Friday, May 20, 2016

When wormhole meets market hub

I haven't noticed at first exactly what was wrong, but something was off. Since new map introduction, we now see d-scan inside the map view. Here's the catch - you can't change d-scan direction by moving your camera anymore. So to find your target at the site you rely on sensor overlay, which shows all sites and bookmarks on the screen. It worked fine until the Citadel expansion. I suddenly realized my screen is empty and I can't bring back the overlay unless I jump through the wormhole or re-log. It's a huge pain. Now I have to find ships by narrowing angle in an empty screen. Like for example this Tengu, that I saw warp to a site, except I couldn't know which one until the angle was small enough to intersect only one anomaly.


As a responsible New Eden citizen, I've submitted a bug report and opened a thread in the forums. 1 week later and bug still persists and I find more and more people facing same problem. Get your shit together, CCP.

I moved to a c2 with a high-sec and c4 statics. High-sec was leading directly to Dodixie - a fourth largest market hub. I just couldn't skip this opportunity. I was very interested to see who will I meet.


Back on the Tengu. First to come is DanderDarkheart. He jumps through the high-sec and warps to an anomaly. It's a bit tricky to get a proper warp in position as the strategic cruiser sig tanks sleepers with his afterburner turned on. Finally I manage to intercept him and with Nestors on grid ship explodes in no time.


Bob smiles upon me. Both the deadspace shield booster and the faction probe launcher drops. I shoot the wrecks and export the loot back to the market

During the day, most visitors are 1-10 days old pilots. When I see an Imicus with core scanner probes, I just ignore it. It's usually not worth the effort of blowing the cover, generating a few million ISK killmail in the system. But since wormhole is in the trade hub it sefl, I am bound to see more transit. Especially since it has a connecting c4 static. It's a dream chain for any wormhole corp.

I keep my Nestor fleet on the high-sec side and the Proteus inside the wormhole. This way I can see both sides. All of a sudden I hear an exit out of warp sound. An Imicus lands on grid. Meh. Then I see few more ships land. Imicus, Thorax, Megathron Navy Issue, Helios...wait, Navy Megathron??


Oh boy, looks like I got myself a farming fleet. Everyone is from a different corp, but looks like within the same fleet. I get excited and patiently wait to see what they will do. Fleet warps to a site like they mean business. I move Nestors close to the wormhole, ready to jump, only to have more ships land on grid, one of them being a Vindicator.


I get quite concerned. You don't often see a Vindicator with good intentions. And my Nestors are sitting on the wormhole in open sight. I check out the pilots and they seem to be from the corp that belongs to Illusion of Solitude, a rather big wormhole alliance. Are they after the same guys I am? Damn it. What should I do? Broadsword jumps in and bubbles up the wormhole. Fuck it, I'm not backing out. If they do have reinforcements in the system, I should be relatively safe hugging the high-sec exit. In any case, I decide to fight for my targets and in I go.


We slug it out and I force everyone out. I guess they did not expect those Nestors to go in. Since now I'm the king of the hill, I've got a few minutes before polarization ends. To my luck, the fleet I am after is out of d-scan range, so they have no idea there was a fight on the wormhole on who will get a chance to kill them. Quite hilarious when you think about it. I warp to the site and tackle the most valuable targets.


I kill both, the Mega and the Gnosis. I check for any valuable loot and warp to safe. Upon checking the kill I cringe.


A Navy Issue Megathron with 5 tungsten plates and two medium armor repairs in lows, a couple of cap rechargers and a shield extender in mids and, of course, blaster fit. No wonder that c2 site was far from finished when I came. But I can't say I'm surprised. I've seen many bad fits during my days and that is about what I expect when meet someone coming from a high-sec hub.

I park my Proteus on the wormhole and forget about EVE as I do not expect any more guests since the wormhole is now end of life. But young pilots are not deterred by such things. A Brutix Navy Issue jumps in and warps to an anomaly.


It's piloted by a 1 year old pilot who haven't learned to change his ship name yet. Suspiciously, he jumped not long after my encounter. With quite possible scout from Illusion of Solitude still in the system, I decide to wait. For all I know they are trying to bait my Nestors with some random alt. Especially after our little convo.


I ignore Brutix and go on with my day. In an hour I check d-scan again and see a lot of wrecks. This Brutix guy has been busy. Funny thing though, the high-sec wormhole is now gone. I do not know if he has a probe launcher, but I think I will do him a favor and stop his farming before he wastes another hour.

When I'm just about to make my move, the Brutix warps back to the high-sec wormhole. I find him floating in the middle of space, looking confused. I decloak, tackle and kill him. Pod warps clear, but I can't imagine him making out alive.


That's some expensive Brutix. I chat up the pilot and ask why he has only npc corp in his employment history. Roman was very cool about his loss and admits it was his first time in wormholes. We talk a little bit and I encourage him to find a corp asap if he wants to have any fun in this game. Flying solo without a corp can get boring very fast. Unless you stalk wormholes with 3 Nestors and a Proteus that is.

2 comments :

  1. You find some pretty special little snowflakes near the trade hubs. I have fond memories of a Vindi running sites in my old WH when I was close to Doxdixie...

    https://zkillboard.com/kill/43605426/

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  2. Best blog ever.

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