polyamarids*, transmitters*, oxides, coolant*, mech.parts, consumer elect.*, rocket fuel, enriched uranium,  gen. enhanced livestock, construction blocks*, miniature elect., livestock*, viral agents, watercooled cpu*, nanites, test cultures, synthetic oil, fertilizer. [23 unique tier 2 items, plus water and bacteria (tier1)]
biocells = barren*
silicate glass = lava+gas
supertensile plastics = ice*
microfiber shielding = terrestrial + lava
polyamarids = terrestrial+gas
transmitters = lava/plasma*
oxides = gas*
coolant = storm*
mech.parts = barren*/plasma
consumer elect.= lava/plasma*
rocket fuel = storm*
enriched uranium = plasma*
gen.enhanced livestock = oceanic*
construction blocks = lava/plasma*
miniature elect.= lava*
livestock = oceanic*/terrestrial
viral agents = ice/oceanic*
watercooled cpu = barren*/storm
nanites = barren*
test cultures = barren/oceanic*/terrestrial
synthetic oil = storm*
fertilizer = oceanic*/terrestrial


compare that to making fuel blocks [4 unique tier 2 items, plus water (tier1)] using barren, storm, plasma planets

So how am i going to start? well, i figure since all but one of the tier 2 planetary materials are being used as ingredients...why not make ALL?
ice supertensile plastics
gas oxides, polyamarids, silicate glass
barren  mech.parts, watercooled cpu, biocells, nanites
plasma.  transmitter", consumer elect", construction blocks", enriched uranium
oceanic gen.enh.livestock, livestock, viral agents, fertilizer
terrestrial  microfiber shielding, polyamarids
storm  rocket fuel, coolant, synthetic oil, test cultures
lava silicate glass,  miniature electronics, microfiber shielding

So it boils down to having 5 characters each with 5 of the big producing planets? honestly, i'm going to need lvl5 consolidation?

Anatomy of a spai (vivisection)

A long time ago an applicant to corporation lost a mission ship to a pirate in Naguton during the recruitment process. At the time i was concerned not about the lost ship as much as the location. Something about the location sparked an intuitive suspicion this recruitee applying to corp was a troll (hoping to get the new CEO's blood pressure to explode) and for almost a year i've been patiently watching Devatio and Ni Kao (along with any alts connecting the two via employment records, including alliance at the same time, or dodgy killmails)

 The links have been very tenuous for a direct link to spy alts with Devatio (who gained entry to my corp) but have been growing more solid over the months to Ni Kao. Below is my notes on Ni Kao

devatio's killer in naguton

Sent: 2014.07.19 00:07
I've found your sleazebag.
He is at Sukirah IX - Moon 7 - Kaalakiota Corporation Research Center station in the Sukirah system, Mobit constellation of Domain region.

right when shoryn decides to finally start ice mining - after i begin going on hiatus for shogun 2 in a serious way
matt mccullough paradiso alt?
Alex Olenard ... Madeleine Stoneheart alts?
------
Les Routiers alt? (oh...helloo...possible grade now. 9 min spread)...upgraded to probable!
aphex window ... Bakuhz alts?
Morgan Davaham alt? upgraded to possible*
eneman81 alt?
Sara Schwade alt? upgraded to possible*
Dutch Marsden alt? upgraded to possible*
=============
Gulsen Y alt??

Oct20th'14
[06:29:19] MajorFreak  Gulsen Y on
[06:29:52] SeneschaI  Les Routiers & Ni Kao were on recently
[06:30:25] SeneschaI  Alex Olenard OFF
[06:30:50] MinorFreak  Madeleine Stoneheart on
[06:31:56] MinorFreak > quicklog
[06:35:20] paroboat > heretic martyr off
[06:36:55] MajorFreak  Jericho Wolf OFF
[06:37:40] MajorFreak  Mika Javonovich OFF
[06:38:20] SeneschaI  Les Routiers OFF
[06:41:43] SeneschaI  Salia Foxwell on
[06:41:51] Fiat Sophia  Ivan En'Vec OFF
[06:43:08] SeneschaI  Hanako Okanata on
[06:44:00] MajorFreak  Lord Soth3 SothEnterpri on
[06:45:39] SeneschaI  Khaleesi Kurvora on
[06:46:48] SeneschaI  Ni Kao quicklog possibly
[06:47:52] SeneschaI  eneman81 OFF (oh, boy, gotcha)
[06:48:26] SeneschaI  Hanako Okanata OFF
[06:49:02] MinorFreak  Shadowglyph on
[06:49:30] paroboat  Zkin Ursa on
[06:50:55] Fiat Sophia  Snorbett OFF
[06:53:06] Fiat Sophia  michael Rinah OFF
[06:55:32] SeneschaI  Ni Kao back on
 ====
Nov7th'14
[17:41:37] SeneschaI  Flandre Scarlette on
[17:43:02] SeneschaI  Les Routiers on
[17:44:20] SeneschaI  Paul Caruso Saken on
[17:45:32] SeneschaI  Choa Mein chaotic fandance
[17:46:42] SeneschaI  Farsight Kavees on
[17:48:47] SeneschaI  Zen Dad on
[17:49:38] SeneschaI  Macellarius Blood on
[17:50:14] SeneschaI  Slava Netik OFF
[17:51:50] SeneschaI  Zen Dad quicklog
[18:05:36] SeneschaI  Farsight Kavees quicklog
[18:05:52] SeneschaI  Macellarius Blood quicklog
[18:07:29] SeneschaI  Slava Netik fandance
[18:08:59] SeneschaI  Ni Kao on
====
Gegalfo Orti ... Daryl Shana alts? (possible for former)
Aniem Chulong alt?
Scooter Lee / Macellarius Blood alt?
Orpheliae alt?
Jujo Frasa alt?
====
Nov16th'14
[17:31:44] SeneschaI  Ni Kao on
[17:33:16] SeneschaI  Isedarken OFF
[17:34:23] SeneschaI  Aplysia Vejun on
[17:36:32] SeneschaI  Ni Kao OFF
[17:37:41] SeneschaI  Kerberos Overdog on
***
[22:48:00] SeneschaI Jujo Frasa OFF
[22:52:00] SeneschaI Ni Kao OFF
[22:53:00] SeneschaI Kerberos Overdog on
*kerby upgraded to possible*
===
Nov19th'14
[17:07:04] Kellen Shimaya on
[17:09:04] Ziosventra OFF
[17:10:04] Ni Kao OFF
[17:10:04] Atraxy OFF
====
Sergeji Harloff alt?
shazaaz Estidal alt?
Flandre Scarletto alt?
Jinx Sotken alt?

So today i wake up and spot an alliance evemail about some corp wanting entry into our alliance and i reply with a *fixed* version that has devatio's name in it as a confirmed spy (just because my intuition has linked ni kao, dave covey and devatio together) and then i go AFTER and check my corporate memberlist login tables and look who's logged in briefly after not being online for a goodly amount of time:

So i gave him a decoration i made years ago for corp spies and will boot him and his alt within 24 hours. No fuss; no muss...not even going to fratricide his characters since that can be used as troll bait in the next corp he targets.

The Great Ice Depression

I predicted, back on Oct 4th, that isotope prices were going to crash. That day has come, and regardless of the New Trailer and bannage of the ISboxer (something i knew was bannable the instant i heard about it) the price will never again be as high as it was in summer.

Blog Banter # 60 - Corp Fratricide redux

With Phoebe about to land, CSM Minutes now out, and more of CCP Seagull's vision from Eve Vegas it appears CCP has a bold roadmap, is making big changes, and is willing to take a hit in the short term to see it through. What do you see as the measurable signs that will tell us that they've succeeded? What outcome will we see as players? Is it concurrent player count or something else? BB60

  The measure of success will simply be the attack on the statistic released during fanfest about the number of character who solo mission in npc corps.  I believe that CCP will 'succeed' at gaining playerbase by removed the ability to freely attack fellow corpmembers, since they already have a system to replace it (the 'duel popup')
Removing that roadblock to new players joining corporations upon the very simple fact a huge majority of players get turned off this game by the incredible ease of which griefers ply their trade...those that survive have a good chance of narrowing their gameplay to mere solo missioning in npc corps.
You see, it's not the challenge griefers want - it's the easy no risk ganking they are addicted to. remove that and the griefers will simply find another venue inside EVE to exploit with little risk to themselves; remove that and corp fratricide by awoxers and safaris will still happen but on a more reasonable scale, with consequences for the griefer.
The biggest deal here is the little known fact that corp fratricide raises no flags so neutral RR can aid an awox/safari with concord protection from reprisal.


  The concurrent play count is obviously my measurable sign.
The other measurable sign will be more actual n00bs forming and joining corporations without the ability of the parasites to plunder willy-nilly.
Oh, there will be risk of course, there's no getting around that, especially with the current shabby state of affairs that is the corporate mechanics...
Did you know that a rank and file member just hired can not only read and reply to alliance mails, create corporate bookmarks, see corporate kill mails (even to npc entities), but to also see corporate standings to other entities, AND be able to see the activity level of every single member?!

Back in the game ballsdeep Chapter 2: Missions

Level 3 SOE agent operating out of Simela is my base of choice for missioning, currently.
I have a Paladin piloted by my 'main' highest SP character.
This is probably a good time to talk about the specialization of alts and how that compares to Jester's Trek entry about such things.

As a player who's never dabbled in capitals (other than a rorqual that keeps docked, mostly) I have found that having 4 alts is just about perfect...anything more is gravy/redundant.
My 'main' characters on my 'alt' accounts have specialized into their own niches simply because of the way CCP has coded the mechanics, over time.
Currently my 'main' on my main account is the triggerman (or woman in this case) flying the major DPS boats
My primary alt 'main' is my leadership boost character (also the one who flies the rorqual & orca)
My secondary alt 'main' is my exploration/industry character (also the one who flies the freighter & noctis)
My tertiary alt 'main' is my light hauler character (deep space transport)
So, for myself, i find Jester's Trek blog on the topic to be irrelevant, since i really only have 3 'mains' and the rest are fluff...
The only reason i have more than 3 accounts is because Ice mining is such a low maintenance gig that more is better, especially nowadays.

So the ships in fleet for missioning are Paladin, Damnation, Noctis and Impel.
I used to fly in 3 remote repping battleships, but with the micro jump drives things become...well, alot more streamlined. Not as much DPS but the time on target goes way up when sniping.
The paladin head into missions and microjump together to snipe points after launching MTU.
I have the damnation with leadership links orbiting the station or stargate.
I have the noctis in combination with the mobile tractors, dropped by the paladin in each room...noctis goes in after the mission to the temporary corporate bookmarks.
The DTS (impel) is docked and launched in case the paladin needs to refit on the fly for different drones, ammo, propulsion or whatnot - this saves the paladin from having to carry supplies, including the mobile depot necessary for the refitting.
Fairly simple system.

My 'main' has the refining skills so with the new system i can easily separate the things that i should sell later at a hub (i trade back to the impel pilot to keep in his items bay) and refine the rest - i sell the tritanium, pyerite and mexallon immediately. The rest i'll keep for building materials.

Mordus Headhunters 765k isk (2492 loyalty) plus 706k bonus (2 rooms, plus initial gate) [370m3 loot]
Retribution (serpentis) 271k isk (997 loyalty) plus 282k bonus (1 room, plus initial gate) [65m3 loot]
Cargo Delivery (serpentis; pickup) 297k isk (841 loyalty) plus 265k bonus
Smuggler Interception (serpentis; pickup) 371k isk (1414 loyalty) plus 357k bonus (2 rooms-blitz 1st, mtu one of the transport wrecks, then gank 2nd room*, plus initial) --  [n/a loot]
Duo of Death (blood raiders; pickup-use mtu)146k isk (402 loyalty) plus 150k bonus (1 room, plus initial) -- [n/a loot]
Intercept the p.smugglers (serpentis) 308k isk (1033 loyalty) plus 361k bonus (1 room, plus initial) -- [75m3 loot]
Smuggler Interception (serpentis) 436k isk (1414 loyalty) plus 411k bonus (2 rooms-blitz 1st, mtu one of the transport wrecks, then gank 2nd room*, plus initial)
Eliminate the Pirate Campers (angel)  185k isk (568 loyalty) plus 191k bonus (1 room) -- [n/a loot]
The Rogue Slave Trader (1of2; blood; pickup-use mtu) 212k isk (579 loyalty) plus 215k bonus (1 room) -- [n/a loot]


*-mwd propulsion needed

[EVE Online] One Man Crew

The Vargur fitting at 41:18 (presumed)
capsule
exact link to 41:18
Learned a few things, since my lack of experience has left me bereft of the skills needed to fully comprehend the video. Pretty close to understanding the benefits of overheating, drone targeting, transversal and manual steering. I think i'll stick to watching vids and copying the fits of those i admire, although i'll try to use EFT to see if i can fit more reasonably cost version (although they might be actually worth the expense)...here is the modified fitting with the bonus of 2 heavy NOS but that came at the cost of a meta4 DC instead of tech2

[Vargur, Blood of Gods]
Internal Force Field Array I
Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizer
Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizer
Federation Navy Co-Processor
Federation Navy Co-Processor

Large Micro Jump Drive
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 400
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 400
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 400
Dread Guristas Warp Scrambler
Stasis Webifier II

800mm Repeating Cannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
800mm Repeating Cannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
800mm Repeating Cannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
800mm Repeating Cannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
Heavy Diminishing Power System Drain I
Medium Energy Neutralizer II
Heavy Diminishing Power System Drain I
Bastion Module I

Large Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Large Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II

Warrior II x5
Hammerhead II x5
Nanite Repair Paste x100
Navy Cap Booster 400 x81
Republic Fleet Fusion L x1000
Barrage L x1000
Republic Fleet EMP L x1000
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma L x1000
Hail L x1000

The implants were a crystal set, and i've modified that to take advantage of the fit (MR-705, EM-805, SS-905 and a WU-1005)

BTW, here's the myrmidon fit at this point in the video. 

Back in the game ballsdeep Chapter 1: P.I.

Okay, i made a few planetary interaction posts a while back that were just plain confusing. What i hope to accomplish now is beyond me, but i like pretty pictures and i know you do too!

One day a couple weeks ago i realized my silos (storage facility) were slowly filling up with level 1 commodities, and decides, who the fuck cares and fiddled drastically with one of my alt's extractor heads to see if anything would explode.

The below pictures are the current result for one of my alt's planets:

‎October-‎26-‎14, ‏‎21:20:53 PST [DST]

‎October-‎28-‎14, ‏‎6:58:27 PST [DST]

‎October-‎30-‎14, ‏‎18:23:07 PST [DST]

‎November-‎05-‎14, ‏‎8:30:08 PST

So what started out as a 11,000 surplus of Reactive Metals has shrunk by approx 5000 units over a period of 9.5 days, or 22.2 units per hour. Meaning it'll take another 11 days to drain the surplus of Reactives. I refreshed the extractors each time i took the screenshot, btw, so it's not an accurate summation of a 14 day cycle, but close enough to an average lazy person's maintenance of said colony.

Too bad we couldn't damage them using DUST514 characters, eh?

This is good news because i was afraid, if i fiddled with the balance of extractor heads, i'd overcompensate and ruin a good thing. Apparently you can completely fuck with your extractor heads in order to siphon off the surplus in the storage facilities (aka "silos" as i like to call them)

As a followup i'd like to track this particular planet for it's average output of Mechanical Parts - currently 3.62 units per hour - then i'd like to see what sort of distribution i should have for the other fuel block ingredients so i can efficiently create blocks without having too much surplus of ingredients. That would be cool.

hiatus

interesting how it's not the constant, relentless griefer attempts to ruin my corporation in it's infancy (of recruiting in this hell of CCP's idea for a social engine), but the inability for CCP to understand the complexity of the 'prospect' as a concept.

You see, the prospect, unlike the venture, lacks the staying power to repulse the minimal attempts to eject the miner from the asteroid belt (aka. providing enough offensive power to get rid of annoyances, when in groups, of rats and the random solo pvp bomber)

It's the leadership slot that enables mining foreman links in which the hopes of staying on the battlefield/asteroid belt lie. So in order to have viability the foreman must not only be able to tank a bomber/rats but take them out quickly AND provide warfare link ability...which means either BC, command ship or strategic cruiser skills.

So, until i can field a caldari tengu i'll be farting around with World of Tank and Rome II

Out of the fire into the frying pan

"What is the future of low sec and NPC null sec as the economic center of gravity shifts from high sec toward null sec?"

Blog Banter #56 - UPHEAVAL
With Kornos and the upcoming industry changes following 6 weeks behind it, things are set for a vast upheaval in the coming months. Before he packed his bags and left Mord Fiddle asked some interesting questions:

The common wisdom in EVE Online is that, beyond the odd high-value moon or Faction Warfare scam, there's little in low sec or NPC null sec to the attract ongoing attention of the big-dogs of null sec, with their large fleets and super cap doctrines. It's assumed that NPC space simply isn't worth the bother of controlling even if one could control it.
Is this about to change?
The shift in industrial inefficiencies from high sec to NPC low sec/null sec has begun, adding value to NPC space outside of high sec. In the recent B0TLRD accords CFC claimed two NPC null sec regions, Venal and Syndicate, as part of the CFC sphere of influence.
What is the future of low sec and NPC null sec as the economic center of gravity shifts from high sec toward null sec?

Also, you can take this banter as a chance to discuss the ramifications of the style of play in low sec and NPC null sec if it does happen that major industry shifts there.

With the departure of CCP Dr.EyjoG and Fiddler, i give you two quotes from both of them that will shed light on my trepidation about the cliff CCP is marching over to the tune of null sec.

But the development team still has to tweak things, and a trained analytical eye can be useful to that end. "My role is to ensure that there is a certain level of stability," concludes Gudmundsson, "and that no changes are made without understanding the economic impact. ~Gamasutra interview (2008)

"In order to realize their in game agenda, The Mittani® and company are pressing for changes to a number of foundational game mechanics.  While pitched primarily as attempts to 'fix' the self-inflicted paralysis in nullsec, the desired effect is quite the opposite.  The primary immediate beneficiaries of the desired changes are The Mittani® and company.  They are intended to make holding sov nullsec even more profitable than it already is, and allow nullsec's dominant entities to further lock in their control of that space.  Further, the proposed changes allow the lords of nullsec to gain a stranglehold on New Eden's means of production and key inputs thereto." ~The Icarus Agenda

Conversely, my trepidation is most likely tinfoil hattery. #1 - The economist most likely left for a prestigious posting, since if he's going to start afresh why not start completely fresh?  #2 - I never liked the old economy mechanic as a way to entice n00bs to enjoy the game. #3 - CCP cannot be blind to the fact the entire purpose of their game is to drive players to null sec in order to have more control, regardless of how truly clueless they are about the way the game is actually played by people forced to adapt to CCP's mechanics coded by people long gone.

So, with that out of the way, what's my take on what will happen in my neck of the woods? Well, there's not many industrial centers in low sec Fua (Amod SOE and Naguton SOE stations), Goinard to the north and not much until you get to Ami constellation's Ministry of Internal Order factories...although there are no laboratory services among the locations i just sketched other than Goinard's Impro station (the old home of VETO)
What do I think will change? Well, those stations i mentioned have always been the magnets for players anyways so it's not like the landscape will radically alter. I don't see the being dramatically different. In fact, i think the only thing this huge economic restructuring will result in is more profit margin for null sec - same price costs as high sec, just more profit for them...Would they attempt to undercut their high sec competition? possibly, but i doubt it since it'll still be the same 0.0001 game in Jita.

To me, Eve has always been a screensaver game with a built in chat function. Since those that play this game obviously realize this fact as well, therefore this myth of the high sec WoW wannabe carebear who're rabidly risk averse is about as prevalent as the naysayers who themselves are usually risk averse pvpers wanting easy targets. Assuming i'm correct, and the risk-averse are in everyone's imagination, the corollary is that I don't think there's many that will bother changing their ways if they're risk-averse...it is, after all, a game and people enjoy playing it at a lower efficiency all the time; Conversely, I seriously doubt null sec will reduce their market share just to undercut their high sec brethren (remember the cartels of old?)


Amod SOE station is one of those huge dockring caldari monsters just calling out to be a homebase for industrialists escaping the industry hubs close to mission centers. I'm sure cyno wrecks will be common place IF the doom and gloom "the end is nigh" drama queens are even half right. I seriously doubt it'll be a huge shift nor will any new work force teams gets hired on there. I just don't see the attraction of spending jump freighter fuel in order to undercut high sec producers...i really don't see it as a non-trivial event. I'd be shocked if Amod factories became busy with industrialists...Well, maybe a short trial period where the clueless carebears get ganked left and right until they slink back to high sec?


Will there be more targets in low sec? I hope so, since low is becoming alot more attractive to those that actually WANT to live there opposed to selfish greedy anti-social high sec denizens. Maybe i'll find more like minded industrialists flocking to my neck of the woods...that would be bad for competition but great for socialization and hopefully intel sharing. Yet, realistically speaking, there will be no real increase in population other than old veterans giving it a whirl or clueless folks getting ganked in the chokepoints.
But, you see, either way I welcome the changes as a positive thing and am actually excited about the Prospect. I'm excited about actually having fun in low sec now (not just the feeling i could do MUCH better in high sec)...In my eyes, a career choice of a low sec miner is viable and thus 'fun' because the ability of others to interrupt my gameplay is greater than high sec but no prohibitively so (if the prospect is that game changer, which i think it will be)
The question for myself is simple:  Do i want to spend all my time safe and snug in high sec mining ice or actually enjoy the short time i get each day to play eve? AFK play is rewarding knowing that i can do both chores IRL and play eve at the same time, but i really would like some excitement that i initiate sometimes...most times i'm busy investigating, exploring and/or surfing the web.


In my mind's eye i see those that really enjoy mining, without stupid botting hulk fleets silently sulking on depleted belts, making a living in low sec for the first time. Blops mining (a redeemer to keep the field clear of rats & wrecks, and everyone cloaking up when the roamers go by) will become a reality especially if miners can warp while cloaked.  The issue of giving links to such a fleet would need a strategic cruiser, yet that would tie up two pilots (blops and t3 linker with covert subsystem)...Personally, i'd set up shop with a BC (tech1 or 2) with links and a cloak just in case...or maybe a deepSS with ECCM out the wazoo to make it unprobable...that even possible with a ship that size? hmmm
Anyways, point is, i'm a miner for life. I love mining. I've also loved the idea of mining in low sec with pirates around to gank the unwary competition...A place where i don't have to be beholden to the local 'presence' if i felt like it. The prospect, and the new industry changes, actually makes a low sec existence viable (albeit probably not as lucrative as other careers) and therefore fun. 
I define 'fun' as being able to finance my losses and modest ambitions from my own virtual pocket, not plex via $$$. I've always, except a few short instances, been paying $ for my subscriptions. I'm fine with that...i don't need to prove anything beyond those requirements in the first sentence.



TL;DR - plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...For myself it seems like i'm finally leaving the chaotic 'fire' of trying to jury rig ventures and procurers to cloak up and landing on a 'frying pan' of prospects and blops. It'll still be the same old low sec, just with a reason to leave my safe high sec ice belt and start living in low sec for real.

the 100th monkey syndrome

never really paid attention to ECM before, after reading GamerChick42's latest blog entry, so this will seem completely random - although not out of character i suppose. I'm suggesting a change to how ECM works - to remove it's ability to negate locking ability and replace it with optimal/falloff range reduction instead.

"Like Kaeda touched on, small gang pilots in low-sec often employ strategies and a gameplay style where each member of their gang is important on an individual basis. This also means that the chance of having a member taken out of the fight by being tied down with ECM is an even more devastating prospect then it would be in a situation where you may be at risk of losing the firepower 1 of 30 Caracals, or etc.

It is for this reason that ECM seems to be disliked most by members of the low-sec community. In my experience, ECM is more or less an anti-conflict driver in small gang warfare, where you have very small numbers—such as less than a dozen pilots. The threat of ECM will often cause a fight to fizzle out and never begin, and the arrival of even a small amount of ECM on field will often cause one side to disengage and remove themselves from the situation."

"The frustration comes from not being able to make a counter play.
When you get tracking disrupted you can still affect whomever does it (with your own e-war or by piloting to counter the effect). When you get neuted you can still manage your capacitor by being selective about what models you cycle and when you cycle them, your capless mods work fine too. When you get damped you can pilot to counter the range effect and you don't necessarily lose existing locks. When you get webbed or scrammed you still have options too.
When you get ECM'd. Well you can leave (provided you're not tackled). The only exception is if you have drones which were set to aggressive *prior* to getting jammed. Or if you are one of those odd balls that carries auto-targeting missiles. Neither of those options allow you any control either though and rely entirely on luck (so you're still unable to make a counter play).
And in this ECM is different from all other e-war mechanics, it allows no counter play. It is also why I think it's fundamentally a bad game mechanic."  Kaeda Maxwell

 I think the main point of the blogger was that ECM is really only good in small gang (Yet, what is the solution? It's all well and good to say something is bad, but what is better (without having the fix being worse)? All you're really accomplishing is a nerf, yet as Anon6:43 pointed out, sensor damps do just that - paper tiger ecm boats best defense is range.
So what could ECM do instead? certainly couldn't be an area affect weapon (say decloaking things or what have you...that would be silly. you'd have jump autocloak ganks all over new eden) since what attribute would it lower? targeting range and scan resolution are both taken (damps), as is signature radius (painting), and tracking speed & optimal range (disruptors)
What about falloff & target count: ECM had scripts for both lowering falloff or target management by a percentage?

OR how about going outside the box completely and deconstructing tracking disruptors? Why the HELL can a module actually lower the physical attributes of a turret rotating? seriously!
Firstly, If we're going to have an EW that hampers the actual turret on enemy ships by slowing it physically down, why not go all the way and say, "look, if we're physically going to fuck with turrets speed why not turn the disruptor into something that affects (via script) either turret speed or reload time...i mean, think about it for more than 5 milliseconds. Both are electromechanical devices...
Secondly, if you remove optimal range from disruptors you've got to think about the tracking computer as well...you'd have to fiddle with that too in order to replace the missing script option for optimal...
Thirdly, what do we have then to fill the gap? Since, modules that dealt with optimal AND falloff range are theorized, the gap would be the range modules. You'd now have a range disruptor/booster module combo to create or modify existing, yes? So a new module, or a change of an old one that drives people crazy currently?
Therefore, How about "ECM" to lower optimal/falloff (aka screwing with targeting chances to do damage)...i mean Caldari are missile based right? They'd want to fuck around with turrets, whereas Amarr do "Disruption" that could affect missile based weapons finally (reload times along with it's current electromechanical turret tracking 'disruption')

• So "ECM" would be optimal/falloff affecting, 
• "Disruption" would be tracking/reload, 
• "Damps" would stay the same. 
• "Target painters" would....well, increase just the signature radius?
• "Sensor Boosters" would stay the same
• "Targeting computers" would be tracking speed and reload boosting, 
• "Range computers" would be optimal/falloff boosting.

So...what do you think?

Alternatively, what if ECM lowered the signature radius? instead of offensive, make it a defensive module like ECCM. It would be a bit harder to rationalize, and i like my previous suggestion, but hey if we're brainstorming anyways.

CCP's vision - Hanlon's Razor

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.  Hanlon's Razor

Ever run into the type of player who thinks he knows everything and can't be bothered with your friendly advice, or at least your attempts to figure out how much of eve's mysteries he's actually uncovered? The kind that always gets wardecced, or suicide ganked, or corp thieved, or scammed...or really any other sort of half-assed greedy lazy way to play this sci-fi mmog.  This is the sort of person who avoids risk and expects others to carry the ball. This also includes the type of amateur griefer who doesn't learn any finesse because the loopholes built into the game make his job so easy a retard with a potato gun could harm an equally amateurish corp.

It's funny that these people are so risk-averse, so blatantly dramatic about admitting their tactical mistakes (yet blind to their many strategic blindspots), yet their egos are so very overweened. Ironic i suppose.

This is exactly the mindset of CCP. These people have a 'vision' and it's very very important everyone knows about it cuz that's their selling point, yet it's merely a trite platitude they believe in. They've never had a coherent vision for this game, and likely never will. Their incoherent vision for this game is to make griefing so easy, so prevalent, that anyone can do it without half trying.  I suppose that would be an okay thing for a mmog, if all things were equal. except, they're not. In fact, the very last thing you want to do is actively attract killer types.

By nurturing explorers using software means (ie. giving the game great depth or "mystique", or encouraging non-explorers to dabble for a while by regularly adding new areas and features), the overall population of explorers will gradually rise, and the killer population will be held in check by them. The killers who remain do exert an influence on the number of socialisers, sufficient to stop them from going into fast-breeder mode, but insufficient to initiate an exodus. Achievers are set upon by killers often enough to feel that their achievements in the game have meaning. This is perhaps the most balanced form of MUD, since players can change their position on the interest graph far more freely: achievers can become explorers, explorers can become socialisers, socialisers can become achievers - all without sacrificing stability. However, actually attaining that stability in the first place is very difficult indeed; it requires not only a level of game design beyond what most MUDs can draw on, but time and player management skills that aren't usually available to MUD administrators. Furthermore, the administrators need to recognise that they are aiming for a player mix of this kind in advance, because the chances of its occurring accidentally are slim. Richard Bartle

 Thankfully, i think it's more a case of CCP so incompetent at understanding the social aspects of eve (like, you know, how we as players learn to adapt to eve's inhospitable social engine) that i doubt it's deliberately ignored...The CSM has been dominated by null sec alliances all too happy to downplay this 'corporate' aspect of eve (i shudder to think what may come of that fanfest graphic flowchart)

Our Vision

Let's start with a timely evemail that arrived in my inbox before the dev blog did.

Chapter 1 - The BBD

Playing the game by yourself
Just finished the tutiorials, got some cash and a shiny new ship. lets see whats this is all about. pick a direction any direction, off i go, oh wait who is that convo'ing me.
"hi n00b, im mister recruiter and ive been looking for you. i heard a lot about how great you were in just your first week and thought id offer you the oppotunity of a life time, join us and all your dreams will come true"
Right, heard that before, "I'm from the government and i'm here to help you" block, align and warp, that away
A year later, after learning how to fit a ship and mine a belt and make some isk, our n00b is in the game, but lost asking that old question "is that all there is?"
After another year, hes still in the game, expert at fitting a ship and learning to fit implants
Then learning how to optimize playing with jump clones
Still, is that all there is, i've got 100% refining, enough isk to buy what ever i want,  oh cool orcas!
Now our pilot knows how to optimize an orca for a mission with its fit plus ships inside with there fits, complexity rules, there is more to this than i thought. i think i'll play for another year
Alts! now i can have a corp and fit multiple players with complex implants selections and jump clones and pick a ship, any ship, plans and this is really changing so i think ill stay another year
At some point the question will be asked again, "Is this all there is?" at some point, playing solo, the answer will be yes

chapter 2 - Social Diseases

Bar hop till you drop
So mister recruiter gets his man, signs him up hands him over and gets his bonus, rinse and repeat. our n00b this time goes right to the rock pile with a weekly pay check, which he becomes dependent on because he has all these friends now and he has to buy things to impress them. he learns his job well, maybe gets a small promotion now and then.
But then the day comes when the question is asked "is this all there is?, i think i'll call in sick. next log on, hes out of his comfort zone and in the npc corp with only what was in his personal hanger. now what!
Join another corp, leave, another, leave, boy that's a long employment list, what are you go for again?
Goonie for a year and then gone, for good
Just because you're in a corp doesn't mean it means anything. roids, missions wormhole corps, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got... something
But what, new expansion comes out next week, lets hang around and see, just one more time

Chapter 3 - WTF

Wow, i didnt know that
 This time our n00b lands in a system and hooks up with the bitter vets. they teach him and teach him well. every session somebody says what the fuck, i didn't know that. this is really complex, i couldn't do this without you guys.
But bitter vets being the players they are have very long term views and drift in and out. sometimes it seems like nothing is happening, but only because it happens so slow.
N00b isn't a n00b anymore, and hes seen things that players 3, 4 years older haven't
Then the question get asked, "Is this all there is?"
Think i'll wander around for a while guys, maybe circumnavigate the galaxy, try some can art, maybe get famous.
We hear from our corp mate now and then but after a while, nothing. that's all there is

chapter 4 (i think)

cha·os  [key-os]
noun
1.
a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.Well this time n00b is getting recruited and something completely out of the ordinary happens, a ceo from day zero shows up and rescues n00b.
Look son , here's the plan. just like you can plug modules into you ship for different missions, i can plug pilots into my corp for different expeditions. pick a profession, any one you like, theres a place for you with us.
But you're a mining corp, i don't want to mine all day, is that all you've got.
No, we have a plan to conquer chaos.
But chaos cant be conquered
Yep, i know that, the plan is the thing, not the conquering, we're like vikings, mostly sit at home tending the belts and training, lots of training and planning. in the spring we set out to see what we can do. most people think we're after the loot, because we get lots of it, but thats not what it all about. anybody can steal all of your wine, we celebrate stealing all of the wine, without spilling a drop or waking anybody up. when somebody ask "How do you do that", we say "Very well!" thats what they remember us for.
Come play with us and you *will* be remembered
Tell me more, please
Ok one time we organized our selves into divisions, navigation, communications, security, resourse extraction, survey parties... really detailed stuff, a plan to overcome chaos. we had pilots trained in null sec covert ops and then spend weeks looking for the right systems to raid. we had planning sessions where we brainstormed how to get in and out again, what the break even was risk and reward ratios, you name it we tried to prepare for it. lots of fun, everybody had something useful to say. and we caught spies too, that was fun, at least for us
After the system, actually a whole constellation, had been locked in, forward parties went out, logistics started placing supplies, war parties suited up. another 2 weeks went buy before we finally rolled. the pre show tension was great, maybe the best part of the whole thing. first thing we did was take the gates, nobody got in and out again, i personally saw 5 ships webbed at the same time and the pilots forced to exit and jump out of the system, we're not murders you know, though we're good at fighting and killing, we took all of their ships and parked them at a safe spot and emailed the owners after we'd left with the bookmarks
Then the fun began, once all ingress and egress was controlled by us, the rorqs cynoed in and the orcas showed up full of ventures with greed fits and leathal war birds. pilots clone jumped to the rorqs in each system and started taking out the roids and ice, others burned all of the rats out and another team flew salvage, sucking up everything. blocade runners haulled every thing out on a continuios basis and stealth bombers flew escort.
It was the most complex raid i'd ever seen. we got away with everything in the system, without killing anyone or loosing a single ship. tons and tons of stuff, null sec resourses. and we got all of it like ninjas and were back home before the war decs even started.
We faced chaos and beat it. we out planned it and we out trained it. and we excuted it like a ballet. you can ask around, people still talk about it, we're legends
The one day old n00b with his jaw hanging open just has to ask "But Is that all there is?"
Eleven year old ceo and master of eve says no, that's not all there is, next year we're planning something bigger, want to join us?
N00b just says yes, for life
Author: Eitheror Andorian

Devblog the day after outlining a ship that enables the dreams i had about mining in dangerous areas of space...the very areas i feel most at home. Where ore isn't mined out by greedy afk botting morons day in day out. Where you can usually interact with players who pay attention to local chat. Where the regulars will get to know your reputation and visa-versa, including your bad habits. Where i've always experimented with cloaked miners of some ilk, for it seems the ability to sit there mining in low sec and just cloak up and wait for the enemy to leave to start up mining again. Where i've always hoped i could refine ore into all the minerals i'll ever need to build stuff (aka the missing megacyte)

Does the tech2 mining frigate actually rival high sec mining?
seeing as how my venture skills are lackluster i'm training the skill on my alts in the test server. stay tuned

commitment issues for CCP

"Not to bash on anyone caught in the middle of these events, but I just want to point out that CCP always, always display some serious problems with delivery:
- bringing Eve to beta was grueling.
- after five years in development and a helpful hand from Sony, Dust was far more broken in beta than it had any reason to be.
- eight years in development, and yet WoD had some many open high level issues, with hardly anything concrete to show for.
- As much as it pains me, Valkryie is giving all the impressions to be going the very same route. You can't just keep saying for years over how great the game could be if you implement it one way, or perhaps another way, or perhaps even a third one. At some point you must commit to one of them and go for it.

CCP is bad, bad, bad at making these decisions and the result is that the teams of yet-to-be-delivered games waste way too much effort implementing stuff just to have all the code thrown away.

Compare WoD to Pillars of Eternity, just to name an example that is on top of my mind. Development team of comparable size, budget of comparable size, scope comparable to Baldur's Gate, and yet they intend to deliver the game between two and three years total." ~Anon commenter

Endorsements

autofilled voting form

Steve Ronuken        eve-match; campaign forum; interview  tl;dr = API/crest
Mike Azariah          eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = casual play
Alner Greyl             eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = corp overhaul
Asayanami Dei        eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = corp overhaul
Karen Galeo           eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = new blood/wormhole
Commander Aze     eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = 60% match
Sugar Kyle              eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = low sec 
Mangala Solaris       eve-match; campaign forum; interview  tl;dr = social engine
Einear Lightfingers   eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = ?
Ali Aras                  eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = new players
Jayne Fillon             eve-match; campaign forum; interview  tl;dr = ?
James Arget            eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = wormhole
DJ FunkyBacon      eve-match; campaign forum; interview   tl;dr = low sec/FW/eve-radio
riverini

Complicit silence normalizing a peer culture of harassment

I think the operative word is "expressing" one's objection. What i've learned over the years from listening to speakers on the topic of harassment is that being silent is the worst thing you can do because it reinforces the peer pressure to applaud the bad behavior, which supports the status quo.

Jackson Katz's Bystander Approach (anybody who is not a perpetrator or a victim in any given situation; peer culture relationships) "How do we not remain silent in the face of abuse?"..."Isn't your silence a form of consent and complicity? Well, the 'bystander approach' is about giving people the tools to interrupt that process and to speak up and to create a peer culture climate where the abusive behavior will be seen as unacceptable. Not just because it's illegal but because it's wrong and unacceptable in the peer culture. And if we can get to the place where [people] who act out in [bigoted] ways will lose status"..."as a result of it. Guess what? We'll see a radical diminution of the abuse because the typical abuser is not sick and twisted, he's a normal guy in every other way. Isn't he? Now, among the many great things that Martin Luther King said in his short life was, 'In the end what will hurt the most is not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends'"..."It's not easy in male culture for guys to challenge each other. Which is one of the reasons why part of the paradigm shift that has to happen is not just understanding these issues as men's issues but they're also leadership issues"..."Because ultimately, the responsibility for taking a stand on these issues should fall on the shoulders of adult men with power, [whom] we need to be holding accountable for being leaders on these issues."..."When somebody speaks up in a peer culture and challenges and interrupts he or she is being a leader."..."We don't need sensitivity training, we need leadership training"..."Caring deeply is not enough. We need more men with the guts, with the courage, with the strength, with the moral integrity to break our complicit silence and challenge each other."

I find Anita Sarkeesian message to resonate so strongly with this current "earthquake" (as Ripard Teg puts it) that i'm going to transcribe a part of her TEDx talk starting about 6 minutes in. I'll let her words speak for themselves.

What type of game is it? (it's fundamentally a social one) "Now we don't usually think of online harassment as a social activity, but we do know from the strategies and tactics that they use that they were not working alone. They were actually loosely coordinating with each other. And this social component is a powerful motivating factor that works to provide players/perpetrators with incentives to participate and to actually escalate attacks by earning the praise and approval of their peers. We can kind of think of this as an informal reward system where players earn internet points for increasingly brazen and abusive attacks. Then they would document these attacks and then they would bring themselves back to the message boards as evidence to show off to each other. Kind of like trophies or achievements. So, we have this general structure of a social game."..."The end result is maintaining, and reinforcing, and normalizing a culture of [bigotry] where men who harass are supported by their peers and rewarded for their [bigoted] attitudes and behaviors."

She tends to not have any other decent talking points because she is a pandering hack who routinely devolves into useless anecdotes. That doesn't take away from her one and only salient point above, albeit probably plagarized.

----

What do i really think about this whole sordid episode?

• Of CCP i think it was merely PR damage control...It came down to public relations and controlling the message.
• Of the perpetrators i think they proved Anita Sarkeesian's point about "this social component is a powerful motivating factor that works to provide players/perpetrators with incentives to participate and to actually escalate attacks by earning the praise and approval of their peers."
• Of  the victim i thought a while ago it was designed as a huge troll, except according to FunkyBacon this happened back in November, and there's been "hundreds" of bonus rooms (and golly gee "one winner"...riiiight) But, you see there's something really suspicious about a 2009 character falling for a jita local scam, who from his eve-who stats looks all the world like an alt...He's actually made forums posts (two following his TS appearance) which strikes me as disingenous. So, yeah, i still think it was a massive troll and Jester bit down real hard. It's a damned good thing he did because i'm betting this CSM bid by E1 was going to have something splashy to crow about CCP's silent complicity in the villain peer culture.
• Of the patsy i thought Ripard Teg proved Jackson Katz' point about leadership skills and challenging abusive behavior, even if he found out about it long after the incident and regardless of the victim's apparent claims he's been misrepresented and ignored.

So, yeah, what i said on Minerva Zen's blog still holds true in my mind: "I believe it was just a huge troll on the part of the 'victim' and the griefer that would have been revealed if CCP's continued apathy towards enforcing their eula/tos against flagrant cases of griefing (aka 'The Code' and this tool) made it attractive to dump on bloggers championing on high horses."
You see, the griefer was running for CSM before he was banned. What better way to garner lots of attention than destroy the recent platform of a prolific blogger, on ethics? Gotta wonder who exactly brought this to the belated attention of Jester's Trek and more importantly why...

I think this problem is bigger and more systemic than simply E1 being a bad apple. I think Ripard Teg's hasty Pontius Pilate act is typical of him avoiding the real issue in the hast to throw out the griefer, bath water, tub and entire house connected to the bathroom. It's effectively making E1 the Messiah; a Martyr.

There is The Code griefing right under the nose of the EULA/ToS about "roleplaying" not being an excuse to grief/harass/etc, griefers running amok in starter systems with aggro traps, duel popups and basic trolling of n00bs, griefers using neutral RR while awoxing; griefers basically using whatever convoluted loopholes they can abuse in order to interfere in the gameplay of others at almost zero risk/energy on the part of the griefer.

There are devastating loopholes in the corporate (aka social engine) mechanics of this game defended by trollish examples of bullshit roleplayed stories of daring do against Ubiqua Seraph and the dissolution of BoB.

But, sadly, i suspect this is merely CCP doing damage control on a single bad apple and, like Ripard Teg (who's merely following their example), washing their hands of the entire affair. I doubt this will motivate the community to demand CCP finally close those systemic loopholes, and will have the griefers in The Code realize they just dodged a bullet and conclude CCP condones their roleplay.

Also, what will fascinate me is if Psychotic Monk gains alot more votes than expected and gets onto the CSM because of this episode.

Optimism in an anti-heroic age

 Blog Banter #54: Heroes

Today's topic comes Diaries of a Space Noob blog and other sources:

Quick post. I was listening to a song and a question occurred to me. Where are the EVE heroes? Against a dark background surely all we have are anti-heroes? A lot of mockery is aimed at any who attempt to be white knights. EVE is a dark place and yet pretty much all other MMO's try to place the player in the role of some form of hero, boosting the ego and taking the player out of the humdrum 1 in 7 billion that is RL. Why have I fitted into EVE? Did I never want to be that? So I guess my question is:

Do classic heroes exist in EVE? Is such heroism even possible in EVE? How would you go about being one without opening yourself wide open to scams? Is the nature of the game so dark that heroes can't exist? How do you deal with that irony? What effect does this have on us and the psyche of new players coming in from other MMOs? Is it something special that we don't have classic heroes, or should we? Are our non classic heroes more genuine?

And I would add to this, who have we elevated to the level of larger than life heroes ourselves in the game, and do they actually deserve it?

"Who" are heroes? Is SirMolle or Mittens a hero? They are larger than life...people whose ambition beggar our imagination that we may do the same one day, or frighten us into believing they would only crowd us out and nip our ambitions in the bud. Whether they "deserve" it or not is besides the question.
Is it Chribba? how about Grismar? I'd certainly say Chribba is a famous figure well known and liked. What is there to debate about them "deserving" such high stature?
What is the frame of reference for such a question? I'm not going to deal with the question of whether they earned the fame or not. The fact is they are names of characters we know of in a pixelated universe we pay CCP $15 for us to pretend to work in outer space. period.

I'd rather focus on the definition of Hero and ignore the "who."
I go by C.G.Jung's definition of a hero being someone we place the best of our social mores onto and stop expecting it in ourselves.
We are all heroes, at least those that don't use the excuse of roleplay to interfere with the play of others simply because it takes little to no effort on our part. Heroes in the sense that we play this game grateful for the risk inherent in flying that which you cannot afford to lose. Heroes in the sense that we will try to warn others of griefers (aka those roleplaying the dickheads they can't be in real life; aka villains) and protect the weak instead of hurling as many of them as we can off that spartan cliff.

The anti-hero is that which blames the victim. Who admonishes the n00b with condescending talk about "thou shall not fly that which thou cannot afford to lose"...who ridicules any criticism of their grief behavior with hair splitting distinctions about how long can n00bs dance on the head of a pin before they're no longer considered n00bs. As though they'd not know a n00b if they saw one.
The anti-hero is that which exclaims, "there are no innocents" and proceeds to aggro trap in starter systems fully aware that CCP won't enforce it's EULA unless some samaritan happens by and bothers to petition and even then probably gets a polite "go fuck yourself, plzkthxdrvthru" from a jovial GM ever so serious about looking into it. yeah, right.
The anti-hero is the cult of personality. The ones that say, "internet spaceships is serious business" and don't give a fart about noble qualities just fame &/or fortune.
The anti-hero is the elitist prick whose peers snigger aloud, letting the sandbox bully get away unchallenged with the notion that kicking sand in a weaker opponent is somehow acceptable.
But, then again, the true Anti-Hero is the rebel - the person who isn't a team player at all;  With zero idealism, courage, nobility, fortitude, moral goodness, nor altruism. There's nothing to "see" here, move along. The sort of person who cast a jaundiced eye at roleplay excuses for griefing and exclaims, "well played"

But do we want a villain (a 'foil') so badly as a roleplaying device that we'll turn a blind eye towards anti-social behavior and say, "wow, he really did a professional job on that contracted hit" - swallowing hook line and sinker the griefer's excuse for hitting a random target in the wrong place at the wrong time??


Just look at CCP's ToS section 4 compared to CCP's smug marketing happiness about the loss of Ubiqua Seraph oh so long ago. Really? A contract from some mysterious patron? That's original *cough*NOT*cough*
By their actions, certainly not words (like the blind leading the blind there), CCP have proven they have stopped expecting heroic things from themselves and expect the players to police the sandbox. It's a fairly simple rationale actually: Every player is a hero, therefore why should we step up to the plate and fix this damned social minigame of theirs called "corp management: a lazy griefer's paradise"?

And what brainfart occurred to have them 'fix' jetcan aggro trap with a duel popup that is not only opted in by default but there's no opt-out option in settings? One misclick and pop goes the weasel.

When does it cross that ethical line from nonconsentual immergent gameplay that champions the element of risk into a clear violation of ToS article 4? It's like the judge talking about pornography: "i know it when i see it"
CCP has championed the smaller than life anti-hero to the point where their actions truly are larger than ToS.4, and flipped the scales so that the actual heroes are usurped in favour of the imposters.

I for one am certainly not going to fade away in noble sacrificial fashion. The pigs may have taken over the animal farm, and run around acting like Don Quixote bashing afk carebears, but that doesn't mean they "deserve" the pearls cast by CCP. To expect larger than life figures like SirMolle, Chribba, Mittens and Grismar, et al. to do something about it while we complacently toil away and do nothing to help is to stop expecting the heroic in ourselves, as C.G.Jung once opined.

Bounty exodus

Blog Banter # 53 - A state of disrepair and jury rigging

Today's topic comes from a tweet from @erlendur in a conversation he was having with a pilot about having multiple overview tabs open in separate windows:

So that is the topic this month: The Overview. Is it sufficient? If not how can it be improved? Is there some way to replace it? Does it give too much information, or not enough? Please be creative and specific as the overview currently is the heartbeat of the GUI.

 There are numerous solutions to overcome the deficiencies, most notably Sarah Schneider and Blitz Kotare's overview importable .xml files. Plus, a very pvp oriented 'fix' to overview/bracket appearances using pictures:

The result is quite...erm...colorful. I find the effect to be more pvp friendly, and nullsec oriented than anything


The problem with the default overview these profiles are attempting to fix is the 'default' overview setting options aren't really helpful to the dedicated, specialized things eve players tend to get into.

Actually, there's no "Combat" or "Missioning" or "Exploration" that caters to the needs of players, and the 'Brackets' option (the one that shows you icons in space, not the overview itself) is woefully inadequate to keeping lag/performance issues under control.

So the aim of those two profile packages is to make things not only Aesthetic but informative to specialized uses.

I myself have endeavoured to created such a profile package for carebears, and for the most part, i feel i have succeeded. I decided that in order to take best advantage of the mechanics of 'import' and 'tabs' that having multiple files based on career choice, and more importantly, the amount of performance issues (aka. lag) you want to avoid having was the best of both worlds. Not only that but i made sure the number of "selected type settings" was 20 total shared by all 10 'import' XML files - compared to 29 types (excluding the 5 divisions) & 1 xml for Sarah's, and 27 types & 4 xml (solely color styles) for Blitz's. Below are the two core overview profiles you can import at will to tailor your overview needs. The top picture shows the "Belter" type profile and the bottom picture shows the "Shepherd" type profile. the names were inspired by C.J.Cherryh's sci-fi series, "company wars."

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EDIT: I looked at the way Sarah's overview pack displays the 'hover over' cursor information. (the ship type listed first, then [alliance], then pilot name, and lastly ship name;  Blitz's used this rather aethetic format i'm not quite sure was the purpose of...And the ship type last...i wonder what advantage that gives?
I think i'm going to adjust my profile to be more like Sarah's (ship type first, pilot name bolded)...and i think i'll tone down the tone size. I still like yellow tho.
As you can see in the picture to the right, with OMNM's profile top, Sarah's middle, and Blitz's bottom (red profile), the information shown is much better than the default by far.

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Am i happy with the options i am forced to work with, and the lack of ability to see exclusively WarTargets...not to mention the annoyance i have with the way bountied pilots crop up when i'm trying to ensure every single instance of a wartarget's attributes is checked? Not really...That's kind of a big deal: Not being able to separate wartargets into a tab of it's own (outside of null-sec)...You see, if i choose to check solely pilots at war with my corporation, and uncheck everything else, you'd THINK that would make things simple wouldn't it? but, no, if a pilot has an attribute i have unchecked, say a bounty - no matter if they are clearly at war with me - they won't appear in that type of overview settings.

Besides this annoyance about highsec wartargets (most use background colors to ensure target selection, as a jury rigged solution) the other issue that custom profiles can't jury rig a solution to is bountied pilots are probably the number two problem facing the overview...since CCP fixed what wasn't broken a while back anyone can bounty any pilot with zero restrictions.

TL;DR   So if CCP somehow worked a solution so that we could have a "wardec" tab showing only wartargets (by separating bounty indicator from the attributes and having it appear some other way, say perhaps in the 'ships' settings as a check box) that would be an improvement.

EDIT: having differentiation in beacons (especially cynos) would be great, plus something else in that vein but it's slipped my mind

Blog Banter # 52 - Just another day as an astronaut

"For the past four and a half years, the graph has hovered around that 30,000 mark; it is, for all intents and purposes, a plateau. But everything must come to an end sooner or later and that is what this blog banter is about.
What's on the other side of that plateau?
Is there any path for CCP to follow to raise those numbers upwards for a sustained period, or is EVE going to enter a decline to lower logged in numbers from this point? How soon will we see an end to this plateau? Months? Years? Or will you argue that 'never' is a possibility? Or you can look at the root causes of the plateau and tackle the question if it could have been avoided or shortened if CCP had taken different actions in the past.
Also, what would EVE be like with an order of magnitude fewer or more players?"

This is a continuation of a topic from Blog Banter #50, at least the way i look at things.
Jester's Trek tries to spin it as from "Retribution" but that's hogwash since it was Apocrypha that broke the 30k mark, and without it I daresay we would have never breached that limit.

What stuff was in that expansion?

• sharing corporate fittings
• sharing overview settings (filter/states)
• exploration revamp (i was actually pretty good at the old way. lol)
• eye candy (the total overhaul of the graphics)
• localization
• skill queue for the casual players
• career agents and epic arc* agents to give the n00b that feeling of immersion with the official story
• more industrial options (tech3)

That's a lot of powerful stuff for CEOs to offer as interesting things to branch into for our recruits, and gave us powerful tools to help the n00bs (aka new customers)
oh wait...
we're supposed to welcome them with duel popups, trolling in local, can baiting, aggro traps, scams, awoxing, and the like because we all know the victims actually enjoy the surprise buttsex, amirite?

There was a MMOG i played, called JumpGate, that did have an order of magnitude lesser than EVE, that also had too many killers being listened to by ego stroking developers. Yeah, that game died...really never took off...stagnated until they turned the servers off.
Got pretty lonely out there as the influx of players couldn't keep up with the brain drain of carebears as griefers harvested ever more tears for their addiction...yet who were the loudest most obnoxious squeaky wheel? That's right, the griefers.

oh wait...
we're supposed to call them "The core of any MMOG" *cough*bullshit*cough*

What if we were a magnitude greater in population? the new WoW? mining in missions would be commonplace, that much i can guarantee you among the barren belts before DT.  Ice anomalies would be stripped bare in minutes. Smartbombing battleships would be all the rage for suicide gankers, and greed fit retrievers would keep the catalyst builders swimming in isk. n00b CEOs falling prey to hordes of awoxers would make the story of Ubiqua Seraph like some cute grandpa tale of woe, and noone would remember m0o corp except us oldtimers.


*shrug*
On the other hand, in support of the 'plateau is fine' camp, there's the argument - which has merit - that says the fantasy genre has more sway among the fickle populous on the internet than the subculture of sci-fi.


Whatever happened to E&B? I was playing JumpGate while that game floundered and died.

The root cause of the plateau are obvious: Apocrypha promised more of something better, socially, not just playing tiddlywinks with ship rebalancing for the bread and circus pvp crowd who think "social networking" is getting peer acknowledgment from kicking sand in someone's face.

It's been 10 years of beta-level programming for the social fabric (aka player corporations) that has huge loopholes for lazy lowest common denominator griefers to fly a gnosis through. Do you think we don't all notice the elephant in the room? How fancy are the emperor's new clothes?

What if this new phase of CCP Seagull's vision of promises to allow sharing of personal hangars with corp members heralds a revamp of the roles and access that have plagued the social fabric of this game?

edit: saw this video via the "this week in eve #28" links that had this image:

corporate roles made simple and secure

Sorry about the picture spam. Just been a while since i revamped my corporate roles. earlier post with details is here
The reason i revamped the titles (i give no individual roles out based on the reasonable assumption it would become a mess real fast) was to make things even simpler:  give out access first then add roles, in a leapfrogging pattern (more access then greater roles)