$alvador
TD Member
So one thing I repeatedly hear from non-EvE players is that they love the stories even though they have no interest in the game. As someone who loves writing, I think the awesome stories created in EvE are what draws me back time and time again (some days, I also have no interest in the game). EvE is an experience that tends to go way beyond the game. Larger alliances in-game have dedicated IT infrastructure (Jabber and Teamspeak servers, recruitment websites, third-party services using the EvE API, etc) and people who are responsible for complex operations like logistics (organizing the flow of spaceship components to remote bases from trade hubs).
The game, with intricate requirements for many seemingly simple actions, mirrors the technicalities that make real life challenging, and as a result it draws the players into practicing aspects of game theory, psychology, strategy and tactics as seriously as if it were real life. Naturally, the dedication of its players is how epic stories develop out of the conflicts within and between groups.
With that said, what follows is a story of some recent exploits in which I was involved. I've dumbed it down a bit so you can understand what's going on even without EvE knowledge, and if y'all enjoy the story I may add to the saga. Here goes:
We had a small fleet of frigates and destroyers camped on a gate into a system known for activity. Our scouts jumped in and were promptly shot at by a high-tier battlecruiser lying in wait. The fleet commander ordered a quick withdrawal to reship into cruisers and go back for the fight. With a ragtag outfit of four assault cruisers, two repair ships and some vanguard frigates we headed back to the fortress system of Kamela.
The battlecruiser had disappeared, and in its place a Curse appeared at a landmark in space. The Curse is the pinnacle of electronic warfare, a high-tier cruiser able to persistently deplete the capacitor of any ship in targeting range. Capacitor charge is vital to combat, because railgun and laser weapon systems rely on having juice to fire, as do the propulsion nullification modules that prevent a target from warping clear of a fight they're losing.
We filtered into the system, first the tackle frigates then two of the cruisers, then when the Curse was tackled the repair ships jumped in and landed on field to sustain the cruisers, patching up their falling armor hitpoints and dry capacitors (for some reason, repair ships are called logistics ships in EvE, which is kind of silly because they don't do logistics (freight operations) but for the sake of simplicity I'm just going to refer to them as logi from here on out). The Curse bit the dust from the sustained firepower, and we sat around by the celestial beacon waiting to see what would happen next.
A Paladin appeared in range of our scanners. Paladins are high-tier battleships worth potentially twice as much ISK as a carrier and similarly equipped with a special combat mode (called bastion) that allows them to absorb and dish out extreme damage at the cost of becoming completely immobile for five minutes. We took our ragtag fleet at it and pinged every local intel channel with details to enlist some support as the Paladin entered bastion. The two logi boats we had wouldn't be enough to hold the field as the defenders undocked in attack battlecruisers to slow our assault.
Two more friendly logi ships arrived and we hunkered down trying to hold the field while backup arrived. A support group of heavy cruisers arrived to help the enemy gang, and our window of opportunity to back out of the fight slammed shut. As a logi pilot, EvE is most hectic when you're fighting grossly outnumbered and outgunned and split-second judgement calls are required to assess who is taking focused fire and needs full repair focus, and who is dropping too fast to save.
Our numbers grew as friendly pilots arrived on scene and we waited on a pirate group from up north to scramble and bring some much-needed damage. Fifteen minutes in, the population on field was passing fifty pilots and the situation degenerated into a clusterfuck with the grid loaded with ships flashing orange, flashing red, exploding, and affiliated swarms of drones racing between targets.
The enemy gang finally got their shit together and risked battleships to save a situation that was quickly escalating against them. Our logi chain broke when one pilot disconnected and the fleet commander had us withdraw, trading our low-tier cruiser losses for some high-tier cruiser kills and entrusting the fate of the Paladin to the pirate gang temporarily allied with us. Disappointingly, the Paladin managed to slip free in all the chaos. There was no clear win, but there was no clear loss either. and we managed to prove our worth holding onto a high-value target with a ragtag group of cheap ships for half an hour. Sometimes, just being part of an epic shootout is reward enough.
The game, with intricate requirements for many seemingly simple actions, mirrors the technicalities that make real life challenging, and as a result it draws the players into practicing aspects of game theory, psychology, strategy and tactics as seriously as if it were real life. Naturally, the dedication of its players is how epic stories develop out of the conflicts within and between groups.
With that said, what follows is a story of some recent exploits in which I was involved. I've dumbed it down a bit so you can understand what's going on even without EvE knowledge, and if y'all enjoy the story I may add to the saga. Here goes:
We had a small fleet of frigates and destroyers camped on a gate into a system known for activity. Our scouts jumped in and were promptly shot at by a high-tier battlecruiser lying in wait. The fleet commander ordered a quick withdrawal to reship into cruisers and go back for the fight. With a ragtag outfit of four assault cruisers, two repair ships and some vanguard frigates we headed back to the fortress system of Kamela.
The battlecruiser had disappeared, and in its place a Curse appeared at a landmark in space. The Curse is the pinnacle of electronic warfare, a high-tier cruiser able to persistently deplete the capacitor of any ship in targeting range. Capacitor charge is vital to combat, because railgun and laser weapon systems rely on having juice to fire, as do the propulsion nullification modules that prevent a target from warping clear of a fight they're losing.
We filtered into the system, first the tackle frigates then two of the cruisers, then when the Curse was tackled the repair ships jumped in and landed on field to sustain the cruisers, patching up their falling armor hitpoints and dry capacitors (for some reason, repair ships are called logistics ships in EvE, which is kind of silly because they don't do logistics (freight operations) but for the sake of simplicity I'm just going to refer to them as logi from here on out). The Curse bit the dust from the sustained firepower, and we sat around by the celestial beacon waiting to see what would happen next.
A Paladin appeared in range of our scanners. Paladins are high-tier battleships worth potentially twice as much ISK as a carrier and similarly equipped with a special combat mode (called bastion) that allows them to absorb and dish out extreme damage at the cost of becoming completely immobile for five minutes. We took our ragtag fleet at it and pinged every local intel channel with details to enlist some support as the Paladin entered bastion. The two logi boats we had wouldn't be enough to hold the field as the defenders undocked in attack battlecruisers to slow our assault.
Two more friendly logi ships arrived and we hunkered down trying to hold the field while backup arrived. A support group of heavy cruisers arrived to help the enemy gang, and our window of opportunity to back out of the fight slammed shut. As a logi pilot, EvE is most hectic when you're fighting grossly outnumbered and outgunned and split-second judgement calls are required to assess who is taking focused fire and needs full repair focus, and who is dropping too fast to save.
Our numbers grew as friendly pilots arrived on scene and we waited on a pirate group from up north to scramble and bring some much-needed damage. Fifteen minutes in, the population on field was passing fifty pilots and the situation degenerated into a clusterfuck with the grid loaded with ships flashing orange, flashing red, exploding, and affiliated swarms of drones racing between targets.
The enemy gang finally got their shit together and risked battleships to save a situation that was quickly escalating against them. Our logi chain broke when one pilot disconnected and the fleet commander had us withdraw, trading our low-tier cruiser losses for some high-tier cruiser kills and entrusting the fate of the Paladin to the pirate gang temporarily allied with us. Disappointingly, the Paladin managed to slip free in all the chaos. There was no clear win, but there was no clear loss either. and we managed to prove our worth holding onto a high-value target with a ragtag group of cheap ships for half an hour. Sometimes, just being part of an epic shootout is reward enough.
