November and the wind of Change

So some things happened . . . GK Inc. Closed down and Arton folk returned to Arton/NULL except for myself who ended up in North East Swat.  Deployment to Curse just before the end of traditionally Capital life as we all knew it.  So now we have a new capital lifestyle:

Aldali Project . . . 10/04/2014

Some of you might have seen this article on the Mittani about Specter Fleet's "Aldali Project"

It was a fun quick little distraction.  I was Pentaboxing a Freighter, Bomber, Aeon, Proteus, and return Cyno during most of it.  Sadly lost the bomber to friendly fire.

Also lol wild CVA Finnish Fleet mid kill.  Poor Poison didn't get on the mail.  Article is a nice read.  We'll probably be seeing a lot of returning super pilots over the next month as people try to sell off their supers before the capital nerf.

BR Final Station Timer

Tonight a race between Bros occured in BR-N97 as NC. raced to flip the outpost before the Pandemic Legion superfleet could kill two of teh SBUs in system.  PL won . . . barely.

Prior to the structure race was the actual fight were NC. and PL basically killed off the others groups (HERO, INK, RUS, PROVIBLOC) before racing each other for the station.

For Now, ProviBloc have a few hours grace period to try to rescue the station before the HERO US timezone logs in and takes control of the system.

REDDIT THREAD

Provi War, the last two weeks

I honestly don't even know were to begin.  The last two weeks have been insane as some PL FCs had holidays and went crazy running third party fleets into the Northern Catch conflict between HERO and ProviBloc.  Thankfully JSSix has been frapsing quite a few fights so the easiest way I suppose is to just link videos.

Sadly I don't really have kill stats for you, although its A LOT!!  Hedliner, one of our main FCs has almost 1k kills for the month.  In most fights you will see PL shooting both sides but the preference has definitely been to shoot BRAVE first.  In multiple fights we have had ackward moments as NC. which tends to side with HERO are PL Blues and not shot.  In one fight we repped an IHUB as NC. was shooting it than repped a NC. HIC that was tackled by PROVI Gokus on the IHUB a few minutes latter.  Incidents like this have actually fueled the entertainment levels from a PL perspective and as the Provi War is the only real action in EVE atm, PL will be dropping in for awhile I think.

2 Days of Glory (Nisuwa/Kedama, S25C, Eifer)

This weekend has been nuts.  Got services fixed and settled on Friday, spent most of the day putzing around and buying/upgrading super fits and a few logies to stage from Amamake to run on PL ops.  Friday night was Revenant event in Nisuwa and of course PL fielded a 200+ fleet.  Nisuwa was 5 hours of 10% tidi.  It was terrible,  yet really fun at the same time.  Guns were cycling MAYBE every ten or fifteen minutes for me.  We had better luck on the exit in Kedama catching people leaving than we did in Nisuwa itself.  Of course I would have performed better if I had been better fitted.

We got home and I went to bed and went to work.  Got home from work and since I was in Amamkae from the night before, jumped into fleet that was going to jump onto a provi fight between Provi Bloc and Hero.  In the end we ended up killing a bunch of HERO eagles and Moas and left in good spirits. As people don't follow my every move (:P) most Provi folk learned I had joined PL when I decided to troll them as we were leaving BR.

[ 2014.09.06 23:20:31 ] Rovern Hashu > Guys you have to go INTO the system to kill them >.>
[ 2014.09.06 23:20:46 ] Kyle Sev > fucking hell you joined PL? :p
[ 2014.09.06 23:20:56 ] corebloodbrothers > thnx for all info rovern , cu soon, plex send :)
[ 2014.09.06 23:21:00 ] Gecko Hareka > ^this
[ 2014.09.06 23:21:03 ] Trisha D'Vaney > Rovern Hashu 07
[ 2014.09.06 23:21:04 ] Dentt > o/ rovern
[ 2014.09.06 23:21:42 ] EVE System > Channel changed to Local : ERVK-P

Returned back to Amamake.  A couple of hours latter we journeyed to Eifer to third party a R64 fight in TFI's.  We started losing TFIs to dread blapping so wraped out than returned in and brought our own dreads.  Due to fail tackling most of the hostile dreads made it out but we killed a Revelation than killed the tower and started anchoring a PL tower.  We returned to amamake but stayed formed as hostiles were attacking the onlining tower.  We reshiped to legions/Proteus and went back in, only to have Black Legion join the fight in a tengu fleet.  We started loosing T3s quickly and decided to bail when we started losing logi as there were 200-300 guys fighting us.  On our return I had to go to bed because of work.

JSSIX Video of Eifer:

The Move . . .

So about two weeks ago JSSix approached me and asked if I was interested in moving a few characters over to GK Inc. in Pandemic Legion.  By doing so we would be able to use our supers more safely and more widely and he felt it would open up opportunities further down the road for us.  Of course I agreed and within a few days and adjusted my hangers around in anticipation of no longer being in a corp that I had free hanger run of.  Two weeks latter and services are FINALLY sorted out as of yesterday.  Looking forward to a lot more pvp activity and hopefully some good fights.

(And yes that membership bump is Arton Crew people joining and the subsequent drop is inactives being purged)

#REKT

Incase you missed the AD on the first day of the Alliance Tournament . . .

Ryuu ftw

A little SAO gift

AUGUST!

So work is still crazy and my EVE life is fairly unmotivated atm.  I spend my off time playing LOL, doing industry stuff in EVE, Minecraft, and Anime.  NULL has been business as usual killing whatever happens to fall into their lap (including a Chriba).  Without further ado, a bunch of Jssix videos from June/July . . .

Sorry for the random differences in youtube streams.  Youtubes being funky on me with share options.  I blames Jssix's settings.

Chribba Down . . . 07/24/14

Reddit Thread

Corpse Auction Thread

Dhurva Died . . .

So I've been awayish as the lack of posting of anything has probably made obvious.  Dropped way too much money into STEAM summer sale so trying to play some other stuff/watch anime/ work for  abit while sorting some internet issues (oh yeah and one of my laptop's hard drive's died).  Anyway thought I would drop this gem as Dhurva got caught by Niding and Hurley.

Life Goes On

Not a whole lot to report lately ... life goes on.  RealWorld got busy with my job going fulltime and approaching the second busiest time of the year (July and December, who would have thunk it :p ).  Bit of a squabble in NULL between me and another member so been breaking from eve for the last week to let my temper cool off.  In a great coincidence Crunchyrolls finally supports ChromeCast which means I've gone into Otaku mode this week finishing Hidamari Sketch,  Strike the Blood, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, and Omamori Himari over the last week or so.  Will probably start "Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga" tonight and see if its actually as bad as MAL says it is.

(IF anyone is curious about what I watch, needs suggestions, or has questions about anime feel free to hit up my MAL profile.  One of the few things I'm passionate about.)

Steam sale started the other day and my wallet is already suffering.  Picked up some Crusader King II DLCs, Supreme Commander 2, Company of Heroes, AI War: Fleet Command, Agarest: Generations of War, Agarest: Zero and Democarcy 3 so far.  So lots of distractions from EVE and things to do, ontop of the umpteen amount of hours I spend on a friends minecraft server.

All is right in the world . . .

[19:49:53] Dyntheos > i read roverns explanatory post on his blog
[19:50:03] Dyntheos > and hes correct with quite a few things

Ishkad . . . 06/11/2014

Got forced at work yesterday, two hours of overtime.  Missed the Rag kill.  Evidently they had been chasing him around a bit in between a few systems before finally getting a decloak and catching him.  He ejected from the titan and it was briefly considered if they should take the rag or not.  Turns out it only had travel fittings and the pilot had only been in it a few hours.  In the end it got burned.

https://kb.art0n.com/index.php/kill_detail/18499/

EN24 Article

The Mittani Article

FIRST! 05/26/2014

So A little less than two weeks ago I was able to knotch off one of my eve life goals . . . getting on a titan kill!!  It was a long time coming.  Atm don't think there is any publically avaliable fraps but if I find some will link it.

Mittani Article

The kill itself went really quick which kind of surprised me.  From Jump In till he died was maybe a minute 30 seconds.  During that time PL slows had been pinged and fleet had almost doubled, most people weren't able to get on the killmail.  I think this quote sums up how a lot of people felt:

Burn Factor #6

I've got some Voice Comm links from when we first SBU'ed G-5 to release.  Its long but there are some really wtf parts.  Be aware at times your also hearing part of our coms with PL/PHEW.

Highlights:

3:42> "That Kavok guy is a real illiterate bastard"
4:20> "Sixiepoo is French" (Dutch/Filipino Actually)
20:15-21:15> Impersation Conversation (Chastot links a Equi quote and conversation ends with "FUCK EQ He's red too" And than accuses him of being too similar to Tasha)
22:10 Chastot accused of trying to get CF to rebel against CVA
30:52 Rovern Conversation (Iron Poker Anal Rape?)
32:20 Bible Quoting and Samuel L Jackson
35:45 Tib Arc (leaving)
38:00 Sailor Moon Outfits
41:35 Deleted Posts (I didn't delete anything)
44:50 Harrasment Petition
48:20 Jssix on TS3
51:40 Aeon is a Flounder that fucked an archon
54:00 Chastot Pictures
55:52 to 1:03 Equi's Logs
1:04:00 Morale Boosting
1:05:00 SBUing G-B
1:08:58 Capitals logged off in G-B (Only the Aeon and Archon)
1:54:45 Daddy Hitme accidently decloaks in pilgrim
2:00:00 NULL/PL Supers save the day

A Hashu Life, End of May

Work!

A lots happened over the last month or two both in-game and at home.  At home work has been chaotic.  In mid April Supervalu killed our morning part-time shift as they began hiring new full time positions from those working part time.  I moved back to afternoons.  Ironically the timing was amazing as it happened the same weekend as Anime Detour (which i had forgotten about).  I missed the first day but noticed a random Facebook comment and managed to make it Saturday afternoon.  Got to see the panels I wanted and played Mahjong till they kicked us out of the gaming room.  Fast forward to mid-may and once again they are changing the part-time schedules, and guess what, there is a morning shift available again.  I decided to go for it as I just feel that working in the mornings provides me more opportunities with eve and friends in the afternoons.  Just have to readjust to waking up at 4:30 am.  First day of the new shift there is a new notice for hiring full timer again and decide to sign up for it this time.  Three days latter I get a call offering me a full-time spot.  Of course I said yes, a pay raise + health and retirement benefits ftw!  On top of that my first week as full-time I got trained in on using forklifts.  Normally that takes several months/years before your seniority allows that but evidently this summer is expected to be heavy and they are mass hiring/training folks.

Unfortunately during the same time that I've been on full time (last two weeks) I've also been sick.  I developed a sore throat at work and I've had it for over a week and a half now.  Was frustrating as I had to cancel out on a Mahjong session and decided not to go to a Lindsay Stirling concert @ the Myth.  So between that and immediately getting twice as much overtime as I did as a part timer its been busy and exhausting.

Lucy Johnson

Death of  A Friend

Around the same time as the new work schedules my dad called me about our dog Lucy.  For several years she has been steadily going down hill, having bad arthritis and stomach issues.  At this point she couldn't stand on her own and couldn't control her own bowels.  She also had unknown masses on several spots on her back.  Our last dog zeke had died on the operating table attempting to remove masses and we were really fearful of taking her in for surgery as well as the masses had gotten too big.  It was a hard call after thirteen wonderful years but in the end we decided it was unfair to her to force her to keep going and made the decision to put her down.  It still honestly hasn't sunk in that she is gone, mostly because I don't live with my parents anymore so I won't really notice her absence till i go back for a visit.  I'm kind of dreading it as she was such a major part of my middle school and high school years and its going to hurt when it finally sinks in that she is gone.

A Bright Future!

Apart from Lucy's death, future seems bright.  Work is going well (assuming I get over this damn sore throat), new computer is working great (Eve on Solid State Hard Drive ftw!)  Started watching Anime again after a month long (unplanned) break.  Finished the first season of Hidamari Sketch and catching up on Nisekoi.  Can never get enough of SHAFT productions.  Game of Thrones season is almost over already.  Not looking forward to waiting another 9 months for the next one.  Its June, the suns out and Summer is among us.  Spend the morning outside reading and it was wonderful!  There should be an eve post or two coming up as I (finally) got on my first titan kill (don't think there is any fraps).  Otherwise more of the same after G-B was taken, some drama in Provi (as usual) but nothing all that surprising or mind shattering.  There also should be at least one more Burn Factor log release coming up soon as i find the right links to post.  Its a few weeks old but thankfully I was never stabbed in the ass with an iron poker as was threatened . . .

G-B22J Liberated from the Evil Care Factor Oppressors

Yesterday afternoon a strike force of NULL and PL Supercarriers successfully assaulted the G-B station for the final timer.

In a rather fitting stroke of good fortune, Ryuu Hashu (My Aeon) got the final blow.  With the station also under our control despite a last ditched effort by Provi-Bloc to last hit the station, G-B is officially liberated.  All are welcome to dock at the newly named "TASHA DIABOLIQUE's Wafflehouse" in honor of our good friend Tasha Diabolique, the executor of Silent Infinity.  (Seriously its a freeport).  This concludes our G-B22J troll Care Factor campaign. . .

X-R3 anyone???

NULL +2, Young Midmaster and Master Arakas join NULL

Midmaster Mini-man

Arakas

So I've had several people come up to me in various venues and inquire about joining NULL. Not surprising as we're awesome (and we have PL links and Super kills so probably very tempting to get in). So to head off everyone's question . . . NO. 

We're only letting in personal friends of current members. You also need a deep and solid relationship with JSSix to get okayed. We just have access to too much information and too much hardware to be opening up the doors. Everyone who does meet the above requirements are told multiple times that from the outside it looks like its full of fun and excitement but in reality we really just sit around and wait for things to happen. We're not a working, established, alliance, just a group of people hanging out, trolling the hell out of each other and doing our own thing.

Despite this, we recently had two individuals (and alts) join us this week. Long-time Spoonite and TLOS director Arakas (master Blue Killer) and previous AFK member, Midmaster mini-man. Of course this has made the conspiracy theorists go wild throwing accusations such as the following gem all over:

And to follow up on this, the dude I was referring to has now stopped with the charade, as thin as it was, and shown his true colors by joining up with Nihilist. It was obvious that he's been helping those guys for months, cynoing in our cloaky camper to 8B whenever we managed to kill him, and then scouting for the PL invasion fleet the night they took out our POS. 

There is a lot of history with mid-master miniman and his alt tiffany web that I wasn't around for, but I think there are quite a few people who feel vindicated for pointing out all the circumstantial evidence that built up over time that this guy was helping our enemies. 

Honestly, I don't much care for the spying and the awoxing side of the game. It's nice to finally have this dude out in the open as a red, instead of hiding next door in Silent Infinity behind a blue icon. 

Of course, I wouldn't doubt that this is all part of the plan to show up Tib somehow, maybe by naming the station after him or some dumb shit like that once they take the system. 

But Tib is truly gone from Eve, so he won't even know about it. That's sad, because we lost a good man who was passionate about the game and really, truly cared about people. He put in many, many hours organizing fleets, building up industry, helping people with mining boosts and he was ever ready to hop in an expensive ship and defend Provi from reds. I know that he's said some things in local that maybe he wished he hadn't, but he was a passionate guy who cared. It's a real shame to have lost him because these young twats are overly sensitive and couldn't handle Tib's personality, and thus made a many month's long effort to personally drive him out of the game. 

Tonight, I saw on facebook he was spending his evening playing board games with his daughter, so maybe he won in the end after all? 

(Lynnae Suriyawong)

Sounds to me like Tib won eve if you put it that way. . .

G-B22J Updates

As many of you well know over the past week we've been playing around in the Care Factor system of G-B22J.  What started as a 'lets hit their neo moon' escalated to 'lets lol sbu them' which escalated too ... 'um we just killed the ihub lol."
Really the best way to describe what has been happening is from Jssix . . . "wow that was fun."

Sadly I've missed the actual fun timers when provi-bloc wasn't camped by Nulli Secunda.  Thankfully our good Dutch friend BalderCon made us all a video with excellent music to watch.

An interesting note some CVA corporations who shall not be named noticed that other CVA corporations actually have blue standings from us in the Video and started whining to Equi.  Who of course had to come to us and ask us to remove those standings ... yeah seriously ...

SO, in order to level the playing field Nihilist Social Club is now selling corporation level standings, available only to CVA corporations.  Costs will vary between 2 to 15 billion isk depending on how much we like you.  All corporations who already have standings do not have to pay.  All interested CEOs may send me an evemail or talk to our diplo.

(Oh Yeah, Ihub is dead FYI)

I Promised Turran . . .

that I would make a new blog post on Wednesday but instead spent the day putting together a new computer.  Sadly I forgot one tiny little piece . . .

You might have noticed but there is no power supply . . . welp.  Its now ordered and on the way so hopefully by the middle of next week...

In other personal news not a whole lot going on.  My work shift is changing (again) and I'm back to mornings, 6am to 2pm!  Sucks waking up at 4:45am but means my afternoons and evenings are cleared. They are also hiring full time again so actually put my name on the list this time.  Forced Overtime starts Sunday because of a holiday and found out they can force us part timers from the last week of June all the way to august.  Summer doesn't seem so fun, thankfully only two hours of overtime and having to work till 4pm beats having to work till midnight.

No Care Factor, they aren't from Sailor Moon

I heard rumors from Care Factor that I am, in fact, believed to own Sailor Moon Outfits.  Sadly this is not true (although I do know a guy with a girls school sailor uniform and have seen him wearing it).  I am a bit of an Otaku though and do have some figurines that have been gifted to me by my failed real life relationships with people . . . .  Can you name what shows they come from Care Factor Members?

This Past Week . . .

A lot has happened over the last week, even for the last 24 hours.

On the 7th we spotted a small POS being put up in Galeh, Balder, Kavok and I reinforced it and several other small towers in local, hoping to draw out some fights or capitals or . . . something. (1st Pos)

We bumped a Nomad full of Pos Fuel Out.  And the fishing Crew caught an Anshar in Derelik

Early morning on the 8th a guy bought a rattlesnake from Balder in Arton and came to pick it up . . . He didn't get very far.  Jssix went POS Bashing with the Lords Fleet.  Galeh timers came out and Provi-Bloc showed up to defend, no capitals were caught but we do see a Niding Alt loss because fail Balder or something.

The 9th saw a IRC Revelation caught in Faspera.  The Africans Pocos (might be wrong on this) successfully defended with two carrier kills.

The 10th saw a WH moros that decided to aggro on the station.  I jumped two dreads and an aeon in for this kill and the moros died before any of my carriers could get a lock.  Latter in the day a Charon and Orca got BLOPSED in Asoutar by the Fishing Crew.

Sunday the 11th was rather uneventful with random small killings here and there but nothing spectacular or impressive.  I ran a 6/10 in Arton and got shit all for loot (WHERE ARE YOU MY A-TYPE EANM!!!)  However one event of significant note was the rather spontaneous decision to reinforce the Care Factor Neo moon in G-B.

Monday the 12th . . . The G-B Neo tower came out of reinforced and was promptly destroyed.  We also caught a Borg Chimera that bounced off of a really bad cyno in Arton.

Today, Tuesday the 13th has been rather busy and we're only 11 hours in.  Caught a Revelation in Arton that was bumped off the station.  Oh, and Jssix SBU'ed G-B and we reinforced the Station and Ihub for lols.  This week will be interesting as the Burn Factor Saga continues.  Rumors of Tib leaving Eve has reached us and hopefully some juicy logs will be made public over the next day or two so expect some fun intel.

Burn Factor #5

Kentucky Spoon Bread (Hothomouh) ... 05/06/2014

So I was baking lunch this morning . . . if you've never had Kentucky Spoon Bread and your NOT allergic to corn you MUST try it sometime (Recipe at the end for Turrann).  Just as I was suppose to pull it out someone came onto the fishing comms and said he had an archon outside docking range in Hothomouh and wondered if we wanted to kill it.  HELL YEAH!!!

Hop into BlackOps and get ready to jump . . . and the oven buzzer goes off . . . shit.  Run to the kitchen, check the oven, oh it can stay in a few minutes.  Reset the timer, run back to the computer, make the cyno and get on the kill!  The archon is double tanked with named nos and a faction smartbomb in the highs.  At some point a rorqual comes in and whores on the mail with us.  In the end, the KSB turns out and +1 archon Kill.

Carrier Wrecks Look Sweet!

Kentucky Spoon Bread

1 can corn with juice (16 oz.)

1 can creamed corn (16 oz.)

4 eggs, beaten

3/4 stick of butter

16 oz sour cream

2 boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Mix all of hte ingredients in a bowl and pour into a baking dish.

Bake uncovered until the top is golden brown and the inside is firm (use a tooth-pick to check).  Actual time varies based on how deep the pan you use is.

Why I left CVA

So people keep asking my why I left in February.  Sometimes I semi-troll  back, other times I give a somewhat serious answer.  Its honestly a hard question to answer because there are so many little reasons.  So probably start in the beginning?


If any single event or item is the most responsible it is probably this:

Imperial Aeon #2

Meet Imperial Aeon #2, this Aeon was the second mothership built by Imperial Dreams and originally belonged to Pers before I inherited it when Pers left the game.  (Still waiting on Gothika's Avatar btw :p ).  Originally piloted by Rovern and sat by Ryuu before Ryuu became skilled enough to use in combat.  This Aeon was the perfect example of my philosophy ("If You Train It, It will Come").  Sadly still waiting on that Titan :P.

If any event you can blame, you can trace the root back to Late May of 2011 and the Yong Aeon gank were CVA and crew baited out 3 pirate Aeons and killed them in Yong (Balder Con Fraps Below)

Whats the connection?  From that event, my love of killing capitals was solidified.  Capital warfare emerged as my personal endgame.  My Goal, My Dream.  

Fast Forward two and a half years . . .  A lot of faces have come and gone, the political landscapes changed over.  I've been CEO of Imperial Dreams, and Allied Capital Commander for two years.  If anything, our capital fleet is weaker than when I started.  Super pilots have left or sold their supers, capital ships are not being pushed by corporations.  Nobody cares about killing capitals or losing them for that matter.  Is it my fault?  In a way Yes.  I failed to keep capital operations running.  Did I have good ideas?  Sure, did I ever push them through?  No, not really.  The organizational system I had been running just wasn't working.  Corporations weren't pushing for capitals, their CCFM's barely talked to me, assuming they had one appointed.  We had 300 people with capital access but hardly had more than 20-30 folks in cap chat.  I couldn't form an all CVA cap fleet, half the time I couldn't even get enough allied dreads to one cycle medium towers, let alone hit dickstars or serious threats.  Capitals weren't dieing, capitals weren't flying, Eve was a chore, it lacked fun for me.

Art0n Crew pulled me out of that slump.  Jssix and Nbele often would chat on steam, would bring my attention back to the game (or other games).  I'd look at the killboards and see, heres a group of people killing caps, lots of capitals.  This is what I want to do.  But they are KOS, can I work with them?  Well if you follow CVA politics you know there is a long history with the members of Arton Crew.  Many are x-cva, some are alts, some aren't alts.  Some flip back and forth, everyone is tied to Provi-bloc in some fashion or another.  Its like a retirement home for bitter vets who have had enough with idiots and just like to shoot things. 

For me I had been thinking of potentially leaving for most of 2013.  At first it was just a whisper.  Sure, sometime in the future I thought.  Things started to change though as I became more disenfranchised with the direction that both Provi-bloc and CVA had gone and my frustration in how cap fleet had been working out.  The major tie still to CVA wasn't CVA itself but Imperial Dreams.  Being CEO I obviously can't leave.  But one of the wonderful things about IG was that the corp as we were set up ran itself.  I could dissapear for two weeks and come back and nothing would be the matter.  So that wasn't the issue, instead my deepest tie (outside of friends for years and eternal loyalty to IG) was our BPO collection, particularly are t2 bpo collection.  We were organized as such several of us built off the BPOs (and paid fees based on profits) back to the corporation.  If you've ever used t2 bpos before (I dare say most of you have never seen one let alone used it) they are extremely easy and the ones we utilized printed money in the 20-40% profit range.  It was very easy isk and hard to walk away from.  My reliance on personal income from using corp bpos however became severed during the summer of 2013 when after seven years I finally taught myself how to do invention (started with jumpfreighters than ended up with t2 crusier hulls such as HICS, HACs, and Recons).  

With my financial concern now taken care of my thoughts of leaving turned from "can I leave" to "should I leave."  During the fall of 2013 I slowly started retreating from my alliance level positions.  I asked Equi to start finding people to replace me as I was running Cap Fleet, FCs, and theCitadel.  I was also starting to hang out on Jssix's Art0n comms, even though I couldn't actually fly with them.  It didn't take long till I was on Art0n comms more than CVA Mumble.  It felt more like home than mumble ever did.  November 2013 really became a significant month for me.  At the beginning of November I stepped down as CEO of Imperial Dreams, handing the baton over to Koit who was our most active Director remaining (many have moved on to Mortal Online with Aralis or withdrawn from Eve).  This cut the final connection forcing me to remain and also preemptively removed any temptation to potentially walk away with corp BPO assets (which are all locked down and can only be unlocked by the CEO).  I of course never seriously thought about it but by stepping down well ahead of any movement there would be absolutely no cause or chance for suspicion.  This is Eve after all and one never knows what will happen or what one will be accused of.  In conjunction with this there were a lot of changes happening for me in real life too.  

As a Millennial I had of course moved back into my parents house after college and been working nights for about 18 months.  In November I moved out to rent from my uncle in Minneapolis, MN.  Big deal as it meant leaving my old job and moving to a large city (rural MN boy for most of my life).  A lot of changes happening.  New Job as a part time order selector at a supermarket distribution center started in December and as I focused on new job I let my eve accounts unsub one by one.  I still kept in touch with people but for the most part tried to do other things (like catch up on my anime).  

And than . . . B-R happened.  Like a fly attracted to a bug zapper I just couldn't turn away.  Eve does that too me, I may have to take a break but its never long and I'm always drawn back.  Same thing had happened when Asaki happened.  So I'm resubbed but now what?  Nothing had really changed when I was gone, issues I had had both with CVA and the game were still there.  I started the long process of withdrawing assets.   Let me tell you about moving seven years of assets out of a region.   I probably blew over half a billion in isk on isotopes alone, carrier and jump freighting ships and mods out of various Providence stations to Arton.  When I actually told JSSix I was going to join I think he was more surprised than anyone else.  Many thought I would go to Silent Infinity if I left.  The thought was very tempting.  I had first met Tasha's alliance when we had a capital op in Modun, catching a large group of capitals attacking one of their POS.  When they were made holders as we retook providence and given space surrounding my nest egg (VKI) I had really gotten to know Tasha and quite a few AFK members as we became close neighbors in Providence.  They are a really great group of people and I deeply value our relationship and friendship.  However joining Silent Infinity would mean not a whole lot really changing for me, I would still be in Provi-bloc with the same issues that bothered me, and if anything it would weaken my position as CVA has still for the most part been the source of authority in the area, although its impact and respect has diminished over the last few years.  No I needed a clean political cut from Provi-Bloc directly and Arton was the easiest solution for me, other options might have included potential spots in Nulli Secunda or maybe even trying to get into a PL corporation but I wanted experience before anything else so NULL it was.

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't expecting to be shooting CVA the next day.  I decided to leave quietly, a quick post in council a few days before actually leaving and a quick talk with equi.  A squabble with Dyntheos over being  a traitor in a chat channel, but that was it.  No big goodbye speach, no attention grabbing thread on the forums, just a quick hop to a different corp, split between my alt corp and Derivian Solutions which belonged to a friend in NULL. The next day I found myself flying a guardian in a small tech 3 fleet defending a POS in Mamet from Provi-Bloc.  I latter learned almost nobody outside a few people who had been told ahead of time knew I had left so when I showed up on the field (with Ren'va) I guess there was some confusion and a lot of surprise.

Since that move I dare say I have had a ton of fun.  While my kill numbers aren't anything special I've been involved in a significantly larger number of capital ganks/fights than in the last several years and I've been able to utilize ole Imperial Aeon #2 significantly more over the last few months.  The last few months have been some of the most enjoyable times for me in Eve ever.  Especially working with (really just tagging along and kmwhoring) the fishing crew from PL.  Its been an eye opening experience in how people can be hunted and just how focused and good these guys are at what they do.

...

So after typing this huge wall I'm sure I still haven't really answered the question of why I left.  I kept hinting at being upset with the state of Providence, particularly CVA but never broached what bothered me.

I joined CVA in late Spring, early Summer of 2007, the week after the fall of 9uy when CVA took the station from Ushra'Khan.  To be more correct I joined Imperial Dreams which happened to be the executor of CVA.  I did not join IG because of CVA, I joined CVA because of IG and I have publicly made that clear numerous times.  Eve was very different back than, conflicts were significantly more localized, power projection wasn't nearly as far as it is today.  There were no Jump bridges, no titan bridges.  You 'walked."  Capitals were rare and extremely valuable logistically as well as on the battlefield.  CVA was strong, coming off a major victory over one of their most biter rivals, they were respected for their staying power and battleship fleets.  The CVA of that day was very different from today's iteration.  There was no question of who they were and what they stood for.  They were Amarrians bringing law and order to the lawlessness of null-sec.  NRDS was their tool, but the empire was their endgoal.  You didn't talk in local, you didn't trashtalk the empire.  If you looked at us funny we would KOS you and be done with it, no time wasting, gunboat diplomacy when needed, and never afraid to war dec.  

Over the next two years as Ushra'Khan slowly fell apart and CVA lost its nemesis that hardness started to disappear.  The perma war with UK came down.  We let in more corporations who weren't nearly as committed to the empire.  At some point we stopped being the loyalist alliance and became the NRDS alliance.  When the Catch war failed and we were expelled most of our allies disappeared but we stuck to it as friends went off to greener pastures.  CVA persevered but it never returned to that "Amarrian Alliance."  When we retook Providence we became even laxer.  We had become 'a casual' alliance, full of 'carebears' and fluff.  We threw space at anyone who showed up to take it as long as they agreed to NRDS.  Some deserved it, some perhaps didn't.  We lost our leadership, the old guard slipped away, the experienced FCs with an exception or two slipped to other places were their skills were more valued.  Our Super pilots left or sold their supercarriers because why own it if we won't use it?  We became militarily backwards, always following never innovating anymore (RIP Pulse Pocs & Panic Fleet).  

Today CVA is a leader of equals, not a ruler of Holders.  The FCs and the combat pilots were no longer majority CVA.  Capital Ops had to be coalition level as CVA struggled to field its own capital group.  The region, while it can pull decent numbers, continues to exist at the whim of its neighbors.  Casual alliances have no place as a leader in Null-Sec.  I grew up in a harder, leaner, less casual alliance.  My dream is that of a CVA that was mobile and militarily powerful, that could play with the big boys, deploy were it needed to.  Today's CVA is not that, and will probably never be able to become that without completely destroying itself.  The Amarrian vision was corrupted and lost and so was my faith in the alliance.  

That is not to say the people in CVA are failures or that anyone person or group of people are to blame.  The desire to be casual handicapped the alliances development and the people in leadership roles including myself did nothing to guide it down a different path and in that sense I failed not only myself, my dream, but my alliance and my corporation.  The people in CVA (for the most part) are a great group of people, many of whom I have known for years.  I stuck around for seven years and its not easy letting go of the relationships you develop over that stretch of time.

So I guess, after all that writing and splerging . . . I left CVA because CVA ceased to be the alliance I felt it was suppose to be.  I was tired of casual in an alliance I felt shouldn't be casual (Arton is even more casual but there is no pretense for being anything else nor is there an expectation of anything else).  Combined with responsibilities and disappointments that soaked all the fun of EVE out of my day to day experiences with it I needed a change and NULL was my answer.  As far as the future goes who knows.  I'm having a blast in NULL right now, participating in fishing Ops, trolling Care Factor, and genuinely just shooting whatever happens to undock next to me (try it sometime its rather relaxing).  I have a feeling however that at some point I will grow bored of it and move on to something else.  How long that takes or when it happens is anyones guess.

Forgot to Eat Before Work (MAI) . . . 05/04/2014

So today while at work I realized I hadn't eaten anything before heading in, I also hadn't had time to shower . . . why you ask?

I woke up and got on coms as I usually do in the mornings (say 11:45ish).  Spend some time, chit chatting, and trolling of course.  Start to get up to go say hi to the housemates and find something to eat when Sixie suddenly says, "Rovern log the aeon in."  Quickly come back and log Ryuu in and get in fleet.  Lot of people on the fishing TS3.  Target system is in titan range so get the hictor on our titan and wait.  Our Prober cyno gets the probe hits and warps in to the target (a SOLAR aeon).  Lands and the aeon is cloaked but our prober starts traveling along the line of warp knowing that the aeon has to be cloaked somewhere close by, its not like he can move out of the way quickly.  Sure enough we manage to decloak him, cyno up, and a mass of HICs land and tackle and . . . well you can figure out the rest.  Thus 2 NULL supercarrier pilots retain their #2 and #3 spots on the PL Killboard for points :p.

Art0n Killboard Link

NULL #2, #3

So someone pointed this out to me this morning

That is 2 of NULL's aeons in the number 2 and 3 spot on the PL Killboards, point-wise.

Death From Being Predictable -2 Nyx . . . 05/04/2014

Last night as things were beginning to wind down and some of us were starting to nudge asleep TS3 suddenly woke up as we were alerted that two Nyx's had been spotted traveling.  People were asked to have a cyno burned to a system they were pretty sure these Nyx's were either traveling to or were going to mid through as we began to poke each other awake.  With the target system in titan range of both of our Domain and Derelik staging areas we had HICs on titans in both sides.  Sure enough cyno goes up, but its only Nulli Secunda . . . PL can't hit them . . . damn . . . Wait a little longer . . . another cyno, warp to . . . NYXes on scan.

Our Cyno Goes Up, Titans Bridge Hics . . . the rest . . . well you can guess.

Fraps from NULL Aeon POV

Killboard

(Also new KB Banner, U Like?)

One interesting note is as we were killing them both pilots claimed to be joining N3 . . . particuarly Cult of War.  Little Fishy and PL didn't buy it.  You have to be really careful when traveling south New Eden low-sec.  Never trust anyone, even allies of people you are 'joining.'  If your ticker isn't right, people aren't going to care what you 'PLAN' to do.

Arton Video: Hot Dropings 3

Our favorite Dutch Pirate Balder Con has released a video made up of a collection of fraps from the past few weeks including the two titan kills and the Mifrata fight recently.

Ryuu has some fun . . . 05/03/2014

So after a terrible day in the freezer (Picking tickets sucks) got home 30 minutes early to be told LOG YOUR SUPER IN!!!!  Quickly did so and managed to make the jump in to catch a bunch of carriers we had found.  Result, lots of PL and NULL Supers on Kills!!!

37 Supers, 5 Carriers,  9 Battleships, 14 HICs, and 7 Arazu's ....

Killed at least 9 carriers and 7 Battleships that Arton Crew made mails on at least . . .  Sorry for the messed up KB.

Burn Factor #4: Chastot Riraille Tries to Sell G-B22J

  Channel ID:      -21721881
  Channel Name:    P-Trade
  Listener:        Chastot Riraille
  Session started: 2014.04.30 19:11:01
---------------------------------------------------------------

[ 2014.04.30 19:11:01 ] EVE System > Channel MOTD: Chanell for Trade amongst Provi Blue's.No scamming allowed - be fair.If you are KOS in Providence, you are likely to get kicked from the channel. It would be nice if you would just leave it. If anyone needs access sorted/removed, please contact DG Ale, Misha Moon, Max Sneak, or Master46664 - if no reply, mail one of the above.Please keep longer chatty conversations to one of the casual chat channels. Thanks.
[ 2014.04.30 19:11:12 ] Chastot Riraille > WTS  G-B22J solarsystem
[ 2014.04.30 19:11:18 ] Chastot Riraille > http://art0n.blogspot.com/2014/04/burn-factor-3.html
[ 2014.04.30 19:14:15 ] Hyou Yuki > Chastot Riraille  G-B22J price?
[ 2014.04.30 19:14:57 ] Chastot Riraille > mm lets c
[ 2014.04.30 19:15:02 ] Chastot Riraille > make me an offer
[ 2014.04.30 19:15:10 ] Hyou Yuki > 6b
[ 2014.04.30 19:15:11 ] Ladel Teravada > 1m
[ 2014.04.30 19:15:33 ] Ladel Teravada > After all its ratinfested, red and full of carebears
[ 2014.04.30 19:15:43 ] Chastot Riraille > wel i know its an soon to be ex CF system but its brob whorth a bit more
[ 2014.04.30 19:16:12 ] Chastot Riraille > Hyou Yuki you can have it fro 1 bil
[ 2014.04.30 19:16:22 ] Chastot Riraille > [19:15:33] Ladel Teravada > After all its ratinfested, red and full of carebears
[ 2014.04.30 19:16:24 ] Chastot Riraille > +1
[ 2014.04.30 19:17:48 ] Hyou Yuki > ah, i remembered. CF betrayal...
[ 2014.04.30 19:20:22 ] Hyou Yuki > wait, not CF
[ 2014.04.30 19:21:19 ] GROUND XERO > WTB Provi... 10 bil ( and all have to call me MASTER)
[ 2014.04.30 19:21:39 ] Chastot Riraille > it's all  utchytotty s fault
[ 2014.04.30 19:22:14 ] Chastot Riraille > she should have disbanded CF
[ 2014.04.30 19:23:28 ] Hyou Yuki > frankly speaking, i'd buy g-b22j for 1b, just for fun, but i suppose CVA will not like that
[ 2014.04.30 19:23:55 ] Hyou Yuki > just because i have no powers to defend it
[ 2014.04.30 19:23:58 ] Chastot Riraille > why not
[ 2014.04.30 19:23:59 ] Jevan Itonula > ship hangar sale, cheap prices:  [Multiple Items]  [Multiple Items]  [Multiple Items]  [Multiple Items]  [Multiple Items]
[ 2014.04.30 19:24:43 ] Chastot Riraille > Jevan Itonula provi has not even come close to falling and you are already selling all ur ships
[ 2014.04.30 19:24:55 ] Chastot Riraille > you wil need them in the fight against nulli
[ 2014.04.30 19:26:07 ] Hyou Yuki > Chastot Riraille  suppose that some red alliance noticed that my carebear alliance owns that system. They set SBUs, jump in on 20 dreads, reinforce/kill TCUs/iHub, while i... can just observe it from my tengu, because there are 1.5 PVPers in our alli :)
[ 2014.04.30 19:26:41 ] Hyou Yuki > i doubt CVA will like some provi system owned by somebody who cannot protect it
[ 2014.04.30 19:26:53 ] Chastot Riraille > wel CF cant
[ 2014.04.30 19:27:00 ] Hyou Yuki > otherwise, i'd buy it :) just because it is interesting - to own system, upgrade it etc
[ 2014.04.30 19:28:31 ] GROUND XERO > so i will give you 1.1 bil
[ 2014.04.30 19:28:31 ] Chastot Riraille > CF cant even defende 1 system and they have 3
[ 2014.04.30 19:28:59 ] Atlas Picard > Jevan Itonula too expensive  [Multiple Items] (Item Exchange) (tengu)
[ 2014.04.30 19:29:39 ] Jevan Itonula > might be, i did'nt check
[ 2014.04.30 19:29:44 ] Jevan Itonula > wanna make an offer
[ 2014.04.30 19:31:01 ] Jack Macca > Atlas Picard my young padawan the force is strong in you
[ 2014.04.30 19:31:15 ] Jevan Itonula > changed for 410mil
[ 2014.04.30 19:31:26 ] Chastot Riraille > G-B22J solarsystem stil up fro graps
[ 2014.04.30 19:32:38 ] Jack Macca > wts  Apocalypse (Item Exchange)  Oracle (Item Exchange)  Talos (Item Exchange)  Myrmidon (Item Exchange)
[ 2014.04.30 19:32:51 ] Jevan Itonula > Chastot Riraille don't worry, i am only selling overstock ships that I don't use, I have plenty fitted for the war
[ 2014.04.30 19:33:06 ] Chastot Riraille > you better

Burn Factor #3

Evidently Chastot Riraille's one man campaign of Justice is starting to frey some nerves.

Re: Chastot is back
From: Andraea Sarstae
Sent: 2014.04.25 23:05
To: C.F Council,

For those of us on the US west coast, there generally aren't any organised fleets running in the late evening hours in Provi. So, but the time I get home from work and get some food (9PM PDT), there isn't much organized action going on.

The few of us who are active then tend to form out own small reactionary fleets when reds show up, but generally it's pretty quiet. Our camper friends also don't seem to bother people during those hours, so I doubt they're at the keyboard able to be baited.

I check the CVA forums for fleet anouncements, but have yet to run into one that I can actually join due to time constraints.

That said, I do see a some people mining and ratting all the time, and don't seem to have any interest in PvP. I don't know how to solve that particular problem, as it's hard to make people interested in playing a game in a way they don't find interesting or rewarding.

I think our biggest problem is that we've done/said things in the past that have caught the attention of this group of players. They love causing drama, and based on their blog posts, seem to have the goal of destroying our alliance.

It doesn't seem like we have a lot of sympathy from the PvP segment of our blue allies here in Provi, as they make snide remarks in local and on the CVA forums about carebears, etc, etc. I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but I sure do get the feeling that the leadership of some of our allies would prefer to see us gone from Provi, as they consider us to be non-contributing and worthless to Provibloc.

Despite what I've heard some people say, we really don't have the capability to tell the rest of Providence to fuck off, nor would we last very long as an independent alliance even if we could. Even if we all had supers and titans available, we just don't have the numbers to compete on the big stage.

So, where does that leave us? I think the only realistic answer is diplomacy with this group that has a hard-on for our total destruction. Find out what is motivating them, and then figure out a way to get them uninterested in camping us 23/7.

When they're dropping our Orcas with supers and logging off cap ships in our systems, a military response is more likely to leave us even more frustrated than we already are, because we're almost assuredly going to come out on the short end.

I know some people will think I'm being negative, but I think I'm just being realistic.

All Your Systems Belongs To Us (Seriously your Living in My Homeland, IG for Life)
But Evidently that is not all . . .

A Few Days Latter . . .

We've got a problem...
From: Andraea Sarstae
Sent: 2014.04.30 08:46
To:

... but I'm not sure what to do about it. As I write this, I'm pretty bummed out and discouraged.

Basically, morale is getting low, people are on comms and alliance chat talking about how CCP changes/enforces the rules to benefit our enemies and penalize us, how CVA doesn't care about us, doesn't do anything to defend us, is collaborating with Nulli to have them take our space so CVA cna take it back and not give it to us, etc.

Now alliance members are apparently about to start shooting neutrals on sight, which of course will definitely get the rest of Provibloc's attention.... but not in the way we want.

I like it here. I'd like to stay here. But bitter-vet syndrome is turning this into a highly toxic environment, and I'm afraid it's in danger of imploding in on all of us.

And, quite frankly, who wants to log on to a play a video game and encounter a solid wall of negativity about everything? There's enough of that IRL, this is supposed to be fun and relaxing...

So... can we do anything about this? Do enough of us actually want to?

But All is Not Lost!!!!!!

Re: We've got a problem...
From: cheebafett
Sent: 2014.04.30 10:06
To: C.F Council, Andraea Sarstae,


I have never heard anyone talk about shooting neutrals. I would like to know who said these things. As fas as morale, people have to realize that being camped is part of life in 0.0. We have been camped before and will be camped again. Until CCP realizes that 23/7 camping is an exploit and evens up the playing field, It is part of the game we have to deal with.

There are ways to make money in all the systems here not even our own. I live in GB and have been affected by the camping but I know THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT. THis is a war of diligence and resolve. We have to hold the line and not show that their exploits are NOT affecting us.

As far as CVA not defending us and collaboration with Nhiliists Social Club. This is not proven and should not be said or discussed. If CVA wanted us out they could just remove us with a whim. They dont need back room tactics or some mercenary group to do it. They actually have to deal with nihilist blowing up CVA towers all the time.

What can be done about it? The only thing I know is to join CVA fleets, which we do. and someone to run operations on their coms and publicly announce PVP fleets or mining ops.

I would like to know who in the Alliance is propogating distrust and making threats. If anyone wants to email me situations and names it will only be between the two of us.

Cheebs

 No, your not shooting neutrals, your dropping offensive Mobile Depots in and aggressing Allied Pilots . . . I think that is even worse?

Burn Factor #2

So saw this Gif linked in the channel that shall not be named but you know who you are!

Chastot Riraille right before she lights the cyno to drop people on Care Factor!

Playing with Nulli . . . 4/28/2014

Nulli Secunda recently deployed to Kheram to play with Provi Bloc for awhile.  This also puts them in rather close proximity to us.  We have a fairly tight friendship with Ordo Drakonis corp who are in Nulli and Nulli are Blue to PL (as are we) but we're neutral to each other so apart from Ordo, Nulli are fair game.  Anyway last night Dok was minding his own business running a 5/10 in Sibot when a wild Dairokuten Maoh in a Raven Navy Issue came into his plex.  Of course we mobilized in Gnosis.

First attempt failed as Dairo jammed Jimmy's tackle just as we were landing and our chase to Kheram failed to tackle him. Oh well back to station spinning.  A little bit latter hes back.  Now this feels completely like a bait attempt so I log Ren'va in and move her in a Falcon to Kheram.  Kheram seems quiet except for some internal alliance trolling at KoKo.  After floating around Kheram a bit Dairo comes back and so I give it a few minutes and start to bring Ren home, there is an anomally I want to run.  As I'm jumping to Bittanshal he returns again.  This time Ren runs straight to Kheram and we once again set up to try to catch him in Sibot.  This time he gets away but we warp straight to Kheram gate and Neliel sets up with a long point in Kheram so hes not getting away this time.  We stand off at the gate for a bit before JSSix forces him through and the rest of us jump.  Some how nothings responded yet so we go for it.  He is actively repping but we're pulling him down, as he hits armor for the first time we start to see stuff on scan coming in.  Geddons, ishtars . . . sacrileges . . .  We're aligning out and overloading as Pwn 'N Play start to land.  Jssix and Cradle get pointed as the RNI die, Jssix manages to mwd cycle out of tackle and warps off but sadly we lose Cradle to a point from the Geddon.  Satisfied with the trade we decide to scede the 5/10 as they move everyone they have over to the 5/10 to finish it.  Turns out a Nightmare BPC and a Centum B-type eanm drop . . . welp . . .

And KoKo . . . Good Luck Baiting out NULL Capitals . . .

RNI Mail

Harbinger Loss Mail

Easter Week Fun . . . 4/23/2013

Well today has been a fun day.  While visiting my parents for 'Easter' during the week (worked Easter so had to go latter in the week) was on comms playing Civilization 3 when a report of a Nomad in Arton came through.  Dropped Civ 3 and logged in, sat around waiting for the Nomad to undock.  Undock it did . . .  Killmail

But the Jewel came about an hour latter . . .

*Classified* reported seeing a CF Orca on his alt undocking from a outpost in Provi.  Well hell yes!  Call was not to bring carriers but supers.  My super isn't logged in as I'm at my parents so . . . balls to the wall REDEEMER!!  We jump in knowing there is small escort but the supers are safe for all intensive purposes, short of someone having a hic or a dictor escorting the orca they're pretty safe . . . Redeemer not so much.  On Jump in I'm the only not supercap on the field as our cyno bomber is basically dead almost immediately.  After a few whoring shots at the Orca I turn towards the support.  At this point if they had been smart they would have all locked me down and primaried me.  As it was, I was never been shot at by more than two small ships at any given time.  While tackled for awhile I never was real concerned as lets face it I'm surrounding by supers who are locking support in six seconds.  In the end most of the support died and I found an opportunity to warp out and cap up before jumping home.

So with supers jumping and an orca being attacked you would think Citadel would be getting pinged and people would be streaming to x-r3 . . .

[22:16:58] Christina Atlantis > supers xr gb gate

[22:17:41] Bernard Koraka > red carrier drop X-R3

[22:18:55] Bernard Koraka > Nyx and aeon drop : carrier hunting

[22:22:37] Calette Zardina > link the carriers plx (names / ships)
[22:22:52] Ursus Polarus > carrier? where?
[22:22:59] Amiga Moja > gone
[22:23:04] specv > i think they are gone now

Yeah . . . there were no carriers in that drop . . .

Sooo . . . where does that leave us?

[22:31:21] Equinox Daedalus > did you really hotdrop an orca
[22:31:36] Equinox Daedalus > tib isn't going to be pleased :P
[22:31:45] Equinox Daedalus > he already thinks rovern is out to get him

Burn Factor . .  Burn . . .