Drakes Are Bad For You

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #17

This post will be more of an opinion and personal observation than anything up until now. This is now officially about Drakes. And why do I think flying Drakes is a dumb carebears' advice to newbies. So, when asking someone, why fly a Drake, the following will bound to come up as pros:

• Strong passive tank, with no cap management required
• Good range
• Missiles don't have tracking problems, only ship size is of concern

Now, these things are newbie friendly, aren't they? From a certain perspective, yes - as in, they are easy to manage. The problem with this is exactly that. The Drake is a unique ship that has very few worthwhile counterparts in the EVE universe. I'll admit that they are effective. But my main concern here is about newer players. Generally speaking, they have a lot to learn. Not just in terms of skill points but in terms of the game mechanics themselves. So the is easy mode represented by Drakes healthy for a newbie?

EVE question - EVE answer: "It depends." If there's only one combat ship you bother flying and you're much more interested in mining, production, trade, etc., sure, go ahead and train for it. You literally get a lot of bang for your buck. But if you're the new and aspiring ace pilot of the killboards, for the love of God and all that is dear to you, stay away from passive tanked missile ships. They make you forget more than you could learn from them.

The simplest thing is the range. Heavy missiles hit out to 70 km with good skills, which is plenty for medium ships. Actually, they need help in form of fitting modules if you want to target that far. So watching out that you didn't lose target lock will be like, the only thing you have to worry about. 'Real ships' aren't like that. You have to be able to manage range, else you won't kill any players.

The second part of Drakes being too easy to fly is the way missiles work. They always hit, assuming it's not some crazy fit speed monkey that can outrun them. There are a few things about missiles that make them easy to learn. I'm not saying they are for dumb people, certainly not. There are many variables one should be aware before one can call oneself a professional missile user, but on the surface, all you need to know is that what size of missiles can hit your target. So yeah, missiles will teach you little in the way of how to pilot your ship properly.

The third reason I'd not recommend using a Drake to learn how EVE works is it's too tanky. In the real EVE, the one that is filled with players trying to kill you, and if you're in 'real' ships, you usually don't have the option to deflect 400 DPS just by existing and probably running an invulnerability field or two. That means that you actually have to worry about how your tank holds, not just try to bail when shields are under 33%.

Passive tank in itself is a scourge on the aspiring pilot. Before I explain further, I want clear up the concepts. Passive tanking means that you shrug off your opponents' damage only by the recharge rate and resistances of your shield. You are utilizing the passive regeneration of your shield. Any other type of tank that involves providing high quantity of effective hit points that take a long time to grind through are buffer tanks. Active tanks are those that depend on activated modules and expend capacitor to regenerate the ship's HP.
So, passive tanks are bad for you because you don't have to manage them, just know when they break. In a real PVP situation, you are usually fielding tanks that are either buffer or active. Not that these are not mutually exclusive, and that the Drake too can be fit with a buffer or active tank. There is no black and white in EVE. Regardless, generally speaking, you will have to learn how absorbing damage and repairing within the boundaries of the engagement works, and a passive tanked Drake will do little to help you on that.

Once you ditch the Drake as the single best ship for everything, a lot of possibilities open up. You'll have to learn a lot to be successful with the other ships, but it's well worth it. Tracking and optimal range on turret systems, active tanking, capacitor management, fitting for maximum gank... Trust me when I say, even the dull grind of PVE can turn into real fun once you realize you're speed-, active- or damage tanking the rats.

Sessym out.

The Rubik's Cube

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #16

The EVE universe is divided into several areas that have very different attributes. Understanding these 'natural' circumstances will be crucial to not only the survival, but how the capsuleer fares generally. In most cases the average beginner player is not exposed to these environmental effects. If you think about it, this might be a real problem regarding the new player experience. Essentially, the people coming to EVE live in a different world than tried capsuleers - and CCP-ers do.

The first thing a new player will encounter is the much cursed UI. There are a lot of thoughts about how to fix this unintuitive and sometimes barely usable part of the game. Albeit some could be successful, there is another question we definitely must raise. Do we really want it fixed? What do you mean by 'fixing' it? Simplification? In a sense, it is logical and simple. You cannot see the logic at the first few tries, but it's there. The bewilderment that it's complexity causes to most people is a troubling thing. You know, sometimes I wonder, and this is a seriously tough question - how in the hell do you simplify something that has so many functionality in it, with almost every aspect being relied on? The game will never be the same, when the UI is changed. The ten million dollar question is, however, will it be more useful? Will I still be able to get the amount of information I do right now?

There is a certain beauty in EVE which comes from, what I can convey as the sincerity of the graphic elements. They might not be big and might not be flashy, but everything is there somewhere. The current representation has a very important attribute that I wouldn't want to see taken away - the way it relies in exact numbers. For example, for distance, you don't see bars - you see numbers. For transversal velocity, you can make it show the exact values instead of say, curves getting longer or shorter. Simplification and cleanup can go a long way with graphical indicators, but in EVE, it would take away from the game if you lost the ability to see the exact values of things. Colored bars moving around is just so not like the sci-fi universe we're in.

So, when the new player finally learns to tackle the environment that is presented to him / her as the NeoCom, the exposure stops. You're sort of dumped into a 'Rookie System', where you are less than aware of the universe and its dangers. Ideally you learn to run the tutorial missions, and then move systems, maybe join a player corp. Your career and the associated can shoot up if you are lucky and join the right corp. Many are not. Yet they still live in high sec, slowly learning about the games' perks, and avoiding everything else they don't know or haven't experienced.

The thing is, EVE isn't about the known! It's about learning something new every day. It's about accomplishment. The original plans of running missions in a battleship or mining in a hulk will soon ring a little hollow. Been there, done that. You know where the real fun starts? Where the boundaries of the computer game end! Human interaction is imperative. You're in a multiplayer and multilayer game...

I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon and say try PVP. Without guidance, without people to work together with, it can be a bitch to learn, and could do more harm than good. I don't expect every capsuleer to dare to be bold. But if that's not the case, just learn to deal with your losses, interact with other people, and be mature. Generally speaking, EVE has an old community, most players know better than to be childish about it. I see sometimes people cursing and whining on local - don't do that, you'll just be laughed at. You'll be nothing more than a chunk of loot.

So yeah, keep on trying new stuff out. What's the worst that could happ

Sessym out.

Design Principles

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #15

Welcome to EVE. This is a game about spaceships. The ship models that you may find look great are actually very... limited in their usefulness. The ships that are okay-ish in their looks are mediocre or don't really have a role. The ugliest ships... now they are the ones you are looking for!

So, in today's post, we take a moment and reflect on the design principles, especially regarding graphics, at CCP. First of all, we need to understand how aesthetics in EVE work. The main driver beyond how ships, stations and other stuff is depicted is that there are well defined graphical styles for each race, function, and technology level. Seeing that EVE is an eight year old game - she carries herself really well despite the fact mind you - the graphical styles too begin to show some change. The most noticeable examples are the Amarr ship models. To have a good comparison, you can look at the old Maller model versus the recently updated one. Or you can put it beside say, an Armageddon. The difference is subtle, yet the impact on syle is huge! The new design is much more akin to the Legion (the most recently introduced Amarr ship) than the old doctrine. Speaking of which, let's go through stlyes by race.

First off, the much featured Gallente ships. These ought to be robust maschines with rounded curves and sometimes alien layout. They have a tendency to sport a generic body concept with many limps, sometimes wings. They tend to be sort of symmetrical, except the odd sideweighted ship. Some parts are inherited over the ship line, for example all drone ships (even the Proteus with the drone subsystem) have these dial-like drone control links embedded in their hull. The Gallente ship designs seem to be fairly consistent, with the Hyperion and Nyx hulls standing somewhat out, but there are many more ships from the other races that are far-flung from the original style compared to them. Station and structure design tend to try and represent something organic, though most of the time with little success.

Caldari build flying boxes that are best described as polarizing. Most of their ships and buildings are percieved by either cool-looking futuristic or eye-hurtingly ugly by the audience. They also tend to attach special systems right outside their ships. Iconic examples are the Cormorant, Caracal, Drake, Raven. Station design is very similar. By looking at the creations of Caldari industry, maschines come to mind as opposed to the Federation's organic-looking style. This concept looks as if it hasn't really chcanged over the years, the recently introduced ships are well within it. It's worth to mention that the updated model for the Scorpion is much more detailed and thus falls a bit farther from utter 'caldariness', but I don't think the new direction it's pointing will be much more different than the one we are used to.

Amarr ships were introduced as ones that try to dominate the view. Their strong curves, clear forms ought to intimidate and demand respect. This leads Amarr designers to create ships that loosely resemble birds, and their structures usually sport rings, spires and wing-like forms as well. Their most recognitive trait is the golden plating that covers the whole ship, barring some unexposed surfaces. Now, this is where a noticeable shift has begun to take place. The newer releases exhibit a move away from the golden plate towards a darker, more insect-like form. New Amarr ships look like they have been stripped of some of their plating, their curves distrupted by some emersions. This new design is a bit disturbing because eventually, when all ships will have gone through the model overhaul, they may end up being entirely different and unimposing.

The Minmatar have arguably gone trough a change gradually, as their ships improved. The first designs were looking much like Earth's current space equipment covered in rust. Duct tape and chewing gum that barely held together. Then as the technology progressed, ships that sport a solid, reliable look like the Maelstrom, Nidhoggur and Loki became dominant. There have been no model overhauls yet for the Minmatar ships, so I cannot say if that's for the better or the worse. The principles we talk here about are too an iconic part of EVE that must be kept.

Functional styles also differ greatly as the ships grow in size. The what looks great has actually crap stats must be tied into this principle. See, each race has specifics that shine only in given situations. Seeing that EVE is comprised of many different situations, one may find that one craft with its bonuses and attributes set in stone, it can not perform the way it could. Take the Hyperion for example. If you take a look at the hull design, you imagine something that rams into the castle gates cannons roaring, tearing down everything around it. Now, dear reader, that is not the case. The Hyperion will not ram into any castle gate, because the statistics of its fitting suggests a loadout that is cursed to sit still due to the speed loss from armour tanking. The Hyperion is frowned upon because its layout prevents it from living up to the expectations one might have from such a ship. The tradeoffs are too high in most cases. There are, of course, exceptions from this rule. Some ships do look good while being awesome stats wise. I imagine most capsuleers would want to kill me for this, but take the Raven for example. If you look at it, it is a bulky ship that is slow, sits there unmovable, and pounds away at its opponents with unrelenting fury. Now, it does that doesn't it? I grew to like it because there is beauty in functionality and simplicity. A Raven is a statement of that. It's strong, safe, reliable.

Technology level design principles are interesting because they essentially are no more than new paintjobs with the occasional supplements of a wing or hardpoint here and there, yet they still manage to create the impression that some ships are totally different from the ones they inherited their hull from. And surprise, surprise - they usually are. I don't want to spend much discussing them right now - they pose a significan improvement over the looks of their T1 counterparts.

So. CCP is rewamping all ship graphics, and the most troubling part in this is that I'm not sure if there's a filter on how far they can move from the original looks. Because that is what EVE is like. Sinister, rusty, dangerous.

Sessym out.

Habitual Life

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #14

We capsuleers are so much different from the people that die for real when killed. Well, we act like we were different. In truth, there is more to this. When you stop dying, some things change. For instance, I no longer fear for anything. I consider myself and my assets already gone because both body and the battleship surrounding it is made of something I can replace. It is certainly an inconvenience, but it's good for the economy.

The crew, on the other hand, is another matter. Those people die when the hull crumbles. The sad thing in this all is that I don't really care. There are thousands more who dream of being part of an Abaddon class battleship's town-sized crew. I can replace them, too. Ethics and morals matter little to most capsuleers. They delude themselves that they fight for something honorable, though in many cases it's their own interest that is motivating them. ISK, Loyality points, more ISK, admiration, new ships, domination of a territory - ISK again. People have yet to see themselves for the animals they are.

Capsuleers are not only no less selfish than ordinary people are, they have something dangerous in common with them: habits. Some have the habit of self-destructing their ship. This is relatively harmless, since the sequence allows most of the crew to evacuate. Some have the habit of killing everything on sight. What we enjoy is not always what we do, however, we pursue our own habits. I for one, have the rather expensive habit of buying new ships over and over. I don't really need them, my trusty old battleships and haulers are up to the job for the most occasions. It's just ISK burns. I must spend it on my experiments.

Take Quintessence, the new Legion class strategic cruiser I built, for example. I didn't need it per say, yet it has five hundred millions or more in it. I wanted a ship that is mobile yet durable. It is a costly and extremely strong vessel for its size, not mentioning all the luxury that Tech level 3 equipment comes with. I really enjoyed the time I was perfecting my technique with it, the piloting it involves to allow it to emerge unscathed from the most missions classified as level four. It is especially effective against the swarms of rouge drones that like to deploy small crafts in large numbers. But functionally speaking, it only is really more useful than a battleship if you have long distances to cover. Otherwise the firepower is far from what the Abaddon sports.

What I want to emphasize with this is that even capsuleers are human, just losing grip due to the lifting of some limitations. I have a habit of experimenting with equipment and my trained crew really enjoys it. However, I know of a group that have an even nastier habit. The Jovians. They experiment on others. By others, meaning whole empires. I was wondering why did they give the capsule to the childish human races? When I think of habits, I now know the answer.

We are a fucking experiment. A large part of intelligence in humans comes from the awareness of death and fear of the unknown. They tried to take away them, to see how people would change. By this move, they exaggerated our tendency to live by habits. They made us more like the animals we thrive to leave behind.

The disease that lurks in them is that of indifference. Somehow the people that have it start to lose interest in anything. Life becomes a habit for them, they live because they haven't died yet, until they can't even be bothered to breathe. They probably try to understand this part of the human nature, the animal that they so fervently sought to purge with their genetic modifications. The ones suffering from the jovian disease, they are a sad reminder that instinct and consciousness should never be separated. We, capsuleers may well be the experiment to make them understand instinct, something they lost in pursuit of false superiority.

So in the end I can only conclude with one statement that may have been said when they thought of this:
"Let's see what happens."

Sessym out.

To 'win EVE'

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #13

I have read some interesting thoughts this week. You remember the butterfly effect trailer, don't you? Well, what my thoughts were revolvign around lately are just this. The story of the trailer is that a lone capsuleer roams about 0.0, and saves a miner who in return invites him into a fleet that in the end escalates to a giant capital battle. I mean, can you really do this? It would be amazing if you could. Then again, it might not be that simple.

First off, I don't really think you could find a miner who is a member of a 0.0 alliance mining alone. It's too dangerous, and miners are the kind that likes being protected. So most likely by the time you find a lone miner, you're reported like 10 times in their intel channels, and he's the one left behind from the other warping off, a gang of combat pilots on the way to gank you.

For the sake of storytelling, let's assume you somehow do succeed in saving someone from an alliance. Maybe alt characters or something. Now you aren't just simply invited to fly into the next blobfight. You'll be milled through the careful security process they have. IF they find you adequate, then MAYBE you can participate next time there is a major battle.

And here we are done picking that trailer apart. But 'I was there'... Yeah, another masterpiece of a video. That's another sort. What that guy is talink about is the flow experience I have talked about way back. It also lays out a future(?) vision for EVE flying in space experience. Right now, it is more likely that the enemy is bridged in from a Titan, onto a cyno, with capital ships on the field, and the battleship fleet that is depicted in the trailer is more likely to be evaporated before the hero interceptor can make the legendary run. There are things to do. It was mentioned in the CSM minutes too, that large fleets provide little opportunity for individual heroism. You have a fleet commander yelling out commands, and grunts following them, while the logistics pilots, either in their advanced cruiser hulls or in their carriers are trying to keep firepower from dropping like flies.

EVE is a good game. It provides opportunity for many things. But when it comes to focusing on your goals, you may end up with the feeling that you can't 'win EVE'. You can't get the thing you are looking for. Because you were not there. You were sitting beyond your computer, trying to make out what the FC just shouted for the fifth time, while trying to get a lock on the primary, struggling with the low framerate you are getting on the screen.

So what can you do if you want to be there? You need to change role. You need to change purpose. Or, wait for the oh-so-rare moment, and get more and more disappointed by each encounter. From all the activities I tried, the best were the rookie roams. Because I was totally there. I was flying my frigate, I was unstoppable and indestructible. I didn't try anything. I did it.

For today, this is the primary lesson. To win EVE, thou shalt not try, thou shalt do. It may be sometimes hard. It may mean many different things at once. As a die-hard miner, you may strive to suck up that huge spodumain roid. As a filthy pirate, you may want to keep your status perfect -10. As a faction war participant, you may wish your supported empire to own all lowsec. As a market guru, you may want to make billions a day. As an alliance leader, you may want to lead your people to triumph, to own all of 0.0. It is possible. Sometimes, you get the impression it's not. But if you get out there, you may as well succeed. There are hundreds of others trying. But you have a plan, and you don't just try, you do.

The point of EVE, where you 'win' it, is not even when you accomplish your goal. That's too easy. The true win is when you have fun.

Sessym out.

The Yarr Gene

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #12

I usually rant and rave about the greater goings-on inside the EVE universe and everything else connected. Now I feel it's time I share a few thoughts that are related to my own dealings.

First of all, no longer being a part of the 0.0 business, I enjoy, like most of the people flying warships in high sec space, the new world of missioning. It became a lot easier to access agents and I like it. There are some unexpected (or rather, well expected) effects of this improved quality of life. Namely, the quiet backwater system I live in with the former Q20 agent now is home to a lot more people. The population exploded into three or four times its size since then.

There is another interesting trend here. I'm not sure if they are new, or just growing rich, buy fancy new ships, but I see more and more expensive, pimped ships each day. Such is human nature, you might say. Where people had only flown Dominixes, Apocs, Ravens and even Drakes, now is quite a few Machariels, Golems, navy issue ships. Watching them, something happened to me.

I remembered. The roots of my EVE playtime came back to me. The things I have been taught, and the thing that I was originally interested in. Piracy. I grew jealous of their shiny ships and began to thirst their loot. I already know the thesis of getting it. Just need a few more millions to begin tricking them into giving me their stuff or their money. So yeah, the Yarr Gene surfaced. There's hoping I won't screw up, because if I don't do, there may be some more interesting stories here.

Sessym out.

The Capital Question

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #11

 This year's first CSM Summit, where the not-quite-pixel people travel, we elect to represent our internet spaceships needs, and in the 'Ask any question, devs answer' thread, an interesting concept seems to unfold. Namely, the matter of capital ships. In short, CCP is looking at capital ships as a whole, and talk indicates there are plan in place to redesign this layer of the game. Let us dwell into this today.

So, I was not here when capitals were introduced but the concept is pretty clear. Basically we have these assets as a tool for pixel empires to battle each other more effectively. Capital ships are meant to be strategic, military powerhouses that entities with sufficient wealth to support them can rely on to keep their territory intact or conquer more. This sounds great, but as always, devil's in the details. Again, I'm no expert on the history of capitals, so I will defer from recounting past changes.

The current situation however is pretty obvious to those that spent a good chunk of time in sovereign 0.0 space. From the top down, we have Titans. These ships allow alliances to drop entire subcapital fleets on a cynosural field, essentially teleporting them many jumps away. Furthermore, they possess impressive firepower in both capital sized weapons and the Doomsday Device, which allows for instant extermination of one ship, and is hard to counter with fittings even on the beefiest ships.

Next down the list is the Supercarrier. Previously called motherships, these things were transformed into an anti-capital ship with the introduction of fighter-bombers. Essentially, these were meant to be the counter to Titans, with their massive amount of hitpoints and jump range. We will touch on this a bit more further.

The most used and reliable capital ship is the Carrier. These class of ships are the packmules of EVE. Not only are they able to travel far with their jumpdrive, but their abilities in remote repairing, carrying a multitude of assembled and outfit ships as well as ammunition makes them invaluable for not only 0.0 corporations but many individuals. For a high-end player it is almost mandatory to have one. Just by owning a carrier you gain a self sufficiency that can help you weather the worst of times. For the same reason, losing one is a loss that you really can feel.

Then there is the poor old Dreadnought. These once loathed ships are now only used when the fighter bombers of supercarriers cannot reach the target. The main reason for this is their expected lifetime. Since siege mode, wherein they are most effective locks them in place with no remote repair allowed, a dreadnought is perceived to have a life expectancy of a tackler frigate. If there is a major encounter, it will be targeted and will go down quickly from the insane DPS of the fighter bombers.

The main roles of capitals right now, based on the above, are logistics, repairs, and infrastructure warfare. The problem here is, you have 4 ships for 3 roles. What should be done, then? There are many concepts, so I would like to share mine.

Let's get to  the generic changes first. We need them to be used in serious situations, not hotrops. And therefore, let's reduce their jump range, while retaining the fuel statistics. This means they are capable of bridging the same distance but with twice the planning. Second, balance tanking ability so that any capital can actively tank one another, but a few smaller ships (like, 3 battleships) will break them. This will provide the need for the support fleet.

Let's proceed with the roles then. First of all, we need a ship that provides logistics, as in spare ships, clones, ammunition, fitting. For that, bring back the mothership. Cloning bay, ammo bay, fairly large cargo, ship maintenance hangar that can carry about 10 battleships assembled, and allow it to jump the longest from the list of supercapitals.

Second, we need a ship that can provide capital repairs to those in need. The carrier is a fine example, its ship maintenance hangar should be tweaked to accommodate only smaller ships, but maybe more than the cubic meters allow. This is necessary

The third role is infrastructural warfare. The Dreadnought could make a return here, being cost effective and providing damage output to stationary objects and structures without being pinned down. An XL weapon tweak might be needed so that the siege nonsense is either not required or is no longer a nonsense.

What about the Titan, you may ask. Well, it should become the ultimate weapon against other capitals, with the DD allowing to break through the carriers' repairs on anything.

To keep the existing content, new capital ships could be added. For example, a black ops capital that can bridge a fleet just as a Titan can right now, or a sleek assault carrier that has low hitpoints but is agile, has versatile fitting and can field fighters and bombers alike. Think of it like a capital arbitrator. There could also be AOE EWAR ships that belong into this group and perform things like the projected ECM burst. Once you free up the capital ships from the sovereignty grind, the possibilities open up.

Despite all the speculations though, CCP will likely implement it in a way that no outsider can think of right now, or I hope so they will.

Sessym out.