The beauty of EVE

As I was ratting last night I realised as beautiful as EVE is I very rarely look at it. Now I hear you saying how can you not look at it how do you play it then? Which is a fair question I grant you but when you think about the amount of data you need to process during a PvP engagement it's not as daft as it first sounds. You need amount of hostile's, ship types, ship speed, ship distance & that is just for starters. Thankfully EVE provide's us with the tools we need such as the overview, fleet window, watch list, local chat(agree with it or not local chat is used as a tactical tool in PvP), D-Scan.

As you can see it appears to be extremely cluttered but this set up gives me the optimal amount of info I need & allows me to control my ship in the most efficient manner. As you can see this does not leave much screen space & with the Tactical Overview on I don't really get a chance to look at the beauty of EVE.

EVE online undoubtedly has the best graphics available in any MMO that is around today. Though to effectively get all the information you need for combat you have to have that many windows open that you rarely get to see EVE in all it's beauty. Although this is the case for when you are engaged in mortal combat when you actually have time just stop & take a look around & just look at EVE in all it's graphical beauty.

Ship Inventory

As I was cleared for docking into Caldari Navy Logistic Support station in Sobaseki my neo com flashed. It was that inbred pompous twat of a hanger manager wanting to see me about my ship inventory. Some garbage about me having to sign it off as correct. All seemed a bit fishy to me& being a merc there is a lot of guys who wouldn't mind setting me up if you know what I mean. So I get docked up & out of the pod the only thing I want to do is get a shower but this jobs worth is desperate for me to sign this off. He thrusts a data pad into my hands so I start to scan down it I realise I have a lot of ships just waiting to get into some Pew Pew with. All the ships were colour coded to do with T1, T2 & Faction ships as if I didn't know what my ships where.

To/ WatsonMayte here is a list of your ship types in our hangers as per required by Article 3 sub-section C of our docking rights.

[Frigate Class Hulls] 

Rifter x 3

Imicus

Kitsune

Buzzard

Manticore x 2

Hyena

Stiletto

Dramiel

Zephyr

[Cruiser Class Hulls]

Rupture x 2

Stabber x 2

Stabber Fleet Issue

Cynabal

[Battlecruiser Class Hulls]

Hurricane x 2

Ferox

Drake (ratting fit)

[Battleship Class Hulls]

Typhoon

Tempest

This guy doesn't seem to be going away & he has this look like he is desperate to ask something. So I say to him "do you need ot want something?" He looks startled by how brash I am but I really don't care I can't be arsed with him today. He says he was just wondering about the pirate ships that I have as they are frowned upon by such good stations such as the Cal Navy provide simpletons like myself. I just told him that I have pirate contacts & we were to leave it at that.

So basically I am going to talk about these ships & what I use them for & how I fit them & how some of my corp mates fit & fly them in up coming blog posts hopefully with a small story like the one above.

P.S The stories may suck to begin with but I'll stick with them unless people really hate them so let me know what you think.

The futility of the gank

Lately I have started to become bored of ganks & killing noobs. Now don't get me wrong it is fun at times but ultimately it leaves me unsatisfied as there is no challenge. We have started to do more low sec roams but that was only due to lack of targets in high sec. Now as a merc corp we don't really get to pick our targets which often leads to wars on miners or mission runners basically people that put up no resistance & get ganked by one of our camps or we catch them doing a mission & the supposed PvP corps we have to decc just stay docked up or play station games. Now I know this can't be helped by anyone as a contract is a contract & if it pays well we  will accept it. From the few wars where we have had some decent fights it always seems we get one fight beat them & then they stay docked up the rest of the war. I don't think there has been anyone that has actually brought the fight to us we always have to go get them even these so called PvP corps. Now I don't mind travelling 20 - 30 jumps for a fight or even to set up a camp but for once I would like someone to bring a decent fight to us as we would be more than willing to oblige.

Now don't get me wrong I am having fun where I am but there is always that underlying feeling of futility what am I actually learning from killing noobs & miners. I have always stated that I wanted to learn how to PvP so that I could move to null sec eventually but I am a long way from doing that as the corp I am in is fantastic, the pilots are cool, I am learning a lot about PvP & FC'ing from the other pilots & I am in no rush to be moving on. But the fact remains the bulk of anyone's PvP knowledge comes from actually getting out & PvP'ing that is why I have stopped can flipping & have taken to low sec roams when there is no targets to hunt. Though 90% of the time this proves unfruitful I either get blobbed or find no one to fight or those who are willing to fight always have logi support or a falcon alt ready to jump in. Apparently their is no such thing as a fair fight in EVE I don't even care if I lose the fight as long as I get a fight I enjoy it there is no greater feeling than an adrenaline rush & this is what I get when I engage in PvP in EVE. This may be sad but I don't care as it is a great feeling to be able to experience such a rush from your computer chair.

I think what I am trying to say is I need more of a challenge & I hope that the next couple of up-coming wars provide this. I am now going to give you a quick update about my training plan, I have set out a 484 days skill que which will train all Caldari & Minmatar sub cap ships along with near perfect armour, shield, gunnery, missile. drone, rigging & support skills that I fell will provide me with a better skill set for PvP. So expect to see me field some shiny new stuff in the near future.

Keep Tanking & Ganking

WatsonMayte

Why EVE is great

So lately there has been a lot of EVE bashing even more so than normal. So thought I would write about about why EVE is great or rather why I think EVE is great. There are many reasons why people play this game I play the game because I enjoy it simple as that of course I will go into more detail but the bottom line of the matter is I love this game I put a lot of time & effort into the game. So when the server crashes for an hour or whatever sure I'm pissed but not at CCP but at the fact I can't play. When the server goes down it is always back up within a decent time frame in my opinion & the few times when it has been down for a serious amount of time CCP handed out free SP. Now I know from personal experience that CCP doesn't have the greatest customer service   as anyone who has filled in a petition knows but what's an hour or two when your skills are still training. Nothing that's what, we EVE players are in the lucky position that as long as we have an active skill queue our characters are getting better at the game as opposed to every other mmo where you have to go kill rats or grind like mad to get anywhere.

A few of the reasons I think EVE is great are:

1. The scope of the game
There is basically hundreds of things to do in this game from carebearing it up in high sec to controlling sov in 0.0 & everything in-between. This means that when you are bored of one thing you can just move onto another skills dependant of course.

2. CCP actually listen to the community
Whether it's through the CSM or the forums there is always player input in the production of the game. Although it may not be what every player wants the fact remains that there is player input.

3. The game is great to play
Now don't get me wrong here there are many bugs & flaws within the game but the fact of the matter is EVE is a fun game & has some of the best PvP online gaming has to offer. I haven't been into the PvP side of EVE very long but the whole time that I have it's been some of the best times I have had within the game.

So in conclusion to the above EVE is great, give the devs a break when there is server proble s after all they are only human & work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Keep Tanking & Ganking
WatsonMayte

PvP, ISK & Spaceships

Firstly I am going to talk about the PvP I have been doing since I last blogged. Then I shall talk about my current financial state & what I am going to do to remedy that. Finally I will talk about the spaceships I am flying just now plus the spaceships I hope to be flying in the not so distant future.

PvP
I have done quite a bit of PvP since the last time I posted most notably there have been several solo encounters most of which I have lost but I have learned something from each one which is a plus. As always we have had Merc work to do thanks tour growing reputation & hard work of our CEO. (Shameless plug but if you are looking for a professional Merc group contact BlackCamper of The Condemned & Convicted mention my blog sent you to him & he may even give you small discount lol) In other breaking news I have been promoted to the rank of FC not because I am the best combat pilot but because I have a good understanding of game mechanics & a willingness to learn also I'm not afraid to make decisions even if they are bad decisions. I was always told that the worst decision anyone could make was no decision at all.So make sure you have your ship insured before we roam as it may not come back in one piece.

Our current war against Armada Ministry Federation could not have went any better we destroyed them in high sec they then retreated into their WH. Which was promptly shown to us by their CEO after he was given a beating in high sec he ran straight for it. All of this happened after he sent a mail to his Corp saying he was restricting access to it as he knew we were actively seeking it. So after we found it we went in & ransacked the place.Destroyed their tower, their ships & ultimately their morale. As of writing this blog I know of at least 28 of AMF have left the alliance although quite a number of them have left & joined the Corp set up by the Alliance CEO's alt BusyDogg Synaptic Recall. Garrdogg is his main & from the moment the war started he has made bad decision after bad decision. He has used his members as a meat shield to scout out his stuff from the WH while ordering others to stay & defend the POS. He left all of his members stuff in the WH but somehow managed to get all his ships & stuff out. He ordered his PvP division to go up against a superior force & waits till they have been beaten many times to call a retreat. Basically what I am trying to say is the man is a coward, he encouraged smack talk before the war,he tried to smack talk us when he managed together his stuff out the WH but now he has been forced to leave the alliance & create a new Corp with his alt he hasn't got much to say. So this is to you GarrDogg Mr Docked Up Local Smack Talker.

YOU SIR ARE A TRUE HERO OF EVE
Garrdogg

ISK
Interstellar Kredits & my current lack of them. Right now I have a little over 81 million in my wallet. Though I do have enough ships to sustain Meroe a while providing I don't lose the all within a week of burning glory. The reason I have so little & can only afford to run on account right now is because I had to pay back a loan to a bitter vet friend of mine to the sum of two & a half billion. Basically when I started to PvP I used my second account to generate my ISK but now since that is gone for the time being I shall be pausing the training Que on WatsonMayte & creating to PI/Indy toons on this account. I shall begin these new characters in just over three days when Minmatar frigate 5 finishes training. While I am training up these other characters I will be taking a small break from PvP to run missions to gain enough capital to get my PI up & running. Once I have my second account up & running again I am going to be looking into booster production & creating a second combat character. I also plan to try & get into T2 production & inventing to help supplement my income I may even join an indy Corp as long as they don't find out who my main is I think I should be ok.

Spaceships

Now to the most important part of the blog the toys I use. As it stands I prefer to fly small ships frigates & cruisers mostly but I do not hesitate to jump into something bigger if the situation demands for it. Currently my favourite ships to fly are the Rifter, Rupture, Stabber, Stabber Fleet Issue & the Dramiel. I have used all the ships I just mentioned there on solo Low Sec PvP roams & to my greta surprise the only ship I could get a fight in was the Rifter. I only took the SFI & the Dramiel out to see if I could entice someone into a fight. Maybe I am roaming the wrong areas or maybe I just need to get into some small gangs & see what we can find who knows for sure but the only certainty is that I will keep solo roaming & trying to get into some solo PvP action just because it is fun win lose or draw I enjoy it & thats what matters.

I have been trying different set ups for the Rifter & I have to say the set up I enjoy the most is the Arty Rifter kiting your target at 15+ km while tearing away at their shields & armour is much to my liking. The only problem I find is that I need to pay much more attention to the orbital sling & the target getting out of point range. Next on my hit list are all of the Minmatar T2 frigates most notably the Wolf, Jaguar & Hyena all of which IMO will make excellent solo frigates if flown right. I will be reviewing all three in the coming months.

In the cruiser hulls I am planning on getting a Cynabal as soon as I can afford it then I shall be training for T2 cruisers I have not really spent a great deal of time looking over them but I am sure I will be able to find one or two that take my fancy.

Keep Tanking & Ganking

WatsonMayte