Unfinished experiments

     I wonder do other people have projects and long term experiments running in eve? For a while I was sorting and documenting various abyssal loot to better compare the value between tiers. For now that project is on the back burner as documenting and sorting everything took some of the fun out of the sites.

     Beyond that, one of the initial conclusions was that tier two abyssal sites, the agitated ones are very poorly balanced both in terms of loot and difficulty. They are by no means hard but rather than sitting between tier one and three they are only marginally easier than tier 3. This is complicated by not being significantly more rewarding than first tier sites, and arguably less rewarding than tier one frigate sites.

We will wrap up with some screenshots from this for now abandoned project comparing loot from 25 T2 cruiser sites to 25 T1 frigate sites.

Here we have the T1 loot.

Followed by the T2 loot.

   
     In the end I didn't find the per a site data particularly useful for making good comparisons due to differing completion times but it was interesting to note the differences all the same.

Finding the common thread

     I've taken a bit of a short from frequent writing to spend a little more time considering how to proceed as well as some extra time for real life concerns. During this break I've considered if my game play activities and preferences are mere coincidences or if the have some sort of core principles or at least common thread that I can build something more meaningful from.

     Most pilots in eve remain in the same area for a very long time, frequently basing out of the same system for years on end. The build up of resources in one area has it's natural advantages but beyond my enjoyment of the nomadic approach I find I'm actually hostile to the static approach. Having the right tool for every task may be mechanically and statistically effective but it also stifles the need for improvisation.
      Players stop solving problems, they become dependent on having a correct solution to every situation and as they encounter more situations they acquire more tools. Once their tool chest so to speak becomes difficult to move, changing locations becomes a chore and many players will settle down. As much as I dislike the stagnation of this sort of thing, I hate that it's derived from a lack of interest in engaging the game and overcoming it's challenges.

     In many ways players have 'solved' many of the challenges of eve and while it may be a somewhat meta perspective I don't think of players who seek out and the follow these solutions as really playing the game. They fly fits made by some one else, using strategies and tactics discovered by others all while frequently not understanding the mechanics that make it all work.
     In terms of statistics and performance they are "good players" they operate the game in a manner considered correct and they know this. I say operate here intentionally because if nothing about your fits to how you fly comes from you then I don't think you play the game, I think the game is playing you. It's a bit of a meta perspective but if nearly everything you do in game is absent personal input than you've become more of an operator than a player.

     I think this is in part where many of my in-game dislikes stem from. The near hated of otherwise ubiquitous ships such as the VNI, gila and ishtar. To borderline mechanical "pvp" such as gate camps and suicide ganking. Trying to have an interesting discussion with many of these players about their ships, tactics, and strategies has been one of the most consistently disappointing experiences in EVE.
      It's almost always an exercise in them having a few fits and a basic explanation then either not having answers for or being outright hostile to any deeper interest "It works, why do you have so many stupid questions?"

     I don't think there are right or wrong ways to play EVE but I've come to the conclusion that I at least am hostile to allowing the community meta to play me. There's a certain amount of defiance in the kind of play-style I aim for, to know what is considered the best and choose to find your own way in spite of it.

Fleets and corporate activity

     I've run various weekly fleets for a few years now, even before trying to move the corporation I'm in to a more nomadic existence. I had always assumed that running regular fleets would help keep people interested in logging in to do things in corp, however after a few years I am no longer certain this is the case.

     Running regular formal and scheduled fleets does get people online and active but in many cases it's just for those fleets and then they hop offline again or return to playing on an alt. The ability to just drop off a jump clone and hop on at a certain time does not do much to encourage people to be online at other times. This isn't a complaint towards that sort of thing but more an observation in how running a certain kind of fleet does not necessarily increase corporate activity outside fleet times. I had assumed it would but over time I think it's fair to say I was wrong in that regard.

     Is it perhaps the approach to running fleets that is part of my problem. Running all the fleets in a formal manner means that everyone knows when and where they are and as such they don't need to be online the rest of the time. What I have begun to wonder is if having the bulk of the fleets be less formal and more spontaneous might help keep people online and active. I'd like to imagine people asking if there was going to be a fleet and others asking what everyone felt like doing. However it's certainly possible that more spontaneous fleets will fail altogether, the activity will be sparse at least due to current low activity.

     All the same I intent to go forward with mixing scheduled formal fleets with more spontaneous fleets in the future. If nothing else I'd like to see if and how that changes the ways other members of the corporation and alliance join fleets. There are a few other potential issues that might be to blame for the failure of frequent fleets to drive activity in the corporation but that's another topic for some other post.

     To wrap things up for tonight I think I'll post a little screenshot in the defense of what I often describe as messing about. I often do exploration and stop by anomalies while going places and here's the nice reward I got for stopping by for a minute at of the most basic combat anomalies in the game a hideaway.

Unconventional Hauling Information Hub

     The following serves as a table of contents for first iteration of the unconventional hauling guide. This guide starts with an introduction covering the basic concepts and a walk through. The introduction covers how to safely haul and assemble 10 tech 1 pvp frigates and all the fittings in a single trip anywhere in low sec using only a destroyer. After that there is a breakdown of various compression options followed by a conclusion and summary. The summary explains how to haul more compressed t1 frigates inside the covert ops capable prospect than any max cargo jump freighter can carry in already built hulls. A too long did not read version is also available.

Introduction
-TLDR
The universal frigate pack 
-Amarr
-Caldari
-Gallente
-Minmatar
Closing and Summary



While that's all for this guide at this time what follows are some elements I've considered adding to future versions of this guide.

-Destroyer compression
-Alpha Hauling
-Fitting compression
-Detailed low sec hauling tactics
-Cruiser compression

Frigate Compression TLDR Version

    If you have the materials under a faction icon you can use them to build any of that faction's T1 frigates at any standard station with refining and industry. You will only need refining 3 trained, if you do not have it buy an extra set of materials for every 10 frigates you want to build. The universal pack will let you build any faction's T1 frigates.

Unconventional Hauling - A Closing Summary

    

    It's difficult to find many arguments in favor of unconventional hauling techniques quite as strong as this simple comparison. With compressed parts even the lowly prospect can deliver more hulls to any location in low sec than a perfectly skilled and max cargo fit jump freighter.

    It can do this while fitting a strong tank as well, when fit for max cargo the prospect pushes well beyond 150% a jump freighter's capacity. It does this with all the safety of a blockade runner while costing far less and taking much less time to train.

    This is achieved by storing compressed ore in the prospect's 10,000m3 ore hold while keeping the blueprint copies and high end minerals inside it's cargo bay. A simple but unconventional option and that's where this guide will leave you all for now. With a friendly reminder that in Eve Online a little ingenuity and creative thinking can let a humble frigate outperform conventional options that cost hundreds of times more.

The Minmatar Frigate Pack

The Minmatar frigate pack follows the trend of being similar to the previous frigate packs and is likewise based solely on the industrial requirements of the Minmatar ships. Like the universal and other racial packs the needs are dictated by the ships with the highest mineral requirements in each category. In this case the four following ships the Breacher, Burst, Rifter, and Vigil. The Minmatar lineup is noteworthy in having some of the highest mineral requirements and is similar in size to the universal pack.

Tritanium 22778 - Rifter
Pyerite 15000 - Breacher
Mexallon 4444 - Burst
Isogen 356 - Rifter
Nocxium 133 - Rifter
Zydrine 34 - Rifter
Megacyte 8 - Vigil

    The high end minerals for this set only takes up 1.7 meters cubed so once again we will not be compressing these minerals. As before this guide assumes the basic train of reprocessing 3 and no other skills giving you a 54.5% refine rate at basic stations.

    The Minmatar frigate pack uses the same compressed ores as the universal one, however the quantities are slightly different. The compressed ores take up 29.7 m3 which when added to the high ends gives a total of 31.4 m3 which is slightly more efficient than using the universal pack. The Minmater frigate pack uses the following components.

5 compressed kernite
65 compressed plagioclase
100 compressed scordite.
133 nocxium
34 zydrine
8 megacyte

    As always there are options for saving isk at the expense of space by purchasing the mid range minerals and only compressing the low ends. This can be achieved using 160 units of compressed scordite and purchasing all minerals aside from tritanium and pyerite. As before this specialized frigate pack is more space and cost effective than it's universal one, taking up only 80.2 m3.

    That's all for the Minmatar frigate pack.