A Scout's Domain

Blogging and Operational Security - A discussion

2010-05-27T20:48:00.001-07:00

Blogging....for some it's a chance to express your opinions to the world. It's a place to publish fiction, pilot academics, or just a good "so there I was story". The dark side of blogging though is the very real fact that people are reading your material looking for actionable intelligence that may allow them to take action against you, your corporation, your alliance or your interests in New Eden.

The out-of-game aspects of EVE

Like many MMO's, EVE is not contained within the game itself. There are kill boards, forums, fitting tools, skill plan modeling/monitoring programs, industrial spreadsheets, jump planners etc... Since the game itself doesn't stop at the limits of the client, it's natural for players to pursue information and gather intel out of game for in-game use. I know for a fact that there are people out there that are EXPERTS at sifting through publicly available information, fusing information from various sites and creating a 'picture' of who is associated with whom in game, what they do in game and what their role in their organization might be.

Considerations for the EVE online blogger

When an author is developing a piece, you must remember your audience. Your audience is PUBLIC, which means if you're writing something you wouldn't be comfortable telling to the nearest red then you probably ought to re-think whether you want to blog about it. If you are writing a review of your latest roam, consider whether you want to refer to your FC by name. Do you want to advertise the name of your scouts? What about ship types? Do you advertise that you fly in a Drake with more gank than tank because you know you'll be the last to be primaried because you're flying a drake? Each piece of information is valuable to someone and even though by itself the information may be harmless, it's a piece of a puzzle and after awhile you may only need a few small pieces to unlock a much more powerful piece of information.

The realities are though that this is a game and a majority of people blog because they enjoy it. Operational security is important but it has to be kept in context. We're not talking about real lives at stake or something that would demand actual information security protocols be followed, but like everything else in life, too much of a good thing can have unfortunate consequences. Balance is the key here, there is no reason why you shouldn't write up a story about your latest roam but it might be prudent to be more general in your details. It's one thing to say " I was flying through Providence and Catch last night with my friends on our nightly roam" and quite another to say " We camped the Keberz gate in HED-GP last night for 3 hours with a drag bubble set up from the station and a drag bubble set up from the GE jump bridge POS."

Closing thoughts

It would be dull and take the fun out of being able to share our game experience with others if we were expected to keep it sterile. So much of what makes EVE our game is the user developed content that grows organically well outside the scope of CCP. As people take up blogging and become more involved in the social media aspect of the game (EVE gate anyone?) it's going to be more and more important that these risks are taken into consideration. Ultimately, how much you the author choose to share about your game is your business. Your corporation, alliance or gang may try to set policy or draw limits but at the end of the day, it's up to you the individual to decide how much operational security you can provide while still being able to tell your story. My litmus test is to consider whether or not I'd be okay with convoing a war target FC and sharing what I was about to blog. Your litmus test may vary.

Thank you for writing your blog, and thank you for reading mine. User content is what makes New Eden a community and for many a home away from home.

Evacuation.....Complete.

2010-05-20T21:20:00.001-07:00

Rex wakes up in his 2-TEGJ jumpclone.....

Things have been hectic the last couple of weeks. My time online has been almost exclusively dedicated to evacuating my ships, quafe and corpse collection back to empire. With it becoming readily apparent that we were going to be bum rushed out the door by the "new holders" of Providence 2.0.1 individual members of Paxton and ultimately corporation CEO's and alliance leadership finally initiated the "GTFO" protocol and everyone began to haul their stuff out of outposts and back to empire.

For me it was an exercise in jump freighter employment. The first time I jumped my Nomad into 2-TEGJ in mid-siege it was a "white-knuckle" moment. I had timed the jump between red gangs and a lull in red campers. I had set my cyno right on top of the 2-TEGJ station and jumped in. I did have an oh-sh*t moment right after I completed the jump as I was waiting for my timer to clear so I could dock, 3 reds jumped into system. That was the longest 20 seconds of my New Eden career.

Anyhow, things are starting to slow down, I find myself missioning to rebuild the wallet and poking around in providence. I did splurge on a new toy, I bought myself a Loki which I've enjoyed playing with and tweaking fits for.

Otherwise, Providence is now officially PXF free and while I'm sure that many of the reds are patting themselves on the back, it is probably worth noting that it took a 10:1 ratio to finally push PXF out of it's pocket. That's a pretty respectable ratio and even though PXF lost, it's something to be proud of.

So what does the future hold for PXF? I honestly have no clue, I'm just a line FC and the big decisions will be made by those in a position to know more and make better informed decisions. In the end, I go where M3 goes so, the specifics aren't all that important to me.

I've made MY choice for 5th Council of Stellar Management (CSM)...who's yours?

2010-05-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

There aren't a lot of MMO's out there that allow a group of players elected by fellow players to have a role in game development, a "voice of the people" if you will. While people have various opinions of this group, the fact remains that this is an opportunity not afforded to the population of any other MMO. Thus it is important that we carefully consider who has the ability to represent the player base and can be effective in pressing for the issues important to the pod pilots of New Eden.

I made my choice (as the title of this post would indicate) for who my 4 accounts will be voting for. I didn't make my choice based on who had the coolest website or who adapted hip-hop lyrics the most creatively. I had 3 criteria that I used to make my selection for CSM.

1) Trustworthy: To me, New Eden can be a difficult place to trust people. There are scammers and thieves and con-men so thick in places that it's hard to swing a dead cat and NOT hit one. The CSM transcends the game, I need someone that I can trust; someone that has demonstrated the strength of their ethics and integrity.

2) Charismatic: At the end of the day, the CSM mandate is to work with game developers and as the saying goes "You catch more flies with honey". My candidate needed to have a personality and be able to engage not only the developers but also other players. A player with a chip on their shoulder or on an ego trip would piss both the developers AND the player-base off and that gets all of us no-where.

3) Engaged: Representing a diverse and divergent player base is not an easy task. It's relatively easy to represent the views of your corporation, or alliance but to really do the job like the CSM demands, each representative needs to be able to reach out to ANY player and work on ANY topic. Just because you don't mission or mine doesn't mean that as a delegate that you don't have a responsibility to weigh a potential change to one of those game aspects. Each CSM must consider all proposals carefully and vote for the best interests of the game, regardless of personal feelings.

So.....after reading (and re-reading) the platforms, interviews and even looking at the minutes of past CSM, I made my decision.

I am casting my vote for Mynxee. You can read her platform here

Mynxee has exceeded my standards of trustworthiness both in and out of game. She is very approachable and I might even go so far as say kind...and I don't think ANYONE can contest the point that she is engaged throughout the game. She is a well-known blogger, EVE-podcast personality AND did you know she did the voice of Aura for Capsuleer? Mynxee brings a wealth of personal and professional know-how to the table and makes her a natural choice for this CSM.
I urge you to cast a vote for Mynxee, but regardless of who you vote for, get out and vote today. Your vote matters and the people you send as your representative will have an impact on New Eden for years to come!

MYNXEE FOR CSM-5

Blog Flog - 2nd Anomaly from the Left by Orakkus

2010-05-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take a moment and put a plug in for the blog of a fellow corp-mate. Orakkus has been putting up some great content over at his blog 2nd Anomaly from the Left. His recent posts have focused on fittings in which he not only breaks into bouts of theorycrafting but also takes them out for a roadtest.

I encourage everyone to go take a look at his stuff. His most recent article "Ship Fitting Principles" uses a terri-bad fit mega (pulled from a killmail) as an example of what not to do and then discusses the fitting theory behind it. A great read for anyone who would like to get better at their fitting skills.

What’s coming to Providence 2.0.1?

2010-05-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

*Note: This article is being cross-posted to this site until the CK blog pack link and the feed from the Iphone App "Capsuleer" is updated.

For those who read this blog on their RSS reader, please point your reader to the new site http://scoutsdomain.com

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This week, Paxton Federation was able to successfully repel a push from U'K and friends as they came back to engage the MH9C-S station as it's sovereignty structures came out of reinforced. As the timers ticked down to zero Paxton was able to field a substantial sub-capital fleet of around 150 or better as well as a fleet of Carriers. As a result of some good decisions made by Paxton and some poor decisions made by the red fleet, Paxton held the field and ended the sovereignty challenge to MH9C-S.

You can read more about the engagement and the perceptions of different pilots by reading the Kutgutsumen forum Paxton Slaps Back. What I've observed within PXF is a lot of congratulatory back slapping and "huzzahs!" all around and rightly so. For the first time Paxton was able to hold up against a sovereignty attack, which is more than can be said for those who lived through the downfall of Provi 1.0. That said, there is a risk in self-congratulation and if people are not realistic in their recollection of the events the risk of over-estimating one's own capabilities can be the foundation for ultimate downfall.

To those who have stood up and beat their chest. It's time to get real...While Paxton did a great job of defending MH9C-S it wasn't a 'lock'. There was the real potential that PXF would lose the system and it was a combination of good decisions made in terms of resource deployment by PXF and bad decisions in terms of fragmented comms and inefficient fleet organization by the invaders that contributed to the PXF victory. From an "academic" standpoint, I don't think anyone can say with certainty that, had the invaders avoided their mistakes that the outcome would have been the same.

This also wasn't the last time that PXF is going to face this threat. U'K and the rest of the new SOV holders in Providence have made temporary alliances with the expressed purpose of seizing PXF sovereignty. Regardless of the semantics around the deployment of a CVA TCU in AY-24I, PXF gave U'K the cover it needed to press it's invasion agenda with the current Providence administrator -A-.

There will be pilots and leaders who will disagree with my assessment, but the fact remains. -A- set terms around it's unilaterial cessation of SOV taking hostilities with PXF. While PXF didn't make any formal agreement to adhere to those terms, the alliance leadership knew what the outcome would be if PXF undertook SOV operations. There has been much splitting of hairs and rationalization about the actions taken by PXF and CVA that day in AY-24I. None of that matters because at the end of the day Providence is all about realpolitik.

PXF is essentially alone in Providence. Yes, former holders have come and fought in the recent engagements in AY-24I. That said, there is no bat-phone to run to and expect a fleet of titans, supercarriers and dreads to show up to buttress the forces in PXF space. Friends will come to fight, but not in numbers that will swell the ranks enough to truly determine the engagement. CVA wasn't willing to deploy super-capitals during the seizure of all of Providence and I doubt they will do so for PXF.

-A- isn't satisfied with the results of the "grand experiment" which was to use Providence as an incubator for young PVP alliances. While -A- was hoping to provide a foothold to these alliances, they also wanted to populate Providence and make it the happy-hunting-ground that they wanted to have on their border. Stable, safe and a source of some easy kills. Recent comments made in forums such as Kugutsumen indicate that Providence isn't a critical interest to -A-, although any move by CVA to retake Providence would certainly draw -A- into the fight.

U'K has been against Paxton remaining in space from the beginning. To U'K, the mere presence of Paxton represents an intolerable geo-political situation and the removal of PXF has thus been at the top of their agenda. Some have even made claims (though unverified) that the drop of SOV in AY-24I was merely an attempt to bait Paxton into violating the conditions of the unilateral -A- armistice. Regardless, U'K has -A-'s ambivalence (if not it's blessing) with respect to the current operation to remove PXF.

PXF is not going to quit. PXF will fight and fight hard. While U'K may continue to push and leverage larger alliances, PXF will continue to hold it's ground. The seizure of PXF space will be costly for U'K and fellow reds in both time and treasure. U'K will have to decide internally to itself and it's regional allies whether this push is worth it to them or rather that a policy of containment will yield the desired results. Containment is cheap, removal is hard.

Ultimately the future of Providence has yet to be determined but here are some things to think about:

- PXF did a great job of repelling the attack in MH9C-S but this win doesn't guarantee the same success in the future and anyone who thinks so needs to recalibrate their reality.

- The removal of an alliance that refuses to buckle (like a belt) is an expensive and intensive under taking. U'K might have the strong desire to take the space, but is it the strategically best option when containment would be just as effective?

- With the "big" war raging, is Providence worth investing in by the big alliances? Does Providence threaten the critical interests of Atlas or -A- or the NC? Is it realistic to expect any of the large alliances to come to either sides aid?

Regardless of the forum banter (or this post even) things will continue to develop. Whether the campaign by U'K and it's neighbors to force PXF out of it's space continues remains to be seen. The coming days will certainly bring many good fights and more than a little bit of learning with it. I urge all pilots to use these fights as opportunities to master their skills and learn from their mistakes. Better pilots means better fights, which means a better game for everyone.

Here's to more good fights.

New Website - www.scoutsdomain.com

2010-05-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come for me to leave the Blogger software behind. After a lot of looking and considering, I've decided to host my own WordPress site over at Lonetrek Hosting.

The new site is located at www.scoutsdomain.com

I'll continue to cross-post to both blogger and my new WordPress site until all the links have been updated.

Thanks for your continued readership, lots more blogging to come.

-Rex

Blog comments are on the fritz...please stand by

2010-04-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

So I received several tweets the last couple of days about the inability for readers to post responses to my postings. I can honestly say that I have NO idea why it isn't working and I've poked around in the blog template to see if I could find the problem.

That said, my 5 year old has a better shot at find the problem then I do. So bear with me, I am going to consult people much smarter than me and see if they can help me fix the problem.

Until then I'll keep posting but you may not be able to rant immediately :)

Provi 2.0.1 - The new interim new Provi....

2010-04-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

About the middle of last week, I started hearing grumblings from friends of various colors that PXF was wearing out it's welcome in Providence 2.0 due mostly to our successful combat record and a seeming addiction to station service incapping in AY-24 (Thanks to Neddy Fox)

As the weekend came to a close, I had a pilot meeting with the folks who normally fly on my nightly roam and talked about what we wanted to try and accomplish the next couple of weeks. In the back of my head I thought it might all be for naught and it appeared I could be right.

Monday afternoon, I logged onto EVE to see what had transpired during the Euro timezone and low and behold, MH9C-S had indeed been sieged. The station was reinforced, the cyno jammer had been knocked down, POS had been reinforced, SBU's were put down and the I-HUB attacked.

Things weren't looking good, the folks who had just got done returning their belongings back to Providence turned right around and started the high-value evacuation game. It's the same in any war, get the expensive stuff out of the line of fire before it gets popped.

Within hours though, the immediate actions of getting on a war-footing were winding down. Pilots were surveying their equipment and making some decisions about how they were going to fight. This time the fighting was different. Before pilots were bitter, they are angry because they felt like they had been dragged kicking and screaming into a fight, but this time it was a fight for survival.

This morning (US TZ) my Iphone went off. I was using an app that allowed me to connect with MSN messenger. My CEO was in channel and I thought that I'd pick his brain to see how things were going. I knew that there was going to be another push by the reds into MH9C-S so it might be worth checking in with the boss to see whether or not they had attacked.

It turned out that the reds were back in force but that PXF and some allied presence were able to hold them off. It was a fight with plenty of losses on both sides but in the end, PXF was victorious. The rest of the afternoon was spent with PXF providing security for the space and doing the mandatory repping.

The folks in PXF are proud of their performance, they rallied together and fought hard to hold their system, but the enthusiasm is subdued, everyone knows there is going to be more war, more combat. The new residence of Providence has unified in their desire to remove PXF from it's space. -A- has allegedly stated that they have no interest or intent to intervene on either PXF of the other residence's side.

My own personal impression of the mood and spirit in Paxton can be summed up like this: This is Paxton Federation space, and should any alliance wish to take it away , they will be made to work for it and they will bleed in the process.

Time will tell how this fight goes, regardless of the outcome, it is going to be an exciting time with many good fights.

Fights On....

Considerations for interdiction of outposts in null-sec space

2010-04-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned recently, I'm back on the schedule as an active Fleet Commander (FC) for my corp (M3). It's been a great chance to meet new corp members, reconnect with friends in the alliance (Paxton Federation) and generally figure out how to fly, fight and win in "Provi 2.0".

With most of Providence now hostile to my organization, roams no longer occur against the backdrop of Catch or Curse but of Providence, Where Reds are only a Jump away! (trademark pending)

As such, the tactics and techniques I used for roaming have had to be adjusted and one of those tactics involved the interdiction of target ships on their way to safe harbor in their local outpost. It seems that in life, you're always short on something and recently I've found I'm short on experienced Interdictor pilots. As such, the last couple of weeks have been spent taking time to train up pilots in various roles so that I have maximum flexibility for putting a gang together on our nightly operations or an ad-hoc response to a hostile incursion.

One of the tactics I've been drilling my dictor pilots on has been bubble placement. The bubble is by far the most important element of successful null-sec interdiction, especially when it involves targets that are in-warp and landing at 0 Km.

One of the first tactics we worked on was bubbling of an outpost by a single interdictor. In this drill, the interdictor (double bubble fitted) would warp to 0 Km, deploy the first interdiction bubble, then "Zoom" to the remaining unbubbled perimeter of the station and deploy the second. It became apparent quickly that this was just as much art as science. Where an interdictor lands in relation to the outpost is a function of the radial that the interdictor warps from. That said, the first bubble is going to be a crap shoot. The second bubble is much easier to position, assuming the pilot is comfortable with manuevering their ship.

Situational awareness plays a big part in successfully interdicting ANYTHING. In this case, the interdictor pilot needs to have their view zoomed out to get the best feel for the space around the outpost as well as the asteroid belts overlayed on their screen. The idea here is that if the interdictor pilot can see the relationship between the belts and the outposts, they will better be able to position their bubbles.

The proper fitting of a ship is important regardless of the ship or role. With respect to interdictors in a fleet role (versus solo camping) fitting two interdiction sphere launchers is critical to success, especially in the scenario above.

Note: When I made the above claim in corp comms, a half-hour long discussion on the proper fitting of interdictors ensued. Many thanks to Max and Grey!

This recent experience in training pilots for specialized roles reinforces my belief that the quality of combat fleets is directly proportional to the amount of time spent training, drilling and exercising those fleets. More on that in another post.

Those who can do, those who can't teach

2010-04-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

With things in Providence starting to return to what I'll call the "new normal" I've had time to start settling back into a groove. During the war it was hard to put a roam together because of a mismatch in priorities. Sure we were told to go run around in small gangs but it's hard to find pilots who want to blitz through the region in battlecruisers when there is a red capital gang next door beating the crap out of your favorite outpost.

But detente has come to Providence and the roaming gang has again become a nightly event for me. I have to say that FCing is definately a skill where currency counts. I jumped into my first fleet and felt like I had my shoes tied together for the first 15 minutes. But it's like riding a bike (which is a bitch with your shoes tied together) and before I knew it things were coming back to me.

Providence has certainly changed though and boy do I miss the days of an interwoven CVA/PXF/-7- jump bridge network to get around Providence quickly! The "new" Providence has it's benefits though. PXF is completely surrounded by reds so it makes it a short car ride to find good fights, although it's nice to conduct a full up roam through surrounding regions once in awhile.

Thing's here on the blog have been quiet of late. Between the insane schedule I've been keeping at work and the nightly roam I FC, it's been challenging to get a post up with great regularity. I think I've got the solution to all this though after some good advice from M3 Corpmate Kirith Kodachi, who said "Rex, STFU and write already". So write I will :)

As a final note, I want to pile-on to a previous shameless recruiting post put up by Kirith. M3 and by extension Paxton Federation is recruiting. If you're interested in joining a corp that is built on teamwork and unmitigatable bloodlust then M3 may be a corp for you. Join Channel M3_Public in game and stop by for a chat!

The EVE Online Meat Market

2010-04-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

The basic economics of MMO's is a function of time & money. For some players, time is nearly unlimited. Whether they are college students, stay-at-home parents or those most fortunate who get the opportunity to work from home, these players can afford to convert that time into game currency or advancement.

Time versus Money

EVE is no different. In EVE, time means ISK whether by ratting, mining or missioning. What's different is that with EVE's unique time based skills advancement there is no such thing as "grinding" for skills advancement. This advancement scheme is the great equalizer. No amount of grinding will get a character from frigate IV to frigate V faster than the character's learning skills and implants will allow.

Since a highly skilled character is not something a player can trade time to get, there are few options. For some, illegal character transfers involving web-sites and the exchange of money. Account/character transfers are against the EULA and a real good way to get perma-banned from New Eden all together.

The threat of perma-ban alone is not enough to halt the transfer of characters and CCP is practical about this. As a result CCP has developed a policy about character transfers that involves the the purchasing of characters using ISK versus real money. The only real money involved is a $20 transfer fee paid to CCP by the seller of the character.

Characters are sold via the Character Bazaar which is governed by a specific set of rules that are listed in a couple of stickies at the top of the page.

I began watching the forums about a week before I made my purchase. I was looking for a character that would be able to support my non-combat activities and allow me to split my main off to focus on pure combat training.

It took some time to find a character that was going to meet my needs but I wasn't alone in the search. A member of my corporation took some time to help sift through the dozens of characters added or bumped each day to find one that had the unique set of skills I was looking for.

Once we finally found the character meeting my needs, we had to establish contact and begin the negotiation process. This is where the rubber meets the road. The seller believes in the value of their character, the buyer is interested but wants the best deal possible. Where these two parties meet is what ultimately becomes the "deal".

As I learned from my corpmate, there was a rule of thumb for calculating a 'value' for the character. Taking the "total number of skill points" - "extraneous skill points"and then offering 300 Million ISK per 1 Million Skill Points will give the buyer a good idea of fair value.

The character I found was being offered for 3 Billion ISK. After doing an assessment I determined that the character was only worth about 2 Billion ISK to me. Through some negotiation I was able to offer less than the 2 Billion ISK, figuring I'd have to increase my bid. Luckily the seller was more interested in unloading their character than hitting a high ISK target and I was able to get the character for 1.75 Billion ISK.

It was quite a deal! I followed the CCP protocol of sending a mail to the seller indicating my agreement to the deal and the account name for the character to be transferred to. I then posted to the forum, transferred the isk and within a few minutes the character was on the account of my choosing.

All in all it was a smooth experience, but as in all things involving New Eden - Buyer Beware!

Ultimately this exchange methodolgy (trading in ISK etc...) makes it accessible to both those who have the time to earn the ISK and those with the money to buy game time cards and sell the PLEXs for ISK. Either way, it's the only legitimate way to leap frog ahead of the slow-grind of time.

Gate Camping - Tactical Deployment and associated Fleet Compositions - Part 2 of 3

2010-04-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

As previously discussed in the first installment of this three part series, gate camping is one of many different mission profiles / strategies to secure and enforce sovereignty or otherwise interdict hostile fleets from traveling through specific areas of space.

This three part series is set to explore three different styles or deployment strategies for gate camping. In the first part of the series the "Catcher's Mitt" - Drag bubble style of gate camping was discussed. The subject of this installment is the "Jump-in:" gate camp.

Before exploring the strengths/weakness of this particular deployment strategy, let's review the Mission Profile so that an even comparison can be made.

Mission Profile: Blockade (gate camp) The AY-24I <--> 2-TEGJ gate (both 0.0 security systems). Expect Hostiles to enter AY-24I from 2-TEGJ as they return from a roam. Expect 20 anti-support (Battlecruisers and below)

Jump-in - Gate Camp

This particular gate camp is designed to catch a fleet as it enters a system rather than landing on a gate. This particular camp is not effected by number of gates or stations in system nor does warp times or other variables take into account.

In this particular mission profile, the camp would be set up on the 2-TEGJ gate in AY-24I. While a mobile warp disruptor could be anchored to cover the gate, this is not practical and would be more useful in cases where an alliance were trying to perma-bubble a gate to protect a capital / super-capital jump transition system (when leap frogging a cap through space via jumpdrive)

As before, we are fairly safe making the following assumptions:

- The hostile fleet will have a competent FC
- The hostile fleet will have an competent advance scout who will not warp to 0 KM on the gate
- The hostile fleet, when faced with adversaries of greater numbers will choose to run rather than fight.

Since this particular deployment is anchored around the star gate, many wouldn't consider ship position to be that critical to the success of the camp. That assertion would only be partially correct. Depending on the class of ship and it's role, position in relation to the gate is critical.

In this notional deployment the fleet is balanced around the gate at cardinal vectors. The concept is that the scramblers are deployed to have the reach to lock down a target while still being close enough to burn to the gate in the event of contingency. The strikers should have the range to be able to hit the targets at the 12 KM radius. NOTE: Keep the strikers OUT of the bubble! The FC obviously must look at their fleet composition and make deployment decisions based on the range of their strikers. An interdiction element should hold at 0 KM to provide for cross jump support. At the FC's discretion a second interdiction element can be formed and held in reserve while maintaining position around the gate. The reserve interdiction element will be used for the initial bubble but in a "double bubble" configuration it can be used to pursue runners as required or dissolved and maintained in the fleet. NOTE: Should the reserve interdiction element be used to pursue, the FC should have previously identified strikers who will form up as part of the pursuit element to reduce confusion and subsequent delayed warp.

Fleet composition (30 ship max)
** This is notional, it doesn't take individual fits / ships into account, it is a general template that should be pared/tailored to fit the actual mission profile etc...

Tackle- (2 element set up - Grey/Gold)

- 2x Interdictor (Double Bubble)

- 6x Interceptor (3 mid-slots)

- 2x Recon (Web Focus - Rapier etc...)

EWAR

- 2x Blackbird / Falcon - Jammer set up according to intel // Rainbow

Damage

- 14x Battlecruiser / HAC - select a single tank type (armor/shield)
- 1x Command Ship (good for interdiction bonuses)

Logistics

- 1x-2x with repair modules selected (armor/shield) based on fleet focus

Scout
- 1x Covops (probe equipped)

Jump-In Camp in Practice

Being successful in employing this type of gate camp is a function of reaction time. Fortunately the fleet is provided with notice of impending hostiles through the use of local count and the gate activation graphics. A wise FC will use their cloaked Covops pilot to sit on the otherside of the gate and serve as "eyes" for the fleet. It is prudent in this sort of a tactical situation to instruct tacklers to "go mods hot" and ensure their tackling (and possibly MWD) modules are active and able to activate upon lock-on. The FC may choose to immediately call for the interdiction bubble commonly thru the command "Bubble Up" or may wait to see what comes through the gate. It is critical that the fleet maintains it's proper position and strikers and the pursuit element are outside the bubble. Once the FC orders the bubble raised, a portion of the fleet is committed to the engagement for no other reason than they are caught in the bubble themselves. Should the hostile fleet jump in en mass then the FC will be faced with the decision to either engage or withdraw and in doing so sacrifice a portion of their fleet.

In practical application of this camp, seldom does the blue fleet retreat or withdraw. More often then not the two fleets will either jump into each other and force the engagement or sit on either side of the target gate in a "cold war" stand off until either side decides to engage or withdraw from the field. If the FC chooses to hold on the gate in a stand-off it would be prudent to only do so for a limited amount of time. The hostile FC may be trying to delay a fight as a secondary ambush fleet is scrambled, it is important therefore to maintain situational awareness using intel channels and scouts.

Assuming that the hostile fleet jumps into the camp, it is important that the fleet maneuvers according to instructions from the FC as it will be his decision whether to posture for pursuit back through the gate or elsewhere in the target system. As a general rule, it's prudent to try and lock down the easiest escape route (back through the gate). Until the hostile fleet is aggressed, the ships are not committed to remaining in system thus it is prudent for the FC to reserve a portion of the tackle and shooters until the red fleet commits at which time all ships can engage. It doesn't seem necessary to walk through the actual engagement itself, suffice to say that the key is to maintain as many active tackles as possible either from interdiction spheres or ship-borne tackle.

In conclusion, this particular style of gate camp deployment is very flexible but it's not without it's weak points. This particular gate camp style is not particularly effective in tackling ships that are warping to 0 KM on the gate, especially if the gate is a regional one that has a much larger "jump" radius and thereby are able to activate the gate before tackle/damage can be applied. On the other hand, it is very effective in tackling/interdicting ships that are entering system, especially if the bubbles are dropped effectively around the gate. As always no style of camp deployment will work in every situation, it is the responsibility of the FC to identify tactics that are most effective and to employ them.

End of Part 2

I got added to WHAT?!

2010-03-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was notified by Crazy Kinux that I am being added to the EVE Blog Pack. I just happened to recently post about the EVE online player community and it is with great appreciation that I accept this position in the blog pack.

First and foremost I'd like to thank my readers (both of them) [this joke provided by Mike Azariah]

Additionally, I would like a chance to express my thanks to the members of my corporation [M3] who have supported me by giving me constructive feedback as well as current blog pack members Jager Da (who convinced me to return to writing), Rettic (who is my always patient proofreader and BS detector) , Casiella Truza as well as Kirith Kodachi (M3 corpmate) who both have given me a ton of positive feedback and constructive pointers.

Finally, thanks to the members of the EVE-BLOGGERS channel who have always tolerated my noobish questions and been helpful with everything from content ideas to technical site questions.

...God that sounded like an academy awards show acceptance speech...

"You like me!.....you REALLY like me!" (ok, NOW it sounds like an awards show...)

Respectfully,

L. Rex

Gate Camping - Tactical Deployment and associated Fleet Compositions - Part 1 of 3

2010-03-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

For all of the mission profiles at the disposal of a military campaign commander or a Director of Internal Security, one of the most common used to secure and enforce sovereignty (or to just kill stuff) is the selective blockading of system gates, affectionately referred to as "Gate Camping". For the purpose of this discussion we'll consider the tactical options and opportunities of the mission profile below:

Mission Profile: Blockade (gate camp) The AY-24I <--> 2-TEGJ gate (both 0.0 security systems). Expect Hostiles to enter AY-24I from 2-TEGJ as they return from a roam. Expect 20 anti-support (Battlecruisers and below)

Tactical Fleet Deployment Options
When analyzing the mission profile, the stellar cartography and the level of preparation / development of the scout's/FC's (e.g, bookmarks, familiarity etc..) the FC can surmise the full tactical depth of the scenario, leaving them to match the best deployment to meet the overall objectives.

For the purposes of discussion, only three deployment strategies will be reviewed in this article. These strategies are "Catcher's Mitt", "Jump-in", and "Hybrid". The names are my own and more for clarity than anything else.

Catcher's Mitt - Gate Camp (Drag Bubble)

This particular deployment is ideally suited for "pipeline" systems with no station. With respect to the above mission profile, there is an Outpost in AY-24I as well as 2-TEGJ. That said, the most likely route of travel for the hostiles will be from 2-TEGJ -> AY-24I - > X6AB-Y. If the FC is familiar with the area they can focus on the most likely routes travel, thus reducing the amount of preparation required.

We'll assume all are familiar with proper deployment of a drag bubble. Once the mobile warp disruptor is anchored/onlined, it's time to move the fleet into position.

The fleet's deployment will be in relation to the drag bubble and based on some assumptions. It would be prudent to assume:

- The hostile fleet will have a competent FC
- The hostile fleet will have an competent advance scout who will not warp to 0KM on the gate
- The hostile fleet, when faced with adversaries of greater numbers will choose to run rather than fight.

Rather than underestimate the hostile fleet, the FC should deploy his fleet so that it supports the primary interdiction method (the drag bubble) but at the same time is flexible enough to deal with a fleet that avoids the drag bubble and warps onto grid (whether at distance or at 0 KM) . Below is a notional deployment for a catcher's mitt.

This deployment provides interdiction/tackle assets at the drag bubble (which is critical for maintaining a proper tackle on small/fast movers to give the strikers (damage dealers) enough time to lock and fire. By pairing a Rapier (because of the web bonus) with the interdiction element, any ship caught in the bubble can effectively be slowed to a crawl meaning more time in the bubble and more time for the kill. At the same time the other interdictor element is 0 KM off the gate which allows for an interdiction reaction should the hostiles warp to the gate at 0 KM.

The EWAR position in the figure above represents a point well off the gate, taking advantage of the range bonuses for this ship type. This decision is a double-edged sword. While remaining well outside of weapons range is a good idea, having the ships so far off the gate delays their ability to travel with the fleet if the FC should decide to close and jump through.

Logistics, while not listed should remain together if they are working in concert (Guardians etc..). If they are working solo (and the FC has got more than a single) it might be prudent to task one to each striker element. Otherwise, leaving them with the main body of the fleet at the gate is probably most appropriate.

By splitting the strikers (damage dealers) an FC can ensure some degree of damage can be applied to the enemy as soon as they land in the bubble. This is of course dependent on how the ships are fit. It may be more prudent for the strikers to remain together if the ship fits support longer ranged attacks. Since all ships in 0.0 should be fit with a Micro-warpdrive, re-positioning shouldn't take that much time regardless of their initial position.

Catcher's Mitt Fleet (30 ships max)

** This is notional, it doesn't take individual fits / ships into account, it is a general template that should be pared/tailored to fit the actual mission profile etc...

Tackle- (2 element set up - Grey/Gold)

- 2x Interdictor (Double Bubble)

- 6x Interceptor (3 mid-slots)

- 2x Recon (Web Focus - Rapier etc...)

EWAR

- 2x Blackbird / Falcon - Jammer set up according to intel // Rainbow

Damage

- 14x Battlecruiser / HAC - select a single tank type (armor/shield)
- 1x Command Ship (good for interdiction bonuses)

Logistics

- 1x-2x with repair modules selected (armor/shield) based on fleet focus

Scout
- 1x Covops (probe equipped)

Catcher's Mitt in Practice

In practice, the FC of this fleet must be very agile in their decision making. Should the red fleet jump into system, the FC will only have a few moments to decide whether to throw a bubble up on the gate (which would be prudent but also self-tackling) or to hold and wait to see what develops. Obviously if part of the fleet is well off the gate it will delay any sort of pursuit due to re-form time but it is a calculated gamble.

These sorts of camps are successful but normally they are most productive where individual pilots (or completely unqualified FC's) warp to zero on a gate. If a scout has even a rudimentary understanding of their job they are going to warp at range and sound the alarm of the gate camp. This is where the FC's on both sides have to demonstrate their ability to think on their feet. For the camping FC, being able to bolster the defense of the gate, and dispatch the scout to search are immediate action tasks that must be executed properly for there to be much hope of engaging the enemy on favorable terms.

For the hostile FC, being able to fuse information from the scout as well as personal observations will be critical in making the right decision. Does he reverse course, charge the gate, engage at range? It may be as simple and luring the camping FC into drawing forces off the gate long enough for an off-vector warp to allow a warp-to-zero, jump-on-contact transition.

Ultimately, the catcher's mitt is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution for gate camping, but like the other strategies up for review in this article, it has a time and place where it works very well.

End of Part I

A really enjoyable read - Rettic's Chronofile

2010-03-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

I just got done reading a great article over at Rettic's Chronofile about a player who returned to the game after leaving in 2004. I think it's a unique perspective to explore the game from and paints a picture of how far New Eden's Come.

Head over to Rettic's Chronofile and take a minute to read it yourself! http://rettic.com/post/475809914/the-really-ancient-noob

EVE Online as an Out of Game Community -- The EVE Online Blog Pack

2010-03-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Every MMO has some sort of online community outside of the game. There are websites, blogs, player developed movies using game characters and graphics, fan fiction and everything in-between. What I like most about the "out-of-game" EVE Online community is how close knit it is.

Every morning I get up and open my iPhone as I'm still rubbing sleep out of my eyes to check up on the latest twitter feeds from fellow EVE online bloggers (Search for the EVE online bloggers by visiting Twitter.com and searching for "Tweetfleet" or just follow this link.

Beyond the use of Twitter, the bloggers of EVE has been drawn together around Crazy Kinux's website. He maintains both a full listing of every EVE blog out on the inter-tubes as well as a more exclusive list of active bloggers who have displayed the dedication to consistently post about EVE Online. This group is known as the EVE Online Blog Pack

Crazy Kinux has done a stellar job in continuing to organize and motivate the blogging community and I suspect that without him the out of game experience might be far less developed. So take a minute and go look at CK's site at http://www.crazykinux.com

The art of Bookmarks

2010-03-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in previous postings, combat in EVE is dependent on several conventions that are forced upon us by the design of the game. One of these conventions is the bookmark (BM). The bookmark essentially is a discrete set of coordinates in space that are saved in the "Places" tab in the "People & Places" section of the User Interface (UI). I won't spend time debating the merits of a bookmarking system versus allowing pilots to select X,Y,Z coordinates to warp to (although I will assume they created the BM function to prevent pilots from going blind on an overly complex Cartesian coordinate system.)

The purpose of this article is to elaborate on the considerations a pilot should take when building their book mark library. As always, there is no way that this blog post can be totally inclusive of all aspects of bookmarking and I'm sure I will gloss over or completely omit aspects of building a BM library. Feel free to elaborate on my omissions or makes comments in the comment section, I look forward to reading them!

For the purposes of this article, I will concentrate on the development of bookmarks around a discrete object in space (e.g. Stargates, Stations etc...) with the purpose of either surveillance or sniper employment.

Basic Considerations for Bookmark Development:

When building a bookmark library, it is important to begin with the end in mind. What is the desired purpose of the bookmark? Is it to put eyes on a gate before warping to zero? Is it to establish an "Insta-undock" from a station? By understanding what your BM is meant to do, you can better refine your set up so your goals are met.

One of the most common bookmarks used by scouts is the "Perch". The perch is simply a bookmark that allows the scout to load on grid and see exactly is going on while being safely out of harms way. While I normally presume that the ship will be a cloaked Covops, an interceptor or any other type of ship can benefit from having the ability to warp on grid and get a look.

WARNING: When using a deep-grid position (150+ KM from the structure) do NOT assume you are safe. It is common for a gate camp to employ a cloaked scout with probes out set to a .5 AU range which allows for the camp to get a fix on your position and warp directly on top of you! Best bet is if you choose to use an uncloaked ship that you burn your BM once you use it. I have seen situations where gate camps will get a warp in on a distant target, BM it themselves and then save it to use against another target later!

So what is the key to a successful perch? A successful perch will be:

- Off axis: It is important that your BM not be on a cardinal axis of the structure (X,Y,Z). If you consider that you are not the only person to make bookmarks, the chances of getting accidently decloaked are exponential when you remain in a location that is a common point.

- Greater than 150KM off the structure: Having the ability to warp to zero or any other "warp to" distance immediately is very helpful. The risk is minimal if you are cloaked, but as expressed earlier, if you are greater than 150KM from the gate and it's being camped. They can warp to you just as easy as you can warp to the gate.

Besides the perch, the sniper warp-in is one of the most useful BMs to have available. In Large Fleet Engagements (LFE), specifically SOV warfare type engagements, the Fleet Commander (FC) is going to want to be able to warp sniper Battleships into position, allow them to engage the enemy, then warp to another point. To do this successfully, the scout needs to spend time developing the Bookmarks around the locations most likely to serve as the battlespace. Once again, gates are frequently the sites of such battles and we'll use the gate as an example of sniper bookmark development.

While a cloaked ship can use and re-use the same surveillance per perch time and again, an uncloaked ship is in exponential danger from having their safe spot become a trap. When an FC is maneuvering a sniper squadron/wing into position, the wise FC is not going to re-use the same perch with any frequency. As a result, the scout who makes a substantial number of sniping bookmarks will in-fact be providing a critical defense against interdiction and destruction of the "glass-cannon" snipers.

Consider the image above. The space around a stargate can be broken into 4 quadrants. For the purposes of this exercise, you are looking at the "Front" of the stargate (the jump pulse shoots -away- from you).

When building your bookmarks for sniper employment, you want to address the same concerns of setting up off-axis. Ranging issues will be a function of munitions loaded and FC intent. By setting up book marks in each quadrant and various distances, you can give the FC the flexibility of warping to an optimum firing location especially when addressing a hostile fleet that is maneuvering off the gate. When one considers interdiction efforts by both blue and red forces, having the right bookmark at your finger-tips is invaluable.

Initially I would recommend setting up at least 4 points at each range marker in each quadrant. That is to START. If a system is a choke point or a focus of significant hostile action, it may be wise to have more.

The lag monster and the grid load Bookmark:

Large Fleet Engagements (especially post-dominion) result in significant lag. Everyone has a horror story about losing a ship (or a fleet) to lag during LFE. Pilots will relate to you that they've found themselves in their ship for an hour after they've received their insurance payment. Quite frankly, lag sucks.

Regardless of the lag, a fleet needs to be able to engage it's targets and one way of doing so is to allow the clients to "load grid" before closing to engage the enemy. This is done a variety of ways and the following is one of the many ways of doing it. While sitting at the target structure at zero, jettison something, anything, from the ship. Then activate the MWD and burn away from the structure until the jet-can disappears. This is the maximum grid distance. Turn around and close back in so that you are around 20KM inside of the gridline. This is a grid-load bookmark. Having several of these as a matter of course helps the FC set up for initial closure to the enemy.

Extreme Deep Safe Bookmark:

These bookmarks are made by essentially logging off while in warp and "coasting" past your desired warp-to point. If a pilot has the patience to make these bookmarks they can have a warp point 500 AU from the nearest warp-to structure/planet. This forces even the most long-legged ship to have to make multiple warps to get to the spot. It's great for jumping in capitals or large fleets when you need a second to avoid a flurry of interdictors!

From what I've heard and read, this is a loophole that will be closed in the next patch. I don't have a link to the guide which specifically spells out how to make these BMs, but ask around...it's out there.

Conclusion:

As I mentioned at the top of this article, a comprehensive posting on bookmarks would take far to much space. The intent of this article was to talk about two specific categories of bookmarks and some considerations that should be made when setting them up.

Remember that after a bookmark has been used by an uncloaked ship, it's been essentially burnt. Sure, you can use it again, but remember that if you continually use the same BM, time and again, especially during a single fleet engagement, the chances of having your opponent warping on top of you and bubbling your fleet grows exponentially. I've seen entire wings of sniper BS killed because the squadron commander / FC warped them to the same point over and over again.

Also remember that if you share a bookmark, you should assume that you've shared it with all of EVE, sure we want to trust everyone in our corp but in the age of spies and metagaming, the only secure bookmark is one you've never shared with anyone else.

Weapons and Tactics: Distribution of Interdiction Assets During Offensive Gate Operations

2010-03-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

The basic elements of combat can be summarized in the 3 F's. Find, Fix, Fight. Without either of the three an engagement will fail. Each is self-explanatory in the elementary sense but once you start to really consider the implications of each of these individual steps it becomes clear that in the absence of a single aspect, the engagement will fail. For the purposes of the article today, we shall concentrate our attention on "Fix"

Fleet engagements take place in a variety of settings and locations but due to game mechanics and stellar cartography, a universally accessible coordinate-set normally serves as the field. These coordinates are any stellar body or significant structure that a fleet can independently warp to via the overview (e.g, stargates, planets, moons, asteroid belts etc...)

Stargates serve a variety of purposes as I've previously eluded to. Without taking into account the server loading and "gameplay" reasons, lets summarize the major impact of gates.

Stargates:

- Limit the employment of weapons

- Limit the situational awareness of the pilot/fleet

- Act as a choke point for entrance and exit

- Provides a fire-break to offensive operations (denying jump-access due to aggression timers)

- Provide defensive protection (gate guns in low-sec)

In offensive operations where a fleet intercepts or even just happens across a target on a gate, it is a common tactic for the hostile target to hold on the gate, remain un-agressed and attempt to force an engagement, flag the fleet against the gate and then jump through to relative safety.

There are a variety of tactics that can be employed at the gate which if successfully executed, can mitigate the significance of the Stargate in your engagement. As with all successful fleets, it all starts with the organization.

Fleet Composition / Organization for gate interdiction emphasis:

Standing up a fleet with the intent of roaming through null-sec, the FC would do well to consider the core of it's composition to be around interdiction assets. As a general rule in a light / fast fleet (defined as Battlecruisers and below) it makes most sense to stay with the Interdictor versus the Heavy Interdictor class of ship.

Ship fits will vary. In a fleet properly composed, the Interdictors shouldn't focus on the application of damage, thus I'm fond of the "double bubble" fit for the Interdictor as it provides more bubbling capacity which gives the individual element of the individual interdiction squadron more flexibility.

Once composition has been established, organization is important. On a roaming gang of 20+ ships, I personally try to establish an interdiction squadron, which is either a subset of the "Tackle" squadron or it's own independent unit. Within that interdiction squadron, I establish two elements. The first element "Gold" consists of an interdictor, 2x interceptors and 4x damage dealing ships with supplemental tackle (web/scram/disruptor). The second is similarly comprised and referred to as "Grey". During normal fleet movements and operation these elements roll up under the fleet and have no specific role until they are called for by the Fleet Commander.

Employment of Interdiction Element in Gate-based Engagement

At this point, we'll dispose of the other various academic and adminstrative actions an FC needs to take to get his/her fleet out of the station, and we'll concentrate on a specific tactical situation with which to study the effectiveness of employment of an interdiction element in an offensive operation within gate jump range.

Tactical Situation to follow:

Fleet has entered system 2-TEGJ, scout reports a single red in System on the AY-24I gate. Fleet warps to the gate. Red target is a hostile HAC class ship. It holds on gate trying to tempt the blue fleet into engaging and aggressing.

In this particular situation, if the fleet composition supports it and the organizational ground work is laid, the FC could choose to order "Gold/Grey" element to jump through on contact. If it's timed properly, it'll look like some of the ships were hasty with the jump button but in reality it will give the element an opportunity to get into position on the other side of the gate. Simultaneously, the remaining element will throw up a bubble on the FC's orders and attempt to force the red through the gate. What will follow is a tactical engagement that can take any of a hundred different turns but by taking immediate action to deploy interdiction assets to both sides of the gate, you've effectively limited the choices your target has.

What if the target just turns around and crashes the gate?

Expect this to happen. The target, especially a slower ship class will most likely not attempt to burn out of the interdiction bubble. The pilot is gambling that their placement on grid around the gate will give them the chance to get out of the interdiction bubble and warp off to safety. This is one reason why the interceptors are part of each interdiction element because supplemental points to support the bubble makes good sense and is a countermeasure to the bubble dropping or grid placement not supporting your efforts. The target may even "ping-pong" back and forth. This is why maintaining an element on both sides will help keep the target controlled.

What if I can't get two interdictors?

Interdictors are expensive. As a result there may not be enough folks who have the isk to fly the ship and be willing to lose it. In the event that you only have 1 interdictor, it is still important to form the elements (Gold/Grey). In this case though, the interdictor will land on gate, drop a bubble, jump through and drop another bubble and close on gate. This will at least allow them to get back to the other side if reload timers are favorable.

I don't have enough DPS on the other side of the gate to kill this guy!

This isn't an uncommon situation and is part of the reason you assign 4x damage dealing ships to the element. That said, the FC should ACTIVELY manage the fleet if the target begins to "ping-pong". An FC should consider by-name direction to pilots with orders to jump across to the other side. Avoid saying "I need X number of folks to jump across, you will always have an imbalance unless the FC takes control" The idea is that both sides should remain balanced to allow enough DPS to be focused on the target.

Ah hell....he cloaked!

Not specifically the topic of this post but a good bet is that if you are dealing with a ship-type (or Alliance for that matter) that uses cloaking as a matter of course then best bet is to drop drones, assign to interceptors and have them zip around any possible known location in the bubble, if you are successfully able to decloak then get a lock and they won't be able to recloak..

Conclusion

Ultimately, success on the battlefield demands that FC's utilize all aspects of combat. Maneuver is highly underrated and in cases, misunderstood. By thinking critically about the combat situations you may face, you as a FC are better able to compose a fleet designed to meet mission objectives, and are organized and prepared to employ them to maximize success.

The purpose of this article was to stimulate conversation and thought on this topic. I do not claim to be the ultimate authority on fleet tactics, I recognize that in the length of a blog post, I can't possible hope to cover every possible tactical situation. As always I welcome any thoughts or comments on this topic.

New Blogger coming on the scene!

2010-03-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to point you in the direction of a blog written by fellow M3 Corpmate Orakkus.

His first post is a great run down on fitting and employment of the Huginn. Great read and I absolutely recommend it.

2nd Anomoly From the Left

Welcome Orakkus, I look forward to your future posts!

Scouts - Considerations For Development & Employment in Fleet Operations

2010-03-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

In EVE, the Fleet Commander (FC) is essentially blind and deaf on any scale beyond the immediate tactical environment. Grid size and gates compartmentalize the fight not only in terms of weapons employment but also in data collection.

Since the earliest history of combat, the scout has provided the battlefield commander with the situational awareness he needs to employ his forces in the manner most effective to achieve his objectives.

Combat and maneuver here in New Eden while not necessarily"realistic" (we are still talking about internet spaceships) is still governed by situational awareness, maneuver and force-employment and is therefore enabled by proper scouting. This post aims to review good scouting practices for the scout as well as proper employment of the scout by the FC.

Woot! I can fly a Covops.....now what?

Like any role in EVE, just because you can fly the ship doesn't mean you can do the job. Scouting is no different. Growing/training a scout takes time and creating good habits in the beginning helps avoid having to break BAD habits later on. Below are some tips and considerations to review. It is not a comprehensive list and I'm always open to feedback!

- Fit the ship, then Fly the Ship: This seems to be a universal rule. Just because you can sit in the ship doesn't mean that you can fly it. First and foremost it is critical that every pilot (regardless of role) fly the properly fitted ship. Flying a marginally fit ship can cause some degree of upset in the plan or it may force the FC to reconsider their tactics. For any fleet member to force an FC to accept alternative tactics because of ship fit is not conducive to proper tactical employment and should be avoided as much as possible.

- If scouting was easy...everybody would be doing it (properly): As a scout, it is important that you realize that a proper scout has insanely more work to accomplish BETWEEN fleets than most other pilots. While line combat pilots (those who show up and just shoot at stuff) are out ratting/plexing to make isk, a good scout is spending their time setting up their resources (bookmarks etc.) for the next fight. The best scout in the fleet is not the guy with the faction fit ship, it's the pilot who did their homework and is best prepared.

- Organization above all things: As a scout you are expected to maintain your relative position to the fleet (ahead/behind etc...) run your directional scanner/probes, report potential hostiles to your fleet commander, get ship counts on enemy fleets, check neutrals for "Kill-On-Sight" (KOS) status as well as attempt to foresee the needs of your FC. To do all of that and remain successful you MUST be organized. If you fail to accomplish your tasks then you are creating 'holes' in the FC's situational awareness which could ultimately result in the fleet being decimated.

So you want me to do WHAT instead of 'rat??

Make Bookmarks: As was mentioned previously, the most successful scout is the scout that is most prepared. While others pilots sit in an anomaly and kill NPC for ISK, you as a scout need to be doing your homework. The most basic of this "homework" is bookmarking. There are a variety of different reasons for bookmarking but the big hitters are: perches (both observation and sniping), grid loads, intercepts, deep safes, extreme deep cyno's etc... A scout that is prepared is a force mutliplier. In EVE, the bookmark is the limiting factor when it comes to manuever. If a scout brings a library of effective bookmarks, the fleet as a whole becomes more agile and ultimately more lethal. If you're serious about scouting you'll have dozens of bookmarks per system without even trying.

Have your Overview set correctly: Overview settings are an important preparation step for every pilot but especially for scouts. When you're trying to count ship types of a large enemy fleet, if you have the proper tabs set up with the proper filter, life is easier and your information is more timely and accurate. It makes sense to have a filter that eliminates fleet members or filters for enemy only. Some folks have a tab configured especially for doing counts on red fleets (e.g; counting battleships.)

Have the right hard-copy documents: If there was any role in game that benefits from a hard copy of New Eden maps, it's a scout. I personally prefer Ombey's 2D Eve maps. I cut my teeth on Ombey maps and am most comfortable with them. The key here is to use the maps you are comfortable with. Especially if you will be serving as a pathfinder/point scout, having a hard-copy of the New Eden map of your choice will only make life easier.

Develop your scanning skills/experience: At times a scout may be called to probe down a hostile ship. Time is of the essence when you get these calls. To be most effective a scout needs to have the necessary scanning skills and the experience to drop probes and find the target as rapidly as possible. An easy way to practice your scanning skills is to do some exploration. It's also an opportunity to make some money since exploration sites pay decently depending on what you find.

The proper employment of scouts by the Fleet Commander

The first half of this post has focused around the scout. Time to shift gears and consider how to take this finely tuned scout and employ them effectively.

The FC who appreciates the importance of scouts is an FC who will be able to make something-out-of-nothing, manuever around his enemy, draw his opponent into a fight on favorable terms and generally out-perform a fleet where proper thought hasn't gone into scout employment.

Traditional or 'standard' deployment of scouts depends on their purpose. General scout missions can be broken down into several categories: Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Picket, Pathfinder, Rear Guard, Rover.

Reconnaissance: Scout travels to or through enemy held territory and surveys it for military purposes. An example of a Reconnaissance mission is: "Go into HED-GP and tell me where the Jump Bridges are."

Surveillance: Scout is tasked to maintain visual contact with a target, threat or structure for the purposes of intelligence collection. An example of a Surveillance mission is: "Go sit on the "GE" Jumpbidge in HED-GP and report whatever traffic enters the system" -or- "Go find the reds in SV5-8N and get me a ship count by type" Surveillance missions may be short-term, measured in minutes or hours, or longer-term which can be measured in days or more. It all depends on what the purpose of the intelligence collection is.

Picket: Scout is tasked to sit in a system and report any hostiles that enter system. This scout is an "early warning system" especially when the FC is manuevering a large fleet in preparation for a SOV fight or other high-pilot-density engagement. This is a BORING job and is best filled by a person dual boxing or running multiple clients. An "Alt-picket" is just what it sounds like and is an effective way to fill this position. Asking scouts to perform this task, although important in the overall scheme of things tends to bore them out of the scouting role. An example of a Picket mission is: "Go sit in F9E and report any reds that enter the system"

Pathfinder (AKA point): Scout is tasked to remain 1or more jumps ahead of the fleet for the single purpose of giving the FC early warning of either predators or prey. This type of role is associated with roaming gangs and normally only lasts the duration of the fleet. This is a role that GREATLY benefits from having a healthy bookmark collection. This is also not a role that I would put a brand-new scout in. Not only will they most likely not have the best collection of bookmarks but they may also not know how to handle reporting protocol for the FC or be comfortable trying to gate crash in a covops (which has a "toilet-paper" tank). However putting your most senior scout in this position is a wise decision.

Rear Guard: Scout is tasked to remain 1 or more jumps BEHIND the fleet to watch for trailing hostiles. Especially useful when maneuvering with a red fleet. It allows the FC to pivot and re-engage the enemy without losing eyes on them. This is also NOT a good position to start new scouts in. The chance of getting lost or otherwise turned around deep in enemy territory or with a red fleet in hot pursuit isn't a good way to introduce a new scout to the business.

Rover: Scout is tasked to bounce into adjacent systems that are not on the route of travel. Dead end systems and branches are best checked using this role. This is an EXCELLENT role to put a new scout in. It allows them to get out by themselves but still be within reach of help and it also gives them a chance to build their bookmark library.

When employing scouts in these roles, it is important that both the FC and the scout understand where each party is coming from. Each FC is different in how they manage their fleet. Each scout has different scouting habits. The important thing is to ensure that all parties understand their roles and responsibilities before the fleet launches.

Trust is an important component of this relationship and I've found that if there is trust between FC and the scouts then the FC tends to be more confident in their assessment of the tactical situation and make better choices. Trust doesn't develop overnight though and taking the opportunity to team up as often as possible helps the partnership develop.

The feeding and watering of scouts

Each role in a fleet has it's cross to bear but effective scouting forces pilots to make trade offs. First and foremost is the opportunity to be recognized for their efforts. It is rare for a GOOD covops scout to show up on a kill-mail because most won't have a weapon fit on their covops ship. Scouts shouldn't concern themselves with getting on kill-mails but they should be recognized for their work. It doesn't have to be much in terms of recognition, even if it's just a specific by-name "Thank you" in fleet "Fleet, just wanted to give my thanks Max for doing a great job scouting for us tonight" This type of recognition keeps scouts charged up about scouting.

Covop ships are EXPENSIVE. Especially if you start looking at faction modules (Sister's Expanded Probe Launcher anyone?) Most big alliances have some sort of ship replacement program. Program managers should consider adding covops ships to their inventory if they can do it and be cost-effective. Since scouts often don't have the chance to do a lot of ratting (especially in a busy corp/alliance) it's a nice way to provide some incentive to folks to continue scouting.

Ultimately you are going to find yourself in a situation where a scout is not doing the job you need them to do. Either they've lost interest in what they are doing or they are just not very good at doing the job. Candid, immediate feedback is the only way to either correct the situation or move the pilot out of the scouting role. It's never easy but it is absolutely required if you are going to have quality scouts.

Conclusion:

Scouting is one of many roles that must be filled each time a fleet goes out to engage in combat. Developing or recruiting strong scouts is a "no-brainer" and in terms of the rapid improvement of fleet operations, it shouldn't be overlooked. Success is ultimately achieved by working as a team, developing common goals, objectives and working to improve fleet operations. A solid FC-scout team is a force-multiplier that can't be dismissed.

As always, this is not an "all-inclusive post" I'm sure I've omitted noteworthy points and as always I invite you to respond to this post and include the parts I may have left out.

Voice Communication: Whose on first and whose looting my wreck?

2010-03-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

Communication. In it's most basic element is the transmission of information between two parties. As the graphic shows below the communication model consists of a sender and a listener, a message and interference or noise. Any introduction to communication class (COM 101) covers this model within the first day or two. It is the basis for our theories of communication.

This theory explains a lot about how we communicate. The sender has to determine the data (the message) they wish to transmit, encode the data (method: is it spoken? written?) and then transmit it. The receiver is exposed to the transmission and then must decode the information. Noise (interruption, background noise, language barrier, jargon, slang, etc...) is a lump-sum grouping of all of the things that can obstruct, preclude or otherwise stand in the way of the receiver getting the message from the sender. Now lets consider the importance of communication in a tactical environment of New Eden.

Tactical Voice Communication in New Eden

First: Everyone get on the same platform
Effective voice communication is thwarted before it even begins when players can't connect on a common platform. Team Speak, Team Speak 3, Ventrilo, Jabber, EVE Voice....the list goes on. There are a growing number of voice clients out there and everyone has a favorite. So the first step is getting all fleet members on a common platform. This is easier said than done, especially when you're trying to fight in a joint environment where multiple alliances are involved. If a coalition is going to fight together than at a minimum each fleets FC must be on a voice channel together.

Next: Control the inputs
From the perspective of a fleet pilot (one without any duties or roles except shooting) a fleet engagement, especially one that is not engaged in the heat of battle, can be insanely boring. Bored pilots don't want to be bored, we all play the game for fun and folks will try to keep themselves amused. As a result people tend to talk in fleet voice comms. From the perspective of the Fleet Commander or the Battlestaff, this is just more unnecessary data to sort through while trying to determine tactics, decipher intelligence and make decisions about committing forces. Understand that as an FC you will never be able to stop this completely. Regardless of the heavy-handed tactics (kicking someone from fleet for talking) it still happens. So it's important to funnel the fleet member's urge to be social into a BS channel This is a text communication channel other than the "Fleet" text channel where folks can shoot the shit without getting in the FC's decision cycle.

Then: Accuracy, Brevity and Calm - The keys to successful tactical communication

Holy Shit! shoot the red, No the other red, no the tempest god dammit you are all Noobs! lock him, put a fucking point on the bubbler, primary the bubbler, battleships align the outbound. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck...you guys are noobs, get a point, someone drop the interceptor, warp out, warp out get yourselves safe! Dammit someone loot my wreck! (heard recently in combat)

As the fleet commander, it is of the utmost importance that when you speak in voice communications that you are Accurate in the information you give, that your instructions are brief and concise and that you are absolutely calm while you are delivering your instructions.

Too many fleet commanders allow the excitement/stress/terror of fleet combat to impact the manner in which they communicate to their fleets. Your ears are directly connected to your brain and the nuances that the human brain can pick out of spoken word is incredible. If you feel panic, or confusion, you will pass that on to your fleet members and they will in turn begin to feel the same way. I have watched outnumbered/outgunned fleets succeed time-and-time again because their FC remains calm and communicates orders accurately, briefly and calmly. Saying things the same way each time so that your fleet is able to keep track of what you are saying is also important. As the FC, your job is to try and manage the 'noise' in the process and one way to do that is to develop a pattern or template for communicating certain things.

For example, consider target calling. If you always describe the target the same way each time, you'll have a better chance of everyone being able to follow what you are saying. It doesn't matter what order you say thing so long as it is consistent

"Fleet, sort by range. Fleet primary is Joe Bag-o-doughnuts in a Tempest. Secondary is Suzie Slap-happy in a Falcon."

Sometimes 2 voice comms are better than one.

In the real world, a single radio is seldom enough to sustain all the coordination that needs to take place to survive in combat. As a result you may be working a VHF, UHF, Satcom, or data burst based digital communication. EVE online is no different. Sometimes having a secondary voice communication channel is beneficial. This is done differently in each client. I personally use 2 concurrent Teamspeak 3 clients and Ventrilo when I'm fighting because I'm maintaining voice communications with multiple groups or sub-groups.

The key to using multiple channels is that you have to be able to sort out which comm is active, figure out who is talking and how to deconflict that with the rest of the information at hand. Your secondary/tertiary channels should only consist of those players who understand the prime directive of multiple voice channels: STFU unless it's critical.

Some tips for challenging tactical communication situations

-- Language Barrier:

Believe it or not, talking louder doesn't help....best bet is to use simple, clear English. Avoid slang or colloquialism. Try not to speak fast and normally you'll be able to sort through the language barrier. Sometimes fleet members who can't understand what you are saying may be able to understand your orders if they are read (text comm) versus heard. It's always a good idea to have someone in your fleet transcribe your vocal orders into text in the "Fleet" channel.

-- Challenging character name:

Consider that you're faced with a 20-man red gang and you want to call SHGJLFSG primary. Just how do you pronounce that name? My advice to you would be to do the following:

"Fleet, sort by Name, new primary character name is unpronounceable spelled S-sierra, H-hotel, G-golf in a Legion." At the same time I would be broadcasting the target and telling the fleet to check their broadcast history. -- (Might not be perfect and I'm always open to folks suggesting better ways to handle it).

...It's pronounced "shiggy" by the way..

Handling Scout reports:

In small gangs this normally isn't too challenging of an issue. During the pre-brief you should let all of your fleet know that Scouts have ultimate channel authority and should not be interrupted. Then temper this by letting the scout now it's a privilege that shouldn't' be abused.

Ultimately, the use of voice communication in a tactical environment is a challenging skill that must be learned. By remembering the ABC's of communication (Accuracy, Brevity, Calm) an FC should be able to get the message across. Ultimately the greatest sin an FC can commit is throwing a temper tantrum on voice comms. It's normally an afront to anyone else on comms and doesn't reflect well on the FC. Remember that your fleet will stand and fight if you are calm and confident but will flee if you sound nervous and stressed.

At the end of the day, this skill comes with time. Take a fleet out, try out different techniques, procedures and styles and you'll find what works best for you and your fleet.

Rex's Eve-Space

2010-03-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm a day late and a dollar short but since I'm just coming back to the blog-sphere I figured it was better late than never.

Here is my play-space. I use the larger monitor for play and the laptop's monitor to manage comms (TS/Vent/etc..) The stack of paper is a color copy of the latest Ombey map's tabbed to find the systems I need quickly. The colored strips around the monitor are the little 'flag arrows' you use to point out signature lines on documents. I write the names of my scouts on them and then move them around the Ombey map. Especially useful when I'm managing 20+ scouts during a Large Fleet Engagement. Since I'm a cheap bastard, I save them for later use.

Task Saturation: A fleet killer

2010-03-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Leading pilots into combat is one of the most challenging things a human being can undertake. In New Eden the Fleet Commander (FC) assumes this role. While it's nearly impossible to draw a realistic correlation between aerial combat and internet spaceships (both serious business!) there are similarities, most specifically in the realm of data fusion and task saturation.

Task Saturation is defined as having too many tasks to attend to at any one moment setting up the potential for the pilot to miss important inputs or cues in a dynamic situation. There are basically two causes of task saturation. The first is information overload, where the sheer mass and number of sensory inputs overwhelms the brain's ability to sort and comprehend. The second type is slightly more complicated and occurs when we fail to adequately prioritze inputs, resulting in a situation where we are unwisely--and unnecessarily--time sharing between important and unimportant tasks. When this happens the mind often tends to find a single focus to stabilize the situation. This singular focus is referred to as channelized attention. It is the number one human performance factor associated with loss of situational awareness and can result in a breakdown of procedural discipline.

That's an easy way to say that any one person can only juggle so many balls at once and anything above your capability to juggle is going to drop.

So how does one avoid task saturation and the loss of situational awareness. In a nutshell: Workload management. Below are some pointers on avoiding task saturation.

How to avoid Task Saturation in 4 easy steps:

Step 1: The pre-brief - Undocking a fleet without a plan is kind of like counting money while walking down the side-walk in a bad part of town. You won't get mugged everytime but rest assured it will happen more often than if you kept it in your pocket. It's important to stop and go through some even momentary, elementary planning. (What do I want to do, where do I want to go and what kind of fleet do I want to accomplish my goals) I use a mission planning checklist that I've adopted and it helps me outline what I want to go do so I'm not trying to think about the plan while I'm trying to execute it.

Step 2: The Form Up - Time to put the plan into action. This is when you start recruiting corp-mates, friends, strangers with candy, etc... It's important to verify that the folks in your fleet can follow orders and don't need to be told every little thing to do. If they can't think for themselves, it might be best to send them on their merry way. It's also important to ensure your fleet composition is correct. The idea is to make as many things happen on 'autopilot' as possible. Having self-sufficient pilots in the correct ships to make up the right fleet composition makes this go a long way.

Step 3: The fleet - Don't discount the power of delegation. Your job as FC is ultimately to make sure that the fleet goes where needs to go and does what it needs to do. Do you have a common intel channel? Delegate a fleet member to watch it. Want your commands relayed in fleet chat? Delegate someone to be the transcriber from voice comms. If it is not something that you absolutely have to do then ask someone in fleet to take responsibilty for that task. Then all you have to do is make sure they do it.

Step 4: Redundancy is the key to space power - In the real world there are air aborts, morts (blue losses), bad comms and a plethora of other things that can ruin a mission plan. In EVE we have disconnects, morts and a host of other issues that can take a leader out of the fight. Identify someone to pick up if you drop so that the fleet doesn't suddenly find itself 10 jumps into red territory with no idea of what do next. That back-up FC is also someone who can be tapped to take on workload from the FC.

A task saturated FC loses perspective quickly and can be the death of a fleet, costing billions in ISK. It is critical that the FC concentrates on only the 'critical' tasks at any given time. The lower priority things can be taken care of by fleet-mates who volunteer or back-up FC's. The world of New Eden is built on the shoulders of pilots who work together. Remember that there are real people sitting at the computer looking for something to do, so give them a job!

The Siege of Providence....an update

2010-02-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Some details may be left out to avoid disclosure of sensitive information

Another week is coming to an end in the campaign between the CVA/Holders vs. the -A-/UK/Atlas/Sys-K coalition. As the week closes we see that the -A- coalition has gone to great lengths to isolate the region by methodically sieging the border systems of Providence.

With D-GTMI and 9UY4-H firmly in the hands of the -A- coalition they appeared to take a break from the fighting. This week though they returned to Providence with renewed vigor. Their strategy appears to be one of isolation, attrition and eventual invasion. The -A- coalition have attacked in both Y-MPWL and G-5EN2. Additionally SYS-K attacked R3-K7K and early Sunday 28 Feb 10 (game time) they (SYS-K) jumped a titan + capital fleet in. By doing so they've essentially cut off the logistics pipeline from Domain and Tash-Murkon.

It is possible that -A- believes a war of attrition is a more effective way to take providence. By denying easy resupply and limiting game-play options to CVA/Holder players, they may aim to burn out players, thereby weakening the alliances and effectively kicking the teeth of the adversary in. This is to some extent taking advantage of player behavior. At the end of the day this still is just a game (tm). But this game is populated by people who associate on various levels. For some, this is merely a diversion from real life, but for others this is a substantial part of their life, and in some cases the bonds developed in game are as strong as those developed in real life. Thus the degree of associative bonding between players also impacts their dedication to group (corporation / alliance) goals.

Regardless, each band of association has it's own breaking point and -A- who is well known for taking advantage of these realities may be doing so now. The breaking point for those with a low associative bond will most likely leave in significant numbers (and have been) when their game experience has been impacted. In fact, some will switch sides purely for self-serving interests.

The moderate and high associative bond players will most likely not leave as individuals. That doesn't necessarily mean that an entire associative group won't leave together but it is more likely that they will stay and fight for the common goals of the larger group, so long as there is a core group of leaders pushing to keep the group together.

From an strategic point of view, the fight between CVA/Holders and the -A- coalition will change the face of Providence. It will change the population, make-up and personality of every corporation or alliance involved. There is a great deal more to go before we see the full picture, but expecting a quick end to this engagement is foolish. Conservatively we are still measuring this fight in months.

The unadulterated power of the tweetfleet

2010-02-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

So there I was (which is how every good story starts) minding my own business sitting cloaked somewhere in providence watching a red capital gang jump into system when I saw the "Eve Bloggers" channel flashing. I had originally joined it to speak with Casiella to get some advice on starting a trading alt. (Cas's advise....buy low and sell high). I flipped the channel up and checked the character list to see if my two recently departed corpmates might be sitting in channel. Jager da and Rettic both were hanging out minding their own business out in the deep black of New Eden.

We got to talking and I mentioned that I had a blog once upon a time, long before my trip down into Providence. After some good natured ribbing and the strong suggestion that I give it another go, I logged into blogger and started re-acquainting myself to the blogger interface. "Maybe I'll give it another go...." It's a lot of work for me to keep a blog but maybe, just maybe with the support of some EVE friends who are MUCH better and frequent bloggers I might have a shot.

That and Jager Da declared a Tweetbomb be unleashed on me.....

So.....here goes....First order of business will be for me to pick up where I left off and write the 4 piece post on the elements of power.

Thanks to Jager Da, Rettic, Casiella Truza for the support and confidence.

DIME: Diplomacy, Information, Military, Economic- corporate Instruments of power (A four part series)

2009-09-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

As I've said before, one of my favorite aspects of EVE is the 'sandbox' environment. The nearly infinite possibilities that the game offers is part of it's appeal. It's novel and definitely overwhelming but it allows for players to explore and find 'their game'.

For some it's the industrial and trade aspects that coax them into logging in. For others it's the opportunity to put on the eye patch and pirate (you'd never expect the timid accountant sitting across the conference room table from you was actually one of the most feared pilots in EVE). For others the fantasy of the old west sheriff rules the day..moving in and bringing law and order to the wild-west.

For me, the game is people and politics. This sandbox is so unrestrictive that it allows players to associate or disassociate at will. They form bonds and develop cooperative groups (corporations). Thus the corporation becomes the basic building block of EVE. A corporation as an entity must interact with it's surroundings just like an individual capsuleer. They must meet certain needs (subsistence, shelter, safety) just to exist. Beyond that they must be able to interact with others and how they do that is the subject of an upcoming four part series.

The series is entitled DIME: Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economic - corporate instruments of power. In each part, I'll explore the role one of these instruments as it applies to EVE. I'm excited about the potential this project has and with luck it will generate some good discussion. I hope to be able to interview several CEOs from various corporations to help get a broad range of perspectives. I expect I'll be publishing these in 14 day intervals depending on the requirements of real life.

If you'd like to be interviewed as part of the discussion, please leave a comment or contact me on twitter, the link is in the Sidebar.

Supremacy - Superiority - Parity: Doctrinal considerations of System Control

2009-09-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

As the ultimate sandbox, EVE gives us the opportunity to exercise our will on a nearly limitless number of endeavors. For some, the idea of declaring ownership rights or control over any number of systems is appealing. The corporation may actually try to 'hold' space in nullsec or they may simply claim 'ownership' of a low-sec area or wormhole space.

To take control of an area that is not governed by the sovereignty game-mechanic your claim is more a function of will instead of a formal recognition of 'ownership'. Since the veracity of a corporation's claim is directly proportional to it's ability to enforce it's will on others, this becomes more of an exercise in force application and response than some arbitrary sovereignty mechanic.

From a force application standpoint, the corporation must first consider what the acceptable end-state (goal) is for the operation. What is the overall corporate priority of asserting control over these areas? Will the organization accept interlopers in non-peak periods? Does it expect to have complete control of the system with resources in place to repel ships that enter the claimed space? By answering these questions the planners can determine what resources will be dedicated to the effort.

The leadership must also understand the capabilities of its military force. While other instruments of power may come into play there is a significant role for force to play. This force is necessary when considering battlespace control.

Battlespace control

Battlespace control can be thought of as a spectrum. In the middle is Parity. Parity is that degree of dominances where both sides of a conflict can expect significant interference from their adversary. This is not to be confused with a stand-off or stalemate. Parity simply means that each side is evenly matched and will mostly likely result in frequent intense combat at key points of an operation.

As you move along the continuum you reach Superiority. Superiority is that degree of dominance that permits the conduct of operations at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by the opposing force. This essentially means that when an organization can exercise battlespace superiority you should be able to carry out your mission (harvesting for example). This is not to say that your forces may operate with impunity, to maintain superiority you will have to have the resources to engage interlopers and defend your forces but superiority means you don't have to idle your fleet inside a POS shield or spin in a station.

At the extremes of the continuum is Supremacy. Supremacy is that degree of dominance that permits the conduct of operations at a given time and place without effective interference by the opposing force. supremacy may be localized in time and space, or it may be broad and enduring. This is normally the highest level of control to which combat forces can aspire.

With the intricacies of space control goals must be scaled with consideration to the various instruments of corporate/alliance power: Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic [DIME]. If the corp/alliance can only field a sizeable fleet during prime-time then their goal should be to establish superiority - denying rivals access to the space during that time and allowing non-combat forces to operate unharassed (mining, ratting, etc...) If the corp/alliance has more substantial military forces at their disposal a more aggressive policy of Supremacy can be adopted to deny access 23/7.

At the end of the day the corp/alliance has to decide if control is a function of operational necessity or ego. Strategically it makes little sense to expend the resources to achieve a higher level of control than is actually required to meet it's goals. Resources are not infinite, and leaders should determine what level of risk is acceptable to their operation.

The challenges of long term skill planning

2009-09-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

I remember last year when I was first introduced to EVE, i had NO idea what I was doing. The guy I picked it up from wasn't the social type and knew enough about the game to mine and make ISK but nothing about production or trading or PVP. I got tired of the game because none of it made sense and went back to another infamous RPG (I don't have the heart to admit that I played *it*)

Now that I'm back, I've learned the benefit of a good corp. I learned to fly, fight and win with Eve University. The good folks there taught me from the ground up about the fine art of tackling, EWAR, and then the mighty covops and the glory that is cloaked warping. The Corporation that I fly with now is made up of a great group of folks who are helpful and friendly. I enjoy flying with them and our move to low-sec has opened up many new training paths.

That's part of the problem.... Now that I find myself in that 'middle part' of my training I find it more challenging that ever to commit to a long term training regime. Several different ships are close enough to daydream about but far enough away that a commitment has to be made. I find myself constantly toying with the order of things and at times abandoning the plan because something has happened in game that's highlighted the need for a different skill set (which is primarily why I'm training for interceptors now).

So I've decided that instead of training toward a particular ship that I'm going to focus on skills. Gunnery, engineering, mechanics, learning etc... By working toward these skills I set myself up for being able to quickly train for whatever type of ship the situation demands. It's given me the freedom to daydream without selling myself down the road on a 30 day train that I don't need.

How do you all manage or plan your training regime? Leave a comment below

[OOC] Remember those who died 11 Sept 01

2009-08-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

This marks my first post to the blog that doesn't involve an [IC] storyline. Lumenarious Rex as a character in EVE is still an enigma, even to me as I am still trying to figure out just who he is and what he stands for.

I'm taking this brief and hopefully rare [OOC] opportunity to put a plug in for a truly worthwhile endeavor to pay tribute to those that died on September 11, 2001.

The good folks over at Project 2,996 have put together an incredible program. By visiting their website and signing up, you agree to write a short memorial/bio for one of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. This memorial then goes up on your site on 11 Sept 09 along with 2,995 others.

I think its a meaningful gesture to the families of those who died in the attacks to demonstrate that we haven't forgotten them and that they still exist in the hearts and mind of a nation and a global community at large.

Please consider participating this year, it's a meaningful thing to do with our online voices.

The long stare down - Cold War on the Gate

2009-08-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

So there I was...(which is how every good story should begin) sitting in station doing administrative work when the call came in for combat support in the 'throat'. My covops boat was in heavy maintenance with access panels and substructures strewn out across the hanger and maintenance technicians swarming all over it. The superintendent of the maintenance crew didn't think she'd be ready for a shakedown for another 72 hours.

I looked over the ship status board assessing my options and saw that the Wolf I had ordered had finally been delivered. I had expected it weeks ago but a strike at the ship yard had slowed production to a crawl. I checked out the ship fit and saw that my hangar manager, scottie had gotten her ready for the shakedown. The calls for support were getting more urgent and I realized that this wolf wasn't going to have the benefit of a well-ordered shakedown. I dropped the ship status board on a nearby table and pressed a comm panel on a nearby wall. an alarm tone sounded across the hangar complex "Combat crews to your stations, Combat crews to your stations" within moments crewmen dressed in gray flight suits scrambled to the Wolf and up her gang-way. Meanwhile I headed for the integration room.

The integration technicians were surprised to see me and were visibly anxious. "Warm up the systems, I need to launch now." The lead technician cleared his throat "sir, we've got a complication" I spun 'round to look at him "complication? what kind of complication?" The lead technician pointed to the clean room. In disgust I glanced through the window and felt my jaw drop. "Just what the hell is that?" I knew what it was, it was the Mark II pilot capsule we were planning to upgrade to, I just hadn't expected to see it now. "We've nearly completed the process check out and we're ready for the test cards." said the lead technician. "We're scrambling chief, so no test cards. I need a full spin up and launch prep." The room went quiet and cold. The pod was part of what made the capsuleer immortal and should it malfunction then the unthinkable could happen.

"No time to waste folks, we have comrades pinned down on a gate waiting for help...get me plugged in." That seemed to snap everyone back to reality and before I knew it I was in-pod with all life-support systems active. I accessed the hangar control system and authorized the release of the pod from it's secure pedestal in the clean room,the automatic pod handling system did the rest. I selected the wolf hangar bay and the pod was directed toward the ship mating assembly.

As the capsule mated with the wolf, my senses were momentarily overloaded. The ship power system was active and the ships interface began to communicate sub-system status and the crew stations were checking in. Surprisingly the ship systems were checking out in the green. The ship checked out and without delay I authorized the scramble launch. The hangar door opened, the fast actuating doors venting what atmosphere was left in the hangar out into the launch way.

As the ship surged through the launch way I started bringing the offensive systems online. "Gawwd damn Scottie" I thought as I checked the munition loadout and realized he'd loaded the magazines with navy EMP rounds and some Gurista missiles we'd 'liberated'. Once we had passed the stations outer marker, I aligned to the gate and jumped into warp. The crew was already at their battle stations but I figured we might as well make it official. The klaxon went off as we came out of warp on the gate.

The ship's jump sequencer negotiated with the gate for a moment and we were abruptly flung through the cosmos with full faith that the gate on the other side would keep us in one piece. We landed and the ships systems rolled through their post jump check. Technology had come along way and the entire event lasted only a couple of seconds.

We were in system and the pilot requesting assistance passed me coordinates which I immediately warped to. As I came out of warp I saw the hostile ship, it was an Amarrian assault frigate if my eyes didn't deceive me. We found ourselves nose to nose with the hostile ship, which in and of itself isn't out of the ordinary, but what was strange was that no one was shooting.

What happened over the next hour can only be described as a cold-war standoff. Neither wanted to break CONCORD law and be engaged by the gate guns but neither did we want to withdraw from the field. As the minutes turned into hours the adrenaline that had been flowing through all our veins faded and the grind set in. Crewmen couldn't leave their stations but as it became clear we'd be here for awhile I set up a duty rotation that would allow them all to eat and run to the head.

Ironically, the engagement ended as abruptly as it had started. The hostile signaled the gate system and within a few seconds left the system. The ad hoc fleet chose to withdraw as well, and I was all for returning to the station considering the alternative was a running fight in an untested assault frigate. In my own mind I breathed a sigh of relief, we'd gotten away without so much as a scratch but it could have turned out differently...would have been a shame to have lost this ship when I hadn't even named her yet.

When the mouth writes checks that the body can't cash

2009-08-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

I checked the ship's chronometer, we only had a few more hours on station and then we'd be relieved by another covops crew. It was getting to be a long tour of duty, scouting the low-security territory that the corporation had chosen to call home. What's more, the direction from HQ was that those ships that didn't display the correct IFF (Interoggator- Friend or Foe) were to be killed on sight which greatly increased the work load because neutrals now required just as much attention as those who were identified as red because they were to be presumed hostile.

I was set up 'on the perch' visually scanning the stargate that I'd nicknamed 'the throat' It was the chokepoint for the entire loop we occuppied. As I was idly running through system checks 'bitchin betty' alerted me to gate activity. Sure enough, as I looked at the gate, the local comms registered a ship and a quick check of the IFF determined they were not friendly. The gate cloak was holding as the target ship's systems came back online from the traumatic interstellar slingshot it had just suffered through.

I keyed my secure comms and alerted the corporation and our allies of a potential hostile and asked for available combat pilots to check up. The comms lit up just as ship uncloaked....it was a Rupture.

The capsuleer piloting this cruiser was one I'd run into before. From what I'd remembered, he was predictable, having a nearly one-track mind of striking Sansha ships patrolling the system's asteroid belts. Being predictable made him easier to track. It's funny, but sometimes even with all this wonderful technology plugged into my brain, in the end it came down to good old intuition.

I warmed up the direction scanner, which while not as sexy as a full spread of sister's combat probes, would be more effective in this particular hunt. As I aligned to the first of what would be several warp points, I started organizing the strike fleet. As I bounced between asteroid belts, I briefed the pilots. A frigate driver in a nearby system would jump to my coordinates when called and scram the Rupture's warp drive. Behind him would be a battle-cruiser to finish him off.

I came out of warp near a belt around the 7th planet in the system. There was the Rupture locked in combat with a Sansha battleship patrolling the belt. Finding him had been the easy part, now getting close to him...that would be the challenge.

My cloaking system was the best money could buy but even it had it's limits. If an object of any significant mass came within 2,000 meters of the ship the cloak generator couldn't compensate and the cloak would drop. That all being said....the target was dead in the middle of an asteroid belt and I had to close to at least 5,000 meters for the frigate pilot to stand any chance.

I slowed the ship and plotted a course through the asteroids, problem was the asteroids weren't static and neither was my target. I made course corrections with a light touch and watched the range tick down. My patience was paying off as the target did the rest of the work for me, his orbit around the battleship was going to put him just in range.

I keyed up comms and verified everyone was in place, the frigate pilot had jumped into system and was waiting for the word to engage. "Warp, Warp, Warp" I said as the Rupture closed to within 5,000 meters. Within seconds the frigate was beside me and engaging the rupture. His scambler worked as advertised and he yelled "point" into the comm channel. His success would come at a price though as the rupture returned the favor, scamming and webbing the tiny frigate.

The fight was on and it was soon clear that the frigate would be no match for the cruiser. As shields gave way to armor and armor peeled away to reveal structure our success or failure would come down to the timing of our drake pilot. As structure disintegrated under the pounding of the autocannons, the drake leapt into the battlespace and lent it's full force.

At nearly the instant the drake got his point on the cruiser, the frigate was lost, and it's pilot warped off to safety. The rupture's success was going to be short lived though as the battlecruiser fixed it's smaller rival in place and relentlessly pummelled the cruiser with his heavy missiles.

In short order the cruiser exploded venting it's atmosphere, it's crew and it's treasure to the cold vacuum of space. The capsuleer was fortunate to have been auto-ejected from his ship. He was allowed to flee, podding wasn't part of the rules of engagement.

I looked at the chronograph, we were due to be relieved shortly and for that to go smoothly we'd need to be at the designated location ahead of time. After checkng with the fleet we stood down and warped to our rendeavous coordinates. My spirits were high, we'd done what we were trained to do and it felt good to succeed.

Our relief showed up on time and with only a brief burst of highly encoded data and a confirmation message we departed the system and headed for home. The on-coming scout was a young Amarrian whom I'd met a few times, he was young and over-confident but he was secretly nervous and that was what would keep him alive.

I was looking forward to a few days of respite before our next patrol, the ship needed some refit and the crew was due for some liberty. We arrived at the stargate and signaled the gate system to hurl us into oblivion but in my mind, we were already home.

The Wild, Wild West

2009-08-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's only been a couple of days since I sat in Krylin's office. I had jump cloned back to Aldrat with the intention of sitting with my mentor and breaking some hard news. News that couldn't be properly conveyed by a comm-link. The time had come for me to move on, to leave behind the corporation that had saved my life....literally.

I was snapped back to reality as the master caution illuminated and the system reported a malfunction in the afterburner module. Without so much as a second thought I dispatched a repair crew to check it out. It wasn't unusual to see the master caution illuminated, in fact this cheetah seemed to spend more time in the repair dock then it did under-cloak, of course we had seen our fair share of action.

When Krylin failed to show, I was at a loss for what to do next. I had made commitments to meet my new employer on a date certain and I was running out of time. It was a long haul to my new stomping grounds and I didn't have the luxury of waiting around. I picked up a pen and scrawled out a note to Krylin. It wasn't what I had in mind, but between my official resignation and this note, I hoped that it would at least prove I hadn't just walked out on the corp. I looked at my watch, it was time to go. If I didn't loiter, I'd have just enough time to drop my issued security credentials off at the security office before it closed for the day. I re-read the note turning the pen end-over-end in my left hand. It was the best I could muster, and it would have to do. I laid my letter of resignation and the note on Kyrlin's desk. I pocketed the pen, it was a nice one and Kyrlin wouldn't mind...too much.

My months of stalking war-targets for the University had come to an end, I strode out of Kyrlin's office and down the hall to security. There a young cadet manned the service counter. He looked up as I approached and asked how he could help. "Just need to turn in my security credentials" I said as I casually pitched the ornate plastic card on the desk. Without so much as a blink of an eye, the disinterested cadet took the credentials and dropped them in a molecular recycler. With a near silent hummmm the card was reduced to it's basic elements which would be used to make god-knows what.

I snapped back to reality...it was hard not to day dream while "on the perch". The holo's made scout's out to be these danger-loving, hard-living, lone-wolves. But in reality, 99% of a scouts job was about staying awake. Hours of looking into space and seeing nothing takes a toll on your mind.

The master-caution went out and all systems appeared to be back in the green. That repair sub-system was worth it's weight in gold. The ships AI, which I nicknamed "Bitchin Betty" griped at me, warning me I was down to 5 minutes of charge left on my scan probes. I sighed...a scout's work is never done.

I aligned to an out of the way spot in the system and warped off. I had time to cycle probes and do an operational check of the afterburner module. Life in this low-sec loop was the wild-west, there was plenty of opportunity to make money and also plenty of opportunity to do some pirate popping....only time would tell how any of it would turn out.