Normal order resumed

Apologies for any inconvenience during yesterdays downtime of the blog, seems that I had been quarantined by Google, probably due to comments made by bogus users linking all sorts of malicious sites. I've deleted all the old comments that contained links and also deleted a number of links from the main page.

No posts to speak of recently, haven't spent much time in space.

Hopefully back to business as normal, and I'll be bringing you the August character review soon.

The One That Got Away

Some elements of my play last night were quite sad. For example taking delight and being pleased with myself for destroying a Catalyst undocking from a station with my Drake. I had been feeling that low after losing three ships (Jaguar, Rupture & Hurricane) in a row that any kill of any description felt good! Adding to the hardly exciting or meaningful kills were an Executioner in a belt & an Iteron undocking from another station. I did manage to snag all three Pods though which I was rather impressed with as I was in a battlecruiser. So all in all my evening was not a waste but not terribly exciting either.

That is until I noticed a Hurricane arrive in top belt in Adirain, he killed the single rat in the belt and sat there. Could this be a second trap of the day for Kirith to spring? I kind of sensed that it would be, but I figured i'd have a go. Warping in with my Drake I landed 13km from him. Lock, missiles away, point, close the distance, double webs. Unsure whether he's armour or shield tanked I'm using navy scourge heavy missiles, his shields are gone in a couple of volleys and then I hit armour, looks like he's triple trimark armour tank soo this'll take a while. Cue, local spike by about 8. I align out and overheat MWD, his fleet of cruisers & battlecruisers lands and I'm burning away. I notice an Ares with them too and think I'm not getting out. 30km from the Hurricane bait ship and my warp drive engages. Suprised much? Yes me too! Sadly lost five drones but I saved the ship

I dock up and log as it's time to pick up the girlfriend. So, what have I been thinking since? Could I have taken any of his fleet down and survived? I firmly beleive that had the Ares not been there then I could, unfortunately he was so I can sleep soundly knowing that I did all I could, saved my ship and got away from the trap.

So far my opinion of the PODLA setup Drake....pretty damn good thank you very much.

The Importance of Effective Communication

It's one of the biggest aspects that differentiates business as a whole, piracy in EVE can be consiered a business and therefore I would say that this topic title is appliicable and it is just as critical here as it is in the real world.

It is also an aspect of EVE that has provided me with much consternation since my return to the game.

As a corporation, The Tuskers use a mix of verbal communication through Ventrillo, and written communciation through corporation channels. The preferred method of communication being over ventrillo and it is insisted upon that if you are online in EVE then you should also be on vent. An excellent rule.

This morning provided me with a superb demonstration of why this is so important when I logged in to update my skill training to find an Armageddon in a belt in Hevrice. I had no intention when I logged in to undock, but curiosity bit me to see who was this other person in local. I should have logged into vent to advise my corpmates but I didn't. There is more than one reason for not doing so, the first was not really a good one and the second, well I'll come onto that in a minute. Ultimately I undocked, warped in on the battleship and sprung a trap. Losing a Hurricane, an avoidable loss had I advised my corpmates I am certain and we probably would have come away with the big "W". Once I was engaged, I put some comments in a text comms channel but these were too little too late.

Over the last couple of days I've seen this sort of thing happen a few times, admittedly this is the first time I've done it myself. I don't know the reason for it, or why there is a reluctance to use vent as its such a powerful asset, not using it costs iskies and pride. I imagine part of the reason for not communicating about targets, and I know I am guilty of this on rare occasions is the desire to get the solo kill. But really, we're a corporation and a team who should be working for the "greater good" and not individual benefit. I know for one that I should listen to my own lecture here. Today is the marker in the sand for me personally, and I want to rid myself of this bad habit.

Unfortunately for me, and the second reason for me not being on vent is that I seemingly have developed a technical issue since re-subscription which prevents me being understood by everyone else when I speak on vent. Don't get me wrong, I don't speak swahili or anything and my communication skills are very good, they have to be in my job. My vent is normalized and connected/logged in just fine. I can hear everyone else clearly, however when I speak a proportion of people can hear and understand me just fine but a bigger proportion of people say that either they can't hear and/or understand me. It's doing my head in to be honest and I wish I could fix it. It is having a detrimental effect on my ability to work with and effectively contribute to my corporation and is just completely doing my fruit in! I'd love to hear any suggestions on how it could be fixed. For the record, my headset is just fine.

Seeking Skilled Comrades

Just in case it has escaped your attention, the esteemed low sec pirate corporation The Tuskers, of which I am counted as a member have reopened recruitment recently.

The Tuskers are as I mentioned above a low-sec pirate corporation. All of the pilots operate both solo and as part of small gang warfare. Typically we don't fly around in huge fleets and it is unusual that we are found in battleships, battlecruisers being our favoured vessel of choice for gangs.

We are a friendly bunch and camaraderie is high, I'd consider The Tuskers to be quite professional in the way in which we carry out our piracy. We do not smack, we always honour ransoms and duels.

If the above appeals to you then take a wander over to our recruitment forum here and have a read through the application process.

The process is pretty in depth and we like to test not only your skill, but also your knowledge and character too. Skillpoints too do not a 'leet' pvper make so do not be deterred if you don't have the likes of 30 millions skillpoints! I don't think I had ten million when I joined!

I hope I'll see some of you on the forums soon.

o7

Back to what I enjoy most in EVE

Long standing blog followers may remember that I used to have a knack of finding and destroying poorly fit Battlecruisers with my humble Rifter. Well earlier this week I managed to lure one out to fight me after scaring his Scythe in a belt. After a little banter between us he was convinced that his Hurricane would have no problem destroying my Rifter and warped to the belt I remained in. It soon became clear once we were committed that he had underestimated the power of the little Frigate. I offered him the chance to pay a ransom to keep his ship, he declined saying he didn't have enough isk. Of course that meant that I had to destroy his ship. Snagging his capsule afterwards he was in no mood to pay a ransom on that so I transported him back to the clone vat. Apparently he's going to quit EVE don't you know?

Well, he didn't as since then he appears to have lost even more ships.

On unrelated news today I took delivery of my new Battlecruiser stock, Seven new hulls and fittings for six new and untested loadouts. Four Drakes, two Cyclones and one Hurricane. I've now fit them all and look forward to taking them out.

Also, given my new fitting ability post learning skill removal I've bought a single new Rifter with a untested fit to have a play with. Grumblecub will see you in space soon.

EFT Warrioring

So when time in space is limited, one's attention turns to EFT. The perpetual question of what to do with some of those unfitted hulls that are in my hangar comes back to mind. A multitude of Vigils, Breachers, Scythe & Bellicose bought in a moment where I thought "one day i'll come up with some miraculous fit for those" but didn't...

Quickly getting bored of trying to find a viable PVP fit for any of the above, bar the Bellicose which met with more success my attention swings back to Hurricane, Drake & Cyclone loadouts. Before long I've input 3 new Drake fits I wan't to try, 1 Hurricane fit and a Cyclone fit.

Of course now having theorycrafted the fits I want to buy them, and of course replace that Drake I lost last week. So after spending close to 200m iskies in Jita on hulls & modules I await the next transport bringing new shiny & rusty toys to low-sec.

Hopefully I shall regail you with tails of their dominance in due course.

Pop!

It's not been the busiest few days, getting on for just a few hours of an evening this week. It's had its low points, like where I landed on gate just as a gang of 10 or so faction frigates did in my Drake resulting in me losing not only my Drake but also my Pod and along with it my bounty which was up to over 110m too.

Last night though, saw my most enjoyable moment since returning. Typically, and doesn't it always happen when you need to log off to go or do something? Just before I needed to head out to collect my girlfriend from work I land off of a belt in Adirain. It was busy in system and I'd been chasing around after various craft in my Rifter. Eventually a Black Rebel Rifter Club pilot arrives. We start closing with other, until at about 70km a second Rifter arrives causing the Rebel pilot to bug out after I assume fearing a TARP! I sadface in local and he suggests meeting for a 1v1. I mention that I have to log to collect the girlfriend, so we will settle that score another day. As we are talking the second Rifter is closing on me until at about 20km I decide to engage him. I have friends in the system but this is serious business of Rifter v Rifter combat! So they are aware of my engagement and wait looking for other targets. So our two Rifters are engaged, and aside from me forgetting to activate my web for the first minute I'm having the better of things. I see ships on 360, a bunch of frigates so I overload everything and pop him just after his friends arrive. I thought I was a goner until I hear warp drive active and escape at 88% structure and a sliver of repped armour. Repping up in a safe I have to go to dock so that I can log out without the risk of agression in space, braving the sentry fire I dock and log wishing my fellow Tuskers good hunting. Based on the killboard it seems that they did.

I do beleive that I have reignited my love of the Rifter....

Settling Back In

This weekend I've been online a fair bit both days whilst my girlfriend has been at work. I'm glad to say that I've gotten a few shots off in anger this weekend, which has been very satisfying and helps in blowing away some cobwebs. I really need to rid myself of the newbie nerves and as much as the adrenaline high is and was a great thing, the last thing I need right now is anything to distract me from performing at optimal.

I'm not sure if it's me or the times at which I have been online, but the space lanes have been very quiet with few potential targets to be had. I have managed to probe down a few vessels but they were very alert and either warped out as I arrived on scene or cloaked up.

Saturday was the more lively day for me, even though it commenced with me getting bored enough to get GCC for popping a Velator & Pod on the high-sec gate in Hevrice. In the afternoon a bunch of us formed up in BC's to spoil a triple battleship group running a site in a nearby wormhole, though sadly they had left by the time we were ready. Deciding against wasting the small gang if BC's we took a short jaunt towards Intaki managing to catch this Hurricane on the way out, and this Arbitrator on the way back.

Sunday was a much quieter day, albeit the day which I managed to probe down some nice targets I only managed to lay waste to a ratting Caracal. There was an afk Hyperion, again on a high-sec gate who unfortunately woke up while we were bumping him off gate.

Hopefully next time I immerse myself I'll see some more action. I've decided against going for a Heavy Interdictor for the time being, sticking with some of my existing plans for now.

Having undocked and flown my Drake & Canes around over the weekend I feel that I'm getting a nice feel for them and am enjoying them. I was a bit disappointed with my Drakes tank against sentry guns, expecting it to be rather uber. I'll be looking to create a better fit for this purpose.

Time for my dinner, so I'll speak to ya'll again soon.

July 2011 Character Review

As promised, I present my latest character review. Nearly a year after the last! Sadly I cannot regail you with massive increases in SP as the account was inactive for a long stretch.

In the week since reactivation I've played little although I have just 1 kill and 1 loss recorded. I did try and pick a fight with a Navy Comet this morning but after a couple of logoffski's and gate hugging he went back to hi-sec.

I'm using EVEmon now instead of EVEHQ so my skill disposition pie chart looks different:



Since the last review I've jumped nearly 5m SP. The big benefactors being:

- Missile Launcher Operation mainly through the training of Heavy Missile V and the associated specialisation for my Heavy Missile Drake.

- Navigation due to High Speed Maneuvering V.

- Gunnery the big winner with Advanced Weapon Upgrades V & Surgical Strike V.

I'm just rounding out Heavy Missile Specialisation IV and Guided Missile Precision to IV to get my Drake to a good level before I throw in Propulsion Jamming V from the Rifter Plan. I quite fancy a Broadsword you see.

Shipwise, I'd just crawled into Minmatar Cruisers when we last reviewed and was looking forward to Minmatar Battlecruisers. Well, now I have both Autocannon & Artillery Hurricanes in my hangar with a few cyclones sitting unfit. I also have Drakes ready to undock. Like I said a moment ago, I'm thinking Broadsword next but equally could go in other directions. Playing casually certainly seems to make the longer skills pass quicker.

My alt accounts income had stopped last review, now I am glad to have that back up and running. Rebuilding start up capital is the name of the game at the moment and it's coming along nicely. I'm nowhere near filling my 125 available orders yet but making steady progress with 119 million isk profits made and reinvested so far. Reading my last review, it seems I wanted the alt to be a plex buster in a Tengu. I'd forgotten that until reading so that hasn't happened!

Hopefully I'll have more meaningful information to post in due course.

o/