Riding the Drama Llama

EVE never fails to provide opportunity for intrigue and interpersonal chaos. Keeping pilots working together in an Alliance is a monumental task. I have never tried to run an Alliance, but I can only imagine how much work it would take to keep the ship on course. I have just experienced the pain that affects all pilots when an Alliance ship hits a reef or two on the way out to sea.

My now-ex alliance just lost 1/3 their membership as 4 corps left including the biggest industrial corp and the biggest PVP corp totalling hundreds of pilots. I logged in to find that my corp had dropped roles, and I was stuck in a 0.0 station without any blues as the corp was between alliances! Despite logging in daily, hanging on Vent and reading all corp forum posts and Eve mails, I was completely out of the loop of the coming major changes.

Through all the accusations and bad blood, I am still not sure what happened. I don't want to ride the drama llama but I also don't want to be trampled by a drama llama stampede. Having just contributed 9 figures in ISK to the Alliance fund to build an outpost, having the corp drop from the Alliance shortly after stings badly. If the leadership had indicated that things were shaky, I could have used that ISK for multiple other projects. If trust is the true currency in EVE, this account has been bankrupted by poor communication.

Hopefully things will work out well for all involved parties. I really enjoyed flying with pilots from both the alliance and my corp. It is hard to see things sour and have no clue what happened. I am taking this as a cue to strike out into a new chapter in my EVE saga. My goal is to establish a new foothold in 0.0. I now know much more about null-sec life, so I have ideas about the parameters and strategic situations that will work best for my style of interaction.

My quest to leap off the drama llama and seek out the Temple of Tranquility is about to begin!

My copilot joined the Guristas!

I was blown away to find out that my son joined the Guristas! I hope he will be an exceptional pirate!

Shiny

Here's my new beautiful desktop background:

You can also now legally access badges which can be a nice way to show off your political leanings in New Eden! While I favor the Syndicate and Sisters, I also have a soft spot for the Gallente as they throw the best parties.

You can pick up your images here from the Evelopedia.

(This material is used with limited permission of CCP. No official affiliation or endorsement by CCP is stated or implied and they would almost certainly pod me if they ever made the mistake of actually reading this blog).

How to cheat at EVE Online

EVE Online is probably the most challenging, deep, complex MMO game on earth. Developing a pilot in EVE takes careful consideration and years of planning and attention. Getting into true hardcore PVP can take months of skill training and establishing an ISK source is critical to cover the inevitable losses. This requires grinding up factions to access high paying mission agents or training skills for mining or industry to make ISK. All of these activities take significant time and attention.

However, there is a way to rapidly get access to the endgame content if you have deep pockets and don't mind jumping into the hidden markets of New Eden.


EVE Cheating 101:

Sign up for an EVE account, subscribe.

Start training up a scanning or cyno alt, which will be useful later.

Go to the EVE Online forums and browse through the available Pilots for sale. You should find a good selection of PVP specialists, Industrialists, Traders and Jacks-of-all-trades. Choose your poison and move on to the next step.

Buy PLEX to cover the ISK cost of your character and to purchase any ships or mods you like.

If you have trouble figuring out the ropes after the tutorials, join EVE University, take an Agony Unleashed class, or buy more PLEX and hire a mercenary corp to train you in PVP basics.

Please note, CCP officially sanctions this behavior. This procedure utilizes legal mechanics within the EVE Online TOS.

In fair warning, many pilots would be offended if they knew you achieved your power in EVE through such means. More importantly, having things in EVE does not equate to knowing how to use them. Should you get yourself blown up feel free to buy more ISK, and keep buying things from my market orders!

While you may be able to cheat your way to a Titan in EVE, keeping that ship alive will be a real challenge. In the meantime, by buying PLEX you are allowing established pilots to play EVE for free. Losing ships that you don't know how to fly benefits miners and industrialists who produce goods and work the markets. When you buy PLEX, CCP gets paid for making a great game. We all win!

Null-sec noise

You know you've been sucked into 0.0 EVE when you check the Alliance map daily to see what is happening out there.

The epic wars are endlessly entertaining. Seeing the pro-slave owning Providence pilots get some karmic therapy is wonderful. Wondering what is next for IT, Goons, and the NC keeps me engaged in the chaos. I have found 0.0 life to be the best of both worlds. It is easy to jump clone back to Empire when you want to, but you also have the daily opportunities for PVP, corp ops, and lucrative pursuits.

If you've never ventured out to the frontier before, find a welcoming corp and take the leap! You can always pop back into high sec to mission or trade when you feel like it.

Thanks to DOTLAN and eve-files for maintaining such a great resource!

Alliance Tournament VIII

The next Alliance tournament is upon us.

You can see all the info on changes here. I am impressed by the mention in the Dev blog of the CSM being consulted regarding rule changes and the new auction system.

This is the sort of use of the CSM that will help legitimize the body for players. I think the CSM quality this time around is superb, and it is turning into a useful and functional process. I hope CCP keeps using the CSM and letting us know about it.

Good luck to the competing Alliances! I also hope CCP considers video streams of all battles this time around.

Jorshan rocks the Industry

If you have ever wondered about getting into production or research, you should check out Jorshan's Very Quick Guide to Production and Invention. He breaks the process down to simple steps, and provides tons of experienced tips. Knowing this stuff up front will save a newcomer to production some time and help you maximize your ISK, training, and time.