My Perfect EVE

This post will not be about FW, but it’s something I’ve been musing on for a while in regards to EVE as a whole.

On any given night when I log into the EVE, the online count remains somewhere between 25 and 35 thousand players. Though EVE boasts of having over 400 thousand paid accounts, I believe, I rarely see that many logged in.

So let’s go with thirty-five thousand. Once you do the math, about half of those are probably alts, which seems like a lot of players still….but I think we need more!

I think the biggest problem with retaining new players is that there’s nothing much for them to do in the beginning. Sure, we ask them to sit through hours of tutorials, and I would wager that we lose a lot of potential players because they don’t ever really experience EVE.

Simply put, they give up before they ever really get started.

What I would absolutely love to see in the game is something that is immediate, something I can show my friends and be like ‘this is EVE’, something that they can do right in that moment. Sure, I can tell them stories. And yes, I can show them vaguely what goes on but it’s rather complicated and most people don’t want to stick around for months waiting for the game to get good.

So in my ideal version of EVE, when you logged on, you’d have a choice. Continue onto the usual game, OR, you can click on…

Flight Simulator.

In roleplay terms, it would be something our characters would use while in the Academy, or even just something they would do for sport.

Flight sims would offer a drop down menu, and you could click on various styles of ships. Ewar, for instance. Once you enter into the simulation, you would have an unending supply of that particular ship. You undock, you go blow up other pilots who are in the simulator. Want to see what it’s like flying a battle cruiser? Well okay! You can start over, try another ship style. Etc.

New players would have a chance to try out EVE in all it’s glory without having to worry about loss. They would have something immediate to connect to, have a better understanding of what goes on in the game because they would be trying it out versus hearing about it or watching player-made youtube videos that I’m sure make little sense to them.

The simulator wouldn’t have any real impact on our EVE. It wouldn’t water down the ruthlessness of what we all know and love. It’d just show new players a glimpse of what awaits them in New Eden…

The Day After

The day after Inferno was pretty low-key from what I could tell. I think most everyone was worn out and just wanted to relax.

When I logged on, some of my corpmates were already out plexing trying out the new system. They had a neutral alt carrier in system with plexing ships. Already adapting to the station lock outs, it seems.

I took out a navy slicer and joined them for a plex or two then roamed a bit just to see the contested bar in various systems.

I love getting LP for plexing, absolutely love it. I started out my EVE career plexing like mad, having plexed all the way up to Divine Commodore (before we had FW missions), so that was a lot of plexing for no reward other than useless VP. Now, every time one is captured tada! LP. I don’t even mind the LP rate because I rarely did a FW mission so I never had any LP to begin with. I’m loving it, really.

After you capture a plex, you get rewarded if you’re within range of the timer. I don’t like this, really. Last night, Almity and I were in a small plex and a war target came in. During the fight, Almity got out of range of the timer and he missed out on the LP.

If plexing is supposed to inspire pvp, and LP is your reward for plexing, then you should get the LP by being inside the plex, not just within range of the timer.

After you close a plex you will now get an EVE mail stating how much LP you received. I have mixed feelings on that. I do like knowing how much LP was rewarded, however, I do think getting mails for it will get tiresome after a while.

You also get mails for pvp kills against your war targets with your LP payout. (I got a little over 8k LP for this KM)

You get LP for war targets but not against neutrals. I would like to see LP for killing neutrals who come into your plexes.

At one point I took a Drake into a major plex- absolutely loving the new missile effects, so, so sexy.

I really like the new paint jobs, especially on the vengeance and the bhaalgorn. Yummy.

I have mixed feelings on the new hangar system. I was fine with the old way, but I’m trying to have an open mind and hopefully will get used to it. Jester Trek, a popular blogger, has written an informative article about the new inventory system, check it out.

Speaking of blogs, I’d like to point you guys to a new FW blog, Galdornae’s ‘One Man Blob’, here. He has a write-up about the battles of Kourm and Kam that’s pretty interesting.

Also, check out this video from RobekPL, it features some highlights from the Kourm and Kam battles.

So, that’s my thoughts on Inferno for the most part, what do you guys think? Comment below!

On The Eve Of Inferno

The factional war zone blazed on the eve of Inferno. As predicted, the Minmatar would push for Kamela, the home system to Wolfsbrigade, one of the leading Amarrian corporations within our militia.

The objective of Amarr: To secure both Kamela and the pipe to Sahtogas.

How we would prevail? By using any means necessary.

Throughout the day several ‘outside’ pilots came into the fray, including CVA who stayed ‘about an hour’, Drunk’n’Disorderly- Gallente militia pilots (who fought on the Amarr side), and the new corporation from the fweddit guys, who are waiting for standings to set in before they can join militia officially.

Local chatter confirmed their goal, to take Kamela. This was not a ‘tatical move to keep Amarr from taking their systems’, it was an offensive push. They bragged early and often about how they would own the system. They wanted Kamela badly.

They would not succeed.

The Amarr formed up early to decontest Kamela. The illustrious First General was starting FC and lead the fleet to secure Kamela, plexing it until it was decontested. The fleet remained in T3 and armor battle cruisers with guardian support, picking off the enemy on accel and star gates with the help of fast tackle.

The Shadow Cartel, a neutral pirate gang came in to harass a few Amarr on gates and plex entrances. The Amarrian fleet landed at the star and got tackle killing two of them. They went to Lamaa and the fleet followed. They were set up off gate and Amarr burned, getting point on a few again and killing them. They moved back to Kamela and we bounced around until FG had us land at range to the Kourm gate. They warped in at range but we were close enough to get points and webs which allowed us to take down their scimi then kill off their dps until they ran.

After Kamela was secured, the fleet moved to the Sahtogas area and pushed the Minmatar out, securing those home systems as well, leaving behind a small group lead by Capitol One of [W-BR] to defend plexes while the majority of the fleet returned to Kamela. It became a war of logistics. As the Minmatar died, they were easily picked off as they moved back and forth to reship.

Early on a deal was struck with Minmatar and [W-BR], a cease-plexing agreement that would send the Gallente back to their home systems and keep the Minmatar from plexing Kamela and Sahtogas, while Amarr would not offensive plex. The agreement was broken by the Minmatar as they tried to plex Oyonata.

Some claim the Minmatar tried to force First General to sell out Amarr Seventh Fleet who reside in Sahtogas, saying that they would lay off of Kamela but that Sahtogas was fair game.

First General declined their new terms and declared war once more, rousing the troops over comms with an inspiring speech.

Eventually the Minmatar had returned to Kamela as well, and by this time they had equal numbers. The strategy was to hold both the medium and major plexes while they took the minors.

As Amarrian numbers started to drop and we would have to surrender more plexes. After a bloody extended fight for a medium, Amarr could only hold onto the Major plexes.

Finally when they had two to one odds and brought a massive t3, bc’s, and guardian fleet we had to give up the majors.

Reshipping was a nightmare.

In preparation for Inferno, most corporations had already moved out of the war zone. At one point with around fours left before downtime, Crimper of [W-BR] started handing out T1 fitted cormorants for backups. It became a strategy of throwing any and everything at them, kitchen sink and all.

The remainder of the night would be a numbers game. Every second counted, literally. One plex was eight seconds from being taken until Aldrith Shutaq of [KOTMC] hero popped a destroyer and reversed the timer. We took that one, though earlier had lost a plex with less than thirty seconds on the timer.

It was an exhilarating day.

By downtime the Amarr had managed to hold Kamela and the Sahtogas area. Objective completed.

Personally I had a great time. Though I was only on for a fraction of the time the fleet was up, I very much enjoyed being a part of the effort to save Kam. When I logged on, the fleet was being lead by Zeerover of [W-BR], an amazing FC. I also had a chance to fly with the fweddit guys, I’m very much looking forward to flying with them in the future. They are a fun group of people.

Thanks goes out to all who participated! I know it was an exhausting weekend for most who diligently plexed to secure what remaining systems Amarr had. Thank you for your effort.

I would love to hear your ‘I was there’ stories over the defense of Kamela! Post them in the comments.

~Shalee

Sharing An EveMail

An EVE mail from Jhaelee de’Auvrie

I have a suggestion for an article for the sovwars site. Something about the importance of this weekend and the long vigil some of us are putting into it.

For example: as Silva and a number of others can confirm, I was up all of Thursday night until downtime split between Kourm and Sahtogas. Like so many of the Amarr Militia, we have been doing this all week. That was followed by my normal friday schedule of go to work, evening get together and then come home.

Anyhow, I was home for a bit, logged back on to EVE and have been plexing around Sahtogas area or helping with the fighting in Kourm all day. Now I have taken a break as 00:45am (local) 06:45eve rolls around to put some coffee on and prep for a long night. The mind is a bit soft at the edges by now, but we need the numbers active to keep this up.

I am not the only one struggling to keep the Amarr militia standing firm. Credit also has to be given to most of our opponents. A good number of them have brought solid and enjoyable fights, and for the most part the respectful and polite have won out over the rude and caustic in LOCAL chat. Despite the instances of plex bugging and general misconduct, it has been an enjoyable weekend.

For a site intended for those already more than aware of all the crap incoming focusing on the negative, lets share some of the positive that this situation has brought about.

While we do not know if things are going to go completely belly up on the 22nd, we can at least continue to strive like we always have. Stand firm, and stand strong!

Words From Just Another Wartarget

(author, Daisha Voluptia- Amarr Militia)

As of the time of this writing, it is one day untill the patch hits. We’ve seen countless forum threads. Countless ideas and suggestions. Countless complaints. I personally don’t care for any of it. The changes are going to come, and good or bad, I have no choice but to adapt to them. I’m no FW CSM member. I’m no famous voice in faction warfare, I’m not even a FC. I’m just your simple member of Amarr Militia. I’m not even that active as I generally only log on weekends. But I still join every fleet I can. If there is need for plexing you’ll see me in minors, mediums, and majors. I’m that grunt who follows the FC and makes every effort to contribute.

And yet, you wont find me on a single forum post. You won’t find a word of mine for or against the patch we face come May 22nd. I have my opinions of course, and I have taken part in discussions on voice communications. I held my silence because I’d much rather continue to fight the Minmatar then complain about some gameplay changes I can’t do anything about. I’d much rather lose ship after ship in Kourmonen and say I fought the Minmatar in space rather than on the forums. I accepted the rumors of station lockouts even before they were confirmed. And in recent weeks I’ve taken measures to get my ships out of those stations that will be locked out. Consequently, I’ve also stocked up on plexing ships for the fights to come to retake those stations and systems.

For the first time I’ll actually state my opinion for all reading this. I welcome the changes to plexing mechanics. I strongly disagree with the station lockout mechanics and the system upgrade mechanics. This is low sec. More importantly, this is Faction Warfare lowsec. Not Null sec. I could go on and get into detail but anything I could say has already been said in at least triplicate on the forums. So I won’t bother. I will say I’m proud of the Amarr Militia and the hard fighting that the ones who care have done. I don’t think our losses of systems due to the Minmatar’s campaign should make anyone feel bad. They have outnumbered us, plain and simple.

But to the Minmatar I will say this: You might have steamrolled us and taken most if not all our systems by patch day. That’s fine with me. I’ll still be in Faction Warfare. I’m still orange. And you better believe I’m still fighting. Oh and thanks in advance for all the LP I’ll get plexing. XD

And Finally to the Amarr Militia: Amarr corps, those who are dropping but staying in the war zone, and those who are staying orange to the minnies, get ready. Minnies had their fun, now it’s our turn!

And to everybody in Faction Warfare, I’m ready for patch day. Are you?

Two Threads

There are two threads that are of interest to FW pilots:

Rebalancing NPCs in plexes, here.

System upgrades and I-hub, here.

In Game Channel

Join  Sov Wars chat channel in-game if you haven’t yet.  Everyone is welcome! (provided you aren’t ‘that guy‘, you know the type that posts continuous pictures of naked women or seriously gross things)

So, come join us for discussions of all things Faction War!

Opinion: A Song of Lies and Tears

Author: Almity, Amarr Militia

The Amarr and Minmatar fight is heating up. If you were to read Susan Black’s latest blog post you would think that the Amarr are hiding in stations while the Minmatar roam free and rule the war zone. What Susan fails to tell her loyal readers is the truth.

Susan would like everyone to think that Amarr does not work together. That we don’t talk. That there are five different fleets up at all times and we refuse to form up and fight Late Night. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let’s forget the recent fights in Kourm. The ones where every able Amarr pilot in any intel channel who was awake was in. The fleets that fought for and pushed the Minmatar out of plexes in Kourm. Lets forget those recent fights and focus on your ever day happenings in the war zone.

For you to understand the current Amarr fleet doctrine I first have to give you a little history lesson. When I.Law first moved back to the War Zone after a much-needed break from the same old fights we made a choice. We would not fight Late Night head to head in Kourm Huola area. The Minmatar’s ability to reship quickly and counter what we brought on field made this not worth while. Being out numbered is a good fight. Being out numbered while your opponent can ship to counter what you bring on field is suicide and I’m not into suiciding my fleets for the fun of it.

Our tactics became more guerrilla warfare. We run cruisers and down. Get in. Get a fight. Get out before your enemy can double your numbers and drop a triage on your cruiser fleet. This has been working well. We have become very successful at picking away at the Minmatar.

Every night when our fleet advert goes up we accept almost all pilots. If you are in a player corp and can fly a rifter you can join us. Most nights there are pilots from five or six different corps in our fleets. Our numbers range from ten to twenty pilots. Sure, there are more online but people do have to make isk or some prefer to defensively plex instead of roam for hours. This is every pilots choice and who are we to dictate how they spend their game time?

History lesson over, on to current affairs. Susan Black tells her readers over and over the Minmatar are winning because they adapted. They formed an alliance and worked together for the greater good. Fine I will give her that. No one can deny that Late Night Alliance has become a very powerful force.

But the Amarr have also adapted and did so to survive. With the massive influx of players and cohesion the Minmatar became too powerful for the US TZ Amarr to counter head to head. The old days of ship up and ship down and meet on Huola Kourm gate had to end. The Amarr adapted by changing their fighting style. By denying the enemy the ability to apply their full force on our fleets we tip the engagements in our favor.

Dictating where, when and what we fight is adapting. Of course this does not always work and we do end up fighting out numbered and out shipped sometimes but for the most part we do what we do very well.

Susan thinks Amarr must change from a PVP fighting style to empire building to effectively adapt to the upcoming changes. This could not be farther from the truth. Holding space will still mean very little to most players. Most Faction War pilots I talk to just want to get fights and blow stuff up. Even the isk incentive is not enough to make pilots want to plex or care about holding space.

We are not forced to play the hand we are given by CCP. Many Amarr pilots took to the forums to protest the changes that they did not want. After the changes were set in stone some people decided they did not want to continue in FW. Why would someone continue on if the changes would ruin their style of play? Remember this is a game Susan. We play to have fun.

The Amarr Militia plays its own game. We will not be told where to fight or what to fly. If Late Night wants to bring twenty cruisers to counter our ten dessys that’s fine. They just have to know we will not fight them. They can sit in Huola all night and defend their space. We will roam and kill you in ones and twos and fives and tens. Once we stir the hornet’s nest and Late Night wakes up we will move on and go kill other Minmatar elsewhere.

We have adapted more than you could ever know Susan. Perhaps more so than you and your lot. We have changed our fighting style. We have changed what we fly. We have changed where we live.

The Minmatar have changed very little. The basis of your change is a huge influx of numbers and an alliance. Any side who has two to one odds every night and every fight can be smug in their assumptions of their enemy. Susan proves that. Too bad she is also wrong.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Un’cas, a Gallente militia pilot recently passed away at the age of 52.  His corporation made a post here asking for some sort of permanent way to honor his memory in-game.  Please show your support.

Rest In Peace, Un’cas

Because you don’t already have enough to read…

Interesting blogs from fellow faction war pilots:

Edna Ironsides, here, from the Minmatar militia.

Ryven Krennel does a roleplaying blog, here.

Muskells blog here.

Ava Starfire’s blog here.

Hans Jagerblitzen’s blog here.

And, this site  (TEN Evening News) is pretty awesome though it has nothing to do with FW.