I'm a Noob, I'm In a Rifter and I'm In Amamake.

This post is inspired by a post by fellow blogger Laedy whose blog I only found recently and am enjoying greatly. If you didn't get enticed by the hyperlinked name click on it and you'll find the specific post I was referring to.

Up to speed now? Good.

So off I went in my classic Rifter cutting cookies all over the shop. 200 plate, repper, holy triad of tackle, I had it all, Amamake didn't know what was coming...

Well things weren't quite as intense as I had hoped although I felt proud to do my bit in keeping the solo scene alive. I mainly found some other lone Rifter pilots looking for a tussle, dispatching them with relative ease. After having such a blast dodging Dramiels and oversized gate camps I extended this ethos to my home life in Verge Vendor and claimed a few more Rifters. Fellow tusker Mal Asha (who's exploits can be read about in Wensley's blog) was awake at some absurd time in his country and tasked me with keeping him awake and I of course obliged, deciding that taking him up to Amamake would be the cure for his sleepy soul. We shipped up, shipped out and made best speed to the Heimatar region with hopes and dreams or piracy and fun all round. Unfortunately things weren't quite as peachy as we hoped and we decided on some whim to ship up to Jaguars (the reason why is beyond me). We claimed a few lives but nothing particularly spectacular.

Mal then took us over to Evati to see the locals and hopefully bag some kills, which we did. That kill right there is why I abhore dual-prop close-range Dramiels, they just can't stand up to Assault Frigates. Bear in mind the fight was largely a solo affair so he was held down by only 1 web and 1 scram for 95% of the fight. I wish I could write an epic post in regards to the fight but it quite literally became a Gallente affair; overheat everything and tear him to pieces.

Time passed, we saw some friendly faces from our public channel and both lost our Jaguars in suicidal manoeuvres, which is all in the name of fun. After a break we returned and I piped up in local to see if anyone would be kind enough to sell me a shuttle for my journey home. Just to my luck a pilot whom I have always been aware of but never had the pleasure of talking to for any length of time stepped in and offered me a ship, the same went for Mal. I docked and a trade window opened with Lady Shaniqua with a fully fit Rifter inside. Epic, the roam continued! I gave what isk I could spare in appreciation and we headed home after a long roam. It was great fun and although I lost more ships than I probably should have on a normal day I also had a better time than I usually do darting from system to system.

So here's to Rifters and Amamake! (I must be honest I hoped to see Laedy around so I could ask for a duel, I had no such luck. Perhaps next time!)

Self Destruct This Please

Ok so this goes out to CCP; sort self-destructing out! I don't mind self-destructing being in the game but there definitely needs to be a few changes to make it a fair game mechanic.

Why am I bringing this up? An Orca that blew itself up in front of my face after myself and few Tuskers caught it in a belt. Obviously it does show up in the log but when your frigate's gun cycle round constantly and you are being shot by npc rats that message can easily slip by. I would also keep my log open but unfortunately the large portion of screen real estate I have is filled by the cumbersome UI CCP have given us and the many chat windows that I have opened for whatever tactical reasoning.

To fix this aggravating issue you need to do a few things;

1. Remove insurance on self-destructed ships.
2. Add a timer directly on the ships hull for visual aid, rather than a single text message that practically always is overlooked.
3. Generate a killmail for those involved (not mandatory)
4. Give a fair loot drop rather than having all fitted modules destroyed. I see no reason why having a ship explode through overwhelming firepower is any different than a single explosion from the pilot's choice. 

It really isn't hard, wouldn't take much work but would make people far happier and improve the way things are played. I hope somebody takes a look at this and agrees because it borders on insanity to have any other way.

Roll on the next Orca to land in a belt with me, I don't think it will get a chance of a ransom next time!

Flee on Sight!

Just a quick post to give a shout out to a fellow wingman Suleiman Shouaa, director and now turned blogger! He's recently began writing a blog called Flee on Sight and it's great. I recommend everyone to go check it out and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too!

Welcome to the blogging community Sulei o/

How It's Gonna End

I am a foolish pirate. It's become more and more apparent to me as I've played Eve and rather than actually trying to rectify the issue I merely ignore it. Thus I get losses such as this and more painfully this. When I shouldn't do something, I just think of what the best but almost impossible situation is and get it in my head it will work. Obviously it never does.

More fool me.

As some of you might know I make all my isk from piracy and I don't have an alt to support me in any tangible or worthwhile way. My 100,000sp hauler barely qualifies to actually carry anything of value and other than that it's Kishin on his lonesome. Why, then, don't I wise up? Answers on a postcard please.

The Daredevil is a wonderful ship by the way for those that contemplate flying it. I know had I not attacked those Dramiels that I would be flying it quite regularly and hopefully racking up some great kills. I would go into detail about what really draws me to the ship but I didn't get quite enough flight time to figure it out. Eve is a thinkers game and I'm beginning to realize that if I continue in my sloppy ways I'll be left in the dirt whilst others soar above me. This echoes a new chapter for me as a pilot and I plan to buck up and fly smart from now on, these kinds of losses have really punched me in the face. Do any of you find you harbour any particularly bad habits? If so, what and how do you combat them when out flying?

Hopefully something good will come of this, at least before any more bad stuff! I'm going to take a deep breath, relax and begin sorting myself out. Thus ends the emotionally fueled rant of a butthurt pirate!

Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

        Part of me wants to write a completely different post than the one I am at current. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a fool when it comes to deciding the name of each entry and thus pretty much all of them are songs that I like. I suppose in a way you can find out a little more about me just by finding the song that heads whatever of my writings you decide to read. This title in particular pertains to the Tom Waits version. Moving on swiftly.

All pirates are pvpers. All pvpers are not necessarily pirates, far from it. This much is true within Eve. Some I suppose could argue that those who scam are the dark side of industry but I wouldn't regard them specifically pirates, we'll focus on those that yyaahhhrrr for now. So here's the question I put forward to you the reader; what allows a pilot to gain this 'pirate' status. Is it the bounty on our heads? Perhaps the negative security status (for those that are really hardcore) or is it the sacred art of ransoming? I personally opt for the third. Anyone can come out of a bad engagement and want to get some revenge (however futile bounty revenge is) and any avid pvper can let his security status slip enough to be flashy. On another counter to this argument a majority of self proclaimed pirates have neutral security statuses, most likely for tactical reasons or otherwise.

So now we've isolated what I believe makes a pirate I basically want to see who actually does ransom victims primarily? I intend to ransom every target that I come up against and through following this mantra rigorously I actually do make my living off piracy on it's own. Whilst the isk isn't in any way a stable cash flow, I find that a little planning and careful piloting allows for a decent career as a pirate. One thing that can be said for piracy done in such a way is that pvp evolves to become a different style of game. Assessing a situation becomes even more crucial than it would be for any other combat pilot as the stakes are so much higher. In effect, whilst a POS is the lifeline for an industrialist and a mining barge is a miner's right hand, a pirate plays a far more dangerous game (wouldn't you have guessed) as the vessel that is being pit against the torrential onslaught of an entire world embodies a pirate's all; money, life.

I really feel that ransoming is becoming a dying art form and I want to begin spearheading an initiative to change this. Please keep an eye out for future announcements here to try and re-invigorate the art of ransoming!

Not Ready To Make Nice; Fashion Pirates!

        As we all know my abilities with photoshop or microsoft paint are far below that of many others, you only need to look at my banner on this here blog to clarify this statement. Thus a good friend of mine (who has also recently become a blogger; link here) has endeavoured to draw me a new banner for my logbook of New Eden life to give it a much sleeker and more bad'ass look. When asked what ship I wanted showcased on said banner I fell on my face. I wanted a ship that would represent me as a pirate and still look damn cool. This is how it all began...

        Initially the Rifter springs to everyone's minds and for good reason; it's reliable (for a minmatar ship) and has been immortalized in the lore of Eve as a young pirate's greatest asset. Not wanting to fall under this whilst still being a Matari pilot at heart I needed a different ship to represent who I was. What I wasn't expecting from this mindless contemplation that I of course divulged to all my corp mates in ventrilo (because I barely ever shut up in vent), was that Kirith would turn this into a really interesting blog post! I read it with glee and found some of his choices very interesting considering both of us are currently rooted to our frigateering ways (that is totally a real word for frigate flyers only!) I then noticed a second blog about said subject by Mail Lite. Thus I have decided to follow suit and throw my perspective into the mix.

I wanted to make this a combination of both functionality and style when deciding on what ships I thought were a good asset for a pirate. Obviously frigate hulls have taken slight precedence in my shortlist as I have a soft spot for them but I've made sure to keep the list at least somewhat diversified!

Number Five: Hurricane

Number Four: Taranis

Number Three: Arbitrator

Number Two: Rifter

And finally at number one and the choice for my new blog banner...

Republic Fleet Firetail!

My reason for this ship is many fold. Firstly it looks awesome. Secondly it is somewhat affordable yet still good enough to make you feel special on the battlefield. Thirdly it IS a pirate ship, which you can learn if you read the description of the ship itself! It is a ship that I enjoy flying and have had great success with and it allows me to blend the two greatest aspects of Kishin; my Minmatar heritage and my life as a pirate.

Till next time fellow pilots!

Moar Frigate Fights Plx

        After a request by someone I shall leave anonymous to blog more about frigate fights (I'd link you to the blog post but he unfortunately deleted it) I figured I would oblige and give you all an after action report on a fight I had last night. I also got shouted to update my blog in Hevrice local today so special thanks goes out to Zurakaru Ze for getting my lazy ass in gear! He has a great blog that I found thanks to the power of google and you can all enjoy it here.

        It all began with my triumphant return to New Eden, well, not so much. Still I had taken a small break whilst some skills ticked over and my real life got the better of me, a shame indeed right? So the fabled Gallente Frigate V has finished, drone skills are looking pretty tip top and my support skills are finally about fleshed out. Life is officially good again. The wallet is chirpy and my array of ships has increased ten fold thanks to the training plan I've stuck to in order to fly the Dramiel. Now that you are all caught up to speed I can actually begin the tale...

        Myself and a bunch of Tuskers were zipping around the Hevrice system and decided to go find trouble and in a matter of moments we were all sat in various frigates (and a Rupture) raring for fresh blood. The initial composition of the fleet escapes me, suffice to say it would be something of a worthless piece of information as for the next two hours things were very slow. No targets, not even in the holy grail of pain that is Amamake. Spirits broken a final five of us limped back towards Hevrice with nothing to show but another dent in New Eden's carbon emissions. These five gung ho pilots I shall now create aliases for in regards to the Famous Five:-

• Robert Mason shall be Julian; the herioc leader of the group that leads us into danger. Also he's like totally my father.
• ItsmeHcK1 is Dick; though not for the reasons you might think! Despite being FC of this roam wikipedia's faithful depiction of the character just screamed Itsme. Go look for yourself.
• Snake Bliskan is going to have to be Anne; his voice is so silky smooth it's scary.
• Taek'li will take the role of George; I'm not sure why but I felt harsh making him a dog.
• I will be Timothy; yes the dog. 

        As we rushed home to catch much needed sleep or go find some food to fill our empty bellies, a gang of cruisers and frigates that we had seen earlier but been unable to engage just so happened to be sitting around trying to do a faction warfare plex. We took the oppurtunity to attack despite their Blackbird support and larger fleet size. This is where things got interesting.

        As we landed on the gate to the plex their fleet suddenly warped off rapidly, except for the Blackbird. Our famous group managed to get points and precious deeps on the evil ecm boat and it fell without any hassle. Whether the pilot choked on the call to warp out or just got left behind for another reason I cannot say, yet the knowledge that the linchpin of their setup was gone made us all breath easy as we prepared for a response. The pilot was invited to chat and ransoming proceeded with our obvious intentions being to draw their fleet back in to the fight. After some big talk that they were about to 'have some fun with us' and our shooting him into smithereens their fleet landed at range and then proceeded to warp away again. We made chase and just missed catching a few rogue members in belts before having to rally back upon the plex that they had all skulked into beneath our noses. At this point our FC Dick decided to call us into battle, we aligned with the acceleration gate and were promptly threw into the deep unknown...

        Warped away, again. Their fleet disengaged and scattered out. We gave chase once more perhaps through ill-judgement on our behalf, though with the length of the roam and lack of fights who could blame us? Once more events repeated themselves and we formed upon the plex gate of the site that they once more took refuge in. This time however, things happened. Primaries were called and despite being told to go directly for the Stabber I couldn't resist but put the enemy Taranis out of action. With this being my Taranis' maiden flight I suffered from the same symptoms all pilots do with a new toy; fear, excitement, wallet checking. I overheating my guns and launched my drones, immediately tearing into his armour. Seconds later his ship tore into a fragment of glittering shards and I remained victorious. I quickly assigned my drones to aid with the assault upon the enemy Stabber and took on the various tech 1 frigates that littered the field. 

        

        Unfortunately for me, the battle was swinging back and forth, far above my head for me to notice. George's Rupture had succumbed to their combined force and call outs of our gang taking damage was flooding into ventrilo at an alarming rate. Both myself and Julian were under fire and Anne was bravely tanking as much as possible. I quickly made work of an Incursus as my armour hit 50% and I began pulling range as best as possible, throwing my drones upon enemy drones and spitting bullets out in a venomous rage at all who closed in.

        At this point everything went blank. 

        Whatever happened after then is a mystery to me, I only wish I could gain different perspectives of the fight so that I could fill in the various gaps that remain. Suffice to say I made it on every killmail in the fight and left with 37% armour. I think Julian came out in structure and unfortunately Anne's Ishkur was lost. We were victorious! Frantically those that had the cargo space looted like frenzied ferrets (yes, check out the analogy) and we made our escape into the night as a Vagabond and Rifter squadron arrived on scene to put us in our places. 

        Fights don't get as good as this, nor do they happen everyday. Despite what many people will chime in local about blob fleets etc. can see that without a fleet this glorious fight would have never happened and thus my blog wouldn't have awoke from it's writing slumber. So be thankful for small gang combat and I'll remain in awe of my new favourite ship the Taranis. 

        As a disclaimer I can't verify how famous any of the Tuskers mentioned are, nor can I say that our adventures were quite as fantastic; here's hoping. 

Till next time o/