Gallente Opinion Poll: Removing Faction NPCs in Enemy Highsec?

On a thread regarding FW at the EVE forums, CCP Soundwave recently asked, “One thing we might be able to do very easily is remove the faction NPCs, letting you freely travel in other factions space. How would you guys feel about that change? I’ve always found it a bit sad that we’ve isolated FW in low-sec when it could be done on a much larger scale.”

What is your opinion on removing faction NPC’s in enemy highsec?

“That would be awesome, for a lot of reasons, most of which are obvious. It would also suck, as it would ruin the immersion of why we are even fighting for our faction, If it means nothing and everyone can do what they please anyways.

What about flipping high sec systems, using the surrounding low sec areas to determine who controls i?. Example, a high sec system with 2 low sec gates would be owned by the faction that owned the two ajoining low secs.

Also what about a Ex Pat system where you can rebalance your negative standing with your opposite faction when you leave FW ( no mission grinding to go to jita), with guaranees that you wont fight again, ect.” -Tromin, Gallente

“Saw this on the forum, not keen on moving the battlefield away from low-sec. Seems it would encourage more station games on enemy hubs and logistics stations. Not the kind of pvp that should be encouraged imo.

Other issues are neutral rr, neutral ship scanning, neutral bumpers, neutral looters, neutral salvagers, the list goes on.

Of all the things wrong with fac war, high sec is most certainly not one of them.” – Crosi Wesdo, Gallente

“My view is that once you remove faction npc’s in highsec your going to have insta locking stillots’s/t3’s etc, compared to web and insta warp method in practice from the highsec np’c atm. Then again it would be interesting to see how real life players manipulate areas in highsec. I think it would divide highsec up more, however it isn’t much different from suiside highsec campers, exept without the suicide 🙂 , I think it’s a good idea but needs restrictions on where they are removed, and I belive there should be penalties of some sorts on people trying to get a quick kill

However, I think more must be done to promote FW, as it is steadily declining, at least in the Caldari department ( well thats my opinion:P). Remove npc’s I believe would give a chance to get highsec players more comfortable with low sec living, bridge the gap so to speak :)” -Shelley09, Gallente

“I am not sure how I feel about it. It could really have a negative effect on FW but on the other hand it could be positive. We would probably see many more high sec corps joining FW but you would also have a lot of high sec greifing corps join as well. I also do not like the fact they tend to send noobs to FW via the tutorial missions, this hasn’t been too much of a problem, but if we extend the war to high sec the greifing of noobs in high sec will skyrocket and might turn off some new players from the game.” – Princess Nexxala, Gallente

“Since we’ve all done FW missions that have nuked our empire standings already, whats the point in removing the faction npcs? We’ll still be hunted by the regular navy because a lot of us are below -5 to the other two empire factions. Remove the navy hunting you in empire if your -10 regardless of being in FW or not being the soloution? Then RP dies, but it would probably do wonders for the tag prices as people are to afraid to do faction missions in general because they dont want their empire faction standings to drop.

If to travel empire freely with -10 empire faction standing is implemented, I would vote hell yes just so that in the future I can travel around empire and smell freedom.

Secondly, it wouldn’t do much difference I would imagine. The amount of FW people that don’t live in lowsec/close proximity to get pew is probably two categories:

1: The highsec bear that once in a blue managed to join FW while he still was a noobie he dosen’t know anything about what the militia channel really means or what his corp talks about. He will get ganked once more in high and then drop out when he petitions and finally figures out how to get out of the militia.

2: The missioning alt. The #”¤%” that devalue FW LP by putting an alt or two into militia and just use it to farm isk with, they are rarely seen when they are not on a farmrun. Usually an informed player so they’d take steps to not get caught in empire.

If we take a scenario with highsec being unsafe for us in the future, no navy shooting enemy wts etc. Well, it wouldnt do anything. We are self sufficent to deal with lowsec, just like any pirate corp. That means highsec holds no merit to the corp long as a trader keeps taking our shopping lists for things we want to buy and bringing it to us.

Lastly, it would in all likelyhood spread the already-thin-actualy-participating population of FW too sparse for the ones who now goes to look in highsec for targets. And lets face it, the ones staying in highsec most likely belong to the stray carebear section, they’ll just quit FW if they are not reasonably safe in highsec anymore. Leading us all back to the good old pipes =)” – Vim, Gallente

“Removing the npc’s in faction hi space is a bad idea….those npc’s give security to the pilots when they are in neeed to mke easy money and to prep for war; there is ways around the security but it requires skill to do so.

But ya, I can see a system where in the lower security system they have less faction npc’s so it is easy for the other faction to come in and fight and as the security goes higher, more npc’s will show up when you enter system.” – Matthius Alixion, Gallente

“I think it’s great to be honest, even though my sec status at the moment would stop me from taking part of any high sec raids, the idea that you can go into enemy highsec and go after mission hoarders and other pilots that use highsec as a safe haven is very atractive.” – Staryed, Gallente

Amarr Opinion Poll: Removing Faction NPCs in Enemy Highsec?

On a thread regarding FW at the EVE forums, CCP Soundwave recently asked, “One thing we might be able to do very easily is remove the faction NPCs, letting you freely travel in other factions space. How would you guys feel about that change? I’ve always found it a bit sad that we’ve isolated FW in low-sec when it could be done on a much larger scale.”

What is your opinion on removing faction NPC’s in enemy highsec?  

 

 

“I would love the tears of carebears and ♥ the faction loot.” – Predator Elite, Amarr

“I’m -9.5… so for the most part it would not effect me either way. However I think it would be a bad thing because the Navies represent a form of protection within your faction’s high-sec areas. As much as I would love the additional targets, noobies need a place to go when they’ve been getting stomped in the low-sec warzone. And to be honest expanding an already bare warzone would just make it worse.” – Vadeim Rizen, Amarr

“I would love that change. There are currently a total of 11,047 war targets for my militia. Of those 11,000 war targets, 5,000 are in minmatar militia, Amarr’s closest enemy. Of those 5,000 there are maybe, and I say maybe, about 200-300 pilots that actually engage in PVP (by choice). That 200-300 estimate includes people running 2 or more characters. The rest are either running FW missions with stealth bombers, or hiding in hisec.

After 2 years of faction warfare, I’d like to see more of the enemy militia. And by see them, I mean see them explode. If the intent was to slowly turn militia members to piracy because of lack of targets, don’t change a thing. But if your intent was to get the Amarr and Minmatar to fight each other, open up the war zone and stop having npcs interfere with our pvp.

Now I’m sure you are going to have some people scream bloody murder at this. Why? Probably not for the reasons they say. People don’t want to open up hisec because they want to protect their supply chain. They want to fight their battles when and where they want to, but still feel safe and cozy every time they jump into a 0.5 system or up. Yes, the occasional hisec gank happens, but only when the risk/reward ratio is extremely favorable.

Opening up hisec would also provide wardec access to alt corps that are supplying the enemy militia. Yes, we can currently wardec. No, we cannot execute it properly if every fight is at a huge disadvantage.

At this point most militia pilots are living in a small fishbowl. It’s time to build us something larger before we decide jumping out is a better alternative.

PS (off-topic): Fix plexing. Think… incursions. Think… rewards. Think… why tf would people do this if they weren’t being forced to. Even most of the RP community doesn’t give a shit anymore. When that happens, you know you have failed.” -SaB0TaG3, Amarr

“Well… the thing about it is, my sec status wouldn’t allow me to go into high sec anyways, but… if I did have better sec status, I think it would be a great addition. Anything to get more fights or ganks. The range of our fleets is quite small, we need more targets and more systems to find those targets. Hope this helps :)” – Tashi Yurka, Amarr

“Hell to the yes.

I’ve been doing ops in high sec anyway and had to use a stupidly tanked BS to kill some guys in just 0.5 sec, above is a nightmare and for no good reason! Yes, yes Yes!” – Muad’dib, Amarr

“I think it would just increase high sec ganks. The vast majority of the PVPers would remain in lowsec. Also I could see new people to FW having a vary hard time. If you are in noob FW corp or with out back up you could be perma camped in high sec.” -Almity, Amarr

“After a bit of thought I think that at this time any change that upsets things a bit – and this definitely would – and opens more options for combat is good. Removal of NPC’s would also remove more dead weight from the militia’s. Of course people like Loren Gallen, Jalmon or Bobamelius Two will have to collect unemployment ;)” – First General, Amarr

“I don’t think this would have any positive effects at all, it would just force more people out of FW. We have to promote fight in low sec and not move it to high sec. Most serious FW players have -10 to hostile milita so the navys would just shoot us anyway, also it would just promote griefing and would just totally destory one side when one has overwhelming force. In my opinion, high sec should have some security for people that lost much to regain strengh without leaving milita.

But, they definaly should bring the navys in line and give them all the same EWAR and omni dmg.” – Nephilim Xeno, Amarr

“It wouldn’t change anything. Just means high-sec whinebears aren’t safe, and no one cares about high-sec whinebears.” – Mystical Might, Amarr

“It’s my opinion that removing faction NPC’s from highsec is a bad idea for FW. Just on the RP side of things, am I to believe that the Amarr Empire or the Caldari State (and those other 2 factions of no consequence) do not have the military might or incentive to keep their “High security” space secure, from foreign invaders of the opposing militas and enemies in general?

Sounds a bit strange.

Incursions into enemy militia highsec space should also be something of a challenge, a risky task with great rewards if successful, not something anyone in his t1 fitted omen should be able to do.

PVP in lowsec is intriguing, keeps it exciting:
escalations in terms of capital warfare, pirates, unknown neutral parties, gcc, black ops .. etc etc. Removing a big chunk of pvp’ers of FW to highsec would just make it so much worse for all of us .. less targets, less pew.

Highsec pvp is just so …. meh.

It would also make life terrible for those new to FW (and just getting their toes wet in pvp) when they can’t even set up a base of operations without getting ganked by gang X, Z and Y on this and that tradehub pipe.

It’s bound to happen, squads of gatecampers will camp the popular tradehub routes killing noobs while most of the serious FW players and veterans don’t really give a damn, staying in lowsec and using neutral alts to do their supply runs with.

I will be staying in lowsec, I hope the Navy stays in highsec.” – Caldari One, Amarr

“I feel that the removal of the faction NPC’s from highsec is a mistake.

While I’ve seen the arguement for opening up hi-sec “to create more targets”, I think that is disregarding the work that’s already gone on in hi-sec since the beginning, and also doesn’t actually add any additional targets.

As it is now, many wartargets will mine, mission-run, or haul things around their hi-sec with relative confidence of their safety, but only because the Navy is there. Removing those NPC’s will remove the will to do these things on wartarget characters; these activites instead would shift to NPC accounts or neutral corporations therefore reducing targets.

Some may argue that the enemy roaming gangs in hi-sec are the targets and should be the focus. Well, the truth is that Amarr Empire is 3-5x larger than the others – try hunting a roaming gang through 100+ systems while still managing to focus on whatever’s going on where the FW complexes are. In addition, what kind of targets are these going to be? Solo or small gangs that will only engage when odds are in their favor. People familiar with hi-sec style war-decs force people to camp stations or log-off. This isn’t particularly fun, and not something I want to be participating in.

Right now it’s already possible to engage in enemy hi-sec, you just have to be very quick, large, or organized. Why can’t people just learn these tactics instead of asking for hi-sec warfare similar to what you can already get if you camp Amarr EFA or Rens BTB with your hi-sec gank corp?

What really needs to be addressed is the imbalance of the NPC’s. Removing them is the cheap and easy route out and shouldn’t be done. Make the NPC’s fair and balanced, and give players a reason to get interested in FW again. Make Complexes matter, balance missions so theyre no soloable in a stealth bomber. Make people put their necks out there for the FW missions and give tangible results from system occupancy.” – Eran Mintor, Amarr

Caldari Opinion Poll: Removing Faction NPCs in Enemy Highsec?

On a thread regarding FW at the EVE forums, CCP Soundwave recently asked, “One thing we might be able to do very easily is remove the faction NPCs, letting you freely travel in other factions space. How would you guys feel about that change? I’ve always found it a bit sad that we’ve isolated FW in low-sec when it could be done on a much larger scale.”

What is your opinion on removing faction NPC’s in enemy highsec?  

 

“Removal of high sec NPCs will not do much for the major PVP corps other than allowing the hunting of “Carebears” and “Tax-Evaders” who only join militia for the missions and 0% tax. This would not be a bad thing as it would “Cull the herd”. Of the great many things they could do for FW I think this is relatively minor and also would make absolutely no sense (In-game). We are the militia. That means there must be a professional trained army. Where did they go?” – Dark Pangolin, Caldari

“Clearly CCP is just out of touch with the FW community in general and it just shows how little the care about faction war. It’s rather disheartening knowing that the makers of the game are going to remove something from the game that the fw community honestly doesnt give a fuck about lol. All you can do at this point is laugh because it is that pathetic on CCPs part. They missed the round table at fan fest, they then apologized and gave some nonesense forum response of some sort stating that they would make it up that never happened. And now there only leak about fixing FW is removing high sec npcs, to make high sec esentially a low sec war zone for FW. That opens up a whole new can of worms. 

Removing the npcs from high sec isn’t that much of an issue because most of the miltias (pvp forces) live in low sec. However by doing so it may force all the bots/mission runners in high sec to move out of militia giving CCP a more general number of who is actually in militia to pvp. Who knows why there doing it but it may be a good thing, but my fingers are crossed that this isnt the big change they have been talking about.” – Gunnyt31, Caldari

“In my opinion it would not be a good idea. We are not just stuck in lowsec, we can go through all lowsec, alll 0.0, all WH and both factions of high sec on our side (Caldari and Amarr in my case). If we are to allow war targets to come to high sec of the other faction, all it will do it:

A. Make Jita, Dodixie, and the other major trade hubs perma camped. 

B. Make all FW people use a neutral character to by their items in high sec. The only plus side I see would be the carebears would take a good ass kicking and they may reduce in numbers. But on the down side of that would be that the Caldari have the most…

I am happy they are paying attention to FW, but out of all of the complaints I have heard, I do not recall ever hearing anyone that matters saying that this was an issue.” – friedmegg1, Caldari

“Well in my opinion removing NPCs is a bad idea because it removes incentive for less serious people to be in FW. No need for alts to do all the hauling,etc. And from an RP point of view it’d be completely bonkers.” -Damar Rocarion, Caldari

“I consider FW as a nice fast way to get involved in Eve pvp. Having no borderzones and just free perma-war would introduce new players a fast way of getting ganked at Jita undock over and over again.

Faction rats are nothing compared to Concord, so enemy hisec is not dangerous to travel trough as it sounds. Longer fight or a camp will turn painful like it should.

CCP is fixing the wrong end of faction warfare. FW should have a concrete purpose, goals and rewards before getting detaily with hisec issues.” – Lancress, Caldari

Minmatar Opinion Poll: Removing Faction NPCs In Enemy Highsec?

On a thread regarding FW at the EVE forums, CCP Soundwave recently asked, “One thing we might be able to do very easily is remove the faction NPCs, letting you freely travel in other factions space. How would you guys feel about that change? I’ve always found it a bit sad that we’ve isolated FW in low-sec when it could be done on a much larger scale.”

What is your opinion on removing faction NPC’s in enemy highsec?  

“Personally, I think it would be pretty awesome. But I think some corps would need to create entire alt corps dedicated to standard carebearing duties like hauling, just to avoid being ganked.

Though, TBH I think it would be better if the NPCs just became kill-able like in plexes–then they would become an annoyance rather than a barrier, but still perform some protection of an Empire from marauding hordes of enemy capsuleers.” – Kuan Yida, Minmatar

“I’m opposed to it. Some clever players have found ways to work around the Navy spawn and attack missioners/miners in hostile space when they think they are safe. If you remove this layer of npc protection for them, that illusion of relative safety vanishes and I suspect it would actually harm to high sec attacks more than it would help.

Additionally, not all of us have neutral hauler alts to resupply. It could potentially drive many of the non-hardcore guys out due to the difficulty of resupply. Obviously I’m not psychic so I can’t be sure as to how this would play out, but I see this causing a sudden influx in high sec kills followed soon after by a drop in overall militia activity.

Our focus should be on the low sec aspects of FW like giving occupancy some sort of meaning and moving LP rewards away from PvE activites.” – King Rothgar, Minmatar

“Would be good, I’d probably pull my alt into FW too so ace could enjoy the lowsec.

The down side? Lowsec would be deserted.. all but mission runners, mostly in bombers.” – Acadias, Minmatar

“Hmm, with Faction NPC removed, then the battlefield would be spread too wide & thin. At the moment, we all know where to go for a fight.

Maybe reduce the NPC ability would be better (slower response time, damage, etc).” – Number x8, Minmatar

“I’m not sure I like the idea gangs roaming around empire unchecked, it would likely be the effect and I personaly feel this would seem farsical rather than epic.” – Raldo Corsayre, Minmatar

“I strongly oppose the removal of faction NPC’s in high security space at this point and time.  While expanding the warzone to include highsec is a great long-term iteration of Faction Warfare, it is not a viable “fix” to the current problems plaguing the FW system.  It will lead to easier highsec ganking and station camping, and highsec warfare is still quite viable even with the current NPC mechanics.  Fleets can already venture deep behind enemy lines if they are bold and brave enough, and those kills are quite rewarding and should not be diminished.  Expanding the warzone should not be done until the very essence of FW is fixed to begin with.  We should not be brining more people into a system that already struggles to keep new people interested because of the lack of rewards for participation other than lucrative missions.

Futhermore, the players have given years of outstanding feedback and suggestions on how to improve the plexing system, standings issues surrounding FW, and the LP reward system.  While we may not all agree to every suggestion, there are some clear fixes rising to the top of conversations, they should be loud and clear for CCP staff reading the forum feedback.

A quick fix like removal of highsec NPCs may take minimal effort and change things up, but it doesnt address any of the player feedback that we have taken so much time to painstakingly communicate.  While I agree completely with the spirit of Soundwave’s suggestion, and would love to see it implemented down the road, the core of FW gameplay needs to be patched up using the feedback players have provided first and foremost.  Once FW has become a healthy PvP enviroment with a variety of fleet sizes and meaningful objectives once more, than I advocate expanding it into highsec.

Lastly, many have pointed out the RP / lore issues surrounding highsec FW.  If the empires currently have a agreement to not engage in open warfare, than letting the FW PvP spill into prominent highsec systems flies in the face of the current story conditions.  Any expansion of the militia wars should be accompanied by the appropriate changes in lore, perhaps part of the type of storied expansion that created Faction Warfare to begin with.” – Hans Jagerblitzen

Holidays Come Early To Minmatar, Free Archon!

“Night before last night, after a round of the usual skirmish games we like to play with Pandemic Legion, our AUTOZ gang spread out in search for more targets, and Missy Lorelai noticed a cyno field up in Auga, warping to it in his Curse. A neutral archon was spotted, and Missy grabbed and held the point long enough for the scattered AUTOZ gang to converge on Auga and begin attacking the Archon.”

“I was in a scimitar, and rather than take the time to reship into something heavier, I simply docked, jumped to my carrier clone, and Ejen lit a cyno for me to drop in and unleash my fighters on the Archon, taking GCC to rep my fleet mates, who took some damage but quickly made short work of the target’s Templars. At this time, Schoog and Manos of KaPow, along with Ava Starfire, joined our fleet and assisted in DPS on the Archon.”

“In a hilarious turn of events, as the Archon pilot realized his tank was failing, he chose to make an escape attempt – IN A PALADIN. Why he chose an escape vessel the same cost as his carrier , is beyond me, but it had us in stitches laughing about the sheer comedy of the situation.”

“By the time the Paladin died his fiery death, King Rothgar had joined the AUTOZ gang, and was more than happy to hop into the abandoned carrier, which was in structure and completely empty of capacitor. By this time, the Amarr were filling up local, having noticed the cyno, and I warped my Niddy to safety. King warped out before the Amarr could arrive on scene. The archon turned out to be unrigged, was using only a single mid slot, and had nothing in its higslots. The fitting was so poor that by the time King arrived at a safe position within docking range of a nearby station (the carrier had no fuel or capacitor left for an exit cyno), his attempts at repairing the damage using the on-board armor reps failed because he capped out in a few cycles – the lack of rigs and rechargers made self-repair a chore.”

“Overall, it was a hilarious theft, a lesson to the victim in how not to use a carrier in lowsec, and AUTOZ pulled this feat off flawlessly without a single loss.”

“And for those raising an eyebrow at what could be argued as blatant piracy, I’ll simply say that as long as Pandemic Legion are in town presenting a clear and present danger, we will continue to aggress freighters and capitals not blue to us if we suspect they are “supporting PL or Amarr logistically” :)”

“Fly safe!”

– Hans Jagerblitzen

 

Read local logs of the incident here on Kuan Yida’s blog.

Interview: Seriphyn Inhonores, Gallente

Interview conducted by guest writer, Mekhana.

Mekhana: So, Seriphyn Inhonores. You’re quite the veteran in our militia. For how long you’ve been active in factional warfare?

Seriphyn Inhonores: I became a pilot not long after the wars broke out, actually, and spent the first year in-and-out back when the novelty was fresh and the fleets were glorious. Otherwise been in the militia consistently since September 111 (2009)

Mekhana: If you stuck around for so long you must enjoy it. What kept you around for so long? Was the the context and setting for roleplaying? Maybe the PVP?

Seriphyn Inhonores: A lot of FWers have some “lite-RPer” tendencies. We like the idea of fighting for our empire against an enemy one, one that is appropiately named and is based in the fiction, not something with an immersion-breaking name like “Get Off My Lawn”.

So yes, the context and setting for roleplaying is one of the top reasons I’ve stuck in FW for so long. Also, like many others too, the idea of occupancy is good but implemented poorly. All the same, I like the concept of fighting over systems that have their own names, are homes to NPCs and so forth. While obviously everything about that mechanic needs to be fixed, the PvP you can get in plexes can be ridiculously awesome and challenging. No gates to jump through, no stations to dock at, no escape. And given that Gallente NPCs suck in terms of helping you out, fighting in Gallente plexes is pretty much like fighting in open space. So, that, and the RP involved.

Mekhana: I actually share your opinions. Hopefully CCP will be able to fix the flaws and just keep the good things about FW around. Do you have any advice for a newbie Gallente militia pilot that wants to start a life out here?

Seriphyn Inhonores: I would advise that they have to do their research about the FDU first. The nuances of the militia mechanics means that the Gallente militia operate a “boy’s club”; either you’re in the cadre, or you’re not, confined to being general riff-raff or rookies. Don’t join the FDU NPC corp as you won’t know what the hell is going on; I’ve come across many FW newbs that are completely oblivious to how the FDU operate. But, that said, our “cadre system” means that we are more centralized than other militias, sharing the same intelligence and operation channels. In which case, if you know what you’re doing when you join, the potential for maximum fun is there.

Mekhana: Yeah I agree too. Although the system works for us ‘in the loop’ it does leave out a lot of potential future hardened pilots that eventually lose interest. Now the final question for you. What is your favorite ship in the game and why?

Seriphyn Inhonores: Oh, don’t do that *laughs*. I do enjoy this high-survival, high-maintenance Myrmidon fit that I had laying around. Plated for a buffer, with two medium reps and a cap injector, I designed it for taking on frig blobs. Using two webs and small projectiles, you have to balance between target selection and module activation, and it really takes a hard time for the frigs to make a dent in you. It’s really fun, but I’ve fallen out of practice lately; I wouldn’t want to try that fit anytime soon.

A close second is the Brutix, just because I love the Gallente combat doctrine of “Rape-in-face” (make of that what you will).

Mekhana: That’s the same setup I use for my Myrmidon as well. I also do miss our old Brutix blob fleets, primaries went down a lot faster but so did our fleet members. Maybe we’ll see more Brutix and Myrmidons on the field once they balanced Hybrids and Gallente hulls at the next expansion.

Seriphyn Inhonores: Or maybe the Brutix will be made obsolete by the new tier 3 BC as well…it’s already a glass cannon, so I’m not sure what to expect.

Mekhana: Quite so. Sadly the only Gallente ships worth flying are always new ships (like the proteus and alliance tournament ships), frigates and supercaps. Hopefully the new one will encourage people to fly Gallente again. So you don’t have to spend over 2b isk to fly something Gallente and not be at a disavantage.

Seriphyn Inhonores: Our unique doctrine of being glass cannons, or what I like to call “Death or glory at half-a-klick”, really needs to get appreciated again. If either you or the enemy is not dead within ten seconds, you’re doing something wrong.

Mekhana: There’s also the problem of getting there alive. I think flying blaster boats is a lot like having a D-Day style beach landing but instead of infantry, you have professional heavy weight boxers storming the beach. Sure the boxers are tough and hit hard but very few will actually get in range to land a punch.

Seriphyn Inhonores: Haha, yeah. I always felt it was more sustainable in fleets, though. A swarm of those professional heavyweight boxers pounding the living shit out of a single target, then heaving themselves to the next target for the same treatment (I may need help).

Mekhana: Exactly. It’s great to land 20 Megathrons at a tackled carrier. It just melts. Sadly too much of a niche role but when its time to use Gallente though, magical things happen.

Mekhana: Well thanks so much for your insight and your opinion. I think you’ll open the eyes of many people with this.

Seriphyn Inhonores: Good to know! Thank you for the opportunity 🙂

Interview: zero2espect, Amarr FC & CEO

Zero Heavy Industries [0000]
Killboards
In game channel: Feel-the-lerv

What inspired you to create [0000]? Also, was it originally a FW corp?

[0000] was created because I wanted to build up a team of players that I felt the game (and FW) deserved. Creating something different and special. It’s worked out great. We have always been a FW corp.

Has it changed much since it’s creation?

Not really. Our recruitment standards have remained the same, the people we look for remain the same, we have policies that ensure that our standards are kept high. What has changed is a general inability for the Minmatar to project any kind of resistance into our op-area. The majority of good fights we’ve had over the last couple of months have been against pirate factions. It’s like their spirit has been broken.

What is your recruitment process like? What sort of pilots do you look for?

We ensure that all new candidates meet our criteria before joining. We have moulded ourselves along the lines of the French Foreign Legion. We accept anybody who has the skills and the commitment to our corporation of warrior brothers and sisters. They must have the ability to fly with courage and zeal. They then take on board an oath of service that we take very seriously. A new 0000 is given the rank of Engage Volontaire and must undergo a right of passage. They receive no financial assistance from the corp and are given the task of proving to others that they indeed do belong. Those that make it through this process and are voted in by the existing members via the Vote of Acceptance are onboard into 0000 as Legionnaires and are granted their Kepi Blanc to wear with pride. Just like in the French Foreign Legion all that have received the Kepi Blanc and complete their oath of service are bound to us for life. No matter where, what, when or how – 0000 will come to them in the hour of their need.

What kind of corp rules and policies does 0000 have?

We have many rules that are designed to ensure that we remain an active and effective corp. But more importantly we have our ethos which is:

1 Légionnaire, you are a volunteer serving zero heavy industries with “Honour and Fidelity”.
2 Every Legionnaire is your brother-in-arms, regardless of his nationality, race, or religion. You will demonstrate this by strict solidarity which must always unite members of the same family.
3 Respect of traditions, devotion to your leaders, discipline and comradeship are your strengths, courage and loyalty your virtues.
4 Proud of your status as Legionnaire, you display this in your attitude, which is always impeccable, your behaviour always dignified but modest, your commitment to the Legion shall be beyond question.
5 An elite soldier, you will train rigorously, you will maintain your weapon as your most precious possession, you are constantly concerned with your ability to engage and overcome your foes.
6 A mission is sacred, once given to you, becomes sacred. You will accomplish it at whatever cost
7 In combat, you will act without passion and without hate, you will respect the vanquished enemy, you will never abandon your dead or wounded, nor surrender your arms.

Do you find it difficult being both the leader of your corporation plus one of the main FCs/leaders for Amarr Militia?

Not at all.

Will [0000] remain in the militia for the foreseeable future or do you have plans to move elsewhere?

We have already started to shift our focus. With the Minmatar and Gallente literally putting up zero resistance to our sorties we have already begun a process of identifying and war-deccing non FW corporations so that we can maintain our combat skills. We are committed to remain at least until the “promised” “improvements” come to FW so that we can decide where our future takes us.

What kind of advice would you give to someone who is starting up a FW corporation?

Don’t just accept anybody – or you run the risk of looking foolish. I would recommend someone to aspire to have 4 good guys as a goal rather than 50 shit ones.

What do you think of CCP’s announcement to focus on FW for the winter expansion?

We’ll see. They havent done anything right in 3 years. My confidence is low.

Assuming you are a bit of a roleplayer since you post on the IGS (rp forum boards), do you think rp has much of an effect on how you run your corporation or the choices you personally make as a pilot?

We kind of RP but not Eve RP. It just makes it more fun.

Has PL’s move into Amamake affected your corporation or the way you run fleets?

It has, but more so because it keeps the Minmatar docked more these days. While PL are here the days of 60vs60 BS fights will never happen.

How long have you been playing EvE?

Since Beta. EvE sure has changed.

What attracted you to the game?

The ability to do anything. No predefined story or path. You get out of the game what you put in.

What other aspects of the game have you tried other than militia?

Check the employment history. Everything from living the merc life with MC, piracy and contract killing with Veto, plain old piracy and griefing with the Church and Infod. Capturing and holding space in MM and Triumvirate. Basically everything…except mission/WH grinding. 🙂

What are some of your most memorable experiences in FW?

Definately the militia’s first SC kill. 0000 was just out for a normal roam and low and behold, an Aeon goes GCC. We call in the rest of the militia, kept it bumped, HIC’d it and BOOM.

Do you participate in plexing and system capturing? Do you think it is a worthwhile endeavor?

[0000] doesn’t hardcore plex but we keep an eye out for vulnerable systems and will close a plex or two to keep the militia rolling. I think plexing, or more correctly, militia sov should lead to more rewards – to make it worthwhile and attract more pilots (targets) to FW.

What makes FW awesome?

0.0 guys wish they could undock, make a jump or two and catch a fight. That’s everyday here.

What do you wish CCP would change about FW?

Make it more rewarding to attract new blood. Have the ability to set aligned factions to blue, allowing cleaner inter-faction co-operation. Faction standings have to be looked at, how to lose it, how to gain it. Having guys lose FW standings for repping a guy who’s done something wrong and then having a real up-and-down resolve rate with GMs is just a joke. Oh, and yeah, I wish I could use something like FW dictor bubbles in friendly systems.

What do you think about the use of alt spies, neutral alts for bonuses, and outside cap support?

Spies are seriously just gay. People who use them are gay. People who depend on them are fags. The Legion has never used them, never will. Personally I don’t use neutral alts apart from shipping stuff around empire – keeping on top of who’s red and who isn’t just isn’t worth the pain for me. Neutral utility alts are just part of the game and I became comfortable having them in gangs a long time ago – as a pirate you need them as scouts and logies – and in 0.0 it really doesn’t matter what corp an alt is in. Regarding outside cap support, for the normal day-to-day fights I think it’s gay. If it’s a big bunker op or pos fight, and we learn from interested parties that the enemy have used the bat-phone, the only prudent approach is to make sure your own personal bat-phone has someone on the other end.

Who do you admire in Amarr FW?

Dunn when he was around. The influence he had on how we fight, what we fight with and generally trying to shake things up was a mix of exactly what Amarr needed and what the larger militia was capable of. Pred also gets a mention because every day, he’s out, he’s shooting things and he’s never shy about getting the team together to counter a threat. FG as a recent addition has certainly had a big impact and 0000 are proud to call the WB guys brothers in arms.

Which of your opponents do you most admire?

None really. It’s hard to admire much about guys only interested in a 2vs1 then run when anything approaching even numbers is in space. There seems to be a real lack of interest from the Red team since Captain Vaguy left. 0000 is accused of “blobbing” all the time in local. Seriously guys, there’s usually 5-8 of us online at once, because we only allow combat pilots in the corp, we’re always all in gang and we usually collect a few hangers-on. Our typical fleet size is 5-12 people with alts. We don’t call for help unless we’re seriously overmatched, we do not run from even fights. We want some red corps to start acting the same to get some real action going before FW turns into the rest of EvE and just goes like a bit “meh”.

What do you think of mixed fleets? (Minmatar/Amarr, etc)

Not much.

What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a pilot?

Aggression. Flying aggressively gets you the best fights, but also costs you ships. In my experience the more aggressive you fly, the better results you get.

What types of gangs do you most like to fly in?

Fast, moving, searching, pinning and prosecuting.

What advice would you give to someone joining Amarr militia?

Join a proper corp and enjoy FW rather than just pissing your time away in the 24th. Make some friends, make it an experience.

Have you tried other militias or have you always flown with Amarr?

Old skool Amarr.

How long have you been an FC?

Since forever.

What do you consider the most difficult part of FCing?

Dealing with noobs or people who think they know better and are quite happy to FC from the back seat.

What types of gangs do you most enjoy FCing?

Ones that get lots of kills or otherwise gain reputation for the Legion.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done as an FC?

Only really ever lost 3 big fights. One was a rape in Gallente space. The other was a friendly BC gang against pirate tengus and sleips and the last was my part in getting raped by the big RAIDEN sc gankfest where we lost the caps. Apart from that I always feel for the guy who’s 2 jumps out and calls a point on something that’s going to fuck him up real bad by the time we get there.

What kind of advice would you give to someone who is an up-and-coming FC?

Just do it. Take your licks and keep going. If you’re any good, you’ll get better. You’re definitely better than the other 127 people in militia chat who aren’t fcing….

FAVORITE:

Ship to fly: Heretic (alltime). Curse (militia).
FW System: Amamake has its charms.
EvE Celebrity: Kill2 – forever changed the way thousands of pilots think about flying
EvE Related Website: http://www.zeroheavyindustries.net/kills
Null Sec Alliance: – meh – honestly 0.0 and anything to do with 0.0 has lost my interest.
Wartarget To Shoot: All of them.
Corpse: Dead ones…with nice boobs.
EvE Online Forum: My Eve (Videos).
Space Station: Kourm IV 18 is where all the kool kids hang out.
Song To Fly To: I have about 128GB of songs that I fly to, picking one is just impossible.
Way To Make ISK: 0000 operates a lemonade stall on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ammo: Amarr Multi is the preferred choice for true professional murderers.
Pirate Corp: I’m going for an old skool answer here that might not mean much to the “newer” guys. INFOD will live forever in the hearts of all that were associated with it – especially as part of The Church.
Junk food while playing EVE: Beer is food right?

Random Links

Hans Jagerblitzen of AutoCannons Anonymous has started a Faction War thread here on the main EVE forums.  We encourage everyone to read and respond, let CCP know that some of us still care about Faction War.  Represent.

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If Amarr Militia had a reality show, Undertovv would be the star of it.  Check out his soundboard here.  Also, read more about him on Susan’s blog, here.

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Check out CCP Omen’s blog here about custom’s offices now becoming player owned.

 

Interview: Gunnyt31, Caldari Militia FC

How long have you been playing EvE? 

I have been playing since December of 09.

What attracted you to the game? 

The pve high sec missioning factor of the game originally attracted me, and then after I had my first pvp experience with Dirty Protagonist hooked me into pvp.

What other aspects of the game have you tried other than militia?

I have been in some 0.0 alliances and have been involved in high sec war decs.

What are some of your most memorable experiences in FW?

My most memorable experience in faction war would be second fleet that I FCed where we destroyed a small capital fleet and a small battle cruiser fleet in fifty cruisers; I no longer have the battle report because of the EvE Kill purge.

Do you participate in plexing and system capturing? Do you think it is a worthwhile endeavor?

I occasionally participate in the plexing system. I think it is a worthless endeavor that only provides smaller scale pvp to fw occasionally. With the current system there is no point to do it besides the sake of orbiting a button.

What do you think of Captain’s Quarters?

I have it disabled enough said lol.

What’s your favorite kill mail? Also, any embarrassing lossmails?

My favorite kill mail would be the Pandemic Legion carrier kill the Amarr and Caldari militia killed. (here)

And then my favorite fight would be against killer rasta in my jaguar against his daredevil.   I’m sure my enemies can provide all the embarrassing loss mails in the world.

What makes FW awesome?

Can pretty much do whatever you want to do, 0.0, high Sec, low sec, wormholes and aren’t responsible to many people.

What do you wish CCP would change about FW?

So much to be said but the forums say it all, I would like them to do something most with the plexing/kills aspect to encourage pvp instead of encouraging high sec mission alts and low sec mission alts.

What do you think about the use of alt spies, neutral alts for bonuses, and outside cap support?

It’s a clear exploit, the neutral alts for bonuses everyone uses so it’s a common theme now. I do get annoyed when neutral logis and carriers are used for reps because of how long it takes for them to go red/get aggression and sometimes people’s overviews just bug and they will never get aggression. But it is part of the game, just got to deal with it.

Who do you admire in Caldari FW? 

Gaingoodrich, although he is not in Caldari militia any longer, he has always been my inspiration.

Which of your opponents do you most admire and why? 

Chatgris.  He is pretty much fearless and will engage anything in whatever he has available and still gets results.

What do you think of mixed fleets(Caldari/Gallente, etc) to fight pirates/neutrals? 

They can be a good thing at other times it’s better to just have a threeway 🙂

What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a pilot?

Strengths being able to fc and call targets, can be extremely aggressive.

Weakness: low skill points compared to other fcs I know, back seat fcs occasionally, lack of patience with newer players

What types of gangs do you most like to fly in? 

Shield BCs.

What advice would you give to someone joining Caldari militia?

Get into one of the pvp corps and show people that you are willing to go out and learn on your own not only by people providing you the information.

Why did you choose Caldari over the other militias?

Um because of high sec caldari missioning days didn’t have the standing to join any other one.

How long have you been an FC? 

Since February of 2010.

What do you consider the most difficult part of FCing?

Dealing with people who you know should be experienced but just clearly have the skill points but don’t have the hands on experience.

What is the worst thing you’ve done as an FC? 

Get cocky and engage stuff I know the fleet can’t engage but engage anyways for the sack of getting a fight.

What types of gangs do you most enjoy FCing? 

Shiled bc fleets.

What kind of advice would you give to someone who is an up-and-coming FC?

Don’t give up. It sucks at times but you will get there one day.

Favorite: 

FW System: Hikkoken
EvE Celebrity: Gavingoodrich
EvE Related Website: battle clinic
Null Sec Alliance: White Noise lol
Wartarget To Shoot: Too many to choose
Corpse: John Revenant (I have 10)
Space Station: Enaluri V
Song To Fly To: Pretty Good at Drinking Beer  by Billy Currington
Way To Make ISK: FW missions
Ammo: Republic Fleet EMP
Pirate Corp: Gun Point Diplomacy

CCP Announces Plans To Fix Faction War

In a letter to the EvE community today, CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson offered an apology for the general direction of EvE, but more importantly to our readers, finally gave hope that someone has finally remembered Faction War.

In an accompanying devblog, CCP Zulu confirms this. “EVE Online´s Winter 2011 expansion will be themed around improvements to warfare and PVP. We will be talking more specifically about each of the features and items in the coming weeks but, for now, here‘s an overview of what functionality, systems and gameplay we‘re going to improve and add to.

Hybrid weapons balancing, Factional warfare, Assault ships, Capital ship balancing, New T2 modules, Starbase logistics management, New EWAR-Drones, T2 Rigs manufacturing, Ship spinning, New font, More captain’s quarters, and Time dilation.”

On the Features & Ideas forum, BloodPetal has started a thread on ideas for FW.  Please give your support.

And don’t forget our campaign for a new 24th station in Huola, found here.