Syndicate-Thukker deterioration
The intricacies of power politics never cease to confuse me. I spent some time out in Syndicate this week, conferring with the Intaki Bank offices in TXW-EI (and a few other corporations) to clear up some confusion from a few months ago. An agent had asked me to remove a troublesome Minmatar Republic convoy, and I had trouble. We exchanged some heated words and evidently he filed a report indicating that the Syndicate couldn’t trust me. I’ve got it all fixed now, or nearly so.
But during this renegotiation process, when Louis Stiers, another agent, had asked me to deal with some police surveillance squadrons and listening posts, an odd request came up. Interspersed with various assignments focused on the Khanids, apparently working with the CONCORD Directive Enforcement Department (DED), and, to a lesser degree, the Republic and even the Gallente Federation, I received a nudge to hit a Thukker convoy. When the agent transmitted the contract to me, I immediately turned it back around. Not only did the Thukker tribe have traditionally good relations with the Syndicate (if a little strained due to Maleatu Shakor’s political efforts), but they have a station in the same system. I may not mind starting all sorts of violence among podders, but I’d rather stay out of an underworld war against two large groups with whom I really like working, particularly where Back Alley has an office and various business interests.
For a bit, I wondered if they not might have just tried to test me. I thought this because, as soon as I rejected it, the agent immediately gave out an assignment to deal with some regular scum who had made the mistake of falling behind on rent payments for their pleasure hub location in the next system up the pipe.
Yeah, right...
At any rate, the Bank has assigned me another agent for now, one Guispon Meganier. He understands how to use my abilities a little better, so I’ve done some discreet deliveries and even inserted a marine detachment into a Syndicate station whose guard commander had gotten a little corrupt (well, independently corrupt). Unfortunately, I lost my Prowler to a Nighthawk underneath the station while I argued with traffic control to let me back into the hangar.
So I clone-jumped back to Oursulaert for a few days to attend to business there. In the meantime, I consulted with my old friend Eran Mintor, who seemed equally troubled. Wonder if I should go talk to somebody back at the Tribe about this?
Image credits josh.liba and america.gov
Getting the lines moving again
Time to get these factories busy again.
While BKAT regroups and consolidates a little, I thought I’d take a bit to restart my factories and labs. Trading generates more profits, but manufacturing provides steady, reliable income, generally with less time invested. Plus I like doing it, which really drove the decision more than anything else.
As my comrades will tell you, I really hate mining, so I find it easier to buy my inputs (minerals and components) on the open market rather than try to go get them myself. So I picked up enough to build a Cyclone just to warm up, then put in jobs for a full run of Merlins (30 units) and Hurricanes (15 units), plus some Large EMP Smartbomb II blueprints I’ve had sitting around for far too long (close to a year, I think). The Cyclone didn’t generate enough profit, but I think the margins on the Hurricanes will help. And I have a Drake BPO coming out of the lab in the next day or two, if I remember right.
Also, I put in several invention tries for Sabretooth Fury Light Missiles, since I need to burn through some BPCs. I haven’t checked on the results yet, but I expect to do so in a few hours when I finally stir out of my suite here in the Oursulaert III Fed Navy station. (Why have I moved back into Federation space? I don’t know, either. But I do like the clubs on this station.)
So what will I do next, industry-wise? Probably move into a little more research and invention. I might get back in touch with an old associate and find a nice little C1 wormhole with a static link, or maybe he’ll find a way to set up in high security space someplace, and get a research station going again. I need to find something with enough volume and margin to make the time investment pay off, especially while I fly off having fun with the corp. (More on that tomorrow, I hope.)
Image credit Funky64
Dominion patch notes review
This patch needs a closer look.
I’ve taken several days off of EVE Online to enjoy some time with my family and loved ones (plus, oddly, a lot of work). However, CCP have released the Dominion patch notes so I thought I’d take a few moments to review some welcome surprises (and reminders) found within! In general, this post will address little bits of the expansion that haven’t already received lots of attention, so no talk about sovereignty and factional ships and such.
And post a comment about your favorite bits!
Naval frigate upgrades: Federation Navy Comet
We’ve already looked at the Caldari Navy Hookbill and Republic Fleet Firetail changes coming in EVE Online: Dominion this fall / winter. Today, we’ll investigate the changes coming for the Gallente Navy Comet, including a name change. The ship will henceforth be known as the “Federation Navy Comet”, and it will turn into a competent frigate droneboat.
Drones
The old Comet had vestigial drone capabilities at best, with a 5 m3 capacity and 5 MB/s bandwidth. But after the revamp, the ship will have 30 m3 available and 15 MB/s. This will allow the ship to easily field 2 flights of 3 light drones each, increasing the available firepower by a factor of 3 with more backup available just in case. The loss of the two launcher slots partially offsets this, but in general Gallente pilots tend to train drone skills rather than missile skills so this undoubtedly nets positive for them.
Really, drone users don’t have many choices for T1 frigates. The Gallente Imicus has a 15 m3 bay with 15 MB/s of bandwidth, and the Maulus has 10 m3 and 10 MB/s. No other T1 frigate can carry more than one scout drone.
Design
The Comet not only loses two launchers but one high slot, with a new 3/3/4 layout (though still only two turrets). Interestingly, though, the bonuses make up for this loss of firepower, as the small hybrid turret damage bonus per level of Gallente Frigate increases from 5 to 20%, meaning that a fully trained frigate pilot gets a 100% damage bonus. The 7.5% tracking bonus per level remains unchanged. The CPU gets a nice 21% upgrade also, increasing from 125 to 152 tf. CCP does not plan any capacitor tweaks for the Comet.
Like the Hookbill, speed bumps up a little (282 to 350 m/s) with the corresponding inertia modifier increase we’ve seen in the other naval frigates (2.79 to 3.3). Scan resolution decreases slightly, from 590 to 580 mm, but most pilots should not notice this negligible change in most circumstances.
Most Gallente frigate pilots should really enjoy the ship, as the new design plays to their strengths and receives negligible decreases. It may well replace the Rifter as the preferred PVP frigate, at least for pilots intending to focus on drones rather than turrets. I will almost certainly try to get one for my drone pilot, at any rate, even if they don’t put the “GFPD” back on the texture.
The series will end next time with a look at the Amarr Navy Slicer.
From the forums 2009-09-10
Just a few threads I’ve come across on the forums that mattered to me. Whether they matter to you or not will largely depend on what you like about EVE.
EVElopedia Fiction Portal: CCP Ginger has set up an EVE fiction portal on the wiki. He’s got a vision for a full community wiki project. (I need to figure out whether and how to jump into this.)
Luminaire Block Party: Jonny Damordred is running for President of the Gallente Federation (yes you read that correctly). And he’s invited all capsuleers to come help him take a shot at the titan around Caldari Prime. Will we succeed? I guess it depends on how you define success. Just getting hundreds of pilots to participate in an event like this counts in my book. Bring a big ship and big guns. Probably an insurance policy, too.
CCP & Industrial Expansions: Omber Zombie, a member of the CSM, has started a focus thread on what we’d like to see in future industry / science development from CCP, as well as an additional thread on market-related ideas. From my experience in the SWG Senate, I can tell you that they want high-level ideas, not design documents. Things like “inter-regional trade skills”, not lots of detail about how the skill should work, the training multiplier, skillbook cost, etc. If you have any interest in this playstyle at all, please go tell the CSM what you want.
Anything else interesting you’ve seen?
“Doll”
Really, it all started with a doll.
I’d flown out to low-sec to take advantage of a deal on an ocular implant. In the undock vector, my covop’s sensors picked up signs of a pair of Iteron wrecks, just starboard of us. A quick scan showed a number of sealed cargo crates and something else in the twisted remains of the industrial hull. I reached out with the default low-power tractor beam and pulled it in, then trained one of the cargo hold cameras on it.
I had pulled in a doll, though some sort of cargo packaging still encased it. I had no idea why the wreckage had this one extra item. Since I didn’t have any CONCORD or Republic protection out here in low-sec, I just aligned to the gate and warped off. No point in sitting there figuring it out and possibly getting hit by a recon ship.
Once I got back to my hangar in Hek, though, I had one of the crew chiefs bring it over to my shop. One of the shop assistants sliced open the packaging and we looked at it more closely. Quarter-scale and made out of some sort of gelatinous material, the doll felt almost lifelike in many respects. The artisan had stylized it, though: big eyes, a long neck, and impossibly high cheekbones. The doll didn’t appear to have prurient uses, though. In Gallente space, most stations had a few out-of-the-way shops where lonely customers could purchase mannequins for their own private uses in the bedroom. This looked more like the sort of doll one admired.
I bit my bottom lip and thought quietly about what to do with it. Maybe use it as decoration in my suite here? The assistant, though, kept inspecting it and ended up calling my attention to something.
On the doll’s lower back, just at the base of her spine, we saw a symbol imprinted into her skin. My assistant didn’t recognize it, but I did: the logo of the Syndicate.
The Syndicate controlled their own small region on the borders of Gallente space and mostly consisted of independent Intaki who didn’t care for the Federation’s government style. Mostly that meant that they found ways to make a profit from things the Federation didn’t allow. They had connections to drug cartels, slavers, arms dealers, and every other sort of business that most “reputable” governments disallowed.
Why did this doll have their logo? I couldn’t think of a plausible explanation, so I poked back through the packaging to see if it had any other clues. Sure enough, it held an unsigned note.
Toubuelin: I won’t forget her, either.
I sent the staff out, then sat for a long time silently, watching her.
Syndicate space, contrary to what the government propagandists told everyone back in the Republic, didn’t present too many obvious dangers. Then again, most real dangers wouldn’t appear so obvious.
After docking up my covops in ZN0-SR, I went upstairs to the main agent lobby. As you’d expect for a corporation associated directly with the Syndicate, an investment office for Intaki Bank had security everywhere: silent guards in completely black uniforms, drones buzzing quietly down the steel corridors, and unfailingly polite (if scantily dressed) young female administrative assistants guiding me upstairs.
I walked into the front office of the agent I’d come to visit. A blonde secretary, hair teased up into the latest Intaki fashion, smiled sweetly and inquired whether I had an appointment. I just shook my head. “No, but I think he’ll want to see me.” She peered around at the small crate floating on my cargo bot, but politely did not ask what I had brought. If it had passed security, she wouldn’t give anyone additional trouble.
The hexagonal antechamber had artwork from all around the cluster. In one corner sat a small Amarrian shrine, available to any of the faithful who might chance to come through heathen space. In another, in stark contrast, stood a Gallente sculpture, an homage to love (though perhaps the worshipers in the other corner might see it instead as lust). A triptych holo of Republic freedom fighters adorned a wall, full of heroic Brutors, cunning Krusuals, and spiritual Vherokiors. I’d seen other work by the same artist, actually, back in my home system of Eram, but never this piece. After a few moments, I realized that the agent probably had an original. Directly opposite the triptych sat a miniature Achuran meditation garden. It held fine sand, raked elegantly in simple patterns, a few well-worn stones suspended a few centimeters above the sand, and a small plant fed by circulating water.
“Mr. Dalledaury will see you now,” the assistant spoke quietly in my ear. I turned around and eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then beckoned the cargo bot and entered his office.
The agent wore all black, much like the guards. The fabric shimmered slightly, perhaps with a slight glow from the threads themselves. He had that classic Intaki calmness about him, as if nothing could perturb him in the least.
“Ah, Miss Truza. What an unexpected pleasure, your visit.”
I shook my head. “Just Casi. No need for formality.”
He stood next to his desk and placed a finger on a display, moving it about for a moment. “I find much surprise that you’ve flown out here. I have colleagues in the Cartel who’d reward quite well for your, ah, organic residue, one might say.”
Despite myself, I shivered. The station might belong to a bank, but the Syndicate dealt even more ruthlessly than your average corporation. Get between them and their profits or other ventures, and you could find yourself floating home, the long way.
“Actually, Toubie, I’d thought maybe you could help me with that.”
He hadn’t expected that. The agent looked up and regarded me closely. “You wish to work with us? And why, my dear, should I go to such trouble for someone whom I do not know, even a capsuleer such as yourself?”
“Well, I think this might belong to you…” I reached over to the package on the cargo bot and, with the press of a button, opened the container.
The hydraulic hiss from the crate echoed in the now silent office. He sat down, hard, and stared at the doll I’d brought.Several minutes passed with no further sound.
Finally, he spoke, though far more quietly than before.
“Not yours, this doll.”
I smiled. The gamble had paid off. “Of course not. I didn’t carry it across four regions and past pirates, customs, and warp bubbles just to keep me company. I believe it may belong to you.” He dabbed his eyes for a moment, then I continued. “This represents my good-faith gesture that perhaps the Bank could find some assignment for me.”
Another long moment passed. “Please see my assistant. She will direct you accordingly.”
I walked out of the office, leaving the doll and the bot behind.
Not much of an assignment, it turned out. Some spoiled son on a station in a nearby system only would drink water from ZN0-SR III. He claimed it had an unparalleled bouquet with hints of Jin-Mei kmeria flowers. It tasted like regular water to me, but they paid me either way, so off I went. Local only showed one other pilot, so I pushed the ship as quickly as possible away from station. The next system held no other podders at all, and the one after that, only a pair.
After dropping off the water and getting the appropriate receipt, I contacted Dalledaury’s office to let them know. The blonde assistant gave me that smile again and informed me that he’d like to speak with me once more.
The return trip held even less excitement, so I really took no time at all returning. Once I reached his office, she waved me back without bothering even to pause her conversation with a chatty friend who’d stopped by for a visit.
He’d composed himself again and changed shirts. Still that odd fabric with the glimmer, but instead of black, the shirt had a lavender tone.
“I’ve spoken with my director. We believe that, in fact, the Bank may have use for someone of your, ah, particular talents.”
Bingo.
“So you’ve got more for me to do, then?”
He shook his head.
“No, he’s asked that you see Fusbenne Attens in our office across the system. Once you dock, our security staff will take you right to him.”
Hm. A promotion? This smelled worse than an Amamake Fedo. But I didn’t really have a good reason to say ‘no’. I thanked the agent, and turned to leave.
Two security guards stood in the door. One carried the doll.
The agent spoke from behind me, his voice now low and guttural. “A gesture of thanks, madame. As you returned it to me, so shall I return it to you. It has already served its purpose for me.”
The air filters must not have been working that day, because I swear that, right at that moment, some dust mote got caught in my eye and made it water a little.
Photo credit SHIN．world / Shin via Flickr
Open letter to the Gallente Federation
Question: What do you call a President who invokes a law you don’t like?
Answer: A traitor!
Look, Federation, you created this situation. For all your endless preaching about “democracy”, you’ve instead set up a government where one man gets to run things according to his own whims using his own paramilitary thugs to make sure he gets his way.
Not that his military direction did you any good as Caldari capsuleers ran roughshod over every system your own militia supposedly swore to protect. Sure, they killed a lot of ships and the crew on them, but what did they achieve, besides breaking the hearts of thousands of mothers?
Proponents of republican rule try to convince you that it means rule by the people through representatives who do what the great nation wants. They don’t want to talk too much about representatives who, once in office, do what they want, throwing the voters just enough red meat to get their drooling support for the next election.
Decide for yourselves whether your president, or any president, really differs very much from a king.
Or from an empress, for that matter.
Republic reactions to the Thukker union
A recent ISD story pretends to survey reactions within the Republic on the union with the Thukkers. Of course, really the story just consists of random anecdotes with no real ties to anything like a scientifically designed survey, almost as if the reporter had a vested interest in emphasizing minority opinions to give a false impression of their prevalence. No journalist would ever do that, though, so I’m certain that he had solid information that demonstrates that public sentiment exactly matches that in the article. Right.
In any case, the article quotes one young Fleet officer as saying, “The Thukker are just one more tribe among many.” This sentiment exactly reflects the problem with this whole union: the Thukker model differs considerably from the rest of the tribes, at least the four that previously made up the Republic. They don’t subscribe to the same sort of hierarchical thinking, or at least not on the same scale. Trying to fit them into tired old power structures won’t work, not least because the caravans will shrug their shoulders, fade into the black emptiness of the Great Wildlands or any other place they desire, and keep doing whatever they want. Some folks in the Republic seem to think somehow that this union represents a victory for them, notable podder alliances like Electus Matari among them.
I still suspect that these people entirely miss what has happened. The Republic has started to ‘weaken’, at least according to classical models of governance. Freedom has a contagious quality, and once the Brutor, Sebiestor, Vherokior, and the Krusual realize the autonomy the Thukkers will continue to hold, they’ll want it for themselves. Each tribe will demand and receive similar self-determination, to the point where many of the powers the Republic currently holds will dissipate.
Not that this will lead to a complete fracture: in the current environment, the Republic still serves a need, at least as a counter-threat to the Amarrians. Similarly, when individual freedom increases, this doesn’t (yet) mean that local governments go away entirely.
But what happens when others, like the various factions within the Gallente Federation, start to realize that they could have the same thing? Why should they let a centralized power structure, rife with corruption, tell them what to do, what they should think, how they should manage their own business, when they don’t have to let it? What happens when the Jin-Mei and the Intaki also decide that they will work together for defensive purposes but want to do things their own way?
The Revolution, that’s what.
Sidereal Fusion
A lonely frozen corpse tumbled end-over-end, silhouetted against the endless backdrop of stars. Occasionally, the equipment or jewelry still worn by the corpse would refract a bit of light, but no one would ever see this body again until, eons hence, its orbit decayed into the nearby sun and returned what little matter it actually contains to the endless fusion process.
Some distance away, in a small space station, a large Caldari man leaned forward across his desk chair, hangs his head, and sighed heavily. A faintly acrid odor wafted through the room: the stench of dying circuits and burned-out electronics.
And somewhere below deck, a substantially shorter man lay sprawled across the floor. Anyone else in the room would have had a hard time seeing the motionless figure, though, with the dust and smoke and occasionally arcing electricity. Several uniformed guards lay slumped nearby, and while all of them still had faint vital signs, nobody had come to check on them. From the looks of things, nobody would.
(more…)
Aggressive salvage operations
A few days ago, I started engaging in “aggressive salvage operations” in Federation space. This means scanning down podder ships to salvage the Serpentis wrecks they leave behind and occasionally the loot as well. Yes, this latter bit means that they can take shots at us (Vikarion came along as an escort), but so far no one has. Oddly, they bluster about a wardec, but why would they pay CONCORD 5m ISK to do what they can do right then? Recovering abandoned T2 drones works pretty well, too. Also, I picked up some unsecured ice over in Everyshore. Most of the Mackinaws had properly deployed secure containers to support their work, but some folks just don’t want to take the time to do it right. I don’t know if any of them actually learned their lesson; they might need a pop quiz for a refresher soon.
I started working around Dodixie, primarily, but I’ve decided not to stay around there. Too much competition, with Suddenly Ninjas basing out of the same location. I didn’t realize that when I started. The ISK per hour doesn’t reach really high levels, but the practice at scanning people down and sticking it to the Navy lackeys has made it all worthwhile.
Actually, I think we’ve performed a public service. After all, this debris in space presents a clear navigational hazard to all the folks flying around the system, and abandoned drones just seem so lonely.
Now, several of us in the White Rose Society intend to head over to space where our colleagues in the Sansha Nation have tried to carry out operations against the Amarr. I understand that the Empire’s agents in some areas hand out a lot of assignments to corrupt podders doing their bidding and use this to try to stem the tide. We’ll see what happens when the non-podder ships get a little bit of support, both in terms of recovering the crews via aggressive salvaging and intervening more directly in low-sec operations.
