Obvious Celestial is Obivous

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #21

There are times when you fuck up. These are not the times you should worry about. There's always some little room to correct mistakes. But there are those moments when you fuck up while others are fucking with you.

Pardon the explicit language. So let's stop a little and analyze what led to this moment.

I log on, load grid in space. I warp to my gate watch safe (It's home system afterall), see a small gang camping the gate. Corp mates are planning on hauling stuff in. The industrial carrying the first round of fittings and ammo jumps in from the high sec gate, just as pinpoint and I report the camp.

Docked, I have to leave the computer for a few secs. By the time I return, the gatecamp is busted, and a lowsec roam is being planned. It's one of those nano roams, so I hop into the shield-fit Hurricane and x up. I have a hunch and take some redundant faction ammunition out of the 'cane. It hits hard, but the stuff's expensive if you never get to use it...

Recon ships and a black ops BS is added to the mix, we decide on the tactics and prepare to undock. The other corporation is amassing in our home system, bent on revenge. The nano-fit is the better idea, yeah.

So we undock and crash the gate, barely slipping their fleet. They're close behind, time is of essence. Discussion goes on about how to deal with the whole situation. This is where we as a group fuck up. People get a bit disoriented and they catch up on the next gate. Order is issued to scatter.

And this is where I fuck up while others are fucking with me. I warp off the gate by warping to a planet, making a bookmark in the process. All good, I gave them the slip. Or not? Landing, I see two of our merry enemies, one at 0, one at 50. Crap. Trap. I'm not going to give up, start aligning, burning out of range, and open fire. Then the whole gang jumps on in. Time to spam the warp button.

So, my ship turned into something like an egg, did I level up? Sure I did. New things I learned:

1. Don't warp off to obvious celestials if you're about to flee. First, last planet, sun, station are all bad choices.
2. Don't warp at zero. Don't warp at 50 either. Everyone warps at 50.
3. Align the moment you land. Don't look at people on overview thinking what are those about. They're out to get you.
4. This is not my first ship loss, and won't be the last. Also, looking at my previous losses, I didn't lost a ship when I did everything right. That feels comforting.
5. I still feel honored that people must assemble fleets of 10-20 people to have the balls to fight a 6-man battlecruiser gang from Fla5hy. If that's not blobbing, I don't know what is.

Sessym out.

Holy Shit, That Guy's 5.0!

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #20

Note to self #1: pirate corps that look at your sec status as a primary objective are being unprofessional at recruiting.
Note to self #2: when a 5.0 guy joins a pirate corp, he's up to something :P

I tought I'd give a little background about me. Not that I think I'm interesting, but there are some people who might get something out of it.

So, I was born a capsuleer a fewmonths more than a year before, and ever since then I was striving to do something to make a difference. Not as in big 'make a difference in a world', but do something I can look back at, and say, 'yeah, god, was that cool.' I've been hunting those moments all the time, and had quite a few. I'm not going to go through them, because it's realy hard to ecplain why would I remember some things this way. Rather, I'd go through the history of what I thought when I was doing things.

I joined EVE because a bunch of long-time gaming friends did and we saw the way we could make our game pay for itself. That was a cruicial point as we had to organize our carrers around it. This wasn't really much fun, but learning the roper was certainly an experience I look back and smile. We did try to make up a pirate corp, but things kind of fell apart as our mentor and the CEO of the corporation decided he had enough of EVE for a time. So we were sitting there, missioning for our PLEX. It wasn't fun, a side from the occasional challenging mission or getting into a new ship, devising new fits. Then we decidd we want to take a look at 0.0.

Joining a renter corp in Tenerifis was a kinda-good idea. In hindsight, it taught me one thing: grinfing for ISK and flying carriers is not what I want. Some of us stayed, some of us drifted on, now to a corp that was then part of a pet alliance. They had their own space in Period Basis, and the months passed by slowly as the alliance fell apart. The corp was forced back to high sec, but in about a month, it could return to its previous hunting grounds. Really good bunch of people. Had gun talking to them, but unfortunately we've slipped inot inactivity due to our alliance being in the learning stages, leaving many people unsatisfied. Back to high sec, and summer hit.

So I was sitting around, looking for lowsec systems to scout for weeks, and then saw a recruitment post somewhere. The thing is, most pirate corps have an attitude in their recruitment posts that deters inexperienced people. FLA5HY RED doesn't. They let me in, afterall. I'm not sure where this is going. There are times in your life when you feel you just have to do something. If nothing else for, jsut to see if this is what you really want. So I'll stop worrying about the 400 millions a month, and lurk in the forlorn wasteland of EVE, low sec.

The lessons I learned?

1. Tough I can and do enjoy PVE activities, I'd rather have the opportunity to cease shooting crosses and start warp scrambling people.  I have too much repressed aggression to be a carebear.
2. 0.0 blob warfare isn't particularly a place where I feel I'm useful.
3. I now have a life to atted to, and that's not an excuse, it's a fact that drives my playstyle.
4. I don't like half-assed attempts and disoriented leadership. I'm not going to comlpain, just go my way (and probably die in a fire).
5. Don't look at my sec status. I'm still a pirate (wannabe).

Sessym out.

Outsourcing Pixels

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #19

With the new dev blog out, and as there are some interesting ideas being tossed around, I figured it's time for another post. Today's topic will be outsourcing, as in allowing people you're not really affiliated with to all sorts of dirty work for you as an alliance.

In the current state, outsourcing only exists in some awkward forms of renting space. Contracts are made via mutual agreements that the renter will offer services (such as billions of ISK, ships, modules, capitals) to the owner of the area, and joins their ranks in some form to legitimately use the alliance holdings. Now, this is a complex operation that requires high levels of activity in many areas as well as a great deal of financial and logistical planning. In a nutshell, it is not for the beginner player who wants to venture into null sec, because he or she'll probably be unable to support both the corporation and self. There is a very strong point in the design principles showing up time to time which is about catering to the needs of small players as opposed to the current situation where they are exploited and frowned upon.

So, let's go on to my proposal of one of the possible solution to this problem. I dub the thing as 'Outsourcing', and it should be available parallel to renting. What is this all about? The definition of outsourcing is the practice of hiring an external organization to perform some business functions for the owning entity. In the real world, companies do this because the costs of maintaining the function internally are higher than simply paying for a service. What does this mean in EVE terms?

Well, it means the exact opposite that what we have now. I personally think the mechanics of making people to pay for being allowed to use your space is retarded. Moreso because despite having agreements on things, large alliances tend to neglect their part of the deal when they have pressure on them by another alliance. So let's turn the whole thing upside down. To do this, think about the needs and ends of an alliance.

1. Sovereign alliances need armaments to protect their space. Ships, modules, ammunition and fuels must be obtained by the pilots in order to participate in the activities of an alliance. Someone has to extract and manufacture the goods that keep the warmachine going.
2. Someone has to make those things locally available in vast quantities, over a long time.
3. Someone has to cater to the needs of individual pilots, set rules to allow them to make profits of their own, provide housing for their assets and other services.

These are the basic foundations of running an alliance effectively, keeping morale high and people logging in for CTA's. Now, let's take a look at the current situation.

Point 1 is usually left to the individual pilots for smaller ships, and they need a lot of income to keep up. Many alliances run a reimbursement program to relieve the strain from their pilots, absorbing most of the cost for losing some key assets. Point 2 is all about logistics and market viability. Basically, this is handled by the jump freighter guys bringing ordered goods from Jita or whatever. Alliance contracts and market orders are often a viable alternative of acquisition. Point 3 is where alliance leadership comes into play, setting the rules is a big thing on the scales of success and failure. Stations and POSes are managed by alliance people to house the 'grunts' that in return serve as footsoldiers in the alliance army. Some people just like to toy around these rules. I'd mention renting space here as a valid strategy to generate income for the alliance.

What are the problems with this? First, people have to get ISK somehow to buy the stuff that they can use in battles to keep the alliance going. This leads to them looking at space to farm it in various ways. Second, the complications that could arise from things being not available (for example, tritanium for manufacturing or station installations) can deter many people of the industrial route, accelerating the problem further. In essence, the more you rely on importing goods the more you have to, because it's just that much easier to go to Jita and haul a few freighter's worth back. Then there is the people wo are ratting. Seriously, why are those exclusively interested in PvP forced to shoot red crosses regularly in order to pay for their ships? You'd think that an effectively operating military organisation would have a way to supply them with equipment.

Ass 0.0 stands right now, you're going there for 3 things. Roaming around looking for trouble. Participating in large scale battles. And finally but most importantly to make a ton of ISK. Socereign 0.0 is a profitable place to live in, but what are your choices if you're planning to take part? You either join an alliance submitting yourself to its rules or rent space with a few buddies and try to come out in the positive.

Now, what if it would be possible to pay other entities to do some of the activities for the alliances? What would you want to outsource?

You certainly want to keep all of point 3 in the alliances hands, or don't you? For exaple, running a staging POS or a jump bridge is costly and tedious. Why don't you just pay X entity a sum and leave it to them?
Furthermore what if you could pay entity Y to manufacture / acquire ordered goods by a schedule? What if you could pay them to move your goods, handling your import / export needs? What if you could hire them for example maintain sovereignity and for example military / indutry levels in a system in your weak timezone?

The essence of this idea is that instead of generating artificial costs of maintaining and owning space, why don't just make it so that the alliances themselves have an incentive of having small holdings performing the tasks they deem too tedious, providing them opportunity to live there while inducing costs in place of the strain on leadership to get these done?

So, as a sovereign alliance, you could advertise a contract (a treaty if you will), that if the subcontractor provides ordered services, they get an amount of ISK, while penalizing them if they fail to meet the requirements of the contract. The greater the subcontractor entity, the more fee it could charge (given that higher numbers provide financial and contractual security in industry as well). The subcontractor would get the benefit of being marked as such, ability to use alliance assets (including stations, POSes, systems) to a configurable extent with or without a fee, and the possibility of making a decent profit while using them. The sov holders this way get localized market (which in turn WILL induce those of industrial mind to produce goods for it) and they can concentrate more on their efforts of defense and conquest.

Some disclaimers left: this should in no way be exclusive to other methods of setting up small holdings in null sec. This should be tuned in a way that both entities benefit but it scales to a desirable level. Alliances should be given enough income to be able to make choices in this matter.

I don't think this will entirely fix null sec, nor do I think there's one golden move that will. But maybe... magybe ginving players incentives to actually employ other people than oppress them will incite many more people out to experience the 'land of opportunity and adventure'.

Sessym out.

Almost. Dead. Again.

So, I decided to write some words for the  Starfleet Comms competiotion. I hope it is as entertaining as writing it was.

This is my entry to the Inspired By Images Of Eve Competition 3. More details and links to all entrants can be found at Starfleet Comms.

 
The air was heavy with the moisture of oils and the stinking rust that came off the old pipes. Blake was taking the classical approach for inspecting the leaks that set off the alarms on the bridge. It wasn't easy work, as free space is not something you can find in abundance of the service tunnels within a Rifter class frigate. He kept hammering away at the hydraulic pipes that connected to the mechanism handling the main thrusters. As always, time was of essence. The dirt on the floor, formed from lubricants and various nasty substances started to thicken, and then at one turn the tertiary depressurizer gave up, and hot liquid started to drip as the wrench connected with a deep clank.
-Gotcha, bitch! - Blake spat as he began to search for something in his toolbox to close the leak with.
-Damn man, what's taking you so long?! - whistled an anxious voice  from his comms. He dropped the wrench as an emphasis, and shouted back.
-Keep yer ass shut, ain't no fancy nanites here!
-Get that pipe patched up, we don't have all day!

Blake wouldn't admit but he really liked the owner of that voice. It's been two years since they worked together. The capsuleer was a 'chill dude'. He had a good sense of humor, insane ideas, and a deep wallet for all Blake cared. He particularly liked to join him on his shady deals, and he was pretty sure there were times when they wouldn't make it without the other. Blake kept telling him to stop, but he insisted that he didn't really care. All these risky endeavours were just for fun, he claimed. Well, certainly it was more fun than sitting around the station the whole day while the damn fool was sniffing around the market for his next lucrative deal, but Blake couldn't get over the fact that to the capsuleer, everything is replacable. It really didn't matter to him if the ship he was in blew up or he lost hundreds of his crew in the same explosion. He was even joking around with his life, saying to those threatening him to go on and gut him, telling his new clone needed a lot of biomass. Blake, on the other hand, as a regular and sometimes only crew member, liked his own hide where it was, covering his organs. He also liked his wallet flashing in green light on his PDA, so he did what the pilot asked and thought of the comments he was allowed to spout at him as a bonus.

The capsuleer stared at the directional scanner. The poor thing had been constantly running its calibration cycles. He had every reason to be anxious. The cargo was hot. He mused about his ship of choice. Perhaps it would have been better to choose a more powerful ship. He had access to the universe's sturdiest cruisers and fastest frigates. Yet he had to do it in a Rifter. The poor old fellow was collecting dust and adding new layers of rust in a dark corner of his hangar. He couldn't help but point at it - "I want you to get that ship ready". "You are an idiot. She's a glorified wreck with some thrusters and rotting guns attached." That was what Blake yelled when he noticed what he was pointing at. He had a big mouth, he always stank of oil and had no interest in the big goings-on of the world, but he was a damn good engineer and mechanic.

The nebulae did a good work of hiding the rusty frigate from the people sniffing around. 'Low Security Space' doesn't even start to describe the place they were forced to stop. A rival gang of capsuleers were waiting on the incoming gate, and the warp core wept as the enemy distruptor latched on it's signature. Luckily enough, the pilot was not really a sharp one and forgot that microwarpdrives don't require hudred percent stability to operate, so the combined effect of injected energy and mass field bloom was more than enough to toss the agile frigate out of range.

The ships capacitor of course fell short and the ship dropped out of warp way before the exiting gate. Luck seemed to be on its side when the sensors recalibrated and showed a small nebula with some rocks floating around. It could of course be one of the local scoundrels' outposts, but the buildings were apparently derelict, however still anchored to the plain asteroid. A quick sweep of the camera drone showed no apparent danger, and the dusty clouds all over the place could provide a good cover as they are heavily polluted with metals. It was a perfect place to hide for a few minutes, but only so long.

The markers still showed the 80 percent module damage on the MWD systems, as the directional scanner flashed and the signatures of the enemy ships became apparent in its display. Blake's rusty voice came like a heavenly blessing.
-Pfeh! Ya can fire up navigation again. If ya overheat the fucking MWD again, I'll put chilli in your pod fluid, ya asshole!
-'Bout time buddy, let's get the hell out of here.

As the rival fleet landed on sensor grid, the Rifter entered warp, structure creaking and crackling.
Blake cleared his throat and wiped off the sweat from his forehead.

Almost. Dead. Again.

Sessym out.

Features and Ideas - the posters' psychology

Bold Pilot Log, Entry #18

This week ends with an interesting discussion in the EVE forums. A new dev blog came out that stated the main generic objectives CCP set themselves to evolce null security space. Now, a lot of people praised them for this step, and I can't say I disagree. This is something long overdue. What I really want to look at now though is the patterns people seem to post in.

As it turns out, there are a few types to how some would like to see it go. The first is the type of player who assumes it is at a great risk that someone lives out there, therefore they shall make a ridiculous amount of money. These people are  what we could call the carebeary types.

Then there are those that whine aboout how supercapitals mean everything, and how small alliances don't really have a chance against monstrous coalitions, and how blobs can do anything better. This bunch is rather mixed, you can see people from all over the map and from many kinds of organization. Whether this is a sign that the statements hold some truth or that parrots are everywhere, remains to be discovered. Let's dub them the small gang people.

And finally you can find the hardcore alliance dudes, the ones that do not really care about supercapitals online as long as they can have their legions of blues shooting legions of reds. Their highlights are usually going towards the direction about stations, POS and generally feel offended at the thought that jump mechanics may get tedious.

First of all, let's address the profit concerns. I want to say one thing: been there, done that. It's pretty much like a solo effort with very few people who you can actually trust beyond the alliance rules. The risk is almost negligibile IF you know how to minimze it. That is of course watching intel and local, staying aligned, bubbles on gate, etc. And the profits that can be made? They ARE ridiculous, though I don't really have any base to complain because that means with sufficient carebearing I could keep two accounts going in EVE. Yeah, I ratted out two PLEXes each month... Can we move on please? So, after confirming that living in 0.0 is (was?) indeed profitable, you have to look at it from different angles. Some people go and live there exclusively because of the profits. They are the infamous 0.0 carebears, with some teeth and a grain of salt included. But what about the others? Well, ships and guns cost ISK, so it's rather obvious they need to find some way to make isk with minimal effort, using the exact same skillset they developed for PVP. That means anomalies. That means team effort. That means, when you run a top-level anomaly with a few friends, you should be able to pay for your next BS / BC / logi ship, whatever. The current state is rather awkward because many people use other characters that reside and mission in high sec just for this purpose.

The second concern is how home defense works. It is again a two sided coin. Right now, the most effective wa of defending your home is to blob up, camp choke points, hunt people that show up on intel. This sometimes becomes a small gang fight, sometimes escalates to a real battle, and most of the time - guess what? The hunted just slip away or get blobbed. So there's the source of whineage. Very few people enjoy running into gatecamps of 30+ drakes or whatever. The small gang bunch is right in this. Now, the problem here is that how else could you organize an effective home defense fleet? The incursing gang will always feel the fight was unfair if the defense gang is efficient!

The next thing, stations and POS. So, you live in a system without a station, you need some place to store your ships, modules, do ammo manufacture, etc. Compared to the station, living off a POS is so much different. Done that too. The real problem under POSes are the differences in boarding a ship in a station and boarding it inside the POS shield. The second means you don't get the shield bonuses from your skills. On a shield taked Hurricane, that means you have like one third of your EHP on you. When undocking from the station, your capacitor and shields are at their maximum capacity. Then there is the matter of modules. Not only do you lose the aforementioned benefits but you are unable to activate any module that would help your comrades repair their shields, nor can you release drones... In short, it s-u-c-k-s.

So, mandatory prediction coming up. CCP will try to wrestle with the POS code and break something else in the process. While at it, they'll think hard and discover that some things are too convenient for the big alliances, modify them, only to induce more cooperation, thus more robust cooperations. They'll probably mess with the resources so that each region would have its own technetium. You get the picture... Regardless of all good ideas, crappy otr excellent implementation the mighty people will come up with something entirely different that they expect.

Sessym out.