Listen to the Voices ATX 2011: An Update

In less than three weeks the Listen to the Voices ATX Meet-up will be here and everyday I’m getting more excited.  Most places I have a calendar, the date it highlighted and when  I look at them I feel like a kid counting down to Christmas or their birthday.  Not surprisingly, I’m cool with those particular vibes.

Each passing days little pieces of the puzzle are coming together.  I’m in the final planning stages with CCP Daishi and CCP Soundwave for the different events and giveaways we’ll do.  I have been assured that some wonderful goodies from the EVE Online Store will be available for those that are brave enough to participate.  I just hope that those coming will be as excited about winning the swag as I am about giving it away.

Jason, Tegh Rhind and I have also taken the liberty of getting some podcast and event specific swag to give away as well.  Any good Hostess (or Host) will make sure their invited guests will have something memorable to take home with them and I’m no exception.  Plus this is Texas so Southern Hospitality is a must.  That’s why everyone who RSVPs will get some Listen to the Voices ATX swag just for showing up and making the event a success. 

The community response to the event has been bigger then I could have ever hoped.  Almost 50 players have RSVPed on the Listen to the Voices Facebook page and another 10 or so have signed up on the EVE-O Forums.  Of course some of these may be cross posted, but that’s still a better response than I could have predicted. 

I did try to get the word out as best I could, but in a community as massive as EVE Online it was a little challenging.  Of course I went the obvious route and made posts on the EVE-O forums.  The post was stickyed on the “old” forums and I’m still waiting on that sticky for the post on the new forums.  [Insert comic clearing of throat at CCP Daishi here.]  Then there’s the event posting on the Facebook page, ads on my own podcast as well as Jason’s.  I also put up a little something on Reddit seeing as how 1 of every 3 Austin EVE Online players seems to be in TEST. 

Even with all that people are still posting “I just found out about this.’  Are you people living under rocks or what?

So that’s the basics of where things are with the meet-up.  I can’t wait to meet those of you that will be attending.  Make sure you come ready to eat, drink, be merry and socialize.  There are also a couple of other things that you should come ready to do.  That has more to do with the events though so if you want to go home with a little something extra… I suggest you check out the blog post Listen to the Voices ATX 2011: Contests & Give-Aways. 

I Ain’t Givin’ You No Tree-Fifty: AFK Cloakers & Defenses

Welcome to the final (maybe) edition of the AFK Cloaker series.  In the first blog post I did a smallintroduction to the phenomenon of AFK Cloakers.  In the second blog post I discussed types of AFK Cloakers and their “methods of operation.”  In this third blog I will cover ways to protect yourself against AFK Clokers and things to keep in mind when you’re out in Null Sec.

As always, I’ll insert my little disclaimer that I am not the end all, be all of this subject.   I do hope to give some sage advice as well as highlight some points of common sense.  Hopefully after reading the article you will feel a little more enlightened and embowered to venture out… and not loose your ass while doing it.

Vigilance is Your Friend.

Like many things, the best person to count on is yourself.  Then again, sometimes we are our own greatest enemy when it comes to protecting our assets.  Complacency and over confidence play a major part in players getting caught by AFK Cloakers.  The sad reality is that these losses are completely avoidable.  Keep your eyes and ears open and stay aware of your surroundings.  Don’t get lazy or fall in to patterns no matter how safe you feel.  These are the kind of behaviors that AFK Clokers look for and seize opportunity on.  Don’t let yourself become a kill board statistic. 

Use the Tools Available to You.

As a former alliance leader and a current member of a Null Sec alliance, I hear the same complaints all the times.  “Another in-game/ts/mumble/etc channel?  Don’t we have enough yet?”  Yes I understand that having 5 in-game intel channels, 2 TS3’s, 1 mumble, 4 Jabbers, 2 IRCs and a pigeon coup for messenger birds can be incredibly annoying, but… these tools will save your ship, your pod and your ego.  Not only do they offer you intel of surroundings areas as well as your immediate local, but they are also a venue you for you report intel and scream like a nub when you get tackled by an AFK Cloaker.  Vast communication options can be obnoxious, but they are essential to survival.

Here a Scout, There a Scout.

If you have a second account (or third, fourth, fifth) then there is no reason for you not to have a scout.  Scouts are one of the biggest life savers in EVE Online and soooo many people do not use them.  Blind jumping is the most terrible, stupid, brain thing you could ever do.  If you ever have the inclination to blind jump, just send me a convo and I’ll come blow you up myself with the added bonus of me stealing your crap and then mocking you while posting my Hello Kitty ACSII image in local.  Of course there are some situations where all you can do is blind jump… like not having any alts. 

If you do not have an alt, never fear.  There is a second option for you.  Make friends!  3 of 4 EVE Online players have alts.  If you’re nice to your corp and alliance mates, they might be nice enough to do some scouting for you.  Hell, they might even let you know some secret uber pocket where they’re stashed off and already have an alt.  Not being a douche to the people you fly with does have it’s advantages.

Location, Location, Location.

Where you choose to do your operations can either be a blessing or a curse.  Use tools like Dot Lan to find areas of operation that work for you.  I would recommend using the following guidelines:

• Stay near or in friendly space
• Find a single piped pocket where you can easily place a scout
• Avoid systems that connect constellations and regions
• Find systems that have low jump count and rat kills within a 24 hour period
• Avoid staging systems

That’s all I have for you at the moment New Eden.  I hope these few tips and things to remember will help you see a little less red on your killboard.  As an added bonus, a few weeks (maybe months) a go, I did an EVE Online: Question of the Day on Twitter.  The question was:

@Arydanika: So I'm curious #TweetFleet How do you deal with AFK Cloakers when playing #EveOnline? #EOQoTD

Needless to say I got some interesting responses.  So to close out this post, I’m going to leave with you some final thoughts gained from the combined wisdom and trolling of #TweetFleet

@ibrahas
@Arydanika As often as not I am the AFK cloaker. It is passive tear extraction. I smile at work knowing someone is crying at my afk alt.

@stevietopsiders
@Arydanika BattleRorq minmatar.co.uk/killboard/?a=k… #tweetfleet

@SharksInSpace
@Arydanika: Skiff with a point and friends. Transport ships (like the Mastadon) can also work for this bait. #tweetfleet #eveonline

@Ikeo58
@BuckyOhair @arydanika pt a drag bubble up 150 away from what your doing and carry on as normal or afk cloaky falcon #tweetfleet

@Khanhrhh
@Arydanika after living in WH space for a few months, you realise how pathetic AFK cloaker whine is and move on #tweetfleet

@BuckyOhair
I am the AFK cloaker MUHAHAHA RT @Arydanika: So I'm curious #TweetFleet How do you deal with AFK Cloakers when playing #EveOnline? #EOQoTD

@bel_amar
@Arydanika I live in a WH. I find complaints about AFK cloakers amusing. It's like people complaining that EVE is too hard for them #EOQoTD

@eclipticrift
@bel_amar @Arydanika I learned to abuse D-scan living in W-space. So until I see probes, I don't worry about them.

@rulesaremyenemy
@Arydanika Use killboards to find his active times and what he brings to the party (cyno bridging/cap drops), then set up a trap.

AFK Cloaker Series:

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: Intro to AFK Cloakers

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: Meet the Cloakers Pt 1
I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloakers & Defenses

That Old Flame

For the past few months I've found myself in this toxic mix of a "rut" and a "funk" when it comes to EVE Online.  I think the catalyst was the act of me getting hung up on my corp joining Brick Squad.  It tainted my game play experience so much that I stopped enjoying my game play experience.  After a few weeks of being bummed and moping about it; I came to a simple conclusion. 

I was being Stupid.

My eyes narrow slightly at my computer screen as I read those words, but yea.  I was being stupid.  I really enjoy playing EVE Online.  I really enjoy my corp and my corp mates.  I really enjoy PvP.  Who the fuck are they to taint that for me?  No.  Screw that noise.   

As soon as I said that to myself the most wonderful thing happened.  It was unexpected and even a little shocking.  It's also the most logical progression events and a welcome relief.  That's right folks.  When I let it go, I started having a good time again.  Who would have thought?

The catalyst for this "Letting It Go" was going back to the very thing that lured me in to EVE Online in the first place.  The ships!  I remember the first ship I ever saw.  It was a Daredevil.  If the sleek and sexy body style wasn't enough, the thing is a speed demon on top of it.  I was absolutely enchanted by it and my friend had been using them a lot as a low sec pirate so he did an excellent job of selling me on all it's stats.

That ship put some kind of spell on me.  It's supple curves accented with the dangerous tips of its wings sparks a visual pleasure for me.  There's an edge about that ship.  The design alone makes the resounding  statement of; I will fuck your shit up.  When I saw that ship I knew I had to fly it.  I knew it would be something that would eventually be in my collection.  That hasn't quiet happened yet due to be being forever broke, but... one day.  That's how it all started though and that's where I went to rekindle that spark.

Recently I've gone from not being able to fly jack shit, to being able to fly more ships than I know what to do with.  I should note that when I say "I can fly" I mean with proper fits as well.  So I decided to do a little window shopping on EVE MON with my fitting room on EFT soon to overflow.  I spent time looking at Lokis Rapiers, Scimitars, Munins and Vagabonds. Rapiers got the most attention tonight since my mates were discussing fits in corp chat.  I was shocked that I was able to fly it and immediately started asking questions.

I wanted to know everything about this ship and I'm lucky that I have corp mates that are experienced and that want to see my succeed in PvP.  I'm pretty sure most would be quick to call my questions out as being noobish, but I am a noob.  I asked about price, fits, if being able to fit a covert cyno was really necessary, how does it compare with the Huginn and its missile bonus' etc, etc.  That lead to Kenndo asking me if I was coming or not. 

That's something about Wrecking Shots that I really love.  There usually something going on most nights.  If it's not an Alliance Op, we're going a corp op or a roam.  Then of course, some nights are "Bear Nights" as we call them as everyone needs to make their ISK.  Tonight was no exception and off we went towards a pipe leading to the Y-2ANO area looking for a little bit of fun.

Tonight we were doing new style of tactic.  The idea is internet spaceships, but Guerilla Warfare Style.  Nanos and Cloaks create a dangerous combination for stragglers that aren't on their toes and plenty of killmails for me.   After one night, I'm still fairly new with the method of operation and my dictor performance was mediocre at best.  I made a couple of big mistakes, but the FC was cool about it.  This particular FC is great like that and I've always enjoyed his fleets and learned a lot from them.  I'm sold on the new tactic and I can't wait to get back out there again.

I ended the night with four solid kills and there were six for the entire night.  It's not much, but it's not bad for two hours of camping.  We only had one loss and that was to Incursion rats, ugh.  More importantly, I think I found my flame again.

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: Meet the Cloakers Pt 1

So after a month of doing everything else I could possibly think of, I’m here to unleash the second installment of the Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloaker Series.  What can I say?  I’ve been a busy lady over the past month, but that’s a different blog post.

In this article I’m going to zero in on three distinct types of AFK Cloakers and their tactics personally observed.  Now this is not the definitive article on AFK Cloakers by any means.  Still I hope that the article will help you, my darling reader, be more aware and knowledgeable on how to deal with these menaces to space society. 

--------------------

Mr. Snipe

The snipe is one of the more dangerous types of AFK Cloakers.  I refer to them snipes because they usually pick off one ship at time and then go back to be dormant.  Their tactics force them to rely on the complacency of system in habitants.  Of course this means that their kills are easily preventable.

Method of Operation:

They are the kind that suddenly appear in the system, go inactive and remain inactive for an undetermined amount of time.  What they are really doing is biding their time and waiting for the system inhabitants to go back to their normal routine of hauling or ratting.  When they find a suitable target; they will strike quickly only going for the one kill and then disengaging before assistance can arrive. 

Primary Ship Type:

T3’s, Cloaky Sabre

Primary Targets:

Single targets, usually hauling or PvE ships.

Where they attack:

Gates, Belts, Anomalies & Signatures

Party Animal

The Party Animal is the jackass of all AFK Cloakers.  As the name suggests, they enjoy the company of others and usually en masse.  In fact, they enjoy the company of others so much that they like to fit cynos and then hot drop the hell out of people.  The truly sad thing is that this tactic works… repeatedly.  How ever they are also usually the easiest to get away from due to the amount of things the AFK Cloaker needs to coordinate in order to achieve “op success.”

Method of Operation:

This AFK Cloaker looks not only for targets of opportunity, but also targets with a large pay off.  This is because they are not the only ones seeking a kill mail and they need to make sure the quarry is worth it for all involved.  These types will usually show themselves and attempt to get the intended target to aggress prior to lighting the cyno and jumping the rest of the fleet in. 

Primary Ship Type:

Anything that can fit a cloak and cyno, usually T3’s & Cov Ops

Primary Targets:

Single Targets of ‘Merit’ (ie ratting carriers/ faction battleships), Small and Medium Gangs

Where they Attack:

Gates, Repair Ops, Anomalies, Signatures, Safe Spots

Can-Can

Out of the three, The Can-Can is the most obnoxious.  This is the one that sits in local, cloaks and then proceeds to never shut the hell up.  At anytime you can find them sperging away with rants, personal taunts, porn links, ASCII code and anything else to cause disruption and gain attention.

Method of Operation:

This type of AFK Cloakers wants you to notice them, but probably not for the reasons you think.  Yes by making their presence known most hauling & PvE will end instantly, but this is not the main goal.  Each time they start ranting in local, they’re actually conditioning the system inhabitants.  They will start up and end around the same time and the pattern will repeat day after day.  That is until at some point in time, a time when they aren’t usually active, they find a nice juicy victim.  It’s usually the guy in TS saying, “Oh, they’re never around at this time” as he undocks his Nightmare.

Primary Ship Type:

T3’s and Cov Ops

Primary Targets:

Anything expensive

Where they Attack:

Anywhere

Hopefully this second installment of the Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloakers has given you a little more insight in to the subject as well as some things to think about.  Keep in mind that this article only covers 3 tactics and I’m positive there are more out there (especially since I thought of a few as I was writing the article).  For the rest of the articles in the series, check the link below.

AFK Cloaker Series:

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: Intro to AFK Cloakers

I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: Meet the Cloakers Pt 1
I Ain't Givin' You No Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloakers & Defenses

Pulling the Trigger

I hate doing it.  Not in the literal sense of initiating turret/laser fire against an enemy, but the in the metaphorical sense of making a difficult decision.  Over the past few weeks I’ve been going back and forth over leaving WSHOT.  I thought it would be an easy decision and an even easier process, but I was clearly mistaken.

Recently my current corporation, WSHOT choose to join an organization called Brick Squad(dot) which I will refer to from now on as BS.  I do not particularly care for BS.  I’ve had quite a few experiences with their leadership, FC’s & membership which brought me to the conclusion that this organization is not worth my time or effort.  This is an opinion that will not soon change if ever. 

This conflict creates a bit problem.  While I enjoy the company of most of WSHOT’s membership, the kills, the usually frequent activity, etc… there’s no way in hell I’m ever going to contribute to any of BS’s goals.  This is no secret due to the fact when BS was being discussed as an alliance option and I was asked point blank at a corporation meeting about the possibility of joining BS my response was, and I quote, “I’ll either leave WSHOT or go dormant until WSHOT finds a worth wile alliance.” 

In the end it was decided the BS was the best decision for the corporation and I can’t fault the leadership making the decision to become part of that particular organization.  Really I couldn’t agree more when it comes to look at the pros and cons on paper.  The lack of capable FC’s gave WSHOT FC’s a chance to step up to leaded fleets and gain notoriety with in the organization.  BS has decent space for ratting.  Also the Delve area is filled with the brim with ‘good fights.’  Those things make BS a better match for WSHOT than other organizations that were being considered.

In the beginning, I even gave it a (very very very small) chance.  I went out on a few roams with the corporation.  One ended up being sucked in to a fleet ran by the organization which ended up being a pretty terrible fleet.  Still as time went on, I stopped logging into comms and eventually stopped logging in to the game preferring to spend time on my brand new alt.  Eventually I took Ary to Jita for market trading.  I only recently came back to Delve to sell off what few assets I had there  since all of my assets got lost in the corp move and still have not been found after three weeks.

Now, logically speaking it seems pretty obvious that I should leave WSHOT.  Still, I’ve tried to a week to click the little ‘quit corp’ button, but I can’t.  I’ve procrastinated using any excuse I could find from needing to finish updating market orders to I should really go do that load of laundry.   I’ve even been searching for the smallest reason to stay.  I really don’t want to leave WSHOT, but as I continue to put it off… the reality of the matter grows more obvious.  I’m unhappy in my current EVE Online experience and something’s got to give.

So I have two choices.  I can either suck up my absolute contempt for BS or I can leave and find somewhere else to hang my hat.  I’m not sure which option is the best, but I already know the answer.  In speaking to the leadership of WSHOT I know they’ve already written me off as a loss much like the many other members that have already left when they joined BS.  Even if I did stay my participation would most likely be little to nothing which really isn’t fair to WSHOT since most organizations look at membership activity.  Then there’s the obvious why stay some place you don’t want to be?

I guess it just bugs me because I thought WSHOT was truly my home when it came to EVE Online.  I thought I found that elusive mesh between a player and corp where you just end up staying there until you stopped playing.  I wanted WSHOT to be my PvP Happily Ever After where the closing scene was nothing more than engine trails leading off into the distance with empty wrecks left in their wake.

 Then there's that little voice in the back of my mind.  Maybe I'm giving up too soon.  It has only been a few months.  Plus, where else would I go.  Honestly.  I'm sure it will come across a little weird when I say WSHOT gets me.  They get my terrible sense of humor that involves a lot of off color jokes that would make most instantly uncomfortable (including my own co-host).  They get my joy for smack talking in local even though we know it's immature and tardish.  They get that I like to not just kill things when I play video games, but I like to kill things, rez them, kill them again, t-bag and hang their corpse as hunting trophy. 


I think a need a drink.  Or several.