29 January 2013

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.

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."
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.

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!
"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?

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.

Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size
Now, look at this thing's fitting: 444 CPU, 1200 (!) PG, 400 Calibration. 6/6/6 slots, with 5 turrets or launchers.

Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size
Screencap by DJ Wiggly | Full Size
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.

03 January 2013

Remember That We Are EVE

Simon Pegg on Being a Geek

I ran across this today while clicking the "Random" button on Reddit. Being a self-described geek, it resonated with me a lot, and I felt like checking out the comments. Naturally, someone quoted and linked to John Scalzi's excellent post "Who Gets To Be A Geek?" It is something I think everyone should read, especially with Fanfest 2013 quickly approaching. The most important thing to take from the post is this:  
"Geekdom is a nation with open borders."
That's something that applies to EVE players, too - joining this throng of 450,000 people is joining a community of geeks, of people who all enjoy the same thing: Playing EVE Online. Maybe in different ways, but at the root of every playstyle from the oft-derided hisec carebear to the ~elite PVP~-obsessed Russian nullsecker lies the fact that everyone who plays this game does so because they enjoy it. And because of that, we are the people who represent EVE, moreso than anyone at CCP.

Everyone who plays EVE is an ambassador, even - yes - a stakeholder in the game. And the most important part of being an ambassador is to reinforce that whole "nation with open borders" thing - to make New Eden a place people WANT TO BE.

So I have a challenge for everyone. It just lasts until Fanfest is over. Here it is: Act like an Ambassador.

What's that mean? Well, it means putting your best foot forward when talking about EVE. It means less denigration of people who play EVE differently than you but enjoy it just as much. It means not letting the CSM Chairman make an ass of himself, no matter how drunk he is! It means cultivating newbies and fast-tracking them to the part of the game that they want to experience.

Why should we do this? Well, frankly, enlightened self interest - if the EVE community as whole makes an effort to make EVE itself more attractive to people who don't already play it, then that's more people to shoot, scam, and steal from. It means more of what we love.

And that's something I think we can all agree on.