Civilians

Fitting ships is a taxing process, it’s difficult at best to fit all that you want. During the design process one must remember to maintain the original mandate for your vessels’ tasks, ensuring that any design is not too general compromising the abilities of the ship.

Utility slots are some of the strangest, yet blessed slots on a craft of any design. Usually I miss them because my fitting skills leave a lot to be desired. Some of the best ships designs I have to date involve the utility slot, but as fittings can be incredibly tight they’re usually occupied by modules which are not really that necessary, or offline emergency modules.

I recently learnt that there is a civilian salvager. Although this module doesn’t get as good stats as a fully fledged Tech I module, it is still useful as a sort of back-up should you want to salvage. B13 recently presented me with his Firetail frigate which harbours two civilian shield boosters to maintain a somewhat weak, emergency tank. In operation it works brilliantly and can help maintain his shield while he attempts to speed tank.

Fitting ships is not an exact science and one needs to maximise the capabilities of the ship. Sometimes the only way to do this is to think outside-of-the-box. Civilian modules can certainly fulfil some minor needs as you see fit. Don’t overlook them as they can be useful, but shouldn’t be relied upon.

Hyper Highway

New Eden is vast. The true scale is something which cannot be fathomed. Using stargates it takes hours to traverse the known galaxy which, although much more rapid than light itself, it's still an age in terms of the busy schedule a POD pilot must endure.

Generally it takes 60 seconds to traverse a system from entry to exit. This means typical journey consisting of 30 jumps will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. In cosmic terms this is extremely quick, but it isn’t instant which for some is what’s desirable.

If you’ve ever had the privilege of enrolling within a large corporate alliance you may have used a jump bridge. These portals enable a ship to travel instantly from one location to another several systems away, omitting several minutes at a time. But why should these be limited exclusively to null sec alliances?

A commercial jump bridge has been discussed before but I’m unsure whether this is still being considered or if the idea was discarded for various concerns. The cost of operating a jump depends on the mass of the vessel and uses ozone which is used as a fuel to propel the atoms of the ship through space-time. The ozone is expensive and acts as a toll. The exact mechanics I am unsure of, but I appreciated the time saved.

As a pirate I have little concern for Empire traffic, but my slave; Miss Nexus whines about the time taken to travel from one Empire to the next. Low sec or null sec jump bridges would spell disaster for my profession so in this case it wouldn’t be desirable, but there is little harm by allowing bridges to be deployed within Empire space where the journey from gate to gate only serves to prolong the time required to reach the desired destination.

Just a thought...

Tech III Designs

Tech III ships can become an unhealthy obsession simply because of the vast array of combinations possible. This preview video shows how all the different sub-systems fit together to create any ship you may desire. Enjoy...

To Kill a Mocking Pilot

I love combat; it’s what I live for. I don’t care much for the win unless it is particularly juicy or well fought. A few days ago I managed to murder solo the most insubordinate pilot I have encountered on my travels thus far. I'd been hunting this individual for some time, over two years in fact. I am pleased to report however, that we finally encountered one another to settle this long standing score.

At the beginning of the ongoing conflict I contacted him regarding his Bio which stated plainly that he was an ex-slave. His tone was one of complete disregard for the Emperor and the honour for which he served. He vowed never to return to the service of the Empire, but I believe my purpose in this life (and the next) is to re-acquaint such individuals with God and clone them back to the glory of the great Amarr Empire for due service.

I had used an intelligence agent before with little success but over time I had learnt his usual haunts and planned to capture this escapee with utmost vigilance. Finally I’d cornered him in a dead-end system while he occupied himself with his various concerns.

The local beacon reported my presence as I entered the system but he remained, oblivious to my presence. Using my scanner I approximated his position and warped to his estimated location. As I entered the grid I spotted an ensuing battle 30km from the warp beacon between his Rupture and a Myrmidon.

I uncloaked and passively targeted his ship so as not to alert him to my presence. As his prey exploded in a blossom of white light and smoking debris my electronic warfare came to range. I kicked on my point and spewed drones toward his vessel.

With my Web and Jammer active he was at my mercy. Unfortunately for him he’d fitted a Micro-Warpdrive which was now useless on account of my Warp Scrambler. His pinned vessel rotated slowly as his jammed turrets struggled to hit my shields. After a life of murder I rarely feel the buzz of adrenalin during combat as over time the feeling has subdued, but on this occasion the honour of my Emperor was at stake and I felt very much alive throughout.

As his ship decompressed and subsequently exploded from the onslaught I literally cried out ‘Yarr!’ from inside my POD and gulped synthetic fluid.

The ensuing conversation was one of defiance as he continued his insubordination toward the Amarr Empire and its Emperor. I guess that sometimes some individuals cannot be enlightened even through the pain of death. I guess the lesson will have to be repeated at some point so he remains on my hit list as I am sure I’m on his.

Happy Hunting…

Hitching a Ride

In New Eden there is a limitation bestowed upon the demi-gods who roam the skies omnipotently. The restriction has the power to prevent a sincere expression of companionship. The limitation I am referring is the ability to dock more than one pilot within a vessel.

There have been times when a lift could’ve been helpful, even necessary. A while ago I regularly undertook the painful decision to commit suicide to avoid a lengthy and dangerous journey back to safety after an excursion went sour. I have since ceased this method of travel due to the inherent increase of clone replacement costs as my skills develop.

In a majority of cases my allies may have been intact, and nestled inside their own armoured ships, but because I had my own ship, albeit a defenceless POD I was forbidden to dock with them to continue our journey together, aiding my protection and preserving efforts to support one another. If docking were possible an entirely new range of eventualities become possible:

Although the decision to dock should be left to either the ship or the POD, allowing the scooping of PODs into ones own cargo bay, the ability to un-dock should remain solely with the POD pilot in question. In this case the kid-napping and/or ransom profession could become rife as the downed POD could be scooped into a cargo hold and held indefinitely on-board a hostile ship.

The decision to un-dock is left to the POD pilot on the understanding that any attempt to un-dock would be met with hostile fire. Obviously the ability of a POD to insta-warp would aid the kid-napped pilot to escape, but there would always be the threat of death should this decision be taken.

The ability of a HIC (Heavy Interdiction Cruiser) to deploy AOA (Area-Of-Affect) Warp Disruption may provide a new role for the cruiser as a prison vessel, with the ultimate price being suicide by the kid-napped pilot.

I recall one occasion when this almost occured after a poor pilot fell victim to a pirate invasion of his low sec mission. The POD was held indefinately via several points for almost an hour while our party smack-talked the poor fellow to virtual suicide. In my opinion the eventuality was the same, except with docking the ransom attempt could become mobile.

This is an example of how docking could impact and enrich the piracy profession in New Eden, and I’m sure that many may find more interesting ideas regarding its use. Smuggling anyone?

I would be interested to hear a different perspective on this matter as I deem the current mechanics, which result in the abandonment of an ally defenceless and bewildered, seems a little defeatest to say the least, especially considering the power that's usually granted to us.

Just a thought...

Slots for Shuttles

I burn through shuttles like they are going out of fashion. The journey from A to B used to be much quicker, without my constant attendance on autopilot if one was in a shuttle, and such craft harbour little rewards from suicide gank squads.

I own a score of shuttles scattered across New Eden in various safe ports, and these shuttles are left to rot until such time I either attempt to sell them locally for an extortionate amount if isk or recycle them to clean house. I’ve also witnessed a massive shuttle graveyard orbiting a lonely ice planet. I occupied each shuttle in turn only to initiate an overload of the engines to destroy the craft resulting in an insurance pay-out of two grand. Time consuming I admit, but I rarely say nay to either free isk or explosions.

The ownership of shuttles is a formal experience. Used solely for traversing the vast darkness of space they are extremely focussed on this vocation. If a shuttle were to have a slot, it would be a much more personal experience. Variation could be advanced from this flexibility allowing the craft to be used for other roles.

As nine-tenths of the law dictates that ownership is paramount to a person’s status, it would be favourable to allow pilots to engage in designs on their own possessions, including but not exclusively for the lowly shuttle.

The Sweet Taste of Medicine

Ore thieves are cowards. The idea of baiting a defences less mining barge is something that does not wet my appetite, well except for the drops of course. Still, it's nice to see a victim bestow the theif with his own unique taste of medicine...sweet.

W-POS Execution

It happened, an event which I had assumed was impossible; a w-POS destroyed by hostile forces. Theoretically this shouldn't happen. I was of the common opinion that, by its very nature a wormhole POS was almost invulnerable because in order to field the firepower required to destroy such a structure, would take more weight than a wormhole would allow before collapsing. Obviously I underestimated the patients of some pilots to maintain firing at a POS shield for an unbearable amount of time. Bravo to those involved.



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