Highsec hauling after Orca fix

Orca was probably always just a mining support vessel. However the cargo scanner was coded in a way to scan cargo (go figure) and not corporate hangars. This made corporate hangars unscannable. Also, probably the loot calculation code only considered cargohold. So there was no loot either from these hangars. The above made the Orca ungankable in highsec. It was way too big for anyone to gank it for fun, and there was no profit on it. This is going to be fixed.

Now what? Of course if you just haul something small that no one cares about, you can just use a nano-fitted frigate. No one will bother to catch you. But what if you haul 5-10B regularly? I mean what if you can't expect to just vanish in the crowd because you have a hauling service that others (including pirates) can employ, watch when their cargo arrives and figure out your name. You can of course switch alts and hide, but security through obscurity is probably not good enough.

Your low/nullsec hauling experience doesn't work in highsec. You can't neut-scout gatecamps because there is no need to scout Niarja or Uedama to know it's camped. If you only haul when they are not, you must be online 23/7 to find a window. No, you need to get into these system despite you know they are camped and that the guys are possibly after you personally. Same for gate-crash, the No1 tip to anyone to survive a gatecamp. If you gatecrash when you jump into a highsec gatecamp, you just jump-in and gatecrash all day which is probably funny, but barely productive.

Cloaky hauler (or frigate) isn't the answer because the traffic is so large that you'll be often decloaked. Also, good campers will have over-sensor booster ships to tackle you in 1 sec. Cloak is still useful as it increases the cost of the gank, but it's not a lifesaver.

With large cargo I cannot help. You just have to split it up between multiple Orcas (transport orcas has 1.5x more EHP than freighters, if you used to haul it in Orca, keep doing it). But BPOs, implants, skillbooks can be hauled safely. Below I post the solution, the ultimate shiny-hauler of post-Orca world in various versions from lazy to efforted: To catch this ship, one has to decloak and point in less than 4 seconds. After that they have to break 790K!!! tank. Alternatively they try to neut it out (suicide Bhaalgorns ye!) but since it replaces enough capacitor every second to switch on all hardeners, they have to use several neuting ships making sure that they neut every single second. The first 12 seconds after starting aggressing cannot be neuted out even with perfect job as the hardeners surely finish their cycle. The pilot overheat meds if he sees a gatecamp and activates them if they decloak him. Let me repeat the EHP: 790K. Almost 4x more than of a freighter and they can't just bump it away from the gate while the Taloses get to optimal range. They also need to paint it to increase signature. They must start scrambling instantly as this ship warps out in 4 seconds. Scram is a crime, the CONCORD countdown is ticking. Granted, it needs some skilled pilot, especially note that he is using fleet bonuses that need him to be his own fleet booster (no links or link skills). Add double-wrapping and they must jump their fleet blindly, maybe only to get some deadspace hardeners and an exotic dancer.

The harder version?
More Tengus! Identical transport Tengus, each carrying a double-wrapped can and this time equipped with large energy transfers. 1 has cargo, others have 1 trit. No possible way to figure out which is which. You must damage 790K to figure out? Tengu lottery. Bonus: only one has to be fleet booster, the others can be piloted by random missioning Tengu pilots you can buy by the dozen on the Bazaar.

Can they be killed? Sure. But they are hard enough to kill, and with double-wrapping having enough risk of being empty that uninstalling the game seems a better idea than collecting the fleet, risking that a few guys mess it up and there is no kill or that ship is empty.

Wednesday morning report: 183.8B (6.6+2.0 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3+2.0 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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Stop the newbie from dying, not the killer from killing!

An MMO must have new players to continue its existence. EVE Online is no exception. However EVE isn't considered a newbie-friendly game. It's rather the game where the average MMO player tries out and then uninstall raging or crying in a week. CCP must stop this or there will be no EVE Online.

EVE is a game with losses, but losses to newbies are very different from losses to us. If I'd lose a 3B Orca to a gatecamp, I'd understand what happened and why. I'd knew that I took risk by putting so much value in a ship and could have prevented it happening. The newbie has no clue what just happened. He was just happily flying like he used to and then he was in a station. Why? How?

However the way CCP is trying to do it isn't looking either good or effective. They try to limit highsec aggression patch by patch to prevent newbies from being massacred by gankers. The next expansion will make the life of gankers harder by making them a "suspect" that anyone can kill. However EVE is a PvP game where fighting shouldn't be artificially limited. To make it worse, sacrificing the core of EVE step by step has no effect as the newbies don't only die to "evil" highsec gangers. Low/null entry systems are full of newbie corpses, because they click off the warning without even reading and there are even newbie corps in nullsec, serving no other purpose than amusement.

Danger is manageable in EVE. You can prevent losses by good playing. If you die, it's your fault. You were careless, dumb, or just took too much risk and your luck ran out. The problem with newbies is their knowledge is way too small to know how to prevent losses besides being a 100% "carebear".

The solution is not stopping PvP but stopping the newbie from being stupid. I'd suggest the following limitations to accounts that are younger than 4 months and not confirmed alts of veterans:

• Using a bonus remap.
• He can do his first remap, but must put at least 1 pt to every attribute and not more than 5 to any. So he can start specializing but not in a way that cripple himself.
• Creating a corporation
• Joining a corporation with no "PvP corp" or "PvE corp" tag.
• Entering lowsec, nullsec or WH unless he is a member of a "PvP corp"
• Performing a criminal action unless he is a member of a "PvP corp". This includes flipping back flipped cans or any other way baited into aggression.
  
• Selling, contracting, direct trading or undocking with PLEX. He can receive PLEX and use it to add time to account
• Undocking in anything worth more than 1/3 of his total net worth unless he is in a "PvE corp".
• Undocking uninsured.

With these limitations the newbie simply couldn't hurt himself. He is forced to live a similar life he is used to in other games so he can learn the basics of EVE before he loses recently PLEX-ed billions to a gatecamp or scam.

The "PvP corp" and "PvE corp" in the above are important exceptions: if one has friends who can guide him in the game, he can take bigger risks. The "PvP corp" status could be earned by corporations with a minimum number of active accounts in the game (to exclude few-man scamming corps) and a minimum ISK destroyed in PvP in the last 2 months (to exclude ineffective lolcorps). The "PvE corp" status can be earned after a minimum amount of ISK is deposited at CONCORD. The deposit can be retrieved by giving up the "PvE corp" title. The titles are needed to prevent malicious or simply bad players from gathering newbies into a corp where they can't learn anything. EVE isn't WoW, it's much better to be in the starter corporation alone than with "friends" who tell you to fly a cargohold expander fit Brutix to Syndicate.

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Scouring of the Shire

Jester and his alliance started he "Scouring of the Shire" campaign, cleaning Syndicate from alliances that give them no good fights, either by docking up or by showing up with a logi-heavy team. They attack structures of the ones they find unworthy of living in Syndicate to stop them making money, making them leave. It goes well, which isn't surprising if you consider that the targets are picked exactly for not fighting. However it doesn't make Jester happy:

"The other interesting thing about this campaign so far is how it's both revitalized Rote Kapelle and recommited us to the alliance's mission not to hold sov. We're having to use so many tactics that are required for sov warfare: the blobs, the hell-camps, the alarm clock ops, the bridging. Most of it just isn't our style and never will be. This is and remains the biggest problem with this game, and the one that threatens to eventually wreck the whole thing. The number of EVE Online super-powers continues to dwindle from eight to six to four to three... and now threatens to become two over the next year. The blobs are getting bigger and bigger and bigger while ironically the targets for them dwindle. Where does that leave those few groups like Rote Kapelle that just have no interest in being part of that game?"

Poor Jester bumped into the same problem as my girlfriend, just from the other direction. Jester would like to participate in the gameplay but it's denied from him by others running from a fight unless they have a massively overwhelming fleet. Jester actively refuses to take part in the main storyline while my girlfriend simply sees no reason to participate.

Practically all PvP games offer "good fights". EVE is probably the worst place for looking for "good fights" because the defeated one must grind his losses back by doing PvE to be able to fight again. I guess half-life counterstrike wouldn't be so popular if the defeated team would be placed to a special map where they must shovel manure and carry boxes for half an hour to earn money for weapons. You must have a reason to do so. To go and do something you don't like to be able to fight again.

The powerblocks Jester denounces are formed around and against ideas. The Mittani, Makalu, Vince "FalconMate" Draken aren't just friendly/enemy players. Your reaction towards their internet persona is real (which hopefully you don't mix with real life person). The "no shits given" attitude of TEST and the "we are the elite" attitude of -A- aren't about pixels but real egos. The combatants of the South aren't grinding ISK to blow up pixels but to "silence that yelling ass Makalu" or "show those TEST retards who's the man". Something real.

The only sin the "Syndicate carebears" committed is being bad in a video game. They are doing PvE in the worst possible region for it. They should be in highsec, rented null or a C3. But I doubt Rote Kapelle members really dislike the "being bad in a video game" people. Therefore grinding them down isn't satisfying, as it's not real. You could do the same in Arathi Basin with much less grinding, bridging, alarm clocks.

The goals of Jester can't be reached. The evicted bad players will be replaced by even worse players. Or by nothing. If Jester and his friends have enough stamina, they can clean up Syndicate, making it the most desolate place in New Eden. But they can't get what they want, a group that will fight good. Because those people have much better options than blowing up battlecruisers just for the sake of it. They can fight for something real. Or they can just stay in highsec and watch their wallet grow. There are three ways to get into fights:

• Joining a nullsec empire and fight in huge fleets. The enemy must show up or they lose their space.
• Lowsec piracy, highsec ganking: bringing the fight to people who don't want it.
• RvB: consensual PvP

Finding a worthy opponent who suffers living in NPC null for no other reason than "good fights" is practically impossible.

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The moron of the week is Ice Slicer whose social thinking is absurd. "I would think less of myself" could be a motto for M&S.
Hard contender for the moron of the week position is the -A- FC who thought the HBC staging system is a good place for a battleship roam.

Saturday morning report: 182.1B Sent 2B to my nullsec industrial alt to start up some trading in Delve. (6.6 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3+2.0 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)
Sunday morning report: 182.9B (6.6+0.5 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3+2.0 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)
Monday morning report: 183.7B (6.6+0.5 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3+2.0 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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The "problem" and the solution of the "failed" null industry

Breaking news for Orca pilots about winter changes:
- Corp hangars *on ships* are now fleet hangars
- Fleet hangars will now behave like normal cargo hold when it comes to ship scanners and loot drops (ie, will be scannable, and loot will drop from them)

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Nullsec being a zone of wealth destruction instead of wealth creation is a central issue of EVE economy. While it creates a unique World where winning is harder and harder, it is also responsible for the small playerbase of the game. EVE is the direct opposite of the standard MMOs: as you "progress", your character and player group becomes weaker and weaker. The more Sov you want, the more time your highsec "alt" (with much more play time than your "main") must spend farming just to be able to pay your Sov bills and other costs. This game only appeal to players who like the (anti)social aspect of the game. To like EVE you must either use it as a human behavior simulator, or simply like griefing or helping people.

I'm absolutely sure that CCP did not plan the game this way. Every guide, intro, post they make has the mantra of "the more risky zone you go, the rewards are larger". It's even true on the surface: the lower the security status of the system, the more materials can come from a planetary extractor, the more valuable NPCs spawn and more valuable ore you can find.

The "problem" comes from the core design idea of EVE: "there is no absolute safety". The "owners" of the system don't own it at all. There is absolutely no tool for them to keep enemies out any more than shooting them with ships. But you have that without ownership too. The bonuses of ownership are rather convenience: jump bridges, stations to respawn/reship. There is a passive income source: moon mining, but that doesn't add to security.

This, combined with the "every ship is valuable" doctrine of EVE means that hostiles, literally in ships given by the newbie starter missions are able to get in and successfully attack the "owners". While their ship is no match to any combat ship the owners have, it can take down ratting (NPC farming), mining or hauling ships. His risks are near-zero as his ship has very low price. While his chances are slim against anyone cares to undock particularly to clear him up, he has a chance to catch valuable industrial ships. A multi billion ratting faction battleship can die to a stealth bomber or in a gatecamp set up by destroyers and frigates.

"Fixing" this is impossible without removing most PvP actions in EVE. However some players found the "fix" and their alliances, TEST and Goons are progressing well towards map domination. The fix is accepting newbies. Most alliances are elitist and accept only highly trained, skilled and rich players. Accepting newbies isn't just good for your fleet numbers. Accepting newbies is extremely helpful for your alliance economy.

This seems awkward. Why would newbies generate more income to the alliance then established players? Because of the different income vs skillpoints/knowledge/assets in highsec and nullsec. It is something like this: After the nullsec ratter can fly a Naga or the nullsec miner can grab a Retreiver they are ready to make nice money. The equally fitted highsec counterparts are still doing L3 securities or mine Scordite. However as they earn power, the highsec ones can add more accounts, more expensive and effective ships. Two-three faction fit faction battleships and a Noctis can pull some serious ISK in level 4 missions or deadspace complexes. Of course the same group could pull even higher ISK in a sanctum, except if they try to, they soon end up on the killboard of some cloaky Loki. Similarly the 10 account Orca supported scordite miner has nothing to complain about (besides bumpers maybe) while a similar multibox miner team is likely to not even reach the stationless system it supposed to be mining if a few destroyers are camping a gate. Also good luck AFK-autopiloting multiboxed freighters in Stain like you do in The Forge.

While the potential in nullsec is larger for everyone, the experienced and rich player can't use it due to risks of loss. On the other hand the newbie is able to grab the full potential of nullsec since his losses are miniscule next to his gains. A ratting Naga can earn its pricetag in an hour. A ratting Tengu must work ten-something hours to pay for a loss. I don't want to calculate this time of return for a ratting Nyx.

The reason why CCP did not notice it at design is that during planning and testing phase everyone was newbie. Those who were there at the start tell stories about corporations roaming null. There wasn't even alliance interface. People just went out in whatever they had to mine, rat or fight. If you are at the keyboard and use one account, you still can pull in more money in nullsec than in high. I don't think CCP expected 10 account AFK mining fleets or 5B Machariel missioner bots when they planned the game. They simply underestimated how far one can go with multiple accounts and lot of money and maybe a keyboard script.

This isn't something that CCP can fix without banning multiple accounts or AFK-ing, that they will surely not do. However it's something that the players can fix. You must fill your land with battlecruiser ratting, Retreiver mining, P1 PI doing newbies. They want to be at the keyboard (Spaceships!!!) and they have just one account. The real problem is that in most player groups one cannot join before reaching a level where he has no reason to join. Someone with a 60M SP pilot could make much more ISK in highsec than in null. The future belongs to alliances that bring the few days old newbies to the resources of null, letting them zerg down the ores, rats and planets, leaving only special tasks (JF hauling, below-POS-shield Rorqual boost, P4 PI, escalation fleets) to experienced players. Experienced players doing the busywork of industry in null is simply waste of ISK. If they need money, they should pull out those mission Machariels or 10 Mackinaw fleets, obviously in highsec.

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I still play WoW sometimes, but the utter incompetence of the average player, combined with Blizzards choice to force us to suffer them (instead of podding them like in EVE) reinforces my decision and my account will expire:
Will of the Emperor (the endboss) LFR, kill after a 1% wipe
Friday morning report: 183.4B (6.6 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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Goons and TEST are bad at EVE therefore win

The "Goons and TEST suck at EVE" is a strange statement. It's not a curse told by enemies, it's something they call themselves. Many think that this is a psychological warfare trick "we're so bad and you still lost to us - what does that make you?" but it makes little sense, the enemy could easily counter it with talking about Goons as "worthy opponents" and clarify to their members that they are facing a skilled enemy.

Also, it makes little sense to decrease the self-esteem of their own people internally. However they take the "we are bad at EVE" attitude seriously. Want downvotes and hate? Post something on TEST forums about "bad killboard".

"We are bad at EVE" on the one hand helps a lot to newbies to learn. There is no pressure on anyone to look like a pro. You can ask newbie questions and perform silly mistakes and get help instead of hate. Sure you get laughter and mocking too, but the supportive "we've been there" kind. Nothing tells it better how welcoming TEST to newbies is then the event when the Foxcat fleet, full of multi-year pilots in 1B+ ships was waiting for 10 minutes until a few-days old newbie in a Rifter could finally figure out how to bridge. The titan pilot carefully explained him to approach, right-click, jump. When he made it, he was greeted with cheers.

This attitude also helps a lot for really good players to mesh with newbie/casual/not too bright players. Everyone predicted the cooperation between Pandemic Legion and TEST to be short-lived, but its not. Flying in fleets shown me the reason: the attitude in TEST towards PL is a genuine will to learn. People love to teach newbies, what they hate is the "dun tell me how2play u nolifer" attitude in bad players. Also, the "we are bad in EVE" attitude allows something that no "self respecting" alliance would let happen: coalition fleets mostly filled by TEST people are lead by PL FCs.

While a humble attitude helps newbies to learn faster, the fact that they are newbies shouldn't help them to win against the "elite". A fast-learning newbie becomes "elite" faster while a "dun tell me how2play u nolifer" guy might never, but it shouldn't affect the outcome: until you are "elite" you are pwned. And while claiming that all Goons and TEST are bad is surely not right, there are undoubtably people there who are clearly bad at EVE. CFC loses titans on a weekly schedule in hilarious circumstances, checking TEST killboards can give you the idea that the best solo PvP-er of this game is Corpus Pope and there is always someone who dies to a gatecamp between K6 and 4-0 despite it was clearly told to move in groups. A bunch of "elite PvP" players should roflstomp a team that is littered with Daves Dreams. I mean seriously, what chance would a team containing such players would have in a WoW arena against a top rated team?

However CFC and HBC, built on Goons and TEST are winning battles left and right. Their Sovereignity conquests were only criticized as "not fast enough" even by their opponents. The most "elite" alliances, -A- and NC. were just beaten out of their space by them. How?

The answer lies in my own newbie fleet experience. Despite my blog was littered with "u haz no place in a logi n00b u haz 2 learn the art of pew first or ull b ded weight", my first PvP engagement was in a Scimitar. My only problem on this fleet was that my overview as sub-optimal (though usable). In the rest of the fleets everything went perfectly, I repped, I did not die, I did not get lost, I wasn't any worse than most. Good luck doing the same in WoW, playing a new class in Arena or on a raid. There are 100+ hours of leveling before that and most people are still utterly useless. What the hell is going on here?

The solution is that there are no relevant gaming skills in EVE for the average fleet pilot. You don't need good reaction time, you don't need situational awareness, you don't need to memorize 50+ hotkeys, all you need is orbit the anchor, target the broadcasted one and press F1-4. Unless you have some disability, you should be performing at 70-80% of the perfect at the first time, assuming you fit your ship as told and downloaded the overview pack. In WoW, until you learn the boss dance perfectly you worth zero. You'll be dead making the group hitting enrage.

"Elite playing" is necessary in WoW endgame, meaning perfect memorizing the boss patterns or enemy classes, hitting the proper key in the proper milisecond. "Elite PvP" in EVE Sov warfare does not exist outside of FC-ing and running specific roles. These roles are crucial and without a few very skilled players the fleet couldn't do anything. But for the simple fleet members "elite PvP" is totally irrelevant for taking systems. And unfortunately the champions of "elite PvP" want to have a place on the map.

TEST and Goons are winning because the "we are bad at EVE" attitude prevents their members from focusing on totally irrelevant things like killboard statistics, 1v1 duels, getting and fitting ships that can get them solo kills while useless in fleet and prevent them chase away useful newbies. If you try to be good at PvP, you get worse in fleet as you spent your resources on something vanity. This only changes if you get really good and there is a need for one more specialist. For "Drake#541" or even "Guardian#26" (who is me) having solo kills in EVE is no different than having rare mounts in WoW. Instead the Goons/TEST rank and file members focus on the things that are relevant in EVE: the social skills allowing to get more people in the fleet and getting ISK to have ships.

Social people are naturally tending towards boosting their ego, trying to look better than peers. The "we are bad at EVE" attitude is almost necessary to prevent one to lose focus on the goal and shift to e-peen stroking.

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Thursday morning report: 181.2B (6.6 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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October business report

Another month, another report without much to report. I got lazy and did not even update my item list from last month besides the coolant side business.

The income graph (as usually, omitting nullsec spendings, showing how much I had if I would only trade and pay for my main) is a bit better than last month, 39.3B/month instead of 36.7 but still nothing to brag about.

What rather worth mentioning is the fact that my competition decreased instead of increased. My problems came from the FW cashouts which will now end as CCP fixed FW. It will take a month or so to stabilize as many FW orbiters still have billions worth of items in their hangar. So here is this boring, grind-like business providing about 1.5 Nyxes every month. Still I have little competition. OK, I'm probably not the kind of competition most traders want as I don't 0.01 but drive the margin down to 2-3%. I also understand that there are many who don't care about ISK and just blow things up in cheap crap. But there are people out there ratting and mining for ISK getting very low income compared to trading and they keep ratting and mining instead of changing.

I don't really understand the reason why one would choose a greatly inferior and boring grind instead of a better one? Can it be lack of starting capital? Aversion of risk (the ratting bounty is safe in your wallet, the purchased goods can lose value or can be lost during transport)? Maybe the lack of planning, I mean when you need money you can start ratting and get 100M in 2 hours but can't start trading with 10M capital and expect 100M profit on that day.

Anyway, you can clearly make profit by trading in EVE, if you want money, don't even think of shooting red crosses. (soon circles)

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Wednesday morning report: 180.2B (6.6 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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Who is the actor in EVE?

My girlfriend doesn't really like EVE. She logs in to queue the next skill and does some random things too but nothing worth mentioning. She haven't join any player group nor she amasses wealth like a standard highsec PvE player. She is the kind of players you would suggest EVE. She hates trivial content, considers losses as natural consequence of failure, likes to wander off from rails. Yet she doesn't like EVE. We talked a lot about it and the result is surprising.

If you play a simple short-match game like a Counterstrike round, the actor is obviously you, the player. You make the choices and you get the rewards/losses as consequences.

In an MMO like WoW the history of your character pretty much defines what you will do. You can of course wander off to pick flowers or collect minipets but that doesn't affect anything, neither in the World, nor in your character progression. Your effective actions are lead by past decisions and doing differently than you "should" is considered being bad in the game. I mean if you rolled a mage years ago, leveled to 90 few weeks ago now, you must buy cloth gear without spirit, queue in the dungeons as damage dealer, get intellect gems and fix that Golden Lotus rep. If you do differently, you are either doing random vanity or simply suck in the game.

If you would grab a topguild member bear tank player, give him the above mage and tell him that he must play with this character only, he will do the same. His previous bear habits are null. This is why it's considered Role Playing Game. The actor, the one who makes the choices is the character, the player can only choose to roll/respec, otherwise he must obey the character. Refusing so and trying to get bear gear for the mage or pulling aggro in dungeons is filed not under "playing differently" but "sucking".

Who is the actor in EVE? Is it the player, able to pull any moves like in a Solitaire game? Not really. While theoretically you can do anything in EVE, in reality EVE is extremely punishing for "bad playing". Sure you can mine in a titan, but maybe you shouldn't. Something clearly defines your path and harshly punishes deviation from it.

In EVE there are no classes or real character progression. Your character can't tell who you are, he can only tell who you are not. If you have no Caldari Battleship skill, you are not a Rokh pilot. But having Caldari BS 5, Large railgun specialization 4 and all needed support don't make you a "Rokh pilot". Also, the path can't be put in a textbook like in WoW. If you read ElitisJerks and gear/talent your character accordingly, follow the yellow exclamation marks and you are doing good regardless of the setting. On the other hand if you jump into a 10 man gatecamp, your ship skills or even ship choice matter little. Your personal gaming choices are equally irrelevant, the #1 solo PvP video hero dies just as sure in that camp as a 1 day old newbie. What will define if you win or lose in EVE if not your character and not your ad hoc choices?

The actor in EVE is the corporation, alliance or even coalition. Not I blown up 7 supercarriers in 1V-LI2, nor the titan pilot with final blow and highest DPS. Not even the fleet commander did it. The HoneyBadger Coalition did. We were just units in a huge Starcraft battle, pieces on the chess table. No, it wasn't coalition leadership who organized the cooperation between anti-SOLAR alliances, many red to us. Their moves were limited by the abilities of the coalition. It was the coalition itself, the system, the organization.

You, as an individual affect EVE by shaping one of the organizations. Maybe your part of shaping is simply adding +1 pilot to the fleet. It's no small things, alliances die when players start not giving pilots. Maybe you make plans, get more people, get towers running. All these actions shape the organization, therefore affect its future choices.

You as an individual player won't make story like you do in a phased MMO or a single player game. Your effect won't be direct and obvious. However it is anything but irrelevant. If no pilots come, there is no fleet. The culture of a coalition is shaped by every member. In EVE you don't make difference by pressing buttons. "Orbit the anchor, target the broadcasted ship and start shooting/repping" could be done by an upgraded autopilot. The difference is made by taking part in creating the organization that can field that fleet.

That kind of play is surely not for everyone. I can only hope that my girlfriend finds an aspect where she'll like to participate. But if not, I can't blame her. I keep giving her PLEXes and hope that one day she'll fly with me. For now she is undecided. If she finally says no, her character can be sold after all and most of the cost regained.

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Tuesday morning report: 179.9B (6.6 spent on main accounts, 7.1 spent on Logi/Carrier, 3.8 on Ragnarok, 3.3 on Rorqual, 3.4 on Nyx, 3.4 on Dread, 37.4 sent as gift)

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