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Noob! The First PVE Ships and Why!

Published on 24. Apr, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

Kill NPC I: Amarr
-Amarr Tech I Ships

I’m sure many of you have at some point early in your EVE career decided that it would be a brilliant idea to take an Exequror or a Blackbird into a mission. You probably either lost it or left the mission feeling mystified and/or stupid because it didn’t work. For all of you who have not tried this yet, because you are too new or otherwise, good on you!

Of course, it’s one matter to know what not to fly in a mission, but it’s completely different to know what ships to fly and how to fit them. Here I’m going to cover every single Level 1 and Level 2 mission ship that will be realistically available to you early in your EVE career.

NOTE:
For all fits, please use Energy Weapons(Lasers) unless otherwise noted
All modules are Tech I unnamed – please upgrade according to your powergrid/CPU and skill capabilities for optimal results.

All “Recommended Skills” are not required, simply support skills that enhance efficiency.
Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV(for Frigates and Destroyers), and Medium Energy Turret III or IV (for Cruisers, and later on, Battlecruisers) are recommended for ALL Amarrian ships.

Vocabulary:

Pulse: If this is used in the context of a module, especially an armor repairer, shield booster, or afterburner, this means manually engaging and disengaging (click on the icon to engage, click again to turn off) a module to conserve capacitor as needed. A good example of this is to use an armor repairer, turning it on when you are taking significant amounts of damage, and then turning it off again once you are not.

Permatank: The ability of a ship to permanently engage it’s armor repairers or shield boosters, weapons, and every other energy-using module at the same time, indefinitely, without running out of energy.

Amarr
The Executioner:

While at first a seemingly capable mission ship, flying the Executioner even for a few minutes shows a completely different story. The 2/2/2 slot layout literally requires a pair of turrets in the high slots, however, what to do with the remaining 4 slots is a quandary. As per the description ingame, “The Executioner was designed specially to counter the small, fast raider frigates of the Minmatar Republic; thus it is different from most Amarr ships in favoring speed over defenses.” From this and our 2 low slots arises the problem with the Executioner as a low-skill mission ship. A low skilled speed-tanked ship cannot hope to evade all of the NPC’s, especially not if they’re using missiles, but that takes away the main difference of the Executioner from the other Amarrian frigates. Also, the capacitor on the Executioner is notoriously poor, and it is quite difficult to run both guns and an afterburner unless one fits many capacitor regeneration modules. While veterans can have fun blasting through a mission, for those new players(or old) that simply want to make as much ISK as fast as possible, the Executioner is not a contender.

Example Fit(Recommended):

High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots
1x Small Armor Repairer I
1x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane(or other Energized damage specific hardener)

Tactics: Orbit at optimal range and take down the closest enemies first; your beam lasers allow you long range so you can do this. To figure out your optimal range, undock from a station, right click on the icon of one of your lasers (make sure a crystal is loaded), and click “Show Info.” Go to “Attributes” and scroll down until you find “Optimal Range.” This is the range that you will do maximum potential damage up to. Keep in mind that you will be quite quite slow, so you’ll want to take out the fastest enemies as quickly as possible before they close range.

NOTE: This fit is not cap stable, either upgrade your modules, train more skills, or pulse the repairer(see vocabulary at top of article.)
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Amarr Frigate III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

Speed Fit(Not recommended for new players):
High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard or Infrared S
Mid Slots:
1x Afterburner I
1x Tracking Computer I
Low Slots:
2x Overdrive Injector I

Tactics: Orbit at your optimal with the tracking computer on. Use Infrared crystals if you must get farther away, but at over 1KM/s with even Navigation I, if you’re careful you should be able to evade ANY Level 1 NPC

NOTE: Cap lasts 2:20 with no skills, Velocity is 992 m/s with no skills Optimal of 9.3KM – 12 based on crystals used.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Navigation IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Energy Management III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

The final verdict: Although a powerful and fast PVP vessel, especially in the area of tackling(preventing an enemy ship from warping or moving quickly) due to it’s high speed, the Executioner does not have the durability or endurance to become a major contender for the premier Amarrian mission Frigate.
Securitas’ Rank: 2/5 Stars

The Crucifier:

The Crucifier suffers the same basic problems as the Executioner: Low armor and shields, very limited slot layout, and a lack of useful bonuses. It’s intended for Tracking Disruption and is an admirable – and annoying for your opponent – PVP ship, but EWAR just doesn’t cut it in missions.

The final verdict: The Crucifier is a very annoying and effective PVP ship due to it’s electronic warfare bonus, specifically in the area of tracking disruption. A Tracking Disruptor, or “TD” for short, hampers the ability of the target ship to hit fast-moving ships via slowing down the turret tracking speed, or, if loaded with the correct script, lowers the range at which an enemy turret ship can effectively fight. The change brought on by a TD is drastic – over 50% reduction in tracking or optimal range per TD on a well-skilled pilot’s ship. However, for those tempted to use this ship in missions, there are a few very good reasons why this is not a good idea. First of all, the MAXIMUM number of TD’s one can fit is 3, meaning 3 targets tracking disrupted. A typical mission might have 10-30 enemy NPC’s, meaning that you cannot negate the damage of more than three of them, no matter how effective your electronic warfare is. Additionally, many missions will have enemy missile boats, which Tracking Disruptors have no effect on.

Secondly, the Crucifier lacks a large amount of armor or capacitor, meaning that it can neither take a lot of damage or sustain this for very long. Once one adds the fact that the Crucifier has only TWO damage unbonused turret slots and only space for one light drone, the Crucifier becomes largely useless in missions.

The Tormentor:

While the description says that the Tormentor has “strong defenses that make it a tough opponent to crack,” the Tormentor is nothing of the sort. It has less armor than every Amarrian frigate save for possibly the Impairor, and with a lack of bonuses for weapons or tank. This, combined with the fact that the Tormentor only has 2 unbonused turret hardpoints, makes it a somewhat less than desirable PVE ship.

The final verdict: An excellent mining frigate but the Tormentor has no place on the battlefield. Ever.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Inquisitor:

Despite it’s initial appearance, the Inquisitor is a quite potent mission-running frigate – with the right skills of course. Because of it’s lack of capacitor-using weapons and it’s (relatively) long missile range, the Inquisitor can either be speed-tanked, orbiting at high speed from 20km out and pounding it’s targets, or at relative close range with a fair tank. It has no resistance bonuses and it’s damage is rather lackluster, especially because you’ll be using your lows to tank or fly fast, not to increase your damage, but from personal experience this ship can easily complete any Level I mission. Be wise in how you fit it, for it’s slots are also limited.

Other advantages to the Inquisitor come from it’s missile-based weapons systems. Using missiles as your prime method of damage enables you to ignore tracking. In other words, as long as a target is in range and not outrunning your missiles which is not a concern in missions, you will always hit for full damage, or at least as much as NPC speeds and resistances allow, never having to worry about whether or not they are avoiding your turrets by moving too quickly. Additionally, missile launchers use no capacitor energy, allowing more energy for the rest of a pilot’s modules, for example an armor repairer or afterburner. Yet another advantage is the ability to choose one’s damage type, although in almost every single case using Sabretooth (EM damage) missiles on an Inquisitor is better, because the ship receives a 10% damage bonus per level to EM missile damage, but only a 5% damage bonus to all other types of missiles. However, in some rare cases, such as elite Guristas rats (Dread ship type), it is more advantageous to use other missile types due to said rats having EXTREMELY high EM resistances.

Example Fit:
High Slots:
3x Standard Missile Launcher I, Sabretooth Light Missile
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
2x Specific Energized Plating I

NOTE: The Inquisitor has a 18.8 KM range with no missile skills. Additionally, you should only need to pulse(vocabulary section above) the armor repairer as it is NOT cap stable. It does not fit with no skills, but with minimum skills, such as Engineering III, and Electronics III, with possibly Weapon Upgrades III, it should.

Tactics: This fit has no afterburner, so the best you can do is to fly in a straight line, which will help you avoid SOME fire, while pummeling the closest targets(or fastest) with missiles first. If you come up with your own afterburner fit, orbit 20km away with the afterburner on and shoot enemies one at a time.

Recommended Skills: Missile Projection III or IV, Missile Bombardment III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III

The final verdict: A capable mission running craft, the Inquisitor is an uncommon sight in PVE because of it’s missile-based weapons, but nonetheless it gets the job done admirably for those with the missile skills to use it.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Magnate:

The Magnate looks cool and is great for finding safed-up enemies with the use of probes and a probe launcher. That said you should never put this ship in harm’s way, especially in a mission, for the Magnate was never designed with combat in mind. It has only 2 turret hardpoints and only 2 low slots, limiting both tank and damage severely.

The final verdict: You can fly this in PVE for the lulz, but don’t expect to get out of that mission anytime soon – or alive, for that matter.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Punisher:

For the vast majority of Amarrians, the Punisher is the mission-running Frigate of choice. It’s the toughest Amarrian frigate, although it suffers from the same problems as the Maller; plenty of capacitor, plenty of tank, plenty of fitting, but very little damage. One remedy for this is to use an afterburner and close ranged pulse turrets, although some of the BEST fits for the Punisher use autocannons because of their complete lack of capacitor use and low fitting requirements. Seeing as the Punisher loses no damage or bonuses over using them, this is a wise decision in many circumstances. Be advised, however, the thing is a bit slow unless fitted with speed-enhancing modules.

Example Fit(Lasers, for purists, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x Dual Pulse Laser I, Standard S(to save capacitor)
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating(use named to save on CPU, you’ll need it for low skills)
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Try to fly away from opponents to “kite” them with the afterburner on. This should get you a large amount of enemies following you directly, maximizing tracking and minimizing the damage placed on you. The way this works is that the NPCs are barreling straight towards you and presenting targets that are not moving laterally. Meanwhile, these same NPCs probably cannot match your range or speed, and therefore cannot hit you. Also, because you are taking less damage, you won’t have use the Armor Repairer as often, saving capacitor.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III

NOTE: Once again pulse the Repairer or get capacitor skills – very necessary for Amarr vessels.

Example Fit(Autocannons, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x 150mm Light Autocannon I, EMP S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x 1MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
2x Specific Energized Plating
1x Gyrostabilizer I
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Use your afterburner to chase down ships and pummel them at close range. Try to get within 2KM before you start firing. Only activate your armor repairer when you have the capacitor and need it.
Recommended Skills: Weapon Upgrades III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Small Projectile Turret III or IV

NOTE: In almost all cases, one should not use non-racial weapons systems on ships because of “wasted” bonuses. The Punisher, Maller, and Prophecy are all exceptions to this rule due to their 10% laser capacitor bonus per level, but lack of any other laser bonuses. Because projectile-class weapons use NO capacitor whatsoever, and have lower fitting requirements (but also lower damage), they are excellent matches for these vessels. However, if one does not have Projectile weapon skills, it is usually not in a newer player’s interest to specifically train these.

The final verdict: The Punisher is either the best Amarrian PVE frigate, or ties with the Inquisitor, depending on your skills with their respective weapons systems(Lasers vs Missiles). Definitely something to put in your hangar.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Coercer:

While having plenty of damage, lightning-fast tracking, and a huge and very useful optimal range bonus, the Coercer is a less-than-optimal mission running ship. Twice to three times as expensive as the Punisher, with a larger signature radius and slower speed, making it easier to hit, and a weaker tank, as well as limited low slots, condemn this otherwise promising craft. That said if fit correctly with high skills it can “gank” it’s way through Level I and very easy Level II missions with ease.

Example Fit(Lasers, Not Recommended):
High Slots:
7x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating

Tactics: Shoot the ships closest to you first.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III or IV

Example Fit: (Gank, High Skills):
High Slots:
7x Dual Modulated Pulse Energy Beam I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger II
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer II
3x Heat Sink II

NOTE: First of all, the above fit is intended as an example “gank”(killing enemies before they kill you) fit, not one to be used by newer players – just a way to show newer players how this would work. This is not cap stable and should ONLY be flown if you have the skills to fit all of the above with ease. It has a 10KM range and does 136 DPS with good skills. If you know how to manually pilot your ship and avoid fire as much as possible, you will blow through missions.

Tactics: Shoot the ships that are closest to you first; with your damage you should melt any Level I NPC within seconds

The final verdict: Fun to fly and daring, but not very tough, and one midslot presents limited options, forcing one to choose between capacitor stability and speed or range. The Punisher is a much better choice, especially for newer players who want a higher degree of safety due to the Punisher’s tanking bonus. This is a great ship for those who already know exactly what they are doing as it presents a bit of a risk to a very new player, however, with it’s ability to blow through Level I missions with great ease.
Securitas’ Rank: 4/5 Stars

The Augoror:

This is the cheapest Amarrian cruiser, and thus, many newer pilots may be tempted to use it simply because it enables them to say “OMG I have a cruiser now!” However, the Augoror is a bad choice of solo mission ship for a variety of reasons. Note that it can make an excellent mission support cruiser, acting in a logistics capacity to assist other vessels.

Now, you ask, what’s wrong with it? Well, although that 10% armor bonus per level is very useful for making you survive longer and for PVP where a buffer tank is preferable, that very same bonus will also make you survive longer and not potentially indefinitely – in essence, it will not allow you to “permatank,” or to keep a repairer/hardeners on indefinitely, any better than a ship without the bonus. Basically, it does not change the RATE at which enemies chew through your armor, simply the TIME that it takes them to do it. Permatanking is practically a requirement for ANY mission ship in case you mess up on something or get warp scrambled. Alright, admittedly permatanking is not required, especially for higher-level players, however, for a new player just hopping into their first cruiser, it’s most desirable to be ready for anything.

Thus, the extra 50% armor even at Amarr Cruiser V does not help a mission running pilot in the least, especially considering the ship gets no gun bonuses, not even a capacitor usage bonus, and only has 3 turret hardpoints. The final death knell for the Augoror as a mission ship comes from it’s 5 m3 drone bay, meaning you can’t even rely on it’s paltry drone damage to complete a mission. In addition, the 10% Energy need bonus for Remote Energy Transfer modules also doesn’t help at all in a solo combat situation – who are you going to give energy to, the rats?

However, new players can help out older corp mates by giving them capacitor from the Augoror’s generous supply, assisting the older playing in tanking and keeping his guns running, so he might be able to fit more powerful (and power-hungry) weapons and a tougher tank than he might otherwise be able to do alone. In this case, the Augoror should be fit with Medium Energy Transfer Arrays in the highslots, and capacitor-boosting modules, such as mid-slot Cap Recharger’s and low-slot Capacitor Power Relays, to ensure that the Augoror pilot is able to keep the Energy Transfer Arrays operational. No tanking modules should be fitted, as the Augoror has a generous armor buffer, and the newer pilot will have plenty of time to warp out and back in. Additionally, this allows the ship to focus entirely on it’s logistical role.

The final verdict: Not a good mission ship, could possibly be used in extenuating circumstances. However, in a logistics role, this ship excels.
Securitas’ Rank: 1/5 Stars(a 0 is possible)
Recommended Skills: Energy Emission Systems III or IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV

The Arbitrator:

The Arbitrator is the Amarrian Electronic warfare cruiser and only Tech 1 cruiser sized drone ship. While it’s bonuses don’t immediately appear to be helpful to a new mission runner, it is probably the best Tech 1 mission ship the Amarrian fleet has to offer. Because newer players often lack fitting skills such as Weapon Upgrades and Advanced Weapon Upgrades, or even Engineering and Electronics to V each, having drones as a main damage source frees up your powergrid and CPU for things other than guns.

Additionally, the capacitor is not continually being drained by the cap-intensive lasers, especially for a newer player that lacks capacitor skills. With a fitting of an afterburner, cap mods in the mids, and a full armor tank in the lowslots, even 4 lowslots is enough for any Level 2 mission. With Tech II drones this beast is capable for either PVP or PVE. However, for PVE work, the second bonus of 5% to Tracking Disruptor effectiveness per level is for the most part completely useless; the slots are better used for more cap mods to power your tank or drone mods to make your drones go faster.

The highs can be fitted with nosferatus and small guns for up-close work and aggressing groups of enemies, or drone links to increase the range of your drones.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):
High Slots:
1x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S(getting aggro)
2x Medium Nosferatu I
1x Drone Link Augmentor I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
1x 10MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

5x Hammerhead I(Gallente drones do more damage against pretty much all NPC’s regardless of resists, with a possible exception to some Blood Raider Elite frigates)
5x Hobgoblin I (Same as above)

Tactics: Move after the wrecks after you kill them to loot them, focus fire on the cruisers first(except for Elite Frigates, usually preceded with names like Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc) with your Hammerheads, recall drones after all cruisers are dead, launch Hobgoblins and engage all frigates due to the better tracking of light drones. BEFORE launching drones, fire your Dual Light laser at groups of enemies so that they attack you and not your drones.
Recommended Skills: Combat Drone Operation III or IV, Scout Drone Operation V, Drones V, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: With a combination of low powergrid and CPU needs, drone-based damage, and very low skill requirements, the Arbitrator is the preferred mission running ship in the Amarrian Tech I navy.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5

The Omen:

Many turret-users out there may be tempted to use the Omen. Personally, I advise against this for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that the Omen is lacking in the powergrid department. While it does plenty of damage and is quite cap stable, newer players will find it difficult to fit longer range lasers, especially Heavy Beam Lasers without a fitting module or two. The 15 m3 of drone bay makes the Omen slightly more desirable, but once again it is outclassed in every area but damage by the Arbitrator and Maller. For more experienced players who like to blow through missions, the Omen is a good choice. However, for newer players, it simply requires too many support skills to be viable.

Example Fit(Beam Lasers, Not Recommended)
High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Beam Laser I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
4x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

3x Hobgoblin I

NOTE: This does not fit with basic skill, and in fact, one needs relatively high skills(Engineering IV, Electronics IV), to fit this, which is why the Omen is less than desirable as a cruiser. As well, the damage is less than an Arbitrator and the capacitor does not last long.

Tactics: Try to kite your enemies as best as possible, take out cruisers first, use the light drones against frigates, except in cases of Elite Frigates (Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc), which should be taken out VERY FIRST, as these will warp scramble and web you.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Combat Drone Operation II

The final verdict: While not a bad choice, the presence of better alternatives leaves the Omen a secondary or “just-for-fun” choice.
Securitas’ Rank: 3.5/5

The Maller:

The Maller will find many fans among newer players due to it’s 5% bonus to armor resistances per level. As opposed to the Augoror’s 10% armor bonus per level, this resistance bonus actually makes a tank stronger instead of just lasting longer. Thus, for newer players without many tanking skills, the Maller will get the job done, albeit slowly. The problem with the Maller lies chiefly in it’s lack of a damage bonus; though it has the powergrid for a full rack of medium lasers AND a tank, it will certainly take a while to finish a mission. It has a very generous capacitor and a medium energy turret capacitor use bonus besides, and it’s tank makes it as hard as a rock. The Maller is the most expensive Amarrian cruiser though, and with the Arbitrator available for nearly half the price and as good or better to boot, the Maller simply is not needed. In fact, it’s tank is almost “too strong,” meaning that a player will end up overtanking for a mission, which is not a bad thing but definitely not a good one.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Pulse Laser I, Standard M
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
2x Medium Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Capacitor Power Relay I

NOTE: This is NOT cap stable and does not fit with no skills, you must train up some basic capacitor and fitting skills. It also takes advantage of the tanking bonus of the Maller with 2 repairers, if you don’t have enough capacitor pulse one repairer or upgrade the modules.

Tactics: Take out targets at your leisure, you have a very powerful tank, however, take out the cruisers first so you can begin taking less damage and pulsing the repper as soon as possible, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates, which you should take out as soon as possible.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV, Energy Grid Upgrades II or III, Motion Prediction IV.

Example Fit(Alternative, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x 220mm Vulcan Autocannon I, EMP M
Mid Slots:
1x 10MN Afterburner I
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Capacitor Power Relay I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Damage Control I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

NOTE: If you want to have a bit of fun, this is a bit more daring and less “tough” setup, but as the Maller receives no laser damage bonuses, it does not lose any damage, and in fact gains one from the close range weapons. The capacitor is more stable as well. Also, this fits with NO skills and you can upgrade quite a bit, whether to 425mm autocannons or to more tech II modules.

Tactics: Burn towards the cruisers first and take them out quickly, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates. With this ship you have to be VERY cautious with Elite Frigates as they can and will evade the tracking on your medium-sized guns, and you have no light drones to dispose of them. In this situation, I recommend burning away from them with the afterburner and hitting them as they follow you, or take them out before they can reach you.
Recommended Skills: Medium Projectile Turret III or IV, Motion Prediction III or IV, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: The Maller is a quite capable mission ship at any level, and higher-skill players will even be able to get some damage out of the thing, but it is outclassed in price and in ease of use by the Arbitrator.
Securitas’ Rank: 4.5/5

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Political Structures: Reaching for Liberty

Published on 27. Feb, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

My alliance, Liberty., disbanded. Normally, no one would care, and maybe no one does anyway, but there are a few lessons that one could learn from how we went from an alliance with control over an entire region with 500+ players to nothing in a matter of a month and a half or so.

So, what did we do wrong, and what rules can we make out of it?
To start with…

Never overextend yourself as an alliance – don’t take more space than you can hold.

First of all, Liberty came in and took Pure Blind by storm, even though we only had maybe 200 members at the time. Sure, it was some feat, and it’s very tempting, taking a whole region by ourselves(with some help) like that, but ultimately it was a very bad decision in the long run. Even at our peak member count, we could not consistently patrol our space and defend our outlying miners and ratters. This made it so that ratting in any of our systems was a dangerous expedition, and even in our “home” of P-2, we couldn’t evict raiders, simply because we were spread too thin.

It is very important to regularly have gatecamps and operations within your own space, to reassure your members that it is in fact, your space.

Always utilize the space you have.

Secondly, except for a few possible exceptions, we did not utilize our space to it’s full extent. Mining operations were few and far between, as were ratting ops, or even PVP ops in general. If we ever ran complexes, I never really heard about it. Don’t get me wrong, Liberty was a great alliance and great fun to be in, but even when we had an entire region under our dominion, it just wasn’t used to it’s fullest extent. I feel that if we had continually ratted and mined and built things while in Pure Blind, perhaps we could have resisted the eventual invaders with much more strength.

Host operations and many of them

Always keep your pilots engaged and doing damage to enemies, it makes them feel important and as if they have a purpose. When I was in Liberty, ops were few and far between, even to defend our own space or gatecamp. The more busy you keep your pilots, the more they feel as if they are in an alliance worth their time, ISK, and energy.

Keep participation up

Always be sure to keep your pilots engaged, and to have punishments(that are actually carried out) for those who do not participate. Often someone would call out an op and attendance would number less than 50% of online, active pilots, even those in the same system as the rally for the op; they simply didn’t come because they were ratting or “doing something more important.”

Communication, communication, communication

This might seem like an obvious one, but always keep constant contact between Alliance leadership and the grunts on the front line. Having a sense of where you are today, what your purpose is, and where you’ll be tomorrow is important for any pilot. Often, new moves were announced or carried through with some pilots staying behind or leaving POS’s or other assets behind. New policies and initiatives were carried out without widespread knowledge.

Ventrilo and/or Teamspeak are great tools for communication, as well as forum boards and alliance mail. One of the things that Liberty did do right is mandating that ALL pilots had to be on Teamspeak ALL the time-although even then, communication was limited at best. I often found myself doing things without knowing why or how this was going to advance our cause.

Choose your friends wisely

When we did move into Pure Blind, we were surrounded by the massive, extremely powerful Northern Coalition, and faced an IRON that no longer held space. Although we were allowed to stay for some time, this was a recipe for disaster. We did form our own small coalition, but when it came down to it, most of our friends did not stay with us and in fact turned on us. Thus, when the NC supported IRON’s bid to retake Pure Blind, we fell in a matter of days, perhaps a week at most.

Keep your players excited and in touch – stay together

After we were kicked out of Pure Blind by the NC, we had a quick period where we were in Empire, not much was going on, and people were leaving by the droves. Perhaps some of them were simply dead weight, but after nothing eventful happens for a few weeks, it’s hard to blame those who leave. After a few weeks in Empire, we did move to Fountain as renters, however, not everyone moved and Liberty was split, with some players left in Empire and some who moved to Fountain. Ultimately this led to a less cohesive alliance and further breakdowns in communication.

In conclusion

To clarify, I’m not attacking Liberty or it’s leadership at all; we had some great people in charge, and that’s why we got as far as we did, I’m glad I was a part of Liberty while it lasted, and if it ever reforms I will not hesitate to rejoin. However, in retrospect, we didn’t always make the best decisions, which is to be expected – nobody’s perfect and as alliances go I feel that Liberty was a great one, but I’m laying down our mistakes here so we can all learn from them. I know I, and many other ex-Liberty members, already have.

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Political Structures: The Great Reclaiming

Published on 14. Jan, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

Just over a month ago, I wrote an article about the possibility of EVE becoming more divided, with the larger coalitions fragmenting and being replaced by myriad, smaller alliances. Anyone who’s been looking at the sovereignty maps will know that my prediction has been proven completely and utterly false. Almost. The North, once home to many of these smaller alliances, such as Liberty, Sc0rched Earth, Dark Trinity Alliance, and Penumbra (who actually still live there), has now been retaken in a “great reclaiming” by the Northern Coalition (NC). IRON, who saw their old home taken by these alliances, has now moved into Pure Blind and Scalar has retaken much of the space that was captured from them previously. Meanwhile, in a massive migration, the Tau Ceti Federation has replaced G00dfellas in Deklein. For all of you that don’t already know, the french Tau Ceti and the NC are allies, and thus almost the entire North is now “under one banner.” Although I’m sure there are exceptions to this, that is the general trend.

Moving on, Mostly Harmless, Guardian Federation, Wildly Inappropriate, and Majesta have all been given more space in the north and now have a significant presence in the region. Being a footsoldier during the evacuation of Pure Blind in Liberty. Myself, I can attest to the control that the NC now possesses over the entire North. However, it is not only the North that has solidified back into the old powerblocs. An excellent example of this is Warp To Desktop, who once held a small yet significant portion of Geminate (admittedly kind of in the north). Only weeks later and they have been pushed out of the region, and their space has been taken largely by KIA and it’s allies, leaving most of the North, East, and West arrayed against Band of Brothers and it’s allies.

As rumors of the NC invading Providence and other areas in the south of New Eden, the possibility of the sovereingty map becoming even more polarized is becoming an ever more-likely option. If Providence is successfully taken by the NC, the myriad smaller alliances currently residing in this space will be pushed out of 0.0. Overall, it appears that the major coalitions and alliances are simply “reclaiming” space that was once theirs or expanding their borders for the time being.

With this “great reclaiming,” dozens of space-holding alliances and coalitions have been reduced to a few main powerblocs, most notably BoB and it’s allies against most of the rest of New Eden. In summary, the many third party and neutral alliances have largely either allied themselves with one side or been pushed out of 0.0. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is up to the reader, but over the past few weeks, EVE has seen a major decline in “neutral” alliances. Whether this is just a temporary surge, with the newly-claimed or reclaimed space being taken back by these smaller alliances within a few months, or the major powers are here to stay is definitely a valid question.

How has the movement in the north affected your corp/alliance and gameplay in general?

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Political Structures: The Great Breakup

Published on 17. Nov, 2008 ... written by Securitas Protector.

by Erik Jensen … As the non-virtual world goes through a time of political upheaval, so does the world of internet spaceships. What I’m referring to, of course, is our very own EVE online. As I’m sure many have noted in recent weeks, the sovereignty maps have been changing. Dramatically. Large chunks of space, held sometimes for years by alliances who have been there since the beginning of EVE, or close to it anyway, suddenly turn into a chaotic maelstrom as dozens of small alliances appear seemingly out of nowhere to seize a piece of the universe for themselves.

A perfect example of this is in the northeastern realm of New Eden. Just weeks ago, this was solidly held by Band of Brothers and G00DFELLAS, along with a few other, smaller alliances. Just weeks later and it’s all changed. Liberty alliance, in a migration from the south of New Eden in IAC space, has taken one system after another. Sc0rched Earth, yet another smaller alliance, has come out of nowhere, taking systems from Axiom. Other smaller alliances of note in the region include Scalar Federation and Terran Alliance, and Imorral Dragons have almost completely lost all of their space.

Just west of here, in the north of New Eden, right above empire-held space, is the rising star of Bionic Dawn, which has over the past few weeks taken various systems from Morsus Mihi. Meanwhile, in the southern heart of Goon-controlled space, RED.OverLord has begun taking sovereignty in two separate areas, not to mention the West, which has become a patchwork of sovereignty including Soviet Mercenary, Red Alliance, Legion of xXDeathXx, Shadow of xXDeathXx, Intrepid Crossing, SOLAR FLEET, SOLAR WING, and GoonSwarm. In fact, virtually the only areas completely unaffected by this sudden spate of land-grabbing action have been the deep north and the great Band Of Brothers/Executive Outcomes fortress in the southeast. Perhaps the oft-considered most powerful alliance in New Eden is simply impervious to the swarm of smaller alliances, or perhaps it is only a matter of time before the entirety of New Eden ceases being controlled by a few select power blocs and instead becomes a blend of hundreds of different factions. Which is more interesting? Well, that’s for every pilot to decide for himself.

Personally, however, I find it more interesting to have a political landscape consisting of many different competing alliances, small coalitions vs. big power blocs. Rather than having a few massive alliances controlling trillions of ISK worth of equipment and minerals and commanding massive fleet operations involving multiple titans, it is much more compelling to watch the story of a small but rising alliance, rather than having such a force instantly quashed. Headlines such as “300 Man Alliance Completes First Mothership” are far more inspiring than “Band Of Brothers Unveils Titan #38!” Come on, lets hear it for the little guys! Sure, their fleets might not be as awe inspiring as hundreds of capitals simultanously hotdropping on a Titan, but it’s battles between them that allow for the personal side of EVE to shine through. Player versus player, not Titan vs Titan.

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