Friday, May 8, 2015

The Cavalry

"We always give thanks to the Gods after our last killmail for we know not when the next one cometh."
Wensley, Verse 4 Chapter 7


Saw that in fellow Black Jacket's Urkahn Law's bio and liked it! I remember reading Wensley's Rifter guide over 'n over again a long way's back. I'm too young .. in the age spectrum of EVE way .. to remember him and his antics, but I remember this guide and how it inspired me to stick with the Rifter. Even though the guide is outdated in terms of fits and weapon specifications (tracking, damage numbers n stuff) it's still a piece of art and history near n dear to my heart! Gonna link it because history. Rifters Trust in the Rust!


Now to tie the verse with this blog, (meanwhile, back at the ranch!) Ever had those days where you're roaming and wrecking shit and have to either buy more ammo and paste out deep in your route or if you're close enough fly back to your base? And then following those days where you are the god of war, you don't find anything. Well this post is about that, when you undock from your home base and you're pumped ready to go and explode anything that fails to escape your scram! And when you pass system number 20 something without so much as a single gun shot! It seems like New Eden, at least your part of it, has better things to do like not pvp .. or RL. By this point, when you're far away from your closest resupply outpost where you stash your ships, you're desperate for anything. A cyno, something! Well that was me the other night.

I undocked from Gultra, roamed throughout the Neighborhood, even ventured into Heimatar *shudders*, up into another section of Metropolis, and to the religious zealots who reside in Amarr space. Not one, single, gun fight. It was late, and I was discouraged at the lack of any action on this long roam. I decided to dock up in Avenod for the night instead of making the trek to Gultra. As I landed on the station I d-scanned one more time and saw a Venture that I've been harassing (which means failing to kill) and a Hyperion. There's four other people (including myself) in space, and one of them is docked up and the other is a young player. I figure this guy is the Hyperion pilot, so I dock up and fill my cargo with extra ammo. When I scanned again, only the Venture was out 'n about. I decide to try one last time to kill this miner, so I warp to his belt where he was 20 something kilometers away. I burn towards him but when I got to 14km he was already aligning. As he warped off and my grumbling, I hear the sound of a ship landing on grid .. and the Hyperion appears in the belt! The ship was sitting majestically about 11+ kilometers from my Rifter, so I immediately lock him up, web n' scram him and fire away. His Ogres deployed, so I focused my gun fire and web to the big drones and began to destroy them one by one. I had Phased Plasma firing away and Inferno rockets flying with bad intentions at these drones. The Hyperion pilot must've been in shock or something, because he didn't target me the entire time I was shooting his Ogre's. The battleship's drones were now wrecks in the vastness of space, and the Hyperion's huge weapons were no threat to my tiny Rifter! Local didn't spike, no call for help in local, the battleship's pilot was trapped and helpless. I began to work on the Hyperion's shield, and slowly but surely it was giving way. Two minutes in (long time for someone used to quick intense frigate fights!) I had broken through his shield and began to work on his armor, but he was reppin' the damage like nothing. I didn't want to sit there for a long time, but I was the only Black Jacket online at the moment and figured I would definitely run out of ammo if I try to take this guy down by myself. So I turned to the local contingent of Australians and New Zealanders known as The Asylum for help. I flipped over to their channel and linked my location to the chat box and typed in a simple message,

Sem Skord > Hyperion tackled
Sem Skord > need deeps

I kept shooting, chipping away at his armor waiting for a response. A couple minutes went by (felt like a long time!), then this:

Maynard Otsito > we're in frigs but we're on the way

Cavalry is on the way! All I had to do was just make sure this big ship didn't go anywhere and keep shooting till the Aussies arrive. The fight began around 0535 EVE time, 0541 I called for help, and by 0546 Maynard had arrived in his Kestrel with the rest of his gang right behind him. By this point the Hyperion was still shooting at me as the Kestrel rained down missiles on the ship. A few moments later, an Atron (Coco Madeveda) landed, followed by a Tristan (K00wip) and a Hookbill (Lucas Stronghammer) bringing up the rear. Drones flew out of their drone bays in unison and began their work on the Hyperion, as a gang of frigates circled and ravaged the battleship like a pack of wolves bringing down a large moose! Or maybe a bunch of saber tooth tigers bringing down a Wooly Mammoth! You get the idea! By this point the Hyperion had fallen into structure but was still repping the large barrage of gunfire. A Fed Navy Comet joined the fray (Damosolo) a bit late to the party but better late then never! The Hyperion was at half structure as I listened and watched the beautiful sights and sounds of different types of weapon systems and pirates joining together for a common cause .. to explode stuff!

Sem Skord > Glorious!
Maynard Otsito > \o/
Maynard Otsito > the power of the frig
Maynard Otsito > (s)

The power of the frig(s) indeed! The Hyperion exploded in a large brilliant flash of light as it's wreck floated in space.



Now pirates being pirates, I decided to scavenge the wreck for the good loot and get out of there! The gang had captured the pod and after they killed him I managed to snag the corpse as well, and warped to a safe! Now that the Hyperion was gone I didn't wanna linger in the belt, no offense to the cavalry! I thanked the fellas for their helping hand and docked up.

Now even though that was the only kill of the roam, it was well worth it and a lot of fun. I looked at the killmail and was glad I called for backup because there was no way I would've broke the Hyperion's tank by myself! I thought about what just happened and brought me back to what I realized recently, that it's about relationships and the people in New Eden. No game out there like EVE, and there's no pvp like EVE!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Back to the Basics

First off, we have a couple former Prospects that have become fully patched members and earned their Black Jackets! Warms my heart to know we're not alone in our simple desire to cause explosions in New Eden.
                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Astero Pirate.
 Nyar Darkfire. Since he joined our merry bunch he's been out there flying around and looking for fights. His trademark is the Astero, as he'll be exploring and when the opportunity presents itself .. tackles an unsuspecting explorer or lonely frig in a plex! His fervor and willingness to fight fits perfectly with one of the Black Jacket .. erm .. pillars I guess you can say.

"We have no skillpoint or skillset requirements, all we require is a good attitude and a willingness to cause explosions be it the enemy or yourself."


Obidiah Kane. Scarface! Him and his Firetail have been fighting the good fight in Metropolis and Heimatar, spreading the pew pew to anyone willing and able to exchange with him. Although it's a bit difficult to understand his English accent on comms (but it sounds badass!) he's a chill n eager dude. Glad to have both of ya'll with us!

So recently I've been doing what I usually do, flying around in my Rifter looking for the good fights. For a little bit I was losing focus on why I play EVE the way I do. I was logging in less, and the times I did log in I would get bored after a few minutes. I felt as if I was forcing myself to undock and get out there and explode ships. A small case of the infamous "burnout". I was disheartened. Burnout?? I've only been playing for a year! How is this possible! I thought about it, the possible causes. Perhaps it was because I spent very little time in high sec and jumped right into low sec since I stumbled upon Black Rebel Rifter Club and never looked back. Solo and very small gang pvp has been my play style since then. I've done exploration on the side when I needed isk to keep the Rifters coming in, but other than that that's it (a lot of "th" words in this sentence). Another reason, I realized I made a serious SERIOUS mistake. I began to keep track of my kills and losses on my roams. That is something that will quickly end the fun of pvp and bring misery and frustration.

A few days ago, as I was thinking about all this, I decided to return back to my roots. Back to Adirain! It was late so it wasn't very busy, but there were people going to and fro. My memory of what transpired is hazy, since I didn't record anything and the footage helps me greatly with sharing what happened. So bear with me! I entered Murethand, only a couple people in system. I warp to my safe and began scanning around looking for signs of life. D-Scan reveals a Rifter out n about in space. I always get excited when I see another one of these baby's in space, so I began to narrow it down. I check the plex's, nothing. Hmmm. Check the belts! Sure enough the Rifter was on scan towards a cluster of belts. I warp to the planet and scan each belt until I find him. I land on grid everything overheated and ready to bring the pain. The Rifter was about 30 something kilometers away working on a lone NPC battleship. Ratting in a Rifter! I burn towards him expecting him to warp off before I get close. I click the "Look At" button to zoom in on him, not to check his weapons, but if he's within distance and the Look At button isn't zooming in, then it means he's about to warp off. Well I wasn't zooming in, and I was 24km away ... but the asteroids were preventing him from building enough acceleration to activate the warp drive! I smiled and giggled in glee as I got closer, now at 15km. It was like watching some kind of trapped animal struggling to escape. The Rifter bounced from one large asteroid to the other as I locked him up, webbed and scrammed him, and destroyed his ship. He didn't even fight back until he was in deep armor. His pod encountered the same problem. I locked up the battleship to see how far he got with it, and it was in deep armor already bleeding into hull. I decided to finish off the battleship, so for about 10 minutes I sat there in the belt ratting. As the NPC enters deep hull, I notice someone enter local. To my pleasant surprise it was the Rifter pilot from earlier. I wait in the belt and spam D-Scan. Unnamed Destroyer *smiles* He wanted some payback! The Thrasher landed about 50km off the belt, and I flew up to get out of the entanglement of the 'roids. The destroyer was motionless, probably expecting me to warp off. I zoomed in on him to eyeball his weapons, and saw he had artillery fitted. I smiled again. Plan was simple, use my speed to get under his guns, hold a close orbit, and fire away. We burned towards each other, at 25km I overheated my afterburner and targeted the Thrasher. He got off one volley damaging my shields but soon after I was in brawling range firing away at his destroyer. Each hit of his was missing as my Rifter was too fast. Soon after, his Thrasher met the same fate. As did his pod.

This event reminded me of why I play the way I do. It was nothing blingy or over the top. But it was a simple story of one pilot who suffered a loss and wanted revenge, bringing a bigger ship to achieve it. It was a player driven small scale drama, an interaction of different wills and goals that culminated in explosions in an asteroid belt. The days that followed this showdown, the "burnout" was beginning to fade slowly but surely. I wasn't sitting in the station, I wasn't forcing myself to undock. I doubled up with corp mates on roams, which broke the monotony of solo pvp. It was the people, and the relationships that brought me out of the funk and guided me back to my style of EVE.

"...a good attitude and a willingness to cause explosions be it the enemy or yourself."