The More Things Change .....

The more they stay the same.

In this post I just wanted to take a second to note some very distinct similarities I have experienced so far moving to a C6 from our old C2.

By far the biggest is the shear amount of scanning needed to accomplish anything.  In our C2 almost all of that scanning fell on two or maybe 3 people.  Guess what, in a C6 with several hundred people in the system, the scanning still falls on 3-5 people per TZ.  Keeping in mind that we really only ran a single TZ operation in our C2, and our C6 is more active.  The key here is probing really is one thing that has a "real" skill to it.  By that I mean you can train all the skills in game very high, but still suck at probing.  Maybe its just more apparent as I guess you can train all the ECM skills and still suck at that too, its just not as obvious.

The second very obvious similarity is the "feast or famine" of W-Space life.  It is the same here in the C6 as it was in the C2.  Connections are fluid, situations are fluid and therefore life is very uncertain.  We can have a series of connections result with good sites, be left alone and be busy every night (and make an insane amount of isk/hr), or we can have a series of active systems, run down systems, or simply keep getting interrupted in our ops and end up spending a lot of time watching the paint dry on the side of the POS.

The last thing, and the best in my opinion, is the "fog of war".  I LOVE the fact there is no local channel that gives an overwhelming, and unreal, amount of information away for free.  I love flying around systems truly unknown.  The ability to control the knowledge of your presence is amazing. 

Case in point, I was returning up a pipe from a high sec route we had scanned out and came upon a few friends that had slipped into one of the systems in some Battlecruisers.  Now we had seen another prober on scan when we were scanning that system also.  We knew there were two Null Sec holes in the system and were pretty sure that's where they had come from.  Now if this was Null Sec, the BC's would have known in seconds they had company and been able to asses the risk by looking at my bio, my killboard stats, etc etc.  All because I appeared in local. 

Now in W-space, I knew they were there, but if I was lucky and he didn't hit the d-scan in the few seconds I was uncloaked, he had no idea I was there.  Advantage to the cloaky thing.  Now in quick order our corp had the ability to gain an advantage by using our tools to hopefully complete a successful operation. 

Long story short and details omitted, we missed cause we guessed the wrong null sec hole (hey was a 50/50 guess), we had a third party from who knows where throw probes and flushed the prey early, and overall the BC's were seconds from getting blown to bits.  We did manage to chase them back into Null and there we lost all real use of cloaky measures and element, because the damned Local let the prey know the entire time who was in system.

So overall, while things are much different, they are still very similar, from C1 to C6, W-Space offers some very unique environments, and for that I am thankful.

Mick

First Ops

Well after a few nights of scanning systems and feeling like a total noob again, I added even more angst to discuss with my therapist next session (yeah doc, its a space based MMPOG, and I feel, yeah space based, and I feel, yeah kinda like WOW but way better, and anyway, what, oh eve-online.com, and I joined this new corp, sure I could send you an invite, what our hour is up? okay guess I'll see ya next week).

So lets start by saying that scanning skills are not the only thing I am "lacking".  I already knew the ship of choice is T3 (and who doesn't prefer T3 in W-Space, duh), but I didn't expect the total BS disdain that greeted my undocking of the Abby.  I guess the one (and most say only) use of an Abby is mass limiting an WH for closer by bigger ships.

Well begrudgingly they allowed me to come on the Ladar Clearing OP, but only because the WH's had not been effected yet by mass and no larger Ops were planned.  So with excitement coursing through my veins (and maybe some fermented sugars) I fleeted up and headed to the rendezvous at the Wormhole.  And in my excitement I yes......., wait for it ......., jumped on contact.  Total, 100%, no excuses, pleb and noob move.  To top matters off I then had to wait for a good 5 minutes on the wrong side of the hole and listen to endless banter on Vent about the pleb in the BS who couldn't follow basic WH procedure of largest ship through last.

Ha Ha Ha, no harm no foul.  But wait it gets better.  Now I don't know about the majority of Eve peeps, but I am an account junkie.  I have 4 (though soon to be 3 as I combine accounts since my producer/trader toon is almost done he can "share" time with my Orca/Leadership pilot).  Anyway, I tend to forget who can do what skill wise.  Now I KNOW I have toons that can use T2 drones, and I THOUGHT my C6 WH Toon could.  Well I was wrong.  So imagine my shame finally showing up to the first site to be cleared (a good half hour after the T3 cruisers did, or at least it felt like half an hour)and attempting to throw my drones, only to get the message I don't have the skills to use Hobby II's.  Fortunately, there were plenty of drones out and maybe no one noticed.

Well from there things settled down.  The sites cleared quick (yes 3 T3's and Abby and Guardian make quick work of 2 Sleeper BS's), my gas mining skills are fine, and I am told I made a fair amount of Isk for 3 hours work. 

So it is obvious I have gone from decent fish leading a small group in a small C2 pond, to a very small fish, with an oversized ship, in a very big pond (and unfortunately one who had a few first op jitters).  Here's to hoping the next few go better.

Mick

I thought I knew how to live in W-Space

Turns out I only knew how to get by.

So my first three "serious" nights in my new home have been eye-opening.

Lets just say I thought a lot more of my w-space skills before the weekend started, then after it ended. I do have to preface this by saying that my main toon is still a young pup at just over 11M SP.  In addition I have never been around large fleet deployments.  My 0.0 experience in a previous life consisted of chaining some belts and very limited mining, a few roams, and in the end a lot getting blown up and one 32 system jump back to high sec in a Rook.

So this weekend started with a call to arms to do some "evictions" in neighboring Class 6's.  I only wish my RL, and Eve Skills, allowed me to fly the ships i saw gathering and participate and witness the stories I heard being told on vent.

So while the "big boys" were away playing with their "big boy toys", I was actually happy to get in some scanning time.  I must say my skills were rusty as it took awhile to get back up to speed on how the whole scanning thing worked.  In addition, the people who make a habit in living in Class 5 and 6 W-Space tend to be, how do you say, "a little more experienced" in making life hard on scanners.  It didn't help that I was at the same time trying to learn how to best scan and use the corp tools for recording my findings (necessary to get compensated for my scanning efforts).

So after a few run ins with locals, an hilarious encounter with a Buzzard jumping into our guarded system (and back again really quickly), and several routes to high sec discovered and quickly utilized in both directions I felt good about myself.  The feeling was short lived as I went to log out of the probing op and discovered that on average, the other 3 pilots had discovered about 4 times as many sigs in the same amount of time.

I quickly got one in Vent and started to pick his brain, only to discover these guys are using patterns on probes i would never have thought of, are getting signatures scanned down to 25% (and thus type) several at a time, and overall making my opinion of my overall probing skills fell severely inadequate (and there is no little blue enhancement pill for that).

So as i sit looking at my ships and skill set, I am for the first time in Eve feeling crazily meek, and hoping that even 1/10th of the knowledge and experience rubs off on me as I learn what W-Space living and thriving is all about.

Mick

p.s. For all of you in the blogs I have read fearing CCRES as you go about your daily W-Space life, just remember, we only seem to cover about 1% of W-Space a day.  But remember, you aren't paranoid if people really are out to get you.

A "hole" new level to Eve

I have played Eve combined between my two stents for almost 2 years now.

I have been in decent corps, run what I hope are decent corps, and been a part of awful corps (and hopefully not run any bad ones).

But I have to say, in my limited experience, I have never seen nor been a part of a corp like the one I am now.  The level of organization, both in and out of game, is insane.  And frankly it would have to be to run a corp with over 200 members out of W-Space.

From the mundane of logistics in just housing and moving stuff, to the complex of figuring out how to split the pie, this corp is like nothing I have seen.

I have been part of 0.0 in an alliance that resembled a major interstate, after a truckload of oil had been spilled, followed by a light rain, and topped off by several cars with no brakes, driven by blind teenagers, talking on cell phones, and texting.

I can't wait to participate farther in the corp and see what Class 6 life entails.  But after finally getting to the Home system, getting my "hole" legs back, and contributing slightly, I am excited about the future with CCRES.

Mick

Preparing to depart

Well I am now a member of Capital Contruction Research and am ready to depart for a Class 6 wormhole, well mentally ready.

Just a few small tasks to actually get ready.  Needed to prep justa few things, like ships, rigs, mods, etc.

For the first time I dont have an Orca running stuff for me and will have multiple jumps to get into the C6.  So the thought of trying to jump in rigged ships did not appeal to me.  Overall, I need to get 4 ships in.  A quick analysis showed a rigged Mammoth will haul all the hulls, rigs, and mods I need.

So I have spent the last two nights gathering stuff into Sobaseki, selling my rigged ships in Jita, and getting new hulls, rigs for the trip in. 

The corp will be providing Gas Mining ships and I will be buying a PVE ship from a corp mate.  So I need a PVP ship (Harby), scanning ship (amarr covert ops), Stealth Bomber (Purifier), and rock miner (Covetor).  Overall it just fits inside the 27k m3 the Mammoth provides.  Nice thing is that will also give me a small hauler to use also.

So all I need to do now is get the Mammoth packed, and wait for a high sec opening (and hope its clear of hostiles).

Well hopefully I will have some stories soon again of my Life In The Hole. 

Mick

Headed Back to W-Space

Well I am headed back to W-Space, well part of me is.

I have decided I have had enough of High Sec PvP and decided it is time to head back into W-Space.  I always thought that when I did this I would lead a group into a Class 4 wormhole.

Well I decided to take a slightly different path.

I have joined a corp that runs a C6 with a static C6 and am taking just one toon in for now.

I hope to have some fun tails soon, but at this point all I have to report in my application has been accepted, pending my 24 hour wait to leave my current corp.  From there I will have to wait for a High Sec route and then jump in my ships.

I am looking forward to getting back to W-Space life, and truth be told, I actually have missed scanning stuff down.

More to follow I hope.

Mick