Well not quite yet. Roigon ran a hangar clearing fleet. A chunk of the corporation has already moved back to Molden Heath. That fight earlier in the week was a beacon and the irresistible cry of red space has sucked in a few. We cleared contracts and started to undock things. I managed to die a few jumps out. I missed a jump command at one point and sat on a gate as the other fleet landed. Oh well. Omen down.
I switched into a Thorax and we spun through the area. I've never learned the layout of Syndicate. Everyone else just rattles off system names and who lives where. For me, each time is a mystery. The random jumble of letters and numbers with occasional dashes does nothing for me but irritate.
I've become used to bubbles. I have no love for them yet. I know that some are greatly successful with bubble traps and using them to snare ships. It may be my lack of interest in gate camping or soloing but it brings a very "meh" response. I will say that it has improved my flying habits. Tacticals and safes in every system are much more important. I guess the good part is that I am no longer, "scared" of null. I feel rather indifferent. Not dying terribly every time I enter has helped a lot.
Do I like it? No. I miss low sec. I still do not ever see myself as wanting to become null sec focused. However, I can't find the fear and trepidation that I used to have. I've been bombed, bubbled, and blobbed out of any fucks I had.
Why did we choose Syndicate?
Our deployment was to Syndicate. We chose to settle in Pertnineere because it is low sec. On one side is the high sec island of Solitude. On the other is Syndicate. We chose it because it was away from the temptation of Faction Warfare low sec. The goal was to get us into null and get our engagements in null. The early discussions debated picking a null sec station but there was a lot of dug in heels. At our core we are a low sec group and prying us completely out of low sec is not the easiest task.
But, we wanted a place that was populated, into gang PvP and would allow us to step up into our other ships. It is very easy to over ship in low sec. It is not productive to our skills as pilots to just overship and blob everyone. Faction Warfare space also does not have the engagement profile that many of the fleet comps that we rolled out in Syndicate, need. With their advertisement of smaller gang PvP we headed that way. We can go anywhere and get blobbed by 90 man response fleets. While those have their advantages they are not going to give us the engagement profile to work on these fleet comps and work on our skills as individuals and as a corporation.
[05:44:43] Robinton Jax > If you whisper "Vanderie, Vanderie, Vanderie" in local an Ishtar fleet will appear.
The Ishtar fleet became one of our staples. It is Vanderie's brainchild. He already had the ship and did good showing with it. A few more people ordered them and suddenly Ishtar. It has proven to be a formidable beast when managed correctly. I do not yet have T2 sentries and spent most of my time in a tackle ship for this fleet comp when I was able to participate. Like the artillery Rupture fleet it is one that does not show its potential in Faction Warfare.
Did we pick the Ishtar fleet for drone assist? The answer is no. We've been accused of it. One says Ishtar and people respond, "drone assist." While it is a current hot button in Eve it is not why we fly Ishtar or something that we have been doing. The main reason is that no one wants to. We are a low sec corporation at the core full of individual pilots. Sometimes, keeping them with the fleet and not engaging in fights on another station or a system or five away is hard and frustrating. To say, "give me your drones so I can blap things," isn't going to go over well. Beyond that, what does it teach the individual pilots about their drones and their management of such drones. Mayhaps that is how some groups play but not this one.
What's Next?
It is time to go back to Mother Molden. We have some business to take care of and a new expansion to sort ourselves into. Right now, everything about Rubicon is speculation. While we have a good idea of how we will deal with changes how we actually will deal with them is another question. Patch speculation is no different from being an EFT warrior. Concepts are fantastic but once they are put into space how they will work comes out. I've often discussed how I hate the fall on your face until you figure it out learning method. I do not feel that this falls under that classification.
Then we will deploy somewhere else. I've discussed stagnation from the point of the individual player. That also qualifies for a corporation. Few corporations can handle doing the exact same thing in the same place forever and retain interest. New ideas, concepts, attempts, good and bad, are all important. Sometimes it does not work. Sometimes it does but stretching out and being challenged is healthy.
As much as I'd like to bash null sec and whine, I find myself puzzled by a bit of personal change during this deployment. I've had a lot of personal growth. I'm calmer. I'm more confident. I've been kicked out of my comfort zone and I responded well. From stocking the market and becoming more engaged with cynos and the logistics of jumping to diving into a fleet of nine Oracles in my Stiletto and knowing that I would be fine, something changed.
It is good. Maybe I can now start writing about what an elite PvP machine I am. Heh. Doubtful. I'm. in truth, puzzled by it. Some of it is settling down into myself as a player I guess. And when I say calm I do not mean I do not get the shakes. I was high as a kite after that Oracle fight on adrenaline. But while I knew the chances of my dying were high I didn't have that feeling that I'd instantly explode the moment that I engaged.
Beyond that, the future is always on the horizon. I don't have any rage posts or angry, bitter words. I've not enjoyed every moment of the deployment. I wish, for instance, I had taken PvE stuff with me. Other things were stressful, such as the logistics. I will not miss what a pain it is to get things to this area. I am not sure that the locals will miss us when we are gone. To bad. :(
And as for Molden Heath... why hi there! Missed you. *kisses*
P.S. We forgot to gather all our loot out of the stations in the region. Oh lord our assets windows. We have stuff in every station. Oh well. If I ignore it it isn't there.
P.S. We forgot to gather all our loot out of the stations in the region. Oh lord our assets windows. We have stuff in every station. Oh well. If I ignore it it isn't there.
You can print up the dotlan region map. It is very handy...
ReplyDelete