Wandering New Eden: Disagreeable Tenors

When you were yourself it always tasted sweet
But sour turned into a routine deceit
Well this drama is a bore
Third Eye Blind - Losing a Whole Year

Impass and Tenerifis

Considering the war going on, it was pretty quiet all through Impass. I was able to snap some good pictures in N-CREL though.

There's a Machariel hiding in there.

He's just waiting for his prey to show up.

Honestly, he looks kinda scary, hiding behind the asteroids.

Ok, the light's not helping.

Tenerifis wasn't much more active, but I was certain I was going to get through it without any good pictures. I found a gas giant that had caught my eye, but it was pretty underwhelming. Then a few jumps from the end of my trip through, I saw this in QI9-42.

Which is a pretty nice picture.

Next up, Feythabolis and Omist!

Blog Banter 22: Lie Back and Think of England

I want you to notice
when I'm not around
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here.
Radiohead - Creep

If you're completely fresh to blogging, let me sum it up quickly: A blog banter is where a bunch of bloggers answer a simple question. CrazyKinux runs ours.

This month's topic is brought to us by L'Dene Bean of Nitpickin's who asks: Why, and how did you pick your corporation? Is your loyalty solid or just until a better placed organization "recruits" you. The shorter version: Who holds your Unshakable Fealty and why?

I hold my unshakable fealty. I think it's disingenuous to say that there's anyone else I'll follow no matter the cost and no matter the reason. That's just not true, I always question authority to an extent. You might not hear about it, but the square shaped peg justifications are always finding their way to the square shaped holes in my head. If that hole's a circle, then you may hear about it.

I find it a bit easier than the average highly competent person to accept though, that there are simply things that I do not know, and that I can expect certain people to make the right decisions without my help.

I do tend migrate to leadership positions for that very reason though. I want to make sure my input is included in the decision making process, because ultimately I like to know that the information provided is being acted upon properly.

So what's does that mean? Does that mean I'd flip sides at a convenient time? No. I might leave if things are going terribly, and I know they won't get any better, but not until I've tried very hard to make things work. I wouldn't join the other side until quite a bit of time has passed though, and I wouldn't harm my old corpmates on the way out.

It's just not in my nature to be disloyal to people. I hold a personal sense of honor about my actions, in life. There isn't some ingame me that's separate from myself. There's me, at a computer, playing a game. So the friendships I've made are rock solid. Even if I haven't talked to you in years, you've got my loyalty(and if you've hurt me, you've got my anger, forever). The ins and outs of how I treat people from my past are so complex they almost deserve a whole other blog post.

Suffice to say that I remember everyone and everything almost as well now as I did when we parted, and leave it at that. People get very hurt when I don't stay in contact with them, but that doesn't mean they don't have my loyalty. In my mind, I might as well have talked to you yesterday.

This means I still remember with vivid clarity that a guy called LTRichard scouted me into the waiting arms of a Burn Eden CynoAlt(piloted by PsychoticTurtle) because he was mad I'd brought Burn Eden down on his head. He shouldn't have done that. My Brutix made it back to the gate, and I didn't engage the Covert Cyno fitted Recon despite the smack he talked in local. So I got away, and that was that. That was in July of 09. But I remember, and always will.

I have never yet, in eve or any other game shown that kind of disloyalty to someone who trusted me. It's not in my nature. But really, if you've wronged a corp, or an alliance... isn't it possible that it's got someone like me in there somewhere... just waiting for the right moment to fuck you over back? It's not only possible, it's likely.

Some food for thought.

State of The Blog 2

Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive.
Albert Einstein

I'm pretty sure he said some stuff in that same quote that completely disproves the point I'm making by quoting him, so I'm going to deliberately leave that part off.

I probably should've left that part out.

And that.

Oh this is getting complicated.

This ain't my first state of the blog and it won't be the last, but here it is. I was inspired by a posting by Kirith Kodachi about his feed traffic to go in search of some information. My blog has a total of 556 subscribers to it's google feed, and 56 other feeds. So the total is 612 subscribers. I used a service called feedburner, which is pretty non-intrusive. I just gave it my blog URL and it tracks all my feed subscribers.

Now again, we've all lost some readers with the shuttering of Capsuleer, but I've seen an increase in my followers and subscribers.

My most popular content so far is the Stealth Bomber Guide, followed by the directional scanning guide which is followed this month(and last) by the One Foxfire Rocket post. That's probably due to my linking it repeatedly though.

I get far more traffic from Life in Low Sec than I do from CrazyKinux, which is a telling statistic. I still get a fair chunk straight from Kinux though.

What I do know for certain is that another guide would be welcome by the community, and that if I post up something with the title "Who Wants a Cynabal" 700 unique IP's will directly visit my blog. Who knew?

Apparently these also help.

In addition, I've finally broken down and started a twitter account. I don't expect to use it much to start with, but I'm sure in 6 months I'll be tweeting about how it's raining outside and I'm not sure if I want to wear a jacket or a raincoat. Follow me there. Or just use "@HallanTurrek" I think that's all you really need?

If you look on your right I've removed the ugly Achura face that was bringing this place down(I may replace it come Incarna). I've also added some ways to make it easier for you to promote posts of mine you like. You can share a post on a number of sites, subscribe to my feed, or follow me like in the olden days.

Have a nice day.

Wandering New Eden: Water Walking

Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Catch and Providence.

I'll apologize that this time around the trip was way more interesting than the pictures I took. I dodged 3 big gatecamps before I made it to HED-GP. I was lucky to have the interdiction nullifier for them, but the bad part was when they started following me. Say what you want about the T3 cruisers, but with a warp speed of only 3 AU's a second... it's pretty easy for people to catch up to you in a pipe. By the time I made it to HED-GP at least 50 ships were in hot pursuit(if local counts were any indication), with quite a few more lagging behind. I'm not sure what they thought I was there for... hot drop perhaps? I was fortunate enough to get into HED-GP a system ahead of the fleet.

I warped quickly to the Keberz gate and took this picture.

Sorry for the lack of quality, but I was in a bit of a hurry. I turned my ass back around immediately, and warped to a safe. No local spike. What does that mean exactly? Did they give up? Unlikely. So I decloaked, and warped to the Keberz gate at 70. I gave any scouts they had a nice look, before cloaking up again. Sure enough, local spiked. Then I warped to the SV5 gate. I landed just in time to see the tacklers dissapear into warp. I jumped through, but the only thing waiting on me were battlecruisers and some logistics. Away I went, unmolested.

I took one quick jaunt into another battleground, Providence, and took this picture of Chribba's new station in 9UY.

Way to go Chribba!

Next up, Impass and Tenerifis!

You Like?

So this is just a quick question, is everyone happy with the tourism posts(Wandering New Eden) I've done so far? Should I mix in some not-the-same-thing posts every once in a while? Opinions are welcome.

Wandering New Eden: A Spiritual Mark

Nights in white satin, never reaching the end,

Letters I've written, never meaning to send.
Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before.
Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore.
Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin

Esoteria and Stain!

So the trip into Esoteria was quiet enough. At this point in my trip, all my preperations have been for naught. The one bubble camp I've hit so far I could've easily avoided in a stealth bomber, and I've still yet to jump into a camp. Regardless, I'm way less than a quarter done with the trip, so it's a bit early to be assuming the T3 is useless. Next up is Catch and Provi, which are actual warzones right now, so I imagine I'll be getting some use out of the special features.

I've lived in Esoteria in the past, more than a year ago with a dysfunctional outfit called Cartel Syndicate. Some bad things happened to the whole group, but I decided to visit my old stomping grounds, 0-O6XF. Lots had changed, like the whole area being completely dead. I took some pictures of the station I used to live in.

I lost 10 rifters outside this. I could've just stopped undocking them I guess.

What is that S logo of? I vaguely recognize it...

I'm pretty impressed at the level of detail here. Looks like real windows there.

Here's the best part, of course.

Pretty cool station, when it comes down to it.

So from here it was a simple thing to dive into Stain. A few jumps in, I noticed a single planet system(2IGP-1). I figured that was interesting enough.

Lets take a closer look at an ice planet.

Nah. Closer than that.

CLOSER!

Woah hey, don't crash. You're a bad pilot. Jeez.

Again I'm amazed at the level of detail they've managed to achieve. Quite impressive.

Next stop, Catch and Providence!

Wandering New Eden: The Basis of Soul

Crimson flames tied through my ears

Rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I
Proud ’neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now
Bob Dylan - My Back Pages

Period Basis and Paragon Soul

Again the trip was rather uneventful, I dodged a pirate gate camp... if by dodged I meant ignored them completely and kept going.

This Blood Raider Oracle had no idea I was there, which is probably for the best, considering their reputation.

I bet that Lava planet used to be temperate too.

Knowing I was going to Paragon Soul, I decided to add a little caveat to my trip, since I'm visiting every region anyway, why not visit the tips of eve? There is a northern, western, eastern, and southern system that represents the furthest you can go on the map, and I've decided to visit those systems. The west one is back in Fountain, but since I'll be going back there at the end of the trip anyhow, it's still on the list. South is a system in Paragon Soul called LX5K-W. So away I went.

I took just a little bit of time warping around and making safes to get this picture for you, but I think it was worth it.

Just let it happen. The eclipse that is.

This is what greets you when you enter the system. Shoulda just used this.

And that's Paragon Soul. There's an index page for this now, it's below the banner. You're welcome.

Next stop Esoteria and Stain!

Wandering New Eden: Index

This index is brought to you by sexy girls in pirate costumes.

1. Fountain
2. Delve and Querious
3. Period Basis and Paragon Soul
4. Esoteria and Stain
5. Catch and Providence
6. Impass and Tenerifis
7. Feythabolis and Omist
8. Immensea and Detorid
9. AND THE REST.
   

Wandering New Eden: Deep Questions

Starry nights city lights coming down over me
Skyscrapers and stargazers in my head
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown
This dirty town was burning down in my dreams
Lost and found city bound in my dreams
Green Day - Are We The Waiting?

Delve and Querious.

I decided to do a bit of digging, and found the place where KenZoku lost the war to the goons. I can provide a short bit of backstory here.

You guys know most of the story(and perhaps all of it): Basically, when the BoB director went crazy and disbanded the alliance, they reformed under the banner of KenZoku, and reclaimed all their space. Of course, this led to capital warfare in systems that were no longer cyno-jammed. Goons came to town and the two sides fought each other to a stalemate. Then the Bob guys had the bright idea to dock up their carriers/dreads in a station. Almost all of them. Goons bottled up those capitals, and the war shifted in the favor of the goons. That station was the end of the old BoB.

So of course in passing by Delve, I decided to drop by.

Welcome to PR-8CA III - Blood Raiders Logistic Support

Kinda grey inside, like a graveyard...

The blood red color of the system cannot be a coincidence...

Of course, I also took a little side trip into Querious, to ensure I could tick it off my list of null-sec regions. I stopped by an ice belt in K4-RFZ and snapped a few pictures...

A few different kinds of ice in this belt.

That's a plasma planet in the background.

The sun is always rising in New Eden.

Next stop, Period Basis, and Paragon Soul.

Wandering New Eden: Here Be Dragons

Although I laugh and I act like a clown
Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown
My tears are falling like rain from the sky
Is it for her or myself that I cry
The Beatles - I'm a Loser

So I've been a bit bored in Eve, and decided to pick a new project that gives me some incentive to get back into the groove. The new project had been code named Project Ahasuerus since I first thought it up, and now that it's moved into reality, I suppose something a bit less subtle would be in order.

I've been meaning to try out a T3 cruiser for a while, but I've really been short on funds and incentive to fly one. With the Cynabal I've managed to acquire in the Foxfire Rocket game, I had almost half of the isk needed to buy the design I wanted. I put a bit more isk in it myself, and bam. I've got a ship.

Now I'm not going to go into to many details of fit until I'm done, but yes it's cov ops capable, and yes it's got interdiction nullification.

So what's the goal of all this? A complete circumnavigation of new Eden. Not some speed run either, I aim to visit each null sec region in turn, and have a whole post devoted to at least once system in it. I will take pictures, and they will be posted here. I started in Jita, and decided to head to Fountain first. I began in Serpentis Prime, and I intend to end in Serpentis Prime. I'm pretty sure I can avoid empire altogether in this route, and so I will. Unless I actually see some serious scares, you're not going to hear much about my trip, since it's nearly impossible to catch me.

First Stop: Serpentis Prime

The path into Serpentis Prime was actually pretty clear, I did dodge one gatecamp on the way in, a small gang of folks probably pretty angry that I wasn't caught by the sucking 'dictor bubble they deployed. They sent a 'ranis after me, but I was long gone before he burned back to the gate. I also cross jumped a small/medium sized Wildly Inappropriate gang, which didn't even try to turn around and catch me. After a few more jumps, I made it to my destination.

I am fortunate enough to be in possession of a much better graphics card than I used to have, so I was able to take some pretty nice screen shots of this System.

Lets take a look at the surface of one of the lava planets:

Now lets zoom out a bit:


This temperate planet has some serious storms:



But sometimes it's just cloudy.


Inside the rarified atmosphere of a blue giant:

You can actually see my ship slightly in that last one. I am starting to see why people are so impressed with the graphics this game offers, now that I can actually see them that is.

I'll leave you with one more parting shot from Fountain, which I took for a desktop image.

Next Stop, Delve!

Who Wants a Cynabal?

Check it out!

Making Low-Sec More Attractive: Pirate Gates

No, not that way...

I've decided to flesh out(teehee) my smuggler gate idea a bit more thoroughly this week. Lets dive right in.

Derelict gates would sit in the middle of nowhere, and need to be probed out. I think this should tie into the developmental index ideas that people want to institute for low sec, but could stand alone as well. The concept is simple, once a certain threshold of kills per day is reached, the abandoned gates in a particular system activate(in addition to the gate it's connected too, of course), and get manned by the local pirate faction. There would be gate guns that are just as deadly as normal gate guns, with a major difference.

These gate guns would treat outlaws like normal gate guns treat normal players. In addition, those who aren't outlaws would be treated to a face full of hurt if they fire on an outlaw in range of the guns.

So basically, we're taking the old gate gun rules and flipping them around for the new pirate gates. These pirate gates would allow shortcuts across low-sec, into null-sec, into a few wormhole systems, and even into and out of high sec. Anyone could gain access once they'd bookmarked them. Only the gate gun rules would be different.

Now, onto the ultimate question, would something like this bring more people from high sec to low sec? The answer is simply: Not enough to be a solution for the terribly low population most of low-sec suffers from. The presence of hidden gates from high to low-sec would of course bring the occasional curious care bear, and a few more seasoned ones looking for a fight or a profit. The vast majority of care bears will stay in high sec though. This alone will not solve the many problems facing low-sec.

What this would do, however, is offer some benefit to the lifestyle choice of low-sec living. It is in dire need of some true motivation. If you don't enjoy the lifestyle for it's own sake, the concept of being a space pirate, or the friends you've made... the game itself has no real incentive to play as a low-sec resident.

Making it more fun for the outlaws would be a fantastic start.

Two Very Nice Changes In The Patch

• The diplomat corp role has been added which allows the corp member with the role to manage the corporation standings on behalf of the corp. This means the person with the assigned role can add new standings from their corp to some other entity or adjust existing standings.

• The align to bookmark command was added so you can so align towards bookmarks in space.

Just thought I'd point those out, since they're pretty cool.