AccView is an online tool designed for corporations who want to perform background checks on their applicants. It comes in two flavours; the free basic version allows you to view the applicants skills and other information that the regular API key provides while the premium version allows access to the information held in the strong API key.

To begin the vetting process you create a new request using the applicant’s name. This generates a URL that you provide the candidate with. They are greeted by a page that asks them to enter their account ID and API key. Once they’ve done this you can view a character summary that will show you the standard information including current corporation, wallet balance, and skill point total. The skills tab provides you with a full breakdown of the characters skills such as you would find on Eve-Sheet or inEve. The basic version allows you to access the information for all characters on the account so you can also see any alts.

The basic version doesn’t really offer anything that asking the applicant to post their skills to a public listing site wouldn’t already provide. The only real benefit is that they don’t have to make the information public or hand over their API keys directly. The premium version is where AccView comes into its own. Using the strong API key you get access to the applicants wallet history and kill record. This is what my corporation wants to see in the vetting process, in particular any suspicious looking transactions between players. Guess what? AccView has a specific option to highlight transactions between characters not on the current account. You can also manually browse the wallet journal and use filters to separate out player donations, corporate donations, and share transactions. The strong API also allows you to see the applicant’s kills and losses so you can check that they are posting all their losses to their killboard and not fabricating kills.

Any member of the corporation being applied to can register and see the details of on-going applications. They can make comments and share their thoughts and feelings on a candidate before his application is accepted or rejected. Once an application has been processed it can be archived for future reference. AccView only polls the API when the candidate adds his details so the archive is frozen in time. You will only ever be able to see the skills and wallet at the time of application.

The overall look and feel of the site is very minimalist. All of the important action happens on the requests page. From the requests page you can go to any requests that you have active or the archive of all the requests that you have made. There are a couple of options that I would like to see added to the requests interface. If you mistype the character name then the API request will fail and there is no way to delete the entry. Also the request links are only visible when generated. If, for whatever reason, you need to see the URL again there is no option to do this and you have to create another request. Beyond that the simple navigation makes the site easy to use right from the very beginning.

For corporations like my own that require detailed vetting of an applicant this is a very useful tool. The premium version requires a one-off payment of 150 million ISK to provide the whole corporation with access. This is equivalent to renting a Griefwatch killboard for 7 months. Because detailed vetting is an important part of protecting a corporation from theft or infiltration I think it is definitely good value.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Address: http://accview.mmmetrics.co.uk

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Ministry of War Military Files —
RSF Sawtooth
Faction: Independent Pod Pilot (IPP) – Minmatar Republic Aligned
Class: Thrasher Class Destroyer
Length: 300 meters
Captain: Unknown
Armament: 4x 280mm Prototype Howitzers
3x 200mm Gallium Autocannons
1x Arbalest Standard Missile Launcher
Top Speed: 974 m/s

I rotate the camera drone slightly, giving me a full view of the planet below me. Data scrolls across my interface, informing me that I’m low over a planet in the Amarr system. Dangerously low, as a matter of fact. I’m in the area of space that captains and pilots around the universe call the ‘tidal zone’, a place where gravity makes it so that a pilot has to decide whether to escape a planet’s gravity or be pulled closer. It’s not a fun place to be.

Beep! An annoying sound rings through my ears as my pod informed me of a target lock.

Blast! That was the reason I’m here, running for my life. An Amarr Navy Slicer is hot on my tail, throwing bright spears of white light through the void at me. I run a quick diagnostic. Phew! He was 35 kilometers directly aft of me and closing…too far to use his lasers, and too far to stop me from going anywhere. Smiling to myself, I turned towards the nearest planetary object in an attempt to escape. Agonizing seconds pass by as my seemingly lumbering ship slowly turns around. With a sigh of relief, I hear a massive roar as the Boundless Creations-built thrusters begin to push me towards sweet, glorious safety. Suddenly the subwarp thrusters go silent as the warp coils blaze into life..

Right before cutting off with an indignant-sounding bzzzzz that slowly faded away. My attention was quickly refocused on the Amarrian bastard who had done this to me. Twenty three kilometers and closing, according to Aura. I sighed, because I knew that that left me with but one option; atmospheric flight. Technically possible in a ship the size of mine, but dangerous? Hell yes.

Giving the Sawtooth a little nudge via neural impulse, I blast on my afterburner, bringing the little vessel up to over three kilometers per second. Of course, the gold-plated bastard is still faster, but not by much and I’m certainly going to give him a run for his money. As the planet grows through the slightly distorted eyes of my camera drone, the ship shudders, slightly at first, before a great blow nearly knocks me off of my nonexistent feet. Sure enough, my shields are sparkling and twisting as concentrated pulses of light slam into them. My eyes tighten. None of that, now.

Bringing tracking online, I swivel my quad 280mm artillery cannons in his direction. Oh yeah, EMP ammo, baby! Four loud, very satisfying bang!’s go off in quick succession, and I smile a very satisfied smile as one of the shells slams right into his left pincer. Crackling blue lightning arces across the ship, blackening hull sections and causing his shields to flicker before completely failing. Seconds later, to my great satisfaction, his left engine flare suddenly winks out, causing him to careen out of control.

And with that, I enter the atmosphere. Let me tell you, whatever the popular dogfighting holos might say or show you, slamming into (relatively) very dense air in a massive piece of Minmatar metal while barrelling towards a planet at 3000 meters per second is not anyone’s idea of comfortable or safe. Especially when you’re busy ogling a mortal enemy’s ship.

I wince as bright fingers of red-orange flame completely engulf the ship, gripping the shields as if trying to rip their way to the armor by sheer force. My shield meter abruptly dives by 13%. I quickly disengage my afterburner, not wanting to turn into a blazing ball of fire. The tongues of flame instantly retracts a bit, not that they still don’t appear to be trying to scorch the hell out of me. Checking the meter, I note that the planet’s surface was only 263 kilometers below me. I’m going to have to keep up my speed in order not to crash – my elongated explosion-in-a-girder-factory Minmatar ship isn’t very aerodynamic.

Time slips by quickly as I level out the ship, finally bringing it to a cruising altitude of 10 kilometers over the planet. For a moment, all is calm as I watch the domes and arches of an Amarrian settlement fall behind me. That’s when I notice the meteor falling more or less directly above me. I squint my eyes (as much as one can in a goo-filled pod) and try to make it out as my camera drone zooms in. Suddenly, the meteor shoots at me. Damn, I think to myself, I thought I lost him. Apparently not. That’s no meteor, that’s an Amarr Navy Slicer, Aura helpfully informs me, quoting some ancient holo in a vain attempt to be funny.

Fortunately, my pursuer looks much worse for the wear after being hit by my cannons and entering the atmosphere. Smoke is pouring from a fist-sized hole in his left pincer where my shell hit him. The sun glints off his hull as he levels off only a scant 17 kilometers behind me. Looks like we have a bit of a problem, Aura remarks. Shut up, I tell her.

But she’s right. I can’t warp in the atmosphere; not only would the gravitational forces rip my ship to shreds, but I’d permanently damage the planet by opening a wormhole so close to the surface. I can’t use my pirated microwarpdrive for the same reason. I can’t eject in the middle of enemy territory. The only option is to fight, and so fight I will. I tap a few keys through the dense goo that surrounds me – not necessary with my neural jack, but I prefer to have a feeling of control. Then I switch to an outside camera drone to watch the action.

Barrels gleaming in the harsh Amarrian sun, four huge 280mm artillery cannons swivel to track my hated pursuer. Blam! My first shot goes wide, and I wince as the EMP shell slams into a large living complex at 250 km/s. Thanks to my lightning-fast thought processes, a result of being neurally hooked up to a pod, I watch the half-ton rocket-assisted artillery round arc through the sky in slow motion before ripping a hole through that shiny, golden pinnacle of Amarrian engineering. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, a massive EM pulse rips through the building, and all the lights on the entire city block wink out instantly. Hundreds of streetlamps shatter as a wave of very angry electrons force their way through wires much to small for them. Several personal hover-vehicles simply fall out of the sky. After the fusion explosive charge from the rest of the warhead detonates, there’s nothing left of the building but a huge column of furious flame. It all happened within 2 and a half seconds.

Oops.

Blam! Another miss. Blam! Another. Blam! Thirteen kilometers and closing. This is getting way too close and personal. It has to end, NOW. Abruptly, I cut the thrusters to 50% and aim the ship between two tall buildings. Not wavering in the slightest, the damned Amarrian closes even faster. If I manage to time this right…

I blast in between the two towers, my right solar wing clipping one of them and shattering a line of reinforced windows. Then I’m through, and the Slicer has to either go straight through or waste time going around. He barrels through the gap and my guns line up perfectly. I jam my finger on a button as Aura informs me that I have a perfect firing solution. For what seems like an eternity, my triple autoguns simply whir as they warm up. Then…

Chachachachachachachachacha. A mixture of EM pulse shells, fusion warheads, and plasma bomblets sprays out of my guns, peppering the Slicer and the surrounding two massive, rather unlucky skyscrapers. His shields crackle feebly as the barrage tears through whats left of them and impact on the armor. Each charge only holds a small explosive charge, but hundreds of shells are slamming into his ship. Armor chunks the size of my head fall to the earth, trailing smoke. Limping, his craft comes out from behind the towers, still doggedly pursuing me.

It’s time. I flick a plastic cap off of a large switch. My ‘Arbalest’ missile bay slowly turns skyward, creaking all the while. Then it happens. There’s a roar and a giant plume of smoke that rises vertically off of my ship like an angel taking to the skies. The Piranha missile slowly begins to fall back to earth when it’s retro-rockets engage, propelling it straight down with it’s nuclear payload. There is a blinding flash and my bucket of bolts shudders around me as the shockwave rips through the ship. When the smoke clears, no evidence remains of the blinded, dogged Slicer or it’s pilot. A moment of sadness comes over me, and I close my eyes say a prayer for all those innocents that died today, for the sole reason that they got in the way of a centuries-old feud.

Then I open my eyes, engage my afterburner, and leave this godforsaken planet far behind.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Allow me to start off by saying that I am by no means an EVE player that has been playing this game long enough to tell you how this or that alliance started back-in-the-day. Nor do I have the vast knowledge of PvP that allows me to ‘insta-pop’ my enemies at a gate camp. In actuality, I have only been playing EVE since the Fall of 2008. But, I am already quite addicted!

However, it is limited experience that has given me a unique perspective. I am the type of person (IRL) that likes to plan things out well before I begin. This makes EVE the perfect MMORPG for my type A, borderline OCD, personality type. I spent the first month of the game listening in the “Noob Chats” and researching tutorials and such on-line much to the pain of my productivity at work. This knowledge has allowed me to earn a wallet in the billions and my own personal faction POS with all the trimmings. However, I decided I wanted to take my experience to the next level!

After some time I decided that I wanted to do 3 things in this game: make isk, blow stuff up and get out to 0.0 as soon as possible in order to accomplish both. The first two are most likely foremost in your mind at all times as a new player. Yet, as a noob, many of the players I missioned with on a day-to-day basis in my “early years” thought my desire to move to 0.0 so quickly meant I was completely and utterly insane.

I am writing this article to help dismiss some of the fears that many “noobs” (less than 10 mill. SP) may have of 0.0, and emphasize some benefits. In doing so, I’ll relate it to my own life experiences, cliché’s and stereotypes of my home state of New Jersey in the USA. Something just about anyone who has watched any gangster movies or a “Soprano’s” episode can relate to. After all, 0.0 really is the giant New Jersey of EVE – it has so much to offer, can kill you if you make a small mistake and is very misunderstood unless you’ve explored it thoroughly.

“Born to Run”

When you’re new to the game and 0.0 – you have to listen to “The Boss” (Bruce Springsteen for you out-of-state folks). Forget DPS, forget armor tanking and forget shield tanking. For now that is. The first thing you’ll want to learn is how to fly an Interceptor. When you’re in 0.0, speed is a newbies best friend. Kind of like having a good pair of sneakers and strong legs if you find yourself in the wrong section of Camden, NJ after sunset. You either get away fast, or someone is taking your sneakers. Or in this case your hard earned ship!

It’s important to have something to run away in if you’re in 0.0 and see “red” flooding in Local. Second, flying an interceptor will make you instantly useful in PvP, and shouldn’t take you more than 2-3 months to fully train up. Third, an Interceptor is the best ship to get yourself into in order to learn how to PvP effectively, in the realms of tactics and strategy. Not to mention it will get you a solid foundation of skills that will become extremely useful when you take your next step into a Battle Cruiser, Heavy Interdictor, or Heavy Assault Cruiser and on your way to Battleships or more. Finally – they’re cheap to fly and fit!

A.B. & C is your P.E. & C

Unless you’re from Jersey, or have Googled this at some point, you cannot possibly imagine the taste-bud tantalization of a Porkroll, Egg, and Cheese sandwich on a warm Kaiser roll. You may start your morning with a bacon, egg, and cheese or a sausage, egg and cheese – but there’s just no comparison.

The same analogy can be made between those of you who spend hours-upon-hours mining Veldspar in high sec or low sec compared to those who mine Arkonor, Bistot, Crokit in 0.0. First of all, you do not have to worry about can flippers in 0.0 since you’re most likely mining in a system that your alliance has sovereignty in. Nor do you have to worry about pirates as you would in low sec where the rocks are bigger. Your only concern in 0.0 are “neuts” – players who cruise through the system once in awhile who are not in your alliance or “set to blue”. The only other concern are the much more powerful rats – which also give you MUCH larger bounties. It’s not unheard of to collect 500,000-1,500,000 isk or more from a single rat.

If that’s not enough to convince you imagine your best haul mining Veldspar. Remember how excited you were to sell that ore, and make all that isk? Arkonor, Bistot, and Crokit pull in 3-4 times that amount per m3!! This makes it easy for you to pull in between 40,000,000 – 55,000,000 isk per hour varying on skills, ship and bonus’.

“The Garden State”

Ok, so if you’ve flown into Newark Airport in your life time, and looked out the window New Jersey probably gave you a very bad impression. Hey even Brad Pitt has had a pimple so Jersey is allowed to have Newark. We even have a prettier lady than Angelina – the Statue of Liberty. Yes it’s technically in New Jersey, not New York.

Anyway, if you’re an Industrial toon there is no better place than 0.0 to make your trade. Moon mining is a lot more profitable as the more expensive materials such as Hafnium, Promethium, Vanadium and Cadmium for the most part only exist in 0.0 moons. This is what you’ll be making T2 components out of to build large Capitol ships and more. Plus, you’ll find a greater demand from a wealthier clientele in 0.0 who are constantly losing ships, fittings, etc – and will need replacements. In addition, the profit margin is higher! Read on.

“The Bada Bing”

Every town needs that one place where you can go and with very little effort really just enjoy yourself. Though you may not find yourself getting a lap dance, you’ll definitely find a place to tuck your money away out in 0.0 – if you have a…head for the market.

If you can train up to fly a Blockade Runner (covert ops transport), and later Jump Freighters – you can make a killing in the 0.0 markets! Most alliances try to control the mark-up from Empire prices to 0.0 prices. Typically, the goal is to keep that mark-up at 20% or less. However, it’s not unheard of to have 100% mark-up or more in a time of high demand such as war. Price gouging is discouraged, and can often result in a penalty of being kicked from your corp, or having your corp removed from the alliance if you make a habit of it. But, it doesn’t take a “Tony” to figure out that you can make good isk just by transporting necessities like tracking computers, bubble launchers, battleship MWD’s, and more recently bombs for stealth bombers from empire to 0.0 markets. Even T2 drones can make a tidy profit!

Jersey vs. NY, Boston, and Philly

There are few things in Jersey that you can do or discuss that will get you popped in the face faster than telling the wrong person you’re a NY, Boston or Philly fan varying from sport-to-sport of course. Second biggest mistake would maybe to telling the wrong person you think that Springsteen or Bon Jovi suck if that person is over the age of 30. Though, the Bon Jovi dig may get more of a pass these days since he pissed off the returning troops recently by refusing to put on a concert for the returning NJ National Guard yet had no problem performing for the Governor.

This is your biggest, and really only major concern in 0.0 – politics and rivalries. It’s also the most confusing as the alliances that are your friends one week, may be your enemies the following week. Making politics in 0.0 about as stable as a teenage girl at a Jonas Brothers concert.

However, this constant turmoil and amorphous atmosphere is exactly what also makes 0.0 exciting! How boring would this game be if you weren’t constantly having to keep your eye on Local to make sure you’re not about to be ganked? Or always being on heightened alert to move at a moment’s notice to defend your home territory? 0.0 is the reason your ship has high slots, and what makes all those EVE YouTube video’s worth watching!

There are few things more exciting in this world than watching 250+ ships jumping into a system through a gate, while your 250+ alliance buddies are unloading on them. Calling out primary, secondary, and tertiary targets over Vent or TeamSpeak while you keep your fingers crossed, and hope the ship to your right, and the ship to your left fight as hard for you, as you do for them…and that it’s enough to keep you from collecting on another insurance policy.

So, my advice is this. If you can handle the increase in blood pressure that will go along with your increase in isk – it’s time to pick a side! Whether you want to hang onto Goons rising coat tails, help the once almighty BoB recover faster than Jeff Conaway, assist Ethereal Dawn and Intrepid Crossing in their never-ending struggle against their old Carebear rep, or be a pirate in disguise in RA – sign on the dotted line, and make a run into 0.0. Your life on EVE will never be the same!

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

In November 2008 EVE-Mag featured Jacob Mei’s An interview with E-Bank’s Ricdic.

In the aftermath of the previous EIB embezzlement scandal Ricdic was keen to make much of the auditing and controls in place at E-Bank which would limit the amount of ISK that any one player would be able to run off with.

Ricdic: We have very strict internal security procedures as was mentioned above. No one player has access to an amount of funding that could hurt the bank. I have access to the most in EBANK and generally even if I were to scam my yield would be approximately 130 billion isk (barely 10% of EBANK value). Most of our funds are tied up in investments, loans and subsidiary corporations that are secured by multiple members of staff.

Well as it turns out, just last month, Ricdic did exactly that. He took around 200 billion ISK of the money invested in the bank (said to be around 8% of the bank’s total assets held) and sold it for cash, reported to be GBP 3,115. Of course this is Real Money Trading (RMT) which is against the EULA and Ricdic has subsequently had his account banned.

This news made it onto non-EVE news websites and the news agency Reuters obtained a quote from the player, known only as Richard:

“I’m not proud of it at all, that’s why I didn’t brag about it,” Ricdic told Reuters. “But you know, if I had to do it again, I probably would’ve chosen the same path based on the same situation.”

He is reported to have used the money for medical bills and a deposit on a house.

So in a game already suffering from a distinct lack of trust among players I have to ask two questions.

1. Is this the final nail in the coffin for EVE banks?

   It certainly hasn’t done them any good – when somebody who had become a trusted figure in the EVE community takes advantage of his position to resolve some real life issues it is bound to bring many people to the conclusion that the safest place for their ISK is in their own wallet, even if it may not be the most rewarding.

   Having said that, despite the reported run of customers withdrawing their money, E-Bank is still trading and their online statistics are showing that they still have around 14,000 accounts holding in excess of 2 trillion ISK between them. This is, in my opinion, to the great credit of the players still there running E-Bank and could be reason enough to continue placing your trust in them.

2. Is it time for CCP to step in?

   It could be, but let’s be clear here, Ricdic’s account was banned for RMT and not for taking the money. CCP have always been clear on their position that they will not get involved in matters such as these. So we should not expect them to start taking action against scammers or embezzlers. However this kind of event is clearly damaging for the game and maybe there is now merit in the construction of some in-game mechanics for handling other people’s money. How this could be implemented I have no idea but I am of the opinion that this issue needs looking at.

Other calls are being made to try and restrict the proliferation of scams in EVE. In CrazyKinux’s Blog Banter #9 in which the question is asked “What mechanic would you like to see removed from EVE?”, Cozmik R5 calls for the removal of public contracts because of the ease with which they are used for scams.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

CrazyKinux charges EVE bloggers everywhere with the task of writing about the mechanic they’d most like to see removed from EVE. I’m not technically a blogger so I don’t expect to be considered for any of the prizes that are on offer but the topic intrigued me so I thought I’d throw my idea into the ring whether it is eligible for the competition or not. I expect a ton of submissions on the topics of sovereignty and local chat so I figured I go with something a bit lower key.

Welcome to the ninth installment of the EVE Blog Banter and its first contest, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

“Last month Ga’len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith “WebMandrill” Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?”

To kick off I ask the question: If such a thing existed in reality, what would a tractor beam know about a jetcan?

Ignoring the philosophical discussion of whether a piece of technology can “know” anything at all, personally I reckon that it can’t tell anything except that it’s an object that it can lock on to and apply it’s force to.

So why is it that when my alt, that is not in the same corp as my main, attempts to tractor over a can or wreck that is “owned” by my main, the tractor beam politely informs me that I can’t do that because it doesn’t belong to me?

How the hell does it know that? And more importantly why does it care?

In the real world we have many examples of technology that can enable you to break the law. Connected to my TV is a device that can record copyrighted programmes and films onto VHS tapes or DVDs. Not only that, I can also use it to copy a tape or DVD contained copyrighted material onto another DVD or tape. It lets me because the technology can also be used in a lawful way but more significantly because the company that made it didn’t break any laws in doing so. They merely pointed out to me that copyright laws exist and left it to me to act responsibly in it’s use.

Another example where the legality is much more blurred is with in-car radar detection devices which warn you of radar based speed cameras nearby. It is not illegal, at least not in the UK, to have a device “listening” to the radar frequency, only to actually receive a signal on it. This device doesn’t even really have a legal application, at least not in the form it is provided, yet the manufacturers broke no laws making it and possession of one is not illegal so they continue to be made.

Consider also the fact that, in the world of EVE, theft isn’t even really considered much of a crime. CONCORD will not respond to it and merely turn a blind eye for fifteen minutes while you take your revenge, should you so desire to. Add to this the fact that, with wrecks, whilst the contents may be considered to belong to the character that delivered the killing blow, the wreck itself is not, hence why you can salvage anybody’s wreck.

I can, however, see why CCP added this “legality detection” mechanic into tractor beams – it’s a sop to the jet can miners. As a part-time member of this group of EVE players I know all too well just how annoying it is to have your ore stolen and not have many realistic options of dealing with it in your mining barge. I can imagine the uproar that that would ensue if the ore thieves could just tractor your can out of your reach from 19kms away.

Despite the fact that I use jetcans to store my freshly mined ore, let’s throw the counter-point into the mix here: jet cans are not intended to be in-space secure storage for your ore. The somewhat inappropriately named “Giant” Secure Container is there for that purpose. Not only is it secure but you can anchor it against tractor beams too! The problem is with that misnomer – they are not giant at all. A Hulk pilot with decent skills will fill the 3,900m3 it provides in about 2-3 minutes making it pretty ineffective without at least two haulers at your disposal.

So CCP, how about a giant can that is actually giant? Even 10,000 m3 would be enough to allow your hauler to zip to the station and back. This would solve the problem to jetcan miners but how about missioners who already have to deal with ninja salvagers coming into their mission and taking their hard earned salvage. Well that one is simple, just make the wreck the property of the killing character, just as the contents are, thereby removing a legitimate gripe of many mission runners in the process. Then we can get rid of this crazy mechanic with absolutely no basis in reality.

This could also open up opportunities for a wider range of applications for tractor beams. How about trapping a pod to prevent it from escaping? Even more extreme could be the ability to scoop said pod to your cargohold although, on second thoughts, that is probably too extreme! With this you would be able to tractor a frigate inside the range of your battleship’s webber. You’ve sacrificed a high slot for something that may be of no use so there is give and take there.

So whilst exploring this line of thought, let’s point out that surely a tractor beam should exert pulling force at both ends of the “line” based on relative mass? Clearly a dreadnought isn’t going to budge if it tractors a frigate but try this round the other way. You’re only going to pull yourself closer to the dread, but then couldn’t that be used to create an additional speed boost through the slingshot effect?

Ooh, now here’s a wicked idea – how about a starbase tractor array? Sniper BS fleet? Not for long!

And right here a whole world of possibilities open up before us!

Have fun with whatever you happen to be doing and good luck to all the real bloggers with your entries which are all linked below for you to check out!

1. Diary of a Space Jockey, Blog Banter: BE GONE!
2. EVE Newb, (EVE) Remove You
3. Miner With Fangs, Blog Banter – It’s the Scotch
4. The Eden Explorer, Blog Banter: The Map! The Map!
5. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, “Beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, mushroom, MUSHROOM!!!”
6. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, Kill the Rats
7. Mercspector @ EVE, Scotty
8. EVE’s Weekend Warrior, EVE Blog Banter #9
9. A Merry Life and a Short One, Eve Blog Banter #9: Why Won’t You Die?
10. Into the unknown with gun and camera, Blog Banter – The Hokey Cokey
11. The Flightless Geek, EVE Blog Banter #9: Remove a Game Mechanic
12. Sweet Little Bad Girl, Blog Banter 9: Who is Nibbling at My House?
13. One Man and His Spaceship, Blog Banter 9: What could you do without?
14. Life in Low Sec, EVE Blog Banter #9: Stop Tarnishing My Halo
15. Cle Demaari: Citizen, Blog Banter #9: Training for all my men!
16. A Mule in EVE, He who giveth, also taketh away?
17. Dense Veldspar, Blog Banter 9
18. Morphisat’s Blog, Blog Banter #9 – Randomness Be Gone !
19. Facepalm’s Blog, EVE Blog Banter #9: What a new pilot could do without
20. Memoires of New Eden, You’re Fired
21. Kyle Langdon’s Journeys in EVE, EVE Blog Banter #9 Titans? What’s a Titan?
22. Achernar, The gates! The gates are down!
23. Speed Fairy, EVE Blog Banter #9: Down with Downtime!
24. I am Keith Neilson, EVE Blog Banter #9-F**K Da Police
25. Ripe Lacunae, The UI… Where do I begin… (Eve Blog Banter #9)
26. Clown Punchers, EvE Blogs: What game mechanic would you get rid of?
27. Estel Arador Corp Services, You’ve got mail
28. Epic Slant, Let Mom and Pop Play: EVE Blog Banter #9
29. Deaf Plasma’s EVE Musings, Blog Banter #9 – Removal of Anchoring Delay of POS modules
30. Podded Once Again, Blog Banter #9 – Do we really need to go AFK?
31. Postcards from EVE, 2009.07.02.00.29.06
32. Harbinger Zero, Blog Banter #9 – War Declarations & Sec Status
33. Warp Scrammed, Blog Banter 9 – Never Too Fast
34. Thoughts from an Accidental Minmatar Revolutionary, EVE Blog Banter #9 – Aggression timers, WTs and Stargates
35. Mike Azariah, I don’t put much stock in it…
36. Rettic’s Log, Blog Banter: Overview Overload
37. A Sebiestor Scholar, [OOC] EVE Blog Banter #9: Slaves
38. Diary of a pod pilot, [OOC] EVE blog banter #9: Because of Falcon
39. Roc’s Ramblings, Blog Banter #9 – Taking Things Slow
40. The Gaming-Griefer, EVE Sucks, But I Love It: The Memoir of a Masochist
41. Letrange’s EVE Blog, Blog Banter #9: Bye Bye Learning Skills
42. Lyietfinvar, Remove that monopoly
43. Sceadugenga, Blog Banter #9
44. Industrialist with Teeth, EVE Blog Banter #9

More articles as they are posted!

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

I’m sitting at around 6 weeks into Eve and I think I’ve finally figured out how I can generate a reasonable cash flow without a huge amount of boredom. Before I get any comments that say “that method is stupid” or “I can do better with my Tech 2 fitted Hulk in 20 minutes,” I’d like to remind everyone that this is an article is for us newbies. We’re those guys that over trained up to Minmatar battleships in the first week and fitted their first Tempest with railguns because “those are the best.” I kid of course but it must be understood that this is for the guys that still think 100 million ISK is a lot and need something interesting to do that doesn’t pose a significant threat to their ship or sanity.

Anyway, the method I’ve been using to generate a major source of my income is Salvaging and I’m not talking about 2 or 3 ships at a time. I’m talking about serious large scale salvaging of missions, in particular level 4 missions.

So how does a newbie get into a level 4 mission and even if a new player can get a level 4 mission how do they survive? This is where the benefits of being in a corporation pay off big time. The higher skill point individuals in my corporation have different priorities than I do. In several cases they need standings more then they need money, although they don’t mind the money! Since their priority is on standings they want to get as many missions done as they can and this means they need to do them quickly. Salvaging is not known for its speed and although a fair bit of ISK can be pulled in from the salvage, I’ve seen some players that just ignore it outright due to the time and relative boredom it entails. This is where we new players can find a niche. As a new player I have very little capability in terms of assisting with the mission in the traditional “pew pew” sense, but I can substantially speed up the ability of others to finish by taking care of the aftermath.

My recommendation is to work out a deal with your corp mates for the salvage. The nature of the deal will vary from person to person, but in general I’ve found that things can be worked out to the benefit of all parties. A few examples of deals I’ve worked recently:

1. You salvage it, you keep it. This is usually the most profitable deal. Everything I pick up I get to keep. I can make many millions of ISK off a mission. This can be nice sometimes but it doesn’t present you as much of a team player or show solidarity with the corp or much benefit to other members.
2. You salvage it, we split it. You don’t make as much ISK as method 1 but it’s probably a better option in the long run. If you’re saving the mission runner time and still providing them with fair portion of the loot then they’re much more likely to let you help again in the future, heck they might even ask you!
3. You salvage it, the corporation gets it. This typically occurs when several corp mates are involved with the mission. At first glance it seems like it stinks but in reality this is paying dividends that are difficult to quantify. It is helping you build trust with your corporation and it is providing ISK and supplies for corporate coffers. This is going to fast track a young member into a valued position within the corporation. Also, if word gets around that you’re a team player then corp members are more likely to throw assistance your way in the form of time, advice, ships, ISK etc… A senior player helping out us newbies can be priceless.
4. You salvage it, you make a flat rate per hour. This is a little risky for both sides. On the one hand it ensures a fixed amount of income for the salvager; however the actual payout may be worth less than the salvage. On the other hand the salvage may be worth less than the payout for the mission runner! This sounds suspiciously like a regular job and it pretty much is. My one experience with it got me around 10 million an hour for about 6 hours of work. I’m told I salvaged and looted around 100 million in gear but I can’t verify that for sure. It was a really long 6 hours but that money has gone a long way for me.

Obviously other deal possibilities exist. I’m just giving a few examples of things I’ve done in the past.

Becoming a salvager involves more than just getting a corp mate to drag you along on a high level mission. Actual skills and tools exist in game that allow for salvaging and improve your salvaging efficiency.

The most important tool is the Salvager itself. This should not be confused with the Civilian Salvager which is used in the tutorial missions. You must be able to use the Salvager I which requires Mechanics III, Survey III, Electronics I, and Salvaging I as a minimum. Once you can equip a salvager it acts a lot like a mining laser except you can only use it on ship wreckage. Target the wreck, get within 5,000 m and turn it on. The Salvager takes 10 seconds to cycle, at the end of which you will get one of four messages:

1. “You do not have enough skill to salvage this wreck.” – Get more salvage skill
2. “Your salvage attempt is unsuccessful.” – It will cycle again, be patient.
3. “Your Salvage attempt was successful.” – Awesome we got some loot!
4. “Your salvage attempt was successful; unfortunately there was nothing to salvage.” – Rats!

If you only have one salvager it takes a heck of a long time to salvage anything. I strongly recommend having at least 4 salvage lasers on your ship, maybe more depending on your other capabilities.

In my opinion the second most important thing to include on your salvaging ship is a Tractor Beam. One of the major inefficiencies in salvaging a mission is the fact that salvagers have such a short range and the wrecks are going to be scattered over a huge area, sometimes greater than 100 km. It’s a real pain in the neck to salvage one or two ships at a time, this can take a minute or more each. If you have 20 ships in one room that’s roughly 20 minutes of just trying to get the salvage, that’s not including transit time between the wrecks. The Tractor Beam can dramatically speed this up by turning your ship into a tugboat effectively. Tractor beams can pull cargo containers or wrecks toward your ship; the Tractor 1 has a velocity of 500 m/s and a range of 20 km. All you have to do is get within 20 km of a wreck, target it, and pull it toward you. You can even move toward other wrecks while you’re doing this. Once it’s within 5 km you can start salvaging. This was a massive increase in my efficiency. To use the tractor beam you must have Science level IV and that’s it. This is really nice because most players need the science skill anyway so this shouldn’t detract from your regularly scheduled training plan significantly.

Other items you might want to add to your ship are a Salvage Tackle Rig to increase the chance of getting salvage. This requires some skills which may not be in the long term plan for everyone. An Expanded Cargo Hold should be a high priority to minimize the number of trips back and forth to the local station. I also include an Afterburner to speed up my transit time between wrecks. Lastly a Cap Recharger is useful because the Tractor Beams and Salvagers eat my capacitor.

Since I’m Minmatar I’ve set myself up in a Thrasher due to the large number of high slots and fair number of medium to low slots. My actual setup is as follows:

4 Small Tractor I
4 Salvager I
1 MN Afterburner
2 Cap Recharger I
2 Expanded Cargohold II

Is this the ideal setup? No, but honestly I don’t have the skills to add the other items I want. Ideally I’d like to add/upgrade the following:

2 Cap recharger II
3 Salvage Tackle I

My current setup lets me tow and salvage 4 ships as I move between the wrecks. I pretty much never stop moving unless my cap runs out, which is sometimes a problem due to my low level of skill in Energy System Operations and Energy Management. Both of these will increase my capacitor recharge rate and capacitor size. These are necessary skills for pretty much everything in Eve and have been added to my training queue (thanks Ecaf!).

To me salvaging is about the same level of excitement as ratting. The only difference between a wreck and an NPC pirate is the lack of movement or danger from a wreck. To keep salvaging interesting I try to improve my efficiency in moving between the wrecks. I plan out routes based on the wreck placement trying to minimize my time, distance I travel, and number of large turns I make. This may seem sort of pointless, but it’s actually honing my skills as a pilot so it has some actual advantages. Instead of flying directly at a wreck and then doing a 180 to get to another one I try to fly within 19 km of a wreck, snag it with the tractor beam and then put myself on a route to within 19 km of another wreck, basically working around in a big circle. It’s very rare that I “align to” any of the wrecks; this process involves a lot of double clicking in empty space and estimation of distance on my tactical display. I’m hoping it’ll improve my interaction with the overview and the game. I think that might be another article…

It seems pretty clear that an individual a little more serious about salvaging could make this a great primary career. Obviously the Salvaging skill should be taken to level 5. This opens the door for the Salvager II, which has more range (6000 m) and a 2% better salvaging chance. Less obvious, but still very important are those Salvage Tackle Rigs which do require a lot to train; Armor Rigging I, Jury Rigging III, and Mechanic III. However, they have such an increase to salvaging chance that it becomes less of a waiting game for the salvager to finish and more of a speed game to get to the next wreck! One last really great recommendation is to use a bigger class of ship if it’s feasible. One recommendation on the Minmatar side is a Hurricane Battlecruiser. This thing still has the nice 8 high slots like the Thrasher along with 4 medium, 6 low, and 3 rig slots along with a nice big capacitor! It’s a +35 million ISK investment I think will be worth it, plus it’s an excuse to fly a Battlecruiser.

I hope this helps the other new players out there generate some ISK to put toward their true passion of PvP, Industry, or whatever floats their boat! Until next time, keep on learning!

Deibos

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With Apocrypha a fully new part of space was added to the eve universe. Pilots are now able to discover new depth of space – known as wormhole space (w-space). As the name implies it is reached via wormholes, which can be found all around New Eden. Besides all the facts and details you can read in patch notes there were many discussions about settlement in such systems. In this article I want to report some experiences we made in our wormhole venture, where we tried to settle down in the unknown.

Settlement
Directly after the patch we were looking for a system that seemed to fit for our corporation. Wormhole systems can be classified into different classes, from 1-6, where class 1 is the easiest and class 6 is the hardest. To start with we decided that a level 3 system would work in the beginning. When the first explorers entered the system we found a lot of anomalies and signatures of all kinds. As moon mining is not possible in unknown space, a moon was just randomly picked and our shiny medium tower was deployed there. Our first step was to bring some more covert ops pilots into the system, which would always be there to scan the actual wormholes and ensure that we did not lose the system. For our second move we brought in combat pilots to take care of the sleepers (the new NPC race in wormhole space). We started clearing the sites and after some initial trouble we developed a set-up as well as tactics to deal with the Sleepers. Players can easily find tactics and set-ups on the official EVE forum. Basically with good teamplay they can be beaten easily.

The first weeks
A daily task in the first few weeks was to scan the system to find all of the wormholes and signatures. This enabled pilots to move to empire space to get new ships and supplies. Besides some visits by other explorers, we also encountered groups of pirates looking for a kill. But by staying vigilant and continuously looking at the directional scanner and by keeping a scout on the wormholes we ensured quick intel which created safety for the pilots.

Another observation was that the number of anomalies and signatures seemed to
decrease. At the end it consolidated at about 3 signatures and one anomaly, where the signatures were mostly ladar or gravimetric and therefore mining sites. On the EVE-O forums there are a lot of threads talking about this phenomena. My explanation is a more mathematical rather then a “CCP has implemented this maliciously” one. Non-finished sites despawn after about 72 hours while finished sites respawn directly after they are done. Further sites are not necessarily respawning in the same system. That’s why they are gathering in systems with low or even no activity. On a point of view based out of one fixed active system it seems that the number of sites in this system is decreasing, while others are constantly filled. Which is correct (in numbers), but definitely not a result of CCPs implementation and only a side effect of POSes in system. The statistical distribution coupled with the timers leads to the effect that signatures gather in “unused” systems. Further combat sites are done fast while mining sites are often left. That gives the feeling that there exist many more mining sites than combat sites. We experienced that we constantly get new combat sites and anomalies in our system, but not five a day, instead only one or two new signatures per day.

Going deeper into unknown
After we got settled in the class 3 system and logistics were working, the explorers desire to get deeper into the unknown space and discover new untouched systems got stronger. We decided to equip a deep exploration gang with another tower and supplies for some days. Soon we found a class 4 system and decided to stay there. Early on the difference between both systems were obvious. The first system had always direct connection to known space, whereas the class 4 system had only a indirect connection. The overhead for scanning all the way to known space to move supplies and ships in was immense. Further, the same experience with number of signatures was made as in the other system we occupied. Of course, the sites were a lot harder and provided ambitious content but due to the fact of the logistical issues it was not worth it. The connections to New Eden were spread all over the place (for example, exits leaded to Delve, Providence, Metropolis, Great Wildlands or Geminate) and varied from 0.0 to empire space. That’s why we decided to take a step back, keep the class 3 system and just send deep space exploration gangs into deeper unknown space to take care of those systems.

Summary
So the main question remains: “Does it work and pay out having a POS in wormhole space?”. My answer is yes, but not for all corporations and all kinds of unknown systems. Settling in a class 3 system works for medium sized corporation,while large corporations will soon get bored as the number of sites is too small to have constant action. Further PvP capabilities are definitely needed if you want to be able to secure your system, as you will get visitors. Settling in systems deeper into wormhole space with no direct access to known space is pretty hard but doable. We decided not to do so, as logistical overhead kept too many members busy and left not enough time extensively farming the system. All in all the new content provides a lot of options for corporations not participating in sovereignty warfare.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

As of this writing I’ve been playing EvE for a whopping three weeks and I love it. Yes, I’m a complete newbie and I have no idea what’s going on most of the time but I am really enjoying the hell out of it.

EVEMag was one of the websites I found in my search for information regarding the optimization my character playing. Honestly, it wasn’t that much help. In fact, a lot of websites aren’t all that much help for the new player. You veteran players take for granted a lot of the stuff we really have no idea about, but that’s ok, this makes the game more realistic.

I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent guy. I’m an engineer by training and a teacher by trade; I’m no stranger to learning or to hard work. I’ve been playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) for well over 10 years; Ultima Online and World of Warcraft being the two most significant chapters. So why am I having so much trouble learning the ropes in EvE Online?

This game takes the “Massively” in MMORPG to another level. As the great Nigel Tufnel would say, “it goes to 11.” I honestly can’t believe the expanse of New Eden, the online activity, or the options presented to the player.

Now don’t get me wrong, the basic mechanics of the game are not super difficult to learn. The new player tutorials and three career agents at the beginning are really great and I strongly recommend them to anybody new to the game. I went ahead and did all three career agents since they were basically giving away free stuff and ISK. This gave me a lot of practice with moving from one system to another, NPC combat, the basics of mining, and the basics of industry. However, this isn’t what EvE is all about, these are just the tools used to play the game. It’s a big galaxy out there and it’s filled with a lot of different options.

The size of the galaxy and the freeform nature of the game make choosing a path a little bit overwhelming to the new player. It’s pretty difficult to pick a career when you don’t know which skills you need to be successful in said career. For example, in my first week I was just training whatever fit my fancy at the moment. Typical of a former WoW player I wanted results fast. I was generally picking skills that would train in under an hour so I could put another “skill complete” notch in my belt. All this resulted in was a waste of about 25% of my newbie training bonus. If you want to be a good player it’s really important to do a little research and find a career path you can focus on early. You can knock a lot of hard skills out of the way with that double training speed bonus in the beginning.

With all that said, you still have to be careful with that training! A career isn’t “I’m a dude who flies battlecruisers.” It’s really “I’m a dude who is good at flying battlecruisers.” I’ve found that EvE has a lot of “secondary skills” that support whatever your primary role in the game is. Being well trained in secondary skills separates the good players from the average players. How did I find this out? Well, after I determined that I could make decent money through mining or ratting and salvaging I started looking at the things I was going to be able to afford in the market. Specifically I looked at ships and I started at the top. Obviously Titan’s were out of the question but maybe a battlecruiser wasn’t. If I could grind up 30 million ISK I could afford a Hurricane and I’d be all set, right? Again my experience from previous games gave me the confidence that I could grind the cash by the time I was done training the prerequisites but I didn’t appreciate that those minimum prerequisites on the info tab were just that, the bare minimum skills needed! Sure, I might own a Hurricane but the first serious tangle I get in and *poof* all that work is for nothing.

Discovering this was a hard and nearly expensive lesson for me. It all started with something that I thought was a ship most newbies couldn’t afford or weren’t smart enough to get into quickly, a Minmatar Stabber. I took my awesome new ship to lowsec and started doing a little ratting on pirates with 500,000 ISK bounties. I knew they were my ticket to my battlecruiser. I had already calculated that I only needed 60 of them for the ship and maybe 20 more for the armaments, mostly guesswork but I’d sort out the details later. Anyway, I’m minding my own business working the pirates when all of a sudden the lights start flashing and my shields and armor start going into the red. Enter the first Player Pirate I’ve ever seen…. He “snuck” up on me, probably by flying in from 100 km when I wasn’t smart enough to keep an eye on the overview. By the time I knew he was there I had just enough time to try and warp away and I learned my second lesson for the day, this one was about warp scramblers. Needless to say I died a quick and noisy death.

This is the part where I know a lot of new players can get frustrated and sometimes quit. If you’re new and you’re reading this you should realize that player pirates are part of the danger of lowsec. People can and will kill you there for no reason other than the fun of it. This is called “risk vs. reward.” The reward for you is more bounty from better pirates or more money for better minerals. The risk is from bigger pirate NPCs and even pirate PCs who will kill you and probably take your stuff.

I ended up starting a conversation with the fellow that killed me and he turned out to be a really cool guy. I gave him some respect for the quick kill and for not podding me and he thanked me for not being a smack talking douche from highsec. He was the first other player I ever talked to and the 10 minute conversation we had cleared up a bunch of my questions. He even ended up giving me my stuff back AND more stuff on top of that without me even asking. Guess what, Pirates are people to!

His biggest piece of advice for me is the same I’m still following and the same I want any other newbies that end up reading this to take; join a player run corporation designed to help newbies. There are some pretty well established ones that are pretty big like Eve University or you can go to the eve-online.com forums and find groups in the recruitment forum.

I have to tell you, joining a player corporation has made all the difference in the world. They’ve helped me figure out the fittings that work on my ship, the type of career I’m best suited for based on what I wanted from the game, more efficient methods of earning ISK, and how to survive and thrive in lowsec.

Here is a summary of my advice to all the newbies that read this:

1. Do the new player career missions, yes all 3 agents. Hit F12 to get to the help and the select “Show Career Agents” near the bottom. This is going to give you a good handle on the basic mechanics of the game and give you a bunch of free skill books and ships.
2. Join a player run corporation as soon as you can. Find one that suits your personality and has members which are active in the game when you are. If you’re not engaged with them in conversation then you’re not going to learn much.
3. Try to focus on a particular career path. Learn the secondary (or support) skills needed to supplement that path so you’re good at what you do.
4. Have fun and don’t be afraid to talk to other players, even the ones that kill you. In my short few weeks of this game I’ve found the player base to be exceptionally mature and respectful. Maybe I’ve just been lucky or maybe the Barrens Chat in WoW has just really lowered the bar for me.

Until next time, keep on learning and have fun playing.

Deibos
Ultra Newb

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

by Ecaf Ersa

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

I slammed my hand down on top of the alarm clock.

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

The alarm clock flew to the floor.

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

“What the f…?”

I had been having a great dream and was very annoyed. I can’t remember what it was about now but I knew it had been a good one. Opening my eyes I saw the flashing light on the comm panel and realised my rude awakening had not been the alarm clock’s doing. Despite it’s recent cruel treatment at my hands it still dutifully informed me that the time was 03:42.

Through the sleepy haze I stabbed at the respond button, “WHAT?!”

“That is no way to answer the comm Ersa.”

Recognising Major Felps’ voice snapped my brain into gear. “Sorry Sir, you caught me in the middle of a good dream.”

“Well…for that you have my apologies Ersa.”

Major Felps was a good guy and a great officer – no, a great guy and an outstanding officer. He was the kind of officer that would have me instinctively reaching for the warp button after ordering me to send my freighter into a group of hostile battleships.

Socially he was a real riot and, outside of work, was referred to exclusively by his nick-name “Major Ding-Dong” which he had earned after having being seen naked in the shower. He was not the best looking guy on the station but could get nearly any woman he wanted into bed just by telling them how big his manhood was, which he was not at all shy about doing. This would usually result in anything from a shocked look to a witty put down and even occasionally a slap in the face but nine times out of ten their curiosity would get the better of them and we would see Ding-Dong heading for the bar door with the lady in question on his arm. Our well rehearsed salute to this would be the whole table shouting in unison “DING-DONG!! Time for bed!” – which we never grew tired of.

Felps continued, “Is your Recon flight ready Ersa?”

“Nothing I can’t fix in ten minutes Sir.”

“Good, be in my office in full flight gear in fifteen minutes.”

“Sir.”

The comm light went out and I hurriedly dressed.

*********************************

It only took me a few seconds analysing the scanner data to be sure. “Yes Major, it’s the same thing as I encountered yesterday in DY-P. Looks much bigger and more stable too.”

“Any way of telling where it goes?”

“Not that I can see. That information could possibly be in this data but if it is we don’t know how to decipher it yet. Sending a probe through it might tell us more.”

“Might?”

“Yes Sir, it all depends on where the other end comes out. The probe will need to be able to recognise stellar patterns to know where it is and be able to communicate back to us. For all we know it could get crushed into a microscopic dot before it even makes it through and we’d have no idea.”

“Hmm, that’s comforting to know.” said Felps in a matter-of-fact tone whilst appearing to intently examine the floor.

Looking up at me he continued, “So any volunteers to go in first and find out?”

I knew I was the only other person there but couldn’t stop myself from looking around the room. “I guess that will be me then Sir.”

“Good man. Fit your Recon out as best as you think and be in the briefing room at 04:30.” Free reign on fitting? – that was something new.

I snapped to attention and saluted “Sir!” before turning and marching out. Felps might have been Mr Social but in work you did everything by the book. It had only taken one of us to be fined three days wages after calling him Ding-Dong in the office to learn that you didn’t blur that line.

I quickly adjusted the fitting on my ship. Most of what I figured I might need was already on there, the obligatory covert ops cloak, a full probe launcher, as much of an armour tank as can be crammed in, my treasured Gallente Navy webber, a disruptor and a microwarpdrive. I opted for sensor dampeners seeing as survival was more important than kills but swapped out the energy vampires for a couple of medium railguns just in case. Four medium drones completed the set up before I rushed off to the briefing room.

The briefing revealed a total of ten ships of various types being mustered for the mission as well as three carriers and a dreadnought ready to be hot dropped in at a few seconds notice. I was very happy to see a still blurry-eyed Marakal taking a seat in the room. He was the only one there that would be bringing a battleship to the party. My “volunteering” for a potential suicide mission had earned me a place at the table with the officers and brought a silent “oooh” face from Marakal.

This was to be primarily an information gathering exercise but given that we had no clue what would be at the other end, or even where that would be, we had a very wide remit to do what we thought best in any given opportunity and as I was the scanner I was made FC. WOOT!

*********************************

The nerves began to creep in as I approached my Arazu “Nysm Nyd” but I stopped at the sound of quick footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Felps’ assistant Rashelle chasing after me. I’d been very shyly flirting with her for ages but hadn’t had the guts to ask her out yet. My heart began to race as it usually did whenever she came close. Damn she was beautiful.

“Come back please Ecaf” she said.

I thought at first she meant that the plan had changed but as I started to move back towards to the hangar door she leant in quickly and kissed me on the cheek. “Otherwise I’ll never get that dinner will I?” she said with a cheeky smirk and I realised she meant to come back from the mission.

I forgot my nerves for a few seconds and a big smile grew across my face. “Sure!” I responded and, now full of courage, I added, “Leave a light on for me.”

She just smiled coyly while twirling a lock of her long blonde hair around a finger. I took as long as possible closing the Recon’s hatch as she waved me off and at the last second before it sealed shut she blew me a kiss. Safely out of everyone’s sight I caught it and put it in my top pocket for safe keeping. It was bloody typical that I score just before a deadly mission into the unknown. We didn’t even know if our medical clones would function properly wherever it was we were going.

While the nine of us sitting outside the station waited for Marakal to buy replacement lasers for the ones he was for some reason missing, I examined our odd collection of ships. An official fleet wouldn’t usually comprise of such a variety. We had two frigates, a Rifter and a Maulus, two cruisers, a Vexor and a Blackbird, an Ishtar, a Sleipnir, a Myrmidon, my Arazu and Marakal’s still absent Apocalypse. I guess we covered most of the bases between us.

After another ten minutes had passed boredom began to creep in and I started having some fun abusing my FC comm channel permissions by cutting the middle out of peoples sentences. The resulting confusion was hilarious until everyone realised what I was doing. Within seconds I was webbed, scrammed, sensor damped, unable to target anything, my capacitor drained and my shields down to half.

We were cut short by Felps on the command channel, “What’s with the weapons fire Fleet Commander?”

I thought quickly, “Ah, just testing our set ups before we head into the unknown Sir.”

“Good idea but do it somewhere other than outside the station please.”

“Yes, sorry Sir. We’re done now in any case.” and as Marakal finally appeared I added, “Moving on to the wormhole now.”

“Align planet three.” After an appropriate pause I initiated fleet warp.

Ten ships all sharing a warp tunnel is always sight to behold, no matter how many times you’ve been there before, and I stopped contemplating the enormity of my task ahead to enjoy it. Marakal’s Apoc, with his signature crazy flames paint job, drifted in close then disappeared behind me as the tunnel collapsed and we shot out of it next to the wormhole.

Up till that point the fleet channel had been filled with lots of “La-la lala la-lah, Ecaf’s got a girlfriend.”, “Get bent”, “Up yours” and more of the usual general banter but now it fell silent as everyone except me took in their first sight of a wormhole. The pictures in the briefing room had been pretty but the real thing was simply awesome. Even I was somewhat taken aback as this must have been five times the size of the one I had found before, just a few minutes before it had fallen in on itself and disappeared.

I opened the fleet channel again. “OK guys, this is it, on the clock now, comms clear.”

I switched to the secure command line and reported that we had arrived and were commencing scanning. I fired off the deep space probe and took some initial readings from the wormhole. The data showed it was very stable and would take a significant amount of traffic. While relaying this to command I instructed the probe to move to the wormhole entrance. It was rather fortunate that the science boffins had recently discovered how to cram not only a simple ion drive onto these probes but remarkably a warpdrive as well, otherwise this would have been nearly impossible.

Energy began to crackle around the wormhole’s entrance then leapt across to the probe which simply disappeared.

“Erm….what happened there?” asked Marakal over the fleet channel.

“Comms clear please.” I responded calmly. I didn’t want to admit just yet that I didn’t know. I was getting no telemetry data from the probe and I wondered if my big break was going to be a washout. Then suddenly the data screens blazed alive as the probe reconnected with the ship’s computer and masses of data started pouring in.

“Command this is W-Squad FC. The probe is intact and sending data – routing it to you now.”

“Roger Fleet Commander. Give us your analysis as soon as you have it.”

It took a couple of minutes to extract the information I needed. Basically it was space just like any other bit of space but the probe had no clue where it was despite having the sum total of all technical data regarding all the stars in our known space. Nothing that it detected matched anything in it’s database – it did not recognise a single star.

Command’s analysis concurred with my own and I was given the order to proceed.

“Felder, connect to the deep space probe. I’ll contact you through that.”

“Roger Fleet Commander – Good luck Ecaf.”

A round of good luck messages came from the rest of W-Squad, except Marakal of course who instructed me to find the first bar I could and “get the beers in”. A private typed message appeared on my comm. It was from Felps and read “Major Ding-Dong wishes you the best of luck Ecaf. Fly safe.” I beamed at this previously unknown breach of protocol from a man I admired so much. I briefly considered the possibility of a promotion from this – if I could just make it back out alive.

I manoeuvred my ship toward the wormhole and when I got to around a kilometre away the same energy we had seen before crackled across the gap between the wormhole and my ship.

It appeared I was still alive so I opened my eyes again. Space looked pretty much the same here as it did everywhere. Checking my instruments revealed a standard solar system with four planets and six moons.

I reconnected to the probe and sent a message to Felder that I was alive and well and instructed the fleet to standby. After firing off several different probes I cloaked the Arazu and began to collate as much data from the system as I could.

A few minutes scanning satisfied me that I was alone and I sent another message to Felder to send the fleet through. Only he would remain behind to cover the wormhole entrance and to relay communications with command.

Within a few moments all eight of them had appeared around me and I opened the fleet channel, “Everyone bookmark the wormhole then find a safespot please. Make extra copies of your safespot bookmark for everyone.”

Once they had all reported back I ordered them all to warp to Marakal’s slow-boat battleship where we exchanged safespot bookmarks and established fallback plans and meeting points in case of various possible events. Leaving them there I returned to the wormhole cloaked so I could keep an eye on it while I used core probes to search out any signatures of interest.

I found a lot more than I had expected to and picked the one with the strongest signal. Having scanned the site down to the exact spot I warped in at a distance. I don’t know what I had expected but the sight of a complex of significantly sized structures was not high on my list of possibilities.

The structures looked industrial and although they were clearly not derelict there was not one single sign of movement or life. A place like this back home would be constantly buzzing with activity.

I related this development to the squad who all wanted to come and see it but I told them to stay put for now. I quickly put together a transmission package of scan data from the site and sent it to the deep space probe waiting patiently by the wormhole for Felder to send on to command.

For a while I flew around the buildings looking for some clue of what this place was for. The buildings were arranged in a rough, almost semi-circular, crescent moon shape with the larger structures concentrated in the centre and thinning out at the points. The whole complex was well over two hundred kilometres across. Getting nothing from the structures themselves I navigated towards the logical centre of the site.

Much became clear in the space of just a few seconds. The first unexpected event was the stars on my viewscreen suddenly moving downwards at speed and I instantly recognised that my ship had bounced off something that I hadn’t been able to see just a second before. This was followed quickly by my Arazu’s de-cloak alarm warning me I was visible.

Surprised into inaction for a second or two I sat momentarily confused as the ship attempted to return back to it’s previous course. The stars previously on the viewscreen had now disappeared, obscured by the vast expanse of metal less than a couple of kilometres in front of my ship, “Holy crap!!!” being the sole thought bouncing around inside my otherwise stunned and vacant brain.

The beeping of alarms and sudden appearance of multiple ship signatures on my overview dragged my mind rapidly back into focus and I quickly turned the Arazu around and flew toward open space. More ships poured from the structures and I frantically spammed the cloak button as lock-attempt warnings flashed all over my screen. Thankfully I disappeared again before any of the locks completed. Adjusting course slightly to head straight toward a planet that was mercifully close to my alignment, I had a few seconds to view the gigantic, newly found object as the alien ships swarmed toward my position. The closest was just a few kilometres away when the stars stretched out into lines and I warped the hell out of there.

The pounding of my heart drowned everything else out including my own voice rapidly repeating the single word “SHIT!” Slowly I edged back to reality and what I had seen began to form into a single coherent word – “SHIP!”. The configuration was nothing like anything I had ever seen before but it was easily as big as any titan we had. No, it had to be bigger, much bigger. I’d never before faced a titan without having one of our own plus hundreds of other ships in the fleet and never while I was in charge. My pulse rate raced upward again as I fought to control my panic.

*********************************

“Ecaf…you found that bar yet?……Ecaf…….Ecaf…….FACE!” Even Marakal’s impatient use of my nickname failed to penetrate the terror that gripped my mind like a slaver hound’s jaws on it’s victim’s neck.

“Ecaf…if you don’t respond I’ll have to assume command and take the fleet home without you.” Gorden was designated second-in-command but even this threat to my command didn’t drag me into focus.

“Come back please Ecaf.” Rashelle’s silky tones soothed their way into my head and I calmed down enough to take back some semblance of self-control.

“Comms clear…I won’t say it again. Safespot seven NOW…please.” As if disconnected from my own body I watched my fingers though a haze as they trembled over the controls. “Come on Ersa… get a grip!” By the time I arrived, last of everyone after even Marakal’s battleship, I had the situation clear in my head.

I quickly told them what I had found but had to shout down the babble of questions from everyone. “SHUT UP!!!…They could be listening. Nobody says anything from hereon in – use broadcasts if you need to alert me to something.”

I had been packaging what little data I had of the new ship and sent the transmission to the probe. Aura answered “Unable to connect.”

“WHAT?!…Shut it bitch!” I tried again but got the same result. I had been resolving myself to the task of returning to the site to gather more data but now I had a new problem. I kept this piece of information to myself for now and after broadcasting “Hold position” I warped to fifty kilometres of the wormhole, cloaking mid-warp, but arrived to find nothing. I checked my position – exactly fifty kilometres from my bookmark. “Where the hell is the probe?… Where the hell is the wormhole?…Shit!”

“OK Ecaf…keep calm…think……..right…it’s simple…get more data…make as much distance as you can from all this…scan for a new wormhole…get home…report in…be the hero…take Rashelle out to dinner…take Rashelle to bed…live happily ever after……yeah right…piece of cake!”

Buzzzzz….buzzzzz – the de-cloak alarm again. One of the alien ships had somehow sneaked up on top of me and I was being rapidly locked. With no time to run I locked back and activated all my weapons and warp disruptor while setting an orbit course. The alien ship was roughly the same size as mine but couldn’t keep up with my microwarpdrive enhanced speed so I kept the range I wanted and had good time to analyse the ship. I could recognise features but the technology was quite different, even the material it was made from was unknown to me.

Thankfully it’s turrets couldn’t keep track on me either and I was only taking random hits which my shield easily coped with. Launching my drones at him finished the job off and I rejoiced in the explosion. I was a little surprised to see a pod emerge from the wreck so I failed to lock it before it disappeared. Though why should a pod be surprising? We’d seen near identical technology develop independently in more than one place before. Unless…the two technologies had a common ancestor. This thought worried me a little though I wasn’t sure why.

Bolstered by a nice kill I was back in the zone again and warped back to the complex at a distance, cloaked of course. Some pilots bitched at cloaking ships claiming it was unfair – but bollocks – all is fair in love and war and if it keeps me alive then I’m going to use it. And besides there’s nothing stopping anyone from using them.

Things were now much more like I would expect, a mass of bustle and activity. Hoards of ships flitted here and there, mostly concentrated around the “titan” (for want of a better word) but also many combat vessels patrolling the perimeter. Only now I noticed that the ship was unfinished, although not by much. This site was clearly a mega-shipyard, probably, hopefully, built just for this one ship.

I sat and observed the proceedings for a while, manoeuvring just a few times to keep clear of the roaming sentry ships. After about ten minutes all the ships that had been scurrying around the colossal ship, like tiny shrimp on a giant whale, moved away and huddled next to the structures. A little concerned at this I backed away too. Nothing moved for a few more minutes until an almost microscopic movement in the corner of my viewscreen caught my eye. I watched as two alien pods emerged from the central structure, lost in the vastness of the place. They made their way quickly to a neighbouring structure where several seemingly inactive but identical ships were clustered together. The two pods each disappeared inside one of these ships which then came alive and moved out into the centre underneath the titan.

As they came close, one almost right at the front and the other roughly in the centre, hatches opened and the two ships disappeared into the belly of the great beast, the hatches closing smoothly behind them. Not many seconds later the ship became animated. Plumes of fire, steam and smoke ejected from various points around it and my data screens started showing massive energy spikes coming from the mighty vessel.

I quickly identified two distinct energy signatures, one of which correlated very closely with the energy we had analysed from the wormholes. The other was new but bore many similar characteristics to readings I had seen on doomsday device scan data. My fear that this ship could only have one possible purpose solidified into fact.

I worried that the devices might be set off but I was further away from the titan than the structures and other alien ships were, so I sat tight and waited to see what would happen. By now I knew we had no choice but to somehow try and destroy this ship before it could be unleashed. I had no proof it would be heading to my home but that was a chance I didn’t want to take, and even if it first went elsewhere in my galaxy, would we be able to stop it once it was in full swing? The best chance was now, before it was completed, and I put my mind to thinking up a plan. But how could we achieve such a daunting feat with a handful of ships not suited to the task?

As I prepared to return to the fleet, the energy spikes dropped back down and the beast went back to sleep. I delayed warping as I watched the hatches open again and the two ships re-emerge to repeat their previous journeys in reverse.

A new idea began to form in my mind – an idea more crazy than the whole concept of crazy itself.

*********************************

“You’re fucking insane Ecaf!” shrieked Marakal uncharacteristically, “You have no proof any of this will work!”

“Give me a better idea mate and we’ll do that instead.” I answered sombrely.

There was no response.

“We’re on our own here boys…I can’t, and won’t, make any of you do this. If anyone wants to go off and take their own chances then good luck. But I’m going in with this plan even if I’m on my own.” I’d always pictured myself draped in glory but I’d never gone as far as considering martyrdom before – I was too fond of life. Yet here I was, in all probability signing away my immortal life on a slim chance that I could save the galaxy from something it didn’t yet know existed. Worse than that, even if I succeeded they’d probably never even know I had done it. What a way to go – but the futility of it all somehow spurred me on – too many drunken nights watching action holo-reels I expect.

“OK dude,” came Marakal’s quavering voice over the fleet channel, “You’re a crazy bastard but I’ll follow you to our collective graves. You’re going to need a BS to have the remotest chance of pulling this off.”

Seven more responses came one at a time, some more enthusiastic than others, but all in the affirmative.

After hammering out the last details of the plan, we assembled at safespot two which gave us the best angle of warp into the crescent shape. We said our farewells, some on the verge of tears but I had a grim determination about me now. I wished I could have one last beer before my doom overtook me but, alas, I had neglected to bring any. Then I suddenly remembered boarding my ship and my mood lightened a touch as I put my hand in my breast pocket and retreived the “kiss” from Rashelle that I had stowed there. I pictured her face as I touched my fingers gently to my lips. It was the best I would get now.

I couldn’t enjoy our shared warp tunnel this time. I was too fixed on what I had to do. Against my whole Gallentean upbringing I decided to pray. Not because I was about to die but just in case there was a god out there who could bless this suicidal quest and make the assumptions that our slender chance of success relied on turn out to be fact.

*********************************

I could only watch helplessly as Gorden’s Myrmidon and Pauli’s Vexor disintegrated and their pods blown into spacedust. Samethi’s Blackbird and Zurgu’s Maulus had both done well to keep the alien ships off for as long as possible but now they were gone too. Asketh’s Ishtar had survived remarkably well, taking out dozens of the smaller ships before finally succumbing under the weight of the enemy.

Just four of us remained. Marakal’s Apocalypse was completely obscured by swarms of alien battleships as he sent barrage after barrage of hybrid salvos into the unfinished section right at the rear end of the titan. As we had planned he was attracting the most attention from the aliens. His structure had taken a severe battering and he was barely being kept alive by Jordi’s Sleipnir which was also suffering badly under the onslaught of so many ships. We needed the Sleip for just a little longer and again I prayed that this could be so.

As I neared my objective on the other side of the titan I called to Jaxsen still waiting at safespot two in his Rifter and he confirmed “on my way” a few seconds before he dropped out of warp on top of me, uncloaking me in the process. Saved me from doing it myself I guess. We both ejected our pods and closed the last few metres to the only ships left silent, the ships that had earlier docked with the beast. I crossed my fingers and instructed my pod to board the closest ship. Damn! It was working! As my neural jack interfaced with the ship I became overwhelmed with alien symbols and had to fight to make any sense of it.

Slowly I began to recognise patterns of data and worked out how to get the ship moving. Nobody had noticed us yet but none of the other ships were moving. I hadn’t seen which one Jaxsen had boarded and couldn’t work out how to communicate with him. I didn’t have time to wait for him and carried on across the void towards the head of the beast. I started to make sense of the data I was getting and the picture around me became gradually clearer. I anxiously watched for Jaxsen to start moving but nothing stirred. The aliens seemed to be ignoring me, probably assuming I was on their side. “Yes, yes, I am on your side…move along…nothing to see here.”

An explosion erupted from within the mass of alien ships and I knew this meant the Apoc was no more, but I noticed a pod moving swiftly away and prayed that Marakal had ejected and escaped in the confusion before his ship had gone. Immediately Jordi became the focus of the alien’s attention and it was his turn to disappear inside a cloud of red. The pod that I hoped was Marakal was evading attention and moving toward the silent ships. Then my luck ran out and I turned my focus to the alien frigates which were closing in and starting to target me. Jordi also targeted me now and began turning his repair systems to my aid but surely he couldn’t last much longer.

My alien ship was just holding together as I approached underneath the front of the titan. I wondered how I would get in and just tried a “board ship” command. Logical I figured and sure enough the hatch started to slide open. It seemed I was doing the right thing because suddenly the Sleipnir reappeared again as every alien ship decided I was enemy number one. But they were too late – I was nearly inside the beast.

“Damn dude, you took your time getting that thing going.” came Marakal’s voice in my head and turning my attention aft I just glimpsed an alien ship docking in the rear hatch marginally ahead of mine.

I laughed for the first time in what seemed like forever and our fallen comrades were briefly forgotten as I instinctively quipped back, “Well you always were the languages man. If only you could add two numbers in your head you’d be a genius!”

“Haha, touché! Now, let’s get this party really going…with a great big bang!” I could imagine the grin that would surely have accompanied that sentence.

As the hatch slid shut below me my mind became suddenly stunned with a concept so large my brain struggled to comprehend it. The universe was trying to enter my brain all at once and I felt tiny…microscopic…infinitely insignificant against the backdrop of all of existence.

I was being to drown under it all when “WHAO! What a rush!” and I was back again, Marakal’s voice echoing through my head, anchoring me to reality and my pod, barely bigger than me.

I struggled to get any words to form “Nnnnn….how…did..you.cope with that so easily man?”

“Damn dude, didn’t you do X when you were a kid?” I knew he was referring to the highly illegal mind-bending drug X-Instinct.

“Erm..no.” I almost felt ashamed of my staid years at university studying away diligently while everyone else around me was off their heads.

“Much the same feeling. Are you with me? Jeez this is a damn awesome ship!” He was babbling a bit now.

“Errr..Ecaf…sod self-destructing the ship…we can take this home!”

“What!?!” was all I could manage finally adding, “How?”

“We can make wormholes!”

“Erm…we can?…well…that’s good…I think…carry on then.”

“Roger Fleet Commander. But first, if you don’t mind, I’m going to set off this über-doomsday device!”

“Erm…OK…good idea…proceed!”

Within less than a minute an enormous blast of energy radiated out from our newly acquired ship, majestically sweeping most of the giant structures with it, leaving strands of twisted girders spiralling jaggedly off into the distance. The alien data streaming into my head from the eruption of energy had made a beautiful pattern and I felt the secrets of the universe’s energy unlocking themselves in my mind, as if they had always been there, hidden away in the darkest recesses.

A large number of the alien ships had stopped trying to destroy their own ship and warped off when they realised what was going to happen but they now returned and resumed their vain assault. I felt hope for the first time since I first saw this beast but regardless of the final outcome I was unashamedly proud of how far we had got and what we had already achieved.

I could sense large amounts of energy accumulating within the ship again but this was different to the last time. I excitedly realised this was going to be a wormhole and sure enough seconds later space began to warp and distort a few kilometres away to our right. There was a rushing sensation as if atmosphere had unexpectedly found its way into a vacuum, then the distortion erupted outward leaving behind a shiny new wormhole.

“Right your turn Ecaf…get this giant lump to that wormhole.”

My grasp of the alien technology was forming nicely now and the huge beast began to turn, agonisingly slowly, toward our road home. “Couldn’t you have made it in front of us?” I jokingly chastised Marakal.

“Pfft…the cheek!” was his response to that, thankfully picking up on the joke.

“Good work though mate. Well done.” It might have been my plan but he had made it work and, assuming we made it back, I would make sure he got the credit.

After what seemed like an age we made it to the wormhole with the alien ships still pounding away at us. I’ll never complain about a freighter again. Marakal spoke again, “They know where to hit us dude, some critical systems are going offline. I made the wormhole as big as I could but I don’t think it will survive this much mass. Fingers crossed we make it through.”

The energy from the wormhole surrounded our titan and the mouth opened up, sucking us inside. As we barrelled through the tunnel I noticed many ships following behind us but one was giving off very different energy patterns to the rest. I jubilantly recognised Jordi in his rather battered Sleipnir racing up next to us but I could also see the wormhole collapsing in on itself getting closer and ever closer.

The alien ships bringing up the rear span madly out of control before falling into the oblivion of the collapsing wormhole. A strange pain began to form in my head as the collapse caught up with the rear of the titan and our smooth transit quickly turned violently turbulent. I shared the ship’s pain as it began to twist and writhe under the cosmic stresses. The last thing I was conscious of was a feeling very much like when my ship disintegrates under fire automatically ejecting my pod, but there was something else too – a sense of abject loss, as if I was missing a limb.

*********************************

“You have both suffered some neural damage but exclusively in certain specific memory engrams. Nothing you won’t recover from in time.”

*********************************

“Please come back to me Ecaf.”

*********************************

“Oi!….Dude!…There’s a cold beer here…if you ever come round.”

My eyes opened. Strip lighting. Plastic ceiling tiles.

“Finally!!…Here quick…before the nurse comes back.”

I turned my head toward the voice. Marakal was grinning inanely, as usual, from the bed next to mine, but more interestingly was waving a bottle at me. I tried to lean across but my body didn’t want to respond and the attempt was feeble. He leant in closer and closed the remaining gap between my hand and the bottle which I finally managed to grab. I stayed there just long enough to hear the familiar clink of glass on glass before slumping back into the comfy, welcoming embrace of the clean, crisp bedsheets. Lifting my head a fraction I poured the beer into my open mouth. Shame most of it missed.

“Great man! Well done! The nurse isn’t going to miss that! Neck it quick, we’ve got four more each to finish before she comes back and confiscates them.”

“Oh…by the way dude, we’re fucking heros…and Rashelle just left your bedside for the first time in days…that’s some bladder control she has…I reckon you’re well in there mate.”

He raised his bottle and winked before sinking the remaining contents and grabbing another one. I settled my head back on the pillow and, forgetting all about the beer, smiled the biggest smile of my life. At last…a hero.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Our goal is to build up the arsenal of Rookie PVPers, starting with Frigates and working up to larger classes of ships, to help ease the growing pains of PVP as much as possible. While we acknowledge the fact that many sites offer “setups” or “configurations” it is through my personal experience that such sites rarely have content suitable for lower SP players. When one can find a low SP requirement setup it is rarely “Rookie”friendly or to be more specific, friendly to their wallet.

We wish to help change the common misperception that PVP is out of reach of new players. We also wish to show that PVP is not only about T2 fitted Battleships, HACs and Recons but also includes Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers. By creating and publishing setups which are sturdy,effective and easy to afford we hope to encourage this change. Rookies will soon find that getting kills does not start at 30,000,000 SP or two billion isk. Instead they will learn that they can easily afford to PVP. That even with 1.6mil SP a Rookie can easily contribute to fleet operations within their Corporation or Faction.

By blunting the edge of defeat and empowering PVP Rookies with knowledge we hope to tempt them from the safety and boredom that is the hangar. We believe that once a player gets a taste for PVP they will start to resemble a shark that detects blood in the ocean. To help create a desire, a frenzy and “appetite for destructi

on” is the ultimate goal of this feature. So forget what you have been told before about your inability to PVP and start the revolution within as you help leave a wake of destruction with your fleetmates!

Let us begin……

Race: Caldari

Class: Frigate

Hull: Merlin

The Merlin is the heavy hitter of the Caldari’s Frigate class ships. With its bonuses to shield resistance and hybrid optimal range this ship can take a beating most frigates could not hope to withstand, all the while fighting outside of web range. This is particularly useful for newer players that find themselves in a fleet taking on larger ships where maneuverability and speed are the key to surviving a firefight. As with all Frigates, once they lose their speed and maneuverability advantage against larger ships, they become nothing more then sitting ducks. With its small size and heavy resists the Merlin can prove to be a frustrating target for Cruisers and larger.

The bonuses of the Merlin are bound to be most attractive to 2 types of players. First off would be the Rookie pilots looking to bring some DPS to the fight or for those to nervous to rush headlong at another ship in as a dedicated “Tackler”. The other type of Pod Pilot the Merlin seems almost custom made for would be the aspiring Fleet Commander,or “FC” for short, participating in Faction Warfare. Both types of pilots would find the built in tank of the Merlin comforting, allowing both to keep their cool during a fight. The endurance of a fully fitted Merlin will give the Rookies extra time under fire, something that will eventually help remove some of the edge off of the adrenaline rush you can only find in EVE PVP, which is far from propaganda churned out to entice new players. The aspiring Commanders will gain additional time to lead his fleet of Frigates as he leaves fleet mates to server as tacklers while he provides supporting fire from range.

While the DPS of the Merlin is in fact lower, on average, when compared to other heavy Frigates of other factions, its range helps balance it out. The range allows the Merlin to engage most targets at warp gates and warp in points to FW complexes without having to close or camp a position. This allows the Merlin to forgo Afterburners and MWDs and invest the additional slot as well the PG/CPU into its tank and weapons. In EVE PVP a lot of players will take high damage per second versus range and average DPS. One thing Caldari pilots must remember is that not all fights are within 5km and with a web you can negate the speed the other player needs to close to their effective range. While they struggle to close you are continuously firing away, slowly ripping them apart, completely unopposed.

The Merlin’s mix of missiles and turret slots allows for flexibility in range and damage output. This helps to reduce the difference in DPS between the Merlin and other Frigates. While this can lead to shorter range set-ups using a mix of rockets and blasters, I feel the longer range configurations along with the durability of its tank will allow the Merlin to deal more damage over time. The range will also augment the tank as it allows the pilot to stay outside of the range of webifiers, smart bombs, medium neutralizers as well as NOS which can quickly mean the end for any Frigate. It is this overall flexibility that causes many players to doubt it, instead opting for faster, higher DPS Frigates as they are easier to understand. However a smart pilot should always take into account the possibilities a ship can offer before relegating it to the darkest corners of one’s hangar.

Configurations:

Setup: Standard fleet Merlin

Highs:
2x Standard Light Launchers
2x 125mm Railguns

Mids:
Small Shield Extender
Small Shield Booster
Warp Disruptor
Target Painter

Lows:
Damage Control 1
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 2710
Damage Per Second: 24
Capacitor Endurance: 34 seconds

Pros:

The standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for either new players to the game or to the PVP side of EVE. The Merlin’s resists in this configuration are supplemented by a shield extender and booster to help repair any damage taken during a fight. It’s Warp Disruptor allows it to help the fleet tackle any war targets they encounter and with the quick lock on time of a frigate. While it is not a dedicated “Tackler” every “point” helps in a fleet battle, be it a 5 on 5 or 100 on 100 fight, an additional “point” helps ensure that targets are unable to leave the fight. Rounding out the Mid slots is a Target Painter. The Target Painter is especially useful in a Caldari fleet as missile launchers gain the biggest benefits from a “TP”. The Fleet Merlin has exceptional range for a Frigate, striking out to an effective range of 24km allowing it to put fire on any target within seconds in most combat situations.

Cons:

The Merlin, again, is the heaviest of the Caldari Frigates and its emphasis is on tanking as opposed to speed. This makes the Merlin a slug against opposing Frigates. Due to the lack of a Stasis Webifier it cannot attempt to control the speed of hostile ships. This means fast, short range, high dps Frigates are bound to close quickly and stress the Merlin’s tank shortly. This will also lead to tracking issues against fast targets at short range. Also the Target Painter does not do much for the Merlin itself. Overall this setup is not recommended for roaming solo or in a gang that does not have enough Tacklers to keep short range Frigates from closing with the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for those looking to participate in PVP as part of a fleet. This makes it a great setup for those participating in Faction Warfare where fleets typically have a range of ship classes working together. The Merlin will be able to fire upon most targets before the bulk of the fleet and will help pin down a hostile ship. It also makes it an easy mark for his missile using fleetmates with its Target Painter. While the Merlin is still slow for a Frigate it was not designed to serve as a dedicated Tackler however it help bolster a fleets tackling ability. In the end the Fleet Merlin helps its friends in ways faster, short ranged Frigates rarely can.

Most new players will find that their Level 1 mission agents will hand out frigates as rewards making replacements relatively easy. Most players will find most of the mods during their missions further easing the pain of replacing combat losses. While the Merlin is not going to be putting out huge DPS it helps new PVP pilots gain experience in working as part of a fleet. The Target Painter and “point”, a “point” being a Scramber or Disruptor, gets the Rookie thinking about setups that are not pure tank or pure gank. Instead they will begin thinking about how to fit to help the whole instead of only themselves. I am sure that most FCs will agree with the concept of the setup even though they may have differences of opinion on weapons or speed. In the end the standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter PVP ship from which players can then branch out and explore the other areas of PVP all while starting strong in the mindset of working as part of a fleet.

Setup: Buffer Merlin  ::EDITED::

Highs:
2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launcher
2x 125mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:
Medium Suborbinate Screen Stabalizer (Medium Shield Extender)

2x Invulnerabilty Field Sheild Hardeners

Prototype Sensor booster (scan resolution script)

Lows:
2x Micro Auxiliary Power Core

Effective HP: 5071
Damage Per Second: 25 with Iron hybrid rounds, 39 with Anti-matter
Capacitor Endurance: 1 minutes, 6 seconds

Pros:

While slightly different then your basic Merlin setup this configuration focuses on defenses which will allow the pilot to endure more punishment then normal. This is effective for plexing in FW where even a few seconds more can mean success or failure. The weapons load allows the pilot to strike at range, something that is useful for taking down plex rats while still being able to support your tacklers holding the warp-in point at a moment’s notice. As the enemies start to close in the pilot can swap the Iron Hybrid rounds for Anti-Matter rounds, increasing his DPS.

Cons:

This setup does not look to remedy what some would consider the problems with the Merlin. Without a Micro Warp Drive or Afterburner this configuration is still a slug. It also lacks a web and “point”. This means the Merlin pilot is unable to contribute to the fleet’s ability to tackle.

Conclusion

This config clearly needs to work as part of a fleet as it is unable to tackle its own targets. While useful in a fast roaming fleet made up of Frigates and Destroyers due to its range, DPS and tank it is the wrong configuration to bring to a fleet with larger ships. In mixed fleets, all Frigates should be equipped with at least a Warp Jammer or Disruptor due to their lock on speed when compared to Cruisers and larger. This configuration is also great for Faction Warfare “plexing” where its range can help pick off rats while being in effective range to support Tacklers quickly.

Edit Notes: The Buffer Merlin setup previously posted was a prototype for the configuration and stored in EFT under the same name. The revised Buffer Merlin is the configuration that I have used many times while a part of the Amarr Militia in 2008. For those that did not see the incorrect set up the difference was primarily in the midslots. Its effective hitpoints went from 2.6  to 5,071. Also its DPS went from 16/20 to 25/39 (Iron/Anti-Matter).

Setup: The Berlin(short range Tackler)

Highs:
2x Light Ion Blasters
2x Rocket launchers

Mids:
1MN Micro warp drive
Stasis webifier
Warp Scrambler
Small shield extender

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Power Core
Overdrive Injector

Effective HP: 1792
Damage Per Second: 35
Capacitor Endurance: 48 seconds

Pros:

The Ion Blasters and Rocket Launchers give this Merlin configuration greater punch then the typical weapon load out. The Merlin can make for a great tackler against larger targets, especially post QR due to its small signature radius. The small signature radius backed with the shield resist bonus will help ensure the Merlin’s survival. The Microwarp could be replaced with an Afterburner which will reduce the strain on the capacitor but reduce its top speed.The Warp Scrambler backed by a Stasis-Webifier will turn most PVP ships into sitting ducks waiting to be ripped apart by the Merlin’s fleetmates.
Suggestion: If the pilot is feeling confident they could drop the small shield extender and fit a Sensor Booster with a Scan Resolution Script to increase the Berlin’s chance of catching hostile ships before they warp off.

Cons:

The Merlin is the largest of the Caldari frigs designed with damage and resistance in mind making it a ranged fighter. When facing other Frigates a player will quickly realize that lighter designs have the advantage of speed which can be frustrating if the target is attempting to flee. The Merlin should only be used to tackle ships larger then itself as it will need more time to lock and close with the target then lighter Frigates such as the Condor.

Conclusion:

The “Berlin” configuration attempts to address some of the problems with most Merlin setups, that is speed, tackle and DPS. While the Berlin can close with targets and deliver higher levels of damage when compared to setups with light missiles and rails, it puts the pilot within range of Scramblers as well as Webs. Both will rob the ship of its speed leaving it unable to close meaning it will not be able to deal damage. In spite of this it allows a Caldari pilot to serve as a short ranged Tackler for mixed ship class fleets. They will be able to deal higher levels of damage then normal while helping their fleet lock down targets and hopefully bag additional kill mails. In the end this config is best used as a durable tackler for a mixed fleet or as part of a fleet of fast ships where its MWD allows it to keep up with running battles.

The Capacitor is limited when all mods are in use so the pilot must take care to monitor its level. The pilot should always give his Scrambler and Webifier priority over weapons fire. A tackler is useless if it cannot do its job! When necessary, shut off the blasters and stick to your rockets and tackling gear. The Micro-Warpdrive should be used when closing with the target and shut off within scram range as the drain on the cap and increase in signature radius will work against you by making you a bigger target for hostile ships.

Setup: BloodSucker!

Highs:
2x Small Nosferatu
2x Small Rudimentary Energy Destabalizers (small energy destabalizer)

Mids:
Initiated Warp Disruptor
Stasis Webifier
Small Converse Deflection Catalyzer (small shield booster)

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Powercore
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 1480
Damage Per Second: 0
Capacitor Endurance: Negligible

Pros:

The “BloodSucker” is based upon an encounter I had recently with a hostile Merlin pilot in FW. I was in a Moa thinking I had an easy kill in front of me but I was in for a surprise. This configuration is what I believe the pilot was flying. Due to its small size and ability to tackle backed with a boost in speed,thanks to an Afterburner, the Merlin was able to slip under my effective range with my medium rails making it extremely hard to hit. The shots that did land were reduced by the Merlin’s natural resistances. Once I had fired the Merlin proceeded to tackle me and begin draining my capacitor. Any damage I had inflicted was soon repaired. I was left there kind of embarrassed as I was unable to keep my tank online while firing at this little nugget that was unable to kill me. Thankfully he didn’t have friends with him.

Cons:

While the pilot that I encountered mounted a rocket launcher, it did virtually nothing as my natural regeneration exceeded his damage output. The fight ended as a stalemate as we had a good laugh in local and decided to disengage. The pilot had mentioned that he was able to beat other Frigates using the setup but mounting a single rocket launcher. Against Cruisers and above, the DPS of the launcher is going to prove useless. The cons of the above configuration is that you will be unable to deal any damage, leaving that role to your fleet mates. While he left my Moa unable to use most of it’s guns throughout the fight a ship with light drones would still pose a serious threat to the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The BloodSucker proved to be a nasty surprise. A surprise that would have allowed a hostile Cruiser to rip apart my Moa with out effort due to the capacitor drain the Merlin was able to execute. Thus bringing down my tank. The same tank that has had several groups of Cruisers and larger pounding away for some time before taking me down. While this configuration does not have a rocket launcher it increases its ability to drain the target.

The Merlin should feel free to burn up his capacitor in order to make use of the Nos. With the Afterburner, tackle gear, shield booster and destabalizers this should take little to no effort. The shield booster combined with the Merlin’s resists should negate any shots the target can land. In fact most of the damage the Merlin repaired during our fight was thanks to my own capacitor recharge rate being used against me. I must also mention the cap drain was exceptionally fast due to my own tank and weapons and his destabalizers and shield boosting which allowed the Nos to do their job.

This setup is extremely specialized and even with the removal of one Nos or Destabalizer and mounting a rocket launcher, the setup is best used as part of a gang where another ship can provide the firepower as you lock down and drain the target. This would be best accomplished with a wing mate on a safe spot just outside of overview range. They can then quickly join the fight once the Merlin knows that the target is unable to warp off and cannot use the warpgate. I can see a group of 2-3 frigates having great success against solo cruisers and maybe even against Battlecruisers that do not rely upon drones for its offensive capability.

:By Request:

Setup: SlowMo-Solo PVP(Warning:This fit is purely EFT theory at the moment!)

Highs:

2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launchers

2x 150mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:

‘Fleeting’ Warp Disruptor

‘Initiated Harmonic’ Warp Scrambler

2x ‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor (Stasis Webifier)

Lows:

Micro  Auxiliary Power Core

200mm Crystalline Carbonide Plates

Effective HP: 2665

Damage Per Second: 29 w/Iridium charges , 40 w/Anti-Matter charges

Capacitor Endurance: Stable

Pros:

While the Merlin is slow for a Frigate this setup will be able to turn even the fastest Frigate into an even slower space brick with its 2 Webifiers and Warp Scrambler. It can also slap a point on a target out to 20km with its Warp Disruptor which also serves as a means of deception. Its pair of 150mm Railguns and dual Light Missile Launchers ensure that it can return fire on any hostile Frigate. The 200mm plate offers the Merlin additional protection while allowing you to carry a more then impressive array of tackling gear.

Cons:

This setup relies upon deception in order to work so do not expect this setup to work against the same pilot twice,  assuming you win.  1 vs 1 fights against a speed tank Frigate shoud, theoretically, give you the win. Against a buffer tanked ship with similar range will likely send you home in a pod.

I would not suggest using this Setup while next to a gate as it will take a while for the target’s speed to bleed away. Your best bet would be to sit off the gate and have the target come to you and away from the gate. This will allow you time to bleed their speed without them getting smart and jumping away.

Conclusion:

Again this configuration is EFT theory mixed with personal experience with the Merlin using other setups. At first glance this Merlin appears to be your typical long range Merlin that is lacking in tackle. Of the Frigate battles I have had in the past,thanks to Faction Warfare, the Merlin was my favorite ship and hostiles treated it the same way. Most wartargets that I encountered were Micro Warp Drive using speed machines. They simply rushed at my Merlin to close the range and take advantage of their higher DPS but extremely short ranged weaponry. Normally this would give them the advantage as their speed gave my Railguns hell, making it difficult to land a shot. My launchers however did hit but I was still left with 50% of my effective DPS sitting there, useless. This resulted in a few destroyed Merlins.

To a hostile Frigate pilot a Merlin is a sitting duck waiting to be picked off without a dedicated tackler supporting it. At first this setup appears to be a standard Merlin, long range weapons and a Warp Disruptor. This allows the target to believe he can simply MWD in,engage and MWD out of Disruptor range if it gets to hot for him.  If he believes he can take you down he has you pointed and most likely webbed. Even without the web he holds an advantage in speed meaning you cannot escape. Of course “All warfare is based upon Deception.” a bit of Sun Tzu if you will.

The pilot is now thinking how you wanthim to think. They kick in their MWD and rush you, laughing at your Disruptor’s pathetic attempt to tackle their 3km/s+ Frigate. You start to fire but they know its a matter of seconds before their greater DPS is in range and your rails become a joke. They get within web range and notice their speed is dropping, “big deal” until they realize they are dual webbed. As soon as they are reacting to that problem they realize their MWD just shut off and their speed is dropping even more. You turn off the Disruptor and the capacitor levels off around 50%.  You realize that you now control the range of the fight as your weapons continue to hammer away at a target that has no serious response.

While I have not used this setup before I will be sure to make use of it soon. Once I have a number of fights under my belt using this setup I will revise it with information based upon its performance. Feel free to leave a comment on its performance if you decide to try this or any other setup.

Final Words:

These configurations can easily be modified by most pilots with an average of 3 in the related skills. These configurations are also in no way,shape or form the only setups possible. Instead these setups are meant to give the Rookie PVPer solid configurations from which to build upon. As the player gains additional SP, Isk and PVP experience they will find new ways to fit their ships that will bring them success against their opponents. Our goal is to get the thought process started as well as to encourage players to take a risk on a great aspect of the game. So good luck and happy hunting!

Tip: Since Railguns and Blaster deal Kinetic and Thermal damage I would suggest loading your launchers with EM and or Explosive missiles. By determining what kind of tank the enemy has may allow you to switch ammo types. While most people will say that changing ammo in a fight is suicide I have found in many FW plex fights,while using a Merlin, that I was able to do so successfully. Based off of the damage information saved I realized that switching to a different flavor of Missile that I matched and exceeded the damage output I would have had if the switch was not made. Also covering all 4 damage types allows you to strike at their weakness with at least 1 weapon which beats striking it with zero weapons, instead focusing fire on its strengths.

Tip: If you missions with any corp within the Caldari State you will be able to apply your Loyalty Points (LP) towards “faction ammo”. Doing so allows you to aquire Caldari Navy Hybrid charges and missiles. While the damage output may seem small when compared to the cost, in PVP you want every advantage possible no matter how slight it may be. If you must choose 1 type due to cost I would suggest Caldari Navy Small Anti-Matter rounds as the bulk of the Merlin’s DPS is from its Railguns.

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