And Knowing is Half the Battle

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I ain't givin' you no tree-fitty: The Little Noctis That Could

I’ve decided to start the series off with a story as opposed to jumping right into the lecturing. Personal victories are a very important thing in EVE Online. Some victories are large like being able to fly a titan or landing a industrial kill that drops 9600 unit of Tech. Other victories are smaller like finally completing that level five skill training or farming enough isk to get that monocle you’ve had your eye on. Big or small personal victories are important because they have the opportunity foster moral for the pilot, breed excitement in others and they also give bloggers like me something to write about.

Last week a group of Split Infinity. pilots experienced a personal victory. Their victory came by overcoming a problem that many null sec alliances deal with on a frequent basis. AFK Cloakers. When it comes to reader reactions to the phrase ‘AFK Cloaker’ I believe the break down is this:

The translation being; the recipients get greatly annoyed while the participants are greatly amused. I’ve been on both sides of the coin, so make of that what you will. Now there are those in the 20% category and for you there is a brief explanation of what an AFK Cloaker is at the end of the post.

Tu Ko of Legio Geminatus, Gentleman’s Agreement happens to be the in-system ‘guest’ for this particular story. Their ship of choice was a Purifier complete with damps, a warp disrupter and torps with a little Manticore on the side. Ouch. Tu Ko did experience some early success and was able to take a Noctis and a Hulk during their stay. The tide would turn however.

A day after the two kills, S1. pilots realized that attitude and behavior towards the unwanted guest had to change if they wanted to go back to their normal in-pocket ventures. The pilots got together and formed a strategy to remove our previously mentioned ‘guest.’ They already had an expected behavior pattern for the AFK Cloaker as his targets were poorly defended, lone industrial ships and so they set their minds to the task of luring him out and given him a one way ticket home via the pod express.

One tanked out Noctis later they had their trap set. How exactly do you tank out a Noctis? I really can’t tell you that since we might have to use the tactic against you some day. Not all intel is available intel after all. Once the Noctis was positioned in a Haven they played the waiting game while the support fleet of 2 strategic cruisers, a stealth bomber and a command ship laid in wait.

After a while opportunity came and the plan was sprung into action. As expected the purifier warped in with damps, the disruptor and torps at full blast. The support fleet would reveal itself soon after and the same treatment was extended to Tu Ko. Within moments the Purifier was down, but the pod unfortunately escaped. The Noctis did survive.

Now I expect that this story will some become one of those EVE Online Urban Legends one day at least in a local sense. I caught wind of it the day of and heard the Noctis pilot weave a tale including guns in the highs and having complete faith in his fleet counter parts. Now.. I don’t see the Notics on the kill mail, but the Purifier did have damps so that could have something to do with it. A little bird also told me that the Notics pilot was on the verge of crapping his pants from the moment the Purifier started shooting until it exploded. That’s all hearsay though.

One thing is certain. The Little Noctis That Could brought a huge moral boost to S1. troops. The story will be repeated over and over to any ear willing to listen. The spark of PvP will jump from pilot to pilot causing a rise in fleet participation. Within the pocket; the S1. way of life will continue business as usual with spirits high. That is.. until the next AFK Cloaker comes.

Explanation:

An AFK cloaker is just what it sounds like. A person will enter into highly populated enemy system using a ship with covert op capability (stealth bomber, strategic cruiser, etc) and remained in space cloaked up. The AFK Cloaker will stay logged almost continuously though a period of days. During this period two things will happen: the moral of the system inhabitants will drop due to actives such as logistics, industry and ratting coming to a halt and eventually when there are no kills during the initial waiting period the system inhabitants will become complacent in their situation. This is the point where the AFK Cloaker will strike and begin attacking targets of opportunity. More details about all of that will follow in a later blog post.

Kill Mail Links:

Noctis

Hulk

Purifier

I ain't givin' you no tree-fitty: Introduction

Season 3 Episode 3 of the South Park series titled “The Succubus” contains a story told by Chef’s parents about the Loch Ness Monster. In the story, the Loch Ness Monster appears to Chef’s parents while they are on a boat and requests three dollars and fifty cents. Chef’s father tells the Monster to “get his own god damned money” while Chef’s mother gives him a dollar. Chef’s father goes on to comment, “Well, of course he's not gonna go away, Mary! You give him a dollar, he's gonna assume you've got more!”

Now I know what you’re thinking. What the hell does this have to do with EVE Online or spaceships? Allow me to make the connection. All too often pilots in EVE give the Loch Ness Monster a dollar. Exchange the phrase ‘the Loch Ness Monster’ with ‘griefers’ and ‘a dollar’ with ‘free kills’ and you’ll start to see where I’m going with this.

This phenomenon in EVE Online goes by many different names and effects a wide variety of players and activities. I’ve heard it referred to as “feeding the fat kids candy”, “being a nub” and even some phrases that get a little vulgar. It can effect the flow of logistics, industry, missioning and in some rare and specific cases pvp as well. Still the under laying concept is the same no matter what label you stick on it or the situation that occurs. Easy kills will draw in the enemy and give them a reason to stick around.

So now we get to the crux of the matter. What can be done to prevent easy kills? Are there specific examples of situations and behaviors that allow for easy kills to happen more frequently? What are some of theories and techniques other pilots use to avoid giving easy kills? Once the shame spiral of easy kills start; how and when does it stop? So when do I get to all that good stuff?

The short answer is: later. The responses to the above questions will come in a series I’m calling “I ain't givin' you no tree-fitty.” I’m considering the series to be a “life style guide” because the discussion and theory crafting will be based on changing attitudes, habits and perceptions in order to increase the life expectancy of your current vessel and your clone.

I’m looking forward to writing the series and I’m also looking forward to feedback as the series progresses. I already have ideas on content and plan to have a couple of pieces written and published shortly.

Ciao for now♥

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Impromptu Hiatus

Over the past month I’ve experienced an impromptu hiatus with my blog. My original intent with “And Knowing…” was to write at least once a week about something EVE Online related. The universe apparently had other plans. It decided that I just didn’t have enough distractions in my life and happily send a barrage of them my way.

First there’s the podcast.

It’s going better than I could have ever imagined. We now have approximately 2000 listeners per week and we have hit Episode 12 of the podcast proper with tons of extra content in the mix including parody songs, extended interviews and even some listener content. Overall the feedback has been positive from the community as well as CCP. We are an office fan site listed on EVE Online as if a few days ago. We’re also hosted on EVENews24 which has been great exposure for us. Plus we are in talks with EVE Radio about syndicating our episodes on a weekly basis as well as partnering up with content creation.

Then came the meet-up.

The best way to describe the meet up would be; it’s little idea that could with a speed ball. What started out as an idea about little get together in Waco is quickly turning into a full blown EVE Online Event. I can’t give away many details yet, but the fact that the meet up is being held the day before GDC Online and in the same city… well I get trolled by CCP Dashi a lot more frequently these days. I can say however that two pieces of custom swag are in the production phase with a 3^rd to be entering production in a couple of weeks. For more information about the ATX Listen to the Voices 2011 Meet Up, check -> Here.

Corp Life.

Even my corp life turned on it’s ear recently. Just a few short weeks ago; I was part of Wrecking Shots [WSHOT] and they were a member of Wildly Inappropriate. [WI.] which was a NC/CF null sec alliance. WI. has now officially disbanded with some members heading in to the WI. holding corp to join Goonswarm Federation [GSF] while others sought greener pastures elsewhere. WSHOT decided to turn their attention to low sec for some pvp which is evident by their delicious looking killboard. I on the other hand have gone South with my co-host Hallan Turrek who has started a new corporation called The Outlaws [BANDT] part of Split Infinity. [S1.] All I can say is… growing pains.

The Social Game.

Confession Time: 95% of my social networking is EVE Online related. I don’t know how, but it has sucked me in and refuses to let me go. I’ve never been too much texting, facebook and those kinds of social sites. In EVE… these things are almost life-lines. Now I find myself keeping updated and connected with Twitter, Google+, facebook and the EVE-O forums. I’ve toyed around with Reddit/r/EVE a little to promote the podcast and I’ve considered signing up on Failheap Challenge and Kugu, but… I don’t think I’m ready for the big leagues just yet.

Real Life.

Oh yea.. and then there’s that thing called real life too. I’ve had two close friends leave the city, my 9-5 for the moment is a 7-7 and I still need my “Me Time” for pedicures, actual game play and of course checking the internet for the latest in glitter farting unicorns. As real as EVE may be; I still think it’s important to get my head out of the spaceship clouds and exist in the real world from time to time. Still EVE has managed to come up there too.

Friday July 8^th I attended my first EVE Online Meet-Up and it was great. Only five of us showed, but it was still a lot of fun to come together and wax poetic about the interwebs and all the awful things we do there. One of them, BizZy, was actually from my old alliance SpaceMonkey’s Alliance [SMA] and had “heard of me.” It always amazes me what a small world it is.

TL;DR

So yea. I’ve been a little busy. Still, I’d like to maintain my comment to write and blog. Don’t expect to find anything Jane Austen-esque though. If you do, you’ll just be sorely disappointed. What I can promise is more personal insights, some bad jokes, a few stories and… ponies.

By the way... Thanks again Little Dial! I love it! I love it! I love it! ♥

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Pwd By a Girl... The Music Video!!!!

A HUGE thank you goes out to Diana Dial of EVETimeCode for creating this video. This is just... amazing! I can't stop doing the high pitched girl scream thing. It's just so amazing and awesome and so great! So watch it and make sure you like it on YouTube! Thank you Diana! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

BlogBanter#26 The Real Beauty of EVE

Welcome to the twenty-sixth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month's topic was proposed by @KatiaSae of the much praised "To Boldly Go" blog. Katia asks: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As an astrophotographer, I've found it in the stars and planets of New Eden. Where have you found it? Perhaps you've found beauty in the ships we fly? Maybe it's the sight of profits being added to your bottom line? Or maybe it's the pilot portraits you see in the comm channels? Where ever you've found it, write about it and post an image." Don't be afraid go beyond the simple visual aspects of EVE as well. Is the EVE Community in itself a thing of beauty? What makes EVE the game, the world, the Community, so appealing to you?

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m-w.com defines "beauty" as: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit

For this blog I would like to focus on the latter part of the definition. EVE Online is its truest essence exalts the mind and the spirit of those that play. Once you enter in to the universe of New Eden something inexplicable happens to you. Through its graphics, storylines and even it's ever growing metagame; EVE Online blossoms in to something... real.

When I first heard about EVE Online; I knew I would never ever not-in-a-million-year play 'that' game. A friend of mine "Esperys" turned me on to it and asked me to consider the game once I told him I'd grown bored of World of Warcraft. I watched review by Zero Punctuation, read a couple of other reviews and lightly browsed the now defunct "Scrapheap Challenge" only to give him my response of a resounding "HELL NO."

He was able to coax me away towards City of Hero's/Villians, but after a while I grew bored again. There was something missing from those games. I couldn't quiet put my finger on it, but I knew that the game I was playing wasn't for me. That's when Esperys hit my up one more time. "Come on. I'm subbing again, I'll send you a 21 day trial. Plus Veshik (another gaming friend of ours) will start with you so you're not a noob alone." And so I tried EVE Online... and promptly quit. It wasn't until a few days later that I realized this was the game for me.

I was sitting on Skype with Espery and Veshik while they were on Vent with a pirate corp they joined. They were hunting in low sec. Esperys was in a Daredevil and Veshik was in a rifter. The scout has spotted something. I think it was a lone Orca in a belt or something of that nature. As the tackle Esperys jumped in to the system and speed towards their quarry. He got the tackle. Veshik and the fleet soon followed and boom! Killmail.

It took me a moment to realize my own heart was racing and my own palms were sweaty. Just listening to the group PvP gave me a rush that I had never felt before. Wow... I thought to myself. If just listening to PvP is this awesome... How awesome must it have been to actually be in the fleet. Right then and there I asked Esperys to send me another trial. That was May 2nd of 2010.

Now on May 4th of 2011, I look to back to my first year and... I can only describe the experience as beautiful. I went from a newbie that was overly frustrated at an exploration tutorial to a corporation recruiter and an NC Alliance diplomat and then to a podcaster and blogger. Tell me, what other game can pull you in to not only grow with it, but become a part of it?

Every day I find something in New Eden that takes my breath away. Something that will pleasurably exalts my mind and spirit. It could be the visuals of the solar systems with their stars and nebulas or even the intricate lines of the ships I fly. It could be the unique and unmistakable sound of autocannons exploding in to space. It could be the taste of victory of after a long and tiresome campaign. It could be the smell of a spy within the ranks. It could be the ethereal touch of befriending someone a thousand miles away. Anyway you look at it, it comes down to the individual experience that bonds each of us as capsuleers.

Isn't that what makes EVE Online beautiful? Isn't that what makes EVE Online real?

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