23 Dec 2012

The Strip Miner Chronicles: Vol 1

An introduction to destruction.

The crazy world of mining permits, suicide ganks and broken dreams capsules. The Hangman's Diary (or the Strip Miner Chronicles) is a ten-part look into the world of the suicide ganker. Taken from reports straight from the field to radiate the feel of a freshly exploded Catalyst, there will be no Golden Omber leaving safely under this watch!

The blood will flow in the asteroid fields of Metropolis.



1. Catalyst - ICE BREAKER.
Nakugard solar system 0.5, Ani constellation.
Planet VIII - asteroid belt 5.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Amanar Ronuken.
Result - killmail.

Notes - 32,153 units of Golden Omber seized. Escape capsule warped instantly. Bounty payment received of approx 4.5m ISK. No loot was recovered, loot snatched by unknown. Mining permit offer mail sent to pilot. Exotic dance crew survived but whereabouts unknown.

click to enlarge



2. Catalyst - THE SALVAGER.
Traun solar system 0.6, Ani constellation.
Planet II - asteroid belt 2.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Zoutvaatje hehe.
Result - killmail.

Notes - 50,486 Plagioclase seized. Jammed before escape capsule could be locked. Strip Miner I and Catalyst loot recovered. Permit mail sent. Exotic dance crew did not survive the blast.
Mail response received see attached.






3. Catalyst - KRUSUAL SUSPECT.
Lanngisi solar system 0.5, Ani constellation.
Planet V - asteroid belt 1.
Target - Covetor.
Pilot - Ururu Nageremono.
Result - killmail and capsule (blank).

Notes - Catalyst loot and tech II Modulated Strip Miners recovered. Exotic dancers lost. 11,589 units of Azure Plagioclase impounded. Permit mail sent and response received (see attached).






4. Catalyst - NAKUGARD EXPRESS.
Nakugard solar system 0.5, Ani constellation.
Planet VIII - asteroid belt 16.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Arhiks Severasse.
Result - killmail and clone.

Notes - Cat loot and minimal gear recovered from wreckages. Permit mail sent but no response at time of report. 100,000 ISK bounty placed immediately after kill. 77,865 units of Condensed Scordite seized. 1,218 units of Plagioclase seized.




5. Catalyst - THE ROCKS HAVE EYES.
Traun solar system 0.6, Ani constellation.
Belt not recorded.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Hans Kjoss Kjoss.
Result - killmail and capsule.

Notes - 200,000 ISK bounty payment received. Cat loot and mining equipment recovered. Exotic dance crew lost. Permit mail sent, no response. 30,924 Rich Plagioclase and 31,536 Azure Plagioclase recovered.




6. Catalyst - THE TURTLE.
Nakugard solar system 0.5, Ani constellation.
Belt not recorded.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Lonestarr T.
Result - killmail and capsule (135m isk).

Notes - 100,000 ISK bounty payment received. 47,513 units of Rich Plagioclase seized. Exotic dance crew recovered with loot. Permit mail sent, no response.




7. Catalyst - SNOWBALL LAUNCHER.
Barkrik solar system 0.6, Ani constellation.
Belt not recorded.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Reykudo.
Result - killmail.

Notes - Unable to lock escape capsule. Multiple ore violations, all ore seized including 133,634 units of Dense Veldspar. Loot recovered. Permit mail sent.






8. Catalyst - SPECIAL EDITION.
Nakugard solar system 0.5, Ani constellation.
Planet VIII - asteroid belt 2.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - phreakMode Fibonacci.
Result - killmail and capsule.

Notes - Aggressive pilot. See documentation below. Multiple violations including but not limited to threatening behaviour, leaving a ship unattended in busy asteroid field, undock camping of a mining permit officer.


















Miner requested a private conversation which was reluctantly accepted.









9. Catalyst - REVENGE MACHINE.
Hek solar system 0.5, Barvigrard constellation.
Belt not recorded.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - Vaako Blackheart.
Result - killmail.

Notes - Escape capsule not locked. Permit mail sent, no response. 19,220 units of Omber recovered. Mining equipment seized. Killright made available for 0 ISK.




10. Catalyst - SNOWMAN.
Traun solar system 0.6, Ani constellation.
Planet I - asteroid belt 1.
Target - Retriever.
Pilot - CLASSIFIED.
Result - FAILED.

Notes - CONCORD response saved Retriever in last structure points. Gank aborted. Suspect pilot 2004 pilot licence stamp and 5.0 security status. No loot was recovered but exotic dancers survived blast and subsequently stolen from scene.








MB.



2 Dec 2012

November R1DER stats

click me



It was almost a clean sweep across the board for R1FTA pilot Tavisturus during the month of November as he blitzed his way through the killboard rankings. Top killer with an impressive 218 kills for the month with runner-up Miss Carry chasing him all the way to December with an equally impressive 191 kills.

Tavisturus also lead the way in the solo kills chart with 124 solo kills to his name.

Ohm's Law's lead the way in the highsec slaughter list with the most highsec kills (34). An impressive number to say he is a -10 outlaw.


clicky

3D Horrorshow took the top rank in the top griefer charts with 38 'tearful carebear kills'. Salisar Salubrious and Miss Carry ran him close all the way with 35 and and 32 kills respectively.

Ohm's Law's was a clear leader in the most pod kills category (50).

Kohana Maxwell bagged top spot in the capital ship kills section with 3 cap kills.


clicky click

Not surprising considering his success in the other categories, Tavisturus finished the month of November as the overall top scorer and the top damage dealer.

In the top losers category 3D Horrorshow took the 'top' spot with 90 losses. There's no shame in losing ships though.

Here's to another exciting month of killing!



MB.

1 Dec 2012

The Amazingly Cap Stable Osprey Blueprint Hauler

... and the roam North. A story about frigates.


We left Skarkon a little after 21:00 eve time. A glorious sight, a wing of Assault Frigates and support diving into Etherium Reach at the start of what was expected to be a perilous journey.

Enyo x2, Wolf x2, Jaguar x3, a Vengeance, a Hawk, a Condor, an Executioner, Dirty Protagonist of (7-2) in a Retribution and our scout for the night Major Floor of Agony Unleashed in his Stiletto. Kaeda Maxwell our FC. A nice fleet composition. It was all set up for a daring raid over the wall and into the North.

As we made our way through the pipe and into LXQ2-T our scout reported an Osprey that was seemingly idle at the gate. We all had the same thoughts, it must be bait right? Everybody keep an eye on d-scan. Our scout had point but the Osprey wasn't responding. We jumped in leaving a couple behind in case he jumped back through. We fully expected him to jump back through. He had to jump back through. I mean he couldn't really be afk could he?

He was afk. The Osprey was obliterated.

Crazy.

We didn't actually notice the cargohold properly until we had docked up for our first break. Much laughter and disbelief ensued. I'm still scratching my head over it.


Not long after the Osprey was removed a Tornado landed on grid. Unluckily for him he landed within tackle range of our Stiletto who was burning a tactical at the time. Talk about bad timing. We spiraled in whilst tracking disruptors made his guns somewhat redundant.

The Tornado was reduced to rubble by the incoming frigate storm.


In 8KE-YS we caught a Hurricane that jumped into us on gate. His attempts to burn back to the gate were unsuccessful.


Over in Geminate in the Q-TBHW system our Stiletto tackled a Drake that was on the station. Once he aggressed we jumped in and made our way over to the battlecruiser. Another killmail soon followed.

The capsule was also worthy of note.


After a short break in FDZ4-A we undocked to reports that a Cynabal was at a pounce on our outgate. Our Stiletto gave chase and landed the point. The chase was on and we managed to land the required scrams and the Cynabal was soon out of action.


During the roam we got called out in local as we chased a bunch of Tr 3 battlecruisers around.

COME BACK IN SOME PROPER SHIPS.

FRIGATES SUCK.

YOU GUYS ARE LAME.

WE AREN'T FIGHTING FRIGS LOL WE'LL POWN YOUR ASS.

You have to laugh at this mentality. These guys were bitching about our fleet comp all the time they're scrambling back to their station and pos to wait us out until we leave. Hmm, go figure.


The final killmail of the night was another Hurricane that engaged us on a gate. I had to warp out of this one in deep structure after taking some nasty hits early on. A close call!

The remainder of the roam was largely uneventful but we'd already had our fill and couldn't complain. We docked up safely in Placid without a single ship loss. A great roam. ZOMG Frigates suck!




MB.






The Death of Lowsec Frig Fights?


From patch notes: 
1/10 and 2/10 static DED complexes have been moved to the exploration system


This one seems to have been snuck in during the dead of night. It is definitely a killing blow for lowsec pvp. The 1/10 and 2/10 complexes are an easy meeting point for casual frigate/destroyer sized pvp. Heck, we've even built a corporate culture around it. Dare I say everybody knows if they're looking for a quick fix all they need do is fit up a frigate and go loiter around a 2/10 for a bit. Somebody will oblige sooner or later.

For what it's worth my gut feeling is this won't be changed now, it seems set in stone. But if you don't agree with this planned change you can at least go voice your opinion in this thread.

It seems a really bizarre proposal to me. It's like somebody from high above was sent to investigate what was wrong with the farming of these complexes but they got sent out to a highsec one. After all, nobody would go into the ghetto of lowsec where the spaceships are left jacked up on bricks if they loiter too long would they? They wouldn't think it appropriate to go spend a bit of time in the lowsec systems where pvp flourishes because of these complexes, to see what kind of positive effect they have, oh no.

These complexes have been the blooding grounds of many a new pvper cutting his teeth. That might just have died now.



MB.


My Letter to Red Bull

Just over a week ago during a bit of downtime I had the crazy idea of sending an email off to Red Bull marketing with a request for sponsorship. I started typing the thing up as a bit of a joke in all honesty, that I would then post on our forums, but in the end decided to send it anyway.








Dear Energy Drink Overlords,


First of all let me just finish my silver and blue can of liquid well-being and power-boosting-energy-goodness. Ah that tasted good. Now I'm ready to take on the world and fly towards my goals! Ahem, sorry, got a little carried away there.

My name is Miura Bull. Who is Miura Bull (?!?) you might be saying. A fair question, let me introduce myself.

I am a pilot in the mmorpg universe of EVE online.

http://www.eveonline.com/

http://evewho.com/pilot/Miura+Bull

In simple terms I play a highly-competitive online game versus hundreds of thousands of other online gamers in a virtual world.

I am writing to you today in the hope that I can persuade you to accept me under the prestigious Red Bull sponsorship scheme.

Here is what I have to offer.

My name ingame is Miura Bull. The Bull is a magnificent creature of great strength, as too is the Red Bull brand. We share this majestic creature in our titles and I for one do not take this lightly, every day I strive towards greater strength. This can only be a good thing.

As part of my sponsorship package I would be willing to re-brand myself as Miura 'Red' Bull.

I am the author of a weblog based on my activities in the world of EVE online. This weblog attracts over 10,000 readers each month who read various stories, guides and the latest goings on in eve online life. It has a gross viewing figure of close to 250,000 individual page views. My readers stretch all corners of this wonderful planet. It is very much a global enterprise and I would be willing to expand this further via advertising and innovative content. I feel the Red Bull brand would help me achieve these goals.

http://brutorbullfighter.blogspot.co.uk/

I am the founder of the successful eve online corporation the Black Rebel Rifter Club. An exciting pvp (player-versus-player) focused entity that prides itself on its much-liked reputation within eve online. A focused and diverse management team currently operate the corporation for close to 150 worldwide members. 

As part of my proposed sponsorship package I would be willing to negotiate a possible new formation of the Black Rebel Rifter Club under the guise of something along the lines of Red Bull Rifter Club, Red Bull Frigate Club, Red Bull Fight Club... etc, etc. Exact naming rights to be discussed at a later date.

As an individual I pride myself on my current rank among the top 250 current pilots of New Eden. With the backing of such a powerhouse global brand I would like to push myself to the top 10 and also the re-branded Red Bull Rifter Club to number one.

Further, the Red Bull Rifter Club would be willing to enter every single player-v-player tournament that is run in the eve online community. Currently there is an annual alliance tournament that attracts excellent web coverage. Red Bull Rifter Club would be willing to enter a team of the best pilots into this event, and we would also look to win this tournament each and every year. Other tournaments have also been scheduled including the New Eden Open, a 10,000 dollar pvp tournament. We would look to enter this tournament too. And win it.

I am also currently looking to release a set of regular pvp videos. These videos show the pilot in action and are very popular within the eve online community. The possibilities for brand exposure and sponsorship potential are astronomical. Viewing figures and downloads for popular pvp videos are very high.

This is something I would put all my time into between tournament commitments. I would hope to release at the very least four 30-minute videos each calendar year.

I can currently commit to 23/7 gaming all year round. Minus a few hours for sleeping periods I would be flying the flag for the Red Bull brand at every opportunity. Whether through tournaments, pvp videos, blog features, sponsorship, et all.

As part of the Red Bull brand I would be available for worldwide sponsorship events, gaming conventions etc. I have very limited commitments right now and would be willing to travel to wherever is needed to further the Red Bull brand and expand our enterprise at the drop of a hat. Such is my dedication.

I am also looking into a potential fashion line. With the correct backing and networking this could be a global enterprise worth millions. The chic gamer kids would flock to my (currently private) designs.

I also have a few other ideas too that would probably be better saved for our meet in person. 

The only thing I ask as part of our sponsorship package is the necessary funding via ingame currency (ISK) to help drive this machine forward. More details can be discussed in private. But the rewards and potential would far outweigh the initial investment in this venture. 

I hope that I have grabbed your attention with my proposal and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.


To the fridge!

Miura Bull.

Red Bull drinker.



~



Today I received a reply.





Hi Miura,

Thank you for your email and getting in touch. Unfortunately we do not provide sponsorship for any gaming organisation. The reason for this is twofold; at Red Bull we have chosen not to sponsor 'organisations' or 'team' and instead choose to sponsor individual athletes. We do this as our sponsorship programme operates on the principle of helping individuals achieve their goals and we prefer to work with them on a personal level to this end. An example of this would be one of our athlete projects where, in collaboration with one of our athletes, we work to create something that they have always wanted to achieve. In the case of Robbie Maddison, one of our Freestyle MX riders, this was to back flip over tower bridge in London. In any instance where our name/logo is associated with a team, it is because we actually own the team, and not because we sponsor them (for example the football club, Red Bull Salzburg).

Secondly, our only current involvement in computer gaming is to create games, rather than sponsor them. An example of this is the Red Bull X Fighters app you can download for Iphone, or the Red Bull Air Race game for PC that you can also download. This way we maintain creative control over the content, and can ensure that it is a true Brand fit.

Please allow me to wish you and your team, the Black Rebel Rifter Club, every success in the future, sorry we could not give you a more positive response.

Regards,

Red Bull




~



I thought that was pretty cool!



MB.