15/05/11 08:39 AM
| Arkonor | 285 |
| Bistot | 217 |
| Mercoxit | 192 |
| Crokite | 187 |
| Hedbergite | 171 |
| Hemorphite | 168 |
| Jaspet | 152 |
| Dark Ochre | 147 |
| Pyroxeres | 118 |
| Kernite | 106 |
| Veldspar | 99 |
| Scordite | 93 |
| Gneiss | 90 |
| Plagioclase | 88 |
| Spodumain | 82 |
| Omber | 81 |
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I finally finished up what I considered a fairly good set of mining skills for a high-sec carebear-ette. All I’m lacking is the full set of T2 mining crystals. Additionally I thought I would start working on getting started on some production skills. I finally got that rolling along and realized I should be inventing as well.
I had decided at about three to four weeks into my pod-pilot career that I should focus on running any missions with one particular NPC corporation. I looked around at what I wanted and decided I like what Lai Dai had to offer. They covered a spread spectrum of endeavors and didn’t seems to rule anything else out. I wanted to fly for them as well, but it seems their rigorous application and acceptance procedures excluded me because of a technicality of my Achuran heritage or some such nonsense. I liked their spread of stations and coverage as well as the offerings from their LP store, not the least of which was the much vaunted ‘Highwall’ HX-2 mining implant.
So after specializing for a long time and even catching some flak from my then corp mates about not using ‘their’ corp and agents, I managed to get enough standings for a perfect refine. A couple of weeks later I was able to get a jump clone. And finally last week was able to afford my much coveted implant.
All of this to say, I have a lot of standing with them and was curious if there was a way to continue to leverage that to my benefit. Well, it goes back to one other reason I had selected Lai Dai originally. There are a lot of research and development agents within the Lai Dai corporation and they cover a large area of space and range of research endeavors. I looked at the spread and realized I have access to all off their R&D agents and was only lacking the prerequisite skill areas to begin earning research points for datacores. The datacores are requirement for invention of all kinds of various modules.
I started with Hydromagnetic Physics. Why? Well, my study of Ice Processing had required that I gain more than a passing familiarity with Hydromagnetic Physics and so I could immediately access high level agents by training Research Project Management. On a side note, RPM is a charisma heavy skill in the science field that for an Achura is painfully slow to get trained. I’ve stopped training it after four rounds as it will take another month to maximize it. In the mean time, I’ve also picked up Caldari Starship Engineering so that I can possibly work on some of the ship invention as well as sell some extra datacores.
The final skill endeavor has been to get some exploration work done. I had learned enough Astrometrics to use all the various exploration probes and some of scanning speed training, but knew that at some point I would need to move into a tech 2 ship to take full control of exploration. So I embarked on a journey to train Electronic Upgrades V I could train for a Covert Ops frigate. On a somewhat related side note, it turns out I need that for something completely unrelated. Manufacturing. Really, Manufacturing? Apparently you need various encryption methods for invention which require some skill at hacking which in turn relies upon… Electronic Upgrades V. So coming full circle, I’m training for scanning again so I can invent the T2 mining crystals so I can train for level IV of the various ore refinement skills to be able to use them in my modulated strip miner 2′s. Whew. I sure hope I don’t need to train any other skills along the way… 
So hot off my recent successes with exploration, I fired up The Pogues and headed out to try and find some more hidden belts. This time I jumped two gates downstream to the last system in the constellation and figured I’d work my way back toward home. If I failed to find any results in those systems, I’d then move on up toward the other end of the constellation. Needless to say, the first three systems were busts. I didn’t get a single signature hit on any of them. (It is a good think I’m making these probes on my own now.)
On the fourth system I managed to pull up a single gravemetric signature on my Multispectral probe. I was excited, here was some yummy asteroid goodness to find and feast upon! I pulled up the system map and gauged where would be the ideal locations for my next set of probes. I wanted to get as much coverage as possible without wasting any probes. The problem is that this particular system is small and the five inner planets are all within a couple of AU of each other. I worked out a system I thought would work and started warping around laying my Quests out get a warp-able destination. The first set of probes didn’t return a signature which I had read on the datasheets wasn’t unheard of. I fired off another Multispec to make sure the hidden belt was still around and hadn’t been mined out by a competitor.
The trace still showed up, so I went and laid out another set of Quests to try and get a fix on it. I varied my pattern a little bit this time to see if a slightly different layout might get a result. On the third scan a weak signature popped upon my HUD and I was grateful to see it, even if a little bit tired by now. I was putting a lot of time and isk into this venture, as was excited to see it begin to pay off. I was still a long way from operating in the red on exploration as the first small site had more than paid for additional probes and skills, but I knew I couldn’t just rely on that. The signal strength was a paltry 0.019 and about an AU away. I warped to destination, destroyed my existing probes and popped some Pursuits into the launcher. I figured if I could get a solid hit here, I might could afford that sweet little SoE probe launcher I saw in the contracts catalog.
The net result of the evening of scanning was, I scanned with my mid-range probes for over 2 hours and never got any closer than .6 AU. Almost every scan came back negative, and those that didn’t were very unreliable. My one consolation is that the site must have been very good because I couldn’t locate it. [Note: Given my skill set, it could be that I just didn't have the ability to narrow it down.] This following hard on the heels of my earlier scan triumph, was disheartening and depressing. I still like scanning, but I’ve also seen his dark side and will be ever more scarred by it.
Having recently wrapped up Astrometrics IV, I headed out in my trusty Heron. I really like the ideas & mechanics behind exploration and I was excited to put it to work while I was working toward training the rest of the skills on the List™. My home system was empty so I warped next door to see what they had to offer. After my unskilled 431 second scan, what should appear to my multispectral probe but a Gravimetic site. Nearly lost in excitement I warped off to the first planet, simultaneously destroying the first probe and pulling up the system map to chart out the Quest probe layout.
The tiny system had two outer planets and a group of tightly bunched inner bodies. I figured out the best way to use four probes to completely cover all of them & then began another unskilled 431 second scan. On the very first run up pops a signature with a 0.6 AU accuracy. As I warped off to the point, I again bid goodbye to another set of probes & loaded some Gravimetic Combs to track it down. The first scan returned nothing, as did the second. On the third I could scarcely believe my eyes. A signature with an accuracy of 0m!
Flush with success, I cheekily warped to 0m and scanned the asteroid contents while aligning towards my home system. It was a small to medium belt of 15-20 rocks with about 175,000 units of various Omber derivatives. Arriving back home, I jumped into the Lou Ferrigno, loaded a fresh set of Omber I crystals and cleaned out the cargohold. The rest of the corp had long since docked and headed off to other pursuits. I knew this was going to have to be a one woman show. I opted to go with jetcans and risk the flippers as I was on a role as well as a bit of a time clock. Approximately an hour and fifteen minutes later I was busy loading the last of the ore and heading off to refine the whole mess.
Then I got a bit proud and maybe a tad cocky… (to be continued)
As of late I’ve been flying around Tash-Murkon with a song stuck in my head. I blame Mynxee for no other reason than she comes to mind as a perfect fit for the song.
I guess I just lost my carebear
I don’t know where he went
Was gonna steal all his money
The corps gotta pay the rent
I gotta brand new Hurricane
And I’m gonna fly it tonight
I wanna find some trouble
I wanna start a fight
So, so what?
I’m still a pirate
I’ve got my drones out
And got a lock on
And guess what
We’re having more fun
And now your armor’s gone
I’m gonna kill your structure
You’re all right, you’re just dead
And you’re a fool
So, so what?
I’m still a pirate
I’ve got my drones out
And got a lock on
And so on. Doesn’t that just scream Hellcats?
[All to the tune of "So What" by Pink]
The Musings
Some pilots may be a big overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to them in this day and age. By New Eden 105, systems have all been settled, contested and resettled, some of them many times over. The standard, accepted methods and mechanics for doing just about everything have been codified, argued, bugged, nerfed and buffed [not necessarily in that order]. Guides, opinions, thoughts and aphorisms abound on every conceivable subject.
Through most of that, one particular pilot has posted his thoughts and the thoughts of others on his own personal information portal. Most of us would have to be crazy to generate the amount of connections and keep up with them all that he does. Which actually goes a long way toward explaining the name. Crazy Kinux, or CK for short, goes the extra mile to keep a whole lot of information, people and reviews connected. By way of analogy, think of CK’s site as an autopilot for the New Eden Pilots’ Blogerati Class ships. But even with one person collating all that data, it’s easy to get lost in the deluge. “What To Do?” Let me be of assistance.
Click to continue reading “Pod Pilot’s Guide to The Musings”
The Musings
Some pilots may be a big overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to them in this day and age. By New Eden 105, systems have all been settled, contested and resettled, some of them many times over. The standard, accepted methods and mechanics for doing just about everything have been codified, argued, bugged, nerfed and buffed [not necessarily in that order]. Guides, opinions, thoughts and aphorisms abound on every conceivable subject.
Through most of that, one particular pilot has posted his thoughts and the thoughts of others on his own personal information portal. Most of us would have to be crazy to generate the amount of connections and keep up with them all that he does. Which actually goes a long way toward explaining the name. Crazy Kinux, or CK for short, goes the extra mile to keep a whole lot of information, people and reviews connected. By way of analogy, think of CK’s site as an autopilot for the New Eden Pilots’ Blogerati Class ships. But even with one person collating all that data, it’s easy to get lost in the deluge. “What To Do?” Let me be of assistance.
Click to continue reading “Pod Pilot’s Guide to The Musings”
In the midst of some time away from the ol’ pod, there is often a lot of time to spend thinking. The problem with being out of my pod and not flying my ship is that I miss the constant stream of information coming to me through the ship links. There is no tactical info, no camera drone feeds, no comms buzz. I am therefore forced to actually hear my own thoughts. I have to recognize I feel a certain way or that things affect me and I cannot just shut them out or drown them in the informational deluge.
Having said that, I’m forced to acknowledge some of my ambivalence about the changes that have been announced in the universe. I like to be able to mine more and look forward to the impact that the Orca will have on both my personal and corporate operations. On the other hand, there are a lot of announced changes that aren’t really anything at all on second look. So ships are getting speeds changed, missiles are moving differently, modules are looking to get together and have little party groups are all things that don’t really mean that much.
Maybe I’m missing the bigger picture. Maybe there is a cumulative effect to the coming changes that will just blow our pod tops off. My personal wish list keeps getting longer but I work with in the established system and keep flying.
As a carebear industrialista, I am extremely excited about the flood of production communiques that are coming out of major research and development corps all over New Eden. New industrial command ships and reactions for moon materials are coming as are changes to some of the blueprint manufacturing amounts. One thing that has caught my eye and caused me to nearly get goosebumps was the seemingly innocuous announcement that ship equipment that have activation times would soon also have little countdown gauges to tell you how far along in the cycle said equipment has gone.
Oh wonder of wonders! Now we will be able to see how long until the next activation of any repeating module takes place. On one off, non-repeating equipment, the change is only mildly useful. But on the equipment that is set to auto-repeat, the change is monumental. Finally, modules can be planned around and taken into account. For us, the way this plays out is with the mining lasers and strip miners. No longer will it be necessary to overspend time whittling away at a roid that can easily be half-cycled or less. It will be easy to see how much ore you pull in a full cycle and then cut off the beam at a fraction of the cycle close to it’s final amount.
For example: Say your Hulk can strip a modest 1400 m3 per cycle. There is a Dense Veldspar rock floating 12 km off your port stern that scanners indicate has 9000 units left. At roughly 2/3 of the cycle you can cut if off, finish the roid and be ready to move on to roid number 2. While is isn’t new functionality in and of itself, it will now be so much easier to see. Miners, watch your timers. Keep them close to the final cycle you need. Any miner worth her morphite will be able to tell you how much ore they are able to pull from any given roid in a cycle.
How we conceptualize the universe around us plays an important part in determining what we find enjoyable. I once commented to a friend that I am that most detestable of all MMO participants. I am the carebear’s carebear. I find an enormous amount of fulfillment and satisfaction in helping people out and even more so if that person is an industrial ship flying, mining & manufacturing, POS-building, spreadsheet yield calculating fool of an EVE player. I see EVE as a relatively inhospitable, cold place that takes new pod pilots and tends to mount their broken, lifeless corpses on the ends of blasters and auto-cannons while simultaneously spreading any remaining biomass all over the scrap metal shavings to gum up the salvage scavengers.
From this point of view it a short jump to utter fatalism, that if we’re all going to die, we might as well go out with a bang and take any poor pods we meet along the way with us. There are some people who do this very well and with aplomb. They warp, web, point, shoot and pod all in the same breath. They tend to speak loudly and carry large sticks. The are only two options, death and victory. May the gods forgive any poor pilot who happens to escape their wrath. Anyone who runs is then inept and unprepared for life and will obviously meet their end in a quick and hopefully painful manner. How dare someone not engage them in combat! What lowly, incompetent fools to think themselves above an encounter. They should be vocally and wildly ridiculed from the com channels so that everyone else can look on in disgust at their craven behavior.
Or you can decide that this is a place that obviously needs your kind and patient touch. Your isk can make the difference in a young pilot’s life. They might decide that there’s nothing worth the time and energy when the world is out to get them. Oh, how extravagant the gift of a new frigate seems to the player who loses 2 in the first couple of days. The bonds of fraternity forged on the sharing of information and piloting proficiency are strengthened by the application of liberal amounts of understanding and redemption. What uncommon operators and precious pilots lie beneath the common dross of humanity waiting to be refined?
There is a balance that must needs be reached between the pain and providence of new players. Heavenly help does not replace the harsh reality of hell in space. Neither does being beaten bloody mean better basics. If we are to watch our world continue to grow, we need each other. You pirates shoot, maim and kill. However know that I will be teaching other to run, hide and if necessary crawl.
The time comes in most every corporation when things slow down, group ops tail off, members wander towards the edge of space and fly off into oblivion. Sometimes their families need them more. Other times they have obligations outside the pod that call to them and need their attention. During these times when the light shining on a corporation begins to fade, evening falls. How do you respond to this twilight of the corporate group and gains?
Do you run? Is it time to pack up your shop and move on to other fields, roids and rats? When the end begins, there is the very attractive option to look at moving your own personal operations toward something that seems more active. That corp over there looks active. They have a good, low tax rate. They fly regular missions/mining/ratting/pvp ops together and constantly talk about it. There is the possibility they look really active compared to the ending/failing/dwindling nature of your own corp though. Perhaps they are also dying and looking for anyone who might bolster their ranks.
Do you pour on the fuel and invest even more into the corp? Is it time to talk it up to everyone you meet and get more young blood involved in the corp and groups ops? It maybe time to take some more of the corporate work onto your shoulders and take a personal interest in making sure the corp you are in is the best corp to be in. Planting and fertilizing the grass on your side of the fence, so to speak.
I’m sure there are other options? They both have positives and negatives. Thoughts?
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