Super Capital Slug-fest

Earlier today the rescheduled Super Carrier patch test was undertaken by the many thousands of lucky pilots able to log onto the test server; Singularity. Every pilot was promoted to maximum skills and encouraged to construct a theoretical Super Carrier for pew pew. The test, designed to maximise interaction and identify any significant in-balances went well clocking up hundreds of wrecks every hour.

Within the violently bizarre realm of Singularity, Super Capitals (Mother Ships) are no longer granted the ability to fit Triage modules, Clone Vat Bays or additional Ware-fare links. Instead a hp boost and a new class of drone; Fighter Bombers have been docked to reclassify the role for the craft into a supporting role. These deadly new Fighter Bombers have one sole purpose; the destruction of an enemy Titan.

Seeing these little drone ships in action on Singularity is quite hypnotic as they launch huge volumes of high explosive missiles at the target resulting in a fireworks display of light and debris. The server has enjoyed a thousand pilots online throughout the day and many have had to queue a few hours until their turn. The changes are significant, some would say controversial; pilots have 'rage quit' in disgust at CCP's decision to amend the Mother-Ships role, an unusual method of contributing to the evolution of our beloved galaxy.

Fortunately my ships are entirely sub-capital so there is little chance of me rage quitting any time soon, so long as they don't nerf podding.

Related Links
Rage Quitting (
Dominion; The Capital Battlefield (CCP Dev Blog)

"...and now for something completely different..."

...a music video by Permaband called HTFU. What's the relevance you may wonder? It's all about EvE Online and is performed by a talented bunch of CCP staff who formed the rap group.

This was the last thing I expected to see coming from CCP lately but if you feel a desire to chuckle at CCP, if only to realise they are human after all and not just buff-nerfing-algorithms then watch the video, it's class!

Related Links
CCP (Facebook)
CCP (YouTube Channel)

The BoB Blob

EvS looked over the station, it was almost deserted due to the recent evacuation. Detritus littered the huge hangar floor and a lack of hustle n’ bustle made the station seem very eerie.

A massive fleet of Dreadnaughts, Battleships and Carriers loyal to the feared 'Band of Brothers' (BoB) alliance had been reported amassing within the Querious region just three jumps from Z-UZZN. The intent of this fleet was well known and the evacuation by local forces began almost immediately; only the pirate faction dared remain within their reinforced POS orbiting one of the many moons.

More than one thousand space-craft had passed through the gate to relative safety of the Amarrian low security space in the last few hours. Pirates had spotted the surge of pilots through the pipeline serving Empire and were using rapid attack raiders to prey on any stragglers left behind during the mass convoy out of 0.0. It wasn’t a pretty sight to see such chaos but the BoB threat was very real and very close. Everyone had heard the stories of what happened to pilots unfortunate enough to become prisoners of the mighty BoB alliance.

It had been reported a few weeks ago by other alliances that BoB was on a campaign; code named Max Damage. Its mission appeared to be to strike at its enemy’s territory with impunity and to take down local forces swiftly and without mercy. The 'Brotherhood Of Steel' (BOS) alliance, once a strong and noble alliance during the Great War was now in full retreat. Little remained of the loyalties between the many different corporations that made the alliance once so strong and its forces were becoming scattered.

EvS had become embroiled in this war via his corporation whom had joined the BOS forces some months ago. He had never felt at home in this part of 0.0 and despised the brass. The evacuation had caught him off-guard, never experienced in running from combat he found himself in such disarray that he surely would be the last to leave this sad place.

He had a hauler crammed with rudimentary fittings, rigs, scripts, faction modules, ammunition, drones, literally the best of the pickings from the hanger. The destination locked in was another null sec station still apparently friendly to the BOS alliance. He could not head into empire on account of his outlaw status and because the pirate raids had made the journey incredibly dangerous, this appeared to be the only option.

The hauler fired into life and groaned under the weight of its precious cargo as the thrusters lifted the ship from the hanger’s gravity. EvS felt uneasy about the journey ahead, something was just not right. Exiting the hanger force-field for the last time the hauler eased herself into warp and headed for the first gate jumping through without incident.

The second and third gate too passed almost unnoticed. Only a couple of jumps remained. Scanning ahead several ships were picked up along with a couple of wrecks, it looked like a gate camp. Already in warp, the huge hauler was not the best ship to be hurtling toward a blockade in and EvS prepared for the worst.

As the warp tunnel terminated he could see the gate and three ships rapidly approaching his field of view as his velocity dropped. The hauler eventually came to stop just moments from the gate and sat there for a few. The three unknown vessels, two thorax and a Tristan seemed uninterested in the presence of the hauler save for a signal advising EvS that a scan had been performed. ‘Gate Activated’ said Aura and the mighty hauler was propelled safely to the next system.

Upon materialising he was presented with the most terrifying sight, an armada of ships three hundred strong loyal to BoB collected at the jump gate. His mind shouted orders at the hauler to warp to the nearest aligned point in the heavens. Warning indicators began thumping in his mind as the hostile fleet locked the hauler and attempted to scramble the warp field it was desperately generating. Eventually the precious cargo ship shuddered into warp on account of the warp core stabilisers crudely glued to the engines prior to leaving the ED station.

As the ship came to a standstill around the fourth planet the ship melted into the starscape as the ships cloak initiated. Moment’s later two interceptors ground to a halt on the grid 75km from his hiding, no doubt searching for the hauler. Although they were 75km they were closing fast. The hauler was instructed full velocity on it’s Z axis, straight down from the landing point. With the cloak enabled the ship crawled painfully slowly into position.

Eventually the interceptors peeled into pairs scouring the area. Three more ships arrived on the scene and deployed drones to increase their effective size. Smart bombs were also initiated hoping to knock out the cloak of the hidden hauler. At times the enemy were getting to within four thousand metres of the hull but a steady nerve retained the cloak.

The hostiles eventually gave up searching a quarter of an hour later and left the planets orbit. The ordeal was not yet over as a safe port was still necessary. Keeping an eye on local he kept the ship in cloak until sure that the enemy fleet had dispersed. One gate activation later and the hauler was docked at a friendly station.

The station guard initially greeted EvS but did inform him that due to the state of the alliance the station would not be a suitable home. The alliance was due to collapse any day now and all standings would be reset and a local code of practice; shoot on site would be reinstated against any non corporate members. With no other option other than a forty jump round trip through null sec and known pirate haunts the hauler was reluctantly left within the station with its precious cargo. At least it was intact but EvS knew of no plan to recover the goods once the station was vacated. Upon exiting the station in his POD EvS warped to the sun and ordered the POD to self destruct.

As the countdown reduced he pondered on the fate of the station under fire from BoB forces. The state of this realm will be changed back into BoB territory once again and he knew of nothing in the universe that could stop such a force. Little did he realise that within 3 months BoB would be destroyed by one man and the entire region would be changed once again, but that is another story…

The Last Starfighter

The Last Starfighter was an epic film from my youth. I remember watching this film over and over again until I knew every single word. I especially loved the CGI animations although they have not aged well.

This film is still a blast and as I write this I realise that my 7 year old son has never seen it. So it's next on my list of films to order, fantastic.

Related Links
The Last Starfighter (movie)
Download The Last Starfighter (video game)

The Void

Wormhole space (w-space) is the latest frontier in New Eden. Appearing without warning they harbour unimaginable danger as well as incredible riches and resources. Before entering this unpredictable realm your mindset should be prepared for what to expect.

I would recommend watching this documentary about an ancient vessel which became trapped in a void very similar to w-space. The hardships they encounter follow very closely what you can expect to find should you feel bold enough to venture into w-space…

Related Links
Wormhole Exploration Guide

Red Alert

The on-board computer known as 'Aura' has the most soothing yet authorative voice. I remember how hard I listened to her teachings when I first started the tutorial those many years ago. She still clears her throat every now and then to tell me of star gate activation but she’s rarely heard beyond the tutorial or introduction. Listening to EvE radio recently I heard Auras voice again warning pilots of entering low sec systems, low capacitor and other useful snippets and I thought how wonderful it would be if they were an actual part of the game.

EvE Online lacks a healthy dollop of audible warnings, the most dangerous event; being targeted by a hostile unit hardly registers at all. I’m not saying that we should be able to play passively, only reacting when the sirens go off (by then it’s usually too late anyway) but it would be nice to have additional audible warnings to more events.

I also feel that the on-board computer Aura should have more of a say in the events the ship finds itself in. I just think that it may be a more personal experience if the ship were to talk to you, perhaps not conversationally but to advise and reason with you on certain criteria. The option to switch off such conversing would be mandatory as we should always be given a choice, but I do think there is room for more audio contributions from the ship and I’m sure it would add a little atmosphere to space.

Just a thought...