To be honest, my motivation for Eve severely dropped, and had been dwindling ever since the collapse of Protean Concept. When Isogen 5 collapsed I joined Semper Ubi Sub Uni and more or less just threw in the towel and quit for a while, occasionally subbing every now and then to do stupid things, like ganking with a Marauder.
Four months ago I founded my own corporation and just started doing my own thing, but I still didn't have the motivation to start back up again. So my accounts lapsed once again. But, here I am, in my second consecutive month subbed, for the first time in what feels like a year. So what happened?
In short, Ascension happened. The introduction of the Alpha clone let people log in and do basic things to help new people get used to the game. An infinite trial of sorts. Well, the Alpha status isn't just for new comers, but for old vets like myself as well. Because, to me, the most powerful, and wonderful thing about Eve, is its social aspect. And talking is free. Being able to talk with old friends without feeling obligated to pay was a nice feeling, though I suppose that's a moot point since I re-subbed anyway. That was mostly thanks to a real life friend of mine wanting to get into the game since he heard it was now 'free to play.' His newbro enthusiasm was quite warming to my cold bittervet heart.
People encourage people, and it is through our interactions that we can achieve something that is otherwise impossible.
Even if it is completely by accident.
When I went inactive, not all my friends did the same, and they have all gone their separate ways. We sometimes still call on each other for help. I, for instance, have started living in low sec, and taking the opportunities as they come to me, mainly through exploration and DED Complexes.
I had about 1.2 billion in loot I needed to sell, so like any old disgruntled W-Space bittervet, I wasn't going to take the commoner's route of stargates, I scanned for wormholes to Jita. In the middle of scanning I encountered a fleet sitting on a wormhole.
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| The fleet was of the corporation Tempest Legion. |
Blodhgarm Dethahal > http://puu.sh/tcJsm/aaedbf69a9.jpg
Atomoxetine > where?
Atomoxetine > which wh?
Blodhgarm Dethahal > some random C2
Atomoxetine > jtag?
Blodhgarm Dethahal > J223853
Atomoxetine > 431?
{...}
Rottingham Joringer > Blodhgarm Dethahal wtf are you doing in our chain?
Blodhgarm Dethahal > they are gone off DScan now
Blodhgarm Dethahal > I was just diving... lol
{...}
Atomoxetine > from anara? middle of nowhere...
Blodhgarm Dethahal > I live there
350125GO > lol
350125GO > figures
Atomoxetine > small universe.
{...}
350125GO > you always wind up randomly in the middle of shit
Atomoxetine > happen to see where they went?
Blodhgarm Dethahal > BWB-K162-C4 in 853
Blodhgarm Dethahal > most likely, I was in the middle of scanning when they popped up
Rottingham Joringer > We were about to take their bait when you linked that picture
Now, regardless of where I go, I always carry a Mobile Small Warp Disruptor II with me in my cargo when I scan. It has been a habit of mine for many years. I love these things. No one expects a scan ship to bubble, and it doesn't have the kind of footprint on DScan that an Interdictor or Heavy Interdictor has. It came in handy to have for this fight.
I knew where my allies were, and I knew where the enemies were coming from. I had confidence in my friends that they could win on their own, so my job was to prevent them from escaping, and get them as many kills as possible. So I anchored my bubble on the enemy's wormhole, 70km off in the direction of my ally's wormhole. Knowing the fight was taking place inside my ally's system, if the enemy was going to retreat, they had to jump out, and warp back to their wormhole. If that happened, my bubble would intercept them and pull them out of warp 70km early, completely out of position and vulnerable. An easy clean up job to the pursuing ally fleet.
It didn't work out exactly that way, but it did play another purpose: scaring the enemy. This bubble anchors in exactly 1 minute and can seem to come out of no where. When the fight got under way, the enemy tried to bring in reinforcements, but the fear of the bubble (which got spotted by 2 reinforcing Guardians) prompted them to bounce off a nearby planet first and then warp to their destination, effectively delaying them and splitting the enemy fleet in half. For the two Bhaalgorns that I saw jump in, this was a painfully slow process of a measly 2 AU/sec warp speed, twice. In that time frame, my allies were able to kill most of the enemy and force them out of their system.
It was at this moment my bubble served its original purpose: pulling ships out of warp. Unfortunately, due to previous scouting, a vast majority of their pilots were able to avoid it. But a single Guardian missed the memo, which I ate gleefully.
And with that I tipped my hat, and left the bubble behind to be killed by my allies, who warped into it on accident.
Rottingham Joringer > rip drag bubble
Blodhgarm Dethahal > worth it, got me a Guardian kill
Atomoxetine > u indirectly and directly fucked their entire fleet
Blodhgarm Dethahal > hmm... yeah I guess so.. lol
Blodhgarm Dethahal > that timing tho
Atomoxetine > could not have planned it better
Rottingham Joringer > we're like dudes confessors
Rottingham Joringer > Blods like Hey guys look at this damn fleet
Blodhgarm Dethahal > I just thought it would be interesting to post, on the off chance you guys were close
Rottingham Joringer > as all 3 of us put 2 and 2 together that we're looking at teh same group
Blodhgarm Dethahal > I didn't realize you were that close... lol
Atomoxetine > i saw the tags and thought he was trolling somehow
Rottingham Joringer > same
I'm not going to take credit for the out come of the fight, as I wasn't there at it. At best I was a 3rd party ganker. And none of this would have worked out the way it did if SOUND had not been able to win that initial engagement. But, at the end of the day, what does it matter? It's just a moment between friends that left me grinning ear to ear.
And to top it off, I even found a high sec in that chain that accomplished my original goal of hauling loot.
It just shows that, no matter how prepared you think you are, you never know what's out there.
Battle Report C4 Side
Battle Report C2 Side
Total ISK Killed: 3.9 Billion
Total ISK Lost: 81.9 Million
"To be honest, my motivation for Eve severely dropped, and had been dwindling ever since the collapse of Protean Concept." ---ummmmm you sure about that? https://zkillboard.com/corporation/98633005/ ;)
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