How to make EVE a little more interesting

I'm not in the position to say i know how much EVE has changed from the beginning back in 2003. With the current CSM election going where i supported the candidate that put the pirate role up on the agenda, i still felt that the candidates were being too serious for my taste. As a result i will be running as a CSM candidate next year (if there is an election), with the following genius and cunning masterplan:

* There will be blood, and there will be a raffle: CCP provides the service of hosting a raffle that all players below -4.5 sec status are able to join. The grand prize is 10 minutes worth of high sec adventuring with no NPC interveening.

* The sticky bomb: This is a new edition i think i've been inspired by TF2/Buzz , and it can work in EVE as well. The whole idea is basically a device that fires a sticky bomb from a distance (200 km or less) that works as a "tag, you're it", making a ship explode if it does not engage another player or NPC rat within 5 minutes.

* The mirror: Pirates can deploy a fake warpgate in a chosen system, resulting in a duplication of the original warpgate. This fake gate will have a price tag between 50-75 mill ISK, and will only last for one hour. Perfect for camping.

* Ads on your ship: Who doesn't want to be sponsored while you play pointless games. Your burgers are fail, but i'll take your money McDonald's!

* The McLuvin: Remember the leisure suit larry games where you had to pass an "how old are you?"-test before you could play a middle aged man whose only goal was to pick up women? Well, how about an age test you have to pass before you can jump into high sec? Certainly will make those tight situations even worse.

* Climb under your rock: Asteriods have docking bays! You will always see the belt, and can quickly undock if you see a potential fight.


This strategy is fail proof for the next election. If you have any other ideas provide them and i will definately implement them.

3 lessons I've learned.

It's been a while since i got podded by NPCs, so it's time to bring out the wonderous experiences of a plunderer to my plebs. I have plenty of video takes i've yet to compile to something visually stunning, but i hope you can accept my apologies for being late. Hopefully you have encountered me in your journeys to low sec, and found out that you also want to be a red line in other people's overview. The last weeks/month i've been doing alot of solo roaming to learn from my surroundings in the Verge Vendor area, and I've come across some really interesting tips i could have known if i'd only ask my fellow corp mates. My first lesson i bring to thee is regarding a certain system in/close to Verge Vendor in form of a short and cute tale:

"Once upon a time in Old Man Star you got owned. And you will continue to be. The end".

Remember Baz Luhrmann's song "Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)" ? Well, that's sort of the way i'd like you to read this: Don't go to Old Man Star!. Especially when there's russians there. You might already have concluded that i'm not too fond of the trenchcoat mafias, but that's not right. They are indeed funny and nice people. However, their ganks are not. Lesson 1 learned.

On my journey i've come to learn that people sometimes are stupid. Unfortunately, i'm currently top ranked in that league. Stations will not warp off even if you scramble them. My stupidity aside, i have also done what most less experienced pirates do. Go for the easy preys. One thing i've witnessed is that the beginners usually warp to the first belt, and the semi-newbies thinks it's safe to warp to the last belt. This has happened to me three times the last two weeks. It could be a coincidence, but it's still an interesting find in the study of carebear-behaviour. Lesson 2 learned.

Remember to rename your ship. You don't really have to change your ships name to something extremely frightning like "killer" or "exterminator" all the time. Look in your local, and depending on your ship type/class, rename it to another player's name. For instance, if you have two other pirates going after easy preys and they don't know your ship type or name, just find a suitable newbie in local and rename it "Father Ted's Thorax" (If there's a person with that name in the system). Perfect solo bait. Lesson 3 learned.


PS: On a side note, yours truly and 3 fellow corp mates managed to ransom a megathron today, board his ship and safely escort it to our HQ. (Cheers for that Caster Rom). Value the situations you are in when there are beginners in the system, they usually go for the "bigger is better"-syndrome most of us are out of. It actually pains me to see this, but as a pirate you have forget the heart and think with your brain. Piracy isn't cheap when you go solo.

Hope this wasn't a huge bore for you, and i'll keep posting my experiences when i learn something new.

When the going gets tough....

....you end up getting podded by Federal Freight NPCs!

More of that a bit later.

Last night wasn't the most exciting night ever, but it did generate alot of interesting ways of doing piracy. Due to lack of potential targets in the nearby systems of Hevrice, i decided to just idle at the station for a while. I randomly checked the belts, instead of scanning like i am used to do. I knew there was a Celestis out there ratting. Eventually i found him, and got him pinned down pretty fast. His setup seemed like a hybrid of a miner and a missile boat. :)


He didnt get his hobgoblins I's out before i was halfway down into his armor. I knew i'd be dead if he was a more experienced pilot. Lately i've been having alot of luck in incursus vs cruiser fights, whereas my frigate vs frigate fights tend to end in loss (if i recall correct my frig vs cruiser stats last week was 12/3, while my frig stats were 10/15).

After this kill I had a dry period with no targets for hours! I think most of The Tuskers felt the same way, untill Ronan advised us to go down to Mongolot (or mengelot, cant remember what it was called) to kill a horde of noobs who was allegedly there. Didnt take long before i found myself in the system, which by the way couldn't be more empty! Same thing for the nearby systems.

Since most of us rushed down to the system to kill the wee buggers, we decided to do a small OP instead of solo'ing. Someone found a Moa, and suddenly i witnessed my first EVE hijack :) We chased the Moa two systems, thinking that he would jump to high sec as it seemed like he knew he was being chased. He eventually did a horrible mistake by jumping to a planet with me right behind him. I got a point on him, and my fellow Tuskers came ten-fiftheen seconds later. He didnt have much chance, so he decided to eject out of the moa, leaving a half-damaged cruiser up for grabs. Cheers for that :)

Not long after that we ganked a Mammoth that was transporting valuable items to the corp's pos. We got his stuff and demanded a ransom for it, as long he didn't jump into the system before he paid up. Too bad for him that he jumped into the system, then paid too late. For those who may encounter us in a ransom situation, following instructions is vital. Cynical yes, but we are pirates after all.

So now to the random stuff: Today Egrat and I was hanging around in Hevrice when a Rupture jumped in. I got him pinned down to an asteroid belt, and got point on him. Didnt seem like the
most experienced pilot, as his rockets barely got half my armor. However, i'm glad Egrat was there to finish him off. His loadout seemed like a typical ratting fit.

Due to the global criminal countdown i got from attacking the rapture, i got most of his loot and warped to a safe spot. I stayed there for a few minutes, untill i felt hungry and wanted some food. So i completely forgot about my criminal countdown, and warped to HQ. I witnessed my shield, armor, hull go down within a second without bothering to attempt escaping. I was screwed anyway.


Next thing i know I'm inside a station, wondering if i accidently clicked the dock button. No. I got podded! I checked the combat log, but there's no sign of a pod mail. What is going on?! Im in Luminaire system, and Secure Commerce Commision are laghing at me by offering me a Velator for the loss. Implants gone, Hardwire gear too. I'm a NPC pod-victim! Instant petition!

The Journey Begins

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his
- George Patton

Months have gone by since I started playing Eve. Resources have been gathered, and the motivation to make a difference in the universe is starting to show. Once a player that would get aggitated over a loss, has 'blossomed' to a rather cold-hearted person who seems to have lost a significant human factor ; empathy.

The transformation of the once young and naive player who never went to low security systems, started a few months back when a small OP was deployed to sweep the Old Man Star -> Ouelletta area. A cyclone was found, idling in a belt with no apparent backup. Halsoy was his name, an experienced pilot who fought brave while being swarmed by three assault frigates and an frigate. (The last minutes you can see how the fight developed)

Excited by the result, that a few frigates could take out such a big ship, I sought to find other challenges. During my former corp's OPs to low sec in the Old Man Star -> Ouelleta , through Hevrice, we were adviced to avoid The Tuskers. Their reputation of ruthlessness, though strictly abiding the Tusker Code, I deliberately roamed around the the area to engage one of them. Eventually i did, in Old Man Star.

Wensley was his name, flying a rifter while i was going after him in my Thorax. There was no doubt that he was chasing me. We eventually got tired of jumping in and out of belts, so we arranged a PvP session. I had met many friends and foes in low security systems before that, and i would always get overwhelmed by people who never held their word. However, Wensley and his Tusker friends seemed genuine.

Without any interuptions we locked and loaded, flying head on each other. My shields went quickly down, hoping that my armor would stay up as long as possible. I had previously invested in a few warrior II's, which seemed to hit Wensley's rifter harder than i thought. After a minute or two his ship exploded. I was stunned how much a damage a rifter could do to my Thorax.

This is how my solo adventures in low security systems started. Today I am one of them. Tomorrow you might also.