EVE University's No SOP Month - RvB Tears Open The Curtain

What are the responsibilities of the wardeccing party? If Corp A wardecs Corp B, is it Corp B's responsibility to fly out to Corp A to supply the PvP action? Apparently, EVE University thinks so.

The University wardecs RvB, then sits around the Aldrat area in heavy gate defense, waiting for RvB to come to them. Much kudos has to go to RvB for bringing a fight to the University stomping grounds, even though they had no obligation to do so. It certainly wasn't their responsibility to fly 20+ jumps to engage the Uni, yet they did so. With hardly a complaint. In the entire week that E-Uni decced RvB, the Uni brought one half-assed fleet to Lonetrek, during off-hours (when only 20 or so RvBers were online.) If it wasn't for RvB going to Aldrat, the University could have been easily accused of running a faildec -- starting a war with a corp, then never showing up to fight them. That is the exact type of faildec the University is always complaining about. Do they not understand their responsibilities as the wardeccing corporation?

Flistir: I've got several complaints about EVE-U hospitality! Big fancy announcement more or less telling everyone to bring it, we start hauling shit [to Hek], earning plenty of hateful looks from the poor overworked people at Red Frog Freight as the RvB avalanche yet again comes down upon their hauling service. The way I see it, you're the ones who invited us here with your wardec - it would be nice to see a bit of agression from your side, afterall, we came 25ish jumps to get here, then you leave it to us to force the fight not just once... but twice!

Now that's just plain rude.

Daniel Wittaker: It would be appreciated if you guys would wander up north for your whippings. We came all the way south, and you guys did launch the dec.

Now, onto the most recent University POS incident, wherein RvB attacked the University POS and the University got really angry (though pretended that they weren't.)

Darian Reymont: If we weren't prepared to see the POS get shot, we would have taken it down prior to this event.

Cervator: I wasn't expecting the POS to be off-limits and figured it would get hit eventually.

Cripes. The No SOP Month was about showing the student body some real war, some down and dirty war. It wasn't about arranged and honourable fights (if that was the case, the Uni would not have sat in heavily fortified defensive gate camps for most of the week.)

RvB did the right thing. Attacked the University POS while the University were out in Providence helping Chribba. That sort of planning has strategic and tactical win written all over it.

Some unistas get it:

Kalim Dabo: In defense of RvB's actions of last night, I would like to remind my fellow Unistas that war is all about trying to make the best use of the resources and intel that are available to you to outmaneuver and outfight your opponents. It sounds like they did the right thing by avoiding a fight which would have resulted in heavy losses, then hitting our POS while our forces were committed elsewhere. I'm not sure that I would have done things differently if I had been in their shoes.

Some don't:

Kelduum Revaan: The problem isn't really the POS bash, but that it was done without any warning - if I had been notified I could have arranged a proper defence fleet.

Hell, the University even had intel that such an attack was in the works, but chose to dismiss that intel.

Kelduum Revaan: We had some vague intel that something was supposed to be happening last night, and both yourselves and ADOPT were planning to bash it, but after a fleet went out to intercept you, we didn't find anything, and with the threat apparently passed, I re-tasked the fleet and headed down to Providence with everyone we could get to assist Chribba.

The moral being, if you want to attack the Uni POS, you'd better inform them of when and how many folks you'll be bringing. Otherwise they'll cry foul and dock their dogs of war.

So, EVE University took their little ball and went home. They revoked their war declaration against RvB. They banned RvB from posting on the EVE University public channels (even though everything I've read from RvB was very reasonably written.) The University has re-implemented its decshield (if the Uni want folks to play with, why make it more expensive for them?) And then Silentbrick re-instated a portion of the SOP.

Silentbrick: All communications with wartargets are to cease except through the use of guns, missiles or lasers, aside from diplomatic channels.

Even though earlier in the week the policy was:

Kelduum Revaan: It's OK to speak to RvB and the others who are E-UNI alumni

Thus it is now the Mostly No SOP Month with decshield costs included (an extra 100 million ISK per week.) Go to war with the Uni, but play by their unwritten rules, even when they invite you, almost beg you, to wardec them.

Time for Long Skills

Last month I mentioned that I really needed to get my Gunnery skills trained, and that I wasn't going to stop until it was my highest rated skill category. I have achieved that, but of course, cannot stop now.

So. Whereas I shall continue to keep the gunnery skills high, I now have a new dilemma.

I recently started new employment. One might say, a new career. As such, it will take me away from home and the game for long stretches of time (from two to four weeks, some of which may be out of reach of the internet.) What I need are long skills. Skills that take twenty plus days to queue. So that's the goal now. To get as many skills as possible to level four, so that I can pop them into the queue when necessary, and not potentially waste time with nothing queuing. Basically, skills I might not have trained any time soon (with the exception of Gallente Cruiser V), but which are still useful. Covert Ops V. Advanced Weapon Upgrades V. Gallente Battleship IV and V. Things like that.

I am looking for other skills that have long trains from IV to V, skills that are always useful, but due to the time involved, most people wait months (maybe even years) before training them.

Dual Prop Dreidel

I hear the word Dramiel, and I think of the Dreidel. I have no idea why. I'm not even Jewish.

Kinda busy out in Alberta at the moment, but getting some playtime in. With EVE University dropping their WSOP for a month, a few of us are thinking of joining in on the fun. Just have to make sure that they aren't going to get all vindictive on my buds, just because I can be a thorn in their underpants. Kelduum has said that "start blue remain blue," where this stunt of theirs is concerned. Kelduum strikes me as a man of his word. Anyhow, still some precautions and debate to be had. And some timing issues with schedules.

We tossed around a few ideas so far. The one we talked about most was a stealth bomber gang. Though to use bombs, need to catch them out in nullsec (torpedos aren't going to do much to their usual frigate heavy fleets). Not really a problem to figure out where their fleets are operating (what with the openness of their Mumble server -- all their opsec/secrecy/spais weirdness aside, they aren't really keeping much secret on their voice comms server.) Plus, they generally fly pretty predictable loops to and from Aldrat.

(Aside: why the damned bomb embargo in high/lowsec, but smart bombs in those same systems are a-okay? Not sure why they aren't at least usable in low sec.)

I'm not too keen on the stealth bomber for myself. I've mainly been concentrating on gunnery the last couple weeks. My missile skills are barely under 400K skillpoints. Not very good, obviously. Plus, any group attacking a Uni fleet, and I'm guaranteed to be primaried. I could be flying a noobship in with a bunch of mining-fit Caldari Navy Ravens, and they'd let the CNRs warp off just to get me. That's cool. Not complaining about their rage. But I'm definitely not going to possibly lose a cloakie to them. I'd rather lose a 140M ISK Dramiel to them, than a 35M ISK Nemesis.

Which brings me to the ship I'd really like to fly. The Dramiel. It would be a good test of their rage and motivation to kill me. And could be used to great advantage if they happen to have both in high quantities. I'm currently toying with the following Hera Darkthorn fit. (I would have to replace the 200mm AutoCannon IIs for meta level 4s or less. I have the skills for tech two hybrids, but not quite tech two projectiles. Working on it though.)

[Dramiel, Hera Darkthorn's Dramiel]
Gyrostabilizer II
Internal Force Field Array I
Centii C-Type Small Armor Repairer

Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner
Coreli C-Type 1MN MicroWarpdrive
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I

200mm AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion S
200mm AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion S
Small Diminishing Power System Drain I

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

Warrior II x1

What I'm flying now is the fastest damned ship I've ever flown. By twofold. Easy. Now, I need to start getting a feel for orbiting ranges.

As for the University war. Still just a lot of discussion. And we'll probably wait a week to see how the University "No SOP" month even pans out. Could turn out to be a big joke and a bust. Plus, we have to start practising like hell out at our version of planet VIII.

How To Operate Under a Wardec

From September 18th 2011 to October 16th 2011, EVE University will be dropping its WSOP. The goal of this stunt is not to teach Unistas how to operate safely and effectively under a wardec, but to have their students understand the value of the strict rules. To ensure the result they want, the directors are inviting every PvP-oriented corporation to wardec the University (enemy and friend alike). They want as many miserable and expensive losses as possible. Something they can point to for years and years to come. "See, this is why we have the WSOP! Because we created this overly lopsided scenario to teach everyone a valuable lesson."

Operating safely under a wardec is not difficult though. People all over New Eden do it each and every day. This is your chance to prove that as a new player and a Unista, that you aren't a six year old that needs to be coddled each and every wardec. That you can look out for yourself in a safe and enjoyable manner. Remember, if you can operate safely while there are hundreds of wartargets during the next month, then you can certainly do it while under more sane and normal conditions (when most University wars have no more than one to twenty enemies out and about.)

(These suggestions only cover highsec. If you mission, haul or mine in nullsec. wormhole space or lowsec, then you likely already know how to handle yourself.)

Get The Hell Out Of Aldrat
First of all, get the hell out of Aldrat. You have until September 18th to relocate yourself. Do so. Somewhere at least 20 jumps from Aldrat. During this month of wardecs, Aldrat will be crawling with crazies looking to kill Unistas. If you mission, mine or haul anywhere near the Aldrat system you will die. There are simply going to be far too many people to avoid. Hell, the act of undocking is going to be a major challenge in Aldrat and surrounding systems.

Once you've decided upon your missioning, mining, and hauling constellations for the WSOP-free month, set up some safe bookmarks, locations in system that are not easily directional scannable. As well, make station undock bookmarks at every station you plan to frequent (I suggest making a couple per station, at distances greater than 1000km.)

Keep a PvP jumpclone in or around Aldrat, so you can jump back to fleet up, if the PvP battles are something you do not want to miss out on. You can thus mission for a few days, jump back to Aldrat to PvP for a few days, jump to your missioner/miner/hauler to earn ISKies for a few more days, etc.

Four Important Friends
You have four important friends while missioning, mining or hauling while under a wardec: the overview, the align function, local chat, and directional scan (d-scan).

The Overview
Set your overview to University standards. Everything else relies upon doing that correctly. Set up your overview incorrectly and you might as well be flying blind.

Missioning
Always do your missions aligned to some celestial, station, stargate, bookmark or customs office. This is critical. It will enable you to instant warp when needed. Second, watch local chat closely. You will see enemy wartargets enter your system first via local chat. Third, use d-scan every 5-10 seconds, whether wartargets are in your system or not. Many players use neutral alts to scan down targets and then pass the bookmarks onto their PvP characters. If you're only using d-scan while wartargets are in system, you'll likely not even know you've being scanned down until it is too late.

When using d-scan, set the distance to maximum range (2,147,483,647km) and the angle to 360°. (You can quickly set the maximum range by filling the range textbox with as many 9s as it will hold. It will automatically convert the 9s to the maximum allowable value.) Scan as often as you can. If you ever see combat probes approach to within 2AU of your position, consider warping to a stargate or station (especially if you're in a single non-acceleration-gated mission pocket). If you are in a mission pocket accessible only via an acceleration gate, you have a tad more breathing room, even if you know they've scanned your location. The baddie can't warp to you directly in this case, but they will still have access to the acceleration gate (which is what they will warp too.) In this case, if any ship appears on your d-scan within 30000km, then warp immediately. They are soon to be upon you.

When using local chat, use it wisely. If thirty wartargets suddenly appear in system, it is probably a good idea to dock immediately at the nearest station. Trying to leave system in this situation would likely be a bad idea, since you cannot be positive at this point what gate they are covering. If you do need to leave system, then bump about between customs offices and your bookmarks. D-scan the stargates to see which ones are free of trouble. Leave via the empty gates.

If you do dock-up, the wartargets may decide to camp you. This would be a good time to logout. Go watch a TV show or make a sandwich. Maybe walk the dog.

If only a single or couple of wartargets appear in local, then no need yet to warp. If you were previously scanned down by a neutral, then the wartarget(s) that have just shown up are likely carrying the bookmark straight to you. In this case, warp out -- leave system or dock up. If you weren't previously scanned down, then watch d-scan closely. They may simply be passing through. Watch for combat probes. If in an acceleration-gated mission pocket, watch for any ships appearing within 30000km of your position. Warp out before anyone can warp onto you.

Hauling
It goes without saying that skilling an alt is the best way to do your hauling during a wardec. But if you want to take the risk of doing it on your main (you know, because planetary interaction goods can't be contracted from customs offices or from the planets), then here are a few tips.

There are two ways to do this reasonably safely. The first is to have a scouting alt travel a system ahead of your hauler, check to make sure the systems you are about to jump into are free of wartargets. The second is to use either a blockade runner or what I call a pseudo-blockade runner. Either will get you past gate camps 90% of the time. (I've only been caught at a single gate camp in the pseudo-blockade runner, and then only because I jumped into a system within two kilometres of a cargo container, making it impossible to cloak.)

To use the pseudo-blockade runner will require a little practice (but not much, it is quite simple to use). Basically when jumping into a system, you 1) align to your destination, 2) within a half second, activate both your MWD and your cloaking device, 3) wait for the MWD to complete a full cycle (after which it will shut off), 4) when the MWD has completed its full cycle, immediately decloak and warp to the destination you are aligned too, 5) you will instantly warp off. Only the fastest targeters will be able to target you, or the fastest ships head towards you to decloak you before your MWD completes a full cycle.

You will also need station undock bookmarks at any station you plan to haul to or from. Undocking will be the most dangerous activity you will face if wartargets are in local. I do not recommend undocking if wartargets are in system, unless you can verify that they are not camping your station (with a scouting alt.)

Mining
Before mining, locate two warpable points in opposite directions of each other. Align to one while mining, and then before you move out of mining distance, realign in the opposite direction. Repeat until you're finished mining.

Unless you're at a gravimetric site, you should warp to safety the moment any wartarget enters your system. Any accomplished d-scanner will be able to pinpoint your belt location in under two minutes. Once they've warped to your location, your chances for survival drop dramatically, even if aligned. If you are at a gravimetric site, make use of d-scan for core probes. (If the wartarget knows this to be an area where you mine, they might have already scanned down the gravimetric sites earlier, to get to you quicker.)

As a miner it will be good policy to warp to a station the moment any wartarget enters your system. Mining ships are the most vulnerable during a wardec situation.

If you can spare the slots, you might want to consider fitting a warp core stabilizer or two, in the event you are caught unawares.

University Fleets
For all fleets, I would suggest not using the University Mumble server as fleet comms. Don't even use the University Mumble server to group together into any single channel.

Since ex-Unistas, who will be wardeccing the University for the fun, the lols, and the killmails, have easy access to the Mumble server, it is exceptionally simple to see what fleets are out and to then run locater agents on the fleet/wing/squad commanders to see where the fleet is currently operating. To avoid this, use alternative methods for voice comms.

NDAs, Minutes, Other Stupid Bullshit

The Emergency Summit Minutes
CCP. Everytime you try to define the tone of some CSM/CCP dialogue, you come off as fucking shits. It's not like your attempts to control tone are transparent. Everyone knows you're doing it. The word gets out. The language of the documents is all too marketing-speak and obvious. There are the telltale signs of your ridiculous attempts at propaganda all over the goddamned place. Stop doing it. (Stop pretending you're the next Leni Riefenstahl.) You're making it worse for yourself. This is the exact same attitude all you Icelanders exhibited just before you bankrupted your country. Let's pretend everything is a-okay. Everything is awesome. Nothing to see here. Move along. Incarna was a success. Our banks are solvent.

People have far more respect for the truth, even if the truth upsets them. Trying to pull the wool over peoples' eyes, especially when they know you're actively trying to do it? That just causes the angry to get angrier. You do yourself and your customers a disservice.

NDAs
Nondisclosure agreements. First of all, you apparently told the CSM, in some quickie, semi-emergency Skype summit, that there is some cool stuff around the corner with respect to Flying in Spaceships™. Then you give them the predictable NDA gag to keep them from telling anyone the good news.

First of all, you do realize that you're losing subscribers. The recent charts people are chatting about seem pretty obvious about what's happening with the numbers. Keep pissing more people off, because, you know, that's been working in your favour.

Secondly. Who the hell are your direct competitors? NDAs only make sense when you have competition. Who the fuck is currently competing with you in this specific MMO space? No one. That is correct. Fucking no one. So, who is going to screw you over, competitively, if you tell us players a few of the things we can expect in the next expansion? People might get angry at some of the details (there always are those people.) In this case, though, the few angry dipshits do not outweigh (not by a longshot) the anticipation and excitement of every other player, knowing that there's some cool stuff just around the corner.

As it stands, all we're expecting of the winter expansion are three new couches and some super-capital nerfs. If there's some actual content beyond that, then let us in on it. Let us feel fucking excited about an upcoming expansion for a change. Basically the next expansion is EVE Online: Errata. Because, as far as we know, there's really no new content, just errata and addendum.

The Mittani
I know this guy sees himself as the Great Mover-and-Shaker of the EVE community. And he might well be. We'll see how his current "give us FiS not WiS" campaign goes.

What I want to know though ... has someone finally clued the dude into the realities of wormhole space? That it's not some freebie mining area, that it is fucking dangerous, and that the ISK per hour returns are not particularly great (especially when coupled with the risk)?

I know he's saying he doesn't give a flying dogshit about wormhole space. That would be fanfuckingtastic ... if he didn't keep opening his mouth about wormhole space.

Other than that. He seems to work pretty hard as CSM chairman. He cares about most of the game. I will probably still throw him a vote if he intends to run for CSM 7.

Breaking Bad

Maybe it was just being bottled up under so many rules and regulations, but I suddenly have this huge desire to go rogue, pirate, start ganking stuff, to break bad.

No more rules as defined by some fiefdom. I do my own thing, defined by whatever seems fun in the moment. I fly what I want, when I want, where I want. If I lose ships in dumb ways, I learn from it, no more fearing the nastygram if someone on-high feels you've embarrassed their organization (I never received any such evemails, but it was always there hanging over your head.) No more getting crushed under the weight of endless clichés if you critique someone's work (we're volunteers, stop critiquing us! these rules are years and years in the making, they are perfectly honed and refined!) I only have myself to critique now. Shrug it off and try try again.

I can pretty much fly all the T2 frigates, but some much worse than others. Covops for scanning? No problem. Stealth bombers? My missile skills are still pretty shitty. I've been spending most of the skill time lately getting up the gunnery. Electronic attack frigates? Err, don't really care about those, even though I can fly them well enough. Interceptors? Almost. Assault frigates? In two days, quite well, I believe.

I guess I'll start with the Assault frigates. (Since the corporation wants to do some stealth bomber gangs, I'll put Interceptors on hold for a bit, to build up the missile skills.)

There's another consideration. About pirating. Folks in my corporation don't want to get into pirating. Understandable. And I shouldn't be doing it while under their flag, putting them at risk for wardecs.

So time to start thinking about an alt. An industry alt, I think. Put this industry alt into the corporation. Leave the pirating as a solo activity. Fleet with them for some lowsec, nullsec, wormhole stuff, but keep my solo activities in low/highsec disconnected from their activities. Of course, there's still a connection between the industry alt and the solo pirate (for anyone looking hard enough), so I'll eventually need a third alt, something completely my own, unknown to anyone. I'll probably just buy the third off the character bazaar.

Still on holiday at the moment. So not planning on pirating just yet. But soon. I will post my successes and failures as I encounter them.