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[EVE] Internet Spaceships, War, Political Intrigue, and Slashfic
Madtown
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Previous thread here.
IF YOU WANT TO JOIN THE PENNY ARCADE CORP, SCROLL TO THE MERCH INDUSTRIAL BANNER AND READ THE TOP SECTION. IF YOU ASK QUESTIONS ANSWERED THERE I WILL CALL YOU STUPID.
Atari Mu: "No more than two weeks into the game, I found myself in the middle of a massive ambush of seven enemy capital ships. Being in a tiny ship myself, I rushed to the front-lines to try and do my part. I exploded in about thirty seconds.
It was glorious."
Gentlemen, welcome to The Great War... in Space. Welcome to EVE Online.
EVE Online is an MMO set in the space region called New Eden, irrevocably separated from Earth after an inexplicable incident involving the Eve Gate, the one connection between New Eden and Earth.
The game world spans hundreds of solar systems, divided into several regions of varying security level from 1.0 to 0.0 -- the former being highly patrolled by NPC police, the latter being lawless territory for the largest player corporations to war over. It would take several hours at best to travel from one side of the galaxy to another.
Not only is the game world vast in a spatial sense, but in a player sense. Eve Online is entirely unsharded -- every single player shares the same game world, with between 15,000 - 30,000 players online at any given time.
Besides the sheer size of the game land, there are several things which divide EVE from the rest of the MMOs on the market, and make it something truly special.
Freedom: There are no goals except those which you make for yourself. There are no professions, no classes, no titles that the game assigns your character based on your decisions on character creation. You are what you do. No more, no less.
Character Progression: In Eve, everyone learns new skills at almost exactly the same rate as everyone else -- in real-time, not based on killing NPCs. Furthermore, skills continue to train while you're offline, so even if you have to take a two-week hiatus, you're still going to progress in skill assuming you set a sufficiently long-term skill to train. So set a skill, and then go fly around doing whatever you want. Or log out and go to the bar. Or set one of the longer skills to train, and take a few weeks off -- when you get back, you'll have that painfully long skill out of the way.
Skill System Depth: The skill system is deep AND broad; to learn to do everything at peak efficiency would take something on the order of at least seven years -- and by then there'll be more to train anyway, rest assured. On the other hand, the broadness of skills available allow a relatively new player to become proficient in a short time by focusing on a particular race's ships, particular ship classes, on trading, or on mining and production.
The Stakes Matter: PVP in Eve matters because there are stakes involved. When you lose your ship, you lose your ship. There's insurance, but that will often only cover most of the hull cost (on tech 2 ships, it won't even cover much of that). Modules, cargo, special implants all can be destroyed. And if your modules/cargo weren't destroyed, rest assured your opponent will almost certainly loot them from your wreck. But that's just on a personal level -- PVP matters on a corporation and alliance level too, as player groups numbering in the thousands war over 0.0 territory, the richest areas in the game. Losing a battle might not only mean the loss of your ship -- it might mean the loss of your home, leaving your non-liquid assets locked in now-hostile territory.
So it's open-ended. Great. So, uh, what do I do?
These are the general areas of play in Eve Online. It's not comprehensive, particularly when it comes to PVP and Alliances -- just an overview.
Speaking of WANG...
JOINING MERCH INDUSTRIAL and WANG
Quick step-by-step guide to joining. READ THIS.
0) Post in this thread, so we know you're coming. Mention your in-game name.
1) Do the tutorial -- stop after the first mission or two, but do everything up through that.
2) Fly to Mista and dock at the station at Moon 4 - Ishukone Corporation Factory. Apply to Merch Industrial. Mention your PA forums name in your application.
3) Wait to be accepted.
4) Once accepted, new tabs on your mailbox will show up -- Corp and Alliance. Read the TWO Corp mails by Rhonyn Peacemaker for instructions on joining our forums. To Evemail Rhonyn, right click his name in your mailbox and click Send Message -- DO NOT REPLY TO THE CORP MAIL ITSELF, YOU WILL BE SENDING THE MAIL TO THE ENTIRE CORP.
5) While waiting for forums access, say Hi in corp chat. Join the MRCHI-Help channel to ask any newbie questions you have or to otherwise get help from vets that are free.
6) Once you've been approved on our forums, read the "NEWBIES READ THIS" sticky in our General forums, which will also have a LOT of resources -- info on newbie programs we run like Mentors, frigate caches, and newbie ops, guides to help you get going, and links to other great Eve information.
Why didn't I get accepted yet / I got rejected you guys are jerks
In conclusion, anyone with an active PA forums account is welcome to join the PA corp, assuming you don't do monumentally stupid things that piss off the recruitment director. So be a little patient, and be polite and concise if you Evemail him.
About Merch Industrial
What began as a small industrial corp that was barely able to defend itself has, over the course of the past half-year, evolved into something quite grand. What was (and technically still is) Merch Industrial has become the WANG Alliance.
As a corporation, we produce a multitude of non-capital vessels, and have a developing capital ship production program as well. Many individuals in the corporation are quite the burgeoning industrialists themselves, producing modules and ships for sale either in Empire space or 0.0 space. There are traders who specialize in trading rare ships and blueprints, and there are traders who specialize in trading modules or minerals in vast quantities. There are mining specialists, who can strip asteroid belts dry in a blink, and haulers who can haul that loads sweet ore to a production facility. There are an ever-growing number of pilots dedicated to PVP, constantly fighting our enemies -- whether they're local pirates in Hoshoun or the opposing forces in the largest territorial war in Eve history. Most of us participate in many or all of these activities -- the multifaceted gameplay of Eve allows you to give it all a try, and many of us do.
WANG currently operates out of two areas. The first is our old dependable fortress in Hoshoun, on the edge of the Amarrian Empire in low-sec. It has a single station, abundant belts, good NPC hunting opportunities, fairly fast access to one of the game's best market hubs, and close proximity to some of the staunchest allies we've ever had. Hoshoun is no longer the bustling hub of WANG activity, but remains an area of operation for members who elect to remain in low-sec (either due to inexperience with 0.0 space, or their own personal preferences).
The second area is deep southeastern 0.0 space, which includes Scalding Pass, Wicked Creek, Curse, Detorid, Tenerifis, and Omist -- the primary areas of operation of our 0.0 allies (Goonswarm, Red Alliance, and Tau Ceti Federation). Currently, our operations in the area include ice mining which produces materials necessary for POS and capital ship usage, individual production of modules and ships to sell on their market, and daily combat operations (the objectives and nature of which vary widely on any given day). In return, we have mining, ratting, and mission running access in that area of space.
Either area can be dangerous for a new player, but with a bit of readily available assistance from older members you can be on the way to massive profit in no time. Do not be afraid to ask questions, whether it is in this thread or in-game. Many older players are more than happy to help you in whatever way possible, whether it's advice or a bit of cash to get started. We might be busy at any given moment, but we WILL help you adjust to the realities of 0.0 space if you ask for our advice and assitance.
To join Merch Industrial / WANG, READ THE TOP OF THIS POST. While you work on that, join the PennyArcade channel in-game and let us know you are coming. This channel is only lightly monitored and is open to all PennyArcade Eve players, but stick around and someone will chat with you eventually. Then, make your way down to one of the following systems and apply:
Hoshoun VII - Moon 17 - Imperial Armaments Warehouse (Headquarters)
Kor-Azor Prime IV (Eclipticum) - Moon Griklaeum - Ishukone Corporation Factory
Ishisomo VIII - Propel Dynamics Factory
Slays V - Moon 1 - Ducia Foundry Mineral Reserve
Mista V - Moon 4 - Ishukone Corporation Factory
Mista is your best bet. It is in 0.5 space, meaning that NPC police still have a strong presence (anyone attacking you will be killed), but is a mere 5 jumps away from Hoshoun.
If you wish to join our 0.0 operations in Goonspace from Day 1, you're certainly welcomed and encouraged to do so. In that case, you'll want to wait until you've been accepted into the corp so we can advise you on how to podjump (the best way to get to our 0.0 headquarters), toss a few ISK your way so you can buy a frigate out here, and help you get on your feet monetarily as well as find someone to shoot at.
Space is divided into three general security levels on a scale from 1.0 to 0.0. 1.0 to 0.5 is considered high security Empire space, where players who commit aggressive acts against other players will swiftly and inevitably have their ships destroyed by the NPC police organization CONCORD. High security space is not a TOTAL guarantor of safety, but it's close.
0.4 to 0.1 is considered low security Empire space, where aggressive acts can take place without CONCORD retribution, but your personal security status will dive and automated turrets around stations and gates will open fire for a time.
0.0 is lawless space; there is absolutely no retribution for aggression, it is where the real meaty stuff is, and it is where the Great War is taking place. It also has the best resources in terms of NPC bounties and asteroids to mine in the game. It's also completely player-run. Players hold sovereignty over space, and players make the wars.
And the current war is the biggest one to date. For a general idea, let's take a look at the map.
The blobs of blue in the south, west, and north are our enemies (known by general EveO pubbies as "The Alliance"). The red blob in the southeast are our allies (known by general EveO pubbies as "The Coalition"). The small green blobs in the north are what remains of the Northern section of The Coalition, and are also our allies (although to a weaker extent).
Latest version of this map
Latest version of Sov Influence map
The Sov Influence map is more accurate and updated almost daily, but does not color-code based on political alignment.
So who are these allies you mentioned?
GOONSWARM
Our closest 0.0 allies, going on six months now. Goonswarm is the alliance we work most closely with -- so closely that many in the Swarm often assume that we've become a member corporation of their alliance. We make money, produce goods, mine important minerals, and fight in defense of their space with Goonswarm pilots. Several of our members are even budding Fleet Commanders, leading combat ops of Goons and Wangs, along with other allies as well. They're fantastic allies. The key thing to operating alongside Goonswarm is to keep a sense of humor, and take no personal offense when you get called a faggot spy. Keep a thick skin and learn the ropes, and they'll be the best spacefriends you've ever had.
RED ALLIANCE and TAU CETI FEDERATION
The other two main parts of the southern red block, referred to as RedSwarmFederation by anyone who knows what they're talking about. RA is composed of a bunch of angry Russians that may very well be the best capital force in the game. Their resilience is phenomenal -- once forced back into a single system by a coalition numbering in the thousands, RA has ground down enemy after enemy over the last year. TCF is composed of French-speaking corps, and are also highly successful at capital and sub-capital warfare. The most infamous incident many tell of TCF is when they executed a seige of an important station system without their enemy OR their allies knowing, essentially handing Goonswarm a new system on a platter in a single day.
CURATORES VERITATIS ALLIANCE
And last but most certainly not least, CVA. There are some on these forums who will smack them up for being "haughty roleplayers" or somesuch; honestly, WANG likely could not have gotten as far as it has without the help CVA has often given us. They are the guardians of the area around Hoshoun (our low-sec base), and although we can contribute quite a bit to our own defense, on the rare occasion we are overpowered CVA throws themselves to our defense without fear or hesitation. They are our oldest ally, and despite the fact that most of us now operate quite some distance from their space, they remain a highly valued ally.
So, uh, do we have any enemies?
Well, unfortunately you don't make quite as many friends and get quite as big as we do without gaining the enimity of a few of the big boys. Of major note:
BAND OF BROTHERS
Band of Brothers is one of the most powerful alliances in the game. They are also the sworn enemies of the GoonSwarm, and since Lotka Volterra fell faster than a house of cards, you can be sure that BoB and RedSwarmFederation are currently fighting the biggest war the game has ever seen. These are the guys most of us shoot at on a day to day basis. Recently, our very own Hrin played a pivotal role in decloaking their Titan, leading to its destruction. BoB's stated goal: to conquer all of Eve.
Various tenants and allies of BoB
The allies and tenants (often referred to as "pets") of Band of Brothers are too numerous to name, and currently we don't see many of them. The most prominent is Mercenary Coalition, a mercenary group that controls a section of BoB space in exchange for two weeks of free mercenary work each year. Their most recent exploits were heading the forces that toppled much of the Northern Coalition, leading to the dissolution of long-time nothern entity D2 and the relocation of IRON. Now that MC's contract is up, the remaining green northern allies have begun fighting to retake their space from the various pets BoB has installed.
USHRA'KHAN
Ushra'Khan is the alliance idealogically opposed to CVA, CVA being pro-Amarr-Empire and U'K being pro-Minmatar (and thus anti-slavery.) The problem with U'K, from the WANG standpoint, is that their anti-slavery crusade extends to violence, and unfortunately that violence also seems to extend to friends of CVA. While not nearly as huge as LV or BoB, U'K certainly makes operations for those remaining in and around Hoshoun interesting from time to time. CVA and U'K have been locked in their most heated battles to date over the last few months, making the area quite a hotbed of hostilities.
Additionally, WANG occasionally has to deal with random pirate twits who come after us thinking we're easy kills. Sometimes they're right, and we get crushed for a few battles; sometimes we end up camping them into their home systems while they offer us money to go away. Whatever the case, we're always up for some fleshreaping.
So I'd like to play... What do I do?
Free fourteen day trials are available by clicking this sentence. No emailing other members necessary, no credit card necessary.
But I have some questions!
Keep reading; below are some flashy videos and screenshots, answers to some frequently asked questions, some suggestions on creating your character, and some comments on various aspects of the game by MRCHI members.
Credit to SpaceDrake and Ledneh for much of this content.
IF YOU WANT TO JOIN THE PENNY ARCADE CORP, SCROLL TO THE MERCH INDUSTRIAL BANNER AND READ THE TOP SECTION. IF YOU ASK QUESTIONS ANSWERED THERE I WILL CALL YOU STUPID.
Atari Mu: "No more than two weeks into the game, I found myself in the middle of a massive ambush of seven enemy capital ships. Being in a tiny ship myself, I rushed to the front-lines to try and do my part. I exploded in about thirty seconds.
It was glorious."
Gentlemen, welcome to The Great War... in Space. Welcome to EVE Online.
EVE Online is an MMO set in the space region called New Eden, irrevocably separated from Earth after an inexplicable incident involving the Eve Gate, the one connection between New Eden and Earth.
The game world spans hundreds of solar systems, divided into several regions of varying security level from 1.0 to 0.0 -- the former being highly patrolled by NPC police, the latter being lawless territory for the largest player corporations to war over. It would take several hours at best to travel from one side of the galaxy to another.
Not only is the game world vast in a spatial sense, but in a player sense. Eve Online is entirely unsharded -- every single player shares the same game world, with between 15,000 - 30,000 players online at any given time.
Besides the sheer size of the game land, there are several things which divide EVE from the rest of the MMOs on the market, and make it something truly special.
Freedom: There are no goals except those which you make for yourself. There are no professions, no classes, no titles that the game assigns your character based on your decisions on character creation. You are what you do. No more, no less.
Character Progression: In Eve, everyone learns new skills at almost exactly the same rate as everyone else -- in real-time, not based on killing NPCs. Furthermore, skills continue to train while you're offline, so even if you have to take a two-week hiatus, you're still going to progress in skill assuming you set a sufficiently long-term skill to train. So set a skill, and then go fly around doing whatever you want. Or log out and go to the bar. Or set one of the longer skills to train, and take a few weeks off -- when you get back, you'll have that painfully long skill out of the way.
Skill System Depth: The skill system is deep AND broad; to learn to do everything at peak efficiency would take something on the order of at least seven years -- and by then there'll be more to train anyway, rest assured. On the other hand, the broadness of skills available allow a relatively new player to become proficient in a short time by focusing on a particular race's ships, particular ship classes, on trading, or on mining and production.
The Stakes Matter: PVP in Eve matters because there are stakes involved. When you lose your ship, you lose your ship. There's insurance, but that will often only cover most of the hull cost (on tech 2 ships, it won't even cover much of that). Modules, cargo, special implants all can be destroyed. And if your modules/cargo weren't destroyed, rest assured your opponent will almost certainly loot them from your wreck. But that's just on a personal level -- PVP matters on a corporation and alliance level too, as player groups numbering in the thousands war over 0.0 territory, the richest areas in the game. Losing a battle might not only mean the loss of your ship -- it might mean the loss of your home, leaving your non-liquid assets locked in now-hostile territory.
So it's open-ended. Great. So, uh, what do I do?
These are the general areas of play in Eve Online. It's not comprehensive, particularly when it comes to PVP and Alliances -- just an overview.
- Kill NPC pirates (or NPC police!) for bounties and loot
- Play the fully-open, well-featured, player-driven market through trade
- Mine for raw materials, and/or produce equipment and ships that can either be used personally or sold on the market
- Pirate and ransom other players in low-security space
- Use scanning equipment to search space for hidden PVE sites
- Join The Great War for 0.0 Space with the Penny Arcade alliance WANG or any of their allies (or their enemies, if you're a git)
Speaking of WANG...
JOINING MERCH INDUSTRIAL and WANG
Quick step-by-step guide to joining. READ THIS.
0) Post in this thread, so we know you're coming. Mention your in-game name.
1) Do the tutorial -- stop after the first mission or two, but do everything up through that.
2) Fly to Mista and dock at the station at Moon 4 - Ishukone Corporation Factory. Apply to Merch Industrial. Mention your PA forums name in your application.
3) Wait to be accepted.
4) Once accepted, new tabs on your mailbox will show up -- Corp and Alliance. Read the TWO Corp mails by Rhonyn Peacemaker for instructions on joining our forums. To Evemail Rhonyn, right click his name in your mailbox and click Send Message -- DO NOT REPLY TO THE CORP MAIL ITSELF, YOU WILL BE SENDING THE MAIL TO THE ENTIRE CORP.
5) While waiting for forums access, say Hi in corp chat. Join the MRCHI-Help channel to ask any newbie questions you have or to otherwise get help from vets that are free.
6) Once you've been approved on our forums, read the "NEWBIES READ THIS" sticky in our General forums, which will also have a LOT of resources -- info on newbie programs we run like Mentors, frigate caches, and newbie ops, guides to help you get going, and links to other great Eve information.
Why didn't I get accepted yet / I got rejected you guys are jerks
If you are rejected, or you application is not processed, please consider the following:
1) Did you act like a faggot?
2) Were you rude or abrasive in your application?
3) Did you do something to piss Rhonyn Peacemaker off?
If any of these are "yes," please feel free to fuck off.
Otherwise, just send a quick ingame evemail to Rhonyn Peacemaker telling him what your situation is (in a concise manner) and he will be more than happy to approve your application. Do not send multiple applications, or multiple evemails within a 24 hour period.
In conclusion, anyone with an active PA forums account is welcome to join the PA corp, assuming you don't do monumentally stupid things that piss off the recruitment director. So be a little patient, and be polite and concise if you Evemail him.
About Merch Industrial
What began as a small industrial corp that was barely able to defend itself has, over the course of the past half-year, evolved into something quite grand. What was (and technically still is) Merch Industrial has become the WANG Alliance.
As a corporation, we produce a multitude of non-capital vessels, and have a developing capital ship production program as well. Many individuals in the corporation are quite the burgeoning industrialists themselves, producing modules and ships for sale either in Empire space or 0.0 space. There are traders who specialize in trading rare ships and blueprints, and there are traders who specialize in trading modules or minerals in vast quantities. There are mining specialists, who can strip asteroid belts dry in a blink, and haulers who can haul that loads sweet ore to a production facility. There are an ever-growing number of pilots dedicated to PVP, constantly fighting our enemies -- whether they're local pirates in Hoshoun or the opposing forces in the largest territorial war in Eve history. Most of us participate in many or all of these activities -- the multifaceted gameplay of Eve allows you to give it all a try, and many of us do.
WANG currently operates out of two areas. The first is our old dependable fortress in Hoshoun, on the edge of the Amarrian Empire in low-sec. It has a single station, abundant belts, good NPC hunting opportunities, fairly fast access to one of the game's best market hubs, and close proximity to some of the staunchest allies we've ever had. Hoshoun is no longer the bustling hub of WANG activity, but remains an area of operation for members who elect to remain in low-sec (either due to inexperience with 0.0 space, or their own personal preferences).
The second area is deep southeastern 0.0 space, which includes Scalding Pass, Wicked Creek, Curse, Detorid, Tenerifis, and Omist -- the primary areas of operation of our 0.0 allies (Goonswarm, Red Alliance, and Tau Ceti Federation). Currently, our operations in the area include ice mining which produces materials necessary for POS and capital ship usage, individual production of modules and ships to sell on their market, and daily combat operations (the objectives and nature of which vary widely on any given day). In return, we have mining, ratting, and mission running access in that area of space.
Either area can be dangerous for a new player, but with a bit of readily available assistance from older members you can be on the way to massive profit in no time. Do not be afraid to ask questions, whether it is in this thread or in-game. Many older players are more than happy to help you in whatever way possible, whether it's advice or a bit of cash to get started. We might be busy at any given moment, but we WILL help you adjust to the realities of 0.0 space if you ask for our advice and assitance.
To join Merch Industrial / WANG, READ THE TOP OF THIS POST. While you work on that, join the PennyArcade channel in-game and let us know you are coming. This channel is only lightly monitored and is open to all PennyArcade Eve players, but stick around and someone will chat with you eventually. Then, make your way down to one of the following systems and apply:
Hoshoun VII - Moon 17 - Imperial Armaments Warehouse (Headquarters)
Kor-Azor Prime IV (Eclipticum) - Moon Griklaeum - Ishukone Corporation Factory
Ishisomo VIII - Propel Dynamics Factory
Slays V - Moon 1 - Ducia Foundry Mineral Reserve
Mista V - Moon 4 - Ishukone Corporation Factory
Mista is your best bet. It is in 0.5 space, meaning that NPC police still have a strong presence (anyone attacking you will be killed), but is a mere 5 jumps away from Hoshoun.
If you wish to join our 0.0 operations in Goonspace from Day 1, you're certainly welcomed and encouraged to do so. In that case, you'll want to wait until you've been accepted into the corp so we can advise you on how to podjump (the best way to get to our 0.0 headquarters), toss a few ISK your way so you can buy a frigate out here, and help you get on your feet monetarily as well as find someone to shoot at.
Space is divided into three general security levels on a scale from 1.0 to 0.0. 1.0 to 0.5 is considered high security Empire space, where players who commit aggressive acts against other players will swiftly and inevitably have their ships destroyed by the NPC police organization CONCORD. High security space is not a TOTAL guarantor of safety, but it's close.
0.4 to 0.1 is considered low security Empire space, where aggressive acts can take place without CONCORD retribution, but your personal security status will dive and automated turrets around stations and gates will open fire for a time.
0.0 is lawless space; there is absolutely no retribution for aggression, it is where the real meaty stuff is, and it is where the Great War is taking place. It also has the best resources in terms of NPC bounties and asteroids to mine in the game. It's also completely player-run. Players hold sovereignty over space, and players make the wars.
And the current war is the biggest one to date. For a general idea, let's take a look at the map.
The blobs of blue in the south, west, and north are our enemies (known by general EveO pubbies as "The Alliance"). The red blob in the southeast are our allies (known by general EveO pubbies as "The Coalition"). The small green blobs in the north are what remains of the Northern section of The Coalition, and are also our allies (although to a weaker extent).
Latest version of this map
Latest version of Sov Influence map
The Sov Influence map is more accurate and updated almost daily, but does not color-code based on political alignment.
So who are these allies you mentioned?
GOONSWARM
Our closest 0.0 allies, going on six months now. Goonswarm is the alliance we work most closely with -- so closely that many in the Swarm often assume that we've become a member corporation of their alliance. We make money, produce goods, mine important minerals, and fight in defense of their space with Goonswarm pilots. Several of our members are even budding Fleet Commanders, leading combat ops of Goons and Wangs, along with other allies as well. They're fantastic allies. The key thing to operating alongside Goonswarm is to keep a sense of humor, and take no personal offense when you get called a faggot spy. Keep a thick skin and learn the ropes, and they'll be the best spacefriends you've ever had.
RED ALLIANCE and TAU CETI FEDERATION
The other two main parts of the southern red block, referred to as RedSwarmFederation by anyone who knows what they're talking about. RA is composed of a bunch of angry Russians that may very well be the best capital force in the game. Their resilience is phenomenal -- once forced back into a single system by a coalition numbering in the thousands, RA has ground down enemy after enemy over the last year. TCF is composed of French-speaking corps, and are also highly successful at capital and sub-capital warfare. The most infamous incident many tell of TCF is when they executed a seige of an important station system without their enemy OR their allies knowing, essentially handing Goonswarm a new system on a platter in a single day.
CURATORES VERITATIS ALLIANCE
And last but most certainly not least, CVA. There are some on these forums who will smack them up for being "haughty roleplayers" or somesuch; honestly, WANG likely could not have gotten as far as it has without the help CVA has often given us. They are the guardians of the area around Hoshoun (our low-sec base), and although we can contribute quite a bit to our own defense, on the rare occasion we are overpowered CVA throws themselves to our defense without fear or hesitation. They are our oldest ally, and despite the fact that most of us now operate quite some distance from their space, they remain a highly valued ally.
So, uh, do we have any enemies?
Well, unfortunately you don't make quite as many friends and get quite as big as we do without gaining the enimity of a few of the big boys. Of major note:
BAND OF BROTHERS
Band of Brothers is one of the most powerful alliances in the game. They are also the sworn enemies of the GoonSwarm, and since Lotka Volterra fell faster than a house of cards, you can be sure that BoB and RedSwarmFederation are currently fighting the biggest war the game has ever seen. These are the guys most of us shoot at on a day to day basis. Recently, our very own Hrin played a pivotal role in decloaking their Titan, leading to its destruction. BoB's stated goal: to conquer all of Eve.
Various tenants and allies of BoB
The allies and tenants (often referred to as "pets") of Band of Brothers are too numerous to name, and currently we don't see many of them. The most prominent is Mercenary Coalition, a mercenary group that controls a section of BoB space in exchange for two weeks of free mercenary work each year. Their most recent exploits were heading the forces that toppled much of the Northern Coalition, leading to the dissolution of long-time nothern entity D2 and the relocation of IRON. Now that MC's contract is up, the remaining green northern allies have begun fighting to retake their space from the various pets BoB has installed.
USHRA'KHAN
Ushra'Khan is the alliance idealogically opposed to CVA, CVA being pro-Amarr-Empire and U'K being pro-Minmatar (and thus anti-slavery.) The problem with U'K, from the WANG standpoint, is that their anti-slavery crusade extends to violence, and unfortunately that violence also seems to extend to friends of CVA. While not nearly as huge as LV or BoB, U'K certainly makes operations for those remaining in and around Hoshoun interesting from time to time. CVA and U'K have been locked in their most heated battles to date over the last few months, making the area quite a hotbed of hostilities.
Additionally, WANG occasionally has to deal with random pirate twits who come after us thinking we're easy kills. Sometimes they're right, and we get crushed for a few battles; sometimes we end up camping them into their home systems while they offer us money to go away. Whatever the case, we're always up for some fleshreaping.
So I'd like to play... What do I do?
Free fourteen day trials are available by clicking this sentence. No emailing other members necessary, no credit card necessary.
But I have some questions!
Keep reading; below are some flashy videos and screenshots, answers to some frequently asked questions, some suggestions on creating your character, and some comments on various aspects of the game by MRCHI members.
Credit to SpaceDrake and Ledneh for much of this content.
Angelus Damelon - Eve
Madtown on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Then I should post some screenshots and videos.
/!\ NEW STAHLREGEN VIDEO: REDSWARMFEDERATION /!\
Probably my favorite video of his to date, yes I say that every time Stahl makes a video but this one is awesome ok
OFFICIAL VIDEOS
EVE Online Intro - explains the New Eden backstory
EVE Never Fades - a classic, general trailer
EVE Online: Revelations - trailer for the first Revelations expansion, released last November
EVE Online: Revelations 2 - trailer for the second Revelations expansion, released June 19th
By the way: all footage is from the game client, with the exception of the obvious paintings in Eve Online Intro and Eve Never Dies. All models, all lighting, everything. All of those shots are 100% possible in-game. And will run on computers 4 years old.
GOONSWARM VIDEOS
Stahlregen (creator of these vids) is a pimp and his videos are awesome. Keep in mind that these were largely made as monthly recruiting videos, documenting Goonswarm's latest exploits -- you don't need to know all the entities mentioned, but it will give you an idea of how things can develop from month to month in the larger Alliance warfare picture.
August
September
October
November: Goonswarm allies with Red Alliance, invades Scalding Pass. Along with February and March, one of my favorite Eve videos.
December
January: ISS, a "neutral" corporation that built outposts by raising money through an Eve IPO, is demolished by Goonswarm and allies after showing aggression against IAC.
February: Goonswarm and allies attack Lotka Volterra, their nearest enemy and long-time enemy of Red Alliance. Includes the destruction of LV's capital fleet (the largest such loss at a time) and the destruction of LV's Titan supercapital while in production (which several WANG members were present for, myself included). At this point, the galactic war has erupted, with nearly every alliance in the game taking a side: Band of Brothers, Mercenary Coalition & Lotka Volterra plus assorted allies vs. the Southeast (Goonswarm, Red Alliance, Tau Ceti Federation and others) and the North (Dusk and Dawn, IRON, Morsus Mihi, and others).
March: Galaxy in Flames. Goonswarm and allies finish killing LV and consolidate their space, while setting their eyes on Band of Brothers.
Eve Online Darwin Awards, or How Shrike Died: Goonswarm, RA and TCF kill a BoB Titan piloted by Shrike, an alt of Sir Molle (the leader of BoB).
August - Awesome video.
UNCUT TITAN VIDEOS
This is the first Titan to be killed while the pilot was at the controls, rather than through creative exploitation of aggression and logoff mechanics as was the case in the two previous Titan kills. For reference, Titans take months to build (and the shipyards they are constructed in are a prime target, with two having already been destroyed while building), months to train for, and the minerals and high-quality modules they're fit with make them worth thousands of dollars. WANG member Hrin is the pilot who decloaked the Titan after Shrike had fired his Doomsday Device, which led to Goonswarm tackling him and Goonswarm + RA capitals taking him down.
Here's two videos of the Titan kill put up within hours of its death, with minimal editing. This will also give you a better idea of what the game usually looks like in fleet combat, with the UI on and settings adjusted for maximized for performance (in other words, less pretty).
Red Alliance: Preved Shrike - shot by a RA dreadnought pilot, with awesome music by E-Nomine.
Goonswarm - shot by a GS covert ops pilot, with Goonswarm Teamspeak as sound.
SCREENSHOTS
Click for huge.
The WANG fleet in action:
The Titan kill:
Wait, I have a question!
Here's a brief FAQ.
If you've got newbie questions about skills, fittings, and all sorts of other things that take a bit of explaining, join the channels mentioned in the OP or check out MuddBudd's Newbie Thread.
Those videos look awesome! Do you fly your ship with a joystick or what?
Nope, sorry. Eve isn't a twitch game (although fast reflexes do sometimes come into play). You navigate through clicking in space or various buttons on the UI.
So since you "level up" based on how long you've subscribed to the game rather than poopsocking to grind NPCs, a newbie's never going to be any good right? I shouldn't even bother!
Not true at all. Winning a PVP fight in Eve is primarily about strategy -- choosing the right ship and modules for whatever the expected fight is in advance, closing range or keeping or opponent at a distance, maintaining a high transversal to avoid being shot, the ability to choose your spots rather than engage in a near unwinnable fight, etc. When you take part in gangs of 20, 50, or hundreds of other players, these tactics become increasingly complex -- and yet, you can fill a role as a tackler (locking down enemy ships from warping away) from day 1 with minimal instruction. EVERY SHIP COUNTS.
Furthermore, skill levels have diminishing returns. If a basic skill gives you a 5% bonus to X attribute per level trained, then you can train it up to Level IV quite shortly (perhaps a day or two at the most), while training it to V might take 4 days (or much longer for advanced skills) -- but training it up that last level still only gives that elder player an additional 5% bonus. Factor in the immense number of areas to train in, and you can become a competent pilot relatively quickly if you specialize your training to get the maximum value out of it.
So all I see in these videos are spaceships. Do you ever get to walk around or anything?
Not as of yet -- right now, you ARE your spaceship. However, CCP has announced that characters will be able to walk in stations when docked in some future expansion (see the demo).
Am I going to have to pay for these expansion packs? It sounds like there's been a lot of them.
Nope -- CCP releases expansion packs for free, like any other patch. The game is also fairly cheap; after your 14 day free trial, you can activate the game for $20 which includes your first month of game time, with the standard $15 per month afterwards (less if you pay for multiple months in advance).
So I'm ready to make my character. Got any tips?
Yup. We're going to rip off the Goonswarm Wiki on this one, because their public character creation guides are fantastic.
The primary thing to keep in mind is that you should toy around and read some of this content before committing to a character. It might be very beneficial to reroll your character after your two-week trial, once you have a better idea of what interests you in the game; on the other hand, rerolling your character after several months is a huge waste. So use your trial to test things out -- you've got three slots per account (can only train on one) so roll a few characters out, test the races, and read up. Once you're ready to commit to a character, choose your name and portrait carefully -- you'll be stuck with them for good.
/!\ CHARACTER CREATION 101 INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO /!\
Basic Character Creation Guide
Recommended Base Stat Builds
Next post: Comments from WANG members about Eve.
Hrin (hazywater on PA), our heroic Titan decloaker:
Zoe Sedai (OptimusWang on PA) on small gang warfare:
Trevor Reznik (StormyWaters on PA) on working with Goonswarm on the front lines:
Angelus Damelon (Madtown on PA, that's me) on Black Ops work in hostile territory:
Tasshik Soma (strangemusic on PA) on skill and role specialization:
Niobe Turantulov (Blutraserei on PA) on... shooting bitches, I guess:
Gihgehls (Gihgehls on PA) on being a chill WANG:
Maimonides Einotar (scrivenerjones on PA) on Slashfic:
Finally, a quick summation of the major events that have occurred since the start of the last thread.
- Red Alliance, Against All Authorities, and Mercenary Coalition have all unveiled new Titans.
- Mercenary Coalition and ISS lost Motherships assisting FIX in the war against IAC/AAA in Querious.
- Triumvirate, Razor, and Morsus Mihi killed a Sparta Alliance Mothership building in the north, leading Sparta and their ally Storm Armada to dissolve and hand their territory to Fallen Souls.
- RedSwarmFederation (the red blob in the south, which includes us) has cleansed all BoB POSes from Tenerifis, has claimed a solid grip on stations in Omist with the exception of one, and has started advancing the fight into Feythabolis, slowly grinding forward.
Matst Ircar and Baron Weinerschnitzel in EvE.
Also, sup hombres.
MWO: Adamski
Several hundred Rifters.
I hope there'd be some minmatar shuttles in there too though
well, back to station spinning
http://goonfleet.com/showthread.php?t=65359
(hint: frank frank has a newbie believing he's The Mittani)
for da op
?
I just lost my destroyer and I need friends
Until then I'm mucking about with free trials. Amarr ships are sexy.
Meds: AB, Webby, Target Painter (I want a targeting computer but I lack gunnery V so far)
Lows: 2x Med Reppers, 2x DPS mods, 1x 200 mm Armor plate
My gunnery skills are only decent (.6 mil, most support to level 3) and this is my first armor tank ship so I know those suck too. What do I need to train there? Just armor resists up to four all around? Fit an Adaptive energized plating or two?
Also is it me or do Gallente ships have shitty cap?
Edit: Newbie questions are for the newbie thread apparently, EQduffy answered my question there several minutes before I posted this tripe.
I will have you know that that fitting is not utterly terrible. The target painter/Targeting computer is pretty noobish. But the rest of it is pretty darn good compared to what you will come accross. Too many reps and plates, but still
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
He's very cleverly pitying my being unsure so he can set me up for a massive attack, wherein he insults my newbishness so hard my entire family becomes depressed.
No, really until you see people with short range and long range guns on their ships. Let alone short range and long range guns of different sizes of different weapon categories[not including launchers] you will understand just how good that fitting is for a noob.
The correct answer for missions is
5x rails or blasters
ab, web, cap recharger
mar, spec hard, spec hard, spec hard, spec hard
Swap hardeners for CPRs/damage mods as necessary but seriously, it could be a lot worse.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
Ooooh no. I'm being drawn in by the sirens song of Bioshock as it is, and I really want to get a month on my CoH account, if just to roam around and mess with costumes on non-raid nights. EVE would probably consume my soul.
That said, this one server thing with the giant territory battles sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
[edit]I can't possibly emphasise how good this video is at showing EvE combat at it's best. Watch it. Now.
Sig images by FooB
Sweet, I will try that out.
I always assumed that if you were going to use a weapon you used a damage mod too, guess it makes more sense to stay alive.