Local lols

It isn't often that there is banter in WH local. Because by default, until someone speaks, the local list is always empty, such behavior can give away vital information about an operation. Only one person needs to speak and from that can be gleaned your corporation and how many people are in it, which in turn can give a potential fleet size, as well as kill-boards which in itself is a wealth of information.

So in the event we do engage in local chatter, it can get quite hilarious. As of late, just jumping into our neighboring systems to break things and ships hasn't been enough. Now we'll make entertainment out of it... sending one person in (and possibly cloakies) to pretend they are a lost newb, baiting residents to either think they have an easy kill, or think they are guiding someone out, while our fleet lays in wait.

One such operation happend just the other night, and the local chat had me in stitches.

Please note m oebius is our guy. Enjoy!


m oebius > Hi Kal, I'm just looking for a good site, came in from K
m oebius > I have to uncloak to drop my probes
Kal Zek > Ahh, well your buddy in the Pilgram needs his checked too
Kal Zek > Safe travels friend =)
m oebius > hmm, your confusing me but ok
Kal Zek > OH, The Pilgram isnt with you? Well then becareful, tehres a Pilgram on teh lose.
m oebius > Those are not very dangerous right
Kal Zek > Naw
m oebius > Ok, cool
Kal Zek > Pilgrams have just shoot blunderbusses
Kal Zek > very short range wep
m oebius > Ah
m oebius > You cleared all the anoms, makes it harder
Kal Zek > What cha looking for?
Kal Zek > maybe I can help
m oebius > some kinda combat site
Kal Zek > Well, there are a few next door, through teh null sec wh there
m oebius > Gotta find that hole
Kal Zek > Becareful, bad things happen there /shudders
Chakotae > invite me to fleet, ill give ya a warp to for that wormhole
Kal Zek > NOw why didnt I think of that
Kal Zek > You shame me Chakote =/
m oebius > no way, you guys will gank me
Chakotae > i swear i wont
Chakotae > im in a badger anyways
Kal Zek > Its true
Kal Zek > He's in a badger
m oebius > Oh cool, I found a combat site
Kal Zek > Yay
Kal Zek > Ya know, when you get those refunded SP's ina couple weeks. You might want to put some on scanning. it will help you find stuff faster. So im told
Kal Zek > I cant scan myself
Kal Zek > but i hear roumors
m oebius > Heh crazy.. refunds!?
m oebius > Why would they do that?
Kal Zek > I KNOW!
m oebius > These guys take awhile to kill
Kal Zek > Yeah, and thers no bounty, wtf is up with that?
m oebius > They have sweet loots
m oebius > I made about 100M last night
Kal Zek > cool
Kal Zek > Maybe that guy in teh Pilgram would makea truce with you, adn help ya out. Go faster then.
m oebius > I thought you said those were no good?
Kal Zek > short range
Kal Zek > You said tehy were no good
Kal Zek > lets see...
Kal Zek > Yeah, it was you...[07:24:18] m oebius Those are not very dangerous right
m oebius > omg you are like my girlfriend
Chakotae > lol
Kal Zek > She doesnt give you any either?
m oebius > now your being mean
Kal Zek > cause you aint getting any of this ass till I get a ring!
m oebius > cause now your like my mom
m oebius > you got pictures?
Kal Zek > sec, let me find it
m oebius > none of those virus pictures
Kal Zek > well, its cured now
Kal Zek > mostly...
Kal Zek > **link to a super gross pic**
m oebius > I've gotta alt-tab to see that one
Kal Zek > I'm gonna do you a favor
Kal Zek > Save you a nights sleep
Kal Zek > dont open that link =)
m oebius > I kinda figured
Kal Zek > Now see what a nice guy I am?
m oebius > Of course
m oebius > These battleships are taking me forever
Kal Zek > yeha, lil bitches, think they gonna live forever
m oebius > Did you buy a notcis yet?
Kal Zek > Naw
Kal Zek > they have a fat ass and move like my ex
m oebius > now I see why she is your ex
Kal Zek > it really was a fat ass, it wasnt the pants.
m oebius > sometimes I like that kinda thing
m oebius > I mean if we are being honest here
Kal Zek > well, if thats how ya roll
Kal Zek > haha, I said roll.....
m oebius > haha.. roll get it!
Kal Zek > hahahaha
Kal Zek > You better salvage those. Nyx gets pissed when people dont salvage.
m oebius > Why is Nyx?
m oebius > or who..
Kal Zek > Shes about 6'2", 275lbs
Kal Zek > face only a drunk could love
m oebius > thats your ex?
Kal Zek > no, she was 2'6"
m oebius > a midget! no way!
Kal Zek > way
m oebius > holy shit..
m oebius > I can't believe you gave that up
Kal Zek > I told her to wear vertical stripes. it made her ass look smaller, and she left me
m oebius > the ladies are sensitive, even the short ones
Kal Zek > Wouldnt even get me a sandwich on the way out.
Kal Zek > i was like WTF, fine, i'll make it myself
m oebius > what kind?
Kal Zek > egg salad
m oebius > ick
Kal Zek > oh, thats good stuff
m oebius > the egg salad is the most horrible sand. in the world
m oebius > you know what happens if you leave that out for an hour
Kal Zek > it hatches?
m oebius > for sure
m oebius > AFK for a bit, gotta bring in my salvager
Kal Zek > oky doky
m oebius > hard to chat and fly
Kal Zek > aint it
Kal Zek > they say talking on cellphone while driving is actually worse than driving after two beers.
m oebius > I've done both..
m oebius > at the same time
Kal Zek > Thats not good
m oebius > naw it was cool, I do it all the time

**At this point the trap was sprung**

Kal Zek > So, did ya get much isk from that?
m oebius > Looking good..
Kal Zek > Will it split very well with Heizeus, Memoocan, Loch Verus, Admiral Tomahawk, Asuri Kinnes, Lir O'Trog, Kwashi and Rafe Vatta? Nice Pilgram btw Rafe
m oebius > Your just looking at our kill board..
Kal Zek > resourceful fella, aint I? ;p
m oebius > Well, you lost the midget
Kal Zek > Poor Domi pilot, didnt know you was all laying in wait =)
m oebius > Well honestly, your POS defenses are pretty
Kal Zek > bah, she made crappy samiches anyhow =)
Kal Zek > I got a question, honest answer
m oebius > k
Kal Zek > Did you eff up teh landing when you ambushed my Badger, or was that on purpose to try and flush out some dumb brave soul trying to help me,
m oebius > You were already accelerating away from the station when I landed, and warped before I could get a lock
Kal Zek > ahh, was just lucky then
m oebius > Yhea
Kal Zek > thats two times today, lol

Eve Report Drama Llama

Fuck it. I am taking the troll bait.

The drama llama was unleashed on the Tweetfleet last night here.

Some follow up posts can be seen here, here and here.

For the most part, the responses sum it up very nicely. CK really has nothing to step down *from*, and in my opinion, if for some reason he decided to stop doing his thing all together it would be more damaging to the community than not.

But the huge bull in the room that the few people who agree with mysteryKhaaan miss is that the podcast CCP highlighted is not just CK's. There are four of us equally working on it. Myself, CK, Ardwulf and Memoocan.

Not to mention my name was also listed on that CCP newsletter... you know... the one that only showcases specific people all the time and never shares the love? The one that only showcases CK.... oh wait.

Following Khaaaans logic I should not have been listed, being a virtual unknown. But that point was conveniently forgotten.

And then I also wonder, who is this Khaaan person? Not gutsy enough to post his in-game name, or his blog after pitching a giant nerd-rage basically because he isn't getting enough attention. It makes me wonder if we haven't actually all just been trolled.

Grand Theft Moros

I logged on the other night to hear much gigglesnorting in voice coms.

"What are they up to?" I thought, as I tried to work out what exactly was the source of such wicked glee.

Apparently they found a wormhole that had a station caught quite literally with its pants down. No shields, a handful of ships... and a moros... just sitting there. All part of a system shared by a small alliance with a handful of other stations, also in similar states of disarray.

In short we took everything, but being as it was that the moros could not be removed from the hole, we decided to put it to use, against the alliance who conveniently left it floating there for us. So we all zoomed over to the closest station and began breaking stuff for giggles.

Only two residents were logged in at the station.. both of whom were less than 6 months old and showed no signs of being alts. Hilarity ensued when they started asking in local if we were recruiting, followed shortly by bursts of rage and tears, then randomly switching to Space Balls quotes. At one point after all guns were incapped, one of them began on-lining a medium refining array.

Our corp mate Kwashi summed it up best when he said,

"Those guys we found in the pos reminded me of one of those post-apocalyptic movies where there are clueless vagrants living in the ruins of cities who have no idea how the cities once ran."

A sample of the local banter:

Vagrant Resident > well he left that dread here because get it out of the hole
Vagrant Resident > just like yall cant
Vagrant Resident > he couldnt
Us > Well, yes, it can't leave, so we had to take it to the nearest tower
Us > But I imagine you're aware of that
Vagrant Resident > yea we see it
Vagrant Resident > but soon yall will be out of ammo or the hole will close
Vagrant Resident > then yall will be stuck here with no ammo just drone
Vagrant Resident > drones*
Us > Lasers don't run out of ammo, and probes are reusable
Us> Really, you wouldn't be the first tower
Vagrant Resident > lasers have crystals and they burn out
Vagrant Resident > oh u talking the other tower in here?
Vagrant Resident > the one u took out that really didnt have anything there worth anything but the moros

We continued our bashing, with a small sliver of hope that perhaps the station was not stronted considering the state of the other station in system, but no such luck. After a brief discussion of whether or not we wanted to finish it off when it came out of reinforced we decided to call it a wrap -freshly exhausted from a POS destruction just two days before- we all just wanted to go home and count our profits.

And moros pay out juicy insurance.

New Eden Chronicles

As announced on CrazyKinux's Musings!

After a couple of weeks and some incredible submissions, CK and I have finally reached our final two to be cohosts with us on New Eden Chronicles! That's right! TWO! It's gonna be a partay up in here!!! There were so many awesome submissions, there was no way we could narrow it down to just one! And boy let me tell you, I was star struck by some of the people submitting auditions!

So without further ado, congratulations to

Ardwulf & Memoocan!!!

\o/

Can't wait to get this started, we've got lots of ideas just between CK and I! I can only imagine what our new partners in crime will bring to the table!

Stay tuned folks!

Adrielle Firewalker: Illustration

My first commissioned EVE portrait. Adrielle Firewalker for Kalahari Wayrest, I hope she likes.

I am taking additional commissions if you're interested, $100 or 1.5 B ISK. Includes a high quality poster print of your portrait. :)

EDIT: Changed some colors. "Superpants" was annoying.

More ISK than Brains?

Or really really smart?


2x Absolution
1x Anathema
2x Apocalypse
1x Apocalypse Navy Issue
2x Arazu
3x Armageddon
1x Astarte
2x Basilisk
2x Bestower
1x Bhaalgorn
1x Buzzard
7x Cerberus
3x Cheetah
4x Curse
1x Deimos
2x Drake
4x Falcon
1x Flycatcher
1x Heretic
2x Hound
1x Huginn
2x Hulk
1x Malediction
3x Manticore
2x Nighthawk
1x Occator
2x Pilgrim
5x Rapier
1x Raven
1x Retriever
4x Revelation
3x Rook
1x Sabre
2x Scimitar
1x Scorpion
1x Skiff
6x Sleipnir
1x Stiletto
1x Thanatos
6x Vagabond
1x Viator
1x Wolf
2x Zealot
1x Zephyr

These were all ships self destructed by our target last night.

After our hole briefly opened to a C6 hole we scanned down and eyeballed the local POS as we do, several tasty tempting things stood out to us. Juicy ships. Juicy ships and a big challenge. The potential for one hell of a pinata fest and one uber fight.


Much discussion was held before the decision was made that we were up for the challenge of taking on a corp with the potential fleet these guys had, and possibly winning and taking home some most epic toys. I mean if they had FIVE dreads and a carrier just floating in their bubble, we could only imagine what was in the hangars.

So we left our man in to gather intel, and carefully planned and plotted, and made our move. Like clockwork up went our POS, defensive wings assigned to locations, and a beefy fleet of bashers and reppers went to do its thang. Not a sign from the residents, but this didnt surprise us, their POS had gone into reinforced and they had time.


As we expected, they started logging on within 8 hours of the POS coming out of reinforcement.... we sent out an alert and our numbers spiked as well. We fully expected the fight of our lives. Bubbles up, tacklers in positions, someone positioned everywhere we could think to prevent them making a break to scan the hole out. You could taste the tension in the air as we watched more and more pilots appear, and maneuver to and launch some very intimidating ships.

There is no doubt in my mind if they had put those toys to use, they would have steamrolled us.

Then to our surprise, self destruct notifications started going off left and right. Were they bluffing? Was this some sort of insane wormhole life reverse psychology mind trick to distract us!?!?! ZOMG! But it didnt stop. Down to the last dread. With the exception of what they could load on to an orca and a carrier (and still blew up one carrier wtf?) and logged.


In the end we did get to pinata their hangar arrays and made off with some sweet rides, including two fully fitted Redeemers.


We figure their losses could have been as high as 50 billion isk worth of space stuff.

Knee jerk reaction is to think it was a cowardly move, to self destruct to either avoid the ego blow of having a kill loss.. or just deny us their toys.

But a deeper look is what is a very glaring flaw in EVE insurance payout system. Self destruction ensures they get insurance payouts for every single ship they themselves blow up. However, in a fight -and thats what this game is about, amiright??- if a pilot is podded in a wormhole with no way back in to reship, there is zero insurance payout for the ships we would have taken. So, technically they made quite a logical decision, as ass backwards as it is.

And now, I leave you with this moment of zen. Me and Embalizym with some hot ship on ship action.

Maeve Trinity : Illustration

So I've finally finished my illustration of Maeve. Figured I should finish it before the new avatars are implemented, and she deserved an homage of how she was. :)

She was done in pencil on illustration board, scanned, and painted/finished in Photoshop. I hope you all enjoy. And if there is interest, might consider commissions. :)

Oh... you can buy prints of this at deviantart here.

Cadillac of the Skies

After god knows how much training, and more ISK than I care to admit spending... I finally got my new shiny ride, the coveted Proteus. Hopefully my spaceship ADD will be satiated for a while after this one.... my wallet can't handle it! And this ship was definitely a critical blow!

Now lets hope she gets some kills before she is killed. ;)

If I were Maeve...

I would probably look a bit like this!

But really.... I was poking around the new character tool and got a kick out of the fact that my exact do is in the game. I couldn't resist.

For the moment the level of customization seems pretty limited, and depending on the race/bloodline you pick, excluding your hairstyle, you'll pretty much look like everyone else that shares that race/bloodline. I hope they fix that.

I also couldn't find a replacement for Maeve's crazy fro hair, so I'm not sure exactly which way I'll go with that. Ah well... I've got plenty of time to decide!

Maeve Illustration WIP

Some of you may have noticed I've been a bit MIA in EVE lately, but that doesnt mean I am leaving the game by any means. I've just been very focused on trying to get some work coming in (it is horribly slow at this point), so I've been building a portfolio for illustration and character design. Hence this portrait of Maeve I've been fiddling with. Yea... she details her drones in her quarters, you got a problem with that??
Last night for the most part I finished up the line work, and have brought it into Photoshop (and possibly Paint) to begin the color process. I may or may not watercolor the original for myself, which is currently propped against the wall behind the door in my computer room / studio (lol).

Anyways I thought you all might appreciate seeing her progress! :)

Oh, and yes, that is the beginnings of a Roc Wieler poster over her bed. hehe.

Dread 'Naught for Me

Thank you Asayanami Dei for the shot,
most epic WH local comment ever.*

It seems the best fun is had while I decide I need to take a bit of an EVE break.

I got clued in from a Facebook post from a corp-mate, that I missed an awesome night, "killed 2 dreadnaughts", she said. I thought I was being tricked into logging back in, but after quickly looking over the killboards and reading the corp forums, it happened, and I was laying on the couch, watching pre-recorded Tour de France. Sigh.

Apparently over the past couple of days, we have been sieging an occupied WH, kidnapping a carrier and some other goodies when one of their POSs went down early in the weekend. At some point yesterday, they decided to go on the offensive and attack the POS we had set up in their system with 2 dreads and a fairly decent fleet. Two dreads. I dont even think I've seen one dread in action never-mind two. Personally I would have shit bricks, but somehow our gopher game won the day. I really wish I had been there. /o\

Asayanami and all his mad skills put together this video for all to see. \o/


*stuff blurred per request.

Kryptonite is bad, mmkay?

In honor of Hulkageddon going on right now, and in memory of all the beautiful beasts slain, I figured I post this "gem" (heheh, get it?... ok I'm not that funny) of a screen shot that I took a while back.

Nice and big. Use it as a wallpaper to rejoice your Hulk.... or to refresh your memory if you've forgotten what your target looks like. ;)

Irony*

From left to right
Indy WH corp, NOIR gun, Adhocracy

It all started with a random salvager loss to get the boys foaming at the mouth.

I've only been with Adhocracy for a few short weeks, but in that time the best analogy I can give them is that they remind me of those Mad Max bikers in Weird Science that appear out of nowhere, come crashing through a hole in the wall and start breaking everything.

The best sense I can make of it (besides sheer insanity) is that it is a sort of distraction, call it a preemptive strike, whenever our hub WH opens to another.

As Mad Max bikers are to Adhocracy, so is a WH to Wyatts house. Gary and Wyatt don't care where the bikers came from, they just want them out of their house.

We were perfectly happy to do our routine of breaking things til our link collapsed... but they drew first blood, and to be honest I think we were waiting for an excuse to go apesh*t.

Within a half hour of my logging in, we had a POS launched and anchoring in their system, a large logistics/defense/attack fleet positioned and fancy instructional graphs in the forums (seriously, who made those?).

We continued with our regular scheduled programme until we all started passing out.. dropping off with little resistance until our fleet dwindled down to naught. Most of the fleet logged back in the next night, and of course we had to start POS bashing all over, but that was ok, we entertain ourselves by discussing generation 1 My Little Ponies and arguing whether or not orange is a complimentary color to pepto pink.

Yea, we had the situation in the bag. Vengeance was had. One guy kept randomly launching bombs at us without doing enough damage to take out my drones. People started logging off, with dreams of POS pinata. All was good in Wyatts house.


That was until our scout timidly said into his mic, "Guys, I've got a bunch of NOIR appearing in local...."

"...Mynxee..." I think to myself, clicking my contacts, she is online.

This is where the irony comes into the story.

After my year hiatus I returned to EVE as a born again newb, having only lived in null sec prior, I was perfectly happy to carebear it up for all eternity. But Mynxee.... Mynxee and her "come hithers", tempting me to Hellcats, planted the seed of bloodlust that lead me to this very biker gang. The same person who inadvertently put me in this wormhole, was now coming to lay down the law.

By this time our fleet had dwindled down to a skeleton, I knew this was going to happen fast and holy hell did it ever. In the time it took me to call in my drones, over 20 NOIR pilots appeared in the overview, Mynxee wasn't there, I knew more were coming.

Miraculously most of us managed to escape back to our POS and we discussed our plan of attack.
For the most part we were ready for a suicide finish, and many of us lemmingly followed in a game of POS shield gopher just long enough to take out one NOIR pilot, and realized for every one we killed, another would just log in to replace them. They have shifts, we being the disorganized bikers do not. For most of us it was well past midnight. A few made a mad dash for the WH to known space, despite it being camped and bubbled at this point, and actually freaking made it out.

I was just aligning for the WH when our diplomat said he was in negotiations with NOIR and our frenemies.

What? They will let us take our toys and leave? Just like that? Was this a trap? We argued NOIRs honor in mumble, grumbled about "surrendering", pointing out that NOIR pilots continued pouring into the WH like angry wasps. Eventually those of us left agreed their reputation was too high to go back on a logged agreement, they're mercs, not pirates, and time is money. A withdrawal without any losses would be more logical than suiciding to save our egos.

True to their word, they began repping POS mods so we could offline them and haul them away. At almost 4am EST we hauled out the last bits and pieces, still a bit dazed if not delirious.

In the end I think the operation was a success, despite the fact that we didn't accomplish what we set out to do (take over). But maybe I am just too optimistic. We got in, messed some shit up, and got back out with minimal loss (M Thomas I am truley sorry for your lots) I launched and helped take down a POS for the first time, and eventually did see Mynxee on my overview drunk as she was, and probably grateful she wasn't going to have to POS bash for 3 days. ;)

Lessons of the day;

Never underestimate the deep pockets of an industrial corp.
NOIR is not a fairy tale made up to scare the bad people.

*I do not speak on behalf of Adhocracy Incorporated, these events are described from my own personal viewpoint and may or may not be perfectly accurate. Not everyone in ADHC will agree with my feelings of the outcome.

EON: Postcards from the Edge

ZOMG!

So I just got the latest issue of EON to find one of my screen shots has been published! I actually have to say I did cheat a bit on this one, the original was very dark and the lightening effects I exaggerated by doing a bit of painting trickery. I also combined 2 different images because the background was more impressive in one, and the angle of the ship was better in the other. Also had to do some contrast and saturation bumping to make the ship pop a bit more than it did in the original.

Curious to see the original shots?

Background Used

Ship Used

To clarify this is the only screen shot I ever took that I manipulated, I just thought the pocket of space was so impressive and the shots that I came back with didn't quite capture the power and wow-factor I felt when I landed in the middle of it. There was lightening in the pocket, I just couldnt manage to actually get my timing right.

Oh, and the shot was taken on my alt Aurynn, I did giggle a little when they called Maeve a rookie... but thats ok. I'd rather her name be in the pages of EON than my alts. ;)

So... where's my 100m isk??

Wormhole Warriors

Because quite often, other people's stories are way more entertaining than my own, I thought I would share this gem.

So I'm sure you might remember my two old friends I mentioned in my last post who have joined me in Adhocracy; Tippytai and Krrar.

The other day I received a fantastic eve-mail from Tippy about their "preparation for joining a WH corp" shenanigans.

Enjoy, hopefully you got a good laugh like I did. ;)

Krrar and I set out to do some wormhole fighting vrs rats to do something new and to make some ISK right? Well we go in and find a C3 wormhole, with 2 nice hacking sites. We warp there and fight rats, which eventually start owning us and we gotta warp away. Right as I'm warping I hit my ship scanner and notice 5 combat scanner probes on there, apparently looking for us! We make the wise move to get the hell out of that system...

Unfortunately that is where the wise moves stop. After this little escapade I mention to Krrar that we should try out some combat in WH space if we are in fact going to be living in there, just to grow accustomed to it. We both spend 30 minutes or so figuring out fits for stealth bombers and come back into the wormhole to see about getting some combat action under our belt. We scout out the wormhole entrance for 30 minutes or so just to see the traffic. We see a Tengu that keeps warping in and out so I tell Krrar that the next time that gate activates, we are shooting our bombs at it.

5 minutes later it flashes. We both shoot our bombs "at the gate." My bomb overshoots the gate by like 10km high and doesn't come close to hitting the guy. Krrar managed to either hit himself with his bomb or get hit by my bomb. His shields are toast. We both spam our cloaking devices and managed to toggle them on and back off again. In a moment of panic Krrar warps to the hacking site we were at earlier...except he warped in to the 3 BS's we left there and ended up faceplanting into an asteroid so his cloaking device was no good, he was gone.

I warped away to another wormhole I scouted out earlier. With Krrar deceased I decided it wouldn't hurt to do a little scouting and see if there's more action in that wormhole. I go through it and head to the nearest planet to do some ship scanning. Then I realized that I just gave myself a thorough owning, as I didn't bookmark the way out and was not in my probing ship. Krrar doesn't even have astrometrics and the wormhole would be closed in a few hours and I have absolutely no way to find the wormhole that I can see so clearly on my system map but am not able to warp to.

So here I am, waiting for my self-destruct timer on my pod so I can go back home, a step closer to being the WORMHOLE WARRIOR I will become!

Ponies 4 Life

Tippytai

Adhocracy.... I hope you are ready for these guys! XD I <3 them :) They fear nothing! \o/

New Home Found : UNKNOWN

Adhocracy Incorporated
Living Life in Wormhole Space
As I like to call it, "living on a cruise ship..."
without the buffets.



After a bit of mulling over our futures with a couple of friends I have been gaming with since '99, we've always sort of stuck together and decided jointly that a WH corp seemed to be the most unique and versatile of EVE life. Being that of the three of us, I am most involved with the community, it was left up to me to find the corp that would fit us best. After about a week or so of talking to different WH corps, interacting with them in their public channels, there was no question in my mind that Adhocracy would fit us best for multiple reasons.

For one, the folks in Adhocracy are absolutely hilarious, with a very twisted and shared bizarre sense of humor. Also, ironically, a love of Ponies (yes, ponies), something that has spanned a decade with my 2 old friends. An old joke dating back from EQ1, involving The Plane of Sky, and a naming violation. Many "Ponies" ran rampant on the Nameless Server. At one point we had an entire guild in EQ2 with all of our characters surnamed "Ponies". I haven't exactly figured out where Adhocracy got their love of Ponies, but we took this as a definite sign. I mean, its not exactly a common shared interest!

Also, the meaning of Adhocracy itself according to Wikipedia; "All members of an organization have the authority within their areas of specialization and in coordination with other members to make decisions and to take actions affecting the future of the organization. There is an absence of hierarchy."

That last bit being the ringer for me. Red tape and exclusive management and I do not get along. As can be seen for my reasons of leaving BTC as well as E-Uni.

I've only just moved into their main hub, with just one ship, and have already been having a ball chasing people in and out of our WH space, practicing my probing and scanning. Hopefully soon I can bring a hulk out and start sucking some gas and giving a solid contribution to me new corp.

BTW - Thanks to all of you who sent me mails and offers into their corps, I got some really fantastic ones and was frankly quite flattered by some of them!

Fly safe, and careful about that next WH you jump into.... I might be there waiting for you. ;)

Why I love Tweetfleet

Last nights Ambien induced trip tweets from Egwenne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So speak the profit ambian. He speeks sublet lines that are Not for u to comprehen. about 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Who could cmprehend what the prophet said befor the thi n was sad about 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone


#tweetfleet is calleth to hear words that prophet says to them. Are we. Ready to hold what worldly knowledge (cont) http://tl.gd/1kt8pc about 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

More trip tweets to follow follow from lord ambian about 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

~~~~~~

It all goes silent at this point. One can only assume she eventually passed out, iphone in hand.

I <3 u Egwenne.

New Beginnings

Maeve Trinity
Oursulaert
IX - Federation Customs Testing Facilities
Essence


It only seemed appropriate to Maeve that she return to Oursulaert to begin her search for a new home in New Eden. In essence, to start over.

Oursulaert, where she learned to pilot a ship, learned her basics and essentials, and made her first friends. It was like returning to a home town.


Stepping into the Federation Navy Station, where she began her first mission runs, she was overwhelmed with old familiar smells and sights. Sure Solitude was under Gallente Sovereignty, but it was far away from Empire and foods had to be shipped and stored. The journey there wasn't an easy one. And nothing beat real fresh Gallentean foods. Meats laden with heavy sauces, quick food stalls with ready to eat cheese baguettes and of course the ubiquitous grilled mystery meats on a stick. She felt giddy with nostalgia.

Though she needed to remain focused. A welcome reprieve and time to gather her thoughts, she knew it would only be temporary.

Most of her belongings she liquidated in Solitude, and only brought with her two ships and the necessities of life she could fit into their cargo holds. In one trunk she managed to fit all of her blueprints, her modest wardrobe, some family heirlooms and trinkets and of course Rigel, her favorite little domestic assistance drone.

She unpacked into a small rented quarter with the Federation Customs. Her reputation was high with them now, so she got a good rate.


Her prospective new corporations was finally narrowing down, from over half a dozen public channel tabs, to only two. Application and formal interview submitted to one. Now all she could do was wait.

"Rigel, Farscape please. Episode; Rhapsody in Blue." With a whir the holoreel projected onto a blank wall in the darkened room. She curled up on her rented cot, flipping through recent conversation logs, new friends made, so much future potential. She knew sleep would be a hard creature to capture this night.

As she nodded off to the sounds of Zhaan, and John Crichton... thoughts and half dreams of her future drifted into her mind.

Departing Solitude

Maeve stood staring out the expansive window of the viewing level in a station of Octanneve. Her eyes resting on one of the numerous blue planets there, perhaps for the last time.

For Maeve had handed in her resignation papers to The Black Thorne Corporation the night before, her time in Solitude would soon come to an end. Solitude, a system she had spent more time in than any in her entire career in New Eden. It had become a place dear to her heart, with many little pockets to hide away in, and belts with the most beautiful vistas of Octanneves planets floating blissfully just beyond, its warm red sun glowing in the distance.

She fiddled with a data-pad filled with messages from soon to be x corp mates that ranged from sadness and support to vehement rage. She looked back out at the swirling clouds, and knew she needed to stick with her decision. It was the angry ones that surprised her, and reminded her she was making the right move.

Big Momma, Ready to Roll

She didn't know where she was going.

But she knew her priority was first and foremost finding another group of people she enjoyed flying with, and calling her own. Second to that, becoming a solid asset within a corp where her skills could be put to use and appreciated.

Not a tall order, at least she thought, and she had several options open to her at this point. In a way it came down to a matter of reverse interviewing she supposed. Would she disappoint them? Would they disappoint her? Did she have the skills required? Would they share her strange sense of humor? So many questions. She needed to make sure wherever her path went, the fit would be good.

Corp mates become family to Maeve, and not a decision to be made on a whim. And those she has considered friends from day one are still kept in her address book, and checked in on from time to time. Soljisk, her first real CEO, she still held on a pedestal, everything she knew about being a capsuleer to this day she's convinced she learned from him.

Yes, Maeve would miss Solitude. But deep inside, the prospect of spreading her wings and trying something new was quite frightening and thrilling all at once.

On a side note; while attempting to move a few of her ships out of 0.0 space before her 24 hours timer expired, she did lose a bomber to an impressive blob guarding the last gate out before low sec. At least 4 sling bubbles as she could see and who knows how many pilots. She had evaded their camp on the jump in, and perhaps got too cocky, thinking everyone in local was at the gate she had just escaped.

But she's proud to say, that although she was severely outnumbered, she managed to take out a T2 ship worth MUCH more than hers before the 9 of them who had her targeted took her down. In the end... the isk damage was worse on their end than Maeve, 3 fold. It made her feel a little better about her pvp capabilities. And a tiny bit more tempted to humor the offers into pvp corps.

Enjoy: Solo Kill - severely outnumbered.

This little kitty bit back =^-^=

Sun, Moon & Stars

There is this old book I have that I had forgotten about.

I purchased it in Covent Garden in London some years ago at a little antiques book shop. As I've mentioned in the past, coming from a NASA family and being so close to all things space my entire life, I snatched this little gem up without hesitation.

This morning I flipped through it and thought it might be worth sharing with you folks out in New Eden.

The author of this book is actually a woman (quite unusual for its time, published in 1879) one Agnes Giberne, and she had quite the imagination. I look at her illustrations, and read her daydreamings and smile. She was only a century too early.

She ponders sitting on the surface of the moon, looking back at the earth and says,

"The stars shine with dazzling brightness, and the huge body of earth, always seeming to hang motionless at one fixed point in the sky, gives brilliant light, though at present only half her face is lit up and half is in shadow. Still her shape is plainly to be seen... She covers a space on the sky more than a dozen times as large as that covered by the full moon in our sky.

It would be worth while to stay here, and watch the half-earth grow into magnificent full-earth."

This image of the Earth rise was taken

during lunar orbit by the Apollo 11 mission crew in July of 1969.

Then compare photos taken from one of the lunar landings, you would think, she in fact had experienced this first hand.

An imagined illustration of and "earth-rise" from the moon.

I love this quote:

"And as our journeyings together are for a while to be away from earth, we shall find ourselves obliged to count her as something quite small in the great universe, where so many larger and mightier things are to be found, -if indeed they are mightier.

Not that we have to say good-bye altogether to our old home. We must linger about her for a while before starting, and afterwards it will be often needful to come back, with speed swifter than the flight of light, that we may compare notes on the sizes and conditions of other places visited by us."

These thoughts and wonders, shared by us today, from a woman over a century ago. Some already have come true, "we must linger about her for a while before starting,"..... is exactly our International Space Station... paving our way to further reaches of space.

And her quote is also, in some way, a connection to our fantasy in EVE, exploration.... and the dream to return to our "old home", with a realization of flying at the speed of light.

Maeve: As Art

sorry about the lack of crispness, took these shots with my camera

So I've been wanting to do an illustration of Maeve for a long time. A series of them perhaps... maybe even enough to go along with a short story.

But for now, I have started just an illustration of her, as herself, being the "Wench with a Wrench" we all know and love, hard at work on one of her Trinity Drones. ;)

This is just pencil sketch beginnings, details & background will be worked in, then inked.

Finally I will scan the image in and probably paint it in photoshop.

Just wanted to share this start. :)

Planetary Interaction Tutorial

Click to enbiggen

After several hours of scouring the net for a half-comprehensive and up to date tutorial on Planetary Interaction, and failing miserably to find anything, I decided to just jump in and figure it out on my own.

Granted, I've only spent a handful of hours so far messing with it, I've barely begun to scratch the surface of this new feature in the game. I decided to make a recording of the most basic element of setting up a command center, extractors and a processor. Enough to get you started.

I apologize if I've missed anything, but like I said, I am just starting to learn like everyone else. :)

Where Are All The Wenches?

CK at crazykinux.com asks us in Blog Banter #17:

"What could CCP Games do to attract and maintain a higher percentage of women to the game. Will Incarna do the trick? Can anything else be done in the mean time? Can we the players do our part to share the game we love with our counterparts, with our sisters or daughters, with the Ladies in our lives? What could be added to the game to make it more attractive to them? Should anything be changed? Is the game at fault, or its player base to blame?"

First lets get down to the nitty gritty of the matter;
Why are there so few female players in EVE?

Is it because we don't like sci-fi?
Doubtful, if the amount of female Browncoats I saw at last years Dragon*Con is any reliable indicator.

Is it because we don't like space?
Um, no. I come from a NASA family. My grandfather worked launch control during the Apollo missions, and was one of the designers of the Space Shuttle. My mother worked for NASA as well. I could easily say love for space and space travel is in my blood, and I never even made a career of it. And I am only one of thousands, possibly and probably more.

Naoko Yamazaki, Stephanie Wilson and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger

Consider the fact that there are currently four women floating around up there on the space station, in a crew of 13. Sure there are still more men, but that its a lot more than 3.6%. All three of those women in the above photo flew together on Shuttle Discovery's last flight, along with four men. That is damn near even.

Is it because EVE is too complicated for women?
Please see the above question. You go become an astronaut, earn a spot on the Space Station, and tell me we can't do complicated. ;)

I think this question might come down to a matter of gaming experience. I am willing to bet most of the ladies in EVE have been gamers all their lives. I am also willing to bet most of the ladies playing say, WoW, it is their first experience in gaming. Purely from a gaming experience stand-point... yes, EVE is complicated, but I think it would be just as complicated for those men who's first experience in gaming is also a game like WoW.

So why... WHY?
Personally, I think it is because of the initial lack of feeling a connection to ones character. In every other MMO I can think of, you physically see your avatar, you can customize them, they become an extension of yourself. I believe women by nature need to feel connected, whether it be to an avatar in a video game, or to a lover. Men can differ in this matter. It all boils down to some primeval instinct.

I confess, it took me two tries to become enamored with EVE. My first try was simply because I am game to give any MMO a shot, and I heard it was like Homeworld, which I loved. But I will tell you my heart sank when I realized the closest I would get to my character was a cold still image. My first foray into EVE lasted only a few days. No, I wasn't confused or overwhelmed. No, I wasn't afraid of the pew pew. I just felt no connection to my own character.

My second attempt is what changed everything. The hosts of several of the podcasts I was listening to at the time were getting into the game. They would talk about living legends, individuals who were doing things that effected and touched almost everyone in New Eden. That is when it hit me, that community is everything in EVE. Admittedly it did take a bit to get over the fact that I could never see Maeve, and adjust my mindset. In time I accepted that she was in that ship, and that she wasn't the ship itself. I began developing a character for her in my mind, maybe to compensate for the fact that I couldn't physically see her, and that only deepened my connection with Maeve. As for community and social opportunities, EVE has the strongest of any MMO I have ever played. And that is what filled my need for a connection.

The player base is definitely not to blame for a lack of female players. If it weren't for you lot, I wouldn't have given the game a second try.

But enough rambling about my personal experience, I should probably get to the point of CK's question,

"What could CCP do to attract and maintain a higher percentage of women to the game."


I believe once Incarna launches, there will be a massive influx of female players. Simply because of the factor that drove me away in my first attempt with EVE.

But as the game stands now, game-play specifically, I don't think anything should be changed, especially to lure in a new audience. That would only be doing the existing player-base a disservice.

I do think EveGate is a step in the right direction. Easily accessible socialization, the ability to share ones character and statistics might help us feel more connected to them. We are a social bunch, us ladies. ;)

My suggestions that might encourage more women to play:

Advertising.
The advertising for EVE is VERY masculine. Besides the narrations from the AI Aura, we hardly hear any female voices representing pilots.


Take the video advertisement for Dominion, one female voice for each fleet. Both very submissive (tho it was cool they were thoughtful enough to put one of the ladies in a Dreadnought). They could pump that up by having a few more ladies, or maybe even one as *GASP* a Fleet Commander??

More female voices in an advertisement like this one might be unrealistic for the game in its current state, but putting women in a more powerful and prominent role might encourage more of us to give it a try.

Manufacturing.
It is female instinct to create. You know its true when I say every girl you know probably adores crafting in the MMO of their choice, and will spend hours happily clickety clicking their wares into creation. But in most MMOs, their creations bare their mark, even if it is simply (and it usually is) just their name listed on its details. It makes us feel like we've made our mark, and that our creations are out there proudly carrying our name. Hell, I for one would be ecstatic if I could label my drones "Trinity Drones". But as it stands now, you manufacture something, put it on the market, and it becomes another anonymous product. Maybe I want there to be a demand for my drones? How would people ever know they have a bay full of Trinity drones unless they specifically put a contract for me to sell them some. But even then, they hold no unique signature of my time and effort put into them.

Other than that, for now I think we should just hold our breath for Incarna, an expansion I think more than just women are looking forward to.

Some banter replies I found interesting:
Talk Nerdy To Me
La vie d'une capsuliere
Rantuket
A Little Bit of Blue
And, so far the funniest response to the question:
Chicks N' Ships from Eveoganda

As well as one whom insists it is not part of the banter, but is definitely worth reading regardless:
Sweet Little Bad Girl : EVE vs Women

Also outside of the banter, and from the past:
A post on this subject last December on The Real Sisters of EVE on Facebook

And this is a good watch relating to marketing to and stereotyping female gamers.... THIS IS NOT ME.. this is Cindy at Dream Bytes. If you want the point - 7:30

What gamer women don't want.

A Sister Returns

Maeve Trinity
Octanneve V
Sisters of EVE Bureau
Solitude


Maeve sat in the far corner of one of the many exclusive airy capsuleer bars of The Sisters of EVE Bureau. Although it seemed a strange place to have a multitude of bars and lounges, to Maeve the Sisters were an odd, if not contradictory lot.


The bar had high ceilings with deep blue swashes of fabric covering what was most likely garish bare concrete. Pale aqua lights shone up from the floor, creating translucent columns through a mist of smoke and dust. It was an entrancing effect.

She absentmindedly stirred her drink, scanning the room for the face she was anticipating. Her sister, Aurynn. A couple of months back she disappeared leaving only a note, scribbled in a rush, stating simply that "Solitude is such a snooze-fest.." and, "I'm going to become a pirate."

Pretty bold words coming from her little sister who loved the most expensive and garishly lavish adornments on herself, and in her environment. Amarr make mostly. From trinkets and wardrobe, to shining golden ships. Maeve knew her pirate phase wouldn't last. She was hardly surprised when she received a transmission from Aurynn asking her to meet her in this very establishment, back in the same station where her old quarters were.

Time ticked by slowly, and Maeve began to lose her patience, orders she needed to check on, ore she could be refining, drones that needed detailing. But just as soon as she pushed her drink away and began to rise, she saw the familiar silhouette of her sister stepping through on of the columns of light, gracefully striding towards her.

Aurynn sat slowly and casually waved her hand for service, pointing at Maeve's drink to indicate she would have the same. She leaned back, obviously avoiding making contact with Maeve's eyes, though still keeping her head high.

"So I hear you guys are establishing yourselves in null sec." Aurynn said, getting straight to the point.

"You heard right Aurynn." Maeve said.... taking a bit more than just a sip of her cocktail. "And we need cyno pilots...."

At this point Maeve decided that whatever happened out there to Aurynn, it more than likely bruised her ego. Things always went perfectly for her. No need to pick a fresh wound. The best medicine for Aurynn right now would be to feel needed. And it was true, her skills would be very useful to Black Thorne at this point in time..... and to herself, as selfish as that might seem.

"Cyno pilots Maeve?" Aurynn leaned back, she liked feeling control back in her hands, and it showed outwardly quite obviously. "So what, you'd get a kick out of me losing every ship I fly as a sitting duck wouldn't you?"

Maeve rolled her eyes, and took another bit-more-than-a-sip of her drink. "Well that or you can go back to tipping cans in Empire."

This was the truth of the matter and Maeve knew it. Aurynn wanted to be a pirate, but couldn't make the connections, lacked the training and skills for proper combat, and was reduced to scavenging. Maeve imagined it probably took a full week to afford one of her precious gold plated Amarr hair-clips. And it hit home.

"Fuck you Maeve!" Aurynn said as she splashed her drink into Maeve's smirking face. Aurynn sat rigid, hands gripping the chairs arms, ready to lash out or run. But she stared at her for a moment, Maeve couldn't tell if Aurynn was considering her proposition, or just being frustrated with Maeve's lack of temper, or perhaps it was both. And slowly, Aurynn slouched back down.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose between her eyes, Aurynn said, "It's too early to talk about anything permanent, I just got back out to this dead end region." She stood, and glanced quickly at Maeve,

"Just let me know if any jobs come in... you know.... cyno shit or whatever." She adjusted her shining black cropped hair, "I'll be back in my old quarters."

Maeve sat and took the final sip of her drink, thinking to herself how funny it was that she, the calm collect wrench wench, could rile up her sister, full of ambition to shoot everything down, without hardly saying a word.

Whats in My Hangar?

Maeve Trinity
Octanneve V – Moon 1
Federation Customs Assembly Plant
Solitude

Lots of people in the twittersphere are jumping on the topic started by Rixx over at Eveoganda -a must visit for some excellent EVE inspired propaganda art.

Because of my lack of organization, not all of my ships are seen here, they are spread all over. Some in Empire, some in Wicked Creek, but most, in Solitude.

The topic? "Whats in your hangar?" More specifically, the naming of ships.

The inspiration for most of my ships either comes from ancient mythology, or the series Farscape. Yes, I am THAT big of a nerd. And then sometimes, I will name a ship something completely lame. The latter, are ships I usually never fly, and should probably sell!

When it comes to differentiating two same model ships with different functioning fittings, I will name them accordingly. For instance, I love domis... my standard fitting I will name Moia. But my RR domis are named Airmid, after the Celtic goddess of healing.

So here are some of my ships, and the names I've given them.

Big Momma - My Obelisk. I thought it was fitting.

Farscape I & II - Comet. My Farscape fandom shining through.

OMG RUN - Viator. Because this is how I feel when flying it through all the gate camps to Solitude.

The Navigator - Helios. Very subtle reference to childhood nerd-dom, Flight of the Navigator. She finds me all the interesting stuff in space. Compliance.

Goblin King - Brutix. More childhood nerd-dom. I do think Brutix look like goblins.

Luna I, II & III - Zephyr. They look like moths to me. I have 3 and I never fly them.

Bustopher Jones - Nemesis. A reference from the musical Cats, the ship looks like a little happy fat cat to me.

10 Hygiea - Hulk. Named after an actual asteroid. Also, coincidentally, I finished training Hulk during Hulkageddon, the goddess Hygieia is the Greek goddess of health. I was hoping for some good juju.