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)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
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
