Vikings of EVE

The Engineers Arrive

2010-05-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

Ualkin -0900 hours

True to their word a detachment of Caldari Navy Engineers arrived. Safely. Which is an ironic term considering the pirate infested space home of Viking Fleet. The CEO snorted. These parts were going to be anything but safe for the next couple years. That's why he'd pushed to be first on the list for this refit.

In the hanger bay he watched as hundreds of technicians scurried over his prize starship brandishing the strangest of weaponry yet encountered: Cutting lasers. A Scorpion-class battleship. A battle tested mammoth. The pride of any pilot who graduated from the old Caldari Special Ops school. Now defunct since Heth's takeover Isaiah Harms was among the last cadets to be issued the circular "jammer pin," clearly identifying his specialized skill in electronic warfare. Now he watched as the techs began cutting into the skin of his warship.

The first class of battleship the Caldari produced Isaiah strongly agreed with the necessity of a refit. The Scorpion classes were unique because the primary offensive weapons were also the primary defense: 8 sockets to mount enough sensor jamming equipment to lock out nearly half a fleet. It was usually the enemy's first target, and if flown poorly the first to die.

The techs cut away the port side exhauster nacelle. Isaiah winced and turned away. The warship had taken severe battle damage recently. The operation had been a victory and now all would be repaired thoroughly. Along with radically altering the ships structure the engineers would be installing all new skin and plating. A good deal if they put it back together right.

How to handle a woman...!

2010-04-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

Mark my words, and I'll tell you how!

Now.... I'm sitting here with bagel in hand and minutes before leaving to work. Lea's post at Wench with a Wrench has the gears turning. "Connection" is what's churning round and round. I agree with Lea that this a big issue for our ladies. Feeling unique and valued is highly important to female players...

I've always wondered why a builder/mechanic cannot leave a unique signature on their work. Why can't a person make their mark in EVE more visibly?

It would have to be extra special content that few people could find, or want to find. Skillbooks hidden in secure asteroid data-centers... Or even on planetside compounds! Mysterious caches hidden by an alien race (Jovians?).

Perhaps CCP could seed some of these unique items into EVE. I know 98% of the guys won't go hunting for them unless it improves the bottom line. However a woman revels in uniqueness. If that meant being one of the few people in EVE with the ability to PAINT a starship that could make a difference. I'd pay 5-10 million for custom paintwork on my Raven. As long as it doesn't crash the server :)

Getting In Touch With Our Feminine Side

2010-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Crazy Kinux wants more women capsuleers! Vikings of EVE recently learned that New Eden's premier blogger wants ideas to entice women into becoming capsuleers (see post: The EVE Blog Banter Special Edition: The Ladies of New Eden)

Considering the subject we knew precisely where to start: Polling women capsuleers.

"Women don't set about looking for the stars," says Tigerjade. She is the wife of Isaiah Harms and a fellow Viking. Yes, one of those rare female capsuleers."Women become capsuleers because they're space-nuts, or their husband/boyfriend got them signed up."

When asked what attracted women Tigerjade responded, "Perhaps colonizing planets and growing things would get more women involved."

And here we find our first point: Women have a more nurturing side than men. Explosions just don't thrill them the same way. Perhaps because destruction seems too pointless?

Kit Harms chimed in, "Women tend to be more peaceful. The best way to involve us is to invent a role which is both invulnerable to war, yet highly valuable in warfare. Like the Red Cross."

She then went on to relate her experiences as a druid healer in another RPG life. "We healers were needed by the warriors, however we could peacefully walk upon the battlefield without being menaced. Battles are exciting, but there needs to be an option for those people who just DON'T want to blow things up."

This led us to speculate: Say a new career path is invented. Perhaps an NPC corporation like the Sister Servants of EVE could produce a line of medic ships. These ships would ride into battle with everyone else. Upon the first explosion tractor beams are deployed to retrieve both disabled ship and escape capsules of NPC crew.

Wait! What's this? My Bhaalgorn is no longer ornate shards of twisted metal? Yes. It would now be an inoperative hulk. Very much like a damaged module. Broken beyond use (valueless except for some limited form of reprocessing) unless mended by a dedicated repair person.

Warship reconstruction can be a pricey thing. Yet easily less expensive than buying all new modules and ships. And if you DON'T have to fly all the way to Jita... The wait would be worth it.

Next there are the NPC crew to attend to. Naturally these folks are your crew from the Bhaalgorn. A crew you flew with a long time. A crew that weathered many battles, and as a result made your fearsome battleship even more powerful than a freshly minted crew on a newly purchased Bhaalgorn. Naturally the return of your crew (or as many of them that escaped and were retrieved) would be a huge boon to you. Hopefully YOUR medic ship retrieved them and not the medic ship on the other side. Ransoming them back could be so expensive.

Implementation of such a plan would take some adaption. All who embark on the ship reconstruction and medical career would need extensive new skill sets. Plus a new type of starship would need created. Retrieval ships dedicated to a pacifist lifestyle, no weapons and therefore immune to damage during battle.

New missions would need offered; the "medics" would need entry level missions slanted toward humanitarian aid.

What about the ship reconstruction specialists? New content may not be needed here, because from mission runners to pirates someone is always losing ships. A savvy and dedicated retrieval mechanic should easily be able to earn a living rebuilding the lost ships of capsuleers. In fact a noob mercy medic could also do well retrieving the lost crew.

Skills already exists for the foundations of each of these paths. Science already has a "Biology" skill, and the "Mechanic" skill is there too. More advanced skills could build upon them.

What we don't have in New Eden is career options for pacifist capsuleers who want to provide highly valued assistance to the warriors without being "the freighter guy" or "hulk miner."

Since this is about seducing more women to New Eden I beg you to consider making it more enticing. Crazy Kinux is right. We need more women involved to balance our society. And they require peaceful roles that are more complex and with more opportunities than what's currently offered.

This stands as our recommendation.

Sincerely, Isaiah Harms

Director of Vikings of EVE.

CEO of Viking Fleet

Links to New Eden's other distinguished intelligentsia:

Is eve a man's world? Linked Dreams The Female of the Species
New Eden doesn’t need to change for Eve – Adam needs to get over himself

Jazz said...
I don't blog so I am not sure how this all works...but here goes.

As a female player for almost 2 years now, I don't agree that Eve or CCP should change. I enjoy logging on every day and blowing up stuff (sorry, I don't cuss so that's the best you get from me). After a long day at work or whatever I am doing, the relief of just shooting things in missions or even other players is a great tension reliever.

On the flip side, the reason I got involved in Eve is due in part to my brother and a friend of his who always played and had a great comradarie with their corp mates. That was a huge draw for me and I have made many friends during my time in Eve as well as a few not so friendly people. Anyway, the mining and manufacturing aspects of the game were the biggest hook for me. I could go into a belt, relax and mine for hours and just chill out on vent with the guys as they went over ship setups or pvp action. When they post a fit in chat, I cop it down then tailor it to my skillset and try it out. If it works, then great, I have a new ship fit. The joy of building ships and mods has been something that I have also kept very active. Always making those iskies because EVERYONE needs ammo and ships. LOL

As I have evolved in Eve, I have become engaged to the CEO of our corp and taken greater roles such as Corp Manufacturer, POS manager and now second in Command of our Alliance. While some would say that is due to my fiance playing favorites, the truth is that those duties happened well before we ever met IRL. In laymans terms...I earned them by working my butt off in game and proving myself to be a team player and responsible and reliable person.

Okay, another point...I agree pink ships (I hate pink btw) are not the place for Eve but I (and some of the guys too) would like to be able to put details or paint on their ships to show individuality. But that's another article for someone else.

Okay, on to some details for you guys who talk to and try to recruit your significant other and gal pals into Eve. When you show them the game, don't be negative...this is my ship but you won't be able to fly it because it isn't right for you...that's crap!! We can train those skills too ya know....eventually.

Be open to their thoughts on the game and actually listen when they ask questions. Oh and when they do sign up for the free trial, don't take over their game and reset their settings or refit their ships. Instead give them advice on set ups and tell them why so they can actively participate in their gaming experience. Or give them links to BattleClinic loadouts and other pages so they can do their own research then ask questions when they need to.

Above all, be patient with them...as a noob (we were all there and we ALL needed help at some point).

Eve is a fantastically unique game, as we all know. However, there are no rewards for leveling up and no gifts/prizes for completing a skill. Unless of course, you have a great group of corpies who decide to reward you for some goal that is set. Being a female, and knowing how we think, most females want that aspect from a game. But not all of us.

Socially, yes, Eve is male dominated and that is great but there is room in this vast universe for us females too. Don't worry guys, you can still go into your man-cave and pvp until your heart's content.

Okay, there is my response/thoughts/opinions.

C-ya among the stars, Jazz

This Viking's Biggest Haul

2010-02-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

At 2500 hours the a barely new Hawk-Class assault frigate called Princess Koriana crossed the border into Gallente territory. In these contested skies lurk all types of capsuleers. The renegade traveler, militia soldiers, and the dedicated pirate... and one explorer.

Look matey's! That's the form of treasure! A radar communications tower. Just bring your trusty codebreaker. Train hacking high as possible. The loot in these can be great, dismal, or nothing at all. It's chance based and your skills help you improve those chances.

Ooops... Here's trouble. A mean looking Serpentis Thorax. Ready to scare off any intruders... like me.
Now by himself this Thorax won't last 5 minutes! Just take a look at his boss's ship though. Prep the light missiles... LOTS of 'EM!

Ooohh... Superior Caldari guided missile technology means a direct, and very powerful strike.

HEY! Those weren't even T2's! WIMPOS...!

Huh... His motley pirate mates aren't too happy.

Owwwieeeee! Blaster range.

Time for some close-in combat. Just try and hit me as I orbit you at 500 meters.

Now where DID all those guards go? Hey! I thought Serpentis were good? Guess not.... Oh well.. Treasure hunting time.

My my my..... Four radar sites plundered in four hours. Having made a tidy 40ish million this radar hawk heads home to his castle (yes it IS drafty. What do you expect from Amarrian engineers? It's a rock in space for crying out loud! With a station wrapped around it and a cute little chimney to make it feel home-like).

The Radar Hawk Earns 130 Million

2010-02-15T03:16:00.000-08:00

"Exploration pays," affirms capsuleer Isaiah Harms. Vikings of EVE learned this capsuleer just broke the 100 million ISK mark. "Certainly it is sporadic. Sure it takes persistence. There is no question about skill - the more you do it the faster you become at scanning. You get smarter about the territory you fly, and who else flies there. Success in exploration requires avoiding fights with other pilots."

When asked about his recent payout Mr. Harms said:

"If I had known the huge benefits of T2 assault frigates, and someone had told me how much money could be earned for just a few hours of work a day. I would have started this a lot sooner in my career."

Isaiah Harms is known as a reputable high level mission pilot for security corps like Peace & Order in the Forge. The Federation Navy is also a noteworthy client. When asked if he'd be selling his Raven the capsuleer hesitated.

"I just finished a few jobs over the weekend for my employers. I'm working for the corp's top hi-security agent and the pay was okay. Less than I would have made exploring. I'll keep the Raven for other reasons, but hacking pirate deadspace comm centers is my thing now... Having 144 million in the wallet is a good feeling," he said with a grin.

Vikings in Minmatar Space

2010-02-15T03:11:00.000-08:00

The C-22 arrives in Klingt after a grueling 37 jump flight from the Syndicate Region.

Within 20 minutes of landing in system the T2 Covert Ops craft piloted by Isaiah Harms located a radar site titled "Angel Regional Mainframe."

A Caldari Caracal-class combat cruiser (pardon the alliteration) was purchased three jumps away, and fitted suitably for the job at hand.

Freshly christened EX-511 and with a payload of Havoc heavy missiles the new cruisers easily tanked and swept away the opposition.

The defending force of Angel Cartel ships consisted of 4 Dramiel Frigates, and 4 pirate cruisers.

Using a tool called a Codebreaker Isaiah successfully hacked the mainframe for a total estimated payout of 7 million ISK. Not bad. Half the cost of the EX-511…

However Isaiah Harms is undeterred and very optimistic about this brilliant new constellation. "What's notable is I encountered no other capsuleers waiting in ambush" says pilot Harms. "There were always two others on the local comms, and at one point an Astarte-class command ship passed into my onboard scanners range. That made me a little nervous, however everything ran smoothly today."

Low Security Exploration Wonderships

2010-02-09T04:52:00.001-08:00

Meet the Assault Frigate. I call this particular craft the Princess Koriana. After trying several ships for exploration I find myself pleased with durability of a T2 Hawk-class Assault Frigate.

In the space of 24 hours this nimble craft has earned enough exploration loot to pay off it's rather expensive 20 million isk pricetag. The most remarkable thing being it's ability to penetrate into low sec space, tank and kill the rats, and still get out of the way should another capsuleer warp in.

It's signature radius being significantly less than a cruiser makes the assault frigate an ideal ship to avoid being scanned down. So far it's working. The only ship better for this job might be the Gallente Ishkur, whose drones would provide additional firepower. The inherent resists of the T2 hull make tanking the guardian rats a breeze!

Come a Viking, Capsuleer

2010-02-05T03:42:00.000-08:00

Need a challenge? Are you looking for fun that missions, mining, and ratting don't provide? Object to making a lot of ISK too?

The depths of hidden space hold your answer. Working together Viking Capsuleers will find that vault where your ambitions of adventure is locked away.

Discovering secret pirate hubs takes both skill and persistence. A capable starship, and a smarter pilot to evade ambush by other capsuleers. The guts to fly into enemy territory, plunder the discovered wealth, and fly out again alive!

New Eden truly is an exciting place. From fierce all-out combat with npc guards to tactical skirmishes with pvp'ers. There's precious minerals, invention secrets, and advanced ship blueprints to be had. Playing EVE Online offers far more than traditional excitement inside:

Secret pirate starbase complexes - we ransack 'em
Hidden asteroid belts - them we mine
Giant gas clouds of untold value waiting for intrepid harvesters
Deepspace data sites loaded with secrets - just bring a hacker.

Then there's wormholes.... Uncharted territory is not beyond the reach of the viking capsuleer. Not when you're flying in Viking Fleet (in-game corp ticker: GOVIK. Email me with questions to join)

New Eden never lacks adventure, only brave pilots.