Sunday, June 24, 2012

Been a Long Time


Its been a very, very long time my friends. As I sat on the undock of Kourm V and camped LNA in one of their home stations I could not help but smile. Will this be a sign of this to come? Was it a one night deal? I don't know but it was sure fun as hell!

The night started out asking around seeing who was doing what. Strayshot was leading a plexing fleet so I decided to put up a roam. Nano Battle Cruisers down was the order of the day. Most nights we get around 10-15 pilots. We do our “elite gorilla pvp” and roam and have fun. I was surprised to see the numbers I was getting. More and more kept joining and soon we were pushing 30 people in fleet.

We roamed around looking for anything to kill. It seemed every Minmatar we could find was running for their life to avoid our BC blob of doom. Hmm, so that’s how it feels to be on the other side of the blob. After some looking we found a Goon Swarm fleet in Egg but since we had just taken a little break it was taking some time to rally the troops again.

The Minmatar also found the Goons and were headed their way. We decided to let them start hacking into each other then crash both their parties. The goons were in RR Domies with a few other BS/BC. The minnies where in mixed BC mostly. Once the Minnies jumped into Amamake we jumped Auga and headed to the gate.

Once the fight was confirmed top belt Amamake I jumped us in and we warped to 0 of the belt. The Minmatar had been kiting the RR Domies and were about 50k off us when we landed. I called for the fleet to burn into them and spread points. I was rather surprised to see a Vaga burn right into my fleet. It died in a fire. Ok we will take that. We pointed everything we could and Fweddit's Arty Thrasher fleet landed on field. Lots of stuff died and we took no losses. Amarr Victor! Er Big Plays!!!

After waiting out our GCC timer we roamed around looking for anything to kill. We got word LNA had a gate camp in Kourm on Kamela gate so we decided to break that up. They ran. Our scouts informed me they warped to Kourm V. I sent Kato in a cane to see if they wanted to play but they would not red box him. Once the fleet landed they docked.

“So guys want to camp them in?” “Hell yes!” was the response from the fleet. Camping LNA in their home station on a Saturday night. If you told me a month ago we would be doing that I would have never believed it. Local was full of scams and Susan Black quotes. It was good. We decided to call it a night and headed to Kam to dock up.

LNA started to come back out but we were losing a lot of people. Sorry LNA I'm not that dumb. They had seen our fleet comp for over an hour and we were losing a lot of people. If they wanted to fight now its because they had an ace up their sleeve.

I enjoyed last night. We only got one real fight and it was pretty one sided but that's not the point. Amarr worked together very well. Many different corps and Alliances working together in the proper ships to control the entire war zone. I hope we can do this again from time to time.

Friday, June 22, 2012

An Apology



I know when I crossed a line and with my last post I did. I may not agree with Hans or like what he has to say but I did go to far. Hans, my apologies.
I have worked very hard to learn how to FC, get people to fly with me, and bring a fight to the Minmatar. When Hans suggested I was running he did make me very mad. I lashed out at him then and we spoke in private mails to try and hash things out.
After that we had a few more disagreements that were never settled. His blogs and posts may not have been directed at me but many seemed to be and I took them as such. After a little time I thought it was all over until he said the same things on a response to a recent blog.
Since I had just blogged about LP and I do live in Egg I took his post as another below the belt insult. Normally I just let these things roll off but lastnight I decided to let Hans have it. For bad or worse I wrote what I was thinking and hit the post button.
We are all adults and curse words are used in friendly and heated conversations to make a impact. I could have used others but I was trying to make a splash. What I do regret most is insinuating Hans broke NDA.
My next apology is to my corp. I never intended to drag I.Law into this. My personal rantings on my personal blog are my doings. We may have joked about Hans is a new word for douche but that is all.
I will sit here and accept all abuse tossed my way. God knows I deserve it. Just know my corp mates had nothing to do with it.
Almity

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Stop Being a Hans


Before I get the obligatory “u mad” I will answer that. Hell yes I am mad. My anger reaches back a few month before Inferno. The forums were ablaze in discussions over the proposed and rumors changes, not all of it was civil. Most did keep their cool and gave their views on the good and the bad. From my preservative it was almost an even split on most issues. The issues were debated to death, brought back to life, and mercilessly slaughtered over and over.

I never really posted on the forums before but what better time to start than on something I almost cared about? Giving my opinion on the docking issue I left it at that. Once it was settled that you would not be allowed to dock in enemy controlled systems I.Law leadership decided to move from Arzad to Egghelende. We did not want to risk being locked out of our assets and since Egg is closer to Kourm, what is considered by many the center of the war, we thought it worked out very well tactically. In addition many of us in I.Law like to do a little pirating from time to time and Egg is great for that.

I didn't think much of our move. What commander fighting a war would risk losing access to all his weapons? We fought like hell to help keep Kamela for those that chose to base there. If Kourm was in danger of being lost would the Minmatar have kept all their ships their? I would say no.

By now Hans Jagerblitzen was taking some serious heat on the forums. Many people did not like the changes and they told him so. Most knew he could do little to sway CCP but since he was the liaison he bore the brunt of the assault. Instead of remaining civil he lashed out. He chastised corporations for moving from the war zone or considering dropping from FW all together. Most of this was directed at Amarr. Since the Minmatar were clearly winning the numbers war and controlled many more systems than the Amarr they had little to complain about.

Even in a heated discussion people were expressing their concerns and praise for the up coming changes. Hans took it upon himself to insult and degrade anyone not for the changes. His response turned from “I'll pass it on” to “suck it up” and “come at me bro”. How can people discuss something they disagree with without, um, disagreeing with it?

In my views Hans was meta gaming the fuck out of FW and his role as CSM. I found it rather telling that the Minmatar started pushing systems before any real announcements were made. I called him out on the forums and left it at that. To be fair to him I mailed him in game and explained that I don't hate him but disagree with how he is going about the FW changes discussion. Since then he has posted almost everywhere how Amarr just needs to suck it up and “come at me bro”.

I mostly left his underhanded insults alone. Why feed the troll? Until recently I thought we had moved past the whole moving to Egg was somehow I.Law retreating. I was wrong. Hans must really have a hard on for what I say. He must really fucking hate me. He must hate I.Law. He can go fuck himself.

I recently blogged about how fucked up the LP situation is. Goons recently confirmed what many had thought. Hans must disagree. Since I posted my last blog he had this to say.

You sir, get what Faction Warfare is all about. You’ll go far here, keep up the good fights. Thanks for bringing all the action, sure beats sitting in Egghelende complaining about station lockout and shitty LP prices doesn’t it? “

Are you for fucking real? Hans you sniffling piece of shit. I'm out fighting almost every night. I FC fleets and kill shit and die and have fun. That's my Eve. I will bitch, whine, complain, and blog about what I think is wrong with FW. But I don't sit in Egg. Who the fuck do you think you are?

You said “come at me bro” and I have almost every night. Hell we even tried to get a cap fight in LNA time zone and you fucks ran. Props to FWEDDIT for bring you a fight. Lord knows I try but unless you have a BC for everyone of my cruisers or twice my fleets numbers or logi when we have none you run like little girls. Since Amarr does base in more than two systems right next to each other we don't have the luxury of almost instantly reshipping to match what LNA brings. If we win the fight we win, if we lose we lose. End of story.

So yes, I am mad. Not at the Minmatar though. They have done an excellent job using the current FW rules to hold systems and make some good isk. I'm mad at Hans for being a Hans (In I.Law vent we don’t say douche any more we say “stop being a Hans”).

So Hans, stop being such a fucking Hans!


How Hard Could It Be?


How Hard Could It Be?

Today Shalee and I had a bunch of stuff to buy and move. Not the most enjoyable activity in Eve but one that must be done. I had bought a bunch of ships and needed to fit and arm them. For the last few months Thrashers and Ruptures have been my ships of choice. Everyone I build is pretty much the same. If I need something specific for a fight I just change up the one I'll be using for that.

After fitting the first five ships exactly the same I thought about something Shalee had said a few nights ago. “Why isn’t there a button that fits everything including ammo, rigs, and drones?” she mused. My right hand hurt already. The new inventory system made my task even harder. Damn she has a great point! I was sick of fitting ships and I still had another fifteen to go.

In the past I enjoyed fitting ships. As I grew as a pilot (stopped fail fitting ships) my fits became pretty much standardized. Any enjoyment from fitting my day to day ships quickly went away. Now its mostly just a chore. I still enjoy playing with EFT when I open up a new line of ships and weapons or if its a really expensive/cool ship. Sadly those are few and far between.

I like Shalee's idea. I love Shalee's idea. I want to see it come true. How nice would it be to buy your ships and fittings, click one button, change name and undock ready to pew pew the world? I'm not lazy, really I'm not. I just like convenience. I'm the guy who will spend a million isk more on a mod than go one jump to get it. Ok, maybe I am a little lazy but its still a great idea. I mean, how hard could it be?

Monday, June 18, 2012

I Hate Faction War


I Hate Faction War

No really I do. Before the patch it was ok to say that. System occupancy meant nothing. People fought, plexed, missioned, and complained how CCP didn't care about FW. CCP finally gives FW some loving and I fucking hate it now. I hate the not being able to dock but its not a game breaker. I hate orbiting a button for hours hoping to maybe get a fight. I hate all the things /emo rage....

Of all the things I hate about current FW is the LP system. I was never a mission runner. I buy plex to support my Eve habit because I can't be bothered to mission or mine or do indy stuff. But that's me, many of my friends did run FW missions to make their isk. Now they are cut off from that. Amarr LP is hard to come by and worth jack shit. In my two years in FW I have made a grand total of 451,605 LP. About 420,00 of that has been since Inferno launched.

With the LP I have earned I could buy two or three Omen Navy's. If I flew them that may last me a week. If I sold them I'd have enough isk for thrashers and a few ruppys for a week of plexing(unless I did the current Minmatar strategy of stab everything I fly). Two months of LP for maybe a weeks worth of combat ships. This math sucks.

The winning side should have advantages. That's the point of winning. But in a game of numbers and isk the advantages compound. The Minmatar currently have 1200 more pilots than the Amarr. Even with less systems to plex the pay out is still massive even for more pilots. CCP has given the winning side of the FW battle everything. Including the added incentive to entice more pilots to join the winning side. I think I know why.

Money. Not eve money but real money. The power struggle between Amarr and Minmatar always went back and forth. In the run up to Inferno the Minmatar held the advantage. They used their numbers and coordination to push a huge numerical system advantage knowing that the time it takes to flip a system after the changes would dramatically increase. This gave the Minmatar a massive advantage, a huge influx of players, and a whole pile of isk.

The Amarr on the other hand had their source of income cut off. Many have opened second, third, or fourth accounts to try and make isk in other ways. Even more have resorted to buying plex. CCP makes a profit off of every plex sold. They make even more when someone opens a new paying account. People like there corporations, they have friends here and they don't want to leave. They have to pay for their pvp some how.

Susan Black recently blogged how the Minmatar are letting systems go. Keeping Amarr controlled systems low enough so they are stuck with horrible LP and LP store prices. Once Amarr takes a few systems they have a few more ready to be taken back. She may be full of it but the tactic is very valid. Soon many Amarr pilots will be broke. They will be buying plex or mining on a second account. CCP wins big.

I love my corp, I care for my friends, I'm not going anywhere. But how long can other pilots hold out? Not everyone can afford plex or second accounts. Some even have to earn enough isk to pay for time in game. The system has to change.