CCP needs to add shiny-side-in and shiny-side-out tinfoil hats to EVE.
10 May 2013
02 April 2013
March Grab Bag
So, to start things off, the corp and our friends have mostly moved en masse to a C5 wormhole which we've deemed Nexus. I now fly a freakin' MOROS, and I got to use one to blow up the single POS owned by the people we evicted.
During the eviction I also lost my brand-new Proteus to an instalock gatecamp manned by [RED10] on the Miroitem gate out of Rancer. Whoops. Lesson: The only time you should take a wormhole-fit T3 through frequently camped areas is either alongside more T3s to back you up or if you intend to lose it.
Anyway, we've started doing escalations in Nexus, and the sheer amount of cash we pull in, even distributed among 10+ pilots, is mind boggling. I actually spent a few hours doing things with XML and spreadsheets to make a thing that allows us to fairly distribute ISK from said escalations.
And because of that, I've basically become the alliance's bursar.
Sadly the spreadsheet isn't always accurate and I've been having to recalculate a lot of the shares once we get the actual money in for the salvage and tags, since the spreadsheet pretty consistently overestimates how much money will come in. I might do some experimenting and see how using sell orders as opposed to buy orders for the calculations works. I'd rather underestimate the amount of ISK each person gets from the loot and send a little extra to the alliance wallet than overestimate and be short by hundreds of millions of ISK.
I've done that a few times and it is supremely embarrassing to ask for the money back when I can't cover the mistake by taking it out of my cut.
Of course it doesn't help that E, our CEO and the alliance executor, now gives a couple guys in the alliance who do T3 production what he terms as low-value Sleeper salvage, instead of selling it off for ISK. I need to get a list of what he considers low value Sleeper salvage so I can either convince him that it's not low value - some of the things like Electromechanical Hull Sheetings are underwhelming in low volume but are worth a lot in high volume - or note that those items aren't counted for the purposes of sending people their shares.
We've also been juggling the different POSes we use, and my cans o' stuff seem to have been lost in the shuffle. You'd think a couple secure containers tagged with ☼ would be easy to find. However, in the search for them I did find where the low value Sleeper salvage has been getting put, so I know what stuff to remove from my spreadsheet when calculating shares for escalations. I also think I've figured out why there's such a huge discrepancy between the estimated ISK from Sleeper loot and the actual ISK we get - sales tax in trade hubs. I'll need to figure out a way to reliably make the spreadsheet factor that in so we get more accurate estimates.
When it comes to the CSM, I'm naturally in support of the "Wormhole 5" - Nathan Jameson, James Arget, Ayeson, Cipreh, and Chitsa Jason. I like Nathan Jameson the most out of those, so he got my endorsement during the pre-election. Unfortunately my alt account hasn't clocked 30 consecutive days of being subbed yet, so I only get one STV ladder this year. I think said ladder will look something like this:
During the eviction I also lost my brand-new Proteus to an instalock gatecamp manned by [RED10] on the Miroitem gate out of Rancer. Whoops. Lesson: The only time you should take a wormhole-fit T3 through frequently camped areas is either alongside more T3s to back you up or if you intend to lose it.
Anyway, we've started doing escalations in Nexus, and the sheer amount of cash we pull in, even distributed among 10+ pilots, is mind boggling. I actually spent a few hours doing things with XML and spreadsheets to make a thing that allows us to fairly distribute ISK from said escalations.
And because of that, I've basically become the alliance's bursar.
Sadly the spreadsheet isn't always accurate and I've been having to recalculate a lot of the shares once we get the actual money in for the salvage and tags, since the spreadsheet pretty consistently overestimates how much money will come in. I might do some experimenting and see how using sell orders as opposed to buy orders for the calculations works. I'd rather underestimate the amount of ISK each person gets from the loot and send a little extra to the alliance wallet than overestimate and be short by hundreds of millions of ISK.
I've done that a few times and it is supremely embarrassing to ask for the money back when I can't cover the mistake by taking it out of my cut.
Of course it doesn't help that E, our CEO and the alliance executor, now gives a couple guys in the alliance who do T3 production what he terms as low-value Sleeper salvage, instead of selling it off for ISK. I need to get a list of what he considers low value Sleeper salvage so I can either convince him that it's not low value - some of the things like Electromechanical Hull Sheetings are underwhelming in low volume but are worth a lot in high volume - or note that those items aren't counted for the purposes of sending people their shares.
We've also been juggling the different POSes we use, and my cans o' stuff seem to have been lost in the shuffle. You'd think a couple secure containers tagged with ☼ would be easy to find. However, in the search for them I did find where the low value Sleeper salvage has been getting put, so I know what stuff to remove from my spreadsheet when calculating shares for escalations. I also think I've figured out why there's such a huge discrepancy between the estimated ISK from Sleeper loot and the actual ISK we get - sales tax in trade hubs. I'll need to figure out a way to reliably make the spreadsheet factor that in so we get more accurate estimates.
When it comes to the CSM, I'm naturally in support of the "Wormhole 5" - Nathan Jameson, James Arget, Ayeson, Cipreh, and Chitsa Jason. I like Nathan Jameson the most out of those, so he got my endorsement during the pre-election. Unfortunately my alt account hasn't clocked 30 consecutive days of being subbed yet, so I only get one STV ladder this year. I think said ladder will look something like this:
- Nathan Jameson
- James Arget
- Ayeson
- Cipreh
- Chitsa Jason
- Apricot Baby (for giggles)
- Psychotic Monk
- Sgurd Battersea (unless he pulls out)
- Psychobitch
- Korvin
- Unforgiven Storm
- corebloodbrothers
- Ali Aras
- Mangala Solaris
That's about it for this grab bag post - I'll try to to more focused posts later on this month.
30 March 2013
AWOX'D! Day 3
So I started an alt account for this thing Fweddit is running called AWOX'D! It's basically a celebration of their one-year anniversary and it lasts all April.
Open only to their alliance, of course - I'm eligible because I actually have a toon in Fweddit. I'm going to keep a running log of what I do with the alt each day - Day 1 was spent getting my skill plan set up and sending some ISK from my main account to get him started. Day 2 he just sat around in station while I did stuff on Siobhan and let him train up for his Catalyst. I'm going to need to either find targets with bounties or keep him supplied with a steady trickle of ISK for new Catalysts when he gets blown up by angry corp members.
Anyway, I started G on an account with 51 days of time and today started establishing his background. That is, assuming the identity of someone who knows nothing about EVE.
And then I started asking questions in the FNA corp chat. People were surprisingly helpful and responsive to my faux-newb questions.
Things clearly explained: training time multipliers, that doing the career agents is a Really Good Idea, and that EVE is unlike any other MMO. Good start thus far. Anycase, I'd headed out to Amarr for reasons, so I toodled back to Deepari to run the Career Agent missions. Again. For the second time.
God, kill me now.
Anyway, buckling down and doing them later - probably tomorrow, since it's late as hell right now. I still need to finish them on my Fweddit alt, too, and do stuff on Siobhan.
Busy busy.
Open only to their alliance, of course - I'm eligible because I actually have a toon in Fweddit. I'm going to keep a running log of what I do with the alt each day - Day 1 was spent getting my skill plan set up and sending some ISK from my main account to get him started. Day 2 he just sat around in station while I did stuff on Siobhan and let him train up for his Catalyst. I'm going to need to either find targets with bounties or keep him supplied with a steady trickle of ISK for new Catalysts when he gets blown up by angry corp members.
Anyway, I started G on an account with 51 days of time and today started establishing his background. That is, assuming the identity of someone who knows nothing about EVE.
And then I started asking questions in the FNA corp chat. People were surprisingly helpful and responsive to my faux-newb questions.
Things clearly explained: training time multipliers, that doing the career agents is a Really Good Idea, and that EVE is unlike any other MMO. Good start thus far. Anycase, I'd headed out to Amarr for reasons, so I toodled back to Deepari to run the Career Agent missions. Again. For the second time.
God, kill me now.
Anyway, buckling down and doing them later - probably tomorrow, since it's late as hell right now. I still need to finish them on my Fweddit alt, too, and do stuff on Siobhan.
Busy busy.
29 January 2013
Lights in the Sky over Asakai: Coverage Clearinghouse
This is just a quick attempt by yours truly to assemble as much of the coverage of the Battle of Asakai as possible in one place. In no particular order:
TheMittani.com
EveNews24
CCP Devblogs
The Battle of Asakai and Poinen Must Burn By The Numbers
The Penny Arcade Report
Planning for war: how the EVE Online servers deal with a 3,000 person battlePC Gamer
EVE Online’s Battle of Asakai: who was involved, the stakes, and the aftermath
Mashable
Accidental Click Ignites Insane 3,000-Ship Battle in 'EVE Online'VG247
EVE Online’s Battle of Asakai had 3,000 participants over the weekendEurogamer
Eve Online: when 3000 players collidePolygon
Eve Online players wage a massive battle with more than 2,800 involved
More will be added as I come across it or it's brought to my attention.
E: @meanharri let me know of more coverage on PCGamer, mashable, and so forth. Thanks dude!
E: @meanharri let me know of more coverage on PCGamer, mashable, and so forth. Thanks dude!
24 January 2013
Rabble Rabble
So, while the rest of the EVE bloggers and the subreddit are busy jizzing themselves over the abortive bloc war between the HBC and the CFC, I'm going to just sit here in my corner and talk about dread blapping and the POS revamp.
So first, dread blapping. Apparently Two step, CCP, and the CSM as a whole see the ability to fit a dreadnought to kill tiny shit as a problem. They seem to forget the need for a fleet of webbing and target painting subcaps to allow this to happen at all.
Two step posted this in the forming threadnought:
"My issue with dread blapping is that there isn't a counter to it other than "bring more stuff". I am fine with dreads killing caps and battleships, but if I show up in small sig cruisers, dreads shouldn't be dominant.To which I respond with a hearty "You are full of shit!" The only mechanic within EVE PvP that currently has no counter is permajamming with ECM. If you're anywhere in high-end wormhole space, you can BET people will be using TD/TP/webs/points/the whole goddamn kitchen sink against you. Wormhole space is fucking cutthroat. People in high-end space use tracking dreads primarily for shooting the fuck out of Sleeper battleships in a timely and (relatively) low risk manner. I say relatively, because it's still wormhole space and while the NPCs might not be able to kill you, someone bigger, meaner, and more prepared is probably watching you right now.
FYI, this isn't something that I just came up with out of thin air, this has been a frequent complaint I have heard from many different corps and alliances. What makes EVE PVP great is that you should always be able to counter a specific fleet setup without just bringing 2x the numbers. That isn't the case with dreads + webs/painters."
Paranoia's a way of life in Anoikis.
People in high-end space use these same dreads to drive off intruders because they're territorial bastards and they will use the biggest, baddest, meanest ships they have to scare you away. A blapping dread has far more of the "oh shit" factor going for it than a pair of T3 cruisers. It's also a statement - "We're so loaded with ISK that yes, we can easily risk multiple billion's worth in ship and fittings to make you run the fuck away."
Honestly, people. High-end w-space. You're supposed to be smart and resourceful. you know your enemy will use webs and painters to make you easier to shoot. Unless you're jammed out, you can always fight back with tracking disrupting, sensor dampening, and blowing the support fleet to kingdom come.
Saying there's absolutely no counter whatsoever is patently false, and being mad that people don't roll over when they see [AHARM] on grid is dumb. You jump into someone's home, they'll fight back using all means available.
You want a good, fair fight? Fucking arrange one.
That said...if CCP does change it, and they probably will, I won't be mad unless I can't paste Sleepers in C5s anymore. That money goes right to me making things and getting in fights. I'll be really pissed if my income stream is fucked.
Moving on to the POS revamp...well, not much to be said. The Goonswarm propaganda machine's covered THAT pretty well already, so I'll just say I'm glad it's still happening, if far more slowly than I'd hoped.
Still, someday...I'd love to have a space city in my wormhome. Dreadnoughts at anchor, smaller ships flying about doing things, and a big damn picture window I can sit behind while I drink a beer, manage my PI, and shoot the shit with my alliance mates.
I'll just keep dreaming.
20 January 2013
BB44 - Transponders, Nerfing Local, Etc.
This discussion about removing/nerfing local seems to happen fairly often. Being a wormhole dweller, I personally see no issue with at they very least, making local non-immediate.
Just as quick recap, in case you don't pay attention: It's happening again, and this time it's become a Blog Banter!
Which, as a plus, doesn't affect wormholes negatively! Though it would be interesting to be able to anchor a transponder array in your POS so that your alliance/corp can see who is in system, but they can't see you.
Aside from this, I don't have a whole let else to say, except that local as it is helps defuse some of the mystery and danger of EVE, and I'd like to see local change so that people feel that wonder and danger of their first time undocking more often.
Naturally, the majority of the people who partake in any metagame activity and who play EVE with the expectation seem to be in support of local getting ye olde nerf bat, so that the same information is available but requires work to obtain. I'm sure there's plenty of people who disagree - strenuously. These, unfortunately, tend to be the same people to whom a single red in system means hiding in their holes and waiting for the bad man to go away.
I call that cowardice. Maybe I'm biased, since after all, I live in a wormhole but then again, every minute of my time spent in w-space is a minute in which I could be dropped on by a hostile gang.
And I love every minute of it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Maybe that's what null needs - the ability for a gang to pass through a system, hunt down targets, and strike out of the blue. Right now, all a safety-minded nullsec dweller has to do to avoid a fight is watch for local to spike and dock up when it does.
Then again, what do I know? I just regularly hunt down people with d-scan and probes.
Just as quick recap, in case you don't pay attention: It's happening again, and this time it's become a Blog Banter!
"The local chat channel provides EVE players with an instant source of intel of who is in the system. With a quick glance you can tell who is in system and what your standings are to them. War targets, hated enemies, friends and corp mates all stand out clearly. Is this right? Should we have access to this intel for free with no work or effort? Should the Local chat channel even exist? Should normal space be more like wormhole space where the Local channel appears empty until someone speaks?"Personally, I like EmergentPatroller's idea the best - it changes local to make sense and to be more player-controllable (in nullsec), though the author says that AggressiveLogistics has a better implementation of the same basic idea.
Which, as a plus, doesn't affect wormholes negatively! Though it would be interesting to be able to anchor a transponder array in your POS so that your alliance/corp can see who is in system, but they can't see you.
Aside from this, I don't have a whole let else to say, except that local as it is helps defuse some of the mystery and danger of EVE, and I'd like to see local change so that people feel that wonder and danger of their first time undocking more often.
Naturally, the majority of the people who partake in any metagame activity and who play EVE with the expectation seem to be in support of local getting ye olde nerf bat, so that the same information is available but requires work to obtain. I'm sure there's plenty of people who disagree - strenuously. These, unfortunately, tend to be the same people to whom a single red in system means hiding in their holes and waiting for the bad man to go away.
I call that cowardice. Maybe I'm biased, since after all, I live in a wormhole but then again, every minute of my time spent in w-space is a minute in which I could be dropped on by a hostile gang.
And I love every minute of it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Maybe that's what null needs - the ability for a gang to pass through a system, hunt down targets, and strike out of the blue. Right now, all a safety-minded nullsec dweller has to do to avoid a fight is watch for local to spike and dock up when it does.
Then again, what do I know? I just regularly hunt down people with d-scan and probes.
19 January 2013
HOLY FUCK, FLYABLE JOVE BATTLECRUISER
HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK, ARE YOU GUYS SEEING THIS?
THAT right there, ladies and mentlegen, is the first Jove ship that players get to fly. To my knowledge at any rate. This thing is a wormholer's goddamned wet dream. 25% damage bonuses across the board to all medium-size weapon systems. 50% bonus to drone hitpoints and damage. 37.5% increase to probe scan strength.
Now, look at this thing's fitting: 444 CPU, 1200 (!) PG, 400 Calibration. 6/6/6 slots, with 5 turrets or launchers.
And now the stats, oh god, the stats. 4k/4k/4k across the board, with 27.5% omni shield and 32.5% omni armor.
I need to go plug this shit into PYFA. And change my pants.
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| Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size |
THAT right there, ladies and mentlegen, is the first Jove ship that players get to fly. To my knowledge at any rate. This thing is a wormholer's goddamned wet dream. 25% damage bonuses across the board to all medium-size weapon systems. 50% bonus to drone hitpoints and damage. 37.5% increase to probe scan strength.
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| Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size |
 |
| Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size |
 |
| Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size |
I need to go plug this shit into PYFA. And change my pants.
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