Framast Iðn Bú

As a fun little part-time pastime a few of us have been hitting Pirate Faction Forward Operating Bases in High-Sec.

We usually roll in a three to five person fleet. Our base fleet is three Dominix which is the minimum we need to hit a Blood Raider FOB, we’ve haven’t really messed around with the Guristas FOBs.

If we get a fourth pilot our first choice for an added boat is to get some support from an Eos and then if we get a fifth we’ll normally add another Dominix but we are looking at possibly changing that fifth added boat to a Leshak to see if it would up our clear time.

We run with heavily armored RR Domis fitted with MJDs for the escape. The Microjump Drive is mandatory should you want to disengage from the fight at any time or at the end, once the FOB has been destroyed, because the ♦ NPC ships do not disengage right away.

1. Our FOB destruction tactics are pretty simple
2. We make sure we’ve got everyone on our Watchlist
3. We warp the fleet at 0 on the FOB
4. Target all our Fleet mates and get our Cap Chain set up
5. One of us drops a can and we all set up orbits at differing ranges on it so that we keep well within rep range of each other
6. While doing the above we’re also targeting the FOB, launching and engaging our drones on it
7. We focus all our DPS on the NPC Structure and ignore any of the ♦ (diamond) Rats

The ♦ Rats are decidedly nasty and depending on which spawn we get things can get pretty hairy. The Rats switch targets frequently and it can be a fairly demanding fleet with trying to keep up on reps. Team cohesion is paramount, if someone is not paying attention things can go South very quickly.

Even just for one the rewards are decent, we’re seeing a DED payout of just over 26mil a piece for the FOB kill, plus whatever (possibly none) Standup module loot the FOB drops. If you can find a few FOBs close to one another and string some kills together the ISK is actually pretty solid for High-Sec plus the FOBs also have a chance of dropping an Armored Standup Module Cache which contains a Faction Standup Module BPC and they are currently selling for a good amount.

If you have any questions about hitting the BR FOBs rip me a message in-game and I can try to toss some of our experiences your way.

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Kunna Sjá Sik Siðan

Yep still here… I log in and play pretty much daily but I haven’t had much interest or motivation in tossing up any posts about my activities or posts discussing any relevant EVE related topics. Although with that said I do peruse the Eve Bloggers site quite frequently and today came across a post by Rixx Javix that hit home for me:

How to Survive Eve Online

In the post he lays out seven different points and there are bits in each one that hit home for me in my time playing EVE Online.  If you’ve got the time head over to Rixx’s blog and give it a read, it’s well worth it!

 

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Hafa Nær

[.FRAG] Leadership brought some options to the table and a vote was taken and it is now official… we’ve joined the Unspoken Alliance. [QUIET]

It has only been a couple days and we’re still getting ourselves situated but we’ll be heading to Etherium Reach to fill in the ranks and embrace some Drones. We’ll need to get some clones set up, doctrine ships bought or brought in and some other assets moved but that’s all just logistics and can be sorted easily enough.

What is most important at the end of the day is that the crew are happy and enthusiastic with the change and we are all excited to see where this new adventure in New Eden takes us.

 

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Bráðum Bregðask I

Change is in the air… what is that change you ask?

Well… we do follow the path of chaos with it’s eight arrows representing all possibilities…

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Gøra Stór-virki

Things are currently in a bit of a flux with our crew and we have begun to explore options and work through some decision making. Being in this type of flux state normally means a little less activity for most folks but I’m not the type that can’t find something to do to entertain themselves in-game. My most recent in-game entertainment has been ripping through the Pirate Faction Epic Arcs.

There are two Pirate Arcs, one for the Angel Cartel and the other is for the Guristas Pirates. I ran the Angel Arc, Angel Sound, first and then the Gurista Arc, Smash and Grab, a day or two later and got through both fairly quickly. All the main missions for both are run out in NPC Null-sec so there is some risk involved but the solid rewards make the risk worthwhile.

There are good mission ISK rewards of 5 to 10 million ISK per mission, both Pirate Arcs will reward you with one Pirate Faction EWAR Module mid-way through the Arc and then one Pirate Faction Cruiser BPC at the end of the Arc and after finishing the Arc you will also receive a big boost to your Pirate Faction standing.

Angel Sound rewards:

• Domination Target Painter
• Cynabal BPC (6 ME/6 TE)
• 30% increase to base Angel Cartel Faction standing

Smash and Grab rewards:

• Dread Guristas ECM Multispectral Jammer
• Gila BPC (6 ME/6 TE)
• 30% increase to base Guristas Pirates Faction standing

 

They were good fun and I’ll definitely run them again down the road.

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Ávalt Vinna

In New Eden the affiliations with other groups and the political and diplomatic situations around those affiliations can evolve and unfold quite rapidly.

Those lucky few in the leadership positions of the Corporations, the Alliances and the Coalitions need to way out options, make decisions and choose avenues for their members. Sometimes these options, decisions and avenues are presented to and openly discussed with the members before a final resolution is made and other times they are not and Leadership just dictates the who, what and when to their members.

I currently find myself in a situation where Leadership has made some decisions and has dictated a course of action and direction for our crew with little to no discussion with our member base which is not our norm.

Now, while I find that I may not be 100% behind the decisions made or our current direction I am loyal to a core group of friends in our crew and am adept at being flexible and fluid so will go with the flow and see where it takes us.

“Being flexible is not enough. The situation is fluid, you must be fluid…” ~ Anon GySgt, USMC

“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” ~ Bruce Lee

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Leita Eptir Við Sendi-ferð

One of the many reasons I love EVE Online and the New Eden universe is that it exemplifies what is meant by open world and sandbox gaming, you can do and be pretty much anything in this game.

As illustrated by this insane graphic:

Click to make BIG!

Thankfully I’m in an active group that likes to go out and get fights so there is not normally any lack of PvP ‘content’ and even on those times when there is I personally have no problems logging in and entertaining myself but I do prefer to have those great overarching epic goals set for myself, ie; build my own carrier from scratch, set up a self contained PI chain, fit out a capital only with modules I build or ‘find’, grind enough LP to get that implant set, etc…

 

I don’t currently have any ‘epic’ personal goals set but am putting some thought into what those could/should be, do you have any recommendations?

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Kvikr þar Meðr Spyrna

Still alive and kicking just not actively blogging – there is lots on the go in New Eden but I’ve got no real motivation to write about it at the moment.

Hope all is well with anyone that still checks in here from time to time!

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

 

Garðr Víða III

This will likely be my last post on Citadel proliferation for awhile.  We will have to wait and see exactly how Upwell 2.0 effects the proliferation of Upwell structures. I’m sure that we’ll see more destroyed but I’m not sure the changes will be enough to stifle the propagation.

At the moment docking, tethering, the use of fitting services and access to hangar storage requires no fuel. With that and the fact that there are no limits to where or how many structures you can anchor what we’re seeing is chokepoints being opened up (which is allowing the almost completely safe movement of capital ships) and all over New Eden we’re seeing systems being locked down by Citadel tanking.

Obviously there are different areas of space and Upwell structure anchoring limits would need to be addressed separately for each.

With the Upwell 2.0 release I see New Eden having 7 distinct areas of space.

• High-sec (0.6 to 1.0)
• Refinery High-sec (0.5)
• Low-sec
• FW Low-sec
• NPC Null
• SOV Null
• Wormholes

High-sec (0.6 to 1.0)

• There could be an argument made to allow unrestricted anchoring in High-sec so that everyone and anyone can toss up there own ‘house’.

Refinery High-sec (0.5)

• You could also argue to allow unrestricted anchoring in this space as well, although I’d argue to see a generous limit set. Setting some level of limitation might create some good confilct, it would be cool to see High-sec industrial groups fighting over good industrial systems.

Once you leave High-sec though I believe having limitations on the number of anchorable Upwell structures is essential. Yes this will create blocking, yes you’ll have to shoot a citadel to place your own but that is the point of setting limits, it will create conflict which in return creates content in New Eden and in the end isn’t that what EVE is all about… Content?

Low-sec

• I’m not familiar enough with the meta play and politics of Low-sec to make any recommendations for what sort of limitation should be set for Upwell structures for this type of space but many of the chokepoints for capital ship movement are through Low-sec systems.

FW Low-sec

• Also not super familiar with Faction Warfare Low-sec but I do know that the controlling Faction has access to stations and the attacking Faction does not. Upwell structures in FW have rendered that game mechanic meaningless.

NPC Null

• This space is frequently used by harassment or nomadic roaming groups and is also often used as a stepping stone location for groups looking to get into SOV Null. Setting a limit in NPC Null would be a good stimulus to create conflict between those groups and the SOV Null entities that have Upwell structures anchored in NPC Null for their logistics routes and capital ship movements. Just like in Low-sec many of the NPC Null systems are also chokepoints for capital ship movement, unrestricted Citadel anchoring has made this activity too safe.

SOV Null

• In SOV null the idea is to fight for and take space, which will become nigh impossible when the defending force has decided to Citadel tank and has dropped 30+ Citadels in every one of their systems. Even with Upwell 2.0 Citadels will still be hard to clear and having to destroy 15, 20 or 30 of them in one system would be a lot more than a little tedious.

Wormholes

• Wormholes are somewhat similar to SOV null in regards to fighting for and defending your space. It will become nearly impossible to fight over a Wormhole when the local residents have Citadel tanked their hole.

 

For all those folks still asking “Why is it really a problem?” ~ I don’t mean for this to be rude but… if you still aren’t cognizant enough to realize the inevitable problems that will come with allowing an unlimited number of Upwell structures to be anchored everywhere in New Eden I’m not sure there is anything that anyone can say about setting limitations that will make sense to you.

 

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Framast Njósn Garðr

While pondering on Citadel proliferation and working through the idea that every system should have a set number of Upwell structure points and set location beacons an idea came to me for a small sized Upwell structure. CCP is yet to introduce or even speak of any small sized Upwell structures but the citizens of New Eden have already started speculation on what they may be and what they may do. Most of the conjecture is folks thinking the small structures will be replacements for jump bridges which is something that needs to be addressed but my thought was for something a little different.

But first, just to keep it fresh, below is what my Upwell structure point system would look like:

“Again this is very basically thought out but maybe a system gets so many Upwell structure points for each moon, planet and asteroid belt it has and each size of Upwell structure costs a specific number of points as well?

Just for an example lets give 1 point for each celestial, so Perimeter would have 23 Upwell structure points, and then XLG structures cost 10 points, LRG structures cost 5 points and MED structures cost 3 points – this leaves some room for the SML Upwell structure that would cost 1 point.

Using that point structure would limit Perimeter to having a maximum of 7 medium Upwell structures or 2 extra-large and 1 medium or 4 large and 1 medium, etc…”

Putting some extra thought into it I’d change that so that the SML Upwell structures cost no points to anchor which would allow folks to anchor as many of them as they wish in any system. IIRC small structures already include deployables like Mobile Tractor Units, Mobile Depots, etc… so the zero point anchor cost would hold in line with how things are currently working.

My idea for a small structure is the Upwell Forward Operating Base. The idea would be that the Upwell FOB would be used by anyone looking to put a foothold into a system or for someone looking for a small base to operate out of.

Here are some basic thoughts on the Upwell FOB:

• Can be anchored anywhere, does not need to be placed near celestial beacons, but does follow the current Upwell anchoring mechanics
• The Upwell FOB is not a ‘station’ and does not have a docking bay but will have fitting slots and modules that allow it to provide services like tethering & repairing, a mobile depot style of cargo capacity & refitting service, maybe even modules that works like scan or cynosural inhibitors
• The Upwell FOB will have a dedicated fuel bay and the service modules will require fuel, I’d think a fuel bay with a capacity to run it for 30’ish days depending on the modules installed would be sufficient and fair
• Taking it a little further maybe an Upwell FOB could be the necessary structure to anchor with whatever thing replaces jump bridges, it could be one of the service module options

I am of the thought that there should be a fueling requirement for all Upwell structures and with that a dedicated fuel bay that would require one of the Structure Management skills to load so that not just any Alpha toon can load it up.

The fuel bay capacity and how long that fuel will power the structure could be dependent on the size of the structure and which modules it has installed but some primary numbers could look like this:

• SML – approx 30 days worth of fuel capacity
• MED – approx 60 days worth of fuel capacity
• LRG –  approx 90 days worth of fuel capacity
• XLG – approx 120 days worth of fuel capacity

I’m not super familiar with POS fuel requirements or usage but I’m sure CCP could mirror something similar for the Upwell structures?

 

Just some off the cuff stuff, what do you think?

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Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam