@GamerChick42

Pre Inferno Fleet Battle

2012-05-25T14:59:00.004-07:00

Uploaded by a fellow Minmatar.

Late Night & Iron Oxide. Video 4

2012-05-25T06:17:00.001-07:00

Basic Warzone Control

2012-05-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

Warzone Control is a new mechanic introduced into Faction War that quantifies how well a particular Faction is doing. It uses a basic point system, with each system having the potential to contribute up to 6 points toward control. With 70 systems, the Amarr/Minmatar warzone has a total point value of 420.

Initial capture of a system gives 1 point toward the victorious Faction. A faction then can upgrade each owned system up to five levels by inserting LP contributions in the system's I-HUB. Each level contributes an additional point to the Faction's total Warzone Control.

In the Minmatar/Amarr warzone, it takes exactly 84 points to advance a Control level, no matter what level you are advancing to. Because of this, there is a minimum numbers of systems that must be owned in order to reach each level of control.

The following chart (Chart 1) shows the Warzone Control level, the point range that is associated with that level, as well as the minimum number of systems needed in order to acquire that level. For example, in order to get to Warzone Control 2, a Faction in the Amarr or Minmatar militia must have at least 14 controlled systems.

Also, because of this system, a Faction can not advance through Warzone Control tiers without also upgrading their systems. Even if a Faction were to take control of all 70 systems, the Faction's base point value would fall short of reaching the second tier, which is when bonuses begin to kick in.

It takes a moderate amount of LP to upgrade one system. (Upgrades within a system should not be confused with Warzone Control LVLs. System Upgrade levels only reflect upgrades within a singular system, whereas Warzone Control LVLs display a Faction's overall control in the entire warzone.) The following chart (Chart 2) shows the amount of LP required to upgrade one system through five levels.

Because it is cheaper in LP to advance a system through lower level Upgrades, but point values are the same for each upgrade, it is cheaper to maintain Warzone Control levels the more systems you own.
(Upgrading more systems to lower levels is cheaper then upgrading a few systems to higher levels.)

The following chart (Chart 3) shows a break down of how much LP that is needed to initially reach and maintain a certain Warzone Control level, based on how many systems you own. (In 5's)

Is it worth it to upgrade a system?

Not only do upgrading systems contribute to Warzone Control, upgrades also give in-system bonuses, including additional industrial slots and clone discounts. Approximately 8 clones for 85-90mil sp characters would have to be sold to make the upgrade within one system worth it based on clone discounts alone. Convenience of industrial slots is impossible to quanitify, however if a corporation does a lot of building and research, they may find the slots useful.

Also, it is important to note that the number of LP a Faction will gain from plexing a system from start to finish (taking sovereignty) is upwards of 3+ million LP. The 100,000 LP required to upgrade a system is relatively a small amount of LP in comparison to how much LP was gained in taking the system in the first place.

Is it worth it to get a higher Warzone Control level?

To determine the benefits of upgrading a Faction's territory as a whole, we must look at LP store discounts, and compare these discounts with the amount of LP it takes to reach that level.

For example, a general Faction Battleship goes for a base price of 1,000,000 LP in the store. At level 2, this is cut in half, and then again at level 3 and level 4.

Based on the maximum number of LP that would be required to initially reach each Warzone Control level (based off of a Faction having the minimum number of systems needed to obtain that control) and the dsicount rate for each level, a militia would only have to purchase 3 of these Faction Battleships before the initial LP spent to tier up the entire warzone would pay for itself.

For level 5 Warzone Control, the LP spent initially would be worth it after 6 battleships were purchased at 1/16 of the base price.

However, it is important to keep in mind that once a system has been upgraded, hostiles plexing in that system could reduce levels and force furth LP to be required. Even so, moderate usage of a militia's store will more than pay for LP used in upgrading systems.

Where does that leave us?

There are a lot of things to consider when taking and strategizing about sovereignty. Not only are systems currently harder to take, the system upgrades required to maintain Warzone Control levels need maintaining. In this way, Factions will need to think not just about initial take overs, but strategize the best way to maintain the space that they have.

Acquiring Warzone Control in Faction War is a very lucrative undertaking, but also a very risky one.

Loyalty Points

2012-05-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I was able to get out and do some pvping, testing out the LP for PVP system. The way it is set up currently is that you have to be in fleet, and on grid with the party that gets the killing blow in order to be rewarded LP.

This was actually considered a good set up by most of the fleet, knowing that in larger fights, logi and other none dps support will get a fair share. Also, it will be harder for random militia noobs to ninja onto kills for the purpose of farming LP payouts, without really contributing to a fight.

One thing that people are not particular happy about is the fact that only people on a complex button receive the ISK for completion of the plex. After toying with it a few days, there seems to be no practical reason for the LP payout to work this way, and many people claim that it does the exact opposite of encouraging PVP in plexes.

Apparently the Amarr are having the same thoughts. Shalee Lianne say on her blog Sovereignty Wars, "If plexing is supposed to inspire pvp, and LP is your reward for plexing, then you should get the LP by being inside the plex, not just within range of the timer."

It makes sense that those pilots pvping and defending the plex on the warp in--where fights most likely occur, should be rewarded for their efforts with their fair share of LP from the plex payout.

There are also some concerns with the LP payout amounts. CCP, in their dev blog, openly stated that they felt that Plexing should be the most rewarding system in FW, followed by PVP and then missioning. However, many are claiming that the LP you make missioning per hour still greatly over powers what you can make pvping and/or plexing.

There are still several Faction War bugs to be resolved, including a serious one where a plex timer will not start counting down when a player is on it. Sometimes, you have to warp back and forrth to the plex, and burn up and down from the button a few times to get it to click on.

Also, there is a rather annoying bug where on occasion the Faction War information system-UI will completely disappear for random amounts of time.

And, the local bug has proved to be somewhat annoying for Faction War pilots, who are unable to get accurate WT counts in contested systems.

24 Hours Later

2012-05-23T08:58:00.001-07:00

I logged on last night, a mere 8 hours after the patch had gone live to find the Minmatar Militia already up to Warzone Control IV. The Amarr were not even half way to Warzone Control II with a mere 11% control.
This means that Minmatar LP prices were at half the pre-Inferno prices, whereas Amarr prices were 4 times as much --changes that are sure to start rippling into mainstream markets soon.

Also, control is expected to fluctuate considerably the next week or so, as various pilots empty pre-pooled stashes of LP into I-HUBs, and solo plexers slowly experiment with wearing down upgrade levels on both sides.

Even though things will probably calm down somewhat after a week or two, I can't really predict that things will ever be 'stable' again in the warzone. Right now, even a handful of pilots plexing in backwoods systems can deal heavy damage to either side's warzone control points, and pvp in the warzone will range from huge brawls in main controlled systems, to small skirmishes and solo pvp in outlying systems.

A few things to take note of:

Missions have found to not be 'clustering' in current 'hostile' systems but have been spawning in the same places they were pre-Inferno. In other words, FW missions will no longer necessarily take you to hostile territory. Is this good or bad? I'm not sure...
Plex LP payouts are only given to pilots within range of the plex button. Those sitting on the warp in when the plex is taken will not receive LP payouts. It has yet to be determined whether this is a good or bad thing. What do you think?
There are a lot of questions still regarding PVP payouts, and what factors contribute to how they are split, etc. I will probably be writing about this later as I get more information.

Blood Bath and Betrayal

2012-05-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

As might be expected, tensions reached a breaking point yesterday as pilots faced the implementation of Inferno in less than 24 hours.

When I logged in about 15 hours before the early scheduled downtime, the Minmatar were giving the Amarr the runaround --plexing Minor and Standard plexes in Kamela. The Amarr had significant numbers, easily matching and even outnumbering the Minmatar at that point.

With all of our reships in Kourmonen, the hardest part of plexing one system over was getting through the Kourm/Kam gate. The Amarr would frequently camp the gate, picking off many of our fleet as we tried to get into position in the various plexes.

At one point, they had nearly all but the highsec gate camped. We briefly discussed going around the backway through highsec in order to more easily get into the system.

Instead, Loryanna, who was currently FCing the main Minmatar fleet, had us all warp to Lamaa, which was a second entrance to Kamela. He ordered us to immediately reapproach the Kourmonen gate as soon as we loaded grid.

The Amarr, who had scouts in Lamaa, quickly warped their entire gate camp to Lamaa in Kamela, intending to cut us off. As they were in warp to the gate, Loryanna had us jump back through into Kourmonen, warp to Kamela, and jump. The Minmatar were practically peeing their pants from laughing so hard as we easily ran through their front door --especially while knowing the Amarr were desperately scrambling to get back to gate once they realized our bluff. Most in fleet considered it a 'brilliant' move by our FC.

Betrayal

However, the light hearted mood did not last long when it was discovered that Minmatar blues --Drunk'n'Disorderly of the Gallente empire had arrived, not to help us, but to help the Amarrian corp of Wolfsbrigade. With over 12 Guardians, they made it clear that they intended to keep their Minmatar blues from taking the system from their long standing friends. (You may remember that only a few months ago, Wolfsbrigade and Drunk'n'Disorderly killed a PL titan together in Amamake.)

Minmatar leadership was furious. While taking Kamela was more of a diversion then an actual objective for us, having blues step in and prevent the war effort was a huge dimplomatic fiasco. Annah Kitheran, not feeling that he could make any decision about the situation on his own, called together as many Minmatar leadership as he could find for a private pow wow.

The Minmatar, Gallente, and Amarr were in harsh diplomatic talks for quite a while before Annah finally addressed the fleet, sharing the outcome with us.

The Surrender

In an effort to keep their home system, Wolfsbrigade were essentially willing to concede the war --giving up their right to any offensive plexing prior to the Inferno release. In return, we would stop plexing in Kamela, and our blues from Gallente would remove themselves from the area.

Even though many considered this a surrender by Wolfsbrigade, many Minmatar were furious at the decision, claiming that they were not giving us anything that we did not already have --keeping them busy in Kamela was preventing them from plexing anyway. However, there was also the diplomatic issue of our blues --and I believe the decision was primarily made to keep the peace between the Gallente alliance and the Minmatar at large.

However, the agreement was short lived.

As soon as the agreement was made, an enormously furious Annah Kitheran instructed the fleet to head out to a constellation near Oyonata --to take it. Even though the Minmatar not agressively taking systems was not part of the agreement, FIRST GENERAL of Wolfsbrigade was furious, claiming we were breaking the treaty.

"FIRST GENERAL's tears are so big, he is somewhat drowning in them." said one of the Minmatar leadership who was keeping us aprised of the situation.

The agreement essentially crumbled before it had really begun. The Amarr demanded we stop offensive plexing, and the Minmatar responded in no uncertain terms that not only was that not the agreement, but we would agree to no such thing.

We soon became aware of the fact that Drunk'n'Disorderly had completely reset the entirety of Minmatar militia.

We responded in kind.

The Minmatar then broke into two contingents, one continuing the plexing efforts around Oyonata area, and one returning the Kourmonen to continue the slow push on Kamela.

Surrounded on multiple fronts, it was obvious that Wolfsbrigade was torn at which direction to take. Some attempts were made against the plexers in Kamela. Others came to defend the Oyonata area --however the Minmatar had split into small groups and were essentially plexing several systems out there at the same time.

The Amarr were chasing ghosts, while their home turf burned.

After essentially hours of this run around, the Minmatar began to focus more and more toward Kamela, as the Amarr also began to accumulate there. Not only did the hostile force consist of Gallente and Amarr, but CVA and other neutral groups had also joined the mix to defend the Amarr.

Blood Bath

All hell broke lose as both forces clashed inside a plex within Kamela. With no reships available in system to the Minmatar, the Amarr not only had the home front advantage, they were also accompanied by many neutral groups.

The Minmatar went on a slaughter-fest, killing Drunk'n'Disorderly, CVA, and Amarr in the bloodbath. FCs prioritized Gallente and CVA pilots, knowing it would be harder for them to reship. After both sides took heavy losses, Amarr&Company were forced from the field, and the Minmatar ultimately secured the location.

Things went downhill for the Amarr after that point. Their neutrals soon vacated the area, and the Amarr were left to deal with dwindling numbers that soon left them heavily outnumbered.

Several other skirmishes and battles happened during the rest of the day as the Minmatar continued to push Kamela. The Amarr continued to lose, throwing everything at us including blackbird fleets and Fweddit gangs. Also, a freighter attempting to leave the system was also destroyed by the Minmatar.

While it would have been hilarious to have taken the system, even taking all the plexes as soon as they spawned would not leave us with enough VP to take it before the early downtime. However, our primary objective for the day --of keeping the already held majority of the warzone relatively free of any major contestation going into Inferno, was complete.

Many Minmatar have indicated that Kamela will be used as farm land to support the nearby Minmatar controlled systems. With how eagerly the Amarr will defend it, it will not be hard to farm the plexes, and the locals that live there.

Prelude to a Blood Bath

2012-05-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

I logged in early Sunday morning to a flurry of activity going on within the Minmatar militia. The Amarr had not formed, or made an attempt to push any system yet, so Minmatar pilots were forming fleet, and arranging logistics to get in as many reships as possible into base systems.

With the influx of fighting, a lot of Minmatar groups have stepped up to support the cause. Galdornae and Silence IKillYouu, of Ka Pow Pow in Late Night Alliance, purchased and freightered over 100 ships into the warzone in the early morning hours, along with fittings for around 70 of them. Over 50 fit thrashers, 20 fit ruptures, and stacks of other ships were distributed by early evening yesterday --all at sub Jita prices or even free.

The Star Fraction donated a huge fleet of fully fit griffins and blackbirds to the cause yesterday as well. By the time I logged, all the blackbirds were gone and a larger percentage of the griffins. A large number of other pilots were also distributing hulls, fit ships, and supplies in systems all over the warzone in one of the largest joint supply efforts the Minmatar has ever seen.

Total distributed ships yesterday numbered several hundred.

Well fortified, and well shipped, the Minmatar were prepared for a fight of epic proportions. Interestingly, the Amarr made no move to push Kourmonen, and instead scouts reported much Amarr capital activity within Kamela. As Kamela is one of the last defended systems of the Amarr, as well as a supercapital staging point, it was not surprising that their focus would turn to making the system as secure as possible, though the behavior of the Amarr did seem a little peculiar.

Shortly after the Amarr formed up, a large percentage of their forces were titan bridged out to Metropolis. Minmatar forces broken into three groups, one group defensively plexing systems around Arzad, one group killing the control bunker in Kurnieinen, which had recently gone vulnerable, and the main fleet both defending Kourmonen and starting to poke at some plexes in Kamela. Even partially separated between regions, the Amarr forces continued to defend Kamela.

Annah Kitheran, Minmatar strategist and FC once again kept the fleet in cruisers and below. Even as the Amarr forces returned to the area and tried to provoke an all out battlecruiser brawl in a Major plex, Annah and the other FCs did not rise to the bait, instead forcusing on nibbling away at standard and minor plexes. The Amarr's behavior still seemed somewhat off, and Minmatar leadership made it clear that they were keeping a close eye on the situation as a whole.

Unable to force us into shipping up, the Amarr eventually shipped down into tech 1 cruisers and an all out brawl began in one of the standard plexes. With relatively even numbers on both sides, it was going to be a brutal struggle for both sides to gain a foothold.

The Amarr's hand was forced and they revealed the plan that may have contributed to their somewhat dodgy behavior earlier in the day. A massive fleet of AAA and En Garde filled the system and entered the plex at the aid of the Amarr, forcing the Minmatar to retreat. A large portion of the Minmatar fleet --mostly tech 1 cruisers -- died. The Minmatar agreed that the situation could have been much worse for us, had we allowed the Amarr to bait us into shipping up.

I originally thought that the batphone would cause a lot more mudflinging in the already brutal storm of tempers between the factions. However, though agreeing that bringing in neutrals was both an ironic and desperate move, most of the Minmatar on coms agreed that they would do the same thing if pressed into the possibility of losing a vital system. Either way, it will not be the last time that neutrals become involved in the heated war between the Amarr and Minmatar.

The day was far from over. After the neutrals made there way out of the area, another engagement began in a medium plex within Kourmonen. The Minmatar quickly ripped through the Amarr cruisers, but instead of retreating, the Amarr continued to bring back reships, some of which were battlecruisers that couldn't get into the plex. As reshipping pilots from both sides started accumulating on the acceleration gate to the plex, the fight shifted to that area, with both sides bringing back everything from thrashers to battlecruisers.

The fight was a bloodbath, lasting well over a half an hour of straight brawling and many pilots losing as many as 6 ships. The Minmatar were at one point forced off, only to return in an assortment of battlecruisers and battleships. Ka Pow Pow pilot Grimreaper1984, Minmatar's very own Leroy Jenkins, hurtled his triage carrier into the mix, and in the end, the Amarr were forced off for good.

The battle was one of the largest battles the Amarr/Minmatar have ever seen, with kills for both sides numbering in the hundreds. Over 5 billion isk worth of tech 1 cruisers, destroyers, and battlecruisers were destroyed in what may be remembered as one of the greatest engagements of the Pre-Inferno Campaign. All hatred seemed to have been poured out in the fight, and chatter between the two militias was almost jovial, both agreeing that the whole thing had been wildly fun.

However, as Monday brings the last 24 hours before Inferno goes live, things will turn serious once more as both sides battle to deal the most damage and defend the most critical systems. Sunday night's epic engagements may turn into a distant memory as both militias pull out all the stops in the final hours.

There will be blood tonight.

Kourmonen: Faction War, Reborn

2012-05-19T19:23:00.001-07:00

I logged into EVE this afternoon to find the system of Kourmonen burning in a fire. The Amarr, who for some reason have been pushing at the system for over a week now, came out in full force to attempt a full take over. When I joined fleet, we were only a few plexes away from losing the system, and leadership was asking everyone to prod corpmates in order to provide additional numbers to help defend the system.

The Amarr brought considerable force to the table. At one point, I caught a massive fleet of Harbingers, Hurricanes and Guardians on scan with Amarrian numbers in local reaching 50-60+. At one point, the activity and movement of the Faction War fleets caused the low-sec system to go into Time Dilation for a brief period.

With the Minmatar facing heavy losses, (and many from dayfleet not basing in the area) the need for fit ships became an increasing concern. At one point, the Minmatar were forced to carrier drop supplies onto the front lines.

Also, in an unparalleled call for numbers, Annah Kitheran opened fleet to general militia, openly accepting new and old pilots --experienced and inexperienced--for the defense of the warzone. Many only had to pod to the warzone, and accept a cheaply fit destroyer that was offered to them at sub-market prices. At several points between fighting, more experienced militia members explained plexes, and other Faction War mechanics to some of the newer pilots.

As the Minmatar numbers increased, (putting massive amount of DPS on the field) and FC Annah Kitheran began to reach a higher level of exhaustion, the decision was made to stop calling primaries. Instead, we were ordered to sort our overviews by distance, and shoot anything close to us after taking out any nearby ECM.

During the first battle where we experimented with this strategy, voice coms were eerily quiet. However, the strategy had huge results as the hostiles began to vaporize under the dps of 50+ guns-free destroyers. Several Minor plexes were taken using this method, and the Minmatar began to take back a strong foothold in the system.

Conceding most of the Major plexes, where the Amarr were setting up massive BC and logistics fleets with significant ECM support, the Minmatar focused on Standard and Minor plexes --quickly reshipping between cruisers and destroyers as necessary.

Meanwhile, during the course of the hot fighting in Kourmonen, a single Minmatar pilot (Machiavelli's Nemesis) was slowly plexing down the system of Labapi 3 jumps away. The pilot, once reaching the point where one more plex would set the system vulnerable, held off until our position in Kourmonen was secured.

After solidifying our position in Kourmonen, the pilot was ordered to plex Labapi to vulnerable, and Annah Kitheran, who at this point had been FCing for 11+ hours straight, leroyed the 60-70 man destroyer fleet to the Control Bunker, melting it in a relatively short period of time. (And, leaving the Amarr with a mere 12 systems in their control.)

The system of Kourmonen, at one point, reached the status of the most dangerous system in EVE - with four times as many ships destroyed than any other system in EVE during one three-hour period. Kills for the day within Kourmonen easily reached well over 800, according to Dotlan Maps.

Battlereport One (Late Night Alliance)

Battlereport Two (Amarr Board)

Battlereport Three (Iron Oxide.)

Battlereport Four (Iron Oxide.)

Good Tactics/Bad Tactics

2012-05-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I had a fun chat with our Euro FC who was wrapping things up for the night and getting ready to log off. We were discussing general Minmatar tactics--what system to take next, what systems the Amarr seemed to be pushing hard during that day, and what kind of coordination we would need between the two time zones. Afterwards, he said excitedly out of the blue, "we actually have to plan a war now, Susan. We've never had to do that before!" I could tell he was having a lot of fun.

One of the hardest challenges in going from a day-to-day pew for the sake of pew lifestyle, to fighting for a goal lifestyle, is that you always need to think beyond the moment. Sure, the battle in the here and now is fun, and good fights are why many of us are here. However, all the good fights now fit into the puzzle of a lot bigger purpose--one we have to take into consideration when we start making choices about where, when, and how we fight.

I've seen a lot of tactics, and trends start to occurr on both the Minmatar and Amarr sides--tactics that most of us would have never even considered using or thinking about before CCP announced their changes for Inferno.

Double Back - One of the most successful tactics I've seen the Amarr us I call the "Double-back." They may not even be doing it on purpose, but it has caused us to lose a number of fights, and is something we are quickly growing more aware of.

In the past, especially big fights usually meant pilots on both sides going their separate ways afterwards to take a break. In most cases, both sides needed time to reship, take a breather, reform and etc.

Instead of doing this lately, the Amarr have occasionally hit us a second time immediately after a major fight--completely taking us unaware. Usually people are idly picking up loot from the last battle, or half the fleet is reshipping or getting ammo--chaos usually ensues, and several of us are picked off before the rest can get out, or get organized.

Systems - Other tactics emerging on both sides are choices as to what systems to take. Before sovereignty had a purpose, what order or choices you made in what systems you took was not really a necessary consideration. Now, it is.

Recently, the Amarr have been pushing hard for Kourmonen --a grave mistake in my opinion that might further cost them space. While taking a central location for the purpose gaining a foothold is a sound tactic, it isn't the 'right' one in this situation for several reasons:

1. Being a central location and critical to the Minmatar, we will fight for it tooth and nail --a lot more then other systems the Amarr would have chosen.

2. We have home court advantage. Many USTZ Minmatar live in Auga, Kourmonen, or Huola, making it one of the easiest 'pipes' for us to defend. Since the Amarr completely moved out, this is actually an advantage they essentially gave us before the war began.

The Amarr would have been better off moving to an out-of-the-way system within the warzone that they already owned, and fortifying --defending surrounding systems and not worrying about the 'primary' Minmatar systems where we were setting up bases.

The Minmatar would have had a harder time taking the system due to not being able to reship as quickly to adjust for different size plexes, any our numbers would be less strong as many people would not be as motivated attacking something so far away.

Then, come Inferno the Amarr would have been in an even better position, having a small group of systems that they could more easily defend --us not being able to dock in them.

Electronics - One of the other tactics I've noticed is the tactical use of electronics within plexes, especially ECM. At one point a couple nights ago, the Amarr had five blackbirds on field. This essentially caused us to concede one of the plexes to them, as there was really no way to get around it that we could ship into before the plex closed.

I think that as pilots begin to see how powerful different types of electronics can be toward an enemy --from ECM, to sensor dampening and tracking disrupting, we're going to see a lot more of it used on both sides.

Straight up DPS brawls are going to quickly become a thing of the past --especially now that fights are taking place in plexes that restrict ship sizes. This is actually to the advantage of the Amarr, as high DPS gank fleets has been a Minmatar signature tactic.

I'm sure that a lot more tactics and trends will emerge as time goes on. There are still a lot more good fights to be had --and a lot of time to see where all of our decisions lead us.

However, in the end, I think that changes to Faction War come Inferno will make better PVPers out of us all.

The Most Dangerous System

2012-05-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night was another evening of non stop pvp between the Amarr and the Minmatar. I logged on just in time to help the Euro time zone take down a control bunker in Lamaa. Apparently, the Amarr came out in full force during the day to attempt to take Kourmonen, and the resulting pvp made the system one of the most dangerous in EVE according to the statistical star maps.

However, while day fleet kept the Amarr busy in Kourm, they were also taking over Lamaa one jump away. The little to no resistence that was met in Lamaa made many of the Euros assume that the Amarr were unaware of the situation--until it was too late. The Amarr now own 13/70 systems.

Once the Euros logged off we had about five people remaining for USTZ. Our numbers have been a little stretched lately during the week, with a lot of our pilots finishing up the the semester at school and other real life priorities.

With nearly a dozen wartargets in Kourm still attempting to take the system, the few active members we had decided to try a small remote-repair battleship gang to counter their numbers. (I jumped into an armor cane, not having a RR BS.)

While a good idea in theory, it went horribly wrong. The FC, forgetting that the battleships could not enter a restricter Major, (and the rest of us being somewhat plex dumb) was planning to engage within a major plex. Only when we warped the fleet to the gate did he realize that it would be impossible, and immediately called for us to get off the acceleration gate to reform a different plan.

While most of us were warping out, the Amarr gang with 10-12 pilots were warping in. They had a mixture of ECM, cruisers, and battlecruisers and one of Tempests was caught. Upon landing, we all immediately tried to warp back to save the Tempest, but he was dead before we arrived. Since the rest of us had warped in from different locations, we were in various locations around the gate--too spread out to make use of the remaing RR. We decided we might as well go down fighting, so primaries were called and we managed to kill a couple of them before dying to the last man.

After some prodding in various channels about what was going on, we managed to get some more numbers. Our next engagement started out a disaster, as much of our fleet was permajammed by 3-4 blackbirds the Amarr had set up on field. Coms were extremely unorganized and for most of the fight we didn't even have a target caller. Most targets were decided but some random pilot saying, "uhh let's kill xyz next..." and etc.

Surprisingly, we still managed to drive the Amarr out of the plex. A few guys managed to chase off some of the blackbirds, and when they came back into the plex we killed them as they landed. We were quite surprised we didn't all die in an epic puddle of fail, due to how unorganized we were and how much ECM the Amarr had in the beginning.

The Amarr then set up in a medium plex with five blackbirds scattered in various angles at range. Since we would be arriving at zero to their fleet and at range to their BB, countering with ECM of our own was out of the question. They'd die before they could even get set up on field. The FC and several others in fleet discussed other ways we could counter in this plex, and it was decided that we would have to conceded the plex and wait for the next one to open.

As soon as the new Major plex was on scan, we were undocking and warping to it in our battlecruisers and cruisers. We also managed to get some Guardian support from SP-DR, a Minmatar corporation a few jumps away that had a few guys online.

The Amarr arrived shortly after we entered the plex and the largest engagement of the evening began, with 25-30 pilots on either side. The Amarr soon realized that they wouldn't be able to punch through our guardians, (they didn't have time to set up ECM this time) and eventually conceded the plex, but not without taking heavy losses.

The Minmatar lost a celestis.

The morale of the story? Many people theory crafted that fighting for sovereignty would break Faction War. However, as I log on each and every day to hours of non stop* small-gang pvp, I think CSM delegate Hans Jagerblitzen is right in saying "mechanics already working as intended...."

While there is lots that remain to be seen and tested when Inferno is officially implemented (and we're not just fighting in preparation for it) it's safe to say that if you're looking for some fast paced action, where you have the opportunity to kill your enemies in a variety of ships and fleet setups, then Faction War is the place to be....

Even if, at the heart of all the pew, we're fighting over sovereignty.

*I used to take break from EVE when I got bored. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if I had to take a break from EVE for pvp exhaustion...

<><>
_

Survival of the Fittest

2012-05-16T06:31:00.000-07:00

If you had asked me 9 months ago who would come out on top in a survival of the fittest war between the Amarr and the Minmatar, I would have said the Amarr without hesitating. Having experience in both militias, (I was in the Amarr for a year) the Amarr seemed much more able to work together, even with general militia pilots who present a certain risk. They also had several central leaders that could easily pull people together.

The Minmatar were an irate bunch. Many corporations refused to even fleet up with anyone else, or associate with anyone outside there own circle of friends. Not to mention that there was frequent in-fighting and wardecs.

However, over the past few months both militias have changed significantly. The Amarr became quite fragile due to inter-militia bickering, and other issues. While the Minmatar still continued to maintain it's 'tribe' like qualities with various groups having vastly different play styles and opinions, the addition of Alliances into militia helped consolodate many of the groups and solidify leadership.

When CCP announced changes to FW for Inferno, the already fragile Amarr seemed to fracture even further. Corporations and individual threatened to leave under the pressure. Instead of pulling together, the Amarr took on an 'every man for himself' approach, essentially shattering any remaining ties that held the faction together.

The announcement and early proposals had the opposite effect on the Minmatar. In many ways, the purpose that CCP was offering Faction war was the essential catalyst that led toward bringing the various groups together. We now have a common denominator, and although lines between the various groups will never blur, we all ultimately have the same goal.

The Amarr, over the past few weeks, have loudly cried that they are outnumbered and outgunned, having no chance to counter us. They are wrong --not in that they have no chance, but in how we will defeat them.

1. Adaptability. The Amarr still have a pvp-driven pvp mentaility. They frequently smack in local, smirking at the fact that we "brought 20 cruisers to fight their 15 destroyers."

But we're not bringing 20 cruisers to fight their 15 destroyers. We're bringing 20 cruisers to defend our space. The desire for good fights can not offset the power of self preservation. While the Minmatar will always seek good fights, they will not lower themselves, or de-escalate a situation when there is much more then a battlereport's stats at stake.

We will bring a gun to a fist fight, if it means defending what is ours.

2. Adaptability. While the Amarr were whining on forums and begging CCP for a reset to give them a chance, the Minmatar were preparing for the inevitable. While the Amarr were threatening to leave, claiming that they should just give up because their faction had no chance, the Minmatar were coordinating and strategizing.

Does this mean that the entire Minmatar militia is pro-Inferno Faction War changes? Some think that this is the case. Some even accuse Minmatar and CSM delegate Hans Jagerblitzen for 'switching' opinions to serve himself and his faction.

However, there are probably as many Minmatar concerned about some of the changes as there are Amarr. But unlike the Amarr who seem paralyzed by the changes, the Minmatar will adapt to them, and work with them. We will not give up without a fight, or without giving anything a solid try. There is too much at stake to waste time panicking.

3. Adaptability. One strength I've always noticed about the Minmatar, is their ability to adapt to pvp situations on the fly. This adaptability will greatly give the Minmatar an edge when Sovereignty is at stake.

It was often noted by Minmatar FCs, that killing the Amarr's FC often left an Amarr fleet crippled. Sometimes they would retreat altogether, and other times they would act like a deer in the headlights before spreading their damage all over the place, or scattering.

One of the weaknesses of the Minmatar militia was always that we had so many strong personalities, it was hard for everyone to get along. This is also one of our greatest strengths, because no matter how many FCs or target callers the Amarr eliminate, we always have 2-3 to take his place.

Two heads are better then one, and the Minmatar will never have to rely upon one person, or a mere couple of people to strategize and organize the workings of the war.

There are a lot more factors that will win this war then numbers and activity alone. This is no longer the pvp-driven battles of old, where brute force, alone, could be an FC's ticket to winning. This is not the pvp of old where the battle was all there was.

The Minmatar are resolved, and will persevere. They have much at stake.

The Amarr will adapt, or go extinct.

<> <>

Evolution

2012-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon." ~Napoleon

Weeks, if not months ago, I wrote a post discussing the differences between goal-driven pvp and pvp-driven pvp. While goal-driven pvp includes pvp that naturally occurs when either side is driving toward some purpose (taking space, defending space, defending assets, acquiring assets or resources, etc.) pvp-driven pvp is pvp that happens for its own sake.

For years, Faction War has lived off of pvp-driven pvp. While in original days there were bloody battles over Occupancy, this waned as pilots began to realize that there were no benefits to having your Faction's name in the left corner of your screen.

When I joined Faction War two years ago, every fight was pvp-driven. For a year, we fought on the gates, and on the stations, in a variety of ships. We discussed strategies and ship fittings amiably with our enemies in an almost pvp-playground setting.

While this 'fightclub' setting can be very fun for a while, it also has the tendency to go stale. Fighting the same people for months and years means that you eventually come to know your enemy very well. As this happens, fights tend to trend away from spontaneous engagements of fun pewpew, and tread more into the realm of mind games.

During such a time, I had a conversation with one of the Minmatar's Euro FCs. "If I know who's gang it is, I pretty much know what to expect." he said, referring to the fact that he had fought several Amarr FCs so long, their actions had become predictable. What was also noted was the realization that his own actions were probably also predictable to them. What followed was a careful dance, as each side observed the other, looking for any surprises and attempting to 'fool' the other into engaging. Most cases led to a stalemate...a common setting within the Faction War warzone before Inferno changes were announced.

For years, Faction War pilots have asked for meaning. This more recent staleness, however, greatly increased concerns that without something to fight for, FW would one day dry up. Most times, PVP-driven pvp is not self sustaining, and can not be maintained forever without some boredom setting in.

When CCP announced the changes they were making to FW in Inferno, they did more then give FW meaning. The very act of giving the mechanic meaning meant a shift from pvp-driven pvp to goal-driven pvp. While this will lift FW out of the doldrums, and revitalize the game mechanic, it also means that current FW pilots will need to adapt to a completely new pvp mentality.

In many ways, the early stages of the Inferno war will be survival of the fittest --and those most easily able to adapt will come out on top.

<><>

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish

2012-05-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

7 Thing You Believe About Faction War That are MYTHS

2012-05-11T10:27:00.001-07:00

1. PVPING in Faction War will permanently ruin my faction standings.

*PVP actually results in minimum faction standings losses. The biggest standings loss is with the opposing militia's npc corporation. However, standings with this corporation doesn't determine the ability to fly in that Faction's space without getting shot by the Faction police.

The activity that mostly hurts your faction standings is mission running and plexing. If you don't plan to mission run, you are all set! I've been in Factoin War for years and can still enter any Faction's highsec based on my faction standings. (CONCORD standings are another matter. ;)

*Edit Note: Hans J pointed out to me that Plexing will also reduce your Faction standings, as plexing will increase your rank within your own militia. (Which also decreases your standing with the hostile militia.) Since I haven't done much plexing, I haven't had a problem with this personally. The fact remains that pvping in Faction War will not get you banned from any Faction's high-sec.

2. I can only join the Militia if my character is racially from that Faction.

Actually, you can join any faction you want to! Joining the NPC corp requires .5 faction standings, but most player owned corporations that are actively recruiting do not require standings for you to join their ranks.

3. All militia pilots are pvp noobs.

Having personally engaged in a lot of game play in EVE, both in faction War, high-sec wars, null-sec sovereignty taking, and etc. I can assure you that not all Faction War pilots are noobs. I've witnessed some of the best pvpers in action while in Faction War.

I'm not talking about kill numbers, or pilots that can perform great under great FCs. (Though we have lots of those too!) I'm talking about people who know what they're doing. People who know all the 'nitty gritty' stuff about pvp, and do not have to rely upon an FC calling primaries and telling them where and when to warp in order to achieve a good outcome in an engagement.

4. Faction War pilots are all roleplayers.

LOL! This couldn't be further from the truth. As any of the 'real' roleplayers will attest to, they are actually a minority in Faction War.

Also, roleplayers aren't very 'roleplayee' in Faction War. You don't really have people spouting role playing dialog, or etc.(Unless they are trying to troll you.) A lot of the roleplayers I fly with are pretty nice guys. Sure, they act all indignant when I GCC on neutrals, (while desperately looking through that player's history to see if they can find a role-playing reason to shoot him too) and some of them will only fly their Faction's ships, but in general they just want to fool around and pvp like we do.

I would bet my ISK on a bunch of Faction War roleplayers over a bunch of null-sec lemmings any day of the week.

5. Faction War is boring.

That might have been true in the past, where things would get pretty quiet in some militias for long periods of time. But it's certainly not the case anymore. A lot of militias are gearing up for Inferno. To be completely honest with you, in the two-ish years I've been in militia, I've never seen it as 'hot' as it is right now. Last night, I pvped striaght for 3-4 hours. Fight after fight after fight. We reshipped to frigates, then cruisers, then frigates, then battlecruisers, then cruisers....depending on what size plexes were open and what we needed to counter the Amarr with.

It gets so bad some days that hostiles ask in local if we can all pause for a bathroom break....lol!! (He was kidding, but you get the picture...)

6. If I join the NPC militia corp, I'll get ignored by the rest of militia.

To be honest, in my own experience, militia pilots are a lot less worried about spies these days. (Maybe because we've fought each other so much we don't need spies to predict each other's movements.)

Faction War is like any other corporation and alliance. You can't expect handouts, or handholding. If you want to be involved and meet people, you'll need to put yourself out there. Speak up, ask questions. X up when it looks like things are going on --maybe you'll get an invite, maybe you won't. Start being proactive--roaming and solo pvping. Report action and hostiles in militia when it's relevant. People will start recognizing your name overtime, and eventually you'll get 'in' with some of them.

Faction War is like anything else. You need to take responsibility and step-out--and not expect that you'll be trusted immediately or entrusted with anything serious the minute you walk through the door.

7. I'll get 'stuck' if I join Faction War.

As I've already mentioned, if you're not mission-running much, standings won't really be a problem.
Also, being n Faction War doesn't restrict you as much as people think. Lots of people engage in activities outside of Faction War while being in Faction War -- like DED plexing, wormhole operations, roaming in null-sec, piracy, incursions.

Faction War is actually one of the easiest things to get in and out of.

You can get in and out relatively quickly and painlessly
We operate in empire, so you don't have to worry about losing access to your stuff when you leave (like in null-sec)
You can easily change sides, if you have the appropriate standings or an invite from a player owned corporation. (unlike null-sec or high-sec wardeccing)
You can enter as an individual, corporation, or alliance
There are plenty of market hubs nearby the warzone (and in some cases within the warzone) for you to reship and get supplies. Accessing market hubs is really easy, with no bubble camps or etc. to stop you.
You don't have to worry about your past, or your recruitment history in most instances. Most militia pilots don't really care what you did in null-sec. (They'll just assume that they'll probably have to completely retrain you to think for yourself.)
The experience you gain in Faction War (not to mention all the kills you'll get on your killboard) will help you when you look into doing other things in EVE.

Related Topics:

7 Reasons to Join Faction War
The Faction War Dev Blog is Out! (Thoughts on Upcoming Changes to Faction War)
We Have Cookies

7 Reasons to Join Faction War Post-Inferno

2012-05-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

1. Get paid to pvp. This is one of the most unique features about Faction War post-Inferno. No where else in game do you not only get the dropped loot from your target, but also a steady income that will easily sustain your pvp.

Small-gang and solo pvpers will have the best deal, as they will have to share less LP for their kills.
(My corpmate killed his Amarrian alt last night --an impairer with a bunch of blingy stuff in the cargo hold. He made 200k LP. While this is kind of a rediculous scenario, I don't think it will be farfetched to make 50k+ lp on one, modestly blingy solo kill.)

2. Have fun taking sovereignty. A lot of people like to fight for something 'bigger.' Often times, this means arduous, time-consuming, and often quiet null-sec sovereignty taking. In Faction War, not only are you fighting for something 'bigger' that will give you cool bonuses and payouts, but it's fun to do!

Sovereignty will be a bloody mess come Inferno, with a lot of heart-pounding, small-gang pvp.
Many plexes restrict ship types, allowing you to jump into frigate and/or cruiser engagements without worrying about escalation.

3. Get paid to take sovereignty. Not only will sovereignty-taking get you action and fun pvp, but you'll get paid to do it! Plexing will be the most lucrative action within Faction War, so the payouts could net you even more then pvp. If you get a fight while you're plexing, and still manage to defend/take the plex, not only will you get a payout for the plex, but for your kills as well.

4. Learn How to PVP. I'm not just talking to new players, but also to old players who are sick of flying the same ship their FC always requires, or sick of blindly following their FC around. I lived in null-sec, I know how it is.

Faction War has opportunity of giving you experience in many different scenarios, and many different styles of pvp. From solo frig fights, to battlecruiser brawls, ahac gangs, triage carrier drops, and massive battleships engagements, life will never be dull or predictable.

5. Fight for Something Bigger. I mentioned this above, however it deserves its own bullet point. For years, FW was really just a glorified wardec. That is changing.
Now, all your solo pew, small-gang pew and plexing will pay off toward giving you and your allies bonuses and discounts. Not only will you be experiencing the thrill of some old-fashioned pew, you will also be defending your home and protecting your friends.

6. PVP How You Want to. I've also touched on this in several points, but it also deserves it's own bullet. Faction War is not the home of one pvp style. Even though we are known for small-gang pvp, we also have solo pvp, and larger fleet pvp. The beauty of it is:

-You have choices. From small gang plex pvp to larger fleet sovereignty gangs, from loose gangs of ultra small-gang and solo pvpers to ultra organized 50 man fleets, you will have the opportunity to experience many different styles depending on your mood of the day.
-You are never stuck. Unlike some places where joining that alliance or living in that region means you will mostly be doing one thing, FW is much more dynamic. If you get sick of one thing, there's always something new you can try.

7. Play EVE with some of the best people in EVE. Whether you have been going it alone for a while, or are sick of being a faceless meat shield to a null-sec alliance, Faction War contains some of the nicest, most experienced people you will meet. From experienced pvpers of various styles, to dedicated pveers, you are sure to find a group that not only has something to offer you, but where you can also be a valued member for your own experience and skills.

Faction War Dev Blog is Out!

2012-05-09T12:21:00.001-07:00

I just got done reading the recently released Faction War dev blog, which detailed the changes that will be implemented in Inferno.

I was very impressed by how well written it was! It layed out what they were implementing quite clearly, while also giving a lot of examples and formulas for how everything will work. On some of the more controversial topics, they gave some of their basic reasoning for the change. Thank you, thank you CCP!

First, they talk about the name changes that will be implemented. Occupancy will now just be Sovereignty and the Control Bunkers will now be Infrastructure Hubs. None of the mechanics are really changing, just the names. (ie: we will still plex for sovereignty in the same way we used to plex for occupancy, and the mechanics surrounding the control bunkers will stay the same as pre-Inferno.)

Second, they talk about visibility, and show some screen shots of the new Faction War window. Not only will they have statistics and information, but a Leaderboard and tons of details on how the war is going. They also show some changes to the system UI, where FW pilots will now be able to see how far they are from taking a system.

This one of the features I am most excited about. Not only will this encourage people to join Faction War, but it will help current Faction War pilots organize and strategize on a whole new level. We will now have tools to function as a conhesive militia, rather then a bunch of disjointed corporations, alliances and individuals stumbling around in the dark.

Next, they talked about station lock-out. This has been a hugely controversial issue among FW pilots. One of my primary issues with the feature was the time table, so, I was really happy that they are changing this! Instead of taking a minimum of 6-7 hours to flip a system, it will now take a minimum of 30-35 hours. Thank you for listening CCP!!!

This means that the ability of a militia's ability to take and keep sovereignty in systems will not be based on time zone issues, and time-zone 'ninjaing' but on how well the militia performs as a whole.

Next, they talked about system upgrades. I'm a little wary of the idea of neutrals benefitting from upgrades that Faction War pilots have to pay for with LP. However, being a militia pilot who also runs a neutral trade alt in the warzone, I can (begrudgingly) see the benefits of it. We'll have to wait and see what happens. In the end -- the 'benefits' to neutrals aren't particularly game shatteringly awesome--so I don't think we're going to have some huge influx of market alts flooding our stations or anything. Mostly, it will just affect the people who live there currently.

Next they talk about warzone tiers, and how these tiers will affect LP payouts and store prices. Tiers will be based on how a faction is doing overall--system capture, upgrading, and etc.

Wait, what? I admit I reread that paragraph about five times. Tiers? Payouts and prices based on tiers? It sounded really familiar....Okay, so I realize they were probably coding this long before I started blithering on about tiers on this blog, but a girl can dream, right? Ask and ye shall receive.

After that they went into the new LP payout system: "In the reward ladder, helping your faction in territorial warfare should reward the most, followed by PvP, and then finally PvE with missions."

I felt like clapping after that, but I restrained myself. They went on to give details on how plexes and pvp would be rewarded, and I was quite impressed. We're not just getting lp payouts, we're getting massive lp payouts. Between the modules I pick up from kills I loot, and the ability to purchase fleet stabbers with the LP I earn, my pvp style will be virtually 100% self-sustaining. And anyone who pvps will know how huge that ultimately is.

Finally they go into research agents changes and how they are adding datacores to the LP store. While this will have interesting market significance, I think I covered some of that in another post. One thing I am glad about is the fact there is no market overlap. That means the overall EVE market may see changes in prices on the tech 2 market based on what Faction is doing well in the war.

Overall, I think the changes are going to be great and will impact Faction War in many good ways. I'm really excited about several key things, particularly the FW UI changes, sovereignty teirs, and pvp payouts.

Time to gear up and get ready for Inferno!

*Also, there was no mention of resetting the warzone. I'm really glad... because with how much I bet various people that they wouldn't do it, my wallet would be in the red right now if they had...

We Have Cookies

2012-05-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

And I'm not talking about the dry, nutritious, oatmeal-date cookies that your grandmother gives you while patting you on the cheek.

I'm talking about the warm, out-of-the-oven feeling of watching actual launchers protract from your ship...
followed by a sharp sugar high as your missiles zig-zag through space in a flury of light, to explode against the hull of the enemy in a burst of flavorful colors.

I'm talking about the gooey, chocolatey goodness of sustainable pvp, where Faction Warfare pilots are given payouts for the enemies they kill and the FW plexes they take.

I'm talking about the new mouth watering ship models, and the delicious redesign of battlereports--not to mention the delectable savoryness of the redesigned inventory system.

Granted, a few people think that a few of the changes are rather crumby --not to mention those that feel the station lock-out for militia pilots is a bit of a half-baked idea.

But even if the Inferno results in some half-baked or half-burned features, after living on moldy bread for so long I think even Faction War pilots will be licking up the crumbs of a rather sweet expansion.

Poll - Faction War Changes in Inferno

2012-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

Please take a short survey regarding upcoming FW changes in Inferno.

If you are not a FW pilot, please take this one.

If you are a FW pilot, please take this one.

The Minmatar Prepare for Inferno

2012-05-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Resetting the Warzone: Not Just a Matter of Opinion

2012-05-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

On April 20th, Shalee ended a post about how Faction War is going to suck in Inferno with a plea to CCP to reset the warzone.

Very few people took this idea seriously, or said much about it until yesterday when a CSM member made the same suggestion on the EVE Online forums, even saying he would be taking the idea to CCP:

"I also totally agree that with all of the changes on the table for this expansion, the most fair thing to do would be to reset Sov across the board. I've already been talking to CCP about this particular issue. " --Hans Jagerblitzen

As the CSM member's remarks was lighting some heated discussion on the forums, Shalee posted an entire article about the issue, saying that "it is only fair" that occupancy be reset come Inferno.

So, should occupancy be reset? Are the changes that CCP is making to Faction War merit a reset across the board?

Sandbox
The first, and most important aspect of this discussion is the impact that a reset would have on the sandbox. Technically speaking, resetting what is ultimately player-driven political content would be as far from sandbox behavior as you can get.

For this reason alone, I would be willing to bet much on the fact that CCP will not even consider the idea, as it goes against everything they are striving to accomplish within the game.

Precedence
The second consideration is what kind of precedence an action like this would make. A reset would open a whole gray area in EVE, where discussions could be had over how 'big' a change needs to be in order to merit a reset.

CCP, as of yet, has made no precedence in resetting in-game politics due to an added feature or changed game mechanic being inconvenient toward one party or the other.
I do not think they will start now.

Faction War
One of the primary arguments you see for an occupancy reset, is that it would be 'good for Faction War.' While I think what's 'good for Faction War' dims in importance a little in the face of what's good for EVE in general, the question of whether it would really be good for Faction War is worth investigating.

Theory 1: It will create more fights, as it means the 'underdog' will be more motivated to fight.

Though I can't speak from the perspective of the Gallente/Caldari warzone, one of the biggest excuses the Amarr give us for not fighting, not undocking, and etc. is that we outnumber them. They claim that they are currently the underdogs in both numbers and activity right now. (I will actually prove them wrong on this matter in a later post, where I analyze some hard mathematical data.)

A reset will not address the Amarr's numbers issue. Therefore, why do people think it will make them fight more?

What it boils down to is the morale of the underdog. People feel that a reset would essentially make the militias who are currently behind feel as though they have more of a chance.

So essentially what they are asking for is an action by CCP that expressly caters to the feelings and attitudes of specific political parties. This is called asking for favoritism.

Theory 2: It will be fair.

One thing tossed around by the (very few) supporters of a reset is the idea of 'fairness.'

Since we've already established that a reset would go against sandbox ideals, would be an action of favoritism toward specific political parties, and would essentially go against all previous precedence CCP has set in the past, I think it's safe to say that the idea of a reset being 'fair' is a somewhat ludicrous notion.

But, whether or not it's 'fair' aside, the idea that CCP would do something for 'fairness' sake is in and of itself a ludicrous notion.

What about the idea of fighting over null-sec space, defending and keeping that space, and then having the entire face of that space changed by CCP's removal of minerals from drones?
What about the idea of purchasing 60+ billion isk ships only to have CCP change mechanics that essentially changes the very roles that they play in fleets?
What about any nerf, or mechanic change that leaves pilots SOL? Or is good for some and bad for some?

Who are we, as Faction War pilots, to think that we deserve CCP to make our plight more fair? Are some really that naive?

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that not only would a reset be bad for Faction War, it would be bad for EVE.

Maybe I will be proven wrong, but I cannot fathom CCP resetting the warzone. I cannot begin to imagine the fallout from such an action.

Maybe I have too much faith in CCP when I 100% believe that they will not take an action on player-driven political game content--an action that has purely speculative results.

In her post on the reset, Shalee says,

"I can deal with most anything I think as long as we have a fair shot when the new changes are implemented."

This is EVE, my dear Amarrian opponent. This is the game where any 'fair shot' you might have is determined by you--determined by the effort you put forth, the decisions you make, the friends that you keep, and all actions that you do or do not take.

This is the sandbox.

If you want something different --something less, where GMs try to make things a little less hard, and a little more fair, then I suggest you go back to playing WOW.

<><>

Things to Come

2012-05-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

As most people probably already know, changes on SiSi would suggest that CCP is moving forward with restricting docking access for FW pilots in the warzone. In a previous post, I posted a screen shot of a message I got while trying to dock in a non-FW related station in Auga--which at that time on SiSi was owned by the Amarr.

The reactions to this news has varied. Some have outright declared that they will leave Faction War if CCP goes through with the changes. Others have said that it's about time changes like these were introduced to Faction War. (There's a vast mixture of opinions on both sides.)

On a more intresting note, the growing tension between the Amarr and the Minmatar reached breaking levels last night as the Minmatar pushed to take two critical systems -- Kourmonen and Auga.

Though I generally can't stand plexing, I've been tagging along on various plexing runs, in the off chance a fight ensues. I was not disappointed last night as we began the grind to flip Auga. With the Amarr jumping significant forces in to defend the system, and Unprovoked Aggression Alliance also roaming around the system in a sizeable gang as well, the Minmatar had to actually start making decisions about who and what to fight first.

At one point, the Minmatar fleet warped onto a gate, expecting to activate the gate and fight the Amarr we knew were inside defending the plex. However, we ended up catching UA before they were completely set up on the gate, and ended up engaging them instead.

Meanwhile, the Amarr bounced out of the plex, and warped into the fight, attempting to turn it into a bloody three way. Since we were so spread out after chasing UA off gate in several directions, we ended up regrouping on the Dal gate. The Amarr soon followed and engaged us in what turned out to be another major engagement for the evening.

Overall, in the space of a few hours, we have many back to back engagements as the Amarr attempted to defend their system, and Unprovoked Aggressed jumped into the mix, shooting both sides.

In the end, the Minmatar were victorious in taking Auga, further tipping the current balance of control between the Amarr and Minmatar factions.

Thursday night's factional bloodbath is probably only the beginning to a mad struggle for power before the Inferno expansion arrives.

<><>
_

A Thousand Words

2012-05-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

Guest Post: I’m A Blobber (And So Can You)

2012-05-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Guest Post By Galdornae

One of the most common terms in eve (accusations, more often than not) is that of the blob. I’ve said it, you’ve said it, your friends have said it, your enemies have said it, your grandmother has said it. Blob. Blobber. Blobbing. Blobbed. We’ve all heard it so many times that it’s almost lost meaning.

But what is a blob?

30 battleships attacking a cruiser? That’s a blob.

10 battleships attacking a battlecruiser? That’s a blob.

7 frigates fighting 3 cruisers? Well, that depends. Did the frigates win? If so, the cruisers might say they were blobbed, based on the numbers they faced. Did the cruisers win? Well then maybe the frigates think they were blobbed, because the cruisers are bigger.

Did you bring battlecruisers to fight cruisers? That’s a blob!

Did you bring a falcon? That’s a blob!

Did you attack a bigger force of larger ships and win using skill, strategy, and guts? That’s a... um… well I hate to break it to you, but you still might be a blobber. The term is thrown around so much these days that it comes very freely in any case of rage, smack, or just general bitching in local. It’s very easy to see a situation where you lost, ran, or just plain got spooked as a case of the other side blobbing.

So what IS a blob?

A blob is what the other side brought when you lost or ran. It doesn’t really matter what they had, what you had, how many they had, or how many you had. If it feels like a blob, it’s a blob!

Did your 2 cruisers kill a battlecruiser? You're a blobber!

Did your battlecruiser kill 4 cruisers? You're a blobber!

Did your rifter kill a zealot? You're a blobber!

Did your 7 man gang in cruiser hulls make the 10 man gang in BC and BS shit themselves and run, leaving 2 of their number to die? That’s a blob!

Your mom eating a burrito? That’s a blob!

<><>
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The Questions that Nag Me (About Docking and FW)

2012-04-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

If FW pilots can have their docking taken away, but neutrals cannot, then why wont people just leave FW? Then they can dock wherever they want, and continue to shoot each other as pirates. In fact, they'll have more targets now that they're not in a militia....

The missing ingredient to all of this comes down to ISK. FW pilots talk a lot about good fights and small-gang warfare, but many people are in FW for the ISK making opportunities.

To give some perspective, you can mission the LP for a Fleet Stabber in two lvl 4 missions, with some LP to spare. People who know what they're doing and have a good setup --maybe a fast alt to speed tank while their main brings in damage, etc., can burn through 12 lvl-4 missions in as little as 2 hours.

It is not uncommon, or unusual for a good mission-running FW pilot to make 750mil+ isk in an afternoon/evening of dedicated, solo mission running.

With new additions to the LP store stuch as Datacores, and LP gains through pvp and plexing, I believe the theory is that the lucrative potential of FW will be too great for people to resist, and will make the risk of fighting over stations well worth it.

But, what about people who don't care about missions? What about people that make ISK trading or doing DED plexes, or etc?

Well, if being locked out of stations is not worth it for them, they don't have to stay in FW.

Isn't that kind of harsh? Don't we want people to join and stay in FW? It seems like adding mechanics that makes people leave is really bad!

Well, it depends on your perspective. Right now, a lot of people are only in FW to exploit the free wardeccing system. They're after free, easy targets and are not interested in any of the other aspects of Faction War, or even working with their own militias.

The notion that Faction War is no longer going to cater to these kinds of people is actual a good thing, because it means CCP has succeeded in developing a unique game mechanic that has meaning outside of the 'free wardec system' that it is currently--meaning that will attract a lot of new pilots that actually want to be involved in something 'more.'

It is important to note that no one is getting kicked to the curb. But now, if pilots want to engage with a war-dec system, they can use the actual war-dec system. If they want to shoot whatever they want, they can use the actual game mechanic that caters to this style -- piracy.

But, won't fighting over stations hurt casual pvp? Don't we want to maintain casual pvp, even if we don't care about the free wardec?

A lot of people talk about 'maintaining' casual pvp as if the current Faction War system somehow enforces casual pvp. In general, it is not the 'mechanics' that make something casual or not--it is how you use the mechanics, and your attitude as a pilot.

In fact, having a 'casual' attitude toward something is just that -- and attitude. CCP can't change your attitude, and there are plenty of people in null-sec who treat null-sec mechanics 'casually.'

But, won't fighting over stations and having more people coming into Faction War cause there to be less small-gang pvp? Don't FW pilots love small-gang pvp?

Fighting over anything, instead of fighting for the sake of fighting will create less small-gang pvp. As people go toward meeting objectives (ie: taking a station) they will be less and less concerned about matching fleet composition for the purpose of getting a good fight, as has frequently been the attitude in FW.

However, this would occur with any 'goal-oriented' aspect being introduced to FW.

In other words, this comes from adding meaning into Faction War, as well as getting more people involved and interested. (As more people join, the fleets will have the tendency to get better.)

Since these (meaning and more involvement) are the very things FW pilots have been asking for, it is an interesting and ironic dilemma.

What about new players? Isn't Faction War supposed to be a place where they can easily access pvp, and 'get their feet wet' so to speak? Doesn't restricting station docking really hurt this aspect of Faction War?

First of all, after talking with an acquaintaince who really is new and grasping exactly how overwhelming EVE already is, it's pretty safe to say that not being able to dock in a hostile faction's station in a warzone would be a drop in the bucket...

Secondly, not being able to dock in a hostile faction's station during a large scale 'war' is logical, and most newer players would be able to easily grasp this concept. In fact, a lot of new FW pilots are often surprised you can dock in a hostile party's station.

Thirdly, most new FW pilots currently live in high sec, due to the low-sec warzone being so hostile. You don't see a lot of noob corps moving into the warzone because the high-sp, experienced older FW pilots would eat them alive. Not to mention the pirates, by nature of the warzone being in low-sec. (And on the rare time you see a young corp, or noob heavy corp move in, they don't stick around for very long...)

In many ways, I think that pointing at the new players and aruging that this change shouldn't go through because it will so horribly affect them is really just a desperate excuse. Ultimately, the change will most significantly affect the older players who could have the docking access they've taken for granted, taken away.

But...isn't it an issue that docking access can be taken away in so short a time? You could lose access in as little as 6 hours!

Yes. It is a huge problem that I hope CCP will address. (In fact, they arguably need to address this before they can really begin to fix Faction War, for reasons I will discuss in a different post.)
However, it is a problem that effects Faction War in general, and not just 'new' players or, 'casual' players.

Smokin

2012-04-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

While supposedly-notorious pirates have been busy photoshoping their faces onto cute posters, members of Late Night Alliance corporation Autocannon's Anonymous have been shooting Hulks in highsec left and right the last few weeks.

Though Hulkageddon was slated to begin May 1st, AUTOZ apparently decided to-hell with the pomp and circumstances and dug in early. They sent our alliance a copy of their congratulatory mail they have been sending to victims, (for use as a template) and shared some rather hilarious stories from their adventures.

In particular, was the story of one hulk pilot that proceeded to the Faction Warzone with his corporation in battleships for revenge. He and his buddies ended up going home in pods shortly thereafter.

AUTOZ CEO Hans Jagerblitzen, though readily admitting (repeatedly) that he "flies with the best people in EVE," has expressed no interest in participating in his corporation's Hulkageddon antics.

There are currently no plans for LNA members to participate in the Jita event this ~~Saturday~~ ~~Friday~~ Thursday? As has already been shown, Late Night has some difficulty with following guidelines, and decifering dates.

However, as Jita burns to the ground, I wouldn't be surprised to see a group of Late Nighters huddled nearby, discussing girls and roasting marshmellows over the embers.