I Am A Camera (Drone)

Come to think of it...

2008-11-01T10:02:00.005Z

Amarr rookie ship
Originally uploaded by Vestik Malice

...the Amarr rookie ship ain't half bad either!

The simple things in life

2008-11-01T10:02:00.001Z

A Gallente Shuttle
Originally uploaded by Vestik Malice

I'm doing a bit of housekeeping today, such as relocating jump clones a lot closer to where I live these days.

I'm auto-piloting around in a shuttle, and I realised, I think the Gallente shuttle is probably one of my favourite-looking ships in the game.

There's something about it I find really appealing, but its simplicity and clean lines are lovely.

So nothing else profound or interesting for now... just something nice and simple.

Who Guards The Guardian?

2008-10-26T09:35:00.003Z

Four ships went to war...
Originally uploaded by Vestik Malice

The short answer: no one. Whoops.

I've moved over to the Corporation representing the combat arm of our Industrial alliance, and have been thoroughly enjoying getting into group missioning.

We've been war-decced, again, but the corp in question haven't been seen around much, certainly when I've been online. A corp-mate & I made runs over to Eve Uni HQ in Korsiki and back, in order to move my PvP ships back to our base of operations (2 x Tristram frigate tacklers, and Vexor and a Myrmidon) so I could scramble quickly if needs be. But with that done, a constant eye on local, and a number of Cov Ops pilots scouting around the region, we commenced a few Level IV missions.

You can see most of our gang in the photo; Abbadon, Armageddon, Caldari Navy Raven, Vestik in his Dominix, and (out of shot), Brother Venkat in The Gruniad.

Now our CNR pilot has a cap-stable shield tank that can just run and run, Venkat was a little less in demand for cap. Though during Blockade his armour repping came into its own as each successive new wave of rats aggro'd (without fail) one of our DPS ships and not the CNR or Domi tanks.

Why I didn't think that, with the Abbadon warped out to pick up ammo (for the CNR), it might be some other poor suckers turn for aggo and get The Gruniad out of the way, I don't know.

I've learnt ANOTHER expensive lesson (after all, every ship lost in EVE is a lesson learnt, I find), which is that there's no shame in making Brother Venkat run like a little girl at the first sign of trouble... or even, just get him out of there until aggro has been pulled by appropriately tanked ships.

So yes, my lovely new Guardian buckeld under overwhelming force, enemies ripping through his shield, armour and hull like a hot knife through butter, and reducing me to a smoking pod in an impressively short time. Curses.

I turned the fleet chat channel blue for a few minutes (a practive strongly discouraged in our Alliance chat), but simply stuck Venkat in a shuttle to Jita on autopilot and carried on with the mission.

Thanks to the generosity of my fleet, who all made donations to the cause, The Gruniad II made his way back to the fray another mission or two down.

Looking forward to another day of the same.... I hope our enemies of war are as dormant today as they were yesterday. That said, would be quite fun to have a little PvP to spice things up.....

VM

“The Engine’s Overheating – and SO AM I!”

2008-10-20T14:03:00.003+01:00

In tonight’s episode... we learn about the merits of using Leadership skills properly. Vestik takes some lessons in the benefits of being in command (and wonders if anyone will spot the significance of the Battle of Britain reference....)

With my newfound Logistical capabilities, I’m fully back in the swing of mission running. It comes at a great time, as my industrial Corp has now founded a combat oriented sister-corp which I am transitioning over to, which gives me exactly what I want after not being entirely sure I was in the right place.

I still spend time soloing; enjoyed knocking through a good few Level IVs yesterday... until I ran into a bit of a problem.

I’d cleared wave after wave of enemy frigates, cruisers and battleships. Brother Venkat had been kept on his toes, warping in and out as new spawns would often aggro him while Vestik and the drones played a war of attrition with the remaining Battleships’ shield tanks. Despite a few near things, all was going swimmingly – until the FINAL Battleship spawn.

The last 2 or 3 were really tough... but with Logstics support, taking a long time to slowly wear down their shields wasn't a problem as I had constant armour repping. But this last nut wasn’t cracking. I was orbiting at optimum range for my (admittedly measly) railguns, and had my full flight of Hammerhead IIs pounding on him. But try as I might, his shield repair rate kept pace with the entire weight if my DPS. As it was now one-on-one, I considered switching out Brother Venkat’s Guardian for a frig, just to tip the balance in my favour... but his nearest spare ship was some 16 or so jumps away in Jita.

Obviously, I need to pack a bit more DPS punch. Vestik has a solid tank, and strong Drones skills, but I was rueing the length of time it is going to take me to get to Ogre IIs.

Not being able to think of anything I could do to squeeze any additional DPS out of my setup, and reluctant to just give in after about 45 mins of play on this mission, I decided to call in the cavalry and put out an APB to my corp mates.

Within a few minutes, I’d added one of our senior combat pilots to my fleet... and without ever firing a shot or even having warped in to my position, I’d cracked the tank and had the guy down through armour, structure, and then little pieces of battleship dust.

How? Well, in two short minutes, he showed me what I could have been doing for myself all along. I’ve actually gone to the trouble of training Leadership V - which gives me boosts to being a Squadron Leader. However, whenever I create a fleet for myself and Brother Venkat, I just sit in the default position of Fleet Commander. I had no idea (until then), that by moving myself down the command chain to Squadron Leader, and assigning myself the boost position, I would be getting the boosts I always assumed I had. So just by having someone with the appropriate skills in the appropriate Fleet slot, I was able to finish off the Battleship and the mission.

With that extremely useful piece of knowledge in the bank, I had a great time for the rest of the evening. Quickly got into my first corp fleet missioning for a long while - which was awesome. Brother Venkat’s cap transfer and armour repair capabilities suddenly became EXTREMELY popular amongst my Corp mates – with only a relatively modest fleet, and Brother Venkat capping our Navy-issue Raven’s shield tank, we bashed through World’s Collide faster than I’ve ever done it.

So my big learning of the day was making sure I'm placing myself in the right position in a Fleet, based on what my actual Leadership skills will give to the fleet! Not that having Ogre IIs wouldn't have sorted out that pesky Battleship *much* faster anyway.... Train on, Vestik, train on!

In Profile: Colonel Roc Wieler

2008-10-19T16:21:00.003+01:00

Members of the EVE Blog Pack are going to be coordinating and posting profiles of the members over the course of the coming weeks and months, as part of an effort to cross-polinate between our blogs!

Here is the first profile.

Name/Handle: Colonel Roc Wieler

Blog URL: Roc's Ramblings at http://everamblings.wordpress.com

Faction: Minmatar Republic

Started EVE: 2006

What brought me here:
My love for science fiction has been something inspired in me since I first Star Wars at the theatre as a kid. I loved the richness of the mythology, the vastness of the universe; the true sense of wonder. So naturally, I played Star Wars Galaxies the day it came out. Played dedicated for five years. The last two years though, I noticed the game was continually being dumbed down. I hate dumbed down. I enjoy depth. Someone mentioned EVE Online to me, and well, been here ever since. Even gave up Star Wars for it, my childhood love.

Playstyle:
I am a Fleet Commander for the Tribal Liberation Force, as well as recently promoted to Fleet Commander in my corp, Freeform Industries. I do missions every now and then, but my real passion is the market. Both my alts are out of the box traders, and I really enjoy the cutthroat nature of doing business. I've never mined, never even opened research or industry, and have never managed a corp. One step at a time.

What keeps me playing:
Ironically, there are two things. The first is that you don't need to be here 23/7 for fear of missing out on some huge event. That flexibility combined with real time skill training (as opposed to mindless grinding) makes it great for me. During the week, I'm a casual player, and that's just fine. The second reason I've already mentioned indirectly. Depth. Vastness. Mythology. EVE Online is so comprehensive that I am STILL catching up on my reading, just to absorb myself deeper into this universe we call home.

What I write:
My personal blog is all in character (with occasional exception). My approach to writing is a little different than most I am told. I tend to merge real life happenings with ingame happenings, with a bit of complete fantasy mixed in to throw you off. So far, it's been fun. I am also a columnist over at http://www.eve-mag.com and hope to also get an article or two into EON Magazine. That would be something.

Other Interests:
I am also a co-developer for Capsuleer, the definitive iPhone application for EVE Online. I enjoy making 3D wallpapers as well, and have contributed some to the EVE Online galleries.

What you should know about EVE:
It's intimidating when you start; overwhelming actually. It's like learning a new Operating System and learning how to live in a completely new universe all at the same time. But stick with it, seriously. The rewards are worth it.

Just when I thought I was out...

2008-10-11T11:39:00.007+01:00

The Grauniad
Originally uploaded by Vestik Malice

Merrily repping my Domi
Originally uploaded by Vestik Malice

...it pulls me back in!

This is a really brief post, as I'm heading out of the door to a wedding in less than 5 minutes... but I'm happy to report I'm back in the game.

What's done it, is that Brother Venkat has finally finished the long run of skills he needed to flying a fully-fitted Amar logistics ship. I took The Grauniad (Private Eye readers will get that one...) out this morning for her maiden voyage, to support Vestik's Domi soloing Level IVs. my first solo Level IVs, and I felt unassailable! (Bear in mind I was only in Empire, though!) It was awesome fun, and I'm looking forward to much more. Ah, good old EVE, thanks for having me back.

VM

P.S. I don't suppose anyone knows why, when I blog a photo from Flickr, the blog here doesn't know the full photo? Make nicely cropped photos (like the square one of the Guardian above) off-centre. It bugs me!

The Seven Month Itch

2008-09-25T12:47:00.005+01:00

When I finally got into playing EVE beyond just the trial period (yes, I had a couple of early false starts!), I started a voracious consumption of EVE related podcasts and community blogs. In those august organs, I remember much being made of the concept of a “Severn Month Itch”, which many players seemed to experience. This seventh month was a point where some players felt they had fallen into rut, or were just feeling vaguely dissatisfied with the game. Strategies were talked about to get through this, and it was generally agreed that those who managed to push through that barrier continued to enjoy a long and satisfying EVE career.

I guess that was all about, well, seven months ago.

I do feel I’ve hit a bit of a wall, for a number of factors. Firstly, EVE doesn’t seem to suit my available playing time. To some extent, I’m the victim of my own success: I am just at the point where I can solo Level IV missions, but many of them are not exactly suited to dropping in and playing for an hour or so and then logging off. Especially as flying solo, I need to warp in and out a few times still to get through the mission.

Secondly, and again, perhaps an issue of my own making, I’ve not had the incentive of new skills being completed and new things to play with for a while. I set Vestik going on Battleships V, because I really want a Marauder class ship. That’s meant that haven’t had anything particularly exciting to look forward to on a more regular basis; no new modules to fit or fittings to play with.

I took an economically driven decision and consolidated Li Ran and Brother Venkat into a single account, which means I’m only training one of them at a time. I felt this was the right thing to do as Li Ran can happily mine in a Hulk, and now has a Cov Ops cloaked Buzzard for me to use to scout in. Though I’m sure I’ll want to dabble in Exploration and Production at some point (Li Ran’s main purpose in life), neither sufficiently piqued my interest recently to drive me to play with him. However, Brother Venkat is getting ready to fly Logistics for me, thus really increasing my Lvl IV soloing capabilities. But again, I’ve had some long skills to train to get up there, with Long Range Targetting V, Signal Analysis V, and Amarr Cruiser IV taking their toll.

Not having the mini-dings of new skills regularly ticking over, has meant I’ve been able to put EVE on a mental back burner and not think about it much over the last month. Prior to that, when I was working in Hong Kong, even though I wasn’t able to actually log on and play much, I kept myself interested by logging more time on EVE Mon and the EVE Fitting Tool than I did in-game, creating skill plans and just logging for changing skills. Even that I found fulfilling and compelling, which I guess is one of the appeals to a certain type of us who play the game!

So I am definitely not totally EVE focussed at the moment. I know what is going to bring me back in, though, and that is when Brother Venkat can fly his shiny new Guardian out of Jita and down to my normal mission running neck of the woods. I’ve got the ship and the full complement of fittings sitting in my hangar and ready to go. Thats still a good couple of few weeks away by my reckoning though.

In the mean time, I’m dipping my toe in other pools....

Coming very late to the Guild Wars party, I’ve been running around for a day or two having achieved the mighty stature of Level 4 over the weekend. I’ve got a friend who’s played consistently for years who I'm looking forward to playing with, and I’m really keen on the idea of joining Van Hemlock’s Tuesday Noob Club. I want to play solo for a while, though, to get familiar enough with the game to not totally embarrass myself with utter noobiness when I tap him up online.

And I’m going down to Games Workshop on Sunday with a friend to buy the Warhammer 40k Assault on Black Reach box. Yes, tabletop, here I come! My friend used to play when he was a kid, and has been really enthusiastic since I confessed to always wanting to give tabletop a try. He’s under very strict instructions from his wife, though, and is only allowed to play provided certain rules are met. This is the rule set he sent me:

1) it doesn't take over my life.
2) I don't fill the house with even more crap as a consequence of "yet another one of my stupid whims" (this was said after I also suggested I might buy a BMX...)
3) I don't spend all of my money on small bits of plastic

Well, I think we’ll pretty much ignore all of that then!!

Anyway, I’ll keep you updated on my EVE state of mind, and as soon as I’m logistics-capable, expect great tales of Epic fails as I learn to juggle Level IVs with two accounts!

Long skills & a flashlight

2008-08-29T08:44:00.002+01:00

I'm mid-way through a vacation, far from the madding crowds and all that, camping in a field in Cornwall. Its great to be away from all the stresses of work... and detoxing from The Internet and all its evils!

Despite being away, I still feel positive things are being accomplished in EVE, as all 3 characters have long skills on. Unforunately, Li Ran didn't have anything specifically in his skill plan, so I've just picked a useful Level V to run. Vestik and Brother Venkat both have long spaceship commands to get through. That said, though it feels like I'm away for a long time, Vestik will only be about a third through Battleships V when I get back!

I've also got The Empyrean Age novel with me. I started reading it a month or so ago, and though its probably completely heretical to say so, I haven't been terribly impressed with it so far. I'm enjoying the fact that I'm learning some EVE lore - but I'm not enjoying the writing style at all, and the plot hasn't been compelling enough to pull me through that. I know I can be a bit of a literary snob (an understandable side-effect of having done an English Literature degree), and though I don't read much SF, when I do, I read Iain M Banks, William Gibson, Neil Stephenson and the like (those last two arguably more cyber-punk than SF). Those boys set the bar high - and I'm struggling to maintain interest in the EVE novel as a result. However, I'm determined to give it the benefit of the doubt and follow it through to conclusion - I may end up more enthused by the plot, which would make up for the clunkiness of the prose.

Got a few EVE podcasts locked and loaded in the iPod too - including my new-found favourite games podcast which is Van Hemlock & Jon. Its a wide-ranging MMO podcast. They both play EVE, but as one-among-many of their games. I've only played one at a time - and don't have a particularly long history (DAoC for 9 months then a long break, WoW for about 3 months then probably 2 years break before I stared playing EVE). However, despite the fact I discovered them through EVE-related material, I'm really enjoying their show. Its interesting, amusing, and is making me tempted to dabble a little more with another MMO (though certainly not to mimic Van Hemlock's Herculean efforts!). Actually, I've been trying to groom my squash partner into getting into MMOs. Unfortunately, he is too fantasy-oriented to want to play EVE (so far - I figure its a slippery slope once he gets started, and EVE might be inevitable!). I've tried tempting him with ideas of Age of Conan.... and I think he likes the idea and can get some wife-approved game time blocked out in his diary! However, as the night wore on, I discovered that he'd been a table-top Warhammer 40k gamer when he was a teenager, and has been hankering after that again. I've never played table-top games - but I'm strangely attracted to the idea, and might do a bit of research to see what I think. 90% of my gaming friends are console gamers, and look askance at my MMO ways as it is. I don't even want to think about admitting an interest in table-top games to them - I'm convinced they'll just see that as the slippery slope to LARP and changing my name to Elrond at the weekends!

Anyway, time to go and enjoy the rare moments of sunshine afforded me by the British countryside. Next time I post, I shall no doubt be back in the Stygian gloom of my study reporting on more EVE-related shenanigans.

Goodbye until then.

Now You See Me.... (and will continue to do so until I've trained for a cloaking device!)

2008-08-20T06:09:00.002+01:00

Buzzard, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

My EVE activity over the past few weeks has mainly consisted of managing skills, and running the occasional solo mission. Despite not having logged much game time (I’ve been working long hours in the office where I can’t connect EVE, probably a good thing!), I’ve had access to EVE Mon and the Ship Fitting Tool. When I want some office down-time, I’ve been planning and setting myself some targets to achieve.... and then managing the skills training morning and night.

I’m really pleased with how that is going!

1) Li Ran can now fly a Buzzard. I’ve picked one up in Jita and made the maiden voyage home - and I’m really pleasantly surprised how cool it looks! Reminiscent of the Imperial Shuttles in Jedi. I’ve got a Covert Ops Cloaking Device in the hold, which I’m still training for, and then I’m going to do all the Astrometrics skills to enable Exploration. Looking forward to trying that in a few weeks time.

2) Brother Venkat will shortly be in a Guardian, with Tech II armour repping and cap transfer. I’ve even been impatient enough to buy the ship and the fittings, though it is still going to be a while before I can get him in there. When I’m back home and on my PC/broadband combo (rather than the laptop and crappy hotel wifi connection), I’m looking forward to having him fly support for Ves while I give soloing level IV missions a go. Should be fun!

3) Vestik is now training for a Kronos. I’ve just set Battleships V going which will be 40 days – ouch! And right now, I’ve got no idea how I’ll be able to afford one. But I’ve been flying the Dominix for a long time now, training up Drones, and I think he’s due a change. I was thinking of training for an Assault Frig, or HAC, but I’ve decided I enjoy solo mission running (certainly at the moment it suits my unpredictable playing times) and want to be able to do it Marauder style! Need to spend ages on gunnery skills too as all of Vestik’s DPS is in the trusty Drones, and I want to get some more punch from my rails.

So tomorrow I leave Hong Kong for good, returning to a new job in London. Will be setting some long skills for Li Ran and Brother Venkat (as well as Venkat’s 40 dayer) as I’ve got 2 weeks holiday where I’m going away and not planning on using any technology more advanced than a camping stove and an electric toothbrush. Well, maybe my iPod.

But then, back with a vengeance, and looking forward to getting back into a normal working life & playing time rhythm!

VM

EVE Online Blog Pack

2008-07-23T01:40:00.005+01:00

Preeminent EVE blogger and Drone Bay podcaster CrazyKinux has started the ball rolling on the EVE Online Blog Pack.

The intention of this is a one-stop-shop for all your EVE blogging needs... from humble scratchings such as these, to people who *really* know what they're talking about like CK, Crovan, and Winterblink.

My Camera Drones and I are chuffed to conkers to be included in the pack. Here are some of the people we're rubbing shoulders with!

· A Mule in EVE, by Manasi
· Articulated Sky, by Godlesswanderer
· Bitter Old Noob, by Crovan
· Caldari Navy Ibis, by Mertannia
· CrazyKinux's Musing, by Crazy Kinux <-- Just added
· Derekest's Blog, by Derekest
· Drawing Aggro, by FuriousMallard
· EVE Newb, by Spectre
· EVE’s Weekend Warrior, Tony
· EVE-Pirate.com, by Ander & co.
· Flashfresh - A Pirate, by Flashfresh
· I am a Camera Drone, by Vestik Malice
· Lady in Space, by Bri
· Morphisat's Blog, by Morphisat
· Nuyan's Hangout, by Nuyan
· Ombeve, by Ombey
· One Man And His Ship, by Karox Lomiax
· Postings from the Edge, by Zapatero
· The Ancient Gaming Noob, by Wilhelm2451
· The Littlest Drone, by Alsedrech
· Votrian's EVE Blog, by Votrian
· Warp Drive Active, by Winterblink
· Winterblink, by Winterblink

Check back to CK's original Blog Pack posting (linked above) for the authoritative list - and I'll update this post with the EVE Online Blog Pack Google Reader Clip when it becomes available.

[UPDATE - 23 July 2008]: CK finally remembered to add his own blog to the Pack!

Cannon Fodder

2008-07-22T10:58:00.009+01:00

Kapow! (1, 2 & 3), uploaded by Vestik Malice.

My trusty camera drones captured this scene - clearly recognisable to any EVE Mission Runners, determined to blow the shit out of any structure in sight as well as all the NPC rats.

Unfortunately, not much later that day, it was the trusty L'Escargo (my Gallente Dominix class battleship) providing the explosive jollies for a group of 0.3 sec gate campers.

Yes folks, its been a bad week for Vestik - and really all due to my own complacency or foolishness.

I'd decided to make a move out into Gallente space for a while and run some Federation Intelligence missions there. With my waypoint settings confidently set on "shortest" as opposed to "safest" route, I started the 19 or so jumps out to Gallente Space. Having perhaps gotten slightly overconfident (you think?) I didn't think twice about the route through 0.3 space, and I blitheley clicked closed the extremely clear warnings about what I could expect.

A few jumps into lowsec, in Tannolen (0.3), and I hit (what I realise now) was the inevitable gate camp.

They pwned me completely.... but seeing as I was set upon by a fleet consisting of pilots from Death's Legioin and Surge in 2 x Megathrons (Gallente battleship), an Abaddon (Amarr battleship), a Sacriledge (Amarr HAC), a Hurricane (Minmitar battlecruiser), a Zealot (Amarr HAC), a Phobos (Gallente heavy interdictor), and a Scorpion (Caldari battleship) that is really no surprise.

I've got no real experience of low sec, and spending all my time in High sec for the past 3 - 4 montsh, I've got completely bloody complacent!!

Frankly, I see the cost of replacing and refitting the Domi as just deserts, a richly deserved lesson, and a much needed wake-up call.

I'm still toying with the idea of getting into Faction warfare soon (I'm setting myself the goal of waiting until I'm working back in the UK), and when I join up, I'll have thousands of pilots I'm at war with out for me, not just the odd well organised and highly efficient gate camp. So a "wake up and smell the coffee" moment like that is nescessary.

So philosophical about my stupidity - and after two big lessons this week, I've hopefully learnt a couple of lessons.

No doubt I'll make a multitude of equally stupid mistakes in future... and hopefully you'll be here to laugh at them with me.

The only way is up, baby (or Bouncing Back from a Courier scam)

2008-07-20T11:10:00.011+01:00

The only way is up, baby, uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Today, I'm a little more jaded, a little more cynical, and a little wiser about a Courier scams in EVE. It is only thanks to an extremely generous and sympathetic Eve Uni corp-mate that I'm not considerably poorer too.

So - let me tell you about a particular wheeze I fell foul of, due to an equal measure of optimism and ignorance.

I'd trained hard. Amarr alt Brother Venkat had not only comleted the Spaceship Command skills nesecassy to fly the Bestower class Industrial ship, but he'd also invested the time and money in skilling and fitting a full complement of Tech II modules; Inertia Stabilisers to improve my align time; Warp Core Stabiliers to increase my risk of avoiding being scrambled; and Shield Extenders to stop me blowing up while I bravely ran away.

With my newly fitted Indy, I decided an ideal use would be to try my hand at running a Courier contract.

Scrolling through the available contracts in Jita, I was fairly unimpressed with the rewards on offer - until I found an extremely lucrative looking contract - 30m ISK to drop a package off to a location in 0.0, and only 10 jumps from Jita. "Excellent!" I thought.

Fully confident in the resilience of my ship, I assed the 200m ISK collateral - no doubt reasonable security against the precious, precious cargo I was being entrusted to deliver. (Alert readers may be starting to spot my first mistake?) Transferring over still what amounts to a fairly hefty portion of my main's wallet balance, I merrily entered into a legally binding contract to pony this cargo into 0.0.

The rub, as I discovered, came not with the journey itself - but with my total inability to dock at the destination station and therefore complete the mission. The light started to slowly dawn - too little, too late - as the friendly station manage responsed to my request to dock; informing me that his friend didn't like me, he didn't like me either, that I'd better watch myself because they were both wanted men, one of them having the death sentence on twelve systems. Or words to that effect.

Of course, a player-built outpost. With no docking rights for muggins the courier. The station name should have given it away like a flash - had I known or thought to check it when I accepted the contract. Until that point, and a quick paniced convo with my corp mates, I didn't even realise you could block players from a station like that.

I started to realise I'd probably been had. However, my immediate priority was getting out in one piece, as I suddently found myself being locked and scrambled. I am extremely pleased to report that my earlier investment in skills and Tech II fittings did me proud. I got away with barely a scratch from either the pilots who appeared outside the station, or the ones who jumped me at the gates on my way back to high-sec. They targetted me, fired, but I had no problems warping out.

Safely back in station, I resigned myself to an expensive lesson. With a countenance more in sorrow than in anger, I decided that rather than attempt to contact the Contract owner (a certain Franky Mouse, I believe), I would suffer the consequences of my foolishness and fail the contract. I guess I had some vain hope of opening the couriered container (which you can do when you fail the contract), and finding goods within which would in some way recompense me for the collateral outlay.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the container to discover.... 10 Gallente shuttles. Now the Gallente shuttle is a fine thing, but not in anyone's wildest dreams worth a 30m courier contract or a collateral of 200m ISK.

Despondently, and resigned to ignominy, I decided to share my fate with my Corpmates. We discussed the various possibilities, and the consensus view was, indeed, that I had been had truly and fairly. If I'd understood more about the mechanics of Player-built Outposts, or had done any research on Courier contracts, I might have realised what was in store.

After a while being sheepishly coy, I was eventually persuaded to share the financial extent of my foolishness. Thelmaren immediately deposited 200m ISK into my wallet, cancelling out my idiocy. Themlaren, I'm utterly grateful. It was unexpected, and extremely kind of you to do that. Thank you.

So as I said at the top of the post, I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and a LOT more cynical!

Here are the things I'll consider if I ever try and run a Courier Contract again:

1. What is the destination station? It wasn't the low sec or 0.0 status that was an issue - but is it an NPC station, or player built outpost? If its the latter... maybe get an alt out there and try and dock first?

2. Can I afford to loose the Contract collateral? No matter how confident I am in future, I'll only outlay what I can genuinely afford to loose. I won't be lucky enought to have someone like Thelmaren around to bail me out in future.

3. Always look both ways before crossing the street.

Wiser, jaded,

Vestik

Enjoying the quiet life.

2008-07-14T14:39:00.006+01:00

Bestower over Korsiki VII, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

I'm enjoying the solitary pleasures of EVE at the moment. Less playing, more planning, organising. I've barely been out of station with any of my characters in the last week - but I've spent a considerable amount of time on EVEMon and the Eve Fitting Tool, thinking about what my different alts are going to be doing.

Vestik is going to continue to be my combat main, and the focus for the next few months is DPS for drones and gunnery. I'm training Drone Interfacing V at the moment - a lengthy 24 days skill, but with the final 20% damage increase to combat drones, absolutely worth it for a Gallente drone-boat pilot.

Li Ran is on the last few skills to fit the Hulk I so recently accquired for maximum mining efficiency. But I've spent the past few days looking into new things to try in the game, so I've earmarked Li Ran to be my Explorer. I've built a Covert Ops and Astrometrics based plan for him.

Brother Venkat, my Amarrian trade alt, is making himself useful in other ways. I've decided I definately want to invest some time and energy into exploring trading as something to do - it seems to suit my very solo-oriented play at the moment. So Brother Venkat is the proud owner of a new Bestower (hovering menacingly over Korsikii VII in the camera drone's shot, above), and so over the coming weeks I plan on experimenting with hauler trading, and maybe even contract hauling.

I've also set Venkat up with a plan for logistics. I haven't been mission running with Vestik at all recently, but when I get back into it, I like the idea of having Venkat logged in cap transferring and armour repping me through solo Level IVs (if I eventually gain the standing with the local NPC corps to the EVE Uni to be able to pull them).

So that's what I've been doing. Its planning rather than playing, but it has been suiting me fine, and right now is just as satisfying as any pew pew pew action. I *do* want to get more time logged with the EUni PvP tutors, with an eye, eventually, on Faction Warfare. But with my current work/life (im)balance, I'm quite happy just pottering round my planning tools and a few spreadsheets.

[Update: Edward Everett Hale said: "If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough." I don't know who he is, but I found it on the Interweb and thought it apposite.]

Fleet Commander Vestik

2008-07-09T16:48:00.004+01:00

Gallente Shuttle lens flare, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

The most significant changes to my life in New Eden over the past month has been joining EVE University, being involved in my first ever PvP fleet missions, and having my first taste of being a PvP Fleet Commander!

The day after I joined EU, war was declared.

My first experience of war within EVE was as a week-old player in a new corporation. I ran, and hid, and it wasn’t much fun.

This time was different.

I fitted a Tech 1 frigate tackler, and joined my first PvP fleet. The thing that impressed me immediately was how highly organised EU fleets are. I had an extremely good Fleet Commander knew there were rookies in the fleet, and so explained all about travel protocols, fleet engagement, gate camping, and so on.

The next night, as I was waiting for the main EU fleet to return from a hunt, I started a fleet with the other pilots who were also waiting for them to get back. Chatting to the Fleet Commander from the previous night, I made an only semi-serious suggestion that if there were no experienced FCs available to lead the next fleet op, I’d give it a go myself. Much to my alarm, this was quickly agreed as an excellent way for me to gain experience, and communicated to the Corp as a whole.

I was incredibly nervous. I tried to pass the whole thing off to the Fleet Commander. But he insisted I would be fine, and I found myself brought into the new fleet and promoted to Fleet Commander.

It was an amazing experience. With sweaty palms, I gave my first, shaky commands and started moving the fleet gate to gate towards where we were receiving Intel about war targets. EU fleet operations also have a very disciplined approach to TeamSpeak, with a private Command channel for FCs and Intel - and this was invaluable. It enabled me to take advice from the senior Command staff, as well as discuss tactics with my scouts and Squadron Commanders, and learn how to establishing a travel and gate camping protocols, so my confidence quickly increased.

Importantly, I learned about using Forward and Rear scouts effectively. Fortunately, I had some very experienced scouts who were giving me advice on how I should use them best… but also prompting me to make my own decisions.

The Command staff were very patient with me, particularly as I know I froze up a number of times, getting confused over where we were going (an open copy of EVE Strategic Maps is ESSENTIAL I would say!), or overwhelmed with keeping track of where my scouts were, or when we broke the Squadrons up to try and chase the targets down a particular pipe.
The Alliance who declared war on EU showed no real inclination for fighting. EU spend a vast amount of time hunting, gate camping and station camping the targets. But my fleet stuck it lucky, and we got a very lucky Battleship kill on the way to the system where the head of the Alliance was in station.

I felt extremely proud of my fleet for that –and getting a kill kept everyone’s interest levels up in what must have been a 2 ½ hour op.

It was definitely my most exciting and enjoyable experience in EVE to date. By a VERY long way. I’d thoroughly recommend any newer players seek the chance to do the same thing… and joining EVE University or a similarly focused educational corp probably offers you the best opportunity to do that.

The war is now over, and I need to get back into Mission Running and gain some faction with the locals (Caldari State probably). Looking for more opportunities like that in future… I definitely think the adrenaline of PvP is where I want to be!

AWOL

2008-07-05T03:20:00.002+01:00

Whoops. 2 months without a post.

Not exactly ideal behaviour for the novice blogger.

And, for a blog which is supposed to be showcasing my EVE life through the digital eyes of my trusty camera drones, I'm not even posting a screenshot with this one.

Woeful.

I hope you'll bear with me. The last two months has been a RL whirlwind... which, , if you'll indulge me, I'll elaborate briefly as the excuse for my general lack of blogginess. I've been working in Hong Kong 3-4 weeks at a time for the past few months - but on one trip, I got a call to tell me I'd been made redundant. In my hotel room. Alone in Hong Kong. Ouch!

About 12 (rather worried) hours later, I got another call offering me consulting work for the Hong Kong client. So the last 2 months have consisted of making all arrangements to set myself up as a contractor, which I've been doing in the Hong Kong evenings (UK daytime), after my days spent getting the client project up and running. And added into the mix, I had to write a Best Man's speech to deliver at my younger brother's wedding. I can honestly say that these have been the two most stressful months of my life to date!

HOWEVER, despite all this, I have been playing EVE fairly regularly, on my laptop from my hotel room - and it has kept me SANE!!!

EVE has been a fantastically comfortable escape from the worries of RL work and money and serious stuff. Its really nice to tune out all that noise, and let my brain concentrate instead on whether I should train Heavy Drones before Leadership, how I should fit a T1 Frigate to be on War footing, what skills I need for my alt to fly a Hulk, and what the direction my live in EVE should be taking. Before take-off for the 12 hour flight from London to Hong Kong (or vice versa), my iPod is loaded with the latest episodes of things like The Drone Bay, Warp Drive Active, Shut Up We're Talking and The Addicted Gamer (as well as those of my secret fetish The Archers), which have kept me feeling connected to the community even when I haven't been playing.

I'll bring this blog up-to-date over the next week. I've made a big change Corp wise, as I've decided to log some time with EVE University. I predict I'm going to be waxing lyrical about that for a while -as even in the past week, I've had some of my best EVE experiences to date, from my first experience of PvP fleet war-target hunting one day, and the following day being coached by EVE Uni staff as I took the role of Fleet Commander and led a 25 strong fleet out into active combat and racked up my first FC kill. Nerve-wracking, but awesome, and utterly justified my decision to move from my previous Corp (where I was still having a great time with my mission running buddies).

I'm writing this from the office (its a Saturday morning, I'm hungover, but I've got lots of stuff to get done by Monday), so I can't connect to EVE to post a screen shot - but I'll be back on track with the Camera Drones very soon. I haven't attempted to run Premium graphics on my laptop, so you'll have to make do with Classic client quality photos for the time being (apart from the weeks I get spend at home in the UK).

But I'll be endeavouring to be posting on here MUCH more regularly.

VM

Twinkle Twinkle Little Tristan

2008-05-09T00:20:00.002+01:00

Mission Tristan, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

I've barely had a chance to get into EVE in the last few weeks due to a heavy influx of real world work. Such is life! And after only just getting this up and running too - a bit of a disappointment really.

I've fleeted with Corp mates everytime I've been on, so far, grinding up my faction with the local NPC corp on Lvl III and IV missions. There's a Lvl III agent in my station who requires a standing of 4.9 - and I've got up from 2.91 ro 3.93 with the minimal time I've had (training Connections III helped, and I've got IV in the pipe at about 60% done).

Of course, the great thing about EVE is that even though I haven't been able to log any real play time, I've been able to keep on top of skills. This means Li Ran is now able to fly a Retriever (which I'll post a shot of soon, not that I've had any time to mine), and Vestik is a hair's bredth away from the complete Tech II tank (only Tech II LARs to go now with Repair Systems IV) and Tech II Hammerhead drones. So *VERY* much looking forward to those, as I'll just eat through the solo Lvl II missions I'm grinding, and be ready for sollo Lvl IIIs when I hit the magic 4.9!

I had a bank holiday weekend in Glasgow (the sun came out, which apparently is a rare thing. Certainly shows the city off in an amaing light, I'm very sold on the place!) which meant a 6 hour train journey each way where I caught up on all sorts of Podcasts including all the EVE ones I subscribe to.

The Drone Bay Podcast Episode 7 struck me by the force of passion behind a Crovan-led discussion of Bacon (I guess "passion" slightly undersells Crovan's rantings!!).

When I first heard about Bacon, I thought "ooh, there's a useful tool for me". This was entirely based on my first major unexpected loss - a newly skilled to fly Myrm, cocklily solo mission running in 0.2 space, where I was scanned down and swiftly dispatched. Taught me a valuable lesson. But it made me think - "great, this Bacon thing will make my life much easier".

But listening to Crovan explain how he plays, and makes his living in EVE, opened my eyes to a whole new style of PvP gameplay. Not only was this really exciting and makes me think its an areas I'll want to explore one day (I'm sure I won't stay a Care Bear forever, sorry CK!), but it opened my eyes to how something like Bacon really does ruin it, and turns EVE (for some people) into nothing more than a background application that occasionaly beeps at you. Whats the point?

One thing it did make me thing about was how unbalanced tools like Bacon make the game. Even though the tool would make my life easier (e.g. lowsec mining with Li Ran), Crovan et al have persuaded me and I'm taking a philosophical stance (is it too much to say "ethical"?) and will not use Bacon. But obviously, this puts me at a disadvantage against players who *do* choose to use it. Not for the first time (in RL, mainly) I wonder whether taking an ethical stance is really the thing I should do, if it doesn't work in my favour. But in this case, frankly, I'd rather invest the time and concentration in the game when I'm playing it - its WHY I want to play EVE rather than just, say, surf youtube, read a book, make some music on Reason, edit photos, etc. If it makes other people's lives easier, and I get ganked when I'm mining - well, I'll die happy knowing I was at least morally right. Yeah right - I'll be bloody furious if I get blown up, and ubdoubtedly sulk like mad - but I'll be happy I'm doing the right thing!

Anyway, back to The Drone Bay -it was good to hear the guys so exercised about this. Not that the Drone bay team aren't normally passionate and excited by the game, but this really took it to another level!

A bit if a Crovan-tastic train journey I had....

I also listened to The Addicted Gamer Episode 10. I've staretd listening to The Addicted Gamer since The Drone Bay guys bumped it, and this was only the second episode I listened too. Despite Peter's warnings, I did actually listen to the whole 2 hours straight. It was awesome. Peter is a great host and interviewer, and its really good to hear someone I've gotten to know through a very specific medium (their EVE podcast), and have Peter just widen things out into the whole experience of gaming and real life. Brilliant idea for a podcast, I'm a new addict I think! One area I might have to explore more (and I'm tempted to mail Crovan about at some point) is where he talks about some of his trading tactics. I defintately want to get into this, I've heard the Don't Panic segment, read some EON articles, but really need to take some baby steps in actually having the balls to try some of this out.

Would be remiss of me not to mentino the other two podcasts I listened too: Warp Drive Active Episode 34 which gives all the gossip about whats buzzing in EVE (thats gotta sting, eh, Urban?), and WDA: Industry Episode 2 which convinced me to vote for Lavista Vista in the elections.

Anyway, in all liklihood there won't be another post for a while.... well probably no decent screenshots, as I'm off to Hong Kong, Beijing and Mumbai with work for 3 weeks. Exciting, knackering, and a right pain in the ass in terms of getting any gaming in. Got Mining Barge V at 23 days lined up for Li Ran, and Industrials V for Vestik - but I'm REALLY hoping I'll be able to connect on my laptop from the hotel room, and play on the basic client. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

Bad Moon Rising (over a Corp mining op)

2008-04-20T23:07:00.001+01:00

2008.04.20 Bad Moon Rising (over a Corp mining op), originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

As I am, for the time being, a fully signed up Care Bear, my Sunday evenings are often given over to our corporation mining missions. We put together a fairly sizeable mining fleet this evening, and with Vestik hauling in the newly fitted out Iteron IV (Keep On Truckin'), and Li Ran mining in the little Osprey, we (collectively) had a very productive time. After the Corp takes a percentage off the top, the spoils of our operations are sold to our Production division, I'll earn a good amount of ISK from that for the 2 hours or so logged with Li and Vestik mining and hauling to the Corp hangar.

I passed the time VERY enjoyably listening to The Drone Bay Podcast (formerly Hoardcast, for all you mail-box dancing Night Elf Hunters out there...) Episode 7. Listening to Crovan, Alsedrech and Crazy Kinux on The Drone Bay over the past two months I've been playing, has been one of the biggest things that has fast-tracked me from wide-eyed trial-account noob - into an increasingly obsessive EVE-geek and Drone Bay fanboy.

The EVE community-led podcasts and blogs, have been one of the most compelling things for me in deciding to take my adventures in New Eden more seriously. They are an invaluable source of knowledge and information about the game - but they're not just technical tutorials, but rather an immersion in the community and ethos of the other players of the game. They're an incredible resource - and one both the playes of the game and CCP should be deeply grateful for.

Something The Drone Bay guys have mentioned is their idea for a live streamed show. I think this is an excellent idea - but I know that my UK timezone may mean either a late night or not being able to participate fully. However, as I'm already getting really into the idea of Fan Fest - I'm wondering whether therse are ways to start lobbying CCP to showcase some of these awesome community resources at Fan Fest - namely, I'd really like to see CCP bring The Drone Bay Live to a Fan Fest session. From everything I've read about Fan Fest from the forums and past EONs, I think it would be a great fit.

I'd be utterly remiss not to mention Winterblink and Urban Mongrel's Warp Drive Active podcast at this stage too. I passed a number of 10 hour flights to Beijing and back early in my EVE career, listening to their entire back catalogue. I blew beer out of my nose trying not to laugh out loud lsitening to the story of Urban's iPood, and as for their renditions of Abbot & Costello's "Who's in First Fleet?" sketch - unmissable!

Community-led activity like this, and the various other well-esablished blogs in whose footsteps I'm humbly treading, is what has REALLY made this game for me over the first few months. I doubt, at this stage in my career, I could come close to brining any real insight of useful information to a new player - but perhaps, this will server as a visually enticing introduction to the world which has captivated me very quickly. And for the *real* experts - check out the links to the right of this blog: HERE ---->

Can collection

2008-04-20T22:37:00.001+01:00

2008.04.20 Can collection, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Vestik's Iteron swinging in to collect Li Ran's can.

Corp Mining Op in full swing

2008-04-20T22:36:00.003+01:00

2008.04.20 Mining Op in full swing, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

A quick Level IV...

2008-04-20T22:36:00.001+01:00

2008.04.20 Palas II - Royal Khanid Navy Assembly Plant, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

After the mining operation, which lasted for about 2 hours, we headed to a local Level 4 mission hub.

Unfortunately, due to needing an early start for work tomorrow (boo), and having to catch up with sleep from a busy weekend, I only stayed for the first mission - The Score, versus Sansh Pirates.

We had a good mix of newer and more experienced pilots - and we ate through the 3 rooms really quickly! I was tempted to stay for more at that point, but I wanted to at least choose some screens and post them before bed. I'm quite confident I've got the makings of a solid armor tank - and I'm looking forward to taking the lead tank role on a Lvl 4 in the not too distant future. I think soloing them will be quite a way off - especially considering my standing with the Royal Khanid Navy means I've only just started being able to get Level 2 missions!

Punisher leap-frogging an Abbadon

2008-04-20T22:29:00.003+01:00

2008.04.20 Punisher leapfrogging an Abbadon, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Sansha pirate

2008-04-20T22:29:00.001+01:00

2008.04.20 Sansha pirate, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Keep on Truckin' in Kor-Azor

2008-04-20T13:15:00.002+01:00

2008.04.20 Iteron IV warping (ii), originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Having just completed my Gallente Industrial skill training to level IV, this was the first run out in one of my two Iteron IV Industrial ships, to collect my various giant secure containers, cargo expander IIs, warp core stabiliers, after burners and such I intend to fit them with.

I'm going to fit out two ships:

Keep On Truckin'
This will be the high-sec hauler for when Li Ran is mining. Its going to be fitted for cargo hold volume, and speed (Nanofiber Internal Structure and after burners) - to maximise effeciency for hauling in relative safety in my home region.

The Eddie Stobart
This is going to be fitted with security in mind. Initially, I'm loading with Warp Core Stabiliser Is - but as soon as I've finished my Warp Drive Operation skill training I'll upgrade them to Tech II modules. The Eddie Stobart is going to be used if I start to brave the perils of Low Sec for mining ops or trade runs.

Keep On Truckin'

2008-04-20T13:14:00.001+01:00

2008.04.20 Iteron IV warping (i), originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

Li Ran's Caracal in Kizama

2008-04-20T12:45:00.003+01:00

2008.04.18 Caracal in Kizama, originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

I have a Caldari alt called Li Ran. Li is eventually going to be an Industrialist, but is starting from humble beginnings as a miner.

Having grown frustrated with the appaling tax levies made on me for reprocessing ore at my home station, I decided I really needed to beef up Li's standings with the local NPC corp - and more than just fleeting him into Vestik's missions.

To that end, I went out and bought Li (who normally mines peacably in an Osprey), his first offensive ship - the Caldari, Caracal-class Cruiser. Then, having researched the optimum fitting based on my skills, I spent a good amount of time running around the surounding systems buying the modules I needed at the best prices.

Here's Li, warping in Kizama, going to pick up my 'Arbalest' Assalt Missile launchers.

And we're off...

2008-04-20T12:36:00.001+01:00

And we're off..., originally uploaded by Vestik Malice.

This is the start of my Eve Online photo blog. I'm a very new pilot (less than 3 months old at the time of writing this), and this photo blog is intended to chronicle... well, whatever it is I end up getting up to in New Eden over the next few months.

This is Omar's Coming II, my trusy Myrmidon-class Gallente Battlecruiser. This is my main mission-running combat ship. Its set up as an armor tank - I've trained up for and fitted Tech II hardeners, but I'm still working on the skills for Tech II armour repair modules. Omar II is a drone boat - again, I'm still only using tech I drones, but they're on my (un-endingly long!) skill plan at the moment.

Omar's Coming I was scanned down and killed while mission running solo in a Low Sec system in Molden Heath. An early lesson in basic safety proceedures - I'd gotten way too cocky for a Noob, having been pootling round in Low Sec for a few days without having run into any trouble.