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Slowboating to Utter Destruction
January 13, 2013 | 
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I have developed a set of resolutions for 2013. Ok, that’s a bit of a misnomer. I’ve set a series of goals for 2013, broken them down into their constituent elements, and am keeping track on a monthly basis of how well it goes. I’ve even considered doing this for EVE, but haven’t got a complete picture outlined yet.
One thing that’s sure – I’d like to get a better handle (oi, any handle would be great) on combat this year. As the Dust514 beta has opened my eyes to the transitory and disposable nature of our equipment, it’s a great opportunity to get out into space and have some fun.
So, some preliminary goals for 2013 for PvP elements.
1) Create a PvP alt. Done. Adhar’s clones are expensive and he’s really focused more on industry.
2) Enroll said alt into a corporation / alliance with some PvP outlets. Done. It’s not even RvB, though I considered it.
3) Move Mr. PvP to a key staging system, and pick a racial frigate line to start skilling up on. Done. I’ve decided to use Gallente, as it’s the only ship class I have yet to fly in New Eden with any regularity. (Note that I didn’t say skill – that’s a relevant point for later posts.)
4) Get Skills Up to Snuff. In Progress. There are so many skills – things one forgets after having played the same character more or less since 2006. The certificate system actually helped here – it enabled me to find some of the basic skills that frankly I’d forgotten about. Signature Analysis? Check.
- T1 Hull – In Progress
- Core Skills – In Progress. This is the certificate planning piece. Currently working toward Core Competency Improved, with an eye on Elite at some point.
- T2 Guns – Not Started
- T2 Hulls – Not Started
5) Select a couple core fitting profiles for said frigate family.
- Fleet Tackle - Done. This was easy, thank you alliance fleet doctrine.
- Solo Hunter – Not Started. I’m thinking kiting frigate, but really, need to spend some quality time with Azual and Rixx’s websites.
6) Move up to Cruisers. Not Started. This is a later (Q3?) goal – Mr. PvP (and his erstwhile puppet master) have to get comfortable and skilled with frigates, first, before moving up to the more expensive cruisers.
- Fleet DPS – Not Started
- Heavy Tackle – Not Started
- Frigate Hunter - Not Started
This next goal is something I’ll have to break down into more finite objectives, but the overall theme is “Learn How Low-Sec Really Works“. As the title of this blog implies, my interests continue to run to the economic, so some of the things I’m most interested in learning first-hand are the market and financial elements of low sec living. Is it possible to make a living as a PVPer? How do you earn a reliable income? Are there some play styles that are more economically viable than others?
7) Live off my PvP Skills. Not Started. I don’t have any yet…
8) Try some different play styles in Low Sec related to PvP. Not Started.
You can anticipate occasional updates throughout the year as Mr. PvP gets to explore the universe on the pointy end of a blaster.
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How Dust 514 Made Me A Better EVE Player
For those of you living in the bowels of a Titan’s engine room, Dust 514 is an upcoming first-person shooter created by CCP within (and connected to) the New Eden universe. Although the connection goes far deeper than the lore and ethos of EVE Online, that’s not the focus of today’s topic. No, today I want to talk about how playing in the Dust 514 Beta forever altered the way I look at PvP. CCP published the video below “The Way of the Mercenary”, which is a concise summary that helps explain how Dust 514 functions beyond point-and-shoot. If you’re not familiar, it’s worth watching, because the rest of this post rather depends on it. It’s only 3 minutes or so – you’ve spent longer camping a gate AFK.
Welcome back! As a fairly dedicated industrialist, PvP is something I’ve long been interested in, but never actively hunted. Leaving aside any deep soul-searching introspection, what it really comes (came) down to is a dislike for losing ships – for the pain in the ass refitting, the loss of ISK, the hassle of shopping.
And then I started playing the beta. As the video shows, the fundamental mechanics of being a mercenary in Dust are the same as New Eden. Spend ISK for gear, lose gear in glorious (or not) battle, wake up in a new clone that requires new gear. Make some ISK on the back end to replace the gear. EVE has a bewildering array of income opportunities to fund ship losses, of course. As a much deeper game, EVE also has additional ends that players can work towards, not all of which directly result in PvP. EVE draws you in, dazzles you with lore and tutorials, stars and maps, and hundreds of ships, high-sec, low-sec, null-sec, mining, Somer, the list goes on and on.
Dust 514 is a much purer experience. PvP is the sole focus. Get in, kill or be killed, get out. Tinker with your fits. Jump in again. I’m not a dedicated player – family life and career and community take their share of time, as I’m sure you understand. Nevertheless, my Dust character has seen 30 or 40 hours of play (ok, maybe more), and although the meta-game is modestly interesting (perhaps because I’ve been playing EVE since 2006), as a Dust merc, I couldn’t be arsed to figure out which side I’m fighting for. Just hand me a blaster and point me to the objective.
And then I realized something. Something you hardcore PvPers have known all along, but my little carebear head could never wrap itself around.
It’s ok to lose ships. They’re like dropsuits – they’re expendable, disposable, and you should have a fracking hangar full so that when you die on the field, you can get back into action.
Many of you are thinking “no shit, Sherlock, everybody knows that!”
But here’s the thing – until I played Dust, it never occurred to me at that visceral, reptilian-brain level that it doesn’t have to be about the ISK in the wallet. It can just be about getting out there and having fun, shooting at things, maybe learning something, maybe getting snuffed (Hevrice, I fear thy inhabitants).
What are you waiting for?