That had to hurt

Why would anyone take a ship worth over 4 billion isk into low sec and screw around with pirates?  I guess he didn't realize that he could be bumped off gate.

Here are the results.

All Over the Map

Carebears are an interesting breed.  I've never really been into the whole mission running thing and I would rather shoot myself in the head than go mining.  I do a little trading to make isk to support my habit but I consider it a necessary evil.  Maybe one day I will try some manufacturing to increase my profits but I've been saying that for a long time. Some players approach the game with the understanding that pvp is out there and it may smack you upside the head when you least expect it.  Others feel they are untouchable in high sec and seem to have an incredible sense of outage when they learn differently.

Well last night Yarr Collective decided to go stick it to the man in the form of suicide gank squads.  With the help of the extremely talented griefers in Sinners, miners were slapped around.  Seven Hulks were killed along with one Mac and one Covetor.  It was epic stuff.

Reactions from miners were all over the place.  Most were surprised and like "what just happened?" but some reactions were interesting.  We had one guy who convoed me and said that he hated mining and blowing stuff up looked much more fun.  He ended up applying to our training corp and I think he will like it more than crunching rocks.  Another response was a little more....emotional.  It's short so I will just post the chat log:

[ 2011.07.23 04:09:40 ] Marc Scaurus > MURDERER!
[ 2011.07.23 04:09:42 ] Marc Scaurus > KILLER!
[ 2011.07.23 04:09:53 ] peacemaker79 > why ?
[ 2011.07.23 04:10:02 ] Marc Scaurus > THOSE ASTEROIDS HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU
[ 2011.07.23 04:10:12 ] Marc Scaurus > you disgust me taking advantage of innocent lumps of rock like that
[ 2011.07.23 04:10:56 ] peacemaker79 > I understand you destory Hulk
[ 2011.07.23 04:11:03 ] peacemaker79 > but why capsule ?
[ 2011.07.23 04:11:08 ] peacemaker79 > why?
[ 2011.07.23 04:11:09 ] Marc Scaurus > Your sins must be purged
[ 2011.07.23 04:11:23 ] Marc Scaurus > Your clone was infected with the vile stink of roid killing lasers
[ 2011.07.23 04:12:15 ] Marc Scaurus > DO YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY FOR YOUR ACTIONS?
[ 2011.07.23 04:12:35 ] peacemaker79 > you know, what I am going to find you in real life, and fuck your mother, siste and all you fuckin female family
[ 2011.07.23 04:12:39 ] peacemaker79 > you got that ?
[ 2011.07.23 04:13:14 ] Marc Scaurus > WILL YOU FUCK MY FEMALE DOG TOO?
[ 2011.07.23 04:13:38 ] Marc Scaurus > HAVE YOU NO DIGNITY? No, of course not, ROID KILLER
[ 2011.07.23 04:13:51 ] peacemaker79 > I see how low inteligence you are, bud
[ 2011.07.23 04:14:10 ] peacemaker79 > conversation is over

Fascinating stuff eh?


Well after that was all over, a few of us went on a small BC roam.  It was a night of milestones.  Anonymous Zeal FCed for the first time and got two kills.  A new Gray Sail member, Demomitrix, got his first pvp kill ever!  Welcome to a whole new game buddy.  And our corp hermit, Schneizel Veiss, actually got in fleet and ventrilo and roamed with it.  It was a fun roam until a gang of faction battleships landed on our face and raped us.  Ah well.

And on a side note, sorry to Tuscor for my guys killing his cane after he complemented me on my blog.  You jumped out in that rifter and then when you came back in the cane we couldn't resist.  If it makes you feel any better, you got on my km when the faction ships killed me.   Thanks for the kind words though.


Fly safe.

Baiting, tactics, epeens, and hypocrisy

I recently read Rixx's post about playing station games and it got me thinking about the different tactics people use in Eve and reactions to those tactics.  It bothered me a little because Rixx and his crew use very specific tactics to win fights such as baiting on station and then warping in carriers.  Rixx also claims that  "I can honestly and sincerely say that I have never run from a battle and docked up to avoid combat."  No offense to Rixx but I seriously doubt that.  In fact, I was talking with a couple of guys in my alliance who recalled that just the day before, some Lucifer Hammer guys docked up to avoid dying.  And I personally was involved in an engagement when Rixx and another Lucifer pilot was trying to fight us on station in vagabonds.  We were able to get a web on one and started laying into it.  Guess what it did just before it hit structure?  Yep.  It docked up.

So I ask you why is it cowardly to dock up to avoid dying but it isn't to warp in a cap ship?  Or is it only cowardly when it is the other party denying you a kill?

Docking up is a valid tactic when engaged by an obviously superior force and I find it strange for that to be called cowardly. Of course this is just another example of the mindset in Eve that if someone uses a tactic you disapprove of against you, they are blobbers/ECM fags/cowards/noobs and on and on.  However if you actually use that same tactic, you are just fighting smart.  I undocked a Falcon the other night and the other pilot cried in local about how weak that was.  But that pilot had attacked my bait alt with a ship two classes higher than his target.

Why isn't that cowardly if ECM boats are?


The same goes for "blobbing".  If you get engaged without securing an agreed upon 1v1, then you really shouldn't cry when more ships land on your face.  I have seen killmails where a person complains that he thought the other party wanted to solo but instead called for back-up.  Once again, unless you both agreed on a 1v1, why in the world would you assume this and then complain when you got ganked?


Another example is a corp that came down in our space last night.  They had a gang on the other side of the gate with Scorpions, battleships, and a command ship.  We only had four on and we were mostly in BCs.  Well this gang tried so very hard to bait us.  They put a drake on gate but no luck.  They had a cynabal warp in and call us names while dancing around the station.  Then they brought in a BS and tried to get us to engage outside of station.  Of course we knew the gank squad was next door so we didn't take the bait.  Well they got upset and decided to call us all pussies for not engaging and going to a certain death.  I don't begrudge them for baiting but their anger at not being able to provoke a fight was strange because I know they would not have engaged if the odds were reversed.

Then the cynabal pilot started to berate us because we often camp one of the low sec skill book stations in system.  The funny thing is this pilot is usually outside the station in a machariel doing the same thing.  So it is faggy when I kill noobs while flying a cane but it isn't when he uses a faction battleship?  I don't understand the logic.


I guess my point is that  a fair is a place you go to eat cotton candy and step in horse shit.  Fair doesn't really have a place in Eve.  I don't like to lose ships and I tend to engage when the odds are in my favor.  However that's not just me.  Almost everyone does the same thing.  So just play the game you want but don't be a dick when others do the same. Killing noobs on the undock doesn't make you an awesome player but it also doesn't make you an asshole either.  Same goes for baiting, using ECM, and all the other things that everyone bitches about but uses for themselves as well.

Hypocrites suck.  Don't be one.

Want Pirate Booty?

Recruiting is open for all three of the Sails.  Contact me or any corp officer for more info.

Check our FAQs @ our website for more information.  Want to know more about our alliance?  Check here.

The Pirate Life for Me

One thing I have found out since running a low sec pirate corp (and now a low sec pirate alliance) is that pirating isn't for everyone.  A lot of players read the blogs and decide they want to go yarr in low sec.  After all, who doesn't want to be a scary pilot and pop haulers in belts?


Unfortunately many people don't realize some of the challenges involved in being a flashy red pirate and they quickly get discouraged and leave the corp/alliance.  What makes it so tough you ask?

Isk, for one.  It's bloody hard to make money as a pirate.  Oh sure you can get the occasional ransom and sometimes some tasty loot.  I remember once when I was with a small gang that got 700 mil worth of loot from a Loki kill.  That was awesome but usually it's crap loot from crap fits.  Some people think they will be a pirate and just rat and mission their way into wealth on the side.  Well that's an idea but rats in low sec don't pay near as well as 0.0 and low is actually more dangerous than null for ratters.  You can try ratting in a belt but odds are you will come back in a pod.  While missions are lucrative, you have the same problem as ratting.  Of course you can do missions in high sec but if you are actively pirating, your sec status will rapidly put high sec missions out of reach.   And speaking of sec status...

Have a low sec status can be a pain in the ass.  You will find that the faction police will have a serious problem with you and all of empire is now off limits.  If you do research or indy stuff, better find new systemst to use.  If you want to buy something in a major trade hub, forget about it.  There are guys who spend all day outside of Jita or Dodixie just waiting for flashy pirate to come out.  Getting supplies changes from just running down to the store for a single mod into training up a neutral hauling alt just to make supply runs.

Low sec PvP is tough.  PvP in low sec isn't like that null sec bullshit of having 200+ ships and just trying to out DPS another 2--+ fleet.  Most fights in low sec involve solo ships or gangs of 3 to 10.  Anything bigger than 15 in low is a HUGE fleet to me.  Smaller gangs require smarter tactics than just locking a target and clicking your guns.  And roaming solo or in a very small gang looking for fights is work.  You have to really know what you are doing with the directional scanner and you have to be aware of high sec/low sec aggro.  I recently lost a Stabber Fleet to Concord because I had my head up my ass.  If you are going to come into low sec to look for fights, you are going to have to learn some skills.

All of these reasons are why I often see a pilot join and then quickly decide to go back to running missions in high sec.  It's unfortunate because I think low sec is the best place in the game.  Fights are fun and plentiful.  There are skilled people to fight and noobs looking for skill books to abuse.  With a little planning, you can take care of your logistical needs.  Isk will always be a problem but if you follow the rule about only flying what you can afford, then you should be okay.

If you have read this and still think you want to give it a try, the Black Sail is still recruiting and the Gray Sail is there for newer/less experienced pilots who need to learn.  Shoot me a mail in game if interested.