Eve Sovereignty News from 10 January 2010

Aldrat [Nosy Gamer News] - The big news Sunday came from the Southwest quadrant of New Eden where a major fleet battle occurred system 49-U6U in Querious between Goonswarm and an attacking force consisting of Systematic-Chaos and Against ALL Authorities. While actual losses for each side are confused due to massive spatial distortion in the battle space, Dotlan showed a total of 968 ships and 319 pods lost from all causes on 10 January. While Goonswarm maintains sovereignty, two members in the attacking force indicated that the Ihub was successfully placed into reinforced status by the SyS-K/AAA fleet.

In other news from the Southwest, Black Star Alliance succeeded in seizing the sovereignty of system 1-5GBW in Fountain away from Pandemic Legion. The capture of 1-5GBW completes Black Star Alliance's campaign to capture all of the systems in the Skaven constellation.

In other news from the South, Libertas Fidelitas secured sovereignty over 4 systems in the Catch region. The four systems, F9E-KX, SV5-8N, WD-VTV, and 9KOE-A, were systems that Against ALL Authorities had abandoned sovereignty over in mid-December. The four systems increases the number of systems Libertas Fidelitas controls from six to 10 and adds 37 mineral asteroid belts to the areas it controls. One source inside AAA stated that once the alliance's action against Goonswarm is complete that Libertas Fidelitas will be "dealt with."

In the Southeastern quadrant of New Eden, the Immensea region saw Initiative Mercenaries take sovereignty over system 08-N7Q, a system with 8 mineral and 1 ice asteroid belt. The system is the fourth system Initiative Mercenaries have taken control over since 11-12 December when 4 corporations left the alliance; two for Black Star Alliance. The turmoil continues within the alliance with the 16 member Trinity Council corporation leaving the alliance on 8 January.

Finally in the South, the 8 corporation Syndicate of Independent Nations claimed its first 0.0 system, X9V-15 in Scalding Pass. The 19 belt system had been unclaimed since Primary. relinquished sovereignty on 2 December.

In the North, the volatile Geminate region saw Wicked Nation lose sovereignty over V-MZW0. Wicked Nation had taken over sovereignty of the valuable system from Wildly Inappropriate. on 2 December.

The conflict over Geminate may be affecting sovereignty in other regions of the North. In Outer Passage, SOLAR FLEET lost sovereignty in four systems; 24I-FE, 4H-YJZ, U-FQ21, and V-SEE6. All four systems are in the IM-8S5 constellation and SOLAR FLEET still holds the gateway system into the constellation, Q0K-SX. This may be a move by SOLAR FLEET to free up resources to use in the fighting in Geminate.

In the adjacent Cobalt Edge region, SOLAR WING gained sovereignty in three of the systems in the 5ZAB-N constellation; 4GSZ-1, 9-7SRQ, and VEQ-3V. SOLAR WING apparently gained sovereignty over the three systems when former Shadow of xXDeathXx corporation Colonists of Eve joined SOLAR WING on 10 January. Colonists of Eve had left Shadow of xXDeathXx on 8 January.

The actions of Colonists of Eve highlight a growing problem for Shadow of xXDeathXx; the continuing hemorrhaging of systems. The alliance lost 3 more systems on Sunday; NHKO-4 and Y-UO9U in Outer Passage and GGMF-J in Oasa. Over the past 7 days, Shadow of xXDeathXx has lost sovereignty over 14 systems while gaining sovereignty in 3 others. Overall, the alliance has seen a net loss of 60 systems over the past 4 weeks.

Also in Cobalt Edge, Antaeus Combine gained sovereignty over E-BYOS. With the acquisition of E-BYOS, Antaeus Combine now has control of all but one system in the SI1-SF constellation.

In Cloud Ring, Bokhiuld Lomrek Ujjdja Egok lost its last system in 0.0 space, 8R-RTB. Following the loss of the system, the alliance suffered a major failscade with 4 corporations, All-In, Yarrbear Inc., Le Clan Pluie De Coups, and Genesis Fighter Corp leaving. Cry Havoc. gained sovereignty over one of the former Bokhiuld Lomrek Ujjdja Egok systems, Q-UA3C.

Finally, the Pure Blind region saw two changes in sovereignty. Mostly Harmless lost another system, P-2TTL, making it the 23rd system it had lost sovereignty over since 20 December. The fact that makes this loss stand out is that Mostly Harmless lost its station in the system to Initiative., the first time the alliance had lost a station during this time.

The second change in the Pure Blind region was Dark Pride Alliance gaining sovereignty over R-LW2I. This is Dark Pride Alliance's first claimed system in 0.0 space.

A Breakdown On The Fighting In Geminate

A couple of days ago the Interstellar Correspondents published two stories about the fighting in Geminate. I'll be keeping an eye on the sovereignty changes, but I thought I'd include the IC articles to help explain what is occurring in the region.

RAZOR Deploys to Geminate in Full Strength
reported by: ISD Falstaff Labron | 2010.01.08 00:13:37

Geminate [Interstellar Correspondents] – RAZOR Alliance [-RZR-] has deployed to Geminate in full strength to support allies Wildly Inappropriate. [WI.] in their ongoing conflict with ATLAS over the region’s resources.

The conflict has escalated over the past few weeks, with the Northern Coalition Alliances WI., -RZR- and Morsus Mihi [RAWR] actively defending the region against the combined assault of ATLAS, RED Alliance [RED] and SOLAR FLEET [SOLAR].

RAZOR forces are "dedicated to hold every system that we own and take back what we may have lost." URDEAD2ME reports that roughly three weeks ago "we had a full deployment to Geminate to support WI., we moved as fast as we could to get into the key staging systems around Geminate." Phreeze adds, "the entire Alliance is fully deployed, we have everyone here as per our norm when we go places."

Asked to comment on the size of their numbers, URDEAD2ME reports that "at this time we have 715 people in [this system] and 700 are blue I would say, we are defending [it] and [will] not let the station system go. We currently have 9 titans on line in a ‘V’ formation above one of the hostile [enemy structures] as V for victory."

Phreeze further comments "about two weeks before this conflict actually kicked off, ATLAS destroyed WI.'s cap fleet in a surprise attack. Before RAZOR deployed, ATLAS [then] soundly beat WI. and local Northern Coalition allies [on more than one occasion]. Since then, ATLAS has taken many high end moons, but has been repelled in every sovereignty assault."

"Since ATLAS enlisted the help of such entities as SOLAR, RED, Cult of War [-COW-], and Gentlemen's Club [STRPR], they have numerical advantage on early parts of their assaults, and generally lose when we are able to bring the rest of the Northern Coalition to assist... however, that rarely happens... and [this] has allowed ATLAS to gain moons... proportionally WI. has lost about two thirds of their money moons... [and] it’s not going well [since] they outnumber us in nearly every [period]."

Our upcoming report on the Geminate conflict with details of recent major engagements will be published soon, so keep your NeoCom's updated to get the latest developments.

War in Geminate Continues
reported by: ISD Falstaff Labron | 2010.01.08 23:56:39

Geminate [Interstellar Correspondents] - ATLAS and allies are successfully taking control of the strategic resources in the region while Widly Inappropriate. [WI] and the Northern Coalition forces strive to retain sovereignty.

The war in Geminate has had several hundred ship engagements taking place across the region, with two major engagements in systems K25-XD and Y8R-XZ.

Roughly two weeks ago in K25-XD, WI. reports that Solar Fleet [SOLAR] used a battleship heavy fleet to drop SBU's on gates in the system and incapacitate the K25-XD/Q-TBHW jump bridge and cyno jammer. Positioned on the Y8R-XZ/K25-XD jump bridge, the combined WI. and RAZOR fleets waited for the jump bridge on the other side to be clear and then moved inside the structure's shield. Meanwhile, Morsus Mihi [RAWR] staged from Akora and titan bridged into K25-XD, to combine with WI. and RAZOR and form up for sniper duels with SOLAR; multiple battles were fought around the SBU's and structures.

After several movements and engagements in the system the RAWR fleet was bubbled, at which point the WI. and RAZOR fleets started heavily damaging the SOLAR fleet that then proceeded for the U-L4KS gate to open several cyno fields and drop a capital fleet of carriers, dreadnoughts and motherships. Reports of spatial anomalies heavily affected the SOLAR capital fleet and allowed the Northern Coalition fleet to take down several of the opposing vessels. At this time ATLAS opened cyno fields dropping yet more carriers and dreadnoughts while at the same time trying to get away from the spatial distortions by warping out in random directions. [Around 30] dreadnought and carrier class vessels of SOLAR/Cult of War [-COW-]/ATLAS were destroyed, with no capital losses for WI./RAZOR/RAWR.

URDEAD2ME of RAZOR reports that "we were out numbered and we stayed and fought, then they escalated the fight to capitals, we stayed and still managed to still kill [several] of their capitals. We killed the battle ship fleet first, when the capitals cynoed in we killed what we could of them to hold the field and gather the wrecks."

An anonymous source close to ATLAS reports that the "K25 battle saw less than 30 losses in a fight which was [heavily affected by spatial anomalies interfering with our fleet operations]."

A week after in Y8R-XZ, WI. reports that initially they broke into the system and took control, with ATLAS and RED Alliance [RED] never making any effort to prevent the uncontested removal of their structures. When the only two WI. staging towers were coming out of reinforced and also the station was on its last reinforcement timer, "[a massive presence allowed taking] control of the system, [saving] the towers and also [destroying] the enemy SBU. A fleet of 700 allied pilots were on hand for the destruction of the SBU including multiple Northern Coalition titan class ships that flew in a 'V' formation over the hostile structure as a show of force."

Phreeze of RAZOR further adds that "we were able to easily brush aside the combined ATLAS/SOLAR/RED attempt on the station through mobilizing the entire Northern Coalition, they were unable to match our numbers and their SBU' were destroyed on the final reinforcement cycle."

An anonymous source close to ATLAS reports that "[in Y8R-XZ] Northern Coalition forces lost over 550 ships in a three day period to [ATLAS] less than 70 losses... K25-XD and Y8R-XZ were just sovereignty contests to draw out fights. WI. are still on the defensive, they are down to only 3 of 13 Technetium moons and their jump bridge infrastructure is either reinforced or destroyed. As originally intended we are here to provide [engagements] for our members, there is nothing at the moment going on in the South so we chose to seek alternate areas to engage hostiles. WI. is currently jamming all of its stations which has created an excessive sovereignty bill for them to maintain while currently running a deficit from having all of its Technetium moons either in hostile hands or in reinforced."

Asked to comment on the overall Geminate situation, Caladain Barton of WI. stated that "the spatial disruptions have [lead to the loss of] capital fleets and titans [in New Eden], it has boiled down to 'who is in system first holds the field'. WI. has not lost a single station system, nor suffered SBU's to live in our space thus far in the conflict. While we have lost a good number of Technetium moons, this has not significantly affected our income stream or our war fighting effort. Our morale is high, and we would like nothing more than to engage ATLAS in force. But due to the random spatial anomalies affecting the area, we have decided not to suicide our fleets by jumping into heavy numbers, thus the lost moons. The moons we have defended are the result of the Northern Coalition fleet getting in system before ATLAS. The ones we have lost are due to them getting in system first. We came to Geminate to get fights and we are liking the war. We came to fight and are very happy."

Eve Sovereignty News from 9 January 2010

I'm going to try my hand at tracking the sovereignty changes occuring in Eve Online. I found the Dotlan Eve Maps site so I'm going to try my hand at a little reporting. Here goes:

Aldrat [Nosy Gamer News] - In the North yesterday fighting continued in the Geminate region as SOLAR FLEET seized control of system Y8R-XZ from Wildly Inappropriate. Wildly Inappropriate. had held the system since 2 June when the alliance seized control of the system from United Freemen Alliance. This is the second system in Geminate that SOLAR FLEET has captured in the last 2 weeks and marks the third Geminate system that Wildly Inappropriate. has lost since 29 December.

In other Northern news, The United Front Alliance continued its offensive in the Branch region when it regained the sovereignty of system T-Q2DD. This is the UFA's second attempt at holding sovereignty in the region, having held it from 3-8 January. If UFA can maintain control of T-Q2DD, it would mark the ninth system in Branch the alliance has seized since 15 December.

Finally in Northern news, Bokhiuld Lomrek Ujjdja Egok lost sovereignty of system Q-UA3C in the Cloud Ring region. Bokhiuld Lomrek Ujjdja Egok first took control of the system containing an ice belt from Slammer's Republic on 23 November and had held sovereignty continuously since 1 December. The loss of Q-UA3C leaves the 7 corporation alliance holding just one system.

The South saw major sovereignty activity yesterday with the most changes taking place in the south-eastern part of New Eden. In Wicked Creek, Vivisection. gained control of 1-7BD6, a system Triumvirate. had controlled from 3 October to 8 January. Also in Wicked Creek, G00DFELLAS gained control of system JQU-KY which had laid unclaimed since 19 August and R-I-P picked up J-RXYN, a small system with 1 regular asteroid belt and one ice belt that had lain unclaimed since 22 February 2009. J-RXYN is R-I-P's only system over which it claims sovereignty.

In Insmother, H E L I C O N claimed sovereignty of a system with an ice belt, Q7-FZ8, that had been held by Atlas Alliance from 16 October to 29 December. Q7-FZ8 is the only system that the 18-month old alliance currently holds.

In Scalding Pass, Die Patrizier lost sovereignty of one of its three systems, 4E-EZS. The system had lain unclaimed from 26 June to 14 December when Die Patrizier laid claim to the system.

In Tenerifis, AAA Citizens reclaimed sovereignty of two systems it had lost control over on 13 December, MS1-KJ and 7M4C-F. Acquiring the two systems has been part of the massive activity happening within AAA Citizens since 13 December when the alliance lost sovereignty over 16 systems, 7 of them in Tenerifis.

Finally, in the south-west of New Eden, Rebellion Alliance gained control of system A-5F4A in Quellious. The previous owner, Goonswarm, gained control of the system during the offensive against the corporation formerly known as Band of Brothers and held the system from 8 June to 29 December.

Annaro Miners Rescued

Last Minute Annaro Mine Rescue Operation Successful, Survivors Recovered
reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2010.01.05 07:53:26

Annaro - A dangerous rescue operation aimed at recovering 176 Caldari miners trapped in an asteroid proved successful last night . The rescue was performed by an Amarr team from Ducia Foundry experienced on unstable asteroids.

Reports indicate that the miners themselves were not informed of the attempt and spent the evening writing final letters to their loved ones. One miner told reporters, "When I heard they were drilling just a few meters away, my first thought was that we were hallucinating from the lack of oxygen." The surprise rescue operation was executed, though, for reasons that remain unclear, only a select few knew about the operation. Their secrecy has aroused suspicions that Ducia Foundry was allowed to covertly transport and deploy its slave workers to the asteroid mine.

In a brief statement, Ducia Foundry's Steen Greimala said, "The operation went as smoothly as ever. Every member of my team performed admirably, and we were more than helped by the Deep Core Mining experts, who analyzed every aspect of the asteroid. I never had a point where I was seriously concerned."

CBD Corporation released a statement saying, "We welcome the successful rescue of our miners and thank Deep Core Mining and Ducia Foundry for their help." CBD would not comment on the safety procedures they had employed during the mining operation. Police commander Garr Diymir was not available for comment.

Caldari law expert Dimm Margo remarked, "I think it's obvious what's happened. They managed to sneak the slaves in and get the job done, but there will need to be legal accounting sooner or later. Luckily for them, they were successful."

Will this be the end of the story, or is there one more item to come?

Compromise on Mining Slave Rescue Team

Compromise Over Slave Rescue Team Offered by Amarr Holder
reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2010.01.04 05:08:43

Annaro [The Scope News Agency] - Aszhar Freimala, an Amarr Holder, has offered to purchase and release 16 elite slaves owned by Ducia Foundry for the task of rescuing trapped asteroid miners in Annaro system. Ducia Foundry has agreed to the proposal, but the corporation will not officially release the slaves until after the rescue, citing the need to maintain a solid command structure during the operation.

Annaro system police commander Garr Diymir told reporters, "It's a wonderful gesture, but unfortunately doesn't change much from the legal standpoint. [The rescuers] would still be slaves. Until they are officially released, my hands are tied." Since his statement, the police commander has received a barrage of angry letters from Caldari citizens.

Steen Greimala, director of the Ducia Foundry rescue team, told reporters, "I'm excited about this opportunity to help our allies and am thankful that my company is willing to make compromises. We can take this opportunity to show the public how well we can work with our slaves and what can be accomplished under our system. I'll lose some valuable teammates when it's over, but it will be worth it."

Evvlynne Deermin, spokesperson for CBD Corporation, told reporters, "We feel this is an excellent compromise and would like to extend our gratitude to Aszhar Freimala and Ducia Foundry for their continuing efforts in this situation." The 176 trapped miners currently have less than two days of air remaining.

So the morality choices get tougher. Do you potentially sacrifice 16 people to save 176? But what if those people have no choice in the matter? Is it moral to force them if you offer them their freedom in return? Two important points. The first is: if you were freed beforehand, would you really risk your neck to make your former slave master look good? The second is more important: can you really trust a stinking Amarr slaveholder in the first place?

A Mining Accident in Annaro

The lore in Eve Online continues to be written by both CCP and the players themselves every day. Currently SCOPE, the largest NPC news agency in New Eden, is reporting on a mining accident in Annaro, a system controlled by the Caldari State. Eve Online is a dark, dangerous place and CCP seems to delight in making players face moral dilemmas, both in game play and in the backstory. I'll have to find the RSS feed for these stories, but for now let me get everyone caught up to date. But before I do, I think I need to give a description of the four factions in Eve Online for those of you who don't play the game.

The Caldari State - Founded on the tenets of patriotism and hard work that carried its ancestors through hardships on an inhospitable homeworld, the Caldari State is today a corporate dictatorship, led by rulers who are determined to see it return to the meritocratic ideals of old. Ruthless and efficient in the boardroom as well as on the battlefield, the Caldari are living emblems of strength, persistence, and dignity.

The Amarr Empire - The Amarrians rule a vast Empire, the largest and oldest of the four empires. Ruled by a mighty Empress, this vast theocratic society is supported by a broad foundation of Minmatar slave labor. Amarrian citizens tend to be highly educated and fervent individuals, and as a culture adheres to the basic tenet that what others call slavery is in fact one step on a spiritual path towards fully embracing their faith. As a result, the Empire remains the most stable and militarily powerful nation-state in New Eden, despite several setbacks in recent history.

The Minmatar - Of the four major races of New Eden, none has endured more turmoil than the Minmatar. Once a thriving tribal civilization, the Minmatar were enslaved by the Amarr Empire for more than 700 years until a massive rebellion freed most, but not all, of those held in servitude. Modeling their recovery after the Federation's success, the Minmatar Republic was born. But despite rising to prominence on the world stage, more than one third of the present-day population remains enslaved. The Minmatar people today are resilient, ingenious, and hard-working. Many of them believe that democracy, though serving them well at first, will never restore what was taken from them so long ago. Instead, they long for a government truly reflective of their tribal culture, and remain deeply attached to their enslaved kindred. They will forever resent the Amarrians, and yearn for the days before their accursed ships ever reached their home skies.

The Gallente Federation - Champions of liberty and fierce guardians of the human spirit, the Gallente Federation is the only true democracy in New Eden. Some of the most progressive leaders, scientists, and businessmen of the era have emerged from its diverse peoples. Pioneers of artificial intelligence, the Federation once relied almost entirely on drone fleets to defend its beliefs and borders. But the limitations of this technology and the lack of a human element—both in terms of a military strategy, and as a means of spreading influence— eventually reached a critical point. Today, Gallentean starships are manned by some of the bravest men and women of New Eden.

Here is the story so far...

Mining Accident in Annaro System Traps 200 Miners
reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2009.12.29 17:51:24

Annaro -An asteroid in the Annaro system lost stability and collapsed on a team of nearly two hundred miners at a CBD Corporation mining facility. Thirty two miners are confirmed dead and the rest remain trapped below the surface. A dozen or more are reported to have serious injuries.

Evvlynne Deermin, spokesperson for CBD, explained the current situation in a press conference shortly after the accident. "We're holding out a lot of hope for the safe return of our miners. However, the situation is difficult. The asteroid is highly unstable, and the crew has limited oxygen."

Deermin would not comment when asked about the events leading up to the accident. One anonymous source near the scene claimed it started with a single misplaced explosive, causing a chain reaction of tunnel collapses in the hollowed-out asteroid. CBD Corporation is reported to be consulting urgently with their partner, Deep Core Mining.

Deep Core Mining 'Reluctant' to Commit Rescue Team, Ducia Foundry Offers Assistance

reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2009.12.30 22:08:18

Annaro - Deep Core Mining has stated that it is reluctant to commit a rescue team to an asteroid in the Annaro system, where nearly 200 CBD Corporation miners remain trapped. According to reports, six of the asteroid's eight backup oxygen tanks were destroyed in the accident, and estimations by officials predict that the miners have a little less than six days of breathable air.

"While we feel deeply for the workers and their families," said a spokesman for Deep Core Mining's Astro-surveying division, "we are reluctant to send a team to the surface because of the extreme volatility of the asteroid. We're currently working with CBD to re-map the internals and weak points of the asteroid, and we have not found a way to drill to the trapped miners without causing a total collapse."

In an unusual development, a Ducia Foundry astro-surveying team has pledged assistance and believe they can extract the miners without any loss of life. However, a third of the Ducia team are slaves and have been denied access due to Caldari anti-slavery laws. Steen Greimala, director of the Amarr team, said, "We're here to help. Our team is highly skilled, but we understand the cultural differences and laws that make it difficult to accept our help. Our offer will remain open."

System police commander Garr Diymir told reporters, "The reason the Amarr team has offered a rescue plan is that the only people sent to the surface will be slaves. As much as we want to see the workers get out alive, we have no intention of allowing innocent people to be forcefully sacrificed. I'm confident that a Caldari organization will step forward with a legal solution soon."

CBD Corporation Under Pressure to Organize Legal Mine Rescue Operation
reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2010.01.01 18:18:10

Annaro - CBD Corporation is under pressure to organize a legal rescue of trapped miners in the Annaro system. Numerous mining and surveying organizations have sent experts to analyze the situation, with only Amarr mining corporation Ducia Foundry offering a rescue team. However, this team is being refused access to the system because of its use of slaves.

Steen Greimala, director of the Ducia Foundry team, commented, "I would like to attempt this rescue because I see it as an opportunity for my team to use their skills to aid our Caldari friends. Our slaves, who we call the 'surface team,' are vital to our work and could not be replaced by simple volunteers "

Garr Diymir of the Annaro police said, "We've been in contact with the Ducia Foundry team leaders, but unfortunately they are not going to be able to help without violating Caldari law. Even if we make an exception, the asteroid is unstable and I'm told their rescue efforts could cause a further collapse and the death of both the miners and the rescuers."

Caldari law expert Dimm Margo explained, "Making an exception to the law in this case could set a dangerous precedent that would make it acceptable to break the law whenever we feel Caldari lives are in danger."

The miners remain in communication with the surface and have reported that three more workers have died in the last 24 hours from injuries sustained during the accident. The total number of stranded workers is now believed to be 176, with estimated air supplies at four days.

Debate Over Use of Slaves in Caldari Mine Rescue Continues
reported by: ISD Threff Geldarran | 2010.01.03 07:39:30

Annaro - Caldari law experts, police, and the families of buried miners continue to debate the possibility of allowing an Amarr team, many of whom are slaves, to attempt a rescue of almost two hundred miners at the collapsed CBD Corporation asteroid mine in the Annaro system.

In an interview today, Steen Greimala, director of the Ducia Foundry team, said, "At this point we've got all the data we're going to get about the situation. The longer we wait, the more difficult the extraction will be."

Amarrian Holder Aszhar Freimala, owner of a manufacturing firm and a customer of both CBD and Ducia Foundry, commented to reporters, "It's a shame that their distaste for one aspect of our culture would cause the Caldari to sacrifice their own people." Freimala is reported by sources at CBD Corporation to have been in private talks with CBD and members of Caldari law enforcement at CBD's Sell Division Retail Center in Annaro.

Several hundred family members of the trapped miners have organized a petition asking police to "look the other way," and are attempting to raise money to offer as payment to Ducia Foundry for the release of the slaves, despite the illegality of doing so. "I oppose slavery as much as any Caldari, but letting our children grow up without their fathers is not going to put an end to it," said a representative for the group. Time continues to run out for the trapped miners, with air supplies now estimated at three days.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have two Eve Online accounts and the main characters on both accounts are Minmatar, so I'm a bit partial to the Minmatar. I have an idea how this is going to turn out, but I'll be reading the news as I log in every day to find out if I'm right.

Oh My God, They Decked Chribba!

On Tuesday CONCORD Preservation and Recovery wardec'd Otherworld Empire. Otherworld Empire is owned and operated by Chribba, a beloved member of the Eve community. If you have ever used Eve Files to host a graphic for a forum signature, Eve Search to search the Eve Online forums, Eve Agents to locate an agent to do some mission running, or Eve Offline to track announcements about downtimes or server population, you have used a site created and run by Chribba. Throw in his 16 ship capital fleet devoted to mining Veldspar, the most common ore in New Eden, and you have a character sure to attract affection.

Now, when Chribba was wardec'd, he knew he couldn't defeat his adversaries himself. Due to CCP's rules, he cannot use his capital fleet to defend his high-sec player-owned stations. So instead of hiring mercenaries to defend the POS (which he has enough money to do), he decided to make a little stop in the Crime and Punishment forums, post the wardec, and then offer up the chance to have a little fun.

Naturally, the denizens and pirates of the C&P forums decided to run off and help Chribba. This should be fun to watch. The thread is already turning into an epic.

Faction Warfare Footage

Fresh from YouTube comes some footage of some faction warfare between the Gallente and Caldari militias (with some pirates mixed in) in the BlackRise war zone. For those of you unfamiliar with Eve Online's faction warfare, FW is CCP's version of realm vs. realm (RvR) made popular by games like Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online. The difference is that Eve's faction warfare is a stepping stone to playing the Great Game (to use an analogy from European history) in 0.0 space while in DAoC and Warhammer the games are all about the conflict between NPC empires.

I'm posting this video because it is extremely well done. In most pew-pew videos made by players in Eve (and most other games) the UI is usually visable, and in Eve, the UI will take up half the space. Not so in this video. I highly recommend watching this one.

Enjoy!

The Christmas Spirit In Eve

Here's a story from the Interstellar Correspondents that's in the spirit of Christmas. Merry Christmas and enjoy!

Free Jump Clone Access Service Celebrates First Anniversary
reported by: ISD Aarosin Pazuli | 2009.12.24 20:03:07

New Eden - Estel Arador Corp Services [EACS] recently celebrated its first year of providing free jump clone access to capsuleers from all over New Eden.

During the year, EACS has helped provide over 4000 capsuleers with free jump clone access, "There were 4032 clients in the first year, which is way more than I expected before I started the service," said Estel Arador the man behind this venture. The service currently provides access to approximately 447 jump clone facilities scattered throughout many regions in New Eden. EACS provides free jump clone access to capsuleers who otherwise would be unable to obtain them due to the high personal or corporate standings required.

To use EACS or any other jump clone service is simple; train the skill Infomorph Psychology to the appropriate level depending on how many jump clones are desired, join the service corporation, fly to a station they have high standings with that provide jump clones, pay the 100,000ISK charge to the clone providing corporation and the clone is now available.

EACS currently employs Estel himself, being in charge of management and policies and his "little nephew, who is CEO and handles the day to day operation." In the past capsuleers were allowed to join the corporation and stay long enough for them to effectively raise the EACS standings but in recent time Estel has stopped doing this, stating "It's increasingly difficult to find people who can raise more standings than they drop". Now Estel personally works through a great deal of missions with low level agents to build standings. Currently EACS are working on raising their standings with the Caldari, they will then be able to provide jump clone services at even more stations.

Unlike most of their competitors EACS provides their access service free of charge. So far the industry has made little response to the EACS. One of his colleagues "Genji Ancient" Estel says, "wished me luck and said it was noble to offer it for free." As of right now Estel has no plans to create any other free capsuleer services. Previous plans to create a free public blueprint library were scrapped when he realized that "people would be able to cancel each others production jobs. If there would be a way to solve that, I'd start such a service immediately."

A Change In Direction

I haven't posted for awhile. Partly because things got crazy at work. Just to give you some sort of idea, I've got 15 days of vacation I haven't been able to take and will lose because my company doesn't roll unused vacation over into the next year. Hey, stuff happens and I partially did this to myself. Next year I'll just have to make sure I plan my vacation time well in advance.

But another reason for not posting is I've been playing Eve Online. I've discovered that playing Eve isn't just about sitting in front of a computer logged into the game pushing buttons. I've spent hours playing with EveMon planning out skill queues for characters on both my accounts. And I've spent a few hours more using the Eve Fitting Tool trying to get the most out of the ships I fly. I've even opened up some spreadsheets trying to figure out profitable trade routes.

But I just don't spend a lot of time doing solo things. The writing I have done lately has been on the Eve University forums. One of the requirements for getting titles and roles is to post on the forums and I've been trying to put some quality work out there. I think I can get the "Student" title now but I've got an idea for a forum post that I think I'll submit as soon as I've written it. But it wouldn't be correct to say I write just for the titles. I'm actually learning more about how to play the game by reading and participating in the forum debates.

So am I just going to fade away into New Eden. I don't think so. One of the things that attracted me to Eve Online were the in-game stories. So what I think I'm going to do is post the stories, both the totally fictional role-playing back stories as well as the news reports of what players are actually doing, that are produced by the volunteers of the Interstellar Correspondents of the Interstellar Services Department. Occasionally I'll try to post something intelligent, but right now I'm just going to school on one character and flying a hauler around with another. The stories I find on the login page to Eve are a lot more interesting. I'll post one of the Chronicle stories below just to give you an idea. I hope you enjoy it.

ISD: Interstellar Services Department A Department of CONCORD

The Admiral closed the holo-conference connection and glanced out the window. Darkness had fallen and two of New Caldari’s moons had risen.

“Continue personal journal,” the Admiral said. A small flashing icon appeared in the bottom corner of the holographic display.

“The divisional leaders’ meeting this evening was productive, not all good news, but productive. STAR is reporting an increase in new pilots coming out of the various academies and an increased workload. I wish the academies would give a bit more real-life training instead of simulations. Piloting a Mammoth in a system with a lower CONCORD presence is much different than racing a souped-up Burst between here and Matigu. STAR needs more personnel to give these new pilots the assistance they need.”

‘The Communications Relay Commission is reporting an increase in faster-than-light message traffic. Their fluid routers are handling the load fine, but a slight increase in funding and resources may need to be considered in the near future. Spurious and illegal traffic is declining due to their efforts and some activity has been turned over to the SCC for further action. There are going to be some very annoyed CEOs and CFOs enjoying some time in the penal colonies.”

There was a knock at the door. The icon on the screen remained steady at the Admiral’s “Pause recording” prompt. “Enter,” the Admiral called out. An aide de camp walked into the room carrying a black striped folder.

“Sir, AURORA is reporting an increase in Angel Cartel activity in Curse.” The aide passed the folder over to the Admiral to look through. Graphs of souls lost, ships and cargo destroyed, projected economic impact to trade in the region and other information was dispersed through dossiers of Cartel agents, activity reports and intelligence.

“Forward AURORA’s sanitized findings to DED for action. Make sure the intelligence is clean. We don’t want to lose another AURORA agent. Don’t make the same mistake your predecessor made.” The Admiral handed the folder back.

“No, Sir! The information will be clean with no possible ties to our sources.” The aide tucked the folder under his arm, saluted and left the room.

“Resume”

The record icon on the holo-screen started flashing again. “The boys in the Technology Division want a closer look at the Transcranial Microcontrollers and see if there are any manufacturing ties to the Sansha devices. I have to agree with the Bug Hunters, the Inner Circle made too quick a decision on their usage. The Bug Hunters are also working on some other issues, the notification after a successful jump installed in the last pod flightware upgrade caused some pilots migraines and they got that removed quick enough. They bust some major butt working on these things.”

The Admiral paused for a moment and rubbed his eyes. The record icon continued to flash next to the clock. “End personal journal, bookmark and close all files, shut down. Time to head home.” The holo-projectors blinked and went dark.