Blog Banter 35 - Lovely Rifter - Pity it Will Never Be Released

Like pretty much everyone else who plays EVE I was excited by the Lego Rifter and voted for it. Now that we have released 10,000 votes the project is moving on to the next phase - the review phase. This is how Lego describes this new phase (just the essential bits) :

What happens now?
... "LEGO Jury" composed of designers, product managers, and other key team members will examine the idea ... determine if the concept meets our high standards ... and fit with the LEGO brand. ... When finished, we make a "go/no go" decision to develop and sell the Rifter. ...
The LEGO CUUSOO Team

So here is the important question... do you think EVE, and the EVE community what with the goons and Mittanigate and all that, fits with the LEGO brand?

The other three projects from LEGO CUUSOO all fit nicely. Two spaceships are textbook LEGO products which totally fit with the brand. Minecraft is a reletively non-violent game that has actual similarity to LEGO in many ways, it fits nicely. Do you think a game where people get drunk on stage and say stupid things, a game known as a griefers paradise, a game with a terrible public perception fits with the LEGO brand?

No, it does not. Time to get excited about Back to the Future I guess.

I do hope that I am wrong.

Note: There will be no podcast this week as I am off to Bermuda for long needed vacation.

Is pirates the best race in Eve?

While checking out the new forums I noticed the following question in the EVE Trial Citizens Q&A forum. Is pirates the best race in Eve? Judging by the numerous responses to this possible troll question... this is a confusing topic.

So what is a pirate in EVE?

Their are two answers, one that a new player would give, and one that an experienced player would give.

New Players: For a new player a Pirate is a rat from a 'Pirate' NPC faction. Some of these like the Guristas have a back-story consistent with piracy. Others, like the Sansha, not so much but are still referred to as pirates by the game. In general players start by clearing the spacelanes of these threats to all that is good in the universe. Some players desire to join up with one of these factions, only to be thwarted by the discovery that the agents are out in 0.0 (oh noes doesn't that equate to instant death) and the lack of any real ability to join forces with these red crosses.

Non-new players: For a non-new player these red crosses that we shoot at are not pirates. They are simply resources to be extracted, effectively asteroids that shoot back a little while being farmed. The truly ridiculous amount of carnage that even a single capsuleer can cause to even a massive Lv4 mission sized pirate fleet defies a RolePlaying explanation. Rather, for a player who has had a few months of game time, or even just a couple non-consensual PvP experiences, a pirate is another player that attempts to engage in non-consensual PvP. To be considered 'piracy' this PvP must take place in either low-sec or possibly as a suicide gank in empire space, and not part of a war-dec or a militia. Oddly enough PvP in 0.0 is usually not considered piracy. A player doing piracy will invariably suffer sec status hits and will usually be unable to even enter hi-sec without being shot at immediately. Often the trademark of a real pirate is the ransom demand. In an attempt to recover some of the cost of their destructive PvP activities a true pirate is more concerned about income from PvP then their killboard efficiency. Like the real pirates of old... EVE pirates do not fly the expensive and flashy ships, rather they fly efficient ships for their purposes.

As I once advised some new players who were ratting in a belt when I pounded in and blew them away, when there is another player on the field... the NPC ships, no matter how many or how large, are not the real threat anymore. Just because the pirate is in a Rifter and you are blowing up NPC Cynabals and Macharials means nothing. That pirate in the Rifter is the danger.

So is pirates the best race? Sort of a meaningless question. Is piracy the best thing to be doing then the answer is, like most things, it depends. Toterra tried the pirate life briefly and found it frustrating taking a major sec-status hit. However pirates do seem to have among the higest ration of doing that most desirable EVE PvP activity, small gang warfare so I understand the attraction. Maybe in some future expansion CCP will get it right and make piracy an easier activity to get into. We can only hope.

TL;DR - Pirates are players, not NPC ships.

The advantage of unusual fits

I had an interesting fight the other day that highlighted the importance of non-conventional fits. As said before I am in the process of changing corps. As a result I am running pretty lean. My collection of ships and modules is sitting in a 0.0 system waiting for a someone to accept a contract to ship it out. Meanwhile I have been flying around in a simple Rifter, trying to get familiar with low-sec mechanics.

Anyways, I came across another rifter from the corp I am currently in the process of applying to. I decided to engage him. When engaging another solo rifter it is a pretty safe bet that it has something like the following fit:

[Rifter, Typical]
Damage Control II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small Armor Repairer II

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

Small Nosferatu II
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
[empty rig slot]

This is a great setup that can handle ships of all sized. It does good damage, and can hold itself together in a fight. I fly this setup regularly. Having said that, I am a big fan of the shield rifter. I have earlier commented on my MWD fitted shield rifter. However of late I have been running a similar setup, but with an afterburner and tracking enhancer instead of a MWD and nanofibre.

The main advantage to this shield rifter is that it is unusual. This is a huge advantage when engaging another rifter. 99.999% of the time the enemy will start shooting either RF Fusion or Barrage. Both ammo types are effective against armour, but no so effective against shields. Couple this with the large EHP buffer that the shield provides and the natural repping of the shield, and you have an easy fight on your hands.

What made this last fight interesting was that my opponent had the same idea. He was also flying a shield rifter. Except his was equipped with an energy neutralizer to further make a mess of the cap hungry small armour repairer on a typical rifter. In this battle both pilots had the same assumption. We were both flying ships that we figured could easily kill our opponent. In the end the battle dragged on and on as we realized that we just were both shooting the wrong ammo. Since I was setup with a bit more damage than him and a bit better buffer he entered structure about the same time I entered armour. His neut managed to silence my scrambler and he fled just before I managed to finish him off. We both switched to more appropriate ammo and went back at in a minute or two later, and I manged to come out ahead in a much faster battle.

Good fight all around. Anyways, the point of this whole post is that by going with non-conventional fits you have a great advantage. Both of us had non-conventional Rifter fits. They were not strange EFT warrior fits, nor were they super rare, just not what one typically expects. As a result we both were super confident going into the battle that the enemy would be setup wrong against us. As it turned out we were both right.

Here is my Afterburner Shield Rifter Fit:

[Rifter, 125mm shield ab]
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
F-aQ Phase Code Tracking Subroutines

1MN Afterburner II
Medium Shield Extender II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
[empty high slot]

Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I

Solo PvP Dead??? - Epic Solo Roam by Corpmate

So after my last post about solo PvP I thought I would try and prove that it is all alive and good. Unfortunately my 3-week old baby is not cooperating in me playing so I decided to enlist the help of my corp. I created a small contest awarding 100m isk to the best Solo PvP kill between August 15th and September 15th. Well the contest is not over but it is all but decided. One of Agony's best Solo PvPers is a guy named Altaieere. Although barely even a year old he is the terror of the space lanes. What makes Altaieere so good is his knowledge is his situational awareness. I have often flown with him in fleets and he always knows where our enemies are hanging out, and seems to be able to predict their actions ahead of time. Usually flying a amour tanked / repping Rifter he has taken down everything up to and including battlecruisers. A few days ago he decided to go on a little roam in something a bit more fierce than a Rifter.... a Claw.

Al Claw is a nasty little ship. Faster and tougher than a Rifter it also packs a bit more of a punch. The only downside (and it is a biggy) is only having two midslots. Here is a typical Claw fit for solo work...


So anyways, this Altaieere kid started a nice little solo roam around Providence leaving death in his wake. According to the killboards he started with killing a Crusader in H-GKI6. Nice but nothing special. Then he moved on to F-YH5B where he found an Ishtar (Gallente Armour HAC) at a Haven which he quickly dispatched followed almost immediatly by engaging a Taranis which he also killed! He had to deal with a Sabre as well but managed to get away from that one.

Here are his comments on that kill:

killed the ishtar at a haven saw this taranis and sabre on scan, i warped they landed, they chased... I needed time to rep and had to split them up by warping to celestials at dif ranges.
once repped i warped to a 100 off one, sabre landed 100 off taranis landed near meh, fight engaged kited him a bit i bled into structure, he popped i warped!

Very Nice but he is just getting warmed up...

Moving on into 6-OQJV he found a Nice Tengu and a Raven. Now personally I would not even think of engaging both a T3 cruiser and a BS with a single interceptor, but I am not as crazy as my corp-mate. Here are his words:

found them at a haven... scrammed tengu (who i checked had aggro) raven warped off, i started killing tengu, raven warped back.. Tengu popped , overheated scram got raven we shared agro and i got him

Unfrickenbelievable!!!

Half an hour later he is in GA9P-0 taking down two Crusaders (first, second) and another in H9-J8N. Here are the comments about the GA9P fight:

this fight was toughest, 2 crusaders, vengance and arazu on top of me... No webs meant i can get away at the end of the fight... i was in 50% structure and then drake tengu landed so i decided to bug

So to recap... a one year old character in an interceptor manages to kill 4 interceptors, a HAC, a T3 Strategic Cruiser and a Battleship over a 3 hour long period. Amazing!

So you want to Solo PvP? (Part 1)

If you are looking for a little solo PvP action but don't know where to start, or are not having much luck, here is some advice for you...

When you get started you want to use a T1 frigate. In general the Rifter is considered the best option but a Punisher, Incursis, Tristan, Merlin or even a Griffin would also do if you are determined. Having said that you really want to be flying a Rifter since it has all the attributes that make it excellent as an effective solo ship.

This is generally how you want to fit your Rifter..

[Rifter, Intro Solo PvP Rifter]
400mm Reinforced Nanofiber Plates I
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
'Langour' Drive Disruptor I

150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
'Malkuth' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
[empty rig slot]


You can easily come up with similar fits with the other race's frigate but the important points are the warp scrambler, the aferburner, the webifier and as big an armour buffer tank as you can fit. If insufficient mid-slots then drop the web.

Put together a half dozen of these and then go running around in NPC 0.0 or the Faction Warfare areas of Lowsec and you will certainly get in a fight. What you are looking for are pretty much any other individual ship, cruiser or smaller that you can get to within Scram-Web range. Once you have them held down, orbit at close range, unleash your weapons and hope for the best.

Do this a few times and you will learn about what can go wrong, and sometimes, what can go right. Just remember that every time you die, try and understand what went wrong and learn from the experience. Soon you will learn to be wary of gates (through which the enemies backup will as often as not arrive), be wary of anti-small ship cruisers (like the Arbitrator or an Assault Missile equipped Caracal) and other useful things.

Once you have done this a few times then it is time to start laying traps. In 0.0 this is called a bubble. Train the required skills to launch a small bubble. Find a nice system with some traffic, but not too much and place the bubble. The easiest way to position it is warp to the gate you want to catch from, then warp back to the gate where you want to place your bubble at 70km. Then drop your bubble right there. Once the bubble is up (takes two minutes) sit at the catch position (the point on the bubble where the enemy will land) and wait for something tasty to arrive.

Good Luck :)

My First Solo Kill

Who doesn't remember their first solo kill. IMHO the first solo kill in Eve is the most intense gaming experience ever.

It starts with the hunt for a ship that looks possible to kill. Once found then the heart starts pumping as the adrenaline kicks in. You power towards the enemy trying to activate modules that seem to take forever to turn on. Finally you have point and your weapons are blazing with all their might. Tunnel visions sets in as you notice that his shields and armour are dropping faster than your own... and finally you see the explosion.

For me my first solo kill was an older character called Johny Trigger. He was in a Rifter and I was in my shiny new Stabber that I could barly use the 220mm Autocannons on. At the time I had been recently kicked out of the Minmattar Militia (friendly fire) and I was now flying in a wannabe Mercenary corp called Frost Company Mercs. The corp was based out of the Uisper system in Metropolis low-sec space. Mostly we just ratted and docked up whenever anyone was in system with us.

Anyways I had just gotten enough skills and money to put together a Stabber so I headed of to Hek to go and put one together. When I came back into my home system there was one other pilot in local so I thought why not, and I tried to hunt him down. After a few minutes ineptly using my directional scanner I found him at a belt so I warped there at zero. His Rifter was about 80km off of me when I landed so I started powering towards him. I mostly expected him to bail but instead he powered towards me and the battle was on. I aggressed first, taking a hit on my sec status. However he made the mistake of trying to orbit me at 5km, within the tracking and range of my 220mm 'Scout' Auto-cannons. He probably wasn't expecting me to be armour tanked and fitted with scram-web (WTF kind-of fit is that!) and he soon went down.

All I really remember of the fight was feeling like I was having a heart-attack my heart was pounding so fast.

Icing on the cake was killing him again several days later, this time in a Thrasher :)

Failed Gank and then a little 1V1

As I have been doing these 'Ships I fly' articles I noticed I haven't really been flying any cruisers. So I threw together a Rupture and went on a little roam through providence. Unfortunately things were a little quiet. There was a report of a small group of shock and awe (AWE) ratters up towards YQB-22. A sort of hodgepodge fleet assembled to take them on and I joined up. The trick with ratters is to land on them before they notice that you are there. I stayed a couple of jumps out keeping an eye on F-YH5B where there was a large Circle-of-two (CO2) presence. As things started to come together for the gank... an AWE rifter came our way and the gig was up. The ratters pos'ed up and we gave up. Around this time CO2 started to make a move in our direction so there was some tension as one of our slow moving BS almost came upon them. Fortunately our BS got out of system just as CO2 entered so they were none the wiser.

Frustrated with the lack of action I switched to a Rifter and challenged another Rifter from Ushra'Khan to a 1v1. I brought my usual shield tank rifter but I fit it with an AB instead of a MWD. Interestingly my opponent also went shield tank and he tried to kite me using barrage. A little bit of overloading the AB and I was back to PB range where he melted once his shields were through. He never made it past the 1/2 way on mine. Barrage just doesn't have the same DPS as RF fusion. My main surprise was his shield tank. I assumed (as UK mostly armour fits their rifters) that he would be armour tanked so I was using RF Fusion. If he had noticed that I am almost always in a shield tank (I had fought him before) and used EMP then I would have likely come out on the short end of the stick.

Anyways, that was my evening. I am going to try and get the Rupture in a few more fights before I write the 'Ships I Fly' article for it.

Things you should know about 0.0 Part 2

In part 1 I talked about lots of the dangers of 0.0 for new players. In this part I am going to talk about some of the opportunities that are present.

1. 0.0 Rats are VERY tasty

Ratting in 0.0 is much much better then in empire. Even in relatively crappy areas like Syndicate, you are as likely as not to see a million isk+ BS spawn in a belt. This may not seem like much to experienced players, but to a new player it is very very nice. Even if you get ganked after 30 minutes you and a friend or two in a insured T1 cruiser will likely come out significantly ahead. As for how to fit see point 2.

2. Ratters fit extreme PvE

What this means is that if you look at the local rats, you can make a pretty good guess at what the local PVE ships are vulnerable to. For example, where I live in providence, the rats are Sansha. Sansha do EM/Therm damage and are vulnerable to the same. As a result most of the PVE ships in the area will be setup to massively tank EM/Therm with poor Kinetic / Explosive resists and little buffer. So if you have a PvP ship that does Kinetic / Explosive damage with good EM / Thermal resists and a good buffer, you can probably kill a much larger PvE setup ship in Providence. For example a Hound is pretty much ideal.

3. A noob in a T1 Frigate can kill most interceptors. and you will see lots of interceptors

Yes, that is right, your cheapfit T1 frigate like a Rifter or a Merlin can kill a decked out T2 Interceptor with a highly skilled pilot with a few exceptions. What you need to do is fit an afterburner, a warp scrambler, a stasis webifier, short range guns as as much tank as you can fit. If you manage to scram-web (like the blog name) an interceptor you will probably win. The trick is to get them into range. Fortunately, interceptor pilots are usually overconfident and will approach you at full speed and/or warp to a planet at 0. There are no tears as sweet as a high SP char loosing a T2 ship to a noob.

Ships I fly - The Jaguar - Redux

There was a very interesting fit linked to from one of the comments. Sard Card (of the occasionally updated Broadside bog) suggested I look at the fit from Alex Medvedov. This is the fit that Alex typically uses:

[Jaguar, Alex Medvedov's Jaguar]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Gyrostabilizer II

Gistii B-Type 1MN Afterburner
Medium Shield Extender II
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I

200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
Rocket Launcher II, Gremlin Rocket

Small Core Defence Field Extender II
Small Core Defence Field Extender II

What is interesting about this fit is that it is an AB fitted Jaguar with a heck of a passive shield recharge rate. Regretably I don't have the fitting skills (or the money) for it but came up with a reduced version of this ship swapping out a Shield Power Relay for a Power Diagnostic System, T1 rigs, and a T2 AB and took two of them out for a spin last night. I lost both of them to small blobs. It was nice having both a decent tank and the reacharg. In the first engagement against a Stabber, Rupture and an interdictor I was amazed at how long my shields lasted with about 25% shields. The peak recharge rate was doing wonders for my survivability.

However, I had a couple of issues taking advantage of this fit. Primarily the tracking is not very good. Without the Rifter tracking bonus the 200 mm Autocannons can be gotten under with a Claw as I found out. In the second encounter I engaged first one, then several interceptors simultaneously. Although I managed to nearly take down the claw it was able to get under my guns, and then when I tried to pull range to lower transversal, it got away in structure. This was compounded by a Tracking disruptor put on me by another interceptor which made my tracking worse. However I feel in a Rifter, or even with 125 mm guns I still could have been doing damage.

Anyways, it is an interesting fit that, once I have a few more skills, I will explore further. It is actually the first AB Jaguar fit that really appealed to me.

Ships I fly - The Jaguar

The Jaguar is sort of like an Uber Rifter. This is especially try since I normally fly the Shield Tanked variety Rifter. The Jaguar basically adds a bunch of DPS, extra e-war, a bunch of tank, is a bit slower and doesn't track quite as well. This makes it pretty much a perfect ship if you want something with a bit of bling, but doesn't break the bank.

As a solo ship the Jag has a lot to offer. It can certainly handle all other frigate sized ships and flown well can be a threat to many cruisers. Basically in this ship you should feel free to engage pretty much any other frigate, assault frigate, light cruisers and interceptors. The only ship that is a real threat is the Ishkur (Gallente Assault ship). The Dramiel is an annoyance as, if dual proped, it can usually run away. I would say that the only real downside of the Jaguar is that most small ships will shy away from an engagement.

In fleet the Jaguar also really shines. Due to its tough tank it excels in the all important task of heavy tackle. There are few other ships that can grab a Vaga and scram/web it long enough for help to arrive. A rifter in this role is usually pulverized within a few seconds.

[Jaguar, Standard Jag]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Gyrostabilizer II

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Medium Shield Extender II
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket

Small Core Defence Field Extender I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I

Note: In fleet a NOS usually is better then the rocket launcher since it will allow you to hold scram while being neuted.

Ships I fly - The Rifter (Shield Rifter Meets it Match)

As I talked about in an earlier post Ships I fly - The Rifter I love shield tanking my Rifter. Well last night my shield tanked rifter died a painfull death to a armour tanked Rifter.

This was the ship that killed me...

[Rifter, Hera Darkthorn's Rifter]
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repairer II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S
E5 Prototype Energy Vampire

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Metastasis Adjuster I
Small Projectile Metastasis Adjuster I

The important feature here was that it was using Barrage and had rigs to compensate for the poor tracking. What this means is that she had me scram webbed so she could control range. Then she held me off at approx 5 km where she was able to do more damage to me then I was able to do to her. That combined with her active tank meant that I was not able to kill her. Near the end of the battle I had switched over to barrage myself but it was too late by then. I died as she was entering structure.

I have her fit because later on I found her with my jaguar in a nearby system and engaged her again. The same issues happened however the Jag has a much better tank then the rifter and it was victorious (annoyingly close however).

What is surprising is that I was confident in victory. In the past every time I engage another rifter with my shield fit I win in a close range slugfest. This time however my opponent did something better then just hit approach, she used range to her advantage and she emerged victorious. In other words.... she out piloted me.

Kudos to her (probably a guy in real life but whatever) for actually flying her ship and not just hitting orbit and praying.

Ships I fly - The Rifter

The ship I most often solo in is the Rifter. It is clearly an awesome T1 frigate and the standard to which all others are held to. I have a slightly unusual fit for it. I typically shield tank it and equipe it with a MWD. This is a lot less common then the Armour tanked AB rifters that you see all over the place.

I do this for a couple of reasons. The main one being that a shield tank has good resists against the kinds of damage that armour tanks are vulnerable to. Since the opponents assume that you are armour tanked, this can make a significant difference to the amount of damage you recienve. In addition a shield tanked rifter has more EHP then a fully armour tanked rifter. Since a shield tank does not increase mass, a shield tanked rifter has much more agility than an arour tanked one. This makes for fast align times and the ability to choose engagements more.

Using a MWD is a difficult choice and a lot of people think that it is a mistake. The reality is that a MWD makes the ship a lot more versatile. The ability to quickly approach targets or to get out of harms way is valuable. With a MWD I can out run most non-interceptors easily (and with overheating can outrun many interceptors as well) and so I can choose to fight or not. In theory, during a fight with another frigate, an AB should give my ship more ability to dictate range. In practice however it ends up being a moot point. Thanks to the large falloff of autocannons, I can succesfully engage the enemy at any range < 5 km and still do good damage. Rarely does an enemy try and run away and even if they do overloading my scram and MWD allows me to keep them from escaping.

As well having a MWD makes this ship still usefull when non-solo. If I join up with a fleet I can be an excellent tackler or a scout. With just an AB this would not be the case.

I find that this frigate can take on pretty much any other frigate solo. Yes, it can even take on Assault frigate and Taranisis with some good chance of success.


[Rifter, MultiRole Rifter]
Gyrostabilizer II
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

1MN MicroWarpdrive I
Medium Shield Extender II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
[empty high slot]
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I

Hello World

Welcome to my new Eve blog. Let me introduce myself. My name is Toterra (in eve not in real life) and I am a 18 month old capsuleer. Currently I am flying with Agony Unleashed and I have been with them for about a year.

Like many players Eve is my first MMO. I had been considering joining an MMO for several years but never really made the jump. I forget what it was exactly that drew me to Eve, but once I started researching it I was hooked. I quickly created a trial account and started a Gallente character. After using him for a week I discovered that I had erred in my original by giving my character a lot of charisma thinking that this would be a great skill. So I rolled a new Minmattar character and called him Toterra. The main reason for choosing Minmattar was the Rifter, which I had been told was the best T1 frigate and so I wanted to fly it.

Anyways after a week of doing empire missions, I moved to low-sec space since the missions there were more lucrative. Flying in lowsec knowing that at any moment I could be pounced on and get some real PvP was certainly more thrilling then the hi-sec missions which were already getting boring. Sadly there was not really any PvP for me. I was never probed out and succesfully dodged the gate camps. Exciting but certainly not the instant death I had been warned about.

Soon I had grinded my standings high enough to join the Minattar Millitia and started joining up in fleets. This was a lot of fun where every night I X'd up in the milliatia channel and added my rifter or thrasher to the blob. I was in awe of the FCs knowledge and ability to win fights. After a friendly fire incident I lost standings and ended up joining a small corp living in the low-sec parts of Metropolis.

Metropolis was a lot of fun. We were really bad (best player was less than a year old and rather clueless) but we had a couple of fights and spent a bunch of time effectively 'living' in space.

After the CEO went mysteriously AFG I bailed on the corp and decided to join a small 0.0 corp living in Curse. This was a huge step up and it was fun to be in fights similar to those I experienced in FW, but with more organization.

One of my goals since FW was to do the Agony PVP basic course. Finally I managed to get a spot in a class and learned more in 6 hours then I had in the previous 4 months. Thinking that this was the place for me I put in an app and joined up with them.

One year later I am a decent FC, I can kill a Taranis in my Rifter, and entire alliances cower in fear when I pop into local. Ok, maybe not the last one so much but it has been a good run.