Saturday, August 25, 2012

Post-Exodus

So, I am a little late posting this, but better than never.

Recently, an asston of peeps fled Amarr militia to go seek greener pastures. Some were not surprising (Nulli, Fweddit). Others were (FATE, Moar Tears.

What remains is a large chunk of 24IC, newcomers Agony, a rough collection of small corps I hadn't heard of until this week, and old friends TMFED and I.LAW. (If I left anyone out, well, oops.)

So, outnumbered: check.

So, what sort of prospects do the Amarr face? Well, oddly enough, there have been several good fights. On the other hand, several roams have ended with disappointment at the ridiculous amount of stab/cloak/mwd shit out there. Few engage, most flee. It doesn't feel like we are down and out.

Of course, LNA and company do occasionally bring lolwtf fleets, but, it looks like fights will not be going away and that is what's important, really. Not sov, not LP. Blappin shit in the face. That's what it's about.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Retrospection: I.LAW, FW, KotMC

I came to FW back in 2011, early in the year. My corp in null-sec was breaking away from TNT and moving elsewhere, so a lot of people began looking for something new. I had a RL friend in KotMC, so I put in an app and moved the three ships I still owned down to Amarr.

KotMC was a warm and inviting atmosphere and I gave RP a try. PvP was essential to the corp and in this way, I managed to make friends with Shalee, Almity, Eran, etc. When KotMC fell apart, I wasn't sure where I was going or what I was going to do.

Shalee and Eran extended an invitation for me to join the fledgling Imperial Outlaws as a Director. I am a bit of a narcissist, and the idea of helping shape an FW corp from the beginning appealed to me. As our starting roster began to fill up, I knew we had a great thing going. Almity, Eran, Shalee, Phione, Kato, Czech, etc. And Sab0tag3, who will probably be KoS forever. We wanted to do things differently. So we did. A year later, we're in the top 900 all time corps on battleclinic. We consistently win fights. We've gone up against TEST. And most importantly, we have fun. I am very proud of what we've become.

Flash to the present.

In the post-Inferno world of FW, a lot of people seem to have begun to fixate on the economics of it all. They fixate on LP and ISK and some mythical concept of money=1337 skills. I am one of the poorest bastards in Amarr militia, btw, so I must suck at EVE.

The latest news in FW is that Fweddit is Caldari and Moar Tears will be too. Admittedly, this puts the rest of us in a position some might call dire. I personally feel that it is only dire if you care about sov or ISK. If the goal is to have fun, well,then the situation need not be dire at all.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Joys of Tier 4 or How I Missed the Party and Went Broke

So, I'm sure a bunch of you have already read about Amarr's slightly abortive run at T4/T5 from that unassailable pillar of journalistic integrity, Susan Black. Well, my story is a little different, largely in that it is true.

I found out about the cashout about 48 hours before it happened. I was at work for around 20 of those and asleep for about 10. I was at work when Amarr hit T4. I came home to find us bouncing back and forth between T3/T4. Naturally, I tried to cash in as much as possible. However, I only had 80 million ISK to use as capital, and LP cashout does require initial investing. So, I managed a miniscule cashout overall. I missed the party. RL sucks sometimes.

A few things worth noting, though. Nulli basically pulled a null-sec move and said, "We got what we wanted." and bounced out. Can't blame them and I am not surprised. Most folks I talk to are already sick of this plexing bullshit.

Second thing of note: all the minnies ever talk about anymore is ISK. There is a reason for this. They can't brag about thier combat victories, because they're too busy carebearing to have any. They can't talk about anything but carebearing because that's all they do anymore.

Me, well, I may have had a disappointing payout, but whatever. Only reason I am even talking about this shit is to counter other posts. Truthfully, Amarr would rather pew pew than give a fuck about plexing.

Symbiosis vs. D*ck-Stomping

Lately, a conversation or two have caused me some concern.

There are those in Amarr FW who have voiced a desire not only to win, but to damage the minmatar to the point they stop logging on. This was not said in a joking manner but in a very serious discussion. He was not alone in this viewpoint. I can only surmise that there are similar individuals in the minmatar faction.

This blog is not meant to be kind or gentle. It is meant to be crass. So, my response on voice comms was calm and measured and fair. Here, well, not so much. If you, the reader, hold the above opinion, please try to remember that this is internet spaceships and if you all rage on me, not only will I not give a fuck, but I will take it as a compliment.

That out of the way, here is my response: Are you fucking serious? If, per chance, we were able to stomp minmatar dick to the point they need prozac to continue living, what then? Shoot gallente? Fuck that. We're Amarr. We shoot minnies. Gallente are just a side of chicken with my juicy fuckin waffles. (For those who think chicken is the main event: you are crazy and I cannot help you).

The reality is, FW is a symbiotic system. It is a disequilibrious system in which each side strives to win, but for the most part is best when near a dynamic equilibrium. Those are fancy ways of saying that FW is best when both sides are out shooting each other and are relatively equal in power projection. Amarr NEEDS Minmatar, and vice versa.

So, while I enjoy killing them in space and find several to be absolute douche-canoes, I understand intrinsically that stomping thier dicks TOO fiercely and savagely is counter to my desire to continue ROFLstomping them in space. Blow up thier ships. Don't destroy thier desire to play.

This message brought to you by Nicolai's Methamphetamine Lollipops. Now in exciting Strung Out Strawberry!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Today's Patch

So, I log on today to the sound of lots of praise for the new patch.  Let me go ahead and add my own. 

Nicely done, CCP.  Not that any of you wonderful peeps read my shit.  But, still, thanks.  You managed not to piss off any of the people I talk to on a regular basis with a patch.  That's an accomplishment.  So, I'll cover a few highlights and then get on to making fun of something, b/c that's what I do.

Big thumbs up goes to the new fittings rollover mouse thingy.  Not b/c I needed to be able to see it when I roll my mouse over but because there's finally a place you can read the range of your missiles.  Why this didn't happen sooner is a complete mystery to me, but, it's here now, and I am pleased.  Which is what CCP cares about...me being pleased. *rolls eyes*

Frigates got repurposed?  I'm not sure how I feel about this, actually.  I mean, on the one hand, mining frigates were pretty much pointless.  On the other hand...  now I see these Tormentors and Slashers everywhere.  WTF?  Stop it.

Apparently, some modules got love too?  The T2 armor plates are finally worth using, and as usual, the price tag has skyrocketed.  Sell orders upwards of 9 million have appeared in Jita.  The ECM t2 mods are still not significantly better than their meta 4 counterparts however, and all my ECM homies are sad pandas now.

Anyways, I guess overall I'm saying good job.  CCP managed not to make me cry. 

Now, can my Kitsune get some love?


Friday, August 3, 2012

Pve Pwnage, Blog Dramas, etc

So, I missed a lot while I was away.  Nulli Secunda arrived.  30 some odd systems went vulnerable.  Amarr took Kourmonen (this made me smile while also making me sad, since I wasn't here for it). 

While it sounds like I'm beating a dead horse repeatedly in the head with a baseball bat, I am still shocked at how strangely carebearish FW has become.  There's still the crazy chestbeating.  But, now it's about PVE shit.  This just saddens me.  I had a local-trolling conversation with SilenceIkillyou earlier (I am certain I mispelled that name, but whatevs).  He made some statements (mostly lol statements, I imagine) about Huola's major selling points.  All of these were financial ones.  When did that become EVERYTHING.  I mean, honestly, when did fights become unimportant and LP become everything?  I spend 90% of my time broke as hell, and I don't mind most of it because I'm getting kills and flying around in fleets loving the hell out of it.  Carebears everywhere nowadays.  It's an infection!   Like Herpegonosyphillitis of the earlobe, but worse.

In the realm of the more hilarious, Susan wrote a blog post that was ludicrously funny (to me). 
TROLOLOLOL

This blog made me smile.  Seriously.  And for good reason.  It makes reference to Amarr FW being fweddit's nerd paradise.  Then further down it states fweddit has had little to no impact at all on Amarr FW.  Which is it?  Contradictions abound.  Then there's a false dichotomy where Nulli's arrival can only result in two possible outcomes (come on!  You talk about Locke and shit but don't remember basic logical fallacies?). 

There's some garbage about Minmatar being awesome or something, and some statements about Amarr having no credibility, which is HILARIOUS.  Really, I don't get why people got mad.  This is obviously a joke post, right?  RIGHT?

Anyway, so, Shalee Lianne wrote a response that highlighted some of the same silliness I just did, and so, Susan responded with a funnier response: WAAAAAHHHHH

I died a little inside.  She was being serious?  Times like this, I'm just stoked to be a troll.  Susan, darling, just calm down and laugh more.  Further, be a troll.  Wear it with pride.  Don't deny it.  I don't.