EVE-Mag.com

Can a Tractor Tractor a Can?

Published on 03. Jul, 2009 ... written by Ecaf Ersa.

CrazyKinux charges EVE bloggers everywhere with the task of writing about the mechanic they’d most like to see removed from EVE. I’m not technically a blogger so I don’t expect to be considered for any of the prizes that are on offer but the topic intrigued me so I thought I’d throw my idea into the ring whether it is eligible for the competition or not. I expect a ton of submissions on the topics of sovereignty and local chat so I figured I go with something a bit lower key.

Welcome to the ninth installment of the EVE Blog Banter and its first contest, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

“Last month Ga’len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith “WebMandrill” Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?”

To kick off I ask the question: If such a thing existed in reality, what would a tractor beam know about a jetcan?

Ignoring the philosophical discussion of whether a piece of technology can “know” anything at all, personally I reckon that it can’t tell anything except that it’s an object that it can lock on to and apply it’s force to.

So why is it that when my alt, that is not in the same corp as my main, attempts to tractor over a can or wreck that is “owned” by my main, the tractor beam politely informs me that I can’t do that because it doesn’t belong to me?

How the hell does it know that? And more importantly why does it care?

In the real world we have many examples of technology that can enable you to break the law. Connected to my TV is a device that can record copyrighted programmes and films onto VHS tapes or DVDs. Not only that, I can also use it to copy a tape or DVD contained copyrighted material onto another DVD or tape. It lets me because the technology can also be used in a lawful way but more significantly because the company that made it didn’t break any laws in doing so. They merely pointed out to me that copyright laws exist and left it to me to act responsibly in it’s use.

Another example where the legality is much more blurred is with in-car radar detection devices which warn you of radar based speed cameras nearby. It is not illegal, at least not in the UK, to have a device “listening” to the radar frequency, only to actually receive a signal on it. This device doesn’t even really have a legal application, at least not in the form it is provided, yet the manufacturers broke no laws making it and possession of one is not illegal so they continue to be made.

Consider also the fact that, in the world of EVE, theft isn’t even really considered much of a crime. CONCORD will not respond to it and merely turn a blind eye for fifteen minutes while you take your revenge, should you so desire to. Add to this the fact that, with wrecks, whilst the contents may be considered to belong to the character that delivered the killing blow, the wreck itself is not, hence why you can salvage anybody’s wreck.

I can, however, see why CCP added this “legality detection” mechanic into tractor beams – it’s a sop to the jet can miners. As a part-time member of this group of EVE players I know all too well just how annoying it is to have your ore stolen and not have many realistic options of dealing with it in your mining barge. I can imagine the uproar that that would ensue if the ore thieves could just tractor your can out of your reach from 19kms away.

Despite the fact that I use jetcans to store my freshly mined ore, let’s throw the counter-point into the mix here: jet cans are not intended to be in-space secure storage for your ore. The somewhat inappropriately named “Giant” Secure Container is there for that purpose. Not only is it secure but you can anchor it against tractor beams too! The problem is with that misnomer – they are not giant at all. A Hulk pilot with decent skills will fill the 3,900m3 it provides in about 2-3 minutes making it pretty ineffective without at least two haulers at your disposal.

So CCP, how about a giant can that is actually giant? Even 10,000 m3 would be enough to allow your hauler to zip to the station and back. This would solve the problem to jetcan miners but how about missioners who already have to deal with ninja salvagers coming into their mission and taking their hard earned salvage. Well that one is simple, just make the wreck the property of the killing character, just as the contents are, thereby removing a legitimate gripe of many mission runners in the process. Then we can get rid of this crazy mechanic with absolutely no basis in reality.

This could also open up opportunities for a wider range of applications for tractor beams. How about trapping a pod to prevent it from escaping? Even more extreme could be the ability to scoop said pod to your cargohold although, on second thoughts, that is probably too extreme! With this you would be able to tractor a frigate inside the range of your battleship’s webber. You’ve sacrificed a high slot for something that may be of no use so there is give and take there.

So whilst exploring this line of thought, let’s point out that surely a tractor beam should exert pulling force at both ends of the “line” based on relative mass? Clearly a dreadnought isn’t going to budge if it tractors a frigate but try this round the other way. You’re only going to pull yourself closer to the dread, but then couldn’t that be used to create an additional speed boost through the slingshot effect?

Ooh, now here’s a wicked idea – how about a starbase tractor array? Sniper BS fleet? Not for long!

And right here a whole world of possibilities open up before us!

Have fun with whatever you happen to be doing and good luck to all the real bloggers with your entries which are all linked below for you to check out!

1. Diary of a Space Jockey, Blog Banter: BE GONE!
2. EVE Newb, (EVE) Remove You
3. Miner With Fangs, Blog Banter – It’s the Scotch
4. The Eden Explorer, Blog Banter: The Map! The Map!
5. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, “Beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, mushroom, MUSHROOM!!!”
6. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, Kill the Rats
7. Mercspector @ EVE, Scotty
8. EVE’s Weekend Warrior, EVE Blog Banter #9
9. A Merry Life and a Short One, Eve Blog Banter #9: Why Won’t You Die?
10. Into the unknown with gun and camera, Blog Banter – The Hokey Cokey
11. The Flightless Geek, EVE Blog Banter #9: Remove a Game Mechanic
12. Sweet Little Bad Girl, Blog Banter 9: Who is Nibbling at My House?
13. One Man and His Spaceship, Blog Banter 9: What could you do without?
14. Life in Low Sec, EVE Blog Banter #9: Stop Tarnishing My Halo
15. Cle Demaari: Citizen, Blog Banter #9: Training for all my men!
16. A Mule in EVE, He who giveth, also taketh away?
17. Dense Veldspar, Blog Banter 9
18. Morphisat’s Blog, Blog Banter #9 – Randomness Be Gone !
19. Facepalm’s Blog, EVE Blog Banter #9: What a new pilot could do without
20. Memoires of New Eden, You’re Fired
21. Kyle Langdon’s Journeys in EVE, EVE Blog Banter #9 Titans? What’s a Titan?
22. Achernar, The gates! The gates are down!
23. Speed Fairy, EVE Blog Banter #9: Down with Downtime!
24. I am Keith Neilson, EVE Blog Banter #9-F**K Da Police
25. Ripe Lacunae, The UI… Where do I begin… (Eve Blog Banter #9)
26. Clown Punchers, EvE Blogs: What game mechanic would you get rid of?
27. Estel Arador Corp Services, You’ve got mail
28. Epic Slant, Let Mom and Pop Play: EVE Blog Banter #9
29. Deaf Plasma’s EVE Musings, Blog Banter #9 – Removal of Anchoring Delay of POS modules
30. Podded Once Again, Blog Banter #9 – Do we really need to go AFK?
31. Postcards from EVE, 2009.07.02.00.29.06
32. Harbinger Zero, Blog Banter #9 – War Declarations & Sec Status
33. Warp Scrammed, Blog Banter 9 – Never Too Fast
34. More articles as they are posted!

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Column: I am fed up with all this whining!

Published on 18. Nov, 2008 ... written by Ecaf Ersa.

For the thousandth time I cry “I am fed up with all this whining!”

The opinions contained in this article are solely those of the author and are not intentionally intended to reflect the opinions of my corp, CCP, EVE-Mag, their affiliates or anyone else I may be connected with. Although it is possible that they may do so by coincidence!

Yes, the irony in the title is intentional but the message is sincere. I tire of the fact that there are soooooo many forum threads making a big deal about something that is “grossly unfair” in this world of EVE.

No I am sorry, grossly unfair is getting sacked from your job because of someone else’s mistake or a selfless salt-of-the-earth close friend or family member contracting a nasty illness. These are the events you can rightfully bemoan all you like and be sure that I’ll join right in with you.

So why are there so many of these threads? I certainly don’t encounter the same proportion of whiners in my day-to-day real life encounters. People will sometimes mention that things are not going all their way but are for the most part still reasonably up-beat even when it is something significant. Well there seems to me to be a couple of reasons. Firstly there is an absence of proximity and practically complete anonymity especially if posting with an alt. This gives the feeling of immunity from any repercussions that your comments might provoke resulting in a greater willingness to speak out. This article ironically also benefits from this but I have supplied not only my main toon’s name but my real name and an e-mail address as well! By the way, if you are a seasoned whiner and am offended by what I write the please feel free to send me hate-mail – if it’s reasoned argument I will even respond!

The second factor is I believe down to the make-up of the forum community. It is a reasonable assumption, supported by observational evidence, that the majority of forum posts are from PvPers and since any little edge can make all the difference in PvP the efforts of CCP to balance the game can easily take these edges away. So maybe this is a good reason for all the moaning that proliferates in the forums. Well maybe, but for me it comes down to a question of scale and perspective.

Take a look at the huge number of whine threads about the “nano-nerf” in the forums. “Oh my god! It’s so appalling that that my opponent might be allowed to actually hit my ship! I can’t carry on with this game anymore – MY LIFE IS RUINED!”. Despite the fact that I previously mentioned edges in PvP this still basically means that a loop-hole or imbalance in the system that you used to your advantage is now closed. Can’t you just be thankful that you could benefit from it up till now?

There does seem to be the impression from what is generally written that the poster was the only one utilising this imbalance and that the change will now put them on the back-foot compared to everyone else. No not true! Obviously, everything in EVE affects everyone in one way or another, for example if one race’s ships gets a boost then demand for them will increase and prices will rise increasing costs for the users of those ships. Take a look at the price history of Blockade Runners in the run-up to and since the release of the Quantum Rise expansion.

If a change reduces the comparative awesomeness of your ship and makes your opponent effectively more powerful, change ships or use a different tactic. In any case it is somewhat narrow-minded to continually do exactly the same thing using the same tactic in a game that has such enormous potential for doing things differently yet still competently.

Get some perspective please – this is a game! Yes you can take it seriously without any need to start bawling when CCP change something that affects your favourite ship or current style of play. Either live with the change and carry on regardless in a more levelled playing field or adjust what you do. In either case – move on!

On a counter-note I admit that there have been some rather drastic adjustments made in the past and there may well be more to come. Take the ‘Aoede’ Mining Laser Upgrade which used to fetch up to a billion ISK a piece. I clearly recall a corp mate one day announcing triumphantly that he had obtained two of these at a bargain price. His elation was rapidly turned into despair when he learned from another corp mate, who had been on the test server, what the reason for the reduced price tag was – the 25% mining yield bonus they gave was being reduced to 9% and the CPU penalty was to rise from 6% to 7.5%. He managed to offload them onto someone else similarly in the dark about the upcoming change and maybe this person also passed them on but ultimately somebody will have ended up with two items suddenly worth considerably less than they had paid for them. They remain better than the T2 MLU by merit of the CPU penalty still being lower but not worth a billion ISK anymore! I’ll concede that maybe a change of this magnitude is worth a moan or two.

So while I am on the subject of pointless forum posts and in a mood to speak out about them here is another one for you.

When I first considered the idea of building capital ships, which in my case was solely for the benefit of my fellow corp members, I searched around on the internet for some information on how it all worked. I started with the forums until I realised that practically everything in there on the subject went along these lines: “Hi, I’m thinking of building capital ships. Can anyone give me any advice please?” Answer: “Don’t bother. You can only make 100-200 million ISK a month at it. I earn eleventy billion a week standing on my head and I only have one finger to type with and sleep 23 hours a day.”

Cue 20 more responses along the same lines. I can only assume that these posters spend all their time trawling through the markets trading, which personally, and I suspect 90% of the EVE community, find the most mind-numbingly boring thing there is to do in EVE even if it is the most lucrative. If that is what you want to do then fine, I have no problem with that, although I expect that after an hour the brain begins to stutter to a halt and the eyes glaze over so they then spend the next hour telling everyone on the forums that they all should be doing it as well – maybe on the basis that a sufferance shared is a sufferance halved or, at least, so it is said.

But really, is your sole purpose in EVE to have a thirteen digit bank balance? Surely ISK is a means to an end rather the end itself? Whatever happened to having fun whatever you are doing regardless of the profit involved?

But I digress – my aim here is not to have a pop at the ISK obsessed. My point is ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION!!!! The original poster didn’t ask how you make your ISK, they wanted advice on making capital ships! If you don’t have any constructive advice to give then don’t post a response – if you do then by all means also mention that they should not expect phenomenal profits – just don’t simply knock them down because it doesn’t make your pants wet every 15 seconds when your wallet button flashes!

OK, so now I have that off my chest I shall get back to making my capital ships.

Whiners can do what they do best by commenting to this article in the space provided below or eMail me.

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