Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

I don't think four months is the longest I've ever gone without posting, but the time that's passed since I last wrote in May has managed to be both quiet and extremely eventful at the same time. I've been out of EVE completely more often than not over the past three months due to a slew of RL troubles, which have only recently begun stabilising. In the past couple of weeks, however, the relative malaise of my internet spaceships time has turned around significantly.

Catching Up

Huo Lung > Do you comment on like every other kill of yours? You need to just resume blogging. :P

Fine then, I WILL. :P

In fairness, it has been just about three months since I've posted anything updates of my own life in internet spaceships. In that time, we've had a ton of stuff happen in-game, a lot of which I don't even remember clearly enough to comment on. Thus, in lieu of a wordier post with all the things I normally include in my blog, I'll just list a few highlights of the past three months as a Black Rebel.

• March was a relatively slow month overall, thanks to some RL concerns I had come up for the first few weeks. March was also the beginning of R1FTA's holiday to my old stomping grounds of Citadel and Black Rise lowsec, the native habitat of the Caldari and Gallente militias. There wasn't a whole lot of activity for me thanks to my absence, but I did chalk up a kill during an engagement with a Crusader in my Thrasher, notable as my only solo kill of the month.
  
• April wasn't much more exciting than March in terms of the amount of PVP I engaged in, but it does stand out as being the first time I participated in a supercap kill. Full story is over at Dirty Protagonist's blog, ain't no sunshine. (Read it if you haven't already, it's funny.) Apparently Friday the 13th is bad luck after all...
  
• A few days before our Nyx kill, Peri Simone lead the weekly "Target Everyone, Somebody Fire" roam out of Heild on a Tuesday night. As we'd sort of expected, the trip ended with a skirmish with Gunpoint Diplomacy, and R1FTA didn't fare as well as we'd hoped. Spirits were somewhat low, but the Rebels were determined not to be outshone, and during a second round (in which Peri handed me the reins) we gave RANSM a GF. (Note: The battle report is kinda messed up because the two fights happened in the same system, despite being an hour apart. The final score for the second round was three Ruptures and a Thrasher killed, while losing two Ruptures, a Stabber Fleet Issue and a Jaguar.)
  
• The first two weeks of May opened with a couple of activities I don't normally avail myself of - Hulkageddon ganks and POS bashing. There was also a Jaguar which I hero-tackled with my Rifter (and survived!), an optimistic young player who engaged my Ishkur on a gate (and ended up being my first above-class solo kill), and a hilarious 2v2 guest-starring Naoru Kozan of the Tuskers (after which the Daredevil and Thrasher pilots refused to undock while we were in system). Of course, since this blog simply wouldn't be complete without one of my own fiery deaths, I'll include an account of my fourteen-minute frigate 1v1.

I do feel obligated to write a post about the upcoming FW changes at some point, since so much of my own PVP career has been as a member of the Caldari militia, but I'm quite frankly trying to avoid it - so much has already been said about FW in various venues that I'm not sure I can add anything new to it, and I feel a little too out-of-the-loop to be confident that I'd know what I was talking about. (Which I suppose has never stopped anyone in EVE before, but...) Still, I'm once again trying to renew my commitment to posting here regularly, so hopefully you'll see more out of me in the future.

In the meantime, fly dangerous! o/

The Passing of a Legend

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been tied up with RL. I know I have a fair bit to catch up on in terms of internet spaceships, which may be addressed this weekend. I do, however, want to pay tribute to a recently departed institution of EVE blogging. As aptly noted in the post title, all good things must end. I note with great sadness that Wensley has decided to step back from being "that blagger guy", and a such, Rifter Drifter is coming to a close. I know I'll miss reading his exciting tales and thoughtful analysis, but Wens has made it clear that he isn't leaving New Eden; in fact, he's apparently going to be a recurring guest co-presenter on Sard Caid's live stream. I'm looking forward to seeing it! For now, though, a moment of silence for Rifter Drifter. Thanks for the great reads, Wensley. o7

FC Review: 21 February 2012

This post was originally put up on the Black Rebel Rifter Club's corp forums, as part of a series of weekly roams entitled "Target Everyone, Somebody Fire!" organised by a corpmate looking to gain more experience running gangs. Last night was the second in this series of roams, and I stepped up to FC for the event.

Start time: 22:00, including Rifter combat and general lazing about by the FC
Route: Heild > Otosela > Amamake

This week's episode of TESF, titled "This Can Only End Well!", was guest-hosted by Dian Lung. There were a number of excellent killmails to be had, but unfortunately, many of them were at the FC's expense. :P

More explosions!

After the sordid, emotional wall of text that was my last post, I'm sure some of you were thinking "Dian, I'm real happy for ya, and I'ma let you finish, but isn't PVP about making things blow up?" Well, fear not, because I've been doing exactly that. A selection:

• During a roam with the Tuskers out to 0.0, we happened on a Sin that decided to aggress us on station. At first blush, it's probably not surprising that our gang of battlecruisers - mostly of the new tier 3 variety, fitted with battleship-sized guns - was able to pop a black ops ship in four volleys. What the killmail doesn't show, however, is that the Sin was being remote-repped by three carriers at the time - an Archon, a Chimera and a Thanatos.
• In one of a series of AF 1v1s with SneakyBadger of Gunpoint Diplomacy, I accidentally his whole Enyo. It was a close fight, leaving me in half structure when he popped (though I realise that on a Gallente hull that's still a fair amount of buffer). Aside from it being a close fight, this kill is noteworthy because it marks the first time I've actually gotten a killmail from an evenly matched frigate 1v1, rather than forcing my opponent off the field or being popped myself.
• Another 1v1, this time with Olleybear (best bear), featuring shield cruisers. My shield-fit Stabber Fleet Issue narrowly prevailed over his shield Rupture. Olley's DPS at range was much better than mine thanks to his second tracking enhancer, forcing me to burn in, overheat my guns and pray. If he'd had a DCU fitted I probably would've lost this fight.
• Yesterday (as of this post), Huo and I went on an impromptu roam with Gunpoint Diplomacy, resulting in this skirmish in SL-YBS. I didn't really do much of anything besides run away and hold on things, being in a Lachesis. However, I still really enjoyed this fight due to the fact that Huo and I were actually in a gang together (still a rare occurrence, though we're working to change that), and because he had the most killmails of any individual pilot in the group. Hooray!
• In the midst of a furious bout of ship-spinning, I switched over to our local intel channel to see a RANSM member say, "Nomad in warp to a gate, I'll point him when he jumps!" This was the result.
• This past Sunday evening marked the birthday of Robert Mason, a member of the Tuskers. We had a drunken roam to celebrate, which lead to me going into full derp mode in the very first engagement and suiciding the Falcon that Rob had provided for me. (Don't mind the high slots; Rob made it clear that rainbow lasers were a requirement for the roam.) However, I did manage to stay alive long enough to get in on a juicy nullbear Loki kill. Yes, that is a battle Iteron in the third-to-last spot. Happy birthday, Rob! (I'd say I'm sorry about the Falcon, but... well, you know.)
• UPDATED: It's only fitting, given this opponent's influence on my PVP career, that I include this recent lossmail as an example of HONOURABLE RIFTER COMBAT.

Anniversary

Almost two years ago, I undocked a ship with the intention of using it to PVP, without any idea what I was doing. Realising this milestone has made me reflect on the changes that have come over the past two years, and the people I've had the pleasure of meeting and flying with (and sometimes against). PVP is mostly a social activity for me, so I think it's appropriate that I take the opportunity to offer my thanks.

I can't help but feel like this is some sort of troll.

But I still think it's pretty hilarious.