Nerf Bat on Aisle 6

Over the past few years there has been a proliferation of use of a certain class of ship in the game of EVE, Strategic Cruisers.  These ships have gone through the process of receiving some level of changes which have negated their power (nerfed).  But, as a whole they are entirely too overpowered (OP) for the game.

Tackle

Many large scale pvp organizations (I'll use CFC as an example, as I know their doctrines) will use T3 cruisers in a heavy tackle role.  The example I will refer to in this area is the Das Boot Mk II, which is a battleship heavy doctrine for the CFC.  Their tackle outside of Heavy Interdictors and Interdictors are 5x Web Lokis and 5x Point Proteus.  These ships are replacing the Huginn (Loki) and the Lachesis (Proteus), which actually used to be in the doctrine for the CFC.  The Loki and the Proteus get you the same bonus to web/point but with a outrageous tank as well.

Recon

You can fit your T3 cruiser for scout/tackle duty as well.  The tank will not be as good as the Tackle version above, but it still will be far superior to the Arazu/Falcon/Pilgrim/Rapier variant.  If you are fit with the Covert subsystem, you also can fit the Covert Cyno as well.

Many Black Operations fleets will use a T3 cloaky scout to also serve as their cyno and initial tackle member.  With a huge tank, you will not instantly be popped and you can still warp cloaked and totally fill the role of the scout.

However, there is also 2 areas where the ship is used in a non-cloaky recon role, and that is the ECMgu and the Neut Legion.  You can fit a very nice tank on your ship, go with neuts in the highs for the Legion or ECM modules in the mids for the Tengu.  You will be getting bonuses just as the Rook or Curse would be, but the tank would give you lasting power in a fight.

Exploration

We actually encourage all of our members to strive for the T3 as their primary exploration vessel.  It would allow you to explore as a T2 exploration frigate, gets you the exact same bonuses that the T2 frigate gets.  You have a much better tank, and can fit enough weapons to handle sleeper sites in the lower class holes.

Logistics

This is probably the one area of the T3 cruiser where you do not see it being utilized at all.  You can fit the proper subsystems and modules and basically become a Basilisk/Guardian/Oneiros/Scimitar, but you really would not want to.  Logistics ships rarely have uber tanks to begin with and there is no change in that with the T3 variant.  Sure, you might get a few extra thousand EHP on the T3 logistics ship but that is not worth it for the cost of the ship.

Command Ship

This is the largest area where there is a problem with the T3 cruisers.  You can fit your ship with up to 5 link modules, can fit it with covert ops ability and interdiction nullifier and get it close to unprobable.

Again, the CFC doctrine Das Boot MkII calls for:

Boosters:
1x bonus legion (armor)
5x bonus loki/tengu (skirmish)

Their doctrines used to call for Command Ships.  Not any longer.

Now, technically the other areas of the T3 you can choose to fly a T2 variant and you will be just fine.  For tackle, a Huginn or Lachesis would be great.  For a Force Recon, the Falcon/Rapier/Arazu/Pilgrim will be fine.  For exploration, a T2 frigate will work unless you have a sleeper site.  And, the Logisitcs really always should be the T2 platform.

You will very rarely see a Command Ship being flown.  If so, more than likely the pilot is not skilled for the T3, does not have the ISK for one, or got drunk and purchased the wrong hull.

The last part I will leave you with is an analogy of a Swiss Army Knife.  You see, the Swiss Army Knife is a wonderful creation that is small enough to keep in your pocket.  It has usually 2 knife blades, a screwdriver, a scissor and possibly other attachments.  However, even though it has all of these abilities in the single tool it is not superior at any of them to the original tool.  A screwdriver will be superior to the Swiss Army Knife, same with the knife blades, the scissor and any other tool.  This is where CCP has gone wrong.  The T3 cruiser is superior in every respect to the T2 hull save for the logistics.

For all of the reasons above, but especially the Swiss Army Knife, please apply the nerf bat to the strategic cruiser class.

Stay the Course

There recently has been some increased chatter among the EVE community regarding an old subject that has never truly died, yet also is sort of on life support; Walking In Stations.

Originally, Walking In Stations (WIS) was designed to allow capsuleers the ability to walk around inside of a station.  This was a lofty idea when it was originally announced, and CCP put in some significant hours towards the development of WIS.  However, it did not go as smoothly as proposed, and we are left with a half developed product.

Rixx Javix posted to his blog earlier this week and Drackarn posted earlier today.  Both of them address the chatter that is being circulated in regards to possibly resurrecting the development of WIS to be a much larger part of the game.

I have a very similar opinion to both of these pilots.  I agree with Rixx that WIS is in my mind dead.  Yes, I can stand in the station and see a few things, but that has no benefit to me, and there is no improved game play or advantages that WIS provide over the standard functionality of the User Interface.  Drackarn brings up the concepts of possibly some additional areas that your character can actual go to and stand.  The one that jumps out the most would be the corp office/corp hangar concept.  I could see this as being nice, but other than that anything to do with WIS is a bad idea.

Now, on to the serious side of this post.  CCP Development and the change in the development cycle has been a breath of fresh air.  Development is now coming out with releases "roughly" every 6 weeks which do not offer the same amount of changes or new content as the old model.  However, there is consistently new stuff in these releases and they are clearly showing a model of being light, agile, able to react, in tune with player requests (sorry CFC, you cannot ask for supers to get nerfed, then cry about jump capable changes).  The re-booted version of CCP Development is very similar to the United States Military post Cold War.

You see, the United States Army was a much larger force in 1992 having just finished the first conflict with Iraq in the Persian Gulf.  As the Soviet bloc countries were now beginning to move away from communism and being puppets of the Soviet Union, there was no big bully across the ocean for the United States to face in a knockdown drag out conflict.  Instead, the United States would be faced with much smaller regional conflicts.  This would require a much smaller force, able to deploy rapidly, possibly alter their TOE (Table of Organization and Equipment) based on the conflict and react as necessary.

I see very similar traits in how CCP has performed a makeover on Development and we now have the type of department which clearly is on a path which has a specific goal.  So far, they have stayed true to the path and are releasing content in small bit sized pieces.  These changes are slowly altering the EVE universe and creating content, yet they also are addressing years old issues which have made many an old bittervet come back to the game and re-subscribe.

I realize that the opportunity seems very interesting.  "What if we were to go back and look at the Walking In Stations aspect of EVE?" With all of the new bros joining EVE and many new subscribers to the game, I understand that this can be a very tantilizing prospect, but if I could I would scream STAY THE COURSE.

Do not stray from your path.  Do not consider re-allocating any development resources towards WIS.  Build towards the eventual end product you are looking for when you started this three year project.  Continue to build subscriptions to the game and increase the player base.  If you want to come back and re-visit this concept in 2017, I would have no complaints.  But do not now.

Red Haired Stepchild No Longer

Proteus was released today by CCP which marks the latest release in the rapid cycle of development and deployment.

This release was lighter than previous ones mostly due to the holiday period occurring prior to the deployment.  However, there is one wrinkle in this release that seems to have generated the most amount of chatter on forums and blogs, the tiericide of Combat Recons.

See, for many years the Combat Recon class of ships has been a red haired step child.  They really cannot be used as scouts like their little brother, Force Recon ships which can warp cloaked and light covert cynos.  They even are really not preferred in fleet doctrines, as use of Strategic Cruisers is preferred as they have the ability to fit a bigger tank than the Combat Recon.  No, for many years the Combat Recon has been mostly devoted to a role of small roaming gang ewar platform or possibly solo PVPers.  Myself, I have kept 3-4 of them in a hangar in Jita collecting dust.  That all changed today.

The part about the tiericide which has generated the largest amount of tears is the buff for the class of ships in relation to directional scanning.  For everyone living outside of High Security space (Low, Null and Wormhole) the directional scanner is your best friend.  The scanner will inform you of things like probes on scan, other ships, and items in space like containers, control towers and force fields.  As of today, these ships no longer show up on directional scanner, ever.  There is no module you can fit to help with that, nor is there any skill which would allow it.  Sure, there were some other changes to the ships to improve their usability in EVE, but the one change which should drive an increased use of these ships is the immunity to appearance of the ship on directional scanner.

Rixx Javix posted a new post this morning which was a great read.  Go ahead and have a read over there, then come back here.  Some very excellent points in Rixx's post and I tend to agree that the changes to Combat Recons will upset the apple cart for many people in EVE.  I feel that the changes will be mostly felt in Wormhole space, where there is no local for you to appear in.  You are actually far better off in a Combat Recon compared to a Strategic Cruiser or Stealth Bomber in wormhole space.  Those ships will at least appear on directional scanner when they jump through a wormhole and decloak.  The Combat Recon will not.

The other part about Rixx's post that I feel strongly about is the fact that they still are Combat Recons.  The do not bring overwhelming DPS to the engagement.  They usually are not brick fit as that would compromise their DPS or e-war capabilities.  The tank of a Combat Recon usually will hover in the 30-40k DPS tank area if they are also fit to take advantage of their e-war bonuses.  What this all means is that you still "should" be able to survive an engagement with these ships, well maybe.

Your survival odds will increase if the engagement is with a Rook or Huginn.  The Rook is an ECM platform, so he will be jamming you.  The Huginn's bonuses are to it's webs, so they will slow down your speed.  Where you are screwed is the Lachesis or Curse.

Lets talk about the Lachesis first.  Bonuses to warp disruption/scrambling optimal range and sensor dampener effectiveness.  With the 7 mid slots of this ship, I would fit a faction scram and point along with 1-2 dampeners.  If a lachesis is the combat recon which appears on grid with you, it is very doubtful that you are escaping.  It is not uncommon to see unbonused points of 70km with a faction point and if fit with a +3 scram, even though you are stabbed you will not be going anywhere.

That brings us to the Curse.  This nasty ship is getting bonuses for drone hitpoints and damge, tracking disruptor effectiveness, energy vampire/neutralizer transfer range and energy vampire/neutralizer transfer amount.  If you see a curse appear magically on grid with you, start aligning to that celestial with your pod.  His high slots will almost all be energy vamps/neuts.  He will have a scram fit, and drone damage amplifiers in his lows.  His DPS are the drones.  Within one cycle of his vamps and neuts your capacitor is bone dry.  Scotty will inform you that warping is not possible.

Even though these ships have been provided with some very positive changes in the game, I do not feel that they are overpowered.  Yes, they will be the FOTM for the foreseeable future, until there is some type of buff due to wormhole corporations who get stupid and run sites without zipping up their holes.

I applaud you CCP for continuing to make EVE better and I can now rename all of my Curse's to non-red haired children's names.

85th Percentile Checking In

Just yesterday, Neville Smit posted to his blog regarding a new video CCP had released.  The article was a very well written one and I find myself drawn to the post due to my age as well.

I am currently 45 years old and began playing EVE when I was 37.  In corporations and alliances I have been in during the course of my career, I always knew that I was older than many of my peers.  But, I never felt that being older gave me any real disadvantage in the game.

While watching the video I kept watching the year of my birth (1970).  Most of the video showed it hovering evenly between 75% and 95%.  There was a point about 2010 when I moved closer to 75%, but by the end had returned to 85%.

The part about Neville's post which I loved the most was his statement about the next 15 years.  I agree that EVE is a stress reliever, it helps to foster relationships with others and breeds a culture which is very similar to a family.  I have made more friends over the past 7 years playing EVE than I have outside of the game.  If the next 15 years can be anything like the past 7, I will be a happy camper.

Thanks Neville and a huge thanks to CCP for such a wonderful game!

Trial Accounts

Yesterday upon returning home, I logged into the game and found a brand new pilot in our public channel.  I asked him if he needed assistance, and he stated no.  He stated that he was aware of the corp's issue with trial accounts and he would soon be deciding on whether to pay for the game and dedicate to it fully.  I asked if he had spoken to a member of the corp, and he stated yes, but before I could inquire who he spoke to I had a small emergency with one of the dogs which required me to go AFK.  When I returned, he had logged off.

This got me to thinking about trial accounts in general, and what CCP as well as NJED are trying to do.  CCP with the release of the "This is EVE" video was looking to increase exposure to non-EVE players in the hope of getting them to try the game, and most importantly getting them to commit to not just a single month of the game, but beyond that.

NJED is looking to help out in that second part by trying to fill an area that is sort of lacking in the game today.

There are corporations that take on brand new players to game and provide training.  Eve University is the most famous and Brand Newbies is a newer version.  These two corporations are very good for the roles that the play in the game, but they are much different than what we are attempting to do in New Jovian Exploration Department (NJED).  Eve University is great for members looking to learn about the game, but it is a large organization which is not necessarily focused on exploration.  They do have classes on exploration, but they literally cover all aspects of the game.  Brand Newbies is more inline with combat and null sec warfare now that they have decided to take part in those activities.

There are exploration corporations in the game, but these corps do not generally accept brand new pilots in game, or ones who would require some level of  "hand holding" or assistance with general aspects of the game.

We are trying to fill both of those roles.

NJED is focused on trying to be an exploration based corporation, but also to be strong in relation to providing assistance, tips, advice to new pilots starting to learn the game or veterans returning to EVE who are interested in learning the exploration side of the game.

Having said that, I wanted to clarify our corporations stance on trial accounts.  We welcome trial accounts.  These are the exact type of pilots who are just starting the game and who are looking for a particular niche to latch onto.  People have spoken of the learning curve in EVE, and I have to admit that it is very steep and dangerous.

But, I love this game and the learning curve is part of that love.

Our corporation really does not face very much risk at all from trial accounts.  If a pilot starts an account, and tries the game but gives up after 14 days, the only thing our corporation has lost is about 50 million ISK in the skillbooks, ship and implants that we have given to the member.  However, if we can get one pilot to commit to the game even through the trial process, I chalk that up as a win for NJED and a win for CCP.