Progress Report – August 2014

Ultimate objective:

Become a great PvPer (mainly solo combat)

 

Notable things to remember this month includes my participation in Theomachy 2014, earning what I’ll call the participation award for the OMC contest and releasing an EVE video! Oh, and I’ve paid for a ticket to Eve Down Under. Can’t wait to meet my fellow pilots in real life. 😛

Anyway, onto the report. Structure-wise I’m going to shorten these things, just to capture the essence of the month.

EVE’s sandbox. Oh, and a video!?

I’m sitting at 12m SP. Heavy Drones V is completing in a few more minutes as I type this; such a skill even PvPers who are a year or two older than me may not even possess yet. I’ve reached the stage where I can’t really use SP as an excuse for my losses, and it’s time to step it up. All the footage in this video has been collected prior to this point in my EVE life, ranging from fights where I’ve had 3m SP to 11m.

They aren’t glorious fights. Their caliber does not even begin to compare with fights you see in typical solo/small-gang PvP videos. But they’re something, and I can now clear my video folder with a clear conscience to make room for more recordings, knowing that I have some way to recall the shenanigans of my early days.

Enjoy! And if you feel like pondering after the video, read on to follow my thoughts on EVE for the day.

A taste of “CEO Online”: To be a King

Exploded in a Comet today to a Tormentor piloted by a fellow pilot in the BSB channel. Was quite a close fight and in the end I ran out of capacitor to sustain my repairer just as his buffer tank depleted into structure.

The fight fell into his advantage with an overheated afterburner and scrambler, meaning he pulled range from my deadly blasters quite quickly, and I took too long to switch to Null (longer range) ammunition as I realised much too late. In a situation like that, with my dual webs, it is important to understand the effect you have on the enemy by deactivating those webs. You catapult them. If I snare an enemy with my webs and they’re burning furiously away, but still applying decent damage, I have the option of letting them go, and perhaps keeping my ship intact. So for next time, when in a similar scenario:

1) Align to a warpable object
2) disable webs
3) cross your fingers and hope they lose point.

After a fight usually I relax, play another game. So I did, and I broke through to Gold in League of Legends. 😀

But then I was requested to hop back onto EVE. -cue mysterious music-

A light breeze is always refreshing.

So my previous post was a little downcast. A little soul-searching. But the weekend is here, and though the amount of work I should’ve done but haven’t grows still, I cannot help but feel a little cheery. Friends are good at doing that to you. When asked to go out, I generally do not feel inclined to leave my computer and roam the city at night, but once I am out the crisp winter air and the bubbly conversation a group of friends can concoct really calms me down.

Perhaps that’s not a good thing for my coursework. -shrug-

EVE Online probably isn’t either. But whilst some days I may question whether I game too much, a day like today I embrace it. On to what I did in EVE Online today!

It’s August already?

I’m nearly done with the first year of my university course?

I’m 8 months old on my EVE-online character?

It felt like only yesterday I was walking into my campus fresh-faced and awestruck.

It felt only like this morning that I delved into CCP’s New Eden universe with grand aspirations.

Time flies…

 

Where has all that time gone?

Not into studying. Well then there really only is one other major aspect in my life I’d invest so much time in, I am ashamed to admit. Games.

Learning to run with a little help.

My first post on this blog ended with “… I needed another push.”

I intentionally did not follow up directly on it because that motivation was to be my experience in EVE. That push was going to be everything New Eden had to offer at its most majestic and mysterious.

Unfortunately, as some of those later posts describe, it was not such smooth sailing.

Results of Theomachy

It was short-lived unfortunately. I believe I was one of the first 70 pilots to die by rough estimation, out of the 250ish that showed up.

Original post on Theomachy.

I was hoping to last longer, and my death was due to a simple mistake that I will probably not get over at all. I was expecting myself to die getting caught in a bubble I didn’t see or find myself in a fight against a gang, but instead I died having escaped a gang in a pod, landed free from any bubbles, noticed a single enemy on grid and ignored him.

I paid for it with my life, and was eliminated very early on. 10 minutes before, in fact, cruisers were dropped into system by the overseers. Cruisers which I was trying to hold out for, appear as soon as I die.

-sigh-

Regretful indeed, but I will strive to get better. My death was not the cause of SP inadequacy, that’s for sure. The ship fits and such provided by the organisers (mainly T1) also nullified much SP advantage my opponents would’ve had. It was a mistake I could’ve avoided through caution and less rashness, and I intend to correct it through more experience.

Meanwhile, 18 and a half days until Heavy Drone Operation V finishes.

On the other hand, I managed to eliminate two contestants and kill a frigate with a destroyer I found before I died! Not totally unsuccessful after all. I think for next time I may need a partner.

I wonder if anyone would pay for training for Theomachy? Hmmm… hope they do another one.

Re: My Ship – Abiding by CODE. and Misconduct

Podded again.

Training clone, again.

Medical clone, updated, again.

ISK wasted… again. This one hurts.

When I go on writing binges it is difficult to stop.

Click to see full killmail.

So CODE picked me off auto-piloting in a pod to Jita in high-sec the other day. It would’ve been done and dusted and I would have moved on begrudgingly if not for one thing. Mr. Wreckful sent me a mail afterwards, I assumed immediately to gloat. I open it up and it was simply a link titled “Re. Your Ship”. I checked the link and it was a soundcloud file. I frowned. What could he possibly do with soundc- Ahh. He must’ve gone through the effort of recording my pod exploded to send it to me. It sounded like a CODE. thing to do, and I was not going to give him the pleasure of listening to it, but it did stir up a response, something I am equally disgusted and pleased with myself for.

Disgusted because I fell for the bait. It turns out, since I let curiosity get the better of me and decided to listen to it, it wasn’t a recording of a ship exploding. It was this. CODE. propaganda. For those who can’t be bothered, here’s a transcript:

Hey there. My name is Jaxi Wreckful, and if you’re listening to this you’re probably wondering:

“Jaxi, why did you relieve me of my ship?”

Well, my friend, the answer to that question is quite simple. You were found to be in non-compliance with regards to the New Halima Code of Conduct, thus resulting in the removal of your ship and based on the offense, perhaps even your pod.

“Well Jaxi, that makes sense but gee, where can I find more information about becoming compliant?”

Again, too easy. http://www.minerbumping.com.

Once you’re ready to join the team, just reach out to your local CODE. enforcer, and they can get you squared away with obtaining an official New Order permit. Once you have your permit, be sure to wear it proud friend, because you’ve just become part of the movement that is going to reshape high-security space, forever.

Myself and the rest of the New Order have single-handedly taken on the entire burden of the war on high-sec, and we will continue doing our part in the fight against bot aspirancy. But now citizen, the question is, will you?

Couldn’t help myself; I did laugh despite the situation. Ragebait it may have been for someone who was a victim simply because he was AFK rather than bot-aspiring (although this may be one and the same to CODE.), the elevator music and measured tones had me giggling.

My response was equally formal and, in the words of my assaulter, ‘self control[led]’ and ‘admirable’.

His further response was what I was pleased about, and I smiled evilly at that too and forgave him then, for it appears he has neglected engaging in acrostic writing for some time.

Words have such power.

Fighting the same fight

When EVE Online starts to slow down for you, look at it through the eyes of another. Today, for me, it was through Eric Shang, newbie pirate. Mr. Shang probably started two months before me so we are almost exactly the same in age, not to mention our goals of becoming great PvPers. I briefly glanced at a few of his posts, and I didn’t see specifically that he was wanted to be the best at solo PvP specifically. I guess he and I differ there. 😛

I also made a few more comparisons, because it is incredible how much CCP has managed to facilitate their dream of a sandbox such that two people who have started EVE at similar times with similar goals could undertake such different journeys. Were EVE Online to be another MMORPG, me and Eric would have chosen a class and would’ve probably grinded on the same mobs, ran the same dungeons and used the same items, perhaps even joined the same guild or clan that shared our aims. The story could not have been any more different here.

The Angel Project – Free WINGS!

So, I watched someone eat 200 chicken wings whilst answering questions the other day, on a whim.

And interestingly enough, a few days later I stumble upon The Angel Project, an endeavor begun by a single person: Sindel Pellion. Truly a showcasing of what people can do in EVE Online if they have the motivation and inspiration.

Basically, this is the second year of this project, one which grants all newbies (characters who are over a month and under a year old) as of the start date of the Project (July 27th), the chance to enter for awesome prizes. Full details on the prizes can be found here, but ships are being given away, hence the faint connection I drew between the chicken wings and the spaceships (as ‘wings’). Admittedly perhaps only someone as strange as I would’ve noticed it.

So anyway, I was awestruck when I heard about it, and moved enough to record my discovery eternally in this blog which charts my journey as a solo PvPer. Another testament to the fact that it is impossible and absolutely not recommended to experience New Eden alone, even with such objectives as mine. The opportunities are as uncountable as the stars that pierce the void, and the Angel Project is but one of them, albeit one of the more brightly sparkling ones.

And I’m entering too. ^_^ What with Theomachy coming up and now my entrance into the Angel Project, I think I can almost understand the strength behind the community of this game. Almost. A few more years will have to go by, I think, and a few dozen more friendships will have to be forged before I can grasp everything New Eden has to offer at any one time.