Psychotic Monk for CSM8

James 315 drops out of the race for CSM8

Ok, basically I have absolutely no interest in video game politics. We all know that the CSM is a joke, and has no actual authority. They are just CCPs increasingly cynical effort to pacify the long-term player base. However, the winners of the CSM election can constitute a sort of moral victory for the play style that they represent. Maybe somebody with decision making authority at CCP will even take some small notice of them as something other than a novelty (probably not). Anyway, we, as players, certainly place a lot of importance on them, and we like to award people we like with free trips to Iceland.

My point is, James 315 just dropped out of the CSM race for very good, very valid reasons. While he has the admiration of almost everybody who plays EVE, and was practically guaranteed a win, he chose not to accept having his voice silenced by non-disclosure agreements as a condition of his ticket to Iceland. I salute his courage and respect his humility.

In the meantime, only one serious candidate remains in the election who represents highsec PvP and piracy. As those who engage in ninja looting, suicide ganking, wardeccing, AWOXing, "griefing", and  generally every form of non-consensual PvP that happens in high security space, we have only one candidate for CSM who represents us. That person is Psychotic Monk, blogger and co-founder of the Belligerent Undesirables movement.

Vote Psychotic Monk for CSM8

Whether you are a highsec "griefer" yourself, or a lowsec or nullsec or wormhole veteran who cut his EVE teeth canflipping or ninja salvaging, I would urge you to vote for Monk. If you are part of a nullsec bloc putting up it's own candidates, you can rest assured that your own player base will, as always, be well represented even if you should choose to vote for Monk over your own candidates.

Yes, the CSM is a joke, and it doesn't really matter in any meaningful way who wins and who loses, but sometimes winning for the sake of winning is important. Don't let the carebears win. Vote for Psychotic Monk.



This concludes the first and probably last political post that you will ever see on this blog (until the time comes for me to run for my own free Iceland vacation).

Bot on Safari

Lately there has been a lot of hype about getting new players into the dark side of EVE, particularly Safariing or AWOXing carebears in highsec. For those of you who aren't familiar with this activity, it is the act of joining a corporation with the specific intention of going on a gleeful killing spree of it's members, taking advantage of the mechanics which allow a character to shoot members of his own corporation in high security space without being CONCORDed.

Haedonism Bot goes on Safari

I've been hearing a lot about this lately, particularly from the community of my fellow Belligerent Undesirables. I've been encouraging my own alliance members to go out and Safari carebear corporations, and to set a good example I decided to try it out myself. Here is how it played out.

Target: NXS Mineral and Ore Extraction
To find a target I checked the corporate recruitment ads in the EVE Online forums. NXS was the first industrial corp listed. So I sent in a blind application with my Safari alt, who I had rolled a couple of days earlier. The app read "I'm a new player looking to join some mining fleets." Then I logged off, and a couple of hours later, EVEMon was telling me that I had a notification that my app had been accepted.

First Kill: Retriever

First Kill.

After that I logged in for an hour or so wach day, but there were only a couple of people flying around, and they were just in Retrievers. I was pretty sure from their advert that they sometimes did mining fleets with their Orca, so I waited. After 3 days or so, nobody had undocked in an Orca while I was on, so I decided to cut my losses and try another corp. Reluctantly I undocked, used the in-game map to locate the one guy who was out mining at that time ("find corp members in space"), went to his belt, said "ohai!" in local and blew him up.

We got into a bit of entertaining smacktalk in corp chat after this. The log is a bit too lengthy to post all of it here, but I do like to share, so here it is.

Anyway, basically I figured I'd just play the thing out from there. I was kind of in a hurry to find a juicier target and move on, but felt obligated to at least try for some kind of ransom first. They were pretty much newbs, for the most part, so I started at 50 mil, and dropped the price to 30 mil a bit later. By the time I got done bantering with them, it was getting fairly late, so I opted to stay in space cloaked up for the night so they couldn't boot me, and see who would be on in the morning. A few corp mails went out:

To which I replied:

And as a parting thought:

Important Information.

...and with that I went to bed. 

Second Kill: Noctis
The next day I logged in, afked a bit until a couple of people were online. This corp was really sleepy, usually there were just one or two at a time. Eventually I found two of them on in the same system, a dead end system with one gate out and no stations. I figured they were either mining or running missions, so I went there, thinking I'd camp the other side of the gate and catch them as they jumped out to turn in their mission or empty their ore holds or whatever. A weird coincidence in timing happened though. As I landed on the gate they were both there, in a Raven and a Noctis. The Raven warped off, and the Noctis jumped into the dead-end system. I jumped after, but my reaction time was slow, and he warped off. So I jumped back, put my drones out and waited. i figured the Raven probably had no point fitted, so I wasn't scared of it. (Would have hunted it down, actually, if I had logi support with me. The Noctis had to come out of there sometime, though.

At this point, they have noticed that I am ATK, so they begin to talk to me in corp chat. Neither of these guys had been online during the previous night's Retriever kill, so they were a bit confused about what was happening. I played it like the whole thing had been a sort of practical joke between the retriever and I.

1. [23:46:52] Zortron Andros > could we have a word ?
2. [23:46:57] Unexpected Platypus > sure
3. [23:47:08] Zortron Andros > care to explain what happened ?
4. [23:47:43] Unexpected Platypus > oh, we were just joking around, don't trouble yourself about it :D
5. [23:48:03] Unexpected Platypus > those guys are such kidders
6. [23:48:29] Zortron Andros > well, you did kill his retriever
7. [23:49:09] Unexpected Platypus > yes, well, i have a medical condition. my finger twitches uncontrollably near the F1 key sometimes
8. [23:49:17] Unexpected Platypus > nothing ii can do about it....
9. [23:50:30] Zortron Andros > so it was a one sided joke
10. [23:51:15] Unexpected Platypus > yeah, i apologized and reimbursed his isk, but he just wants to keep the joke going i guess, haha to each their own
11. [23:51:48] Zortron Andros > that i'll have to confirm with him.
12. [23:51:55] Unexpected Platypus > ofc
13. [23:51:55] Zortron Andros > how can we know you'll not do the same again?
14. [23:52:18] Unexpected Platypus > you have my word on it
15. [23:53:59] Zortron Andros > good to know
16. [23:55:23] Zortron Andros > so what are you up to now?
17. [23:56:02] Zortron Andros > ok
18. [23:56:06] Zortron Andros > are you sure about that ?
19. [23:56:58] Zortron Andros > really ?
20. [23:57:02] Zortron Andros > are you that person?
21. [23:57:30] Unexpected Platypus > haha
22. [23:57:33] Unexpected Platypus > guess so

Second Kill.

Right about when Zortron said, "so what are you up to now?" was when he jumped his Noctis back through the gate, and of course I pointed him and blew him up. Here are the full chat logs for your enjoyment. 

That was pretty much the end of this safari adventure. I chatted a bit with the one guy who stayed logged in (a good guy, actually, who I still talk to from time to time), and left the corp to find more lucrative targets, then got caught up in some alliance business, and haven't safaried again since.

Final Impressions

Safariing people is really fun. This particular Safari didn't result in any noteworthy kills, but once I made the decision to actually start shooting, the whole thing was really amusing. There was a fair amount of downtime, when I was afk cloaked and just hanging out doing things on another account, but when the killing was happening, it was as satisfying as any other dastardly deeds that I have committed in EVE. This is also an activity that new players can do with a bit of direction and mentoring, which is also great. Next time I think I will target a larger corp though, this corp had 24 members at the time, and there were usually no more than 3 online. 

Have fun and fly dangerously.

Zybber's First Fleet

This is an after action report I took from our alliance forums, prettied up for blogging. Enjoy!

Young terrorist: Zybber

So I was minding my own business yesterday, when Zybber, an Icelandic chap who recently joined RVFRO remarked in corp chat that he had missed the previous night's Thrasher roam, and he had yet to get his first PvP kill. Obviously this was a situation that needed to be taken care of. So I decided to take him out into the asteroid belts of Solitude and gank a few miners. As we were getting ourselves ready, a few more guys logged on and decided to join the fun. I sent my spotter out into the belts in Boystin, and quickly found a small mining fleet, including an Orca and two Hulks, as well as assorted barges. A surreptitious scan confirmed that the Hulks had no tank. I did a few quick calculations and decided that we had enough DPS to kill both Hulks simultaneously. I would solo one of them with my 624 DPS Catalyst, while all of the other guys hit the other one.

This was the result.

We got a little bit of local smack out of it:
[ 2013.03.02 00:25:27 ] Kalim Dabo > gf
[ 2013.03.02 00:27:54 ] Dirk Scabbard > did you kill anything?
[ 2013.03.02 00:28:06 ] Kalim Dabo > Kill: ZIF W (Hulk)
[ 2013.03.02 00:29:11 ] LackofGuilt > fagits die in a fire
[ 2013.03.02 00:40:18 ] Aragoni > "fagits". Cool story bro

and a supporter hopped in our public channel to congratulate us:

[ 2013.03.02 00:38:58 ] Dirk Scabbard > I wondered why so many people were in local when I logged on
[ 2013.03.02 00:39:19 ] Marcus Aler0n > lol
[ 2013.03.02 00:39:56 ] Kalim Dabo > 11o/
[ 2013.03.02 00:39:58 ] Kalim Dabo > 0/
[ 2013.03.02 00:40:08 ] Kalim Dabo > cannot type today lol
[ 2013.03.02 00:40:15 ] Marcus Aler0n > I forgive you.
[ 2013.03.02 00:41:41 ] Dirk Scabbard > y'all solved a problem for me - yesterday I abandoned 5 Hob IIs in space: today I picked up 5 abandoned Hob IIs
[ 2013.03.02 00:41:49 ] Marcus Aler0n > lol
[ 2013.03.02 00:41:49 ] Kalim Dabo > lol
[ 2013.03.02 00:41:57 ] Kaleo Faust > glad we could help
[ 2013.03.02 00:42:00 ] Kalim Dabo > glad we could do you that service
[ 2013.03.02 00:42:55 ] Dirk Scabbard > Is it standard to put strip miner I on a Hulk?
[ 2013.03.02 00:44:33 ] Kalim Dabo > i have only seen that in places where ppl expected to be ganked, pretty unusual
[ 2013.03.02 00:45:19 ] Kalim Dabo > we were wondering why he went with the expensive mining upgrades, but T2 lasers and no crytals at all
[ 2013.03.02 00:45:30 ] Marcus Aler0n > ;lol
[ 2013.03.02 00:45:51 ] Marcus Aler0n > I put strip miner1's on a hulk cos I'm lazy and don't wanna fuck with crystals.
[ 2013.03.02 00:46:31 ] Dirk Scabbard > what are those mining upgrades worth?
[ 2013.03.02 00:46:39 ] Kalim Dabo > 15 mil each
[ 2013.03.02 00:46:47 ] Dirk Scabbard > well done
[ 2013.03.02 00:47:10 ] Kalim Dabo > yeah, usually you actually lose money killing miners
[ 2013.03.02 00:47:28 ] Kalim Dabo > it's more for sport than anything else
[ 2013.03.02 00:48:09 ] Dirk Scabbard > I'll bet you surprised them - you surprised me that you came to this neighborhood to gank miners
[ 2013.03.02 00:50:26 ] Kalim Dabo > haha
[ 2013.03.02 00:50:53 ] Kalim Dabo > it's always more fun when they least expect it

We made one mistake in this engagement - I forgot to remind everybody to take their safeties off prior to the warp-in. So while I was cheerfully exploding my target, they were fumbling with their safeties, and barely got a shot off before CONCORD arrived. Oh well, live and learn.

Ragtag band of Gankers

Anyway, more people logged on and wanted to join, so we waited out our timers and reshipped, then went out scouting more targets. A quick check of the ice belt in Niballe revealed 5 Mackinaws going about their business. I scanned a few of them and found 2 without significant tank. The challenge here was that they were spread out all over the belt. We had six or seven guys at this point, and it seemed a waste to just take one down. So I set up two bookmarks "Gank1" and "Gank2", and divided the squad to spread the DPS to kill both of them. All that was fine, but I made a few serious mistakes in the execution.(Perhaps a few too many beers at this point  ) I put the two groups in separate comms with separate direction to carry out the gank. This was stupid of me. I could have had us all warp to our respective targets at the same time, targets them at the same time, and fire at the same time without splitting us up like that. What can I say, I'm bad at EVE. Also, I myself warped to the wrong bookmark, meaning we had too much DPS on one target and not enough on the other. Anyway, we popped one Mack with a Pithi shield booster, and I got his pod too. Unfortunately the loot gods did not smile that day.

Mackinaw kill and Pod

We got a bit more reaction this time:

[ 2013.03.02 01:15:51 ] EVE System > Channel changed to Local : Niballe
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:18 ] lxAlvoxl > wow guys really
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:33 ] Kalim Dabo > gf
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:34 ] Cael Sotken > yep
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:36 ] Cael Sotken > gf
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:39 ] Geyene > gf
[ 2013.03.02 01:46:49 ] Aragoni > GF
[ 2013.03.02 01:47:00 ] Melony Matudan > Marked Kos, watch your backs
[ 2013.03.02 01:47:17 ] Aragoni > and not a single care was given this day.
[ 2013.03.02 01:47:31 ] Kalim Dabo > oooooooooooh so scared
[ 2013.03.02 01:47:55 ] Melony Matudan > good
[ 2013.03.02 01:48:04 ] Kalim Dabo > http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfvpbpKscl1qafrh6.gif
[ 2013.03.02 01:48:41 ] Pyotr Kropotkin > poor bear =(
[ 2013.03.02 01:48:59 ] Melony Matudan > unsuspecting targets are the best targets
[ 2013.03.02 01:49:21 ] Geyene > unfortunately, you just told ust told us we're your targets
[ 2013.03.02 01:49:27 ] Geyene > soooooo we're kind of expecting it now
[ 2013.03.02 01:50:24 ] Melony Matudan > well you said you dont care lol so dont care haha
[ 2013.03.02 01:51:58 ] Sara Steel > you guys want to buy some new thrashers or guns for em?
[ 2013.03.02 01:53:10 ] Kalim Dabo > sure

Sara Steel was an ice miner in the belt who watched it all go down, and was eager to supply us with guns and ships to continue taking out his industrial rivals. He then convoed me:

[ 2013.03.02 01:53:27 ] Sara Steel > o/
[ 2013.03.02 01:53:33 ] Kalim Dabo > 0/
[ 2013.03.02 01:53:36 ] Sara Steel > what kind of guns you need for em?
[ 2013.03.02 01:53:41 ] Sara Steel > and/or other stuff
[ 2013.03.02 01:53:44 ] Kalim Dabo > lol
[ 2013.03.02 01:54:20 ] Kalim Dabo > we actually don't need them atm, but could use T2 light neutron blasters and 200mm autocannons soon
[ 2013.03.02 01:54:41 ] Kalim Dabo > good right atm, don't have much isk on my hands
[ 2013.03.02 01:54:44 ] Sara Steel > rgr.. I'll see if I can fire up some production on em
[ 2013.03.02 01:54:59 ] Kalim Dabo > cool
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:07 ] Kalim Dabo > talk to you soon then
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:14 ] Sara Steel > I'll try and make it a good deal  you helped me by blowing up my comptition out here
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:29 ] Sara Steel > and helped me and my associates sell our products.. macks and ice harvesters
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:36 ] Kalim Dabo > haha
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:50 ] Kalim Dabo > good times
[ 2013.03.02 01:55:58 ] Sara Steel > can you link me the kill? I want to know how stupid he was fitted
[ 2013.03.02 01:56:37 ] Kalim Dabo > Kill: Ursas Gasiminika (Mackinaw)
[ 2013.03.02 01:56:50 ] Kalim Dabo > pithi shoeld booster
[ 2013.03.02 01:56:53 ] Sara Steel > Wow.. nice loot
[ 2013.03.02 01:56:54 ] Sara Steel > pity it didn't drop
[ 2013.03.02 01:57:11 ] Kalim Dabo > loot gods didn't really smile on us, but good bragging rights
[ 2013.03.02 01:57:50 ] Kalim Dabo > later o7

You have to love how opportunistic EVE players are - as we called it a night and left the system, another guy was complaining in local about the poor quality of salvage he had gotten from our little adventure.

After the last kill, I hear an unmistakably Scandanavian accent in Teamspeak. It was Zybber. "Uh...I fucked up man. You want me to loot the wrecks?" Poor guy missed the warp-in and didn't get a shot off. Rest assured, I'll make sure he kills something soon.