TANK THAT!!! Mister Asteroid Killer (Part 2)

Greetings my fellow pod pilots, & blog readers!!!

During the same Notalotofnews 79^th Episode, were Jason was talking about the high sec gank, of a Covetor Mining Barge, he again mentioned his desire for the next level of mining ship.  He has repeatedly attempted to make an effort to convince his co-host FrFmPukin that EvE needs a mining ship that has the battleship equivalent of a tank.  FrFmPukin thinks that things are just fine.  The fact, that a Battle Cruiser and/or smaller ships can warp in, lock up, and Alpha Strike a mining barge into oblivion is Ok with him.

Often FrFrmPukin’s argument is that the mining barges should be more observant, or careful.  That may be easy to say from a Null Sec stand point.  You can just watch local, and listen or watch intel channels.  But what about those folks in High Sec, were local has constant traffic?  How about wormhole space where local or intel channels do not exist?  How about those that don’t want to depend on anyone?

So in essence the only defense a mining ship should have, from other players, is to warp away???

My response to that is... WTF!?!?

How can a PvP/Combat pilot expect that CCP should continue to add more ships to make their Pew Pew more fun and survivable, yet give no counter to those that are getting shot at?  Case in point, with the new Crucible expansion CCP added four new racial specific Tier 3 Battle Cruisers(BC).  These ships gain the fire power of a Battleship!  A BC could already Alpha Strike most industrial ships with medium guns.  Now they are granted even more fire power to make quick work of the defenseless industrial ships.  So in essence, if you are an industrial minded player, there is no way to effectively survive or tank an attack.  Regardless of isk invested into your ship, it will never… ever… be able to survive an attack.  An industrial based character cannot even hope to last long enough for help to arrive!

I don’t know about you, but I watched CCP's video called The Butter Fly Effect and I don’t think that was what CCP had in mind.  Let me quote you a section of dialog from that trailer:

“…and in your travels you encounter this, a defenseless mining barge under attack by pirates.  You have a split second to make a choice.  Without your help the miner does not stand a chance.  You decide to be the hero and succeed in driving the raiders away.  The victim is thankful and in the conversation that follows, a friendly gang that was on its way to help finally arrives…”

I do think CCP intends to create more opportunity for things like this to happen.  I also think that CCP could kill two birds with one stone.  They simply need to give the miner a ship that can weather the storm until help arrives. (This could be a double edge sword as that aid may be coming to help the pirate!)

What I would like to see added, and I do believe Jason does as a well, is a mining ship with a battleship sized tank.  So I have decided to do a bit of theory crafting and this is what I have come up with.  As you can see it isn’t close to being done… but I figured I would start the converstation:

(Click for original image on Deviant Art)

THE TORTUGA

The Tortuga is the largest craft in the third generation of mining vessels created by the ORE Syndicate. Deep Space Exhumers, like their mining barge cousins, are equipped with electronic subsystems specifically designed to accommodate Strip Mining modules. They are the most resilient Exhumer built to date, designed specifically to handle the dangers of hostile space. What the Tortuga lacks efficiency is made up in its survivability.
 

So what kind of stats would it have?

Until next time,

Be Bold…

TANK THAT!!! Mister Asteroid Killer (Part 1)

Greetings my fellow pod pilots, & blog readers!!!

Recently I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the EvE podcasts that I like to listen to.  I would like to recommend that you head over to Arydanika’s website for Voices from the Void.  She has a section called the Pod Pack, which lists some of the more consistent pod casts that talk about their life in EvE.

I listen to most of the Pod Pack shows, but below are the ones I look forward to the most:

Lost in EvE – A bit of a format/host change due to RL issues, but still the same spirit.

Notalotofnews News Hour – 3 Pilots, 2 Calories, 1 Podcast, and 0 Clue…. Just watch out for the squirrels!

Pixxie’s EvE Online Podcast – A cute wondrous wide eyed account of life in EvE from a newbie’s perspective.

Voices from the Void – Arydanika & Seismic Stan have set the current bar for EvE Podcast excellence! (Once held by Lost in EvE)

During the Notalotofnews 79^th Episode, Jason the host began talking about a high sec gank, of a Covetor Mining Barge, that he had witnessed.   After the ship was destroyed, and Concord had brought swift justice to the criminals, the culprits began spamming “YARR!!!” in local.  Jason’s opinion is that those were not the acts of pirates, but just the actions of some would be gankers.

Which made me think, what is the difference? 

After giving it a bit of thought, I do believe there is a difference.  Now I will begin by saying that my distinction is based on game play within the sandbox known as EvE, and from my experience as an MMO player who enjoys the brutality of EvE PvP.

Pirate – A player in EvE that has decided to focus his or her game play on the pursuit of making others the victims.  This pursuit has two goals.  Goal one, to become highly proficient at internet ship combat.  There are no points for second best in PvP, and results in the loss of isk.  Goal two, that their proficiency in combat affords them the ability to fund their play style from the selling of loot(salvage) and/or ransoms.  Pirates take pride in their negative security status.  They have no need to fly with the weak.  They are true predators.  They purely survive or fail on their ability to make a kill, and they have clearly marked their territory as low sec. (Enter at your own risk!)  It is this attitude that has brought a mystique to the game.  It has veterans and newbies alike fearing to hit the jump button, when they reach that .04 system.

Ganker – A player in EvE that gets his or her entertainment from making others’ playing time less enjoyable.  They typically use game mechanics to attain an unfair advantage that will guarantee success.  Their skills are twofold: Skill one, know how to exploit game mechanics.  Skill two, finding players who are unaware of said exploit to use it upon.  Gankers take pride in making others miserable.  They really could care less about the success of the game.  Gankers have no vested interest in the success of the games they play, nor if they themselves are any good at it.

Notice both the Pirate and Ganker prey on other players.  So what is the difference?  Simple the pirate works within the mechanics of the game.  The pirate clearly operates within the game.  They can have fun even when their prey gets away.  They enjoy the chase as much as the kill.  The prey willing engages in activities that make them a target.  They assume the risk once they leave the confines of high sec.  Some of the prey even take great enjoyment in the chase as well, and take great pride in frustrating t he pirate!  Both sides are playing within the game!  The true pirates of EvE become legends.  Mynxee, Rixx Javix, Rock Wieler, & Kane Rizzel all come to mind.   Gankers will only be remembered as long as they remain in local.

Until next time,
 

Be Bold…

Custom Office Take Over (Part 2)

Greetings my fellow pod pilots, & blog readers!!!

Well it didn’t take long for someone to come along and to kick over my sand castle by shooting my customs office.  I logged on just minutes after they completed putting it into a reinforced mode.  So I and a couple of corp mates waited the two days for it to come out, so that the defense and/or repairs could begin. 

 

As the Custom Office came out of reinforcement, it would be 9 pilots of Sweatpants Boner Corporation against my little band of merry friends. (Actually it was only 2 of us)  I figured we’d harass them with some sniper Apocs at range.  So we established warp in points around the Customs Office.   They initially came in with two Oracles, Megathron, and some misc stuff.  We easily pushed the Oracles off field.  The new BCs tank is so weak, that I’m not sure how well they will fair against ANY type of slug fest.  If we would have had any tackle, we would of scored some kills.  But alas, that was not to be.  They eventually got in a few more ships, one with probes, and it was just a matter of time before they compromised our warp in, and caught one of us.  SO, down to one Apoc, I did a few more drive by’s, and then called it quits.

To be honest I’m not even upset, and I have to laugh because this is EvE!  I should have started a pool to bet on just how long it would last!  Besides I’m used to losing expensive stuff in game.  At least this time it was the corp, and one of my mates that suffered the loss.

The CEO of Sweatpants Boner even had the courtesy to send this EvEmail to our CEO:

GF

From: Horratio Antillies
To: Pasha Aramata

we didn't even expect someone to show up but you did so props to you.
fly sexy 07

I’m not really sure what kind of defense, if any, I will want to make next time…  I have discovered that there are a few options available.

No matter what happens it will be another fun experience learning another part of the sandbox known as EvE Online!

Until next time,

Be Bold…