Dust 514 is an online First Person Shooter from CCP built within the EvE Online universe. So far Hilmar Veigar Petursson (CCP CEO) has confirmed during a press release that the game will be a console exclusive but will link with the PC version of our beloved game. How this will be achieved has not yet been made clear but there are talks of the planets in EvE Online (PC) will be somehow fought over in the new game. Details are still sketchy but more is promised at fan-fest in October this year.
Personally I think this is a very shrewed move by CCP to secure more revenue and expand the EvE universe beyond the PC market. EvE Online has some of the richest design and back story elements of any modern game and it would be great to share it with more players whom, until now have not been encouraged to play EvE. The game has already been in development for 3 years so one can assume that a release can't be too far away. I certainly will be awaiting with deep anticipation...
Related Links
Press Release
Dust 514 - First Look
Pop Goes The Weasel
Security: 0.3
Mission: Command Ship Tour
Our only encounter was a trap sprung. A Rifter was located ratting within a belt in 0.3 security space. When attacked by B13, two Minmater Battle cruisers de-cloaked 20 km from B13s' position and attempted to take him down.Needless to say that the Rifter did not last long. As my warp tunnel terminated on the scene I saw one of the Battle cruisers explode in a flash of white light. B13s' guess as to why the Hurricane dropped so quickly was that the pilot must've forgotten to activate his tank, not expecting the severity of B13s' retaliation. The second pilot did not run as expected but bravely continued to pound on B13s' armour.
As I engaged the second Battle cruiser the inevitable happened and a swarm of ECM drones dampened B13s' hold on the ship and the Battle cruiser warped toward a planet. I was just beyond Disruptor range and I cursed my own error locking the target too early thus preventing his retreat.
We decided to separate to the two star gates within the system to blockade the Battle cruiser. Scan probes were launched and within a few scans the enemy was located deep in a safe spot. I had a hunch that the pilot, if he was wise would jump between a couple of safe spots. First I warped to the scan probes 1st result while B13 continued to scan. When I arrived he had literally just left the grid and my ships overview caught a glimpse of his signature.
As B13 warped to a second scan result he caught the startled Hurricane Pilot and attempted a lock. Immediately our prey warped back to my location right on top my Disruptor range. The ensuing battle was not over as quickly and the Hurricane pilot fought valiantly but soon enough B13 arrived and aided in the Hurricanes demise. This time we were sure to destroy any ECM drones as they were deployed, eventually obliterating his ship with lethal salvos of overheat.
The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful. We saw no other ships on our scans save for the odd Frigate and eventually journeyed home to re-arm. Meeting up in the hangar we agreed that the mission was a success but was not as eventful as hoped. We've decided to try again soon, but to undertake our mission when the pickings were likely to be thicker.
The Lottery
System: Classified
Security: 0.5
B13 and I made a killing last night, literally. Some poor soul thought it would be a good idea to afk-auto-pilot his hauler through a 0.5 system whilst carrying almost a Billion in ISK worth of equipment. Needless to say that half the modules were destroyed, the other half appropriated. The modules included a faction stasis and a whole collection of rigs. He even had a pack of cigarettes on-board which survived the decompression of his precious hull.
The feeling B13 and I share is that the proceeds should be channelled into a new mission. B13 came up with the idea that we buy a couple of Command ships, fit them with death, rig them with gank and head out into the wildness to hunt. If they were lost we shouldn’t feel too bad as they were essentially free, only costing us a couple of cruisers to obtain.
At the time of writing we’re both preparing ourselves for the task at hand. The wormhole POS is ready to be deployed but has been delayed temporarily whilst we undertake this new mission. I have already prepared my clone, and we should return in time for the Inter Corporation Frigate tournament which will commence within the next 48 hours.
My weapon of choice? An Absolution. B13 will be taking a Sleipnir. Both will be equipped for maximum DPS to eliminate prey quickly. The fitting I will post, post the mission. We may even wander into w-space just to have a look but I would expect us to stick to low sec prowling for targets. As the ships we’re to pilot are essentially ‘throwaway’ we may even try passing a few known hostile regions as the targets will surely come to us. Whatever happens depends on the day, but I expect it to be eventful or I’ll kill someone.
Bio
And as a subject of Amarr I have no duty to allow myself to be defeated.
But it is better to die than to preserve this life by incurring disgrace.
The loss of life causes but a moment's grief, but disgrace brings grief every day of one's life.
And so I begin with the end in mind for I am immortal,
I am NOXx.
Related Soundtrack
Battle Royal
I-A and I-F are set to do battle, a Frigate Tournament where the prize is a shiny new Battle-cruiser built by the Corporation. I really don’t need yet another Harbinger. I am looking forward to it though because it’s to destruction, and I like destruction.
There are restrictions however, no faction equipment, faction ammunition or rigs. The organiser, B13 is quite flush with ISK and wanted to use faction modules, but that would not be fair on the more inexperienced members of the Corporation whom have yet to siphon billions from their prey. Being Minmatar, he isn’t used to playing fair.
I expect and believe I will win even though my skills are not as advanced as some of my fellow capsuleers. It’s how one uses those skills in practice that counts and Frigate combat is my forte. I enjoy the hands on approach to Frigates. My favourite ships to fly are the Malediction and the Retribution.
The battle is to take place within the next 72 hours in our territory, a secret location hidden within low sec. A gate camp has been organised to protect the contestants and there’ll be a couple of Heavy Assault Cruisers on hand to ‘referee’ proceedings. So I’ve been back into high security space again recently to acquire several possible fittings. I’ll let you know which ones were effective and which, if any failed.
Amarr Victor!
Music To Murder By
The right music can be a powerful tool. It can help drive you into battle with the right mindset and sharpen your senses for the kill. Here is my playlist for piracy in EvE Online:
Mr. Self Destruct - NIN
What Else Is There - Royksopp
Come To Daddy - Aphex Twin
Painkiller - Freestylers
Angel - Massive Attack
Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash
American Bad Ass - Kid Rock
Voodoo People - The Prodigy
Turn The Page - The Streets
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
I could listen to this playlist all night, sometimes repeating Iron Butterflies' In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida over and over if things are slow. It definately makes me want to kill after a few hours...
Related Soundtrack
The EvE Blog Pack (CrazyKinux's Musing)
Something wonderful has happened. Nope, Jupiter has not turned into a star within the solar system (that would be silly). A Ghost Blog has been added to the EvE Blog Pack on CrazyKinux's Musing. A very privelaged and indeed exciting nod from the most experienced and respected blogger on our favourite game EvE Online. Thank you CrazyKinux. I will do my best to honour your faith in me.
If you are wondering what the EvE Blog Pack is take a look over at CrazyKinux's Musing and see for yourself. There is a wealth of information there from Pirating, Invention, Stories and Ship Fittings as well as useful tactics for earning ISK and ideas for improving EvE Online.
Crazy Kinux's Musing
EvS
EvS's past is shady to say the least. Whenever asked about his personal history the response is usually one of bitter revulsion. I-A has learnt the hard way that he is not one for interrogation on any level.
Upon meeting EvS his character appears quite amenable but becoming acquainted with this Gallente is not an easy task. Details of his life are sketchy but many believe him to be the product of a cloning accident and that his memories of his past are not his own. He appears to torment himself over the most trivial of things and is rarely seen in a buoyant mood.
Primarily he spends his days obliterating deep space faction pirates but he can also be found making billions upon the galactic markets trading just about anything which gives a good return. An expert in many disciplines including trading, ratting, salvaging and tanking, he is always present in one of his chosen war machines tackling the most difficult of missions for the gain.
Faction Warfare – Part II
This is the second part of My Story; Faction Warfare. For part 1 please follow this link:
Faction Warfare – Part I
We sat motionless about the enemy bunker which was now the property of the Amarr militia. Lasers primed, missiles armed, tanks active, we were certain a reprisal was imminent. It wasn’t long until our patience was rewarded.
X0> “Hostile Fleet in local sir…”
NOXx> “I see, get me ship types please?”
X0> “Scanning…we have a fleet of Battle cruisers and a single Heavy Assault Cruiser…around 10 of them…they are at the gate…warping off now, arrival imminent.”
NOXx> “Okay gang, are you ready?”
B13> “Always.”
NOXx> “X0, follow them in after a few minutes, I want you to scan the ships for faction equipment. Okay, here we go. Stay tight and activate your remotes when called out.”
Seconds later the hostile fleet warped into our kill zone and we locked them. There were a few Gallente Battle cruisers, a Minmatar Heavy Assault Cruiser and several Minmatar Battle cruisers. I gave to order to primary the Heavy Assault Cruiser as it potentially had more DPS than the Battle cruisers.
The enemy fleet immediately locked us down and released an almighty salvo of projectile fire and a swarm of drones at my ship. My shields failed spectacularly and it wasn’t long before my armour tank was working overtime to repel the damage.
I sent out a signal indicating that my ship was in need of armour reinforcement. Within seconds our well trained fleet had locked my ship and was remote repairing my armour within a spider tank formation. After a few minutes it became clear however that our combined firepower was not enough to break the tank of the primary as he too was being repaired by his fleet.
EvS> “He’s not dropping, should we switch primary?”
NOXx> “Negative…, deploy your ECM drones, we’ll jam the fleet so they can’t repair him.”
EvS> “Roger that…”
Our ECM drones undocked and hurtled towards each one of the ships instantly jamming them and effectively removing the ships from the battlefield. The primary was no longer receiving repairs and his armour began to drop quickly.
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As the structure of the battle cruiser burst there was a massive explosion of gas and fire as the hull decompressed violently ejecting the innards into the cold vacuum. Hundreds of corpses collided with various ships on the battlefield and made a soft thud against the hulls. The pilot was much more fortunate as his POD ejected from the explosion intact and he warped off.
With utmost efficiency the fleet switched targets and began to devour the shields of the Gallente Battle cruiser. B13 made a comment as he noticed the drones from the two Battle cruisers retreating back into their respective done bays.
Moments later there were tens of simultaneous explosions which danced around the two Gallente Drone Battle cruisers. Huge rings of energy span out from the ships expanding into space.
B13> “What the hell? Damn, they have smart bombs on-board. The ECM drones just bought it.”
NOXx> “Then we’ll have to find another way of taking out the remote reps. CT?”
CT> “I know what your thinking, firing up micro-warp drive.”
The sleek Amarr Battle cruisers’ engines swelled with energy and within moments the ship was propelled away from the battle. At around 30km the ship stopped, swung about and aimed for the primary. The Battle cruiser accelerated hard and slammed into the primary. The impact forced the ship sideways as it spun out from the battlefield outside the range of the enemy fleets spider tank. The beams stopped repairing his ship and he was left out in the cold.
At the same time our fleet switched primary weapons to long range crystals and fired a salvo of missiles at the stricken vessel which was left confused and spinning out of kilter. Impact after impact caused the ship to jolt and jump as the armour was reduced to molten metal shimmering on the surface, beads of liquid armour trickled out into space freezing instantly creating long spines. The ship finally imploded under the weight of its own structure.
As the battle continued a sole enemy ship separated itself from the field. It appeared to be heading for X0 who had uncloaked while he scanned the ships for us.
X0> “Shit, I’m being targeted. My cloak won’t engage!”
B13> “Get outta there X0!”
X0> “Too late…sorry…”
The tiny ship exploded almost as soon as it took fire from the rogue Battle cruiser. X0’s POD was jettisoned from the wreck and he warped off towards a safe area of space.
I was angered by the enemies’ shameless attempt to salvage something from the battle. I ordered our pilots to overload their weapons. The primary ship was obliterated as the fleet’s guns blazed hell into his superstructure. The explosion marked a turning point for the battle and two of the remaining ships ships turned tail and warped off.
Our fleets Warp Disruptors kicked into life and collapsed the warp fields of the remaining ships preventing their retreat. Only three Battle cruisers remained now against our fleet of four. Needless to say the battle did not last long.
The remaining enemy ships exploded in a fireworks display of blue and green, one after another as their tanks failed. Debris was strewn across the battlefield so much so it was becoming hard to navigate.
We celebrated our victory as we scooped up all the salvage we could hold, not forgetting X0’s wrecked Covert Ops vessel. The spoils were quite good, some faction equipment as well as lots of Tech II salvage. While we were picking through the battlefield a familiar voice crackled over the comms…
Hn> “Hey there boys? Did I miss anything?”
B13> “Ha, not much HN.”
NOXx> “Hiya HN. We need you to pilot this Raven outta here. Some poor soul left it here for us after we persuaded him with harsh laser fire.”
Hn> “Nice one. I’m on it.”
Hn approached the motionless Raven, left her rookie ship and docked with the Battleship. X0 too had recently turned up on the scene knowing the battle was over. He occupied the rookie ship and joined us in formation. With the bunker and Raven secured the fleet turned toward the star gate and warped…
Related Links
Faction Warfare - Part I
