Trust Me

Rule 30: A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates - Schlock Mercenary

After checking out the insanity of Curzon Dax's scam(thanks Mynx), I thought I'd point you towards another guy who's trying to take your money.

Whatever you do, don't trust this site. It's entertaining, but be wary of his "contests". The fella that runs it is a very smart guy who likes to take people's isk.

I had a post last week about how important honor is to me, and I think it got misread. You see, I have a great deal of respect for the shadier elements of eve. They make playing eve a real experience instead of some stupid child's game. I don't lie, but if no one ever lied, this would be such a boring game. Hell, it'd be a boring life.

I've never been taken in a scam, never been taken in a ransom, never once been suckered into a duel that didn't have my guys closer than the gank squad about to drop on me. The few times someone came into my missions to salvage and loot, I let him(mostly I just blitz missions, so they come away doubly disappointed).

I've yet to be victimized. But this is a game where it can happen anytime, to anyone.

So please, remember this:
1: A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go.
2: You will trust some people eventually. Some people really won't scam you... but...
3: People will build trust in order to get your money. Take care to recognize real friends.
4: If you somehow get caught in High-Sec by PvPers, never... EVER pay a ransom. Low-Sec is hit or miss, but High-Sec ransoms are almost always scams.
5: Making money takes work or patience. Some IPO's are good, the unrealisticly good ones are scams. Banks in Eve are always scams. Money is never free unless you give it to someone.

Most of all? For gods sake, pay attention.

Damn Carebears

I've been rapping for about seventeen years okay?
I don't write my stuff anymore.
I just kick it from my head, you know what I'm sayin?
I can do that.
No disrespect but that's how I am.
Ratatat - Seventeen Years

Turns out a post of mine last week seriously pissed off some carebears.

This was to be expected.

To show there are no hard feelings, I thought I'd give the Honorless Internet Jerks a bit of free publicity by linking their latest recruitment video.



Since they tend to take things pretty seriously(I mean, apparently anyhow) I should mention pretty strongly that this is a joke.

They're pretty good at high sec ganking without war decs, which is something I lack as a skill. Though it doesn't look hard at all, looks can be deceiving.

Merry Christmas!

Giving In

Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations
John Mayer - Say

Honor isn't something to be poked fun at. I see folks making jokes about the kinds of people that use real world principles in an online game. E-Honor they call it.

I don't use real world principles in an online game, I use real world principles.

I respect that some folks play differently. That's just not me, and I hope we can see more respect for my kind of mindset in the future.

I honor ransoms. I honor duels. I do what I say I'm going to do. If I don't, I can't pretend it's just my character doing it, because I know better.

You might not agree, but leave me alone about it.

Good Day

Dramiel Personae

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.
Cynthia Heimel

I had a feeling I wasn't the only one to figure this out.

There are a few of us pilots who've been keeping something from the rest of you. Nothing about it's abilities jump out at you when you're looking at it's stats. However a fair few of us have plugged it into EFT and found it to be an unrivaled frigate.

With an unheard of combination of speed, tank, DPS, and maneuverability: Say hello to the Dramiel.

[Dramiel, AB Tanky]
Overdrive Injector System II
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control II

Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Invulnerability Field II
Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner
Warp Scrambler II

200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S

Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I


Hobgoblin II x3
Hobgoblin II x1


Start with the basics. It's a cheap fit compared to other Dramiel fits you'll see floating around. While scrammed you'll still go 2500 meters a second. Overloaded it goes 3500 meters a second. It aligns with the Afterburner off at the insane speed of 1.9 seconds. It does the same at 3.2 with it on. If single webbed, you'll go 1000 meters a second while also being in scram range of the target.

It has a 7.5k EHP tank. That includes a 69.4% shield resist to explosive. Which covers the Warrior II's that you'll most likely see sent after you.

Oh and for the hell of it, why not 187 DPS? While that's not as great as a Taranis or Daredevil, it is impressive for a frigate, and that is on top of all the other things it does well.

It is, in my opinion, the ultimate frigate heavy tackle.

I managed to pick up two Blue Prints for 70 million a little while back. I built them and I've flown them, and I love 'em.

That said, get the Dramiel for one very simple reason above all else: It is among the coolest looking ships in Eve. Seriously.

In the Winter

Richard tells his brothers not to cower but to take it like men and Geoffrey says, 'You fool! As if it matters how a man falls down.' And Richard says, 'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.'"
Toby Ziegler - The West Wing

"You don't think it's funny?" A prisoner looked up from his plate to the man sitting on the cot across from him.

"Son, I don't think it matters," The man on the bunk shook his head sadly and looked at the shadow the bars were casting on the floor of the cell, "I'm here to listen. You told the courts you were Monathian. I'm a priest with the local order,"

"I told them that because the Monathians don't believe in a death penalty. I figured the broken Gallente system would spit me out or something. Turns out they want to respect my religion all the way up to the part where they kill me. Watch out for that drip,"

"What?" The priest looked up just as a drop of water fell onto his cheek. He flinched for a moment before wiping it away. He then stood and moved further down the bunk.

The prisoner took another bit of his food, before continuing, "That drip's been there like clockwork for the last year. I could keep time with the thing. It annoyed me at first, and I'm sure that's why it's there. These bastards probably set this place up to be as annoying as possible. No rest for the damned, right?" The man laughed softly as he drank from the cup on his right, "But after a while, I realized something. See, no matter how hard they try to keep things out of here... it always finds a way in. Always,"

"Son, isn't it possible that the leak is just from a sink or something on the floor above you?" The priest motioned his hands upwards.

"You're uh... you're kind of a downer," The prisoner shook his head and smiled, "You want to know about my sins?"

"What sins would those be?"

"Well, I believe... and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that I'm guilty of conspiracy and treason. All of course in the service of the Caldari State,"

"Those are crimes son, not sins,"

"Then I'm not guilty of anything,"

"Alright son," The priest stood up and moved towards the door.

"Wait though. See, I'm not long for this world. It would be nice to have someone to talk to,"

The priest stopped for a moment as if to think, then sat back down, "Ok,"

"See, one day I looked out at the stars, and call me crazy, but I got scared. Lots of stars, and lots of possible people carrying bullets with various names on them. Maybe mine. So why don't we start to work together I think. Why be at each others throats? Lots of things out in the darkness will eventually come to gobble us whole... why wait for it while weakening ourselves?"

"Son," The priest began before being cut off.

"No, let me finish. So there I was, looking up at the... one day we'll unite with them, you know? We've got to. We were one before and we'll be one again. It's just a matter of time. One day soon, we'll be brothers again and inherit the stars. If I gotta be a martyr for that to happen, fine. I can do that. I hear it's not that hard,"

_________________________________________

The prisoner stood, strapped to a table. His eyes wide, the lighting just perfect. The cameras of the various news networks sat poised like vultures.

"You have been accused of treason against the Gallente Federation. You have been found guilty in a court by a jury of your peers. Your sentence is to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything you'd like to say?"

The speaker pushed his microphone forward as the prisoner yelled at the top of his voice, "Unification!"

Safety Breeds Sleepy

There are literally few things in the world that put me to sleep like piloting through high sec without a war dec active.

At least when I was in low-sec the promise of a gank could keep me awake. Now? Nothing.

Been moving stuff for a couple days, I'ma go get some sleep now.

Peace.

That Seems Like a Pretty Big Bug to Miss

Facepalm.

Not to mention the annoying ass killmail bug that's going around. Am I the only one missing a fair number of killmails since the update?

Gawd damn.

Beautiful Release

Hey, Jude! Don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her.
The Beatles - Hey Jude

"This is Provi traffic control, we've got an unconfirmed gatefire. Get me an ID,"

"Roger that Provi TC, This is KBP7 tac G. Wilco,"

"Copy that, what've ya got?"

"Ooh, it's a 'ranis on the naughty list,"

"Roger, sounding the alarm,"

"You catch the name?"

"He just left local but yeah, Hallan Turrek,"

"I've heard of him, that guy's a tough son of a bitch,"

___________________

"Look, I don't give a good goddamn what you think," Hallan said sternly into his comm unit, "Crepes are like a tortilla or something,"

"Whatever," a woman's voice on the other end piped back, "Don't you have some dieing horribly to do out there?"

"I'll have you know, Janelle, that I've got one of the best records in the corp for... you know, not dying horribly,"

"Yeah, and I bet your corpmates are really happy about that,"

"So good in fact, it makes the other guys look bad,"

"Cause in a group of hired killers the first thing you want to do is make them all look bad,"

"...Aren't you supposed to be making me feel better?"

"I'm your girlfriend, not your life coach,"

"I'm hanging up on you now,"

"You called me!" She said with a laugh as her end of the line went quiet.

Hallan jumped his ship through the DNR gate and waited for his senses to adjust. Local chat was empty, so he continued on to the K1Y gate.

As he jumped through he noticed five pilots in local. Hallan immediately warped to the nearest planet and began to run his scanner. Nothing appeared that promising until he noted a Drake called "Rat Raper" on scan with an asteroid belt. He kicked his Taranis around and bounded into warp after it.

"I just looked it up," His comms blasted as they shot back to life. Janelle continued, "Crepes are thin pancakes,"

"Hon, I'm a little busy right now,"

"With what?"

"Got a Drake. No. Damn it, he's seventy kilometers away,"

"Tackle him anyway?"

"Look at you with the pod pilot parlance. Where'd you pick that up?"

"I'm dating one who can't stop talking about his job,"

"Sounds like he's kind of a dick," He said as his voice trailed off.

"You don't know the half of it. You just wanted to say pod pilot parlance didn't you?"

"Uh..." He paused, "Hey he's tackled. He let me crawl seventy kilometers in an afterburner fit Taranis,"

"No seriously, you've had that on in your pocket for days, and you were just waiting to say it to somebody,"

"Whatever, I'm still busy,"

"Alright, I'll talk to you when you get back then. I love you," The comms went dead and Hallan focused on the battle. The Taranis had no shields left, while the Drake still had most of his. So far no one in local was coming to help.

"Yo need help. Planet 10, Belt 2," The Drake pilot loudly shouted in local as Hallan remained quiet, "Hallan Turrek 'ranis," He added before another pause, "Hull 50%"

Hallan wondered a bit to himself why he'd said that, since the Taranis still had 75% armor. No matter. The Drake was hitting 40% shields just as Hallan overloaded his blasters. His two hobgoblin's did their work as well while he waited.

Over the next couple of minutes he worked the shields down which finally dissipated on the Drake, just as the Taranis entered structure. Hallan stopped overloading his guns.

The Taranis took even less damage now as it's structure took small hits. Hallan's gun were punching hard into the Drake's armor and then structure.

Very quickly the Drake simply exploded.

"Wait a minute, did you just say 'I love you?'" Hallan said into the comms as he popped the pod and scooped the loot. He warped out just as a flycatcher landed and Hallan chuckled a bit as he plotted a course out of Providence.

"Did you just laugh at me?" Janelle's voice said quietly.

"Nah babe, Flycatcher landed just as I got away with the stuff,"

"Ok,"

"We'll talk more when I get back,"

That TCU Really Tied the System Together

I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawlin' out as I was a-crawlin' in
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Just Dropped In

The Vale of the Silent was quiet. But as fitting as the description might have seemed, it wasn't permanent.

In 6WW-28 a fleet of Majesta battleships sat at the only stargate out. Comms remained quiet as they tended to the sovereignty blockade unit. In a couple of hours, they could contest the ownership of the system.

After that, these young upstarts would have something to fear.

One of those upstarts kept her distance as she floated like a specter cloaked in her Nemesis. She smiled to herself as she prepared to deactivate her cloak.

A few days ago, Noir finally acquired sovereignty here. They'd planned to build it up with their own hands. Today they would defend it with everything they had.

Five systems away, a fleet of Noir bombers, recons, and transport ships huddled around a Black Ops Battleship. Deep inside the massive ship, a cynosural technician whispered as he activated the portal system, "Now they pay the price of war."

"Lock targets," the Noir fleet commander said softly as his fleet appeared suddenly on the field, "Primary the Apocolpyse," and after a pause he continued, "Give 'em hell."

Suddenly the Vale of the Silent wasn't so quiet anymore.

Karaoke Corner #7: It's Cold Outside

Wrote this one for Roc's Advent Contest. Didn't win it(that day anyhow), but beh.

To the tune of "It's Cold Outside,"

I really can’t stay (Mynxee, it’s cold outside)
I’ve got to fly ‘way (Mynxee, it’s cold outside)
The roaming has been (I hoped that you’d come along)
So very fun (There’s a Mackinaw, It’s mining ice)

The Hellcats will start to worry (Come on Mynxee, what’s your hurry)
The Bastards are roaming to Villore (Listen to those cannons fire)
So really, I’d better hurry (It’s a hulk, He’s mining without worry)
Well, maybe just a gank or two more (We’ll roam till we start to tire)

The pirates will know (Mynxee, it’s fun out here)
The militia will grow,(Roc Wieler don’t know no fear)
See how I frown? (Your guns are just cooling down)
These guy can’t spell (Local chat just said, “u got o hel”)

I oughta say no, no, no Roc (I’ve got this Nightmare locked)
At least I’m gonna say that I tried (This Firetail’s the source of my pride)
I really can’t stay (Oh Mynxee, don’t hold out)
Oh, but it’s cold outside

I simply must leave (It’s cold outside)
Log out of Eve (Mynxee, it’s cold outside)
The roaming has gone (So lucky that you came along)
Without a loss (I like looking at your exaust)

The Hellcats will be suspicious (I’m not trying to be malicious)
The Bastards will be making some noise (I ain’t worried about those boys)
My blog reader’s mind’s are vicious (They’ll understand if you’re expeditious)
Well maybe just a gank or four more (Never got so many kills before)

I’ve got quite a trip (Myxnee, you’ll freeze out there)
Say, lend me a ship (Lets kill some more things out here)
You’ve really been good (Mynxee I’m misunderstood)
Pirating is overdue (Mynxee I can pirate some too)

There’s gonna be talk tomorrow (Well, watch this battleship blow)
At least there will be many complaints (My militia doesn’t have such constraints)
I really can’t stay (Get over that hold out)
Oh, but Mynxee it’s cold outside.

Twenty-Four

So it's my birthday today. Thought that deserved a post.

Karaoke Corner #6: Ammarian Frapsody

If you cannot guess which song this is... someone needs to slap you.

Enjoy. Or not. Up to you. I had fun.

Ammarian Frapsody

Is this just Eve Life.
Is this a fantasy.
Caught in a belt by,
Interceptors, I counted three,
Warp to a pos,
Why did this Gate warp to me?
Guess I'll just log off, man these guys need a job,
Because I'm hard to kill, hard to catch,
I log off if over matched,
The logs they show nothing, why would these guys say that to me? To me...

Dreadnaught, it's in a belt.
He just warped to a stargate.
Hold your cloak he must be bait.

Dreadnaught, is just sitting there...
Tackle him again before he warps away.
Dreadnaught ooo,
He's gonna to have to die,
Oh man this will cause his corp so much sorrow,
Pile it on, Pile it on, DPS is all that matters.

Too late, Dude he logged off,
Can't believe we lost him man,
Hey, his ship is still on scan,
Listen everybody, I've got a hit
Warp to me I've got his ship tackled again,
Dreadnaught ooo- (the logs they show nothing)
I want him to die,
We'll make him wish he'd never logged out at all...

I've got a little stilletto tackle here,
Really dude? Really dude? We will need some damage out here...
Stilletto! It is faster. And, I have to beat camps there,
He's in armor! He's in armor!
He's in armor! He's in armor!
He's in armor! Armor's gone! It's structure now.

I'm that guy's diplo, can you guys talk to me,
He's just a guy in a really fail fitting,
Spare him his ship from this gank that I see.

Easy come easy go, will you let him go?

You're crazy, no! We will not let him go.

Let him go!

You're crazy, We will not let him go.

Let him go!

You're crazy, We will not let him go.

Let me go!

Will not let you go.

Let me go!

Will not let you go.

Never Never Never Never Never!

Let me go!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

But it's my dreadnaught. It's my dreadnaught.
It's my dreadnaught. Let me go.
But I logged off, screw you guys. I'll talk to CCP! CCP! CC-P!

"Listen, when I logged off today I was in space.
Some guys ganked my ship and they made fun of my race.
OOO
Told them, they can't say that in local,
Can you guys ban them? You can just give me back my ship."

OOO
OOO Yeah.
OOO Yeah.

The petition is filed,
Just you wait and see,
The petition is filed, Now we'll just wait for CCP...

"The logs they show nothing..."

Without the Ironing Board

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin'

Rather than bore you with my own bit on the Dominion patchnotes, I'll simply link you to a whole plethora of posts of others(don't worry, you'll likely get my opinion after I've given it a spin). Probably good to have it compiled.


Actual Patch Notes
Mynxee's Life in Low Sec
Eve's Weekend Warrior
Massively
My Loot, Your Tears
A Mule In Eve
Ecliptic Rift
Ombeve

If I missed you, let me know. Peace out and have a happy patch.