tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76566516031318968522024-03-13T11:10:54.710-04:00Deep in EVEWhen you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-51234057495719334992015-05-09T11:29:00.000-04:002015-05-09T11:37:07.543-04:00Shallow in EVE<br />
<b>I.</b><br />
<br />
I managed to find a buyer for my system. Part of that is the rock-bottom prices I was offering for it and its contents. I think a big part was luck. In any case, thank you Stabs for the suggestion to post on the forums... that's where the buyer came from.<br />
<br />
The buyer -- call him Vlad -- is Russian. We quickly agreed on the general parameters of the deal: he wanted all the stuff I was selling, and the price was right. OK. I gave him the "trust me" option, or using an escrow service. He chose the latter. I went with CAPLF WH Sales -- ingame channel with that name -- and got an immediate response from Lucius Arcturus, their main guy. Great. Emailed him, ccing buyer. Got it all set up in a few minutes. A few hours later, escrow was set up and we were ready to start.<br />
<br />
Then the work. First I scanned out late at my night, hoping to get in Vlad in his early morning. That did not happen, but I gave him the chain in email by specifying the signature tags. (Took me a while to think of doing that.) He got himself in using this information, and safed up.<br />
<br />
In the morning (mine that is), Vlad was on and so I set my forcefield password to let him shelter in my small POS. Then I put the large POS he was buying, and some fuel, in one of my Iterons and handed it over. He flew off and onlined it. I took over a few loads of basic POS defenses and such so that he would not be vulnerable, and an POS storage, then I logged off to work.<br />
<br />
Over the next day we pinged back and forth. Vlad would empty out Iterons full of stuff into his storage, then leave the Iterons out in his forcefield where I could grab them. I'd grab them, fly back to my POS, load up, then fly back and eject. We never overlapped in time again.<br />
<br />
<b>II.</b><br />
<br />
Tonight I am almost out. I am done with handing stuff over. I have only a Manticore and an Iteron V left in my POS bubble, which is completely empty otherwise. The Iteron V is there to carry out the last bits of stuff, most particularly the POS itself. I can't take down the POS yet because I need to protect the Manticore. I need to find a way out before I can proceed. Scanning time.<br />
<br />
I scan out my system. Or really Vlad's system now. The C5 is EOL still there from this morning. So, I am headed out through C4b. It has dual statics, C3 and C5. The C3 has a good chance to be useful. Unfortunately, there are 19 sigs. Also lots of an anoms. It looks like an abandoned system, but dscan shows a live tower. Huh. Well, at least they don't appear to be very active. Nothing to worry about.<br />
<br />
I set to work scanning. Most of the sites are gas and quickly ignored. I find the C5 but I don't instantiate it. No need for that unless the C3 does not pan out. The second to last sig I scan is the C3. Go figure. I complete the scanning (gas), then warp to the C3 and jump into C3a.<br />
<br />
Tripwire show that C3a has a lowsec static. This is not ideal, but good enough for my purposes. Also it has only 8 sigs, which should be reasonably fast to scan. I set to scanning.<br />
<br />
The lowsec static has a bubble anchored on it. Strange; I have not seen anyone at a tower. I'll have to blow up the bubble if I try to get out this way. But I've also found a K162 to C2, so I'll put off checking lowsec until I go that way. C2s which connect to C3s tend to have highsec statics. I finish scanning, then warp to the K162 and jump into C2a.<br />
<br />
C2a has a <i>lot</i> of towers on scan. Mostly small Caldari. They appear to have the system moon locked. Also there is one ship on scan, but it's a Nidhoggur. There are planets out of scan range. Normally I'd warp around to look, but in this case I am not hunting. So I fire probes at the wormhole, then cloak. The system has only two sigs, which must be its statics. I am at the O477; the other wormhole will be a B274 to highsec. Yay. I find it in two scans. It's in dscan range, so it's safe to warp over. I land on grid, bookmark it, then head out into highsec.<br />
<br />
I appear in Seitam, which is in Amarr space. There's one station in system. (Stations! Weird!) I warp to it and dock. Then I ditch my Manticore and head back upstream in my pod. I have no trouble on the way, but I do see some new ships in C2a and probes in C3a. Ugh. Likely I was seen, and a pod moving up or down a chain is an good sign that there will be more traffic. Well, I'll be boring for a while back home. <br />
<br />
<b>III.</b><br />
<br />
Back home. I warp to my POS, then jump in the waiting Iteron V. I offline the tower and then cloak about 3000m from it. Can I offline it cloaked? Yes. It takes 15 minutes to offline a small tower. I wait. Actually I play games on my phone.<br />
<br />
20 minutes later, I remember about EVE being in a parlous state. So I uncloak and scoop the tower, then I warp to a safespot and cloak again. Now I am done here, except getting out. C2 may be hot since they probably saw the pod, so I'll go do other things for a while.<br />
<br />
An hour later. Time to head out. I warp to the wormhole out. Goodbye, J213139. Then into C4b, and on to C3a. No probes here now.<br />
<br />
I jump into the last system, C2a. Uh oh. There's a ship at the wormhole. Frigate. Ares. What is that? Uh... assault frig? Not sure. At least it's not a Sabre. If he cannot bubble, exactly what he is does not really matter. He can cross jump as well as I can, even if I can get back to the wormhole. And the fact that he's here at all suggests eyes on the other side. So, forward. I order a warp to the highsec wormhole. I uncloak, and of course the Ares locks me up. Warp disrupted. Uh oh. My shields start to drop, though my buffer is decent. Two new enemies uncloak; a Purifier and something else. Not good. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmoG0VCGMbS9NdqmVyF6GCzFqfRsDnaKoiuh4sOQrmcUNYZul08DrbAgFpHdJB73UIhRhVhiBRmFywo_mQ7U3LTYFiLm1rcON6lBP1h_4ETAcjPJAB09CNV6vzqjPs8-Z_QqfRXZR2Muh/s1600/shallow-shield.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmoG0VCGMbS9NdqmVyF6GCzFqfRsDnaKoiuh4sOQrmcUNYZul08DrbAgFpHdJB73UIhRhVhiBRmFywo_mQ7U3LTYFiLm1rcON6lBP1h_4ETAcjPJAB09CNV6vzqjPs8-Z_QqfRXZR2Muh/s320/shallow-shield.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good try.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I start to think about ejecting before a bubble shows up. I mouse over my ship, about to command it. Then... voom. I warp.<br />
<br />
Ah yes, I have triple warp core stabs. Saved me. (Bring a bubble, guys.) I drop onto the highsec, and the Ares is there ahead of me. But he cannot stop me. I jump, and I am out.<br />
<br />
One of them follows me out. I wait around to see who it is. The Purifier. Eventually he uncloaks and we just look at each other. I align to the local station (Stations! Weird!). But I don't leave. Instead I say "Nice try!" in local. (Local! Weird!) I don't know if he sees it. I wait, kind of hoping for some reply. But eventually he locks me up, and I realize that I have 400m in stuff on board. It is doubtful that he has a cargo scanner... and doubtful beyond that that he will go for it in highsec. But why take chances? I warp.<br />
<br />
I am out. Really truly out, for the first time in over a year.<br />
<br />
<b>IV.</b><br />
<br />
There's more work to do. I head for Amarr, which is five jumps away. Carrying 400m in an Iteron V would be too risky in some places, but this is almost all 0.8 and above, and it's past primetime EU hours. Should be fine. I make it. I contract all the stuff to my Jita alt, then grab a shuttle and head back to the station where I cached my Manticore. <br />
<br />
Five jumps later. I get in my Manti, which feels safe and good. Then I put the shuttle on the market for a large markup, and exit the station. I'll go back into wspace and...<br />
<br />
No, I won't.<br />
<br />
I don't have anything to do. Nowhere to be. Nowhere to go.<br />
<br />
What's next?Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-70048079234205904162015-04-29T13:57:00.000-04:002015-04-29T14:12:00.136-04:00C4 for saleAs I previously mentioned, I have been in the process of wrapping up my occupancy of the C4 system, J213139, in which I have been living for the last year and a half. It's been a good run.<br />
<br />
J213139 is a great system for a medium sized wormhole corp. It's got good PI, which is a great income source in wspace. It's a pulsar system, meaning it gives a huge boost to shields and capacitor. This makes running local sites a lot easier than normal if you are using a shield tank. (We used several fleet comps over the years, finally settling on Rattlesnakes after they got their huge buff in summer '14.) J213139 also has a great moon for siting a tower at, if you want to make a devilish tower trap, which I did. I don't know, but I'd guess my tower is among the most prolific killers in wspace. Finally, C4 systems are pretty good to hunt from, due to their dual statics. With its C4 static, there are always at least six system within two jumps; usually there are considerably more due to incoming K162s.<br />
<br />
Why am I leaving? Well, in part due to gaining a second static in Hyperion. This made it much harder to close up our system for running sites. It would not be a problem for most corps to close an extra wormhole, but I have just a few guys. It becomes tiresome, cutting into our already limited time in our corp nights. On the upside, we did get access to C5s, and started running sites there. Great ISK in that, much better than running C4s.<br />
<br />
Another factor was my corp mates drifting away from the game. It has been gradual, but by now I am the only one of us that is very active. But that process started a year ago, and it did not cause any problem because I was still actively hunting every night. I did not really realize it then, but as a side effect of hunting I was always finding enough good highsec connections reasonably close to my Jita alt, that I could keep my tower supplied all by myself. However, over the past six months I have started to tire of hunting in wspace, so I started hunting less. And that meant that I found fewer connections, making it hard to run in and out with supplies. Then maintaining my tower (and hence occupancy of my system) became a chore.<br />
<br />
When EVE becomes a chore, you should stop doing what you're doing. It's a game and supposed to be fun.<br />
<br />
Anyway, all that is just an explanation of why I am leaving. I am not quitting the game, at least not now. And therefore I am not about to abandon my tower and leave its contents for the vultures. Rather I am trying to extract all the value from it, leaving with as much as I can. <br />
<br />
I've been slowly moving stuff out for two months. I took down and exported my reaction tower. By this point my mates and I have flown out all the ships of substantial value, and we've moved out almost all of our considerable collection of crap other than a dwindling supply of PI goods. So, we're ready to leave just about any time. I am finishing up the PI in a few days.<br />
<br />
If you are interested in a nice C4 system, please let me know via email, in or out of game. (My gmail address is in the upper right of this blog.) I want to sell, at minimum, the six POCOs we have constructed in the system. These I will sell you at the build cost of their components. The system location itself is free if you'll buy the POCOs. I have a large Minmatar POS with a full complement of POS parts. I'd be happy to sell that to you at cost. In addition we have a Chimera and a Moros, currently with full parts on them. These we will strip and insurance-fraud if I cannot sell them. I will sell you either or both hulls at a cost halfway between their normal kspace value and their insurance fraud value. The parts I will sell at Jita prices, since I can get them out. Finally, we have an assortment of cheap ships (gas mining Ventures, a few rock miners that we barely used, Epithals and Iteron Vs). These I'll also throw in for free if you buy the POCOs.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-24727880428999293502015-04-05T22:23:00.000-04:002015-04-05T22:23:43.779-04:00Hat TrickI have not been feeling like writing, and not playing as much EVE as I have in times past. So that's what's up with the lack of posting. I am in the process of winding down my occupancy of the C4 I am in. The logistics have become unfun.<br />
<br />
But enough of that. The thing that broke through my writing torpor today was a nice little kill. My system had many connecting wormholes, and I wanted to get my Jita alt in with a few last PI goods to pump into my pipeline. My system had an unusually high number of connections: its normal static C4 and C5, but also three other C5s connecting via K162s. Thus I had been scouring nearby systems for exits in my trusty Manticore. I found only a single lowsec exit, not near to Jita. Oh well. I tried. After that I had returned home, and was just sitting around in my system, watching a wormhole just in case someone came in. I was in the room, playing other games. But occasionally I'd come back to sit at EVE, tweak prices on my Jita alt, and with Von check a dscan, and look at the probe scanner to see if there were any new wormholes.<br />
<br />
At one point I returned and dscanned and what's that? Probes! The guy came in a different wormhole, but I figured maybe I could still ambush him at my tower's decloak trap. So I warped back there. I landed on grid and barely had time to rotate my camera to face the bubble, when -- bingo! -- an Astero appeared in my trap. Astero vs bomber in most places is a win for the Astero. But any ship on grid with me at my tower, and I will win that fight. Go time! <br />
<br />
I uncloaked, and got all systems on, locking the unlucky Astero up. I even hit her with a round of torps before <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/45776711/">she was evaporated</a> by my tower's guns. Unluckily for her, her pod was cleanly in the bubble. So I <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/45776717/">terminated</a> her -- the tower won't do that -- and returned her to highsec the fast way.<br />
<br />
It turns out she was pretty new in EVE, so I opened a chat, told her about tower traps and how to avoid them, and we had a nice little chat. She had some questions about stealth bombers. I hope I helped. Anyway, one question was what can one hunt in a bomber in wspace? I listed some ships, but as a part of that I refreshed my corp's killboard at zkillboard, to remind myself of what I had killed recently.<br />
<br />
That's when I noticed that not only had my tower killed once today, it had killed three times! (Others are <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/45759600/">this</a> and <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/45760443/">this</a>.) Yow! My tower is a better EVE player than I am this month.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-4768799769659711982015-02-14T15:41:00.001-05:002015-02-14T15:41:29.275-05:00A Relic of FailureFriday night. It's US timezone, which tends to be less active. But I have time, and I am hoping to find something interesting. I am out in my Manticore, looking for whatever EVE has to show me tonight. <br />
<br />
I jump into C4b. Dscan from the wormhole is not boring: there is a tractor unit on scan. There's also a mobile depot, but that is not that unusual. Nor can a depot pay; even if there was something in it, a depot has a reinforcement mode which has a longer timer than most wormholes. So, they are hard to kill in wspace. Few try. (Occasionally I scan them down and reinforce them, hoping someone else will come along two days later to finish the job.)<br />
<br />
But the tractor... that can only mean one thing. Someone is or was running sites. If they left for some reason, I can kill the tractor and take whatever is in it. <br />
<br />
I move off to orbit the wormhole at 30km, hitting microwarp and cloaking. Now I set to work trying to find the tractor unit. If it is old enough, it may be out in space somewhere that I cannot get to with normal scanning. In that case, I'll have to scan it down with combat probes. But it may be in an existing site. It might also be in a sig site, which I can get to in my Manticore, but I'll combat scan for it anyway.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyuvQQiV4UtO-CZjKXFP_ic5Nvm6u0UWhKxRTNzN-dLXT4II0DxjyPbKXQ7cf2C6KbW3JuaKQL8Ie4LF0KbfKzdakXDEOUTBZcTU3I4GNZK6V9NOTcQCSHoZGA47SkH6LUT9iciJmgyOX/s1600/relic-located.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyuvQQiV4UtO-CZjKXFP_ic5Nvm6u0UWhKxRTNzN-dLXT4II0DxjyPbKXQ7cf2C6KbW3JuaKQL8Ie4LF0KbfKzdakXDEOUTBZcTU3I4GNZK6V9NOTcQCSHoZGA47SkH6LUT9iciJmgyOX/s1600/relic-located.png" height="85" width="200" /></a></div>
Normally I am faster. But eventually I get a generally right direction, enough to see an anom which both the tractor and depot appear to be in together. I confirm it with a five degree dscan. Yes, they're in an <a class="" href="http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=IntegratedTerminus">Integrated Terminus.</a> I warp over for a look.<br />
<br />
<br />
I land in the site, and I can see that it was being run. The first two waves of sleepers are gone; the third wave (somewhat reduced) is here. It's a Sleepless Safeguard -- a nasty ship, which warp scrambles -- along with three of its normal six escort frigates. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zgov4IS_k9zxs4_gn7Xj_chHwerUAzMTzppORctIxFtQFmHYLa0Fb_de7FEKXOh27m6r5GuKKeSI99iWK2ruXCjKyXkijMT6dxBMrVGUWMqPRA_yOLts5nXlXjXB4stBZt5YbQ68FzX3/s1600/relic-scouting.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zgov4IS_k9zxs4_gn7Xj_chHwerUAzMTzppORctIxFtQFmHYLa0Fb_de7FEKXOh27m6r5GuKKeSI99iWK2ruXCjKyXkijMT6dxBMrVGUWMqPRA_yOLts5nXlXjXB4stBZt5YbQ68FzX3/s1600/relic-scouting.png" height="332" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What happened here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Safeguard makes me start to suspect what happened here: someone got
in over his head. He was running the site and had to bail. Or indeed,
perhaps he could not bail because of the Safeguard, and got himself
killed. But there's no evidence I can see other than the tractor and
the depot. There are no wrecks; whatever happened here, happened at
least two hours ago. The evidence will be locked up in the tractor.<br />
<br />
So, it's another tractor problem. I've encountered this sort of thing before. How do I kill a tractor unit and then loot it, under the nose of a Sleeper battleship which warp scrambles? <br />
<br />
I have run these sites before, with just me and my alt in Rattlesnakes. I could do that here. But I am not too keen to put that much ISK at risk in a completely unscouted system. Also I ran a Terminus in my home system, which is a pulsar. (This gives huge capacitor.) This system -- I check -- has no effect. <br />
<br />
Another thing I might do is hit the site in my site-running Tengu. This wave does 614 DPS according to eve-survival; that will be reduced a bit by the Tengu's smallish sig and by the lack of three of the frigs. So I could try that. But my Tengu relies on shield boosting, and I don't know if I can stay cap stable in here with the Safeguarding nossing me. Probably not. Nope, bad idea.<br />
<br />
My rattlesnakes have microjumpdrives on them. These are handy for several things. But I think they will work here. Sleepers don't actually warp scramble; they warp disrupt. Or such has been my observation before. So microjumpdrives should work. I think. I am not totally sure that sleepers don't scramble... about 90% sure... is that enough to risk 500m ISK?<br />
<br />
I decide not. What else can I do?<br />
<br />
I recall that CCP recently created medium microjumpdrives, and I recall that we have a PVP Drake. Let me look at it... aha. I board it. It does indeed have a microjumpdrive. OK, I know it cannot stand up that long against the Safeguard. But then again, it should not need to. It should kill the tractor in about a minute, I think. It has a bit more DPS than my bomber. Then I can scoop it and go. Assuming the Safeguard does disrupt, not scramble. The whole thing should be fast enough that observers won't be able to gank me.<br />
<br />
It's a plan. I tweak the fit to remove the webber (not needed here) and put on a EM ward II. A bit more hardness does not hurt. Then I warp to C4b, cross, and warp to the site.<br />
<br />
I decide to warp in at 10km, thinking I can slide past the tractor unit as I shoot it so that I can time turning around to be aligned to my wormhole. The plan is to pop the tractor just as I come back past it, so I can grab and go.<br />
<br />
I land on grid. Then I target the tractor, and open up. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3JROZIqLz-QlYM_Kwqb7Qvu2rOen7PMudThb9dgeuZbJe4mrwM3FINWhnaWEV98D7QDjB4x77hk_OFH5jiuUNuJF90oRpMRP6gHv4-Yn4gmlN9p_kkCHAqXVLIo2LOtGeRfTtag199ql/s1600/relic-attacking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3JROZIqLz-QlYM_Kwqb7Qvu2rOen7PMudThb9dgeuZbJe4mrwM3FINWhnaWEV98D7QDjB4x77hk_OFH5jiuUNuJF90oRpMRP6gHv4-Yn4gmlN9p_kkCHAqXVLIo2LOtGeRfTtag199ql/s1600/relic-attacking.png" height="132" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shooting the tractor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ6Qv0PS0KX6endeRKxVNshZ7k7KObbdU2JYXPtqE5u3_SJjtLz2ldu2IRYL9kcniVAzKLL2w-sMJg0yOYWNYHtNhB93HyxRqYXM97BqRc0PBu_idlmvHGSzWOobD7xlJcdfRQFFFh8VM/s1600/relic-structure.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ6Qv0PS0KX6endeRKxVNshZ7k7KObbdU2JYXPtqE5u3_SJjtLz2ldu2IRYL9kcniVAzKLL2w-sMJg0yOYWNYHtNhB93HyxRqYXM97BqRc0PBu_idlmvHGSzWOobD7xlJcdfRQFFFh8VM/s1600/relic-structure.png" /></a>My assault missiles crash into the tractor. I move towards it, and I launch my drones -- warriors -- for extra DPS. I creep toward the tractor. I kind of forgot how slow these things are.<br />
<br />
The sleepers notice me, and come zooming up. The frigates web me. Oops. I forgot about that too. I am not sure I can get there in time. The tractor unit goes into structure, and I am still 8000m from it. I am taking serious shield damage. Down to 1/2.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUTsgc0RKKkXcCi9erA72RY_MoPTFRMRugIitW9oITXK33JDPMcOWypsuxseoEjIVl7WByWfcY2MVLI3h6cFyF7gr1-k_GRoLFLBRgYhXyS0DOt5hYvq9qLgUm9NZCiW-0HpuIkcH34Ukh/s1600/relic-disrupted.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUTsgc0RKKkXcCi9erA72RY_MoPTFRMRugIitW9oITXK33JDPMcOWypsuxseoEjIVl7WByWfcY2MVLI3h6cFyF7gr1-k_GRoLFLBRgYhXyS0DOt5hYvq9qLgUm9NZCiW-0HpuIkcH34Ukh/s1600/relic-disrupted.png" height="83" width="200" /></a></div>
Now the Safeguard is close enough and I hear the sound of warp disruption. The die is cast: either I can escape or not, according to whether or not this is disruption or scrambling. We'll see.<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44593781/">tractor pops</a>, and I am still not close enough to loot it. I align out to a planet, shields down to 33%. I hear the low shield warning as I activate the microjumpdrive. It activates; indeed the warp disruption from the Safeguard was disruption, not scrambling. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJarlP3y-OFU85jvK66G2P1cmv91rNj2DawF2UKiDqNWzKNWLRaR_7Pxds00E4RoZq3v1s6itp5zZ2CvTqt0RLERf3LqW7-2PYWwnSoyQajoJkbnyY-ukTqo5IHUIOG2EKWm5qYjOpD3h/s1600/relic-jumping.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJarlP3y-OFU85jvK66G2P1cmv91rNj2DawF2UKiDqNWzKNWLRaR_7Pxds00E4RoZq3v1s6itp5zZ2CvTqt0RLERf3LqW7-2PYWwnSoyQajoJkbnyY-ukTqo5IHUIOG2EKWm5qYjOpD3h/s1600/relic-jumping.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Escaping warp disruption.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Swoosh! I am now 100km away, well outside of the range of the Safeguard's warp disruption. I warp to the planet at 100km. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMkxCS6HvUCMPozcaXXdpNb82ecZKz5f_hNq0S2FKAqk-RW94_YpgwdPeLJz74o_AZwvfeUbieZk9TJ3ACmZOn7VDDNouv16d6bPeRAsNlu_Z61MykoxECs_w_SZkyQv-n3HyBBT8-9b8/s1600/relic-mjd.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMkxCS6HvUCMPozcaXXdpNb82ecZKz5f_hNq0S2FKAqk-RW94_YpgwdPeLJz74o_AZwvfeUbieZk9TJ3ACmZOn7VDDNouv16d6bPeRAsNlu_Z61MykoxECs_w_SZkyQv-n3HyBBT8-9b8/s1600/relic-mjd.png" /></a>I can't go back immediately, not with my shields at 25% and the sleepers where I want to be. Also I need time for my microwarpdrive to cycle. So I warp to this system's outer planet, making a safespot as I get close. Then I warp back to the safespot and sit a while. There's nothing alarming on scan, neither ships nor probes.<br />
<br />
After a few minutes, my shields recover to 80% or so. It's enough. I warp to the site, this time directly to the tractor's location. <br />
<br />
I land on grid, and open the tractor wreck. Ah, loot. Not really very much, but loot all the same. The sleepers lock me, and warp disrupt me, and start pounding as I grab the loot, then align to the wormhole home. Then I microjump again, and immediately warp out. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsoRafKck8Pbr1V3auQjFL1wCiNlMHmtIwibxz7jtqYVv80y6KnA74AmhcvB4cMOV3KCi5Tlglbtd6UuIYmh6z1v1Pq_jl4lWS5tF8eX13NyeJAFDx0rFTW8b3kLkWLyopW_hI3QLzcuS/s1600/relic-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsoRafKck8Pbr1V3auQjFL1wCiNlMHmtIwibxz7jtqYVv80y6KnA74AmhcvB4cMOV3KCi5Tlglbtd6UuIYmh6z1v1Pq_jl4lWS5tF8eX13NyeJAFDx0rFTW8b3kLkWLyopW_hI3QLzcuS/s1600/relic-loot.png" height="335" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exhibit A in my murder investigation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As I finish warping home, I look at the loot and the killmail for hints as to what happened. There are several kinds of fittings in the loot, so evidently someone lost his ship in that site. There are armor parts. There's a laser and crystals, and drones. This suggests that the guy was flying a Stratios. Ouch!Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-37221100268841858672015-02-11T11:28:00.001-05:002015-02-11T15:20:58.377-05:00BearingI've been low activity in EVE lately. A lot of this has to do with other games occupying my time -- Clash of Clans, Star Wars Commander, and Castle Clash. But it also has to do with luck. I've had a good run of luck in having my system zip itself up. When I am zipped, I hate to waste it. Instead, I head out into our local anoms for some carebearing.<br />
<br />
Last night was an example. I've had five gas sites in my system for a while, which I have carefully not touched. Most scouts coming through don't seem to instantiate sites, so the sites tend to persist until I want them. Several of these gas sites had been there for a week.<br />
<br />
Yesterday morning, I had three connections. My two statics, and a connection from a C4 with a lot of towers. These people were fairly busy yesterday. But then they popped their own wormhole in the afternoon, leaving my static C4 in EOL. So I knew I had just my two connections. By the time I logged in last night for real playing, my static C4 had self-terminated, leaving only my C5.<br />
<br />
The C5 system, I knew from yesterday's fruitless roam, was unoccupied. So the chance of getting traffic from it is slight. My system is very likely half-zipped. I'll picket the C5 wormhole, while I do stuff in my system.<br />
<br />
First, I trigger all my gas sites except one. I do not think I will have time to slurp them all. Then I wait for 20 minutes for the sleepers to come. (I get off an attack or two in Clash of Clans.) <br />
<br />
A bit later I get Von into his Rattlesnake and kill the four gas sites. Two of them are <a class="" href="http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=OrdinaryPerimeterReservoir">Ordinary Perimeter Reservoir</a>s -- the site with sentries. Bouncers and precision cruise missiles deal with these nicely. Then on to two <a class="" href="http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=BountifulFrontierReservoir">Bountiful Frontier Reservoir</a>s. Gardes and precision cruise missiles kill the cruiser rats, then a Gecko kills the frigates. (Yes, Geckos can track frigates. 690 DPS. Sometimes they one-shot them. Go figure.)<br />
<br />
After the sites are killed, I warp back home to switch into a Coercer to salvage. The sentry sites don't have anything, of course. But each of the other two sites has about 40m in salvage and blue loot. Good pay for the amount of time it takes.<br />
<br />
Next I have some PI to do. Von is first, but all my PI characters (three of them, on two accounts) need to do it. So I get into an Epithal, and start making the rounds. Each planet gets about 50000 units of P1 goods; this is enough for about two weeks of operations. Each planet produces a complementary P1 good, and a P2 good. The P1s sometimes get carried on to a complentary planet. Those which don't, and the P2 goods, go back to my tower. <br />
<br />
Ordinarily when I do PI, I do it in an insecure system. Each time I warp out from my tower, I blind a hunter by warping to a safespot inline with a planet I am <i>not</i> going to. But I skip that tonight, speeding the process. Nobody uncloaks and kills me. <br />
<br />
Von watches the wormhole for a while as Otto does his PI. Then I swap again, and log off Von for his PI and gas sucking alt. The alt does PI first. Then on to the gas sucking. He has perfect gassing skills, and an implant. So he sets to work. <br />
<br />
This is work for him, maybe, but not for me. I have nothing to do for hours now, except listening for the wormhole noise on my picket, and strobing the discovery scanner every 10 or 20 minutes to check for new wormholes. I dutifully do this, minus the occasional break for coffee and bathroom. No wormholes connect. Evidently nobody sneaks in while I am completely AFK. I do see a new combat anom appear. I watch as the sites go down one by one. Every half hour I have to warp back to my reaction tower to dump the gas.<br />
<br />
The C5 connection goes EOL, and I am tempted to use my picket to help mine. But I leave him there just in case. (<i>I</i> explore through EOL wormholes. Others might too.) Also, I want to know when the C5 goes away, because I would like to enter C5a when I am done for the night and check it out.<br />
<br />
Hours later, it's time for bed. I've tapped out three of the sites and a bit of the fourth. 80m in sleeper loot, and 100+m more in gas. The C5 wormhole is still alive.<br />
<br />
When you read a blog like this, it's easy to get the notion that EVE is really interesting all the time. But I only write the good parts. I write about the <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/11/one-percent-moments.html">one percent moments</a>, and some of the boring stuff that sets them up. I rarely write about the 99% when that's all there is. But it's there, and like everyone else, that's what I spend most of the time doing. Scanning. Safe PVE. Gassing.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-23681312819216245052015-02-06T14:04:00.000-05:002015-02-06T14:04:58.979-05:00Signal CartelVia Nosy, I found out that Mynxee has started a new corp for explorers, <a href="http://www.eve-scout.com/signal-cartel/">Signal Cartel</a>: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.eve-scout.com/images/signal-cartel-promo-150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.eve-scout.com/images/signal-cartel-promo-150.jpg" height="42" width="320" /></a>Signal Cartel is a corp designed from the ground up for peaceful explorers. We are based in Thera... Dedicated to the highest ideals of exploration, our corp culture is one of wanderlust, camaraderie, helpfulness, respectful behavior, and peaceful intent. We seek to provide our members with a friendly, nurturing home that includes great benefits and opportunities for learning, fun, and profit.</blockquote>
Mynxee, for you relative newcomers is a respected EVE blogger (now found blogging at <a href="http://outlawinsouciant.blogspot.com/">Outlaw Insouciant</a>) and notorious pirate PVPer from times past. Everyone I've read seems to love her, at almost Sugar levels of intensity. She's a good bet for a mentor and CEO.<br />
<br />
Signal Cartel is not for me -- its corp rules forbid initiating PVP. (I hunt.) But it is exactly the sort of corp I would have liked to join when I started. I know there are some explorers reading this, so maybe it's for you.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I'll be setting Signal Cartel blue to my corp. Since their principles forbid shooting me, I won't shoot them. Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-48517451054210447642015-01-29T10:04:00.000-05:002015-01-29T10:10:17.473-05:00Jab and RiposteIt's corp night again. Last night I prepared C5a for us, should it prove worthy. By going in a day in advance, I can instantiate all the 16-hour wormholes that may be sitting around there uninstantiated, and get them to go away. So I don't have to pop them to be safe. But of course, new wormholes can pop up all day long, and there's nothing I can do about it.<br />
<br />
I have to check for new wormholes, and I might as well do it now, before my corpmates show up. Actually I am only expecting Jayne tonight. But last night I found the best gas site in the game, an Instrumental Core Reservoir, in C5a. If it's still there today, which is highly likely, then we'll run it. We can be in, kill the sleepers, and out probably before anyone can scan us down. So that's my plan. I warp to the wormhole C4a->C5a, and jump.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQ8kUHXz04ot0oz2UYtJvTLp8EvwqAI2vGzySOpNkROCuyQcuP2h22m0aWEsgxnZ5G9GdMFqe9atvp5uPSir67fZ68HaxTUxQaEAM0pWuQZ665xM_HlMt-cYDOuIgDdI9IXo0sVHujwfX/s1600/riposte-sighted.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQ8kUHXz04ot0oz2UYtJvTLp8EvwqAI2vGzySOpNkROCuyQcuP2h22m0aWEsgxnZ5G9GdMFqe9atvp5uPSir67fZ68HaxTUxQaEAM0pWuQZ665xM_HlMt-cYDOuIgDdI9IXo0sVHujwfX/s1600/riposte-sighted.png" height="200" width="159" /></a></div>
Plans change. In this case, I see a full set of Sister's core probes, as well as two Ventures. There is no live tower on scan from here (in fact I know from last night that there is no live tower in the system). So the two Ventures are out in space somewhere. Almost certainly gassing in the Core Reservoir, right? A single narrow-band dscan confirms it. <br />
<br />
I am in my normal Manticore fit, unable to tackle a Venture. So I need to refit to my fit with two scramblers. Where can I do that? I could go back home to do it, but that means two more uncloaks at the wormhole. It also means five minutes of polarization. Not a good option. This system is rather small. The furthest planet is an outer planet about 14 AU out. That's <i>almost</i> far enough... fortunately, last night I scanned down a wormhole that is near that planet, and about two AU further away. I think that is far enough to be off dscan.<br />
<br />
I warp to the wormhole near the outer planet, making a safespot when I get close. Then I turn around and warp to that safespot. From it, I cannot see much on dscan. It will do. Of course I have no idea whose probes those are; it might be one of the Ventures scanning, or it might be some other ship. If it is another ship, there's some chance it will come out here and dscan. But at least I can hope that the pilot is probing and isn't dscanning actively. <br />
<br />
I launch my mobile depot, then orbit it at 2500 cloaked while I wait for it to online. Dscanning shows nothing during this time. When the depot onlines, I get in close and uncloak, and refit. Then I grab everything, and warp to the gas site at 100km.<br />
<br />
As I warp over, I am considering my options. Jayne should be online any minute now, and I might hasten that. We got a similar setup last week, him dropping on them in a Sabre so we got pods. But before I do that, I want to get on site and see what's happening there.<br />
<br />
I land in the site. I came in from the side, so I am not worried about being decloaked by the gas. And indeed, the large cloud of C320 is entirely gone. Both Ventures are there, now sucking at the small cloud, the C540. This is bad. A single Venture can suck up one of these small clouds in less time than it takes for sleepers to come, which is 20 minutes. Two can suck it in 10 minutes. I don't know how long they have been at it. But probably they won't be on site for more than a few more minutes. <br />
<br />
There's no time for Jayne. I have to get in there pronto. I bookmark the gas cloud, then warp to the sun (which is close) to bounce. As I warp, I am trying to recall how large the C540 cloud is. I think it's about 15km in radius, but I am not sure of that. 20km would probably be safe, but maybe not. I decide to warp to 30km. I land, then reverse and warp back at 30km.<br />
<br />
I land near the cloud, about 18km from it. A quick check shows one Venture is orbiting away from me, but the second is coming more or less towards me. I move downward to meet it. Once I get close enough, I uncloak and get to work. The Venture's pilot tries to escape me, but with my microwarp I can catch him even though he is slightly faster. Gradually my rockets do the job. <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44219051/">Boom.</a> He warps his pod promptly.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJREtA-Lylwm0YH2npLAYJB_ACBjiE_c5LDyrjYZ8yxjiozXA617hi4sPBDKygX7BWegDZNiWWIy6D4x2aQy8ueR_1eM83EwcDfc0DdPj_GlO4zuA_ssR8asQOFUiLWh4Z-eatvPwkQHb9/s1600/riposte-big-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJREtA-Lylwm0YH2npLAYJB_ACBjiE_c5LDyrjYZ8yxjiozXA617hi4sPBDKygX7BWegDZNiWWIy6D4x2aQy8ueR_1eM83EwcDfc0DdPj_GlO4zuA_ssR8asQOFUiLWh4Z-eatvPwkQHb9/s1600/riposte-big-loot.png" height="153" width="200" /></a>I scoop the loot from the wreck, which is not much. There is a nice chunk of gas there, C320. I want that. But before anything else, I move off the wreck and cloak. <br />
<br />
Combat done. I start to ease back and notice the things again. Dscan is clear. The gas cloud is gone! They must have sucked the last little bit of it <i>as</i> I was attacking them. Talk about lucky timing! A single minute later attacking, and I'd have missed them entirely.<br />
<br />
I want that gas. Not only is it worth 36m or whatever, it's the prize of battle. The enemy may want it too. But I am here and he's not. I know where the bomber is, and he does not. I quickly log on my alt Otto. As he logs on, I bookmark the wreck and check dscan. Nothing there. I figure that the enemy may come back with force, but it's unlikely at short notice that they'll come with anything that will stop a Venture. Even if they do bring a bubbler, I can see it coming on dscan. And a Venture is worth the risk. Otto takes one of my corp's Ventures, then warps over to the C5 wormhole. Then he warps to the wreck bookmark, grabs the gas, and warps back home. Ah, loot.<br />
<br />
As I am sitting congratulating myself, I am still scanning. I see a Venture. Ah. Perhaps they had the same thought as I did: come back in a worthless Venture to try to secure the loot. Sure enough, a Venture lands on grid, but not at the wreck. It's at the site's bookmark, about 20km from me. The wreck is empty, so I figure the new Venture will leave. Still, I move towards it in the hope that it dallies. It moves, but not as I would expect, back where it came from. Rather, towards the wreck. That's odd... but it helps me close the range quickly. Can he not see the wreck is empty? No time to think about that. I am in range, and I uncloak and open up.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftBH48rYGjJyaPUZv2qMZTIhbLqwoab6Y2Thx6pVS580EwMio7feRq9mQEd1AA8XH37ba9WxnggYELC0xZAURn-qQVSGSUJjYEzGuNHSoILFv8yrzQDroIYZy-tGCc8vqEo5iIfI9OgmB/s1600/riposte-venture-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftBH48rYGjJyaPUZv2qMZTIhbLqwoab6Y2Thx6pVS580EwMio7feRq9mQEd1AA8XH37ba9WxnggYELC0xZAURn-qQVSGSUJjYEzGuNHSoILFv8yrzQDroIYZy-tGCc8vqEo5iIfI9OgmB/s1600/riposte-venture-2.png" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lightning strikes twice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This one seems to go faster than the first. <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44219160/">Boom</a>. Again the pod warps in time. Still, yay me! <br />
<br />
A Sabre is on grid. Crap, baited like an idiot! Boo me! The Sabre lands about 4km from me and fires a bubble.<br />
<br />
I instinctively hit the microwarp and cloak. And luckily for me, I am moving away from the wreck and far enough from it to cloak. It's up to the Sabre now, to get to where I was going. I know that even though I see me cloak immediately, he gets to see me for another 10 seconds or so. So I just keep going straight, which is more or less to the edge of the bubble. He starts moving towards me. <br />
<br />
Now I juke and head directly to the edge, hoping to warp before he uncloaks me. He gets about 8km from me, and fires another bubble. Dammit. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XaemW2ibTdxEuU8TMGViibRQ5DHYPInZ5Co1b932b2if0OgEuLDM42AzpCPtaN1J32KRRRiAElLUOXO9IZC8avhIrU7UwL8QoeN0UfKttvTq7r8n_O8FK43lz4_pKsKam9zkRN_l7Lxo/s1600/riposte-sabre.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XaemW2ibTdxEuU8TMGViibRQ5DHYPInZ5Co1b932b2if0OgEuLDM42AzpCPtaN1J32KRRRiAElLUOXO9IZC8avhIrU7UwL8QoeN0UfKttvTq7r8n_O8FK43lz4_pKsKam9zkRN_l7Lxo/s1600/riposte-sabre.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Might have died here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But then I get a break, and he changes direction, or maybe my juke worked. (Hard to see what is happening in 3d.) I make it to the edge of the bubble, and out. He's 15km away; I am safe. He fires a third bubble, but not near me now. I keep moving out for a while just to watch. Shortly he microwarps out of his bubbles and warps off.<br />
<br />
Lessons here? Well, there was nothing the first Venture could have done, other than be dscanning like a maniac and abort at the first sign of me as I crossed the wormhole. I had scanned the site down last night, so he had no chance to see me probing for him. Also, Ventures don't expect to get pinned by bombers. So I cannot fault him at all.<br />
<br />
One lesson comes from the fits on those Ventures. Neither is excellent. The second Venture should have had a warp scrambler or disruptor; if it had, my fate would have been sealed. Both Ventures should have had a medium shield. This would have given them more than double the hitpoints, doubling the time it would take me to kill them. That also probably would have made the difference in the second fight, because had the Venture still been alive when the Sabre landed on grid its lock could have prevented my cloaking. Note that both Ventures have empty slots. You don't need a high-meta shield either; a simple Subordinate Screen Stabilizer costs about 15000 ISK. Similarly, Ventures should have damage controls in the low. That also increases hitpoints considerably. (The fit I use for gas mining is found in my post <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/10/how-to-mine-gas-fairly-safely-in.html">How to Mine Gas Fairly Safely in Wspace</a>.)<br />
<br />
The main lesson is my own mistake. Don't double dip. If it seems too good to be true, as it was to have the second Venture go for the wreck in spite of the wreck being clearly empty, leave off. It's true that I got the kill and I got away. But I got it only because his fit was bad, presumably because he was rushed in making it. I risked <i>far</i> more than he did. If he lost, he lost a Venture worth a half million ISK. Big deal. If I lost, I lost not only a 40m bomber but a 100m pod too, and I'd be back out in known space with no known way back home. I'd have to scan out with Otto. Probably take 30 jumps across highsec. Serious inconvenience. Big loss.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-65588168445949336202015-01-27T10:24:00.000-05:002015-01-27T17:18:45.802-05:00Beaten to ItIt's getting late tonight. Almost bedtime... but there is still a bit more time, and there is my static C4 to explore through. I've explored our static C5: nothing. Also a K162 to C4: more nothing. It had statics to C4 (my system), and C5b: nothing there either. Seems like a lot of nothing tonight. But you cannot find something without looking. And so, into C4a.<br />
<br />
C4a itself appears like more nothing. It's a small system, scannable from my wormhole. There's one live tower, but nothing else of interest. No ships. No wrecks. Not even a stray drone. At this point I might turn around. Or I might not. Let's see what statics this system has.<br />
<br />
I consult Tripwire, incidentally updating my wormhole sig since my wormhole is out all by itself. Aha. This system has statics to C2 and C3. Both of those are interesting possibilities. Good enough for me to keep going, and good enough for me to scan through seven sigs (six, really because minus one for my wormhole). So I move out from the wormhole, fire probes, and cloak.<br />
<br />
A few minutes later, I have the system fully scanned. In addition to the two static wormholes, there is some gas, a data site, and a relic site. OK, shall I go to C2a first, or to C3a? Easy decision, really. C2s have dual statics, and so are often occupied by people who intend to use the second static to find people to kill. Thus they tend to have more alert occupants. So I like C3a. I warp over, and jump in.<br />
<br />
C3a is large enough that I have to warp around. In the inner system there are two basic sleeper cruiser wrecks on scan. Ooh, maybe a salvager will come. But I cannot find the wrecks. From the look of them, they are probably in a gas site. There are several sigs. Shall I scan? Let me check the outer system first.<br />
<br />
I find a Venture at a tower in the outer system. After some dscanning, I get on grid with it. It is manned. Hmm. I am not in my Venture killing fit, but I am not sure what this guy plans to do. Being in a Venture at all suggests he has been mining; perhaps he saw the new sig and skedaddled. On the other hand, he might just be taking a break. I cannot tell. But I can tell I'd like to know where the gas site is. All the sigs in this system are in the inner system, 25AU from where I am. So this guy cannot dscan to there. I figure I will go in and scan as fast as possible, so that at least I have the gas site(s) in case this guy tries something.<br />
<br />
I warp to the inner system, and after a quick dscan check, fire probes. Then I quickly scan down the few sigs. There is indeed a gas site, and it does indeed hold the sleeper wrecks. I still see nothing on dscan, so maybe my scanning has not been noticed. <br />
<br />
I warp to the gas site. Both clouds are there, including a C72 cloud. (C72 is worth mining; C70 -- the other cloud -- isn't.) The sleeper wrecks have not been looted yet. Hmm. Nothing on scan.<br />
<br />
I move off to a perch 150km+ from both gas clouds and the two wrecks. Now, I wait.<br />
<br />
I wait some more.<br />
<br />
Tick.<br />
<br />
Tock.<br />
<br />
Damn, I am short on time here. I might wait longer if it was earlier in the evening, but it's not. I warp to the sleeper wrecks, grab their blue loot, and warp out. <br />
<br />
Shall I call it a night? Not quite yet... <a href="http://www.civanon.org/home.shtml">just one more system</a>. I'll check out C2a. I warp across C4b, then jump in.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XjMhNam2hG8BtjSKBWYHTDsWJr75TGF5BmhuX6mlDvX0AMD5xR09q5yjVs6aSDxCyUMulsBA4k1s4zlSgEQdydDWlajxpum0CPC6Qhduh3xgDRF3xFpBNw1py1gg4-9gviMipy-2PBHD/s1600/beaten-to-it-dscan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XjMhNam2hG8BtjSKBWYHTDsWJr75TGF5BmhuX6mlDvX0AMD5xR09q5yjVs6aSDxCyUMulsBA4k1s4zlSgEQdydDWlajxpum0CPC6Qhduh3xgDRF3xFpBNw1py1gg4-9gviMipy-2PBHD/s1600/beaten-to-it-dscan.png" height="200" width="135" /></a>My dscan from the wormhole tells a story. There are two mining barge wrecks on scan, as well as a corpse, a Manticore and a Stratios. Some miners got ganked here. There are also a Basilisk and an Epithal, which I expect are not part of it. <br />
<br />
I check the scanner, and sure enough there is one ore site in the system. It's 13 AU from me, and a quick narrow beam dscan confirms that the wrecks are there, as well as the bomber and the Stratios. I warp over, but I am pretty sure I am too late.<br />
<br />
I am too late. In the site, I land on grid about 25km from where the action was. The Stratios warps off just as I land. Then the Manticore, piloted by Indecorous, grabs a last bit of loot, and also turns and warps. Both ships disappear from dscan, which of course means pretty much nothing. (Here are the kills: a <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44180286/">Covetor</a>, a <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44180303/">Procurer</a>, and a <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/44180332/">mobile tractor</a>.)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScVa7-UzeLK5DI2GBNhUzWlk0zISfqAbqlON-OViUHf-MIXAun73p-exD83C6bxSvl2xPvosVw67L_eSLqWqF53wDaWU-x1Y1SL5QLfwHEU812tZIWohuBX18B_UmIhY20GNJq6IpVLXf/s1600/beaten-to-it-manti.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScVa7-UzeLK5DI2GBNhUzWlk0zISfqAbqlON-OViUHf-MIXAun73p-exD83C6bxSvl2xPvosVw67L_eSLqWqF53wDaWU-x1Y1SL5QLfwHEU812tZIWohuBX18B_UmIhY20GNJq6IpVLXf/s1600/beaten-to-it-manti.png" height="171" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well done.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Strangely, the corpse is not on grid here. Where is it? I almost start looking, but then I recall the time. It's not my corpse so I don't want it for my collection, and surely whatever locals there may be left here in the ships which I can see are not going to be doing anything stupid again tonight. At least not for a few hours, and I don't have that much time. So, goodbye C2a. I warp home for PI and logoff.<br />
<br />
That's EVE. Earlier, had I chosen to enter C2a first and not C3a, it seems nearly certain that I would have gotten at least one of those two barges. Possibly both, if they were less than fully alert. I was beaten to them by only a minute or two. Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-47501687533945316092015-01-21T17:28:00.000-05:002015-01-22T08:16:59.488-05:00Strange Events in C5a<br />
It's the morning, and I am out for a bit of exploration before work. It's corp night tonight, meaning we have a standing plan to run sites to make money. Part of that involves opening our static C5 the previous night, to scout it out. Last night the system looked great for running sites, other than it not having that many. It had no live towers, just two dead ones. And it had only its static C6 wormhole, and one other small wormhole to nullsec. (This one I likely instantiated; it will last 16 hours and therefore be gone by the time corp night starts.) But now it's been eight hours, and I want to peek in to see if anything has changed.<br />
<br />
I jump into C5a, and dscan. Nothing on scan, good. But there are three new sigs -- not so good. One is the static, which is evidently gone since last night. The other two, I don't know. I move off the wormhole, fire probes, and hide them. Then I warp around the system. Nobody home. OK, time to scan. <br />
<br />
Scanning reveals three new wormholes. The new static, to C6a. And two new wormholes to nullsec. One is small, which is not a great sign for my plans tonight. Grr. The other is a K162. Having found these wormholes, I start exploring them. The incoming one first. I warp to the wormhole.<br />
<br />
As I arrive on grid with the wormhole, I see there's a Tristan here. Huh? Where'd he come from? No time to consider that. I am about to exit out of warp at the center of the wormhole, which will uncloak me. Tristans are drone frigates, which means they are great for killing stealth bombers. Nothing to do but jump. I jump. There are several people in Local in this system. Maybe he's from here. I hear the wormhole noise. He followed me. I bookmark the entrance just in case, then jump back into C5a. Once in, I order a warp to the next nullsec wormhole, and cloak. The Tristan has followed me, again, but he does not catch me. It's <i>really</i> hard to catch anyone in a cloaky frigate on a wormhole any more. If the Tristan pilot was trying, he did not succeed.<br />
<br />
I assay the remaining two nullsec wormholes one after the other, coming back in immediately. Nobody in nullsec in either system. The Tristan remains on scan. I'm ignoring him: not my target profile. On to C6a. I instantiated it last night, but did not enter. (Instead I sucked gas, confident that it was closed because I saw it in the "new" phase.) Now I plan to enter.<br />
<br />
As I warp up to the wormhole, I see a Venture on scan. That's interesting, but the Tristan is there on grid again. Maybe he is escorting a supply run through wspace? Who knows. Anyway, once again I jump, then elude him. Then I warp around C6a hoping to find something, perhaps a mining op? But nothing is there to be found. Instead I launch probes, and start scanning. I figure that will deter the Tristan and his friends from... whatever it they are doing. And it does seem to. The Tristan leaves the system. I scan down two wormholes: a second C5, and a C4. My time here is growing short -- must go to work -- but I have time to check those two systems out to gank any really obvious targets.<br />
<br />
I duck into C5b. Nothing on scan from the wormhole. I fly around the system, and I can see a Buzzard at a POS at an outer planet. There's also a bubble trap there, and I start thinking about trying to get on grid before I realize that's idiotic. Not for a Buzzard, and not with limited time. I warp back to the wormhole, and back into C6a.<br />
<br />
Now I try C4c. I jump in, and see a lot of anoms. Nothing on scan from the wormhole. Looks abandoned; I'll have to fly around -- no, wait a minute. There's a ghost site! That means that almost certainly the system is empty; nobody leaves a ghost site around. It also means time to get back home and get my ghostbusting Tengu. (Nobody leaves a ghost site untouched, I'm not nobody.) I jump back to C6a immediately.<br />
<br />
In C6a I scan as I cross the system, but nothing has changed. Good. Back into C5a. Again I scan, expecting nothing, but I see two things of interest. First, the Venture I saw before is still on scan. Gassing? Second, so is the Tristan I saw earlier. But there's something more interesting: Ishamael Balthamel's corpse. Since it is there, and the Tristan is not a wreck, I guess that he must have ejected and self-destructed his pod. Why? I have no idea why. Let's find it first.<br />
<br />
A bit of dscanning shows the Tristan is at the wormhole to nullsec where I first encountered it. I warp over for a look.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW68tZBuOdVjrhy8ZRqNrGsuSSkpxEGa5VaTrShFjdSqv3b91ozKanrvDkMO_6dYu_qDpDQmWMjetr0uUQe2ZtEe9h0O0E1bXqA8AW1l7gHT22SO_fc5zlUuFVWO68Xblp8xNHs7crsUv/s1600/strange-c5-corpse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW68tZBuOdVjrhy8ZRqNrGsuSSkpxEGa5VaTrShFjdSqv3b91ozKanrvDkMO_6dYu_qDpDQmWMjetr0uUQe2ZtEe9h0O0E1bXqA8AW1l7gHT22SO_fc5zlUuFVWO68Xblp8xNHs7crsUv/s1600/strange-c5-corpse.png" height="171" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suicide?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sure enough, there's the empty Tristan and the corpse. (In the lower left you can see the Cataclysmis Variable effect.) OK, I'll want to be grabbing the Tristan. But first I want to find the Venture. I assumed earlier the two ships were together, but perhaps not. Perhaps it is out mining gas, although I already know it's not in the one place -- the Vital Core Reservoir I was in last night -- which makes the most sense. Still, it could be mining lesser gas. A quick dscan or two shows the Venture is not in any site. In fact it is at planet VII somewhere. I warp to planet VII.<br />
<br />
Just being near planet VII does not mean that I can find it. I can find it if it is at the POCO or a moon; otherwise I'll have to combat scan for it. Both of those are weird places for a Venture to be. But then, anywhere around a planet other than inside a POS is. I find it at a moon. Weird. I warp over to look.<br />
<br />
I land on grid about 170km from a dead tower, and sure enough there is the Venture over near the tower, next to a giant freight container. It is unmanned, just like the Tristan. Weird. And hey, look at that. The POS modules are unanchored. I could grab them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSc5sHNLC-wxtsEzEabOzIwMqTx4qqEdyqF-8bVHl2VOi4kc8lwtUOVaJMxDbvcjv5Lm0YN7rcrj83OY6V7DZw5AFlnOKt9KPZ3XZ_5yjU6o2SSKCSeH-pNDAo17bfcWrvWLztKcVWTU-/s1600/strange-c5-dead-tower.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSc5sHNLC-wxtsEzEabOzIwMqTx4qqEdyqF-8bVHl2VOi4kc8lwtUOVaJMxDbvcjv5Lm0YN7rcrj83OY6V7DZw5AFlnOKt9KPZ3XZ_5yjU6o2SSKCSeH-pNDAo17bfcWrvWLztKcVWTU-/s1600/strange-c5-dead-tower.png" height="227" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dead tower. Ooh, look at those modules.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I warp to the tower to look closer... huh? I cannot warp to the tower. I <i>know</i> you can warp to towers; I do it all the time watching would-be prey. But maybe only when they are online? I dunno. OK, I <i>bookmark </i>the tower -- that's allowed at least -- and then I warp to that bookmark, at 30km. <br />
<br />
OK, now I have two ships to grab. And maybe those unanchored POS mods, too. I log off my Jita alt and log on my alt Otto. He puts his Hound into storage so he can pod over and get the ships. Back at the dead POS, I make a picture of the Venture, and in doing so notice something... do you see it?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qf9pqXSyEwQLtYmlZGKqMVcbDBS6AfkG8ERKheEdXG1GEwGk6Q7uloTATcufIaP7Gpa8XYLDPgw08_J1rfZvD_f2f-ynLNfwrtr12pC_IECczs4HaXpvhsvJfA-Evjv0VrGVVMvy-ARc/s1600/strange-c5-venture.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qf9pqXSyEwQLtYmlZGKqMVcbDBS6AfkG8ERKheEdXG1GEwGk6Q7uloTATcufIaP7Gpa8XYLDPgw08_J1rfZvD_f2f-ynLNfwrtr12pC_IECczs4HaXpvhsvJfA-Evjv0VrGVVMvy-ARc/s1600/strange-c5-venture.png" height="171" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something here is unusual.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The tower is <i>unanchored</i>! (<i>That's</i> why I could not warp to it.) That's a large Minmatar tower, worth 280m ISK or so. It's just floating there, waiting to be grabbed by the first person to come by! Well, I am first. Actually, I am <i>not</i> first. The Venture's pilot was first, but for whatever reason, did not or could not do the deed. I will. Not with Von, though; I'll remain on the grid to dscan and check overview. And maybe kill someone who's coming to collect the tower, if anyone is. Best be fast with Otto.<br />
<br />
Otto jumps into an Iteron V, and refits it for more warp core stabilization. I am pretty sure this is not a trap -- if so, it's very elaborate. Still, it <i>might</i> be a trap, and more WCS won't affect the mission; the tower is 8000m^3. Otto warps to the C5 wormhole, then in, and he makes the grab. Nobody kills him. He warps back home and dumps the Iteron. Now for some ships.<br />
<br />
First Otto goes for the Venture, hoping that it is packed with gas as its name suggests. It's not. It has no cargo or drones, just two gas miner Is, a nanofiber (offline), and a microwarpdrive (offline). Otto onlines the microwarp, then heads home. He has to wait briefly for polarization to abate.<br />
<br />
Next Otto goes to grab the Tristan and its corpse. This also goes without incident. The Tristan is completely unfit. No modules at all and no drones. Really strange. More polarization on the way home.<br />
<br />
As Otto is warping (and sitting polarized the second time), I notice something. Some of the POS modules, the energy neutralizers, are actually faction. Ooh. OK, that determines it: I am grabbing them too. I warp Von out to make a perch so that Otto can bounce back and forth quickly. Also I bookmark one POS module in each of six locations. (There are two clumps of two each.)<br />
<br />
Otto gets into a different Iteron V, fit for maximum cargo. There are eight POS modules, all 4000m^3. I can do it one run. Otto warps over, jumps in, and starts grabbing. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGgPeZdVGNM5NrIEmeU9VnCOgUWq4DrE5nzdhbiVnDMpiLJ0mH_NuEnNQwTcNWvLHrKW8k6vwVuUHbQyB_81ST3r7gRcCPWlHrD1ItuMiwRgZCY1e74M5lDpgtm4nm-q8EhkAq9v7WZiX/s1600/strange-c5-iteron.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGgPeZdVGNM5NrIEmeU9VnCOgUWq4DrE5nzdhbiVnDMpiLJ0mH_NuEnNQwTcNWvLHrKW8k6vwVuUHbQyB_81ST3r7gRcCPWlHrD1ItuMiwRgZCY1e74M5lDpgtm4nm-q8EhkAq9v7WZiX/s1600/strange-c5-iteron.png" height="171" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming for more loot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Grab, bounce. Grab grab bounce. Eventually he gets all eight modules, and warps home.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-il9X0dnkeAvp4lqccVR0NFn9sSAuUE1pxUxgcdK0mO1bcrEc-kzyG57U05z2oHMCDnLj8Ku9xLUcoLwYAGWSLeDliNV61yvdlyM8WI9020_T4ko14WSc3yCXElVsc-HzNLdJbjDZtlE3/s1600/strange-c5-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-il9X0dnkeAvp4lqccVR0NFn9sSAuUE1pxUxgcdK0mO1bcrEc-kzyG57U05z2oHMCDnLj8Ku9xLUcoLwYAGWSLeDliNV61yvdlyM8WI9020_T4ko14WSc3yCXElVsc-HzNLdJbjDZtlE3/s1600/strange-c5-loot.png" height="301" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">POS and parts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPzKQD02exm91Esy8n4JZqHIrqkYebZlZjLDbK50H2OlF3zU0Kp549b2fwVx9kLSB73sRyfrnI6alKg7WDXSTKvac9ZuA9ZluQIeIC_PxY7UmQLQm6obj-WR50G-7Vnr6EHCkr8QBDWU0/s1600/strange-c5-ghost-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPzKQD02exm91Esy8n4JZqHIrqkYebZlZjLDbK50H2OlF3zU0Kp549b2fwVx9kLSB73sRyfrnI6alKg7WDXSTKvac9ZuA9ZluQIeIC_PxY7UmQLQm6obj-WR50G-7Vnr6EHCkr8QBDWU0/s1600/strange-c5-ghost-loot.png" height="200" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not from C5a.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now I am finally done with C5 for the immediate future, and I recall my plan to go get the ghost site. I finally get to it. I get three cans done, the last just in the nick of time. Ha!<br />
<br />
I got lots of loot, but I am left with many questions. What was Ishamael Balthamel doing in wspace? Why was he in a completely unfit ship? (Indeed, how did he manage to even get into wspace with no probe launcher?) Why did he not convo me for help? I could have gotten him out. Was he connected to the Venture in some way? Why was there a Venture and a juicy tower and parts just sitting there to grab? Who left it there, and why?<br />
<br />
I probably will never find answers to any of these questions. But it's stuff like this that keeps me playing. You never know what you are going to find when people shape the environment. Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-77734163275159274702015-01-18T23:39:00.002-05:002015-01-18T23:39:26.560-05:00Stupid or FearlessA C6 system connected to my system last night, and I scanned it down then. I found some good gas, a Vital Core Reservoir, and I sucked gas for 20 minutes until the sleepers came. Today, I am eager to go get some more of that tasty C540. But with the passage of 10 hours, it's wise to look around first.<br />
<br />
I reenter the game in my Manticore, and first update my own system. There's a new site, which turns out to be gas. OK, first I'll check out C4a. Last night it had nothing going on, and I hope to verify that again today. <br />
<br />
I warp to the wormhole, and sure enough I land not on it but at its signature location. This means that nobody has been on this grid since downtime. That's what I want to see. I jump in, look around, and find nothing different. OK.<br />
<br />
Back home, then onward into C6a. I warp to the wormhole, noting that this one has been activated since downtime. Hmm. I jump.<br />
<br />
A dscan from the wormhole shows nothing, but then it is way over at the edge of a rather large system. Last night I bookmarked the one local tower, so that's the place to look. I warp to it at 70 km. As I get close, I dscan. There are four ships on scan: a Megathron, an Anathema, and two Covetors. All thought of gas is gone. Are the Covetors out in space?<br />
<br />
I land on grid, and sure enough the Megathron and Anathema are safe within the POS forcefield. Both are manned. The Covetors are not here. Could they really be <i>mining</i> in an open system? In <i>wspace</i>? I get dscan going and quickly find them in an ore site. Yes is the answer. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing4KdZAIV-ok_9vhPG63duv6Z1oryqAIqX8wTabObs5OEBFcmqfehdAwqAxSVyCEkm9699Dw9Fme2dCey1GbficPpLLihlS3upjgFIC2BAFFXzDANQECAorFZ7bABaX4A-z4WoRSWLkcR/s1600/stupid-on-grid.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing4KdZAIV-ok_9vhPG63duv6Z1oryqAIqX8wTabObs5OEBFcmqfehdAwqAxSVyCEkm9699Dw9Fme2dCey1GbficPpLLihlS3upjgFIC2BAFFXzDANQECAorFZ7bABaX4A-z4WoRSWLkcR/s1600/stupid-on-grid.png" height="111" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I warp to the ore site at 10km. There they are, very close to each other and also close to a can they are mining into. Looks like an easy kill. A trap? No, not those ships. I think these guys are just stupid. Or fearless.<br />
<br />
I am 149km from the can, so just a tiny bit of movement and I can warp to it. I turn opposite the Covetors and move a bit. Now I can warp to the can at zero. I can and I do. No fancy moves today. <br />
<br />
I exit warp close enough to one of the Covetors that it decloaks me. That's fine; I was going to uncloak by hand anyway. I get my systems on, locking both Covetors. I put my warp scrambler on as I am locking, but not my painter and torpedoes. Once both locks complete, the scrambler gets one of the Covetors. I open fire (and paint) the one I <i>don't</i> have scrambled. I hope it won't warp in time, and it does not. <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43971564/">Boom</a>, gone. I attempt to lock the pod, but it does warp in time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPkmnKKygwfem5RwxyrV_vbtz-yDyt3wCF1EDyDb7SnR1BDGhQLeoMAnoRfdBVBabmGn1mRyyQXWWZkfuQM0zAUr44bPMYFvGYXBHRKvMeoOKggQrrmNoLQXNlL-7jLgE7p6Xoi1R58DP/s1600/stupid-combat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPkmnKKygwfem5RwxyrV_vbtz-yDyt3wCF1EDyDb7SnR1BDGhQLeoMAnoRfdBVBabmGn1mRyyQXWWZkfuQM0zAUr44bPMYFvGYXBHRKvMeoOKggQrrmNoLQXNlL-7jLgE7p6Xoi1R58DP/s1600/stupid-combat.png" height="133" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One down. One to go.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now for the second Covetor. Torps and painter on. Dscan shows no change; I doubt they'll try anything with a Megathron, and if they do I can leave faster than he can lock me. After a few rounds of torps, <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43971577/">boom again</a>. This time the pilot is not so fast, and I get the pod locked in time. I <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43980750/">send him back to highsec</a>. Ha ha! I scoop the corpse and a few bits of loot that fit (there are huge chunks of plagioclase that don't). Then I get away from the wrecks and rocks and cloak. Aaah, safe again.<br />
<br />
Now I watch on dscan as the three remaining locals sit at the their tower, trying on various ships. I am hoping they send over a Miasmos or something to try to fetch their ore. But they don't. These guys are stupid, or fearless, mining in an open system. But not <i>that</i> stupid or fearless.<br />
<br />
After a while, I get bored. I warp to the outer planet and launch probes, then back to their tower to watch them as I scan. Fortunately I have Tripwire, so I can ignore most of the sigs that were here last night. Even so there are four new ones. I set to scanning. <br />
<br />
It appears that they have noticed the probes. They get into different ships. Then one by one, they log out.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpomHZEwJ6lFwBz8zUlcjekxqHq1elYs10a9P8K9ToUdO_x_e11VSp0NU7vTAlt7O6Fg7AlI5T5q69qKCGdNlxgq3VmRIAmdLTD4pfQIJ9KXYqYec6buj5HrBoGaS3YQRY2lG14HvNQI9/s1600/stupid-wormholes.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpomHZEwJ6lFwBz8zUlcjekxqHq1elYs10a9P8K9ToUdO_x_e11VSp0NU7vTAlt7O6Fg7AlI5T5q69qKCGdNlxgq3VmRIAmdLTD4pfQIJ9KXYqYec6buj5HrBoGaS3YQRY2lG14HvNQI9/s1600/stupid-wormholes.png" height="141" width="200" /></a>As I scan I warp around to wormholes as I find them. I find three. The first is a K162, highly disrupted. Hmm. The second is a small wormhole, outgoing. <br />
<br />
The third wormhole is another K162, also highly disrupted.<br />
<br />
Wait a second... these guys may not be as stupid as I thought. They disrupted all the wormholes except a small one, and that one small wormhole is outgoing. They may have seen it appear, and intentionally not opened it. Why didn't they disrupt the wormhole to my system? ... Or did they? Did I enter the system through a highly disrupted wormhole and not even notice?<br />
<br />
I warp over to my wormhole. Yup. Highly disrupted. Who's stupid now? <br />
<br />
(I explore through EOL wormholes all the time, but rarely through highly disrupted ones.) Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-61760541074460160332015-01-16T20:10:00.001-05:002015-01-16T20:17:35.829-05:00A Sloppy ScannerIt's getting late in the USA timezone, and it's a weekday. I have not been on today, so my bookmarks are probably out of date. These are not propitious circumstances for hunting. But I am building troops in <i>Star Wars Commander</i>, and I have nothing to do in <i>Clash of Clans</i>. So, let me see what wspace holds tonight. I log in, still in my trusty Manticore as usual.<br />
<br />
First I clean up my home system's bookmarks, and scan out new ones. There is a new gas site, and a new wormhole. The old C4 static is gone, so the new wormhole must be it. There was another C4, also now gone. And there is the static C5, which Hiljah found last night. It is now deep into EOL, some 50 minutes to go according to the timing of her bookmark. So, I am not going that way. That leaves my static C4. I warp to it, bookmark it, then head in.<br />
<br />
C4a is not active, indeed unoccupied. But a check with tripwire shows that it has C1 and C2 statics. Those are good possibilities, what with the nullsec sites now in there. C4b also has only six sigs; I won't have to sift through a lot of gas and relics to find the ways out. I find a K162 leading to a C4, as well as the expected C1 and C2. I head into C1 first. <br />
<br />
C1a has nothing going on where I enter, but it is medium system with one outer planet about 17AU from my wormhole entry point. I move off, fire probes, hide them, then warp out. <br />
<br />
I see a Probe on scan. Also there is a POS. The Probe is probably at the POS. I'll look for it.<br />
<br />
As I start looking for the POS, a Heron appears. Hmm. Maybe also at the POS? A bit of scanning shows that is untrue: they are in different 180 degree sections of space. The Heron is not in a forcefield! Prey! As I narrow down to 90, then 60, the Heron launches probes. Aha! I doubt I can kill it -- it should recloak soon -- but I will try. That the probes are still not out probing is a good sign for me. The guy is slow, possibly distracted by another account.<br />
<br />
I find the Heron at moon 7, with its probes still around it. I throw my Manticore into warp. While I am in warp, I keep dscanning forward. The probes disappear. Rats. But the Heron is still there... it should cloak any second. I land on grid with it.<br />
<br />
The Heron is some 210 km away. I orient to it, and I can see that there is a planet almost in line with him. It's a bit "up" from the direct line. I ponder my options. How old is the character, anyway? A quick check shows a year or so. That's plenty for me to be quite unconcerned about her feelings -- she should know the score by now. The only way I can get close to her is to warp back and forth twice. Of course, the pilot will probably cloak long before I can do that. Still, she has not cloaked yet... then she cloaks. Finally.<br />
<br />
That was way too much time uncloaked. Herons cannot warp cloaked, but they can move, albeit slowly. Still, I have the feeling that this particular Heron won't. She's been slow and lazy about security at two points so far. So I bookmark my location, then warp off to the inline planet. Then I warp back 100km, and make another bookmark. Then I repeat the process. One final move: I bookmark my location then point straight up and fly about 10km. This is, hopefully, where the Heron is. <br />
<br />
Now I wait. As I warped back and forth, I could see the probes when I was relatively close to my entry wormhole. That suggests that my wormhole was brand-new, and this pilot is searching only for it, having probably already scanned the system. That's good; it means once she finds it, she will uncloak and warp over for a look. She may, at least. And may is good enough for me to wait patiently for a shot. Even though she'll probably get into warp too fast for me. Still, one has to try.<br />
<br />
I wait some more.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4CDkFuljWMQjULTMpg4WDBjfTq6gMrWO4bGFD__DaXHku9SnFUd4iA_g9uNvI7uwswvriYW9ps9AHmxyMJkxnHTvJQ9ma8B5ds7IIryxa0jNdR_gWKrO10cv3TP8pZKLL1seg6OO99ce/s1600/sloppy-close-to.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4CDkFuljWMQjULTMpg4WDBjfTq6gMrWO4bGFD__DaXHku9SnFUd4iA_g9uNvI7uwswvriYW9ps9AHmxyMJkxnHTvJQ9ma8B5ds7IIryxa0jNdR_gWKrO10cv3TP8pZKLL1seg6OO99ce/s1600/sloppy-close-to.png" height="113" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't uncloak and sit there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And there she is. 20km -- not too bad. Actually I am rather proud of how close I am. But it is not within warp scrambler range. I head straight at her, hoping that she'll be as tardy in warping off as she has been in starting to probe, and in recloaking after probing.<br />
<br />
My hope and waiting pay off. I look at her, and she's not moving. Just a few seconds more...<br />
<br />
Then I am range, and the same old thing happens. I uncloak, get systems going, and the lock completes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGh0fiuugK7Z_Hb1ZzebhA6rRJ-gx9V4m2SN3Jnhd7J287XH5OhCbo66aBy3EuNnL1gqFtUwEUNk2tTDWaXvsthXqKvHKegzwjUKPE6ijX-6KId27VwwXZgRd7ZrPuoKHZulhazeDzdBX/s1600/sloppy-tackled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGh0fiuugK7Z_Hb1ZzebhA6rRJ-gx9V4m2SN3Jnhd7J287XH5OhCbo66aBy3EuNnL1gqFtUwEUNk2tTDWaXvsthXqKvHKegzwjUKPE6ijX-6KId27VwwXZgRd7ZrPuoKHZulhazeDzdBX/s1600/sloppy-tackled.png" height="182" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too late.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then she is <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43903298/">smashed quickly by my torpedoes</a>. (Moving would have helped a lot.) I almost lock the pod, but the pilot is alert by this point and warps free. <br />
<br />
I scoop the meager loot, then move off and cloak.<br />
<br />
A stabber appears on dscan, then drops onto grid and orbits the wreck for a while. I don't uncloak. The stabber goes home. I do too, quite a bit happier I think.<br />
<br />
When you want to start scanning, uncloak, fire your probes, wait for the reload, then get cloaked. Get yourself recloaked before you start serious scanning, and before turning your attention away. Sitting uncloaked in wspace is asking to be killed. <br />
<br />
Also, especially in a non-covert-ops capable ship, move (cloaked) when you scan. Even moving at 1/10 speed, if it takes you 15 minutes to scan you'll go quite a ways from where you were. If I see a covert ops cloak, I won't bother hanging around because it will probably leave without me knowing. But that's not true of the lesser cloaks. Even if I cannot catch you when you uncloak, I can see you and maybe figure out where you are going when you warp off. Then maybe I can catch you there. <br />
<br />
Finally, unless there is some good reason to be still, keep moving when you are uncloaked. This makes it very hard to sneak up on you. And in the event that someone does sneak into range, your movement lowers the damage you'll take from torpedoes.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-8335334736486483542015-01-12T22:50:00.001-05:002015-01-12T23:00:38.964-05:00An AFK HeliosSunday, and I am hunting again. What it is about hunting? It's addictive like a lottery. Usually you pay a small price and get nothing. Sometimes you get a win, and sometimes a jackpot. I have one more wormhole to explore right now: the C4 through my system's static C4. <br />
<br />
I dscan from the wormhole as normal, and lo and behold. Several ships including an Astero, a Helios, and three Ventures. Ventures! You might sometimes see a Venture here and there in a POS, but generally three at once means a gas mining op. Targets!<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I am in my torpedo fit, which lacks sufficient warp scrambling to stop a Venture. So, I'll need to find a place to refit. But I can do that.<br />
<br />
What else does my dscan show? There is a POS, probably where the cloaky non-Ventures are. (There's very little reason a ship with a covert-ops cloak should ever be seen in wspace.) Should I bother finding their POS? Nah. Of more concern to me is a set of sisters combat scanner probes. Either I arrived just as these guys are being hunted by someone else, or else they have the probes out. If my wormhole is new, and they saw it via the discovery scanner, that might explain the probes. But I don't think so; it's too fast. In any case, there is nothing to be done about it.<br />
<br />
I check the system map. There are two planets out of dscan range of the inner system, where I am. I fly to planet VI, the second-outermost first, to check for any additional enemies. None. Good. Now on to planet VII, the outermost. It has no sigs or anoms, so I am hoping there is nothing out there. My hopes are fulfilled: no towers or ships. A good place to refit. I make a safespot as I start to decelerate. Then I warp to it, and after a last check of dscan, uncloak and launch my mobile depot.<br />
<br />
It makes me nervous doing a refit when I have already seen combat probes. But I cannot see them now, and I figure I can get away if they do discover me. So I do my minute, with lots of nervous dscans, then refit as fast as I can, pull the depot, and cloak. Whew. Safe again. (I hate being uncloaked.) Now I warp back to the inner system, to start looking for those Ventures.<br />
<br />
Except when I get there, there is only one Venture left on scan. There are two shuttles that weren't there before. Drat. I think they noticed me somehow. My dscan quickly finds the ships all at a POS, and strangely, the probes are there too. I warp over to the planet. I quickly get the right moon identified, then warp in for a look.<br />
<br />
The Venture, shuttles, Helios and Astero are all there on grid with me. But strangely, so are the sister's probes. That's weird. Then I notice the Helios is not the same distance from me as the other ships. They are all about 80km; it is 250km. I look around, and I see it. It is outside of the POS shield, with the probes all around it.<br />
<br />
So the guy warps out to fire probes, fires them, then... what? Disconnection? Just forgot? Who knows. It's a target, though.<br />
<br />
I check the space in the Helios's direction, and quite fortunately there is a planet more or less in it. It's planet VII, the outermost. It will take me two warps back and forth, but I should be able to get pretty close to the Helios. So I bookmark the POS then warp to my safespot. Then I warp back to the POS at 100km. A check shows the alignment is still good.<br />
<br />
At this point I get concerned about the nuts and bolts. I know I get a few seconds of time before the POS modules can lock/shoot at me, and I know it is only small POS guns that can lock me in any reasonably short time. (This info I computed a year ago; that's the gist. The <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/04/pos-module-locking-times.html">details are here</a>; don't miss the comments.) I get a full dscan to check the POS: it has the normal ECMs and such, and some medium guns. (These don't worry me; too slow to lock.) It has 6 small blaster batteries, and 6 small laser batteries. I check the stats on both: only the lasers appear to be able to target at 170 km or so. Can six small lasers kill me? I don't know. Should I attack or slink off?<br />
<br />
It is moments like this that a mini-Penny sits on my shoulder (on the sinister side), and whispers, <i>Kill</i>! I listen to this whisper. So I save my location 100km from the POS, and then it is back out to my safespot at planet VII. I jettison everything in my hold to reduce the loss if I do get killed. Then I warp to my recent bookmark at 70km. I end up nice and close to my still-unmoving target, about 20km from him.<br />
<br />
I could make a run straight at him, but then getting away will take precious seconds. He's not moving, so I feel it is a better idea to move around to that I can align to a celestial and drive by him. Then I can warp instantly. I look around for a celestial that is positioned so that when I align to it I am perpendicular to the POS, so as to have as much transversal as possible. Planet II seems good. OK. Now I need to move across the Helios so as to position myself so that the Helios is between me and planet II. This takes a few seconds. Then I stop, about 12km from the Helios.<br />
<br />
It's time. I don't know whether I will be killed, but I'll find out. I take a breath, and align to Planet II.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18hTNm7LokfIOaCgtfbzCeq_rJ_OemFu_hBe13F0tCYvevlP6t1jXvyGFXUzkfXufMCYXbX9BxHUq-camqIHq8mypQR1UfPpfxboOLQhDRF9ioSoqKK9i-nr4uC2jcSyPaoRqX5aa6Tkp/s1600/afk-helios-1st-run.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18hTNm7LokfIOaCgtfbzCeq_rJ_OemFu_hBe13F0tCYvevlP6t1jXvyGFXUzkfXufMCYXbX9BxHUq-camqIHq8mypQR1UfPpfxboOLQhDRF9ioSoqKK9i-nr4uC2jcSyPaoRqX5aa6Tkp/s1600/afk-helios-1st-run.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aligned and about to uncloak.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRaSid5PWcXdg4ORPNGiwB4qLSDEjk_hMohVwQuZ_Y4sHbi9WhP_F2DIa83f-yG2cjTnSbbhTbJegcolGKOxDYVuHsNkvxUc14mrP1bLu4Z6cQnY4t7U-fhEExwBz0enaXEKIgAsVeMSg/s1600/afk-helios-damage-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRaSid5PWcXdg4ORPNGiwB4qLSDEjk_hMohVwQuZ_Y4sHbi9WhP_F2DIa83f-yG2cjTnSbbhTbJegcolGKOxDYVuHsNkvxUc14mrP1bLu4Z6cQnY4t7U-fhEExwBz0enaXEKIgAsVeMSg/s1600/afk-helios-damage-2.png" /></a>As I close to 8000m, I uncloak and start locking the Helios. Then it's the normal routine, turning on my systems and watching the Helios' shields/armor/structure drop. It take eight rounds of rockets, the last one as I am almost out of range. And beeep! I am hit! The last rockets fire, and <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43797342/">the Helios dies</a>. Yay! I warp immediately.<br />
<br />
My shields were blown off and I took some armor damage. But I am happy: I got my kill under the nose of five guys at their POS.<br />
<br />
Now my mind turns to loot -- and the pod. If the guy is AFK, maybe I can get it. I forgot to bookmark the location, so I warp out to planet VII again, then back to my former bookmark at 70km. And indeed, the pod's still there.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LhSLTqlpsVuRaFXTvgCdWSiBIT3kqGsHypSsU57wtD7IXP1sI1s4crgkAzE1W9I2O-EvdKaTperQYiMy9Zf_xvCOZLBpbeGISiviVu6763xcHzUszqwYSM1aUvkL-Vb47DeFUwyEmUyY/s1600/afk-helios-pod.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LhSLTqlpsVuRaFXTvgCdWSiBIT3kqGsHypSsU57wtD7IXP1sI1s4crgkAzE1W9I2O-EvdKaTperQYiMy9Zf_xvCOZLBpbeGISiviVu6763xcHzUszqwYSM1aUvkL-Vb47DeFUwyEmUyY/s1600/afk-helios-pod.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AFK and uncloaked: a bad mix.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Mwahaha. I do the same thing as before: approach over the top to get into position. (This time I save the location.) Then I align to planet II, and do the same drive-by. <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43797495/">The pod pops</a> just as I get hit again, taking only shield damage. Then I am safely into warp again!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFKrj7fgSAXyBTTwgAjGntFTtZwNk8_TI7VdJoZVyJfQnw-UiTSTLlPn3F8PZVOUetaGzYvSiKc3cHz9zIyapxNkN2rMZXg4rBwAo5Rl9GoNZrrL-L7EXHMZJEoFiuzIOuaBXetCL4CjR/s1600/afk-helios-2nd-run.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFKrj7fgSAXyBTTwgAjGntFTtZwNk8_TI7VdJoZVyJfQnw-UiTSTLlPn3F8PZVOUetaGzYvSiKc3cHz9zIyapxNkN2rMZXg4rBwAo5Rl9GoNZrrL-L7EXHMZJEoFiuzIOuaBXetCL4CjR/s1600/afk-helios-2nd-run.png" height="166" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second run for the pod.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Now I could warp straight back if I want. I check the killmail, and there is a sister's probe launcher that survived in the wreck. Also there is the corpse. So I <i>do</i> want! But I first warp out to my safespot anyway. It will take some time for my shield to regenerate. When I do warp back, I warp at 10km to my spot just to be safe.<br />
<br />
When I get there, I am saddened to see the enemy finally did something: one of them got an Armageddon and warped over to grab the loot. I look, but he also grabbed the corpse. Drat. I watch as he turns then warps back into the forcefield. Well, it's still a good day for me.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieObOVKf9QbrtUCbV8m0RSMF-vs44Q6KNbhU-fo819uFP7OcsFzrQk8luYMYKkWxJ1jPmorYadhWGkwWftBhWaeKtLo_QkibxlD22Lpx4Q2psUfF_c-LSSe0G4I3PwI9JK7zrBiQ5VQsoQ/s1600/afk-helios-scoop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieObOVKf9QbrtUCbV8m0RSMF-vs44Q6KNbhU-fo819uFP7OcsFzrQk8luYMYKkWxJ1jPmorYadhWGkwWftBhWaeKtLo_QkibxlD22Lpx4Q2psUfF_c-LSSe0G4I3PwI9JK7zrBiQ5VQsoQ/s1600/afk-helios-scoop.png" height="166" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't kill this in 15 seconds or less.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKGIJgvwP2_WzOlbxvKLjMuxtMpv2bieBMjKl28cu7gqM_DwJB6xcpRxU_sT-Qoqr2s5f0A_QzXU5Ggk7Aa5avWBsAwcC2GIXnaMwH87Xx3-npH0UfDZEGhNL2LUuFrOMkmVsloHlGC7l/s1600/afk-helios-repairing.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKGIJgvwP2_WzOlbxvKLjMuxtMpv2bieBMjKl28cu7gqM_DwJB6xcpRxU_sT-Qoqr2s5f0A_QzXU5Ggk7Aa5avWBsAwcC2GIXnaMwH87Xx3-npH0UfDZEGhNL2LUuFrOMkmVsloHlGC7l/s1600/afk-helios-repairing.png" /></a>I warp back out to my safespot and grab my jettisoned stuff. Then I warp back home to my system and my POS. I'll need to buff out that armor damage. I grab an armor repairer and get it done.<br />
<br />
Lessons here are obvious enough. Always cloak in wspace if you can. If that guy had cloaked after firing his probes, I never would have even thought to try to kill him.<br />
<br />
Another lesson: POSes are safe inside, and kind of safe outside. But not super safe outside. An aggressor has a few seconds to do stuff, and more than that if he has a tanky ship. If your defenses are not numerous, even a stealth bomber can operate uncloaked for a little while.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-55117515175454535832015-01-10T19:54:00.001-05:002015-01-12T21:28:02.854-05:00A Gank on ScanIt's the weekend. I am out in my Manticore looking for prey. C5 I want to leave closed until later today. So I head out through our static C4, into C4b. It has occupants who aren't home. It also has three wormholes I find: its C1 and C3 statics, and a connection from a C4 other than mine.<br />
<br />
I check out C1 and C3 first. With the new null sites, C1-C3 are my highest chances of getting a kill. In both case, nothing going on. There are no side wormholes in C1a at all. C3 has an EOL C4 in addition to its highsec access. I do open both systems up to highsec, hoping for a later gank. Then I return to C4b. That's my one remaining unexplored direction, so that's where I am going. As I come back up from C3a, I notice its wormhole has gone EOL since I went in.<br />
<br />
I mark the EOL wormhole, then warp across to C4c. Ah. The wormhole to C4c is EOL too. I figure that whoever scanned the C3 also instantiated this one. So, it's got almost four hours to go. Plenty of time to look around. I go into C4c.<br />
<br />
In C4c, I dscan as I always do from the wormhole. Aha! There's five Tengus on scan, and wrecks. Also two tractor units. Site runners! I move off the wormhole and cloak. There are combat probes on scan; Tengus can certainly have combat probe launchers, and they are running sites in an open system. So I figure they are looking for people like me. Hopefully they did not notice me.<br />
<br />
Now I start trying to figure out where they are, looking at anoms. I don't succeed in this -- perhaps they are in a signature site. But there are a few anoms out of dscan range, and also a lot of anoms total. So I bookmark all of them, just in case. Even if the site-runners are not at an anom now, they may well move to one.<br />
<br />
Now I start trying to find the enemy again. I still can't. But as I am doing this, I notice some new ships on scan. And then more. Then all the Tengus are gone. Except one. <br />
<br />
Um... those are not PVE ships. I think I am witnessing a gank, albeit remotely. I grab a screenshot, then look again in a few seconds. In the first there's one Tengu still visible. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xlLJPnuPWMMexEGWWVaA97LtaaKl8eNHKo6Bf6SEz_oAvBIOYrLNcRKP7BFhgX2Bk8QAC17C1aDtC61CgvrZyVuuC6-2g-QJb8VOdTnmZdex6cdI1UWA0SgzuGK0sFCBPy3BOd9pn3EC/s1600/dscan-gank-tengu-caught.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xlLJPnuPWMMexEGWWVaA97LtaaKl8eNHKo6Bf6SEz_oAvBIOYrLNcRKP7BFhgX2Bk8QAC17C1aDtC61CgvrZyVuuC6-2g-QJb8VOdTnmZdex6cdI1UWA0SgzuGK0sFCBPy3BOd9pn3EC/s1600/dscan-gank-tengu-caught.png" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="167" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4zGPJ6d5ayObmDdcnl_gy8E4LzqlKU6D4eHSlUC4-Wfbkl5ZGco61avNO3BkgKHKD0CxM4MiXAJ6acoiR52ti9RHP5gI9IPEELr73mdNrtNd_I5QAtwiubUriem1KO4V6rGDJusXZAKW/s1600/dscan-gank-tengu-dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4zGPJ6d5ayObmDdcnl_gy8E4LzqlKU6D4eHSlUC4-Wfbkl5ZGco61avNO3BkgKHKD0CxM4MiXAJ6acoiR52ti9RHP5gI9IPEELr73mdNrtNd_I5QAtwiubUriem1KO4V6rGDJusXZAKW/s1600/dscan-gank-tengu-dead.png" height="320" width="167" /></a></div>
<br />
Shortly it is gone, replaced by a wreck and a corpse. (A later killboard search reveals <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43768406/">the kill</a> and <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43768417/">the podkill</a>.) Not long after that, <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43768660/">the tractor unit is gone</a>, also replaced with a wreck.<br />
<br />
I try to figure out what anom they are in, but they're not so far as I can tell. Drat. It sort of makes sense though -- who rats in an anom in an open system? Crazy people. It's <i>fairly </i>crazy to rat in an open system <i>at all</i>, even in a sig, but at least then you have a chance of seeing probes on scan before the gank hits.<br />
<br />
Anyway, if the site-runners were in a relic/data site, then it may still be scannable. (Hopefully no cans were cracked.) I guess I will have to scan. I warp to an outer planet, unfortunately not that far out. The site is still on scan, so I'll just have to be quick. I decloak, fire my probes, and recloak as fast as possible. Then I start scanning.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxeV_4rg91cAPcHjWfo6IC9XxFVlTh_6B5wvlmFPL0X7RQTRcyzXFx7yZVTHgUTIY0K3x5uhYE4iQF2Mf5YOrCK3s83GIGkJOTNEscoCjBoEEyPbPQwUntCH2jnxDxwVjc0nRcUxabCz7/s1600/dscan-gank-not-here.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxeV_4rg91cAPcHjWfo6IC9XxFVlTh_6B5wvlmFPL0X7RQTRcyzXFx7yZVTHgUTIY0K3x5uhYE4iQF2Mf5YOrCK3s83GIGkJOTNEscoCjBoEEyPbPQwUntCH2jnxDxwVjc0nRcUxabCz7/s1600/dscan-gank-not-here.png" height="140" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No battle here, only my probes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are 17 sigs on scan. Sigh. I set to work. I scan down sig after sig. Nine are gas, which I ignore as soon as I determine it. Those wrecks can't be from a gas site; there are battleship wrecks and also too many. There are four relic sites and one data site. I dscan each site as I find it, expecting it to be the one where the battle happened. No luck; none of them have wrecks or anything else.<br />
<br />
The remaining sigs are wormholes. One of them I came in. There is also a connection to a C3, and another to a C4, both of which are EOL. I sit at the C3 when I find it, and as I scan there is a steady procession of ships exiting. First there is a scout, one Gin Andtonic, with Adhocracy. (I like a good G&T myself.) Then a procession of Tengus, all with Kreigsmarinewerft: Haja Hakaari, Ted Stinger, Molasse, Avallarion Selara, and Silly Sin. It appears both the Germans and Adhocracy came from this direction, although maybe Adhocracy came from the other direction and that scout I saw is just moving forward. <br />
<br />
Once my scanning is done, I go back into the inner system. I can't find the battle site. I start to wonder if I can track it down by <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-which-i-attempt-to-construct.html">constructing its position</a>. It seems crazy, and is. Still, I start scanning for the site as something to do. I know I can't really find it, but it's good practice anyway.<br />
<br />
After a lot of work narrowing it down on dscan, I finally notice I am honing in on a bookmark. That is a bookmark of a Sleeper Sanctum I made when I first entered. I should dscan that just to be sure... oh. Yeah, that's where the wrecks are. I don't know how I missed it earlier. (This is why you make bookmarks.) The site is apparently unoccupied now, save for wrecks. I warp in for a look.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldkzw8tW2k0iDnfBwZ6HFQvPwovjf6zfOHXVWyGl6pf33zVYo34liXmDekzj1mmShM-uwvs9Ple4yFX7WqLMYb2Hlcob_wmcIMmFvIwMGrLacEKB2mj_R76ajgoec3vN3fE-XnJFi1etY/s1600/dscan-gank-wrecks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldkzw8tW2k0iDnfBwZ6HFQvPwovjf6zfOHXVWyGl6pf33zVYo34liXmDekzj1mmShM-uwvs9Ple4yFX7WqLMYb2Hlcob_wmcIMmFvIwMGrLacEKB2mj_R76ajgoec3vN3fE-XnJFi1etY/s1600/dscan-gank-wrecks.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are juicy sleeper wrecks in a nice ball. There are also two unlooted sleeper wrecks that evidently did not get pulled in before the tractor was killed. They are about 40km and 20km from the wreck ball.<br />
<br />
Sleeper wrecks! Precious! We wants their salvage!<br />
<br />
So... hostiles know about this site, obviously. Two groups, actually: the Germans/Condi and the gankers/Adhoc. That's a big do-not-risk sign. On the other hand, it's been quiet here for a while, and I have ceased scanning for a few minutes at least. Also, any new explorers or locals that enter the system will not be able to get on grid with the wrecks. The anom is gone, and there's nothing left here that is scannable.<br />
<br />
My wormhole is EOL, and there is some chance that I missed noticing that when I first bookmarked it. But I don't think so, nor would I have missed EOL status on both it and the C3 wormhole back in C4b. And if I do get trapped in here, it's not a big deal -- I'll just scan out -- but it would mean a half-hour or so wasted doing extra scanning and burning across highsec.<br />
<br />
All in all, I think I will wait. I know from examining local chat when I entered the system: 16:41. Now it is 17:30. I've spent all that time hunting then watching the gank then scanning. Those wrecks were either fresh or created after I entered. So they'll last until 18:30 at least, probably a longer. In fact, longer. I notice the tags on the wrecks: some of them are Adhocracy tags. Evidently Adhocracy finished off the last wave. (Why they did not salvage themselves, I don't know. Maybe they will try?) I know -- or I think I know -- the timing on my entry wormhole. Hopefully the gankers and gankees do <i>not</i> know the timing, and will want to stay out of the system to be safe. <br />
<br />
If either group does come back, it might be with a gankable salvager. I
slowboat away from the tractor unit, making a perch 263 km from it. Now
I am poised if they do come back. My plan is to sit here and watch my overview and dscan for an hour or so. Then I'll try for the salvage and loot myself.<br />
<br />
At about 18:15, I get my alt Otto online, and warp over to check out C4b. It is still empty. OK. I go back home and get in a salvaging Coercer.<br />
<br />
In C4c, Von sees a Buzzard on scan. It fires Sisters Core Probes and cloaks. Well, it can't find me here. Ha. It scans for a while. And a while longer. Yeah, there are 17 sigs. It is still scanning at 18:30, so I hold up Otto. Hey Buzzy, I'd like some <i>privacy</i> here!<br />
<br />
Finally, the probes disappear. I start dscanning intensely, hoping to see the Buzzard again. After two minutes, I do. I expect that is him leaving. OK, go time. Good luck, Otto. Otto sees a Sister's core probe in C4b. I deduce the Buzzard is there, and will probably see him, but I doubt he will do anything.<br />
<br />
In Otto goes. He warps direct to the site and starts salvaging. No point in being coy.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYCVW1FBXk0xWEYAH9vhcPnDil2IO28oZhM1w96TcUiI6AVOHFS-IZRpbg7XvX1ZuKQjb76wI4hlJ_3GeyLGqlhwjSFObgK9J-YA5Xd6SDHHsW2k1zsqTWeFFIkznYlFhQDRbztFF8Ff-/s1600/dscan-gank-salvaging.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYCVW1FBXk0xWEYAH9vhcPnDil2IO28oZhM1w96TcUiI6AVOHFS-IZRpbg7XvX1ZuKQjb76wI4hlJ_3GeyLGqlhwjSFObgK9J-YA5Xd6SDHHsW2k1zsqTWeFFIkznYlFhQDRbztFF8Ff-/s1600/dscan-gank-salvaging.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grinding wrecks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
All the wrecks but two are already in a ball, thanks to the efforts of the now-dead German tractor unit. (Too bad about Noctises. Grr tractor units.) Otto salvages furiously in his cheap little destroyer, thanks to six salvagers and cheap rigs. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs42vjdH5bKXDOxQp3g7agHwKRwqVSzZDFGmhnKQH23Lc30yRz70kml8tU4VXpfyypYWTIK9HUczTi60iWyRXCMnp1CbpHS4xP-ZBKJVzhbq57t0RxYQP-vwWaZPh1GrF9DR9QQKHSz_J7/s1600/dscan-gank-approaching.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs42vjdH5bKXDOxQp3g7agHwKRwqVSzZDFGmhnKQH23Lc30yRz70kml8tU4VXpfyypYWTIK9HUczTi60iWyRXCMnp1CbpHS4xP-ZBKJVzhbq57t0RxYQP-vwWaZPh1GrF9DR9QQKHSz_J7/s1600/dscan-gank-approaching.png" height="185" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting to the last wreck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Nobody ganks Otto. He has to microwarp over to get the two wrecks not in the ball. And then, that's that. Salvaging done, Otto flees. Von flees just after. I don't want to get stuck here!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBM0DAsEagE8vR81iJlONtDzmSfVKUmh86Zk8Jtm0bUUUaHR6yHEHplxTta-sVAcXA8PR8OxpilJR0eoz3LQtmJGIgNtT8UDpJ4FvB1dVY1WfGlSfQKPlOqj1QWnu5YPSVBq5tfg_DEYcu/s1600/dscan-gank-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBM0DAsEagE8vR81iJlONtDzmSfVKUmh86Zk8Jtm0bUUUaHR6yHEHplxTta-sVAcXA8PR8OxpilJR0eoz3LQtmJGIgNtT8UDpJ4FvB1dVY1WfGlSfQKPlOqj1QWnu5YPSVBq5tfg_DEYcu/s1600/dscan-gank-loot.png" height="292" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nice loot. Thanks, Adhocracy!Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-28781966201475622282015-01-06T22:22:00.001-05:002015-01-07T09:13:25.643-05:00A Ring in SpaceIt's the late night, and I am exploring. My system's static C5 connection has expired a while ago, but I've held off on opening it to get its timing aligned as I desire. (I want it to be going EOL in two days time when my corp is planning to do PVE.) But now it's time to open it, so I fly to the C5 that I scanned earlier.<br />
<br />
Flying to it is all I need to do for my later purposes. But since I am here, and in my Manticore, I might as well peek in just to see if anyone is doing anything dangerous. I jump in.<br />
<br />
Nothing is on scan from the wormhole. I'm near the outermost planet, though, with no other planets in range. So that's not surprising. I bookmark the wormhole and proceed into the inner system -- nothing. Then out to a second outer planet. <br />
<br />
For the past few months, I have been making a habit to scan for POS modules whenever there are no POSes on scan. I started doing this one time when I found a whole set of faction POS modules at the site of an ex-POS; sadly, they were all incapacitated. I had no means at the time to rep them up, so I left them. (Since then I brought in a few cheap Augorors for this purpose, should it recur.)<br />
<br />
At the second outer planet, I dscan as usual -- nothing: no ships and no towers. Then I dscan without filter, to look for POS mods. I see some! They are normal POS modules, mostly ECMs worth 3-4m ISK each. Still, there is no tower in sight. So they must be unanchored. I want them! <br />
<br />
I use dscan on the local moons, of which there are 20. But nothing can hide at a moon, and soon I find the majority of the modules -- 16 of them -- at moon 12. There are four others at another moon. I warp over for a look at the larger set. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefGZVwWRxAjZXQo3o6rfBtYmyEMEfg_7PbRDnoJDCzzVg9AmvrTFq3IHiu8r0zIKadB-KwSX-9ii8Th7WGTGDJm7QZFAgRg1D5JWKsuw7g1eEWB6YEo52zZT4-ITQtgrH7UAjtQkn6V_3/s1600/a-ring.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefGZVwWRxAjZXQo3o6rfBtYmyEMEfg_7PbRDnoJDCzzVg9AmvrTFq3IHiu8r0zIKadB-KwSX-9ii8Th7WGTGDJm7QZFAgRg1D5JWKsuw7g1eEWB6YEo52zZT4-ITQtgrH7UAjtQkn6V_3/s1600/a-ring.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oooh!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pretty, huh? EVE is beautiful sometimes. In this case, whoever was here made a perfect circle of ECMs, which took some work. Then they abandoned it when they pulled the tower. Well, their loss is my gain.<br />
<br />
I bookmark one. Time to grab? No, not yet. Grabbing these modules would take time, and right now I don't know how dangerous the system is. I know it has no live towers, which is good. And I have seen no ships or probes. But how many wormholes does it have? Time to scan. I fire probes, then hide again as I scan.<br />
<br />
I am in luck. The system has only its C5 static. So there is a good chance it is currently closed, and I am completely alone in here.<br />
<br />
I fly back to the wormhole I came in, since that's what I know is open. Von will watch here. It's as safe as I can be. <i>Now</i> is time to grab.<br />
<br />
I get my alt Otto on. He can't fly an Occator, and I am not sure I would want to risk one anyway. He <i>can</i> fly Iteron Vs -- can't everyone? -- so that's what I am going with. I try to put on a microwarpdrive, fairly sure it won't fit. It doesn't. But an afterburner will fit, so I go with that. Then I warp out to the C5 wormhole, and jump.<br />
<br />
From the wormhole, I fly straight to the POS module I earlier marked. I scoop it, then head towards the next one and turn on my afterburner. This speeds me from ~100m/s to 250, which is still rather slow. It's about 15km -- a minute per module. I figure that doing two warps and two aligns will be about the same, so I lazily don't bother. I slowboat around half the circle, scooping as I go, and dscanning with twitchy fingers. Nothing appears on dscan. Also, nothing drops out of cloak and kills me. Yay.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNc0i8tO00vjLjpKa-GHt9vzWtQr4aMn9wOWZjhTMkJv4CNx6vuRbILQ0-v4bkEj2hyD2kiEPj3ocjIQWjLalNqozBZZQvJKLtP8GESDH17Pnn6m7dfJB7tMcoquXAyXg9TUpiCJD5UoN_/s1600/a-ring-half.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNc0i8tO00vjLjpKa-GHt9vzWtQr4aMn9wOWZjhTMkJv4CNx6vuRbILQ0-v4bkEj2hyD2kiEPj3ocjIQWjLalNqozBZZQvJKLtP8GESDH17Pnn6m7dfJB7tMcoquXAyXg9TUpiCJD5UoN_/s1600/a-ring-half.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second half.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Eight ECMs are 32000m^2; I hold at maximum 35000. So I have to fly back home to dump them. Then I return. More scooping. More slowness. More paranoia that comes to nothing.<br />
<br />
Now the second eight are scooped, and again I head back home. Then back for the second grouping.<br />
<br />
As I jump into the system, I have Von dscan. And... there's probes on scan. I check, and yes there is a new signature. Evidently someone just connected here, and came in to scan.<br />
<br />
Do I continue? Well... let's check it out. I order Otto into orbit of the wormhole at 5000m, and cloak him. He can escape reasonably well from there through the wormhole, and is not obvious. Von warps to the inner system to look around.<br />
<br />
There is a Magnate on scan. Hopes of loot are forgotten. Kill, kill! But I cannot locate him before he disappears. Cloaked, probably. Rats.<br />
<br />
I fly out to check the planet with the POS mods: nothing. Also there are no sigs out here. So, I feel I can get Otto out, grab, and go before the Magnate can bring any help, if he has any. (Nobody scans in a Magnate beyond a newb anyway.) Meanwhile I warp Von back to the inner system to keep an eye on the probes.<br />
<br />
I warp Otto out, and scoop away. I keep an eye on dscan, and I do see the Magnate briefly just as I am about to go. Hi there!! Bye now!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHuPgmVz1S5PBPtmzHF8NSgTTrYoZPBErV2J59uxVPsY8_K_JBb-07jgXYqt-ozGjdfI9HhckjACrRfYbYffFPax9QlxCSytge-erzxYX2oGW0EVamluUOd17vtaLaUjZSud8lY1olra6/s1600/a-ring-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHuPgmVz1S5PBPtmzHF8NSgTTrYoZPBErV2J59uxVPsY8_K_JBb-07jgXYqt-ozGjdfI9HhckjACrRfYbYffFPax9QlxCSytge-erzxYX2oGW0EVamluUOd17vtaLaUjZSud8lY1olra6/s1600/a-ring-loot.png" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About 20 minutes of danger.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Otto gets out. Von lurks a while hoping the Magnate returns, but he doesn't.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-73764080925119551602015-01-05T20:06:00.000-05:002015-01-05T20:06:00.214-05:00About Dscan UndetectabilityI had a message from a reader the other day about the revamp to recons that CCP is going to do. The specifics are found in <a href="https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5318918">CCP Rise's Features and ideas posting</a> (also see the second post, pointing to his followup posts). Quoting it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><b>Combat Recons will now be permanently undetectable by directional scanners</b></li>
<li>All eight Recons will have the capacitor cost of warping reduced by roughly half</li>
<li>Where appropriate, bonuses will be adjusted to match ship developer trends</li>
<li>All eight Recons are having their capacitor pool and capacitor regeneration buffed (roughly 20% increase in cap regen)</li>
<li>The average maximum velocity across the class is going up by around 20m/s</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
(My emphasis.) What are my thoughts? OK, there are the latter four adjustments, which are quite anodyne. Recons do need something, and better speed/range seems to fit.<br />
<br />
Then there is the dscan-undetectability. This is a major change, and one I dislike. Still, CCP seems resolved to it.<br />
<br />
I have seen a lot of people of the general PVP community disliking it. You fly to a complex, and dscan. There's a frigate on scan; you think you can beat it. You warp into the plex, and it tackles you, and then it and its combat recon buddy (or three) roundly squash you. Fun?<br />
<br />
Of course, people can do that now, with cloakies. Falcons. Proteuses. Do they? Well, I don't know, not being a kspace PVP person. In known space, you do at least have the ability to see if more than two people are in local, and become accordingly paranoid.<br />
<br />
Here's my take on it, from my wormhole perspective. I dislike it because to us, dscan is what local is to y'all squares. It is our means to know whether a system is active. Any system I enter, I fly around and look for people. Of course people can still cloak, and they do. But at least I can see with relative ease if anyone is out on grid doing stuff. If a system has nobody visible, and no probes, and you watch for a while and don't see any, then it is most likely empty.<br />
<br />
The new combat recons will change that, perhaps drastically. No longer can I enter a system and find people earning money to gank. The new combat recons will be able to earn money while "cloaked". A ship that can earn money while dscan-proof is a new thing in EVE. For PVE, at least the wrecks will give them away. (Though they still may be worth using for small sites, instead of the site-running Tengu I am using. I'll have to see about DPS.) <br />
<br />
But what about those new null-style data/relic sites? As my correspondent pointed out, those sites will be perfect to run in a combat recon. Nobody even knows you are there to look for you, unless they are hunting using combat probes, which is rather rare. You do lose the hacking bonus, which kind of balances it. I suppose I will adjust by simply warping into every single relic/data site to check. But even then I cannot gank in my Manticore; it requires a second account, probably also in a combat recon since they can now make it onto grid before being detected. Or I will have to bite the bullet and upship to a T3 to hunt in.<br />
<br />
I probably will get a Rook to use for null sites. Currently I use a Buzzard.<br />
<br />
Overall, I am sure I will adjust. Grumble.<br />
<br />
One other thing I have to mention: it's ugly. I am the sort of person that likes clean rules, such as "if a ship is not cloaked, you always see it on dscan." Throwing one more exception into an otherwise clean rule is not a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Violate it with ship fittings (i.e. cloaks): that's OK. Violate with ship hulls, and it's not OK. Whatever that magic stuff is that they build Rooks out of, can't they make my Buzzard from the same stuff? Or at least a Heron?Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-1537951614137988642015-01-04T11:39:00.001-05:002015-01-04T11:47:37.681-05:00A Foolish ViatorI'm back on the hunt. It's the weekend, a good time for interacting with people not in my time zone.<br />
<br />
But so far, I have not found anyone. Earlier I opened C4b then C2a off of C4b, finding a route to highsec. But C2a also had a number of nullsec-style relic and data sites, and no incoming wormholes. So I took some time to run the sites in my Buzzard, making 100m ISK in salvage. I opened the highsec wormhole before leaving, if it was not already. Come on in!<br />
<br />
Now I am returning to hunt. At least one of the sites will still be there, so I am hopeful of finding an explorer. I am in my Manticore, <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/09/fits-for-hunting-in-wspace.html">fit up to hunt light ships</a>: using rage rockets and a second warp scrambler instead of the torpedoes and target painter in my standard fit.<br />
<br />
C2 is still empty. Drat. Well, there are two new sigs. Probably wormholes, but maybe new sites. Either way, I want to know. I fire probes, recloak, then scan down the two. Both are wormholes, one outgoing small one to C5, the other from C4. <br />
<br />
I try the C4 first. It's small system, everything in dscan range from the wormhole. One tower, no ships on scan. That's unpromising. I activate their two anoms, then duck back through the wormhole.<br />
<br />
On to C5. I enter the system and dscan, seeing nothing interesting. But this is a large system. I'll have to warp to two outer planets to see it all. So I start doing that. The first has a tower with ships. I dscan it down: nobody home. Just empty ships. OK. I warp into the inner system: nobody home here either.<br />
<br />
There is one more planet to check. I warp to the outer system. Here I see two towers, with several ships, and a Viator on scan. OK, now we are talking. This has "guy doing PI" written all over it. Or maybe another empty ship. Only one way to be sure: get on grid with it.<br />
<br />
I start looking for towers. With my second dscan I am surprised: the Viator is not in a tower shield! <br />
<br />
Must find and kill!<br />
<br />
I dscan the planet, expecting to see him there doing PI. But he's not there. OK... is he close? Dscan at 1m klicks shows he is. Maybe he is at a moon? (But why? No time for that.) I feverishly dscan for the moon I assume the Viator is at... and it <i>is</i> at a moon. OK, moon 5. I warp in at 50km, cautiously.<br />
<br />
I land on grid. There's the Viator all right. And there is an Amarr tower onlining, with ten minutes to go. Also there are a small number of POS defenses already anchored. Hmm. I don't know why he is not cloaked, but there he is. I bookmark the tower, then head for the local POCO as a convenient bouncing point. I return to the scene 10km from the tower. I hope I don't run into anything... and I don't. OK. The Viator is about 20km, so I start moving to him. Just stay uncloaked, Mr. V. Stay uncloaked. He stays uncloaked.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggksvhaXQPVcsrEXowF8ykekbHJe0aH0HVA-3j3nwPtimOCMr_FVgjPBBXt4yoLwO-CQ04bb-OWaGKGmnAaxVie2zCyvBoZMsZ-rpzfhprWeUHm-d2gp56Ge5EYkvuSWD7XxkyDLMTyVJE/s1600/viator-approaching.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggksvhaXQPVcsrEXowF8ykekbHJe0aH0HVA-3j3nwPtimOCMr_FVgjPBBXt4yoLwO-CQ04bb-OWaGKGmnAaxVie2zCyvBoZMsZ-rpzfhprWeUHm-d2gp56Ge5EYkvuSWD7XxkyDLMTyVJE/s1600/viator-approaching.png" height="132" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closing in cloaked.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I am not gaining on him much. Is he moving? Ah, yes he is moving towards one of the anchored laser batteries. Evidently he wants to do something there...maybe put in a crystal? Can you do that with offlined modules? (No time to research that.) He slows, and I close.<br />
<br />
Now I am in scrambler range. It is too late for him. I uncloak, get the lock started, and get my modules on. Locked, scrammed. My rockets crash into him... och. Not a lot of damage. They'll kill him eventually, I think. But not for a while. I wish for my torp fit, but wishes are not horses. Instead I turn to my dscan, trying to dial the range down enough to get warning of incoming. I don't succeed; I'll just have to assume those ships at the tower are unmanned or asleep.<br />
<br />
No ships come. Instead, as I head into structure he ejects. I try to lock the pod, but it escapes. Oh well. I cannot fly a Viator, and I am three hops away from home. There is no hope of capturing it. So, <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43589841/">I kill it</a>. Then I scoop my loot, and get out. Sisters probe launcher!<br />
<br />
I return a few hours later, and the tower is offline again. I guess I scotched his plan.<br />
<br />
In retrospect, I am guessing his plan was to online the tower for a single hour while he scooped the few defenses around it, then offlined it and took it down. And it would have worked fine, if he'd only cloaked or absented himself while the process was going on. He learned the hard way what I thought everyone in wspace knows: <i>never</i> be uncloaked outside of a POS without good reason.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-81752554032261774082015-01-01T23:13:00.001-05:002015-01-02T22:14:32.953-05:00Touring a Shattered C5I am out exploring in my Manticore. Perhaps I'll break a long kill drought today. But I don't, at least not down two of the four wormholes in my home system. So, on to the third. I warp to my C5 static and jump.<br />
<br />
Something about C5a is ... different.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiy51O3zxRbwQw9ghTPjWc-diQFjCso7Hrc2Y2a8tCv7aBBaijL55RYgAYp_mkOfxK7DMcrIOVpYLkOIKnr8wg-gDlLl9ojpbT2Bp-mfsFF52Imj52Ftk977f27ce_92OE_DSZGatq1UY/s1600/shattered-overview.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiy51O3zxRbwQw9ghTPjWc-diQFjCso7Hrc2Y2a8tCv7aBBaijL55RYgAYp_mkOfxK7DMcrIOVpYLkOIKnr8wg-gDlLl9ojpbT2Bp-mfsFF52Imj52Ftk977f27ce_92OE_DSZGatq1UY/s1600/shattered-overview.png" height="95" width="200" /></a>The first indication that something is strange is the lack of POCOs on my overview. This happens occasionally in C5 and C6 -- dreads do it -- but it is rare even there. But there is something else on my overview that's odd: a celestial beacon. We don't have those in wspace. This one is called "Epicenter".<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlLZ-Z80EorwymSwU73SxqaOyQu8J6EC2rEfZUUcEOFfyEYCiopavKNi1UxWQ4zay092mYSssDJtOmZS7zobajqN6JXUrXao7Khjqa7aBvesT3B6nNN9F3uDyI8GGuhS_wQGJcBYYi67R/s1600/shattered-dscan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlLZ-Z80EorwymSwU73SxqaOyQu8J6EC2rEfZUUcEOFfyEYCiopavKNi1UxWQ4zay092mYSssDJtOmZS7zobajqN6JXUrXao7Khjqa7aBvesT3B6nNN9F3uDyI8GGuhS_wQGJcBYYi67R/s1600/shattered-dscan.png" height="66" width="200" /></a>Dscan is also unusual. The local star is a "Turbulent Blue Subgiant", which I've never seen before.<br />
<br />
I look at the system map. No moons! It's a shattered system! Let's put on our galoshes and Hawaiian shirts, and go see the sights.<br />
<br />
First, the nearest planet. It is shattered, all right. And huge -- hard to screen shot.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGl3po0XF1qqyjHiWbgfQq6b_46oNvv8v-G1UXdxxStvyhbM8CKca__m3UBQklQODhQLDnw7rRhIS4UvT8RLcuZmwUZo_OdnWG49un1eyCB0vazQF0zKUidP16UL08hyTW8LXB-AfE2pv/s1600/shattered-planet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGl3po0XF1qqyjHiWbgfQq6b_46oNvv8v-G1UXdxxStvyhbM8CKca__m3UBQklQODhQLDnw7rRhIS4UvT8RLcuZmwUZo_OdnWG49un1eyCB0vazQF0zKUidP16UL08hyTW8LXB-AfE2pv/s1600/shattered-planet.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so bad as Alderaan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The anoms in the probe scanner reveal the system is unusual for a C5. It has many normal C5 type combat anoms, but it also has C6 anoms. Also, it has ice! There's an ore anom "Shattered Ice Field". Naturally, I warp over for a look.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIAlH3t8JqeY6w5Y5P0VBots1QIl_eLZWlKHSZFyzT8PBlO72Ffbkueb4vUcAm_RCTFn0vKDvR1vmu86mbH2VhB0RgN82Rg6p19QMmg0TXChQYivrIGp3pb-qPuF5R5uffv6x6y_p9yaO/s1600/shattered-ice.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIAlH3t8JqeY6w5Y5P0VBots1QIl_eLZWlKHSZFyzT8PBlO72Ffbkueb4vUcAm_RCTFn0vKDvR1vmu86mbH2VhB0RgN82Rg6p19QMmg0TXChQYivrIGp3pb-qPuF5R5uffv6x6y_p9yaO/s1600/shattered-ice.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Endless ice, or at least 355km of it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The field is vertically aligned, and vast. It's about 400km from top to bottom. You could mine ice here all day long, if you had the miners and the guts. Would I ice-mine in wspace? In an anomoly? Uh... you've got to be kidding. (I warp back to this site later, and it does have sleeper guards: a cruiser and two frigates.)<br />
<br />
There is also a "Shattered Debris Field", a new kind of ore anom. It is even larger than the ice anom, being about 600km from end to end. (It is horizontally aligned, BTW.) <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcpsd0xqg0cCqR73q1-0rYy7jNqQvCNnA2WYCjl_jfwWa9s7rsbi1AsUjnGAYMeGD535RiAZ8tXLIkx1rkqYAierwaZfxhUmuZ0GvvSZT-5uUE2GRmeV_NO7yAIkfEVK9oN-ZBcE0OrBr/s1600/shattered-ore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcpsd0xqg0cCqR73q1-0rYy7jNqQvCNnA2WYCjl_jfwWa9s7rsbi1AsUjnGAYMeGD535RiAZ8tXLIkx1rkqYAierwaZfxhUmuZ0GvvSZT-5uUE2GRmeV_NO7yAIkfEVK9oN-ZBcE0OrBr/s1600/shattered-ore.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Endless ore. Even stupider to mine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Finally I warp over to the Epicenter, at 100km in case it's nasty. It's a sleeper site: a sleeper cruiser and two frigates are there. There's a lot of interesting scenery.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5A2Q80QejmmJjpBQv1jY0cJeonIdiU0JVrhKptGhWuF7FVgJnDtq_9gGZ5wwtXBlhABbYU7ABlvRVsezOxPgwJEARn2eK-P-lnoZb8eE5k0_eBEPWLOaHU8I8gp7wdx3f_Bz4duyaeLw/s1600/shattered-epicenter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5A2Q80QejmmJjpBQv1jY0cJeonIdiU0JVrhKptGhWuF7FVgJnDtq_9gGZ5wwtXBlhABbYU7ABlvRVsezOxPgwJEARn2eK-P-lnoZb8eE5k0_eBEPWLOaHU8I8gp7wdx3f_Bz4duyaeLw/s1600/shattered-epicenter.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What is going on here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Among the more obvious bits are wormholes, five of them. They are called "Violent Wormholes", and don't show up on overview, so evidently not jumpable.<br />
<br />
There are also three things that look like torches. These turn out to be Talocan Disruption Towers, each attached to four Talocan Static Gates, and above that a Spatial Rift.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBurzpXp6owHAW9dsaAeHersm2c9A4HEqpOZ66kR7yyhBRkHb6SzKsJMzO3riC-tzTV2C00VZ-pcueHv1BCciUv99-o4W8xajrtHnRpmaK1ZSIEwE29qQAP-25AD6ZXzYGG-7nCDyTVJB/s1600/shattered-talocan-thing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBurzpXp6owHAW9dsaAeHersm2c9A4HEqpOZ66kR7yyhBRkHb6SzKsJMzO3riC-tzTV2C00VZ-pcueHv1BCciUv99-o4W8xajrtHnRpmaK1ZSIEwE29qQAP-25AD6ZXzYGG-7nCDyTVJB/s1600/shattered-talocan-thing.png" height="332" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talocan scenery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In addition there are a bunch of Veldspar asteroids, and Talocan artifacts of various kinds. Nothing appears to be of any value.<br />
<br />
Now I scan down the system. There are twenty sigs, so it takes a while. They are all the normal sort of thing one would find in a C5 or C6. <br />
<br />
Later on, I return to my system to open up my static C4. I jump in and... it's another shattered system! At first I think I somehow made a mistake and flew to C5. But no, it's a C4 shattered system with C3 and C4 sites, an ice anomoly, etc. What are the chances of being two for two?Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-77420130511325747652014-12-24T23:51:00.003-05:002014-12-24T23:55:18.053-05:00Fun in C1It's Christmas eve. I am not working. So, in between family I work in some Christmas EVE. I am out for a roam in my Manticore.<br />
<br />
My system's static C5 connects to C5a, as it always does by definition. C5a has Russians in it, and they are still awake. But it looks like they are winding down if they were ever doing anything. I lurk about hoping they do something, but apart from a few moves in between far-scattered POSes, they don't. Eventually I give up and scan their system. I see a Tengu and Loki appear, neither of which I can do anything about even if I did get them outside of their POS bubble.<br />
<br />
I'm about done here. Onward. C5a has a static C1, which I just scanned. Ever since Hyperion, C1s, 2s, and 3s are great places to hunt. So I am eager to get in there and see what's up.<br />
<br />
Nobody on scan, and I warp around a bit to find one live tower with nobody home, and nothing else. But there are fifteen sigs. Time to scan. My scanning reveals eight data sites (four of them sleeper sites), four relics, and three wormholes. One wormhole is the one I entered from, and another is the N110 static to highsec. I jump out to find the exit in Caldari space, eight jumps from Jita. The final wormhole is an EOL and highly disrupted connection from C5. Well, that probably won't be much of a problem.<br />
<br />
I do note one interesting thing: one of the sleeper data sites has a talocan frigate in it. So I confirm for myself that these do exist. (I suspect all sleeper data sites have the potential.) I bookmark a spot near the talocan. Perhaps I can run this site. But not now -- later. Now I have family to attend to.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0btHEoCXNmGVOw5TBnLGu-lVMHevUfYKCUzfXJQxytqorXZdCD6BLw8PkNuBll-PD0ceW0X3MR2y9UoM2SKILrQN_M3zs1i8lf881mmQ3e2LobsBH8C70JZt4PryQD5IhyER8EZqItNP/s1600/c1-fun-talocan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0btHEoCXNmGVOw5TBnLGu-lVMHevUfYKCUzfXJQxytqorXZdCD6BLw8PkNuBll-PD0ceW0X3MR2y9UoM2SKILrQN_M3zs1i8lf881mmQ3e2LobsBH8C70JZt4PryQD5IhyER8EZqItNP/s1600/c1-fun-talocan.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talocan and guard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Later, I return to the computer. There's a small amount of time before dinner. A dscan in C1a shows something interesting: a Helios! The local POS is out of range, so that Helios must be out in space somewhere. I see his sisters probes, so he appears to be an explorer looking for loot.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-yzK4waLGPgLEkjNvtojnywvn0UEw_UnGuZAs2HQqVCiyTu0nPg2M3EDPCgY1hMytM1YnUk8JZnnfTKyRHRc8nBa5s1g3820nGap53Z3AnDMb7jrLkLpW_Q-ly7_M8AZiYceKa-oYTJN/s1600/c1-fun-pvp.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-yzK4waLGPgLEkjNvtojnywvn0UEw_UnGuZAs2HQqVCiyTu0nPg2M3EDPCgY1hMytM1YnUk8JZnnfTKyRHRc8nBa5s1g3820nGap53Z3AnDMb7jrLkLpW_Q-ly7_M8AZiYceKa-oYTJN/s1600/c1-fun-pvp.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Jaws theme.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sure enough, in a minute I find him on narrow-beam dscan in one of the data sites I scanned earlier. I throw it into warp, to 100km. When I land on grid, the setup is perfect. He is heading to a can about 170km from me. I start to warp to it at 10km, then stop to make a perch just in case. Then I warp over. The Helios approaches the can and scans it, then starts hacking. Perfect.<br />
<br />
I set myself to orbit the Helios at 1000m. Then I wait a few seconds, and when i am in scrambler range, I uncloak. And the expected happens. Getting out of the minigame and warping is practically impossible in time, and he does not manage it. So, <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/43352788/">dead Helios</a>. I try, but the pod warps free. I loot the wreck, and the loot fairy is in tune with the season. The Sister's launcher survived.<br />
<br />
Now I lurk a bit more, but I've got to go. I head back into my system just in case. <br />
<br />
Later, I return. A quick trip through C5 and into C1 shows nobody around. OK. I log in my alt, thinking about running that data site for the talocan. Otto gets in a Falcon, then warps down to watch the C1's highsec entrance. Then I warp back to get my small-site running Tengu. I find a relic analyzer and put it in my cargo, then head down the chain.<br />
<br />
Arriving in C1, I warp into the data site and start in on the sleepers.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhFZ7jG_bCQKypwQMdfVumiJuhBnwPLcDm1yXIYxiHcZRCBiGhy8EuOJHZrUH28QRjwIOdzsuKodSe6mfDrDjKTqhbA-F6caehtwAHpJOeJygJQl0JuYVuK4NtDK6y3we9h-m095nfAWM/s1600/c1-fun-pve.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhFZ7jG_bCQKypwQMdfVumiJuhBnwPLcDm1yXIYxiHcZRCBiGhy8EuOJHZrUH28QRjwIOdzsuKodSe6mfDrDjKTqhbA-F6caehtwAHpJOeJygJQl0JuYVuK4NtDK6y3we9h-m095nfAWM/s1600/c1-fun-pve.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squishing small sleepers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The difficulty is comparable to an easy gas site, except three in a row. This is nice. I use rage missiles on most of the cruisers, then javelins on a few that pull range beyond normal assault missile range. Then I kill the frigates. Then I refit to salvage, and clean up. Finally, I get the relic analyzer on and hack into the talocan frigate. It's an easy puzzle, which is trivial to run with virus strength of 40.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PgUsBaDqF7RHKzNN-91SkIEFeHRi-sHzHkWUBSBr2Rhzn_BcItDqTNJqyiNCL-zQO6makCnuk3mjJVEVYIkS2QTGNRZz4bsGzMxqBwC-_-zmN0FygvXzFSnwxhkU2LppE9i3yjVkgS9S/s1600/c1-fun-cracking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PgUsBaDqF7RHKzNN-91SkIEFeHRi-sHzHkWUBSBr2Rhzn_BcItDqTNJqyiNCL-zQO6makCnuk3mjJVEVYIkS2QTGNRZz4bsGzMxqBwC-_-zmN0FygvXzFSnwxhkU2LppE9i3yjVkgS9S/s1600/c1-fun-cracking.png" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puzzle can't touch me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I quickly find and crack the system core. I am rewarded again, with two small hull sections.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCvoP-EJhAz2YQnBqg3lwRUIqpEE-1UYEVQTjfHSZ2vrnC4K74FL8wOvWHh9hD51_xmZ5ku2cHiJtxi38O3ZtdRARIU3wQckvjsSLh8tPKaUutBrKZ8bpN6hwbGgeA7qbmlepezRnDHiw/s1600/c1-fun-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCvoP-EJhAz2YQnBqg3lwRUIqpEE-1UYEVQTjfHSZ2vrnC4K74FL8wOvWHh9hD51_xmZ5ku2cHiJtxi38O3ZtdRARIU3wQckvjsSLh8tPKaUutBrKZ8bpN6hwbGgeA7qbmlepezRnDHiw/s1600/c1-fun-loot.png" height="200" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky loot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Merry Christmas. Probably won't post again for a few days.<br />
<br />Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-29296909970802057812014-12-16T20:47:00.001-05:002014-12-16T21:01:12.597-05:00Remove the Z-axis Arrow in ScanningIt's time to grind on my favorite axe, the blade having been dulled by time. To get the context, first read my article <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2013/07/against-z-axis-arrows-in-scanning.html">Against Z-axis Arrows in Scanning</a>, which is more than a year old. It describes the problem about as well as one can, given words. But I think maybe we need more pictures. Therefore, I am reiterating the criticism with more pictures to make clear what is going on.<br />
<br />
I am sure you've been scanning at some time, when suddenly your probes are gone, or otherwise moved way off in a direction you did not expect. What happened there? You accidentally grabbed the z-axis arrow when it was almost invisible, and then you moved the mouse, launching the probe-box like a rocket into the z direction. <br />
<br />
How does this work? Well, let's show an example. <br />
<br />
<b>How It Usually Works</b><br />
<br />
Here's a normal view of probing in process: <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMmywX_TXwLn_GSUyoE2zuGl_7ge6cZPWehdGtrAjUzbs4tEiHJ2-S-YMlIetXV7btQXNReyaOMWCWcK87v6gd5sqs9T5Vrhe5QsI6LX8JxllJvPFwYJkvebEgCeT6ngqy9fr2aWMmW2h/s1600/z-axis-start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMmywX_TXwLn_GSUyoE2zuGl_7ge6cZPWehdGtrAjUzbs4tEiHJ2-S-YMlIetXV7btQXNReyaOMWCWcK87v6gd5sqs9T5Vrhe5QsI6LX8JxllJvPFwYJkvebEgCeT6ngqy9fr2aWMmW2h/s1600/z-axis-start.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After first scan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have my probe-box and have just scanned the first scan, at 8 AU. I have two single-dot hits. Neither is at 100%.<br />
<br />
I want to refine the scan, so I shrink the probe-range down to 2 AU, then I start moving the probes so that they are centered on one of the dots. I'll go for the left dot first.<br />
<br />
First I rotate to the "side" view of the probes. (The "side" is a view looking edge-on of the ecliptic of most systems -- recall that EVE has absolute directions.) Now I adjust the probe positioning in two directions, by grabbing the cube. I get this:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK3fMoCc8XAq11WUnvfbUheUNETvAuc8EiG4XlYz5zhMx6n18nS_D_C34v_kDIRMxpfVRUOctmUuhBwlwLRvBGH_GoOe8JASh_Gcp8voVDJNK6gnW0kE7-EQa9LTcZKngAwW67bHV__4d/s1600/z-axis-side-after-move.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK3fMoCc8XAq11WUnvfbUheUNETvAuc8EiG4XlYz5zhMx6n18nS_D_C34v_kDIRMxpfVRUOctmUuhBwlwLRvBGH_GoOe8JASh_Gcp8voVDJNK6gnW0kE7-EQa9LTcZKngAwW67bHV__4d/s1600/z-axis-side-after-move.png" height="100" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">side view, after one move</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Note that I could do this adjustment by grabbing the arrows that stick out to the sides of the cube. Why not? For one thing, adjusting with the arrows does one dimension at a time, so it is half as fast. Also, notice that from this angle, the left and right arrows are seen edge-on, and so they are quite difficult to grab. It is not impossible to grab them, but with a height of a few pixels, it's not easy. <br />
<br />
Continuing with the normal probing routine. Now I rotate the view 90 degrees, so I am looking almost straight "down" at the cube (and thus also the ecliptic). (Note that by CCP's design, you cannot look <i>exactly</i> straight down, just close to it. That's why you can see a bit of cube other than the top edge.)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpJydIJ-tcZoVqpTTYy3z8REuhp45rqYhOpbtKTOrP-W6LbS4qNyi2CssIinSba725cg4BwMQTTzqimqsLPQgxPr7bUJqfVCSHLJZQ47SEQKuZBMK2g6Zz8trG4HkKfjTCiATOoVCu57Y/s1600/z-axis-top.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpJydIJ-tcZoVqpTTYy3z8REuhp45rqYhOpbtKTOrP-W6LbS4qNyi2CssIinSba725cg4BwMQTTzqimqsLPQgxPr7bUJqfVCSHLJZQ47SEQKuZBMK2g6Zz8trG4HkKfjTCiATOoVCu57Y/s1600/z-axis-top.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top view.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here I do the same thing as before: I adjust the position of the cube to sit on the dot. In this move, if you did the first move perfectly you won't need to use the cube, since you have two of the dimensions set correctly. However, as you can see if you look carefully at the screenshot, although I got close, I was not 100% perfect in the first move. So in general you want to use the cube to make this move, too. I tweak the cube very slightly to sit exactly on the red dot.<br />
<br />
Then I scan. Yah! One more than this one will resolve 100%.<br />
<br />
<b>The Z-Axis Gotcha</b><br />
<br />
OK, now let's scan the other sig. First, I select that sig on the Probe Scanner window. Then I hit the "Launch Pinpoint Formation" button, which resets the probing range to 4 AU. (This is a wonderful feature that CCP added in... Odyssey? Not sure. Anyway, added since I started the game.) <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PKm9d7TavGRk_CpOfMiFb8BVO18I-Un8PLdqa-pAPALQJZMdRYQ2CxzXW_lNUaEN3Mkil5TUi06hfaigRzi0HAbqVpbjlZwc4sZ9yk5LJXUzFxcVmsfmvvzDpJlZHD7ryWUJlipVtWYu/s1600/z-axis-2-start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PKm9d7TavGRk_CpOfMiFb8BVO18I-Un8PLdqa-pAPALQJZMdRYQ2CxzXW_lNUaEN3Mkil5TUi06hfaigRzi0HAbqVpbjlZwc4sZ9yk5LJXUzFxcVmsfmvvzDpJlZHD7ryWUJlipVtWYu/s1600/z-axis-2-start.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Changing to the second sig.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The process is the same as before. I want to refine the scan, so I shrink the probe-range down to 2 AU, then I start moving the probes so that they are centered on the dot. First I rotate to the side view of the probes. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFo9JIaZNKlWXC97ZiqDnh67iMYpzAAYqge_72w5pZa5m1DejSeg0Z_UNG4Z4xPx7IfFvNzY1O2Yjjpzd9TPth0MXUR4YCXTz27JJoe1EtVxskR7HuYzcsK_3yqwa_CFxxjPTeNAOoeVZn/s1600/z-axis-sig-2-side.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFo9JIaZNKlWXC97ZiqDnh67iMYpzAAYqge_72w5pZa5m1DejSeg0Z_UNG4Z4xPx7IfFvNzY1O2Yjjpzd9TPth0MXUR4YCXTz27JJoe1EtVxskR7HuYzcsK_3yqwa_CFxxjPTeNAOoeVZn/s1600/z-axis-sig-2-side.png" height="125" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now I grab the cube to move it over the hit I am trying to scan. Except -- oooops! This time, I accidentally hit that tiny little sliver of Z-axis arrow. The probes now shoot off towards infinity with the slightest twitch of the mouse. Since I think I have grabbed the cube, not the arrow, and I want to drag the cube over the red dot, I more than twitch. Zoom! The probes shoot off down the z-arrow.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkL0GIgazkVwdUn_5yItRfFfaKPkPt2w-vy4e3MbY61BF-rOLQSvqqZtg65wiRRFgEeS1ja-RzAVC8Ph4_-ZbXCXBWcitsLHAE9MA4kDmMXxbfNykmeMc8u9IxAmYXWnR5eOVMxKI-Phd/s1600/z-axis-gone-uh-oh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkL0GIgazkVwdUn_5yItRfFfaKPkPt2w-vy4e3MbY61BF-rOLQSvqqZtg65wiRRFgEeS1ja-RzAVC8Ph4_-ZbXCXBWcitsLHAE9MA4kDmMXxbfNykmeMc8u9IxAmYXWnR5eOVMxKI-Phd/s1600/z-axis-gone-uh-oh.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The probes taking a z-axis excursion.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is the same system and probe location, tilted a bit up:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlgI3xVk1OsUf55UU0eR1ZKZTePo2_DC5tDsEiisNSU5FdhC2Vxu948PziL0HX0k-DQcZ0MhrxQv41Uo9n-Y4Vpfvij27jmHuXU7G1W19a1w5KxcPYgIi0bZCwyVIAwEfzOHq0IxHYqfe/s1600/z-axis-gone-tilt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlgI3xVk1OsUf55UU0eR1ZKZTePo2_DC5tDsEiisNSU5FdhC2Vxu948PziL0HX0k-DQcZ0MhrxQv41Uo9n-Y4Vpfvij27jmHuXU7G1W19a1w5KxcPYgIi0bZCwyVIAwEfzOHq0IxHYqfe/s1600/z-axis-gone-tilt.png" height="350" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probes gone, tilting a bit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And looking "down", zoomed <i>way</i> out so I can see the probes:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsH77sp2kyY7S9f-x_NCpT49R516mC1qyUnJiQ6iIpEDKBJm169Hf1uKCq2hDCcUDyQ_ddBb13nTvP0M6BL1hBSGLeBXMmSZBwyrWCe1xaVlVxFpUrSNQyxvFKbEFJcNFCo-ebYx0pNfec/s1600/z-axis-gone-far.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsH77sp2kyY7S9f-x_NCpT49R516mC1qyUnJiQ6iIpEDKBJm169Hf1uKCq2hDCcUDyQ_ddBb13nTvP0M6BL1hBSGLeBXMmSZBwyrWCe1xaVlVxFpUrSNQyxvFKbEFJcNFCo-ebYx0pNfec/s1600/z-axis-gone-far.png" height="350" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Far out, maaaan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, I am a bit screwed. There is no easy way to get the probes back where I want them. I have to zoom out and move them back by hand, typically by grabbing a z-axis arrow (irony). The above example is a mild case; I only "accidentally" moved the probes out about 200 AU. They can be zoomed much further, so far as I can tell. Thousands of AU. It can be so far that you cannot see then in a fully-zoomed out top-down view. <br />
<br />
<b>The Probe Arrangement Compression Bug</b><br />
<br />
There is one more thing to mention in this connection. Here's a picture of the situation taken immediately after what I did above, but after I moved the probes back to the system: <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypKfYenFMYipsopkZxlnR5cugpC-0iBiU_GlW2XUdlykHZAR7m8_WxobYuMEKovGaJgutqaKS5lltZAU1tYdmR_VcNFPhksezA7mLWZznkAHr3KHkpFCFx_aE4ZS4C71Zd0GrEb-StCP9/s1600/z-axis-compressed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypKfYenFMYipsopkZxlnR5cugpC-0iBiU_GlW2XUdlykHZAR7m8_WxobYuMEKovGaJgutqaKS5lltZAU1tYdmR_VcNFPhksezA7mLWZznkAHr3KHkpFCFx_aE4ZS4C71Zd0GrEb-StCP9/s1600/z-axis-compressed.png" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probes have lost relative positioning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I moved the probes back into the inner system. Then I zoomed in. Note that they have moved relative to each other, compressing the normal "Pinpoint" scanning configuration.<br />
<br />
This is a bug. It's not serious for me, though, since I know that one can always get back to a good pinpoint scan-probe configuration by hitting the "Launch Pinpoint Configuration" button. I do worry about newbs, though. This is an undocumented feature; very handy for those of us who know. But if you don't know, you either have to reset your probes by hand, or re-launch them.<br />
<br />
<b>Solutions</b><br />
<br />
Since I have come this far, why not throw out a few solutions? I already propose a few back in my original article. Quoting me...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There are two fixes I think I'd be happy with. <br />
<br />
One way to go would be to leave the UI drawn as it is, but make the
arrows insensitive when they are sufficiently parallel to the Z axis.
Ideally I'd like to be able to grab the cube instead (this is always
what I am trying to do). But if it were simply a no-op, I could
probably live with it.<br />
<br />
The better way to deal with it is to not display the arrow when it is
pointing mostly in Z. This is the better UI. To show a control element
<i>at all</i> is to suggest it is there for a good reason and that it
can be profitably interacted with. In this case, there is no good
interaction with the arrow once it gets to an angle of perhaps 45
degrees or less with Z. So, stop drawing it then. (Indeed, if the
"don't draw" angle were as large as 60 degrees I think that would be
even better.)
</blockquote>
These are good solutions, particularly the second one. In addition, I'd like to offer a quick and dirty partial workaround. Change the "Launch Pinpoint Configuration" button so that when it is clicked and the probes are already set to 4 AU distance, instead of doing nothing, it centers the probes on the local star. This does not solve the Z-axis problem, of course. It simply mitigates it, for expert probers like me, by offering a workaround. Still, it's a lot better than the current situation.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-12850123571565266402014-12-12T18:32:00.000-05:002014-12-14T17:28:24.896-05:00Milking Sleeper Data SitesA few days ago was my corporation's "Corp Night", which is our weekly get-together to run C4 or C5 PVE sites to make ISK. (We also will attack small-gang targets of opportunity if we find them, but this is rare.) We have been doing almost solely C5 sites because they pay better than C4. Because of this, our home system has gradually filled with anoms. There were enough of them that I felt it was getting embarrassing. It's like having a messy house; even if you don't have guests, you know. So we ran our own sites for a change.<br />
<br />
Among the sites we ran were four data sites: two <a href="http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=UnsecuredFrontierTrinaryHub">Unsecured Frontier Trinary Hub</a>s, and two <a href="http://unsecured%20frontier%20digital%20nexus/">Unsecured Frontier Digital Nexus</a>es. Among the four, we got one of the "site escalation" waves, which is an extra sleeper battleship and an abandoned talocan cruiser. The latter is a loot can requiring a relic analyzer, which opens via the normal minigame. It normally contains one or two hull sections in some state of repair (intact, malfunctioning, or wrecked), which are used to make T3 cruiser hulls. Typically one of the cans is worth a few million in loot; not bad, but nothing earthshaking. <br />
<br />
Well, this time in the one talocan can, we got a <i>small</i> wrecked hull section. It showed no price on the mouseover, because this is a new item introduced in Rhea to build into the new tactical destroyers. In the long run, it is likely that the prices of small hulls will drop to below that of the equivalent cruiser hull. However, in the short run the prices for these hulls are very high. People are paying a huge premium for the first Confessors.<br />
<br />
(Here's the <a href="https://eve-central.com/home/typesearch.html?search=hull+section">EVE Central search for "hull section"</a>. As of this writing, Jita has the following prices for high buy/low sell:<br />
Intact Hull Section: 23m/33m<br />
Malfunctioning Hull Section: 2.2m/9.4m<br />
Wrecked Hull Section: 500k/3.0m<br />
Small Intact Hull Section: 215m/350m<br />
Small Malfunctioning Hull Section: 100m/269m<br />
Small Wrecked Hull Section: 36m/100m )<br />
<br />
Nice. So moral here is: do not ignore your data sites! Even if you don't feel them worthwhile to run for the normal blue loot and salvage, warp in to check for the Talocan relic. If it is there, cargo scan it to see what it's got. If there is a "Small [X] Hull Section", you want it! Crack it in a tank with logis [<b>update</b>: this doesn't work; any sleepers on site means you cannot crack a can], or clear the site and crack it.<br />
<br />
Continuing with the story... the next day I noticed that all the data sites had despawned, except one. In that site, I had not bothered to open any cans because all the data cans in these sites are essentially worthless. (Yes, I scanned them all. I keep hoping for a nice blueprint or something, but it does not seem to be in the loot tables.) Anyway, this one extra half-dead site left a slightly unkempt system. It annoyed me enough that I decided to fly over there and crack a can just to get rid of the site.<br />
<br />
So I jumped into my exploration Buzzard, and warped on it. Much to my surprise, there was a Sleeper battleship on grid! I tried to cloak, but no, too near a can! Uh oh... Warp! Warp! ... and I escaped. Whew. As I warped off, I noticed an abandoned Talocan cruiser.<br />
<br />
Now, I am quite certain that can was not there two days ago. If it was, I'd have looted it. Nor was the Sleeper battleship. I'd have noticed that, too, when I entered the site and scanned all the cans.<br />
<br />
What happened here? Evidently, you get a "die roll" each time a sleeper data site is instantiated, and if lucky, you get the escalation wave (which includes the Talocan can). We did not get it on corp night, but then the site got de-instantiated at downtime. Coming back two days later, I instantiated the site again; the site records that all the sleepers are dead, but I got a fresh check for the escalation, and more luck. <br />
<br />
So, the moral here is: when you check out a sleeper data site, and there is not a Talocan relic, or there is but it contains relatively low-value stuff... don't give up! Come back the next day, and the next, and the next, and try again! (Sites despawn on the fourth downtime after they are first instantiated, so four tries is what you get.)Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-12725387322783158222014-12-11T10:00:00.002-05:002014-12-11T10:00:26.321-05:00Culling a FlockIt's midday Sunday. The Boy is out at a guitar lesson, so I am in EVE. I've checked out two systems, a C4 and a C5, adjacent to my home system. No targets. Now, into a second C5 via a K162. I'm not particularly hopeful of finding anyone doing anything dumb, because after all they connected to us. They presumably know they are not zipped up. That's why I left this one for last. Still, you never know in EVE.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqUY7U8qI_8LPrPcfOVx-IxyRxgdRtLPQwNRgp9EVrB6gN7RUMm5YULhJOn0OusVi68FSW3YFdhkZ-BQQuBIc-SsWlEX-eXDikkNGhguAKqsMmKeZCWqzHzU8b3R4ODbwQ2KxB9HCMlAV/s1600/gas-op-dscan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqUY7U8qI_8LPrPcfOVx-IxyRxgdRtLPQwNRgp9EVrB6gN7RUMm5YULhJOn0OusVi68FSW3YFdhkZ-BQQuBIc-SsWlEX-eXDikkNGhguAKqsMmKeZCWqzHzU8b3R4ODbwQ2KxB9HCMlAV/s1600/gas-op-dscan.png" height="320" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ships on scan!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am right to not know. I cross the wormhole and dscan, and what should appear but a flock of Ventures. Also an Orca and a tower, almost certainly boosting a gas mining operation. Eight targets! Visions of mass slaughter arise in my mind, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I can only kill multiple Ventures if they are being extraordinarily stupid. First things first: get on grid.<br />
<br />
Is there an outer planet? There is an outer planet. I warp to it at 100km, as always cloaking immediately as soon as my gate cloak drops. This is my first chance to blow my cover, and there is nothing I can do about it. With eight of them, probably at least three actual players, there is a decent chance someone is dscanning. Will the see me? I hope not.<br />
<br />
I make a safespot out in space near the outer planet, which is pleasingly abandoned. Also there are no sigs out here, so there is little reason why any of the natives would come out here. I warp to the safespot, uncloak, deploy my mobile depot, and fire probes. <br />
<br />
The probes I throw out of the system. I'll get back to them. The depot is for refitting. I need to refit my Manticore from its normal configuration into its Venture-killing config. The Venture killer removes the normal target painter for a second warp scrambler, which is needed to tackle a Venture with its built-in +2 warp core stabilization. My anti-Venture fit also forgoes torpedoes. I've been using light missiles for Venture killing, because I have had them at level V for a while. But recently I trained Rockets V, so I get to try rockets for the first time. Yay, me.<br />
<br />
My minute is impatient. Then I refit, get the rockets loaded, scoop the depot, and it's hunting time.<br />
<br />
I warp to the inner system, then get a rough bearing on where the Ventures are. 2.4 AU from me, and generally up and left of the sun. I set my probes to 2 AU distance, then move them into a rough position as my marker. Now I start trying to hone down to 5 degrees. Usually getting down to 15 degrees is fast, while the last step to 5 is hard. (CCP: very please to put in a 10 degree setting?!)<br />
<br />
This time, I am trying for five degrees for a while with no success. Then I back out to 15 degrees and the Ventures are not there. What? Try at 360: there. Again at 15, then 30, and 60: not there. I guess they moved. Strangely, they are the same distance from me, 2.4 AU. But somewhere else. Back to the start of my search.<br />
<br />
I narrow and narrow, and get to 5 degrees. OK, that's it. I check my distance, and have to work it a little bit to get it to look like 2.4 AU. (This is done purely by eyeball, and is a bit of an art.) But now I am ready to scan. I set the probes to 0.5 AU, and scan. Scanning... and a red dot, 49%. OK, quickly, drop the range to 0.25, adjust, and scan again. 100%! A Vital Core Reservoir! I retract the probes to hide them. I am "below" the site, which means it is safe to warp in at 100km. So I do.<br />
<br />
Warping... and on grid. And sure enough, there is the big gas cloud, the C540 one, with all eight Ventures orbiting it, sucking gas. The little cloud is already sucked up.<br />
<br />
The good news is that an orbiting Venture can be sneaked up on. Or so I think. I have never done it successfully before, but that's because my average kill is not orbiting. Stupidly, they sit still.<br />
<br />
The bad news is that they are all over the place. The gas cloud has a radius of some 70km. There is no way I am going to get two of them. Orbiting while you mine is not the absolute best way to do it (<a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/10/how-to-mine-gas-fairly-safely-in.html">here's how to do it right</a>), but it is solid play. <br />
<br />
Currently I am more than 100km from edge of the cloud. This is too far to approach in reasonable time, but too near to warp. Well, I can bounce. I bookmark the C540 gas cloud (that is, its center), then warp off site to a nearby planet. Then I warp back to the cloud at 70m. I end up nearer to the edge than I thought, just 9000m. But it's actually pretty much perfect. I am near the edge, ready to go. Now all I need is for a Venture to come to me.<br />
<br />
A quick look around shows one Venture in particular that appears to be headed nearly at me. He's 70km from me, but approaching fast. OK, that's the one. The Venture's orbit is mostly towards me, but a bit to the "down" direction from my perspective. So, I maneuver down to intercept, and also include a slight angle in towards the cloud. The approach is working. The target is getting closer: 50km, then 30km. I am getting close to the cloud: 7km, 5km. I stop for a bit. That's close enough.<br />
<br />
Now the target is 20km, and closing. I start moving a bit more down, and as he closes to 10km, towards him. Time for pew!<br />
<br />
I uncloak, and start locking. All systems on: 2x scrambler, sebo, rockets. The lock completes: got him. My rockets start up, and the range stays short. Good.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9uRQD5Gld046Uim4_G0Wn22Ma_lY8JM7BJ332j4f5hvfjlzn4mmq6Tt4bSdaPqWQoJb0Cr2552LOCZUi03m5yekHKryq1a06zf4yRtlap5_IbeCMI_N7mMzEaCxhxVcYb5PyB6jCsvMf/s1600/gas-op-attack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9uRQD5Gld046Uim4_G0Wn22Ma_lY8JM7BJ332j4f5hvfjlzn4mmq6Tt4bSdaPqWQoJb0Cr2552LOCZUi03m5yekHKryq1a06zf4yRtlap5_IbeCMI_N7mMzEaCxhxVcYb5PyB6jCsvMf/s1600/gas-op-attack.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I pounce.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
He is past me, and starting to pull away. I may have to pulse the microwarpdrive to keep up. But it seems like not. Distance is maintained at about 4000m. Then <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/42919021/">boom</a>, he's dead. I am ready, and start locking the pod. He's <i>not</i> ready, it seems, because he does not get the pod out in time. Locked! And <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/42919027/">podded</a>. <br />
<br />
I attend to the overview: no ships left on grid but me. I didn't have any awareness of them leaving. Tactical tunnel syndrome.<br />
<br />
I approach the wreck and grab the corpse for my collection. Then I open the wreck and loot. The loot won't fit: there is a lot of gas, which is large stuff. (The loot fairy smiled on this gank.) I grab all the fittings, and fill my hold with a small portion of the gas. In fact, there is significant value in gas. But I can't take it, so I perforce will leave it. Perhaps they will try to get it back. I'll hang around. I bookmark the wreck just in case I need to get back fast.<br />
<br />
This would be a good time to find their tower. I burn away from the gas and the wreck, and get cloaked. Safe, I turn my attention to dscan. OK, they are at <i>that</i> planet. I warp to a random moon (wrong one), then dscan up the right one and warp in to have a look. I have to approach the tower to get close enough to see. <br />
<br />
The flock is there, but some have already refit into various other ships. An Archon? I don't think they intend anything here except logging out. Sure enough, poof it is gone. I watch them all as one by one, they get into a big ship of some kind, then poof. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUg8jBPqbTSvPq0q-L6qnnYPj679b8TbBAT1HMrNH7NiIw9mJMkkD4QbcVZ8i6TFvQiKP3r3sAt6lgJfuKpvNhLY260Zymcwd-wXoFwE8DMMs8pPa85ZBfT3PvJRUh7br9j0ZjDTnZYsa/s1600/gas-op-loot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUg8jBPqbTSvPq0q-L6qnnYPj679b8TbBAT1HMrNH7NiIw9mJMkkD4QbcVZ8i6TFvQiKP3r3sAt6lgJfuKpvNhLY260Zymcwd-wXoFwE8DMMs8pPa85ZBfT3PvJRUh7br9j0ZjDTnZYsa/s1600/gas-op-loot.png" height="162" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gas loot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally one is left, still in a Venture, and the Orca. I sit and watch another few minutes. Nothing. I doubt they will do anything. <br />
<br />
Now I resume being my greedy resource-harvesting self. There's 12m worth of gas in that wreck, and I want it! I log in my alt Otto, who warps to my tower to get a gas-carrying Miasmos. Then I have a better idea: a Venture! Otto gets one of our gas-mining Ventures, then removes the expensive gas miners, just in case he gets whacked. Then he renames it, to the same tag and name as the natives were using on their Ventures. I figure this might confuse them if they see it on dscan, at least long enough. I doubt they are paying attention, but you never know.<br />
<br />
Otto enters the system and warps to the wreck. The guys at the tower don't move. Otto lands on grid, grabs, and goes. Gas mining the hard way.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-52535441081592684872014-12-09T07:55:00.000-05:002014-12-09T17:23:16.383-05:00Killing a This-Is-EVE NewbI killed a newb yesterday. <br />
<br />
I see an Imicus in wspace immediately upon dscanning when entering a new system. I am heading down a chain I scanned earlier, just checking for new wormholes and looking for people to hunt. So, mission accomplished, so far.<br />
<br />
Most people use Covert Ops to scan with; the Imicus is a T1 scanning frig. That's a tell: easy meat. More tellingly, in wspace, we scan cloaked. It is <i>possible</i> to scan fairly securely when uncloaked, but it's not easy. You have to move from time to time, and you have to be continually dscanning for combat probes. <br />
<br />
I cast around with dscan. The target is at a planet, apparently, with two moons. I warp to the CO. He is here, but moving off at microwarp speed in a direction I cannot get to. <br />
<br />
Check the character: he is six days old. Do I try to kill him? Of course I try to kill him. Welcome to wspace. Still, I can't get him where he is.<br />
<br />
He warps to another CO, and disappears. I can still see the probes. I guess he cloaked. Well, he will have to uncloak when he warps to a wormhole to look at it. Then, if he is slow, and he may well be, I will have a shot. So, I sit cloaked and watch.<br />
<br />
This takes forever. Obviously he is not a very efficient scanner, which is not surprising considering he's six days old. Frankly, I am amazed to find him here at all. I am always impressed by how fearless some players are. Not me, I am Mr. Risk Averse.<br />
<br />
I get out the phone and start playing chess. Four games later, about 30 minutes after I pick him up, I finally see him again on scan. He's warping.<br />
<br />
He stops at another planet. I warp in to the CO again, and he is there. Again he has headed off in a random direction on microwarp. This time, there is a planet in the approximate right direction, and an anom in the direction of the target's deviation from the first planet. I start to work to construct the intercept, flying back and forth to 100km to get in front of him. I go forth and come back once, but before I can do it a second time, he warps. I don't see him leaving grid, so I don't know where he went immediately. But I can use dscan to look for him. I have the system already scanned, so I can see that he has warped to a wormhole. He disappears from dscan. He has probably jumped into the next system, although dscan cannot tell you that for certain. I give him time to get away from the wormhole, while I warp around the system to make sure he actually did leave. Of course, one cannot know that for certain, but I see no probes and no Imicus on scan. So, high confidence.<br />
<br />
I enter the next system, a C4 with a C1 static. Yes, Imicus on scan. A while of messing around with dscan shows that he is very close the entrance wormhole, but off grid. I can't get to him myself, in my Manticore. I need combat probes. Well, that's why I have an alt. <br />
<br />
I log in Otto, fly to my tower and switch into my Cheetah. I load combat probes as I hop downchain two jumps, and into the same system. Then I move off the wormhole, fire probes, and quickly throw them out of the system. I fleet up, then it's time for scan the guy. This is easily done in one scan when someone is within a few thousand kilometers of a known point: just put the probes on the planet, drop their range to minimum, and scan. Otto hides his probes again, then fleet-warps Von to the target's location... but when I land, the target is already out of range. Grr, microwarping Imicus. Drat. <br />
<br />
I can see his the direction, though, and there is a combat anom positioned about right. I warp Von and Otto there, at 100km so the sleepers won't get them. My new plan is to scan for the target again, then warp in from here at 100km. This will put me out in front of him, assuming he does not deviate, perhaps off at a slight angle, but I can move perpendicular to him to cut off the angle and intercept. I am ready to hit "Scan now", but on a final narrow-beam dscan he drops off. He's moved again! Ugh. I widen: where is he going?<br />
<br />
He is going to the C1 wormhole. I warp to 10km. This time, I get there in time. He is also about 10km from the wormhole, and about 15km from me. I head right at him. Then the standard stuff: uncloak, get systems working. <a href="https://zkillboard.com/kill/42903655/">He pops</a> before he can escape. Then I lock up his pod.<br />
<br />
I hesitate. I have him scrambled, but: <i>newbie</i>! Should I pod him? I finally decide to, and launch one volley of torps. But he is moving, and torps do not hit pods effectively in any case. He escapes through the wormhole.<br />
<br />
I pursue. On the other side, no pod and no pod on scan. I assume he is holding cloak, and I hold cloak too. I cannot catch a pod if he just warps off, with or without sebo. But he may not know that, and he may not realize what's happening when his gate cloak ends, which might be enough time to let me get at him. But he does not panic, and jumps back through the wormhole. This time, he warps clear.<br />
<br />
OK, good on you Mr. Newb. Actually I am kind of happy he got away.<br />
<br />
In spite of the fact that the guy had little or no chance, it was still an amazing hunt for me. I figured out a few nice tricks on the fly. It's sad that I did not succeed in getting to the target with my tricks, but that's life. Next time I will be faster. There's a reason why people can't be safe in wspace with just a microwarpdrive.<br />
<br />
Now I proceed to the next stage of the thing: I message the guy. (Grr, CPSA.)<br />
<br />
He is a bit hostile to begin with, as is understandable, but we have a nice long chat. I tell him I was hunting him for a while. I tell him to scan cloaked. (Yes, he did have a cloak!) He does not know about wspace levels; I fill him in. How does one know what wspace level a system is? I tell him about <a href="http://wh.pasta.gg/">wormhol.es</a> (actually now pasta.gg, whatever). I also tell him you can ID wormholes on sight from the other side, and link him to Penny. We discuss how to scan, and I link him to Penny again. He asks about ships, and I direct him towards Covert Ops. We talk data/relic sites: he made 20m that morning. Good! Does he know how to get out? No, he ran into a system and off the wormhole. So I offer to get him out. He has to trust me a little, but on the other hand, he's looking at suiciding his pod, so not really that much. I find him (he's in a C5 off the side of the path I had probed earlier). Then I fleet him up, have him meet me at a planet, and we warp to the wormhole. (He thinks fleet-warp is cool.) I get him to the lowsec exit. I give him 5m ISK to replace the ship, and try to encourage him to keep it up. I tell him to find people to fly with, or at least chat with. He asks about my corp, but we can't really take a newb that raw. But I tell him to stay in touch. Once his skills are up a little, he might be a good fit.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-13870390202259910922014-12-03T19:12:00.000-05:002014-12-04T00:13:49.491-05:00Whither PLEX?Here is a graph of recent PLEX prices, courtesy of <a href="http://eve-marketdata.com/">eve-marketdata.com</a>. Note the long and relatively smooth ride up, then the peak indicated by the red dot, which was Nov. 19. Then there is a small correction, with two other near-peaks on Nov 21 and Nov 24. Then a steep decline, to where we are now. Not enough data to say yet where it will go. But we can analyze, and we need to decide whether to buy. Thus, this article.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4005FjHrxBx-CLtKYc8zbw21dd02JHKGk9st8WJv644UOq7pPIpkMojVAZg76Nhj5UdhIMmuitKfy50K-96-5D-CNLzTeKkzVQoEj2VFCefw4bSlD6pG0MgrP0_74tOYK_hpRxgummvao/s1600/plex-prices.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4005FjHrxBx-CLtKYc8zbw21dd02JHKGk9st8WJv644UOq7pPIpkMojVAZg76Nhj5UdhIMmuitKfy50K-96-5D-CNLzTeKkzVQoEj2VFCefw4bSlD6pG0MgrP0_74tOYK_hpRxgummvao/s1600/plex-prices.png" height="162" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PLEX prices, past three months.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Price, as we know from microeconomics, is set by supply and demand. Let's look at the market for PLEX.<br />
<br />
There are several factors that I think are affecting the PLEX supply. They are, in order of timing, the influx of "This-is-EVE" newbs, the ISBoxer policy change, and the Thanksgiving weekend PLEX sale.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpR6JPKFCb9NxYv2tDGt4mPFwflsMqhbH19iAI0SYmKftlxRIkbFf8lKKVfzIVM90bVFi7v6CVv9tkRxZ4201GGuVHhyphenhyphenrTIEGecb_1fsVDb7bzUVlV9dqQLtzjrdO_lGW7TKQQtaNbxVaw/s1600/newbie-surge.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpR6JPKFCb9NxYv2tDGt4mPFwflsMqhbH19iAI0SYmKftlxRIkbFf8lKKVfzIVM90bVFi7v6CVv9tkRxZ4201GGuVHhyphenhyphenrTIEGecb_1fsVDb7bzUVlV9dqQLtzjrdO_lGW7TKQQtaNbxVaw/s1600/newbie-surge.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"This is EVE" effect on new accounts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first factor is a bunch of newbs coming into the game. Ordinarily EVE gets ~2000 new accounts per day; these include people trying the game out for the first time as well as old players creating new alts. After the smashing success of the "This is EVE" video, which was released Nov 21, newbies flooded into the game New account creation hit something like 8000 per day, briefly. This has dropped back a lot, but the rate is still about 50% above normal, something like 3000 new accounts per day as I write. I would guess that a high percentage of these accounts are new players, not just new alts.<br />
<br />
(The image is from <a href="http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility">eve-offline.net</a>.)<br />
<br />
Some of these newbies are going to find out about PLEX and want to use one or two to kickstart their career. Others (and I have spoken to two, now, out of perhaps several hundred newbies in the rookie channel whose questions I have answered) are going to want to jump right past the whole low-skill part of being a newbie, and drop a bundle to buy a skilled character. For that they need two PLEX, plus a boatload of ISK. So there is at least some additional demand. <br />
<br />
Demand for PLEX can be supplied in two ways. One is by spending ISK in the in-game market; the other is spending IRL money. Obviously, few of these newbies are going to be able to PLEX with ISK for some time now. They have low skills, as a character and a player. So, we expect them to buy PLEX with IRL money and drop them into the game. This will tend to depress prices.<br />
<br />
Probably the main factor is the recent change in ISBoxer policy. For some time now, ISBoxer has been tolerated by CCP. Last week (Nov 25), <a href="https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=387571">CCP Falcon announced a change</a>: no input multiplexing to anything in-game. So, you can still use ISBoxer to log in many accounts, or to organize your windows. But you cannot send input of any kind (i.e. mouse moves, keypresses) which affects the game to multiple clients. This change takes effect on January 1. <br />
<br />
Immediately upon this announcement, PLEX prices took a steep hit. (Possibly slightly preceding it?) This is the sharp downward move after the last peak is hit. Obviously, people believe that because multiboxers almost exclusive PLEX their accounts (nobody pays IRL money for 20 accounts just to mine more ice), their demise will free up so much PLEX that it will significantly lower demand.<br />
<br />
There is debate over how much of an effect the multiplexing ban will have. Some say not much at all. But in any case, since the ban is not even in effect yet, the reduced demand for PLEX that will happen on January 1 should have minimal effect. Yes, there will be some reduced buying, for people that happen to PLEX their multiboxed accounts for months in advance. And starting Dec 1 (well after the price dropped), there should be some multiboxing accounts that are starting to expire and are not being renewed. But this effect should be minimal. <br />
<br />
The stronger effect must be speculation. I think that the PLEX selling is less a direct effect of the ban than indirect: because people believe it will reduce multiboxed mining a lot, they believe it will reduce PLEX demand. As such, people think PLEX will drop, and then sell because of that -- a classic example of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient-market_hypothesis">efficient markets</a> pricing in all information immediately. <br />
<br />
The final supply factor is the PLEX sale that happened starting on Friday, Nov 26. This sale went on through the weekend. PLEX sales don't usually tend to affect the price that much, but they do often have a small downward effect on prices.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, what about the demand side? <br />
<br />
Well, there are evidently a lot of people like me. I prefer to safeguard value in PLEX, not ISK. As I have written: <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/05/plex-is-money.html">PLEX is money</a> because it retains value much better than ISK. As such, everyone should try to preserve value in PLEX. And this is, evidently, what a substantial number of players do. <br />
<br />
(There is a very interesting <a href="http://www.themittani.com/features/game-alts-decisive-action-ccp#comment-1719238365">comment</a> I saw by "Baki Yuku" at TheMittani, on t<a href="http://www.themittani.com/features/game-alts-decisive-action-ccp">his article about the input replication policy change</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
PLEX price is where it is because people are using it as an invetment tool on a massive scale. According to CCP (last fanfest) only 45% of all PLEX injected into the market every month is being consumed. That means 65% are being brought as an investment.</blockquote>
Obviously it is hearsay and the math does not exactly add up. But it does confirm my suspicion that a lot of PLEX is being used as money.)<br />
<br />
I've been sitting on a pile of ISK for some time now, both my personal savings and my corporate savings. However, because PLEX have been so expensive, I've been waiting for a correction. Now PLEX drops, and there is a golden opportunity to buy. I bought. I think a bunch of people have. So, collectively the demand to preserve value is sucking up excess supply.<br />
<br />
There is one more modest factor on the demand side. In Rhea, CCP is going to <a href="http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/a-new-era-of-clones/">abolish clone grades</a>. Upgrading clones is an ISK-sink; it is about 3% of sunk ISK according the <a href="http://twostep4csm.blogspot.com/2012/03/its-econmony-stupid.html">only data I am aware of on the subject</a>. Clone costs are basically going to go away entirely. (CCP will raise the amount required to re-home your clone, but it is still quite cheap, and how often do people do that?) Other things being equal, this move will marginally decrease the ability of ISK to safeguard wealth. So PLEX win a bit here. <br />
<br />
Summary: I think PLEX is a good buy. All the fundamentals are there, other than possibly some decline in multiboxer demand. But I think there is plenty of demand in New Eden for secure savings, that will offset that decline.<br />
<br />
As previously mentioned, I have been buying PLEX for my corp and myself throughout the recent decline. I got some at 900m, a few as low as 812m, and most around 830m. If the price drops further, I may buy a few more, but I am mostly content with my ISK/PLEX balance. We'll see if my purchases were wise or not. Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-56455645204630585132014-11-30T13:30:00.001-05:002014-11-30T13:38:52.749-05:00In a Relic SiteIt's Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of people playing EVE, including lots of newbs. I am in wspace as normal, and I've been neglecting things here a bit while I answer questions. Time for a roam.<br />
<br />
I set off up into our C5 static, but nothing is doing there. There's no incident wormholes, just its static. So I don't open the far static. Instead, I run <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/04/isk-in-wspace-small-sites.html">small sites</a>, raking in 60m ISK in about a half hour including scanning. Not bad. Now down into C4b.<br />
<br />
C4b is also empty, and with no wormholes except its statics, it also seems likely to be zipped. OK, I'll run small sites here, too. I clean out four gas sites and one ore anom, getting lucky on nanoribbons this time for 90m ISK. Then I head back home to get back into my Manticore, and return to C4a to explore its C2 and C5 connections. I try the C2 first, under the general theory that lower in wspace I am more likely to find easy kills. Thanks are due CCP for putting in nullsec data and relic sites into C1/C2/C3. These are great places to look for ganks.<br />
<br />
C2a, like the two previous systems, feels disused. My first clue is no towers or ships on dscan. The second clue is the pile of 20 sigs. There are also 10 anoms; not that many given so many sigs. Now I warp around to see an outer planet. No tower or ships: that's my third clue. Also a check of the system in tripwire shows that is has lowsec/C2 statics; not as desirable as a highsec.<br />
<br />
I think I have a backwater system here, perhaps untouched for days; that's my strong intuition. More than one of those sigs are going to be data/relic sites that I can solo. So, before doing anything further, I head back home to get my exploration Buzzard. Not only can it run the sites (with both relic and data analyzer IIs), it scans considerably faster too. I scan in C4a and C4b on the way home, and back. No activity. Good.<br />
<br />
I return to C2a, fire probes, and start scanning. After some considerable time, I find a fourth clue: this system has piled up a large number of those nullsec data/relic sites. In fact, there are ten of them (!), and also two sleeper data sites. There are also, unfortunately, a large number of wormholes: five of them, plus the one I entered through. So there is some risk in hacking. But I figure it is worth the risk, especially if I cherry-pick. And also if I cache loot. (The remaining sigs are gas sites.)<br />
<br />
I head into each site, scanning cans to see what's there. Two of the data sites have an augmented decryptor, so I go ahead and do the better cans there. Many of the relic sites have decent tech II salvage, and I run four of them. Each time I get more than 10m ISK or so, I run out to a safespot I make in the outer system, to dump all the loot in a jetcan. If I get killed, at least I won't lose most of the loot. I don't get killed. And... it's almost dinner time in the real world. So that is enough. I head back home to J213139, 150m ISK worth of salvage and other stuff aboard. Bye EVE, for now.<br />
<br />
And... back! Food heated, family fed, things said, time's fled, The Boy abed. Now time for some hunting. I head into C5 just for a look, including popping out into nullsec on the off chance I can find anyone there. I don't. I am eager to head back to C2a... with all those exploration sites. The six I ran will be gone, but the four I passed on should still be there. I've got the stuff I want out of there. Now I want to open it up, get explorers in, and kill them. Time to fly to those five wormholes.<br />
<br />
All of the wormholes are outgoing. One is the lowsec static, one is a small wormhole to C2, and the other three are connections to C2. I sense a trend. I guess that just as exploration sites have dead-ended here, so have random wormholes. Interesting pattern.<br />
<br />
I head into lowsec first. It's a faction warfare system in Minmatar control, evidently. That's not likely to attract many explorers. Then into C2b, C2c, and C2d. None of them are very promising. Towers in each, nobody home, no probes, and nothing obvious going on. Sigh.<br />
<br />
I head back into C2a, and run out of steam. I think I'll just sit here, in the inner system, where I can dscan to all of the sites that are left. And I will join rookie chat and answer questions.<br />
<br />
I join rookie chat. 2600+... yeah, I think they may need me. Anyway, I get some good answers in. One guy has a devil of a problem: he has no money to speak of, and he bought PLEX, but he cannot sell them because the taxes are too high. (Evidently, a sale is not permitted if you cannot pay the tax up front? Seems strange to me. But that was his report.) Anyway, I PM him and give him 10m ISK to allow the transaction to work... and it gets strange from there. But that's another story. He eventually gets it done and pays me back. Ah, not scammed by a rookie.<br />
<br />
I am occasionally dscanning in C2a, not finding anything.<br />
<br />
More than one question of "how do I make ISK fastest"? That's a real good question, one I don't really have a solid answer to. The boilerplate is "mining, running missions, ratting, factional warfare". I have the feeling too many of them are going to go mine, and that's not really what they want to do, but they know how, it's there. I think CCP should have a faction warfare mission in the advanced military sequence, where you have to go to a complex, fight a rat, spin a button for 15 minutes, and get bacon. Maybe have a second more powerful rat warp in on you. That would give newbs a taste of it and enough familiarity to hopefully try it out.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the night is getting on. It's 11:15, and I'll be leaving EVE in a half an hour or so for bed. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, in C2a, but probes. Mmm. Well, probes don't necessarily mean anything. But they might. I keep more than half an eye on the dscan. I answer more questions.<br />
<br />
Then I see a Probe. It has a character's name on it... hmm, could be a rookie. Should I kill a rookie? Well, yes. I should. I try to find it with dscan, but it is nowhere I can determine. Then it cloaks. The probes are still out there, so: patience. More questions.<br />
<br />
Now I see the Probe again. I narrow it down to fifteen degrees on dscan, but it's in no known site. I have the feeling he is in a site, since he is not cloaked for a long time. But it must be a site that spawned since I was scanning. I could warp to the outer planet, launch probes and attempt to scan him down. But, I already know of other sites, and there is a chance that I'll blow it scanning, and he always has his chance to see probes. So, not a good idea. I'll wait. He'll get to another site eventually.<br />
<br />
He finishes, then drops off my narrowed dscan. I widen it to full, and he's still uncloaked... probably moving to another site. I once again narrow it down, and this time, he is in a site I scanned earlier. Ha! Go time.<br />
<br />
I warp to the site at 10km. It's one with widely-spaced cans, all of which are quite far from the warp-in. The Probe is at a can about 70km from me, hacking it. <br />
<br />
I start moving back to get a perch, but that will take too long. Instead, I spin around the view to the opposite direction of the cans. There's a handy planet there in just the right direction, 3 AU from me. Perfect for making a perch. I warp to it at 100km, then back to the data site, again at 100km. Now I end up more than 150km from each of the cans. Perfect. I make a bookmark.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk779nNFIbm0CnB8WR83sMeTwZD79D9nfK52vfe-NlJNEYvXGBfYIbgNvr_ciI5Zz3ZWxGxFZRl1nNRznzT6_mjDsu2W1PB1zt4eUu7irwD2yHfh6lII1f6vlOC3v7VLWTXsTXKUBmGc8Q/s1600/relic-site-perch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk779nNFIbm0CnB8WR83sMeTwZD79D9nfK52vfe-NlJNEYvXGBfYIbgNvr_ciI5Zz3ZWxGxFZRl1nNRznzT6_mjDsu2W1PB1zt4eUu7irwD2yHfh6lII1f6vlOC3v7VLWTXsTXKUBmGc8Q/s1600/relic-site-perch.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At my perch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Probe is approaching the most distant can, 200+ km from me. I can see him scanning it. I am ready to warp as soon as the overview indicates he is hacking it. But... he <i>doesn't</i> hack it. Uh oh. I guess he is being selective, just as I was earlier, and this is a crappy can. OK, I will wait.
There will be another can.<br />
<br />
He moves off toward another can. Microwarping, from the looks of it. I consider warping to the can to attack as he arrives, but I'd really rather attack him when he has the minigame up. He has several more cans to try, so I will wait.<br />
<br />
There is time for me to kill. I check out the character I am stalking to see if he's a newb.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMV731Hk6PmFmEKmx0s1JxI1kaJ60n612idcaBf5PfpmjtO_79I86-AvcpgxHFy2VrZBhgZ3q-8W_c9RTjmAs85dbgvivIQceaWlC9Nm6Yv9C4A6NesBTAyrJsYChovrZJf1sYnZ8tosWk/s1600/relic-site-target.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMV731Hk6PmFmEKmx0s1JxI1kaJ60n612idcaBf5PfpmjtO_79I86-AvcpgxHFy2VrZBhgZ3q-8W_c9RTjmAs85dbgvivIQceaWlC9Nm6Yv9C4A6NesBTAyrJsYChovrZJf1sYnZ8tosWk/s1600/relic-site-target.png" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The target is old.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
He's not new. In fact he is two years older than I am. Good. No qualms about killing and podding him, then. (What's he doing in a <i>Probe</i>?)<br />
<br />
He finally gets to the can he's headed to. Again I see him cargo scan. This can, though, he tries to open.<br />
<br />
I warp in at 10km. He is circling the can, and I end up about 13000m from him, but he is heading toward me.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWvfP7nZuRw4eQSyeJG53w_s3ZoINxP_HBX54T6f9h-MT5gIC1WJ1C_xsgc4j7qtLd123-d-PucFLCxAdqLfqxBo6qBLEXDIj1Hf8_HvXGfAwcdziUzNUIoQ-ilOoNXYuwY8UoFFXi4Ae/s1600/relic-site-close.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWvfP7nZuRw4eQSyeJG53w_s3ZoINxP_HBX54T6f9h-MT5gIC1WJ1C_xsgc4j7qtLd123-d-PucFLCxAdqLfqxBo6qBLEXDIj1Hf8_HvXGfAwcdziUzNUIoQ-ilOoNXYuwY8UoFFXi4Ae/s1600/relic-site-close.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the can.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I approach him, then uncloak and start firing. My lock completes. He's pinned! He heads away from me. My torps hit: shields down. He heads away from me, but he cannot microwarp, and apparently does not have an afterburner. The range stays at about 4500m. His ship is little or no faster. A second volley: shields wiped, armor almost down. A third: deep structure. And zoom! He warps.<br />
<br />
WHAT? Oh. He must have had warp core stabilizers; that's why he had to cargo scan from so close. A good trick... I might think about it for my Buzzard. I dunno. It's nice to cargo scan from afar, but it's also nice to thwart gankers.<br />
<br />
Oh well. Live and learn. Time to go to bed. Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656651603131896852.post-48555988104224040422014-11-25T18:09:00.000-05:002014-11-25T18:09:00.230-05:00Chatting with NewbiesThere's been a huge influx of newbs into EVE following the release of <a href="http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/11/one-percent-moments.html">the amazing new EVE trailer</a>. I've always wanted to give a little back to the community, and this seems like a good time for it. <br />
<br />
So I spent a night doing nothing in EVE except talking. I logged in, entered newbie chat, and answered questions solidly for three hours. It's a surprisingly fun activity. I start to get competitive with the other oldsters, seeing how fast I can type out a good answer that does not assume much knowledge. Trying to pick up on questions that did not get answered.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of newbies getting stuck in the training missions at one point or another. Mostly, the volunteers in the channel talked them through all sorts of weird conditions that we'd never think of. Like, the guy who had a blueprint in his hold and could not get it to work. Lots of questions of "where are the asteroids?" (Apparently they'd been mined out in the newb systems.) Most of the questions about the missions I did not even try to answer, since I just don't know. I should create a trial and see how those missions work these days.<br />
<br />
It was other questions that I was able to help with. All sorts of questions about EVE; things we take for granted. How do you fly in space? Can I move my ships sideways? Can I move all my ships to a different station without flying back and forth? How do you quit out of the game? How do I get item X? (The market is apparently a novel thing.) Can I earn enough to buy a PLEX in 14 days?<br />
<br />
Then there were some harder ones. I finished the training missions; what do I do now? What's a good corp to join? How do I make ISK? (That's a tough one. Do I tell a newb to... <i>mine</i>??)<br />
<br />
One guy in particular I remember. He PMed me, then gradually worked out for himself (with me supplying answers), that he wanted to PVP and did not want to earn ISK in game, but could do it by PLEXing. And that he could buy a character... he thought this was a bit pay-to-win, and it is at least pay-to-get-ahead... but as I told him, character skill is useful but <i>player</i> skill is what is most important. You can't buy that.Von Keigaihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14469707993470718130noreply@blogger.com2