Faction navy battlecruiser details.

A new dev blog came out with some information about the faction navy tiericide. The second half details new faction battlecruisers.

Frigate changes (https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=214283) are minor with the most important one the Republic Fleet Firetail which sees it's damage bonus increased from 20 to 25% per level.

When asked why these ships didn't get an 11th slot Fozzie replied: As before they straddle the line between Interceptors and AFs in many ways, tougher than Inties and faster then AFs. In general I'm quite confident that we can ensure that they remain worth the cost premium over T1 without needing to give them the extra slot.

Cruiser changes (https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=219607) are little more extensive.

Within themselves there is a split between the more speed oriented (Omen, Osprey, Exequror, Scythe) and more tank oriented (Augoror, Caracal, Vexor, Stabber) but considering their excellent agility and general playstyle we'll probably toss them all under the "Attack" line whenever the ship lines come up.
Navy ships are agile, aligning just a bit slower as a destroyer for the speed oriented ones. Even the slowest navy cruiser has an unskilled align time of less as 7 seconds. In comparison an unskilled Thrasher, Thorax and Rupture align at 6.21, 7.66 and 8.46 seconds respectively.

Omen Navy Issue
Changes from 5 turrets with a 7.5% RoF bonus to 4 turrets with a 10% damage bonus while changing the cap recharge to an optimal range bonus. Drone bandwidth and bay size is also doubled to 50/50.

Osprey Navy Issue
Changes from a RoF bonus to a 10% kinetic and 5% EM/Explosive/Thermal damage bonus.
It gains a utility high plus a low and mid slot. Almost every statistic receives at least a small buff.

Exequror Navy Issue
Gains a high slot and turret hardpoint to give more damage amplified by a double damage bonus.

Scythe Fleet Issue
Remains a split weapon system, it does however get a double strength damage bonus. 10% Bonus to projectile RoF and 10% bonus to missile damage. With 5 high slots and 5 launcher and turret hardpoints you won't be forced to use two weapon systems though, you get offered a choice.
Like the Osprey (and Exequror) almsot every stat receives at least a small buff. Gaining among other things 1 mid and 2 low slots.

Auguror Navy Issue
Loses 2 turret hardpoints but gains a whopping 25% damage bonus to compensate, going from 5 to 6,75 effective turrets at skill level 5.

Caracal Navy Issue
Changes a range and kinetic damage bonus for a 5% RoF bonus and a 5% heavy assault and heavy missile explosion radius. It loses its drone bay completely.

Vexor Navy Issue
Turns into a pure drone boat, exchanging the hybrid bonus for a drone velocity and tracking bonus. Its drone bay doubles in size while it's bandwidth gets upgraded to 125 Mbit.

Stabber Fleet Issue
As "the current gold standard in Navy cruisers" it sees little change but gets a small mass increase.

Navy Battlecruisers
The Harbinger gets another mid slot, the Hurricane an utility high, the Brutix a low slot and the drake get an additional launcher hardpoint. As any navy vessel they have 50% more shield, armor and hull points and have slightly more powergrid and cpu to use the additional slot they gained.

The brutix and drake gains a little maneuverability while the drake also gets a 10 m/s speed bonus.  Sensor strength has been increased by 4 for all four ships as well compared to the regular version.

Harbinger Navy Issue
The cap bonus is gone and replaced by a tracking bonus. The drone bay has been reduced to 50m3 again though.

• Amarr Battlecruiser skill bonuses: +10% medium energy turret damage and +7.5% to medium energy turret tracking per level
• Slot layout: 7 H, 5 M, 6 L, 6 turrets

Hurricane Fleet Issue
Ow look, 8 high slots, two utility slots, reminds us of something?

• Minmatar Battlecruiser skill bonuses: +5% to medium projectile damage and 5% bonus to medium projectile rate of fire per level
• Slot layout: 8 H, 4 M, 6 L, 6 turrets, 3 launchers

Brutix Navy Issue
Gone is the PVE active rep bonus, instead we see another tracking bonus. Are we getting nervous yet about flying T1 frigate and cruiser gangs yet?

• Gallente Battlecruiser skill bonuses: +10% to medium hybrid turret damage and 7.5% bonus to medium hybrid turret tracking per level
• Slot layout: 7 H, 4 M, 7 L, 6 turrets 

Drake Navy Issue
Two new bonuses to replace the old ones. Gone are the shield resistances that would finally give this baby a nice buffer tank if you wanted to solo a small frigate fleet with your navy drake. Gone is also the 50% bonus to a single damage type. Instead we get better damage application with a bonus to missile explosion radius and more range with a missile velocity bonus.

• Caldari Battlecruiser skill bonuses: +10% to heavy missile and heavy assault missile velocity and 5% bonus to explosion radius of heavy missile and heavy assault missile per level
• Slot layout: 8 H, 6 M, 4 L, 8 launchers 

With all the bonuses to tracking or missile explosion radius we see on bigger ship classes those tech1 frigate and cruiser gangs can no longer chew up those bigger ships as easily.

I look forward to the navy drake most of all but think I am going to start collecting all navy and faction ships. Which navy battlecruiser do you like the most? Will you fly it?

Battleship tiericide details announced.

The first news about battleship rebalancing has come out. Just as with smaller ship sizes the old tiers will be rebalanced according to their new roles.

Battleships will be rebalanced into the roles of attack, combat and disruption battleships. Each race will get one attack and two combat battleships, except for the caldari who will keep their disruption battleship.

Just as with the attack battlecruisers the attack battleships will be faster, more agile and more aimed at damage application as their combat counterparts. Combat battleships will have more hitpoints though.

Caldari
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=223608
As a former tier 3 battleship the Rokh won't see many changes. The big news here is the shield resistance bonus on the Rokh that will be adjusted from 5% to 4% per level.
At skill level 5 that means a 20% bonus to resistances instead of 25% as it stands now. The reasoning is that resistances are one of the strongest bonuses available.

The Raven will be the Caldari attack battleship. It will lose one utility high and some hitpoints while gaining a little speed and agility. Base speed will now be 113 m/s. Powergrid will also be increased so it is easier to use torpedo's and a propulsion mod.

The raven will also lose 25 drone bandwidth putting it equal with the Rokh. So the good news is that the Rokh won't be the only battleship with 50 Mbit drone bandwidth anymore.

The Scorpion will also lose a utility high but gains a low slot in return, giving it 5 low slots.
Based on the Scorpion the disruption battslehips will get similar hitpoints to the attack battleships but won't get the increased mobility.

Minmatar
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2853138
The Maelstrom won't see any change at all. The Tempest will get some minor tweaks, like a little more (armor) hitpoints.

The Typhoon on the other hand will get a complete overhaul turning it into a missile ship like the cyclone. It will end up with 7 high slots, 6 of which are for launchers.
The projectile bonus will be replaced with a cruise and torpedo explosion velocity bonus. So the typhoon will get better damage application on something in range while the Raven does less damage but at longer range. The Typhoon will remain the fastest battleship though at 130 m/s base speed.

Gallente
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=223610
The Hyperion loses one high slot but gains one utility high because it will also lose two turrets and double its bonus. Meaning that at max rank you will go from 10 effective turrets to 9 while gaining some drone bandwidth and bay size in return.

The Megathron damage bonus will be replaced with a rate of fire bonus. It will lose it's utility high and gain a low slot. Drone bandwidth and bay size are both reduced turning it more into a dedicated gun boat.

The Dominix loses its turret bonus in favor of a drone optimal range and tracking speed bonus. It also gains about 1800 hitpoints on shield, armor and hull each.

Amarr
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=223607
The only change to the Abaddon will the reduction in resistance bonus from 5% per level down to 4% per skill level.

The Apocalypse will see the cap bonus replaced by a 7.5% tracking bonus per level and get it's drone bandwidth reduced to 50 also, joining the Rokh/Raven.

Finally, the Armageddon, as expected has been turned into a drone ship with the second bonus changed to a 10% energy neutralizer/NOS range per skill level.
It also loses a high and low while gaining a fourth mid slot. For the amarr missile lovers it gets 5 launcher slots so it can fit either missiles or turrets but won't get a bonus to either one.
Lastly it gains substantial hitpints and 250m3 drone bay size.

Overall
I wonder what changes we will see to cruise missiles and torpedos later this year. Even more so about the faction navy ship rebalancing.

The fastest caldari attack battleship wil be the Raven at 113 m/s, still slower as the Tempest with it's 120 m/s base speed. Of course the Apocalypse will probably end up the slowest ship since it will fit an armor tank instead of the shield tank of the Raven but the Raven needs to close range while the Apocalypse has a range and tracking bonus.

In comparison the fastest minmatar battleship is the Typhoon with a base speed of 130 m/s, just below the base 140 m/s of a drake or ferox.

While I like utility highs the move towards more mid/low slots is better as those slots serve a more useful purpose in general.

CSM Elections are live

The CSM pre-elections are over with the majority of the candidates getting enough endorsements to enter the final ballot.

Ripard Teg received a total of 1417 endorsements, more as any other candiate. Hopefully this will carry through to the actual elections.

Today I browsed through some blogs to help me put together a personal voting list.

I started out with names I know best.
1. Ripard Teg
2. Trebor Daehdoow
3. Mike Azariah
4. Roc Wieler

Ater this I browsed some blogs and picked the remaining 10 candidates and their order.

5. Unforgiven Storm
6. Malcanis
7. Mangala Solaris
8. Ali Aras
9. Psychotic Monk

I included Mynna and Kesper North as they seem to be the best of the nullsec bloc candidates. Since it's unlikely they would need my votes at all I dropped them to a lower place on my list.

10. Mynna
11. Kesper North

The final three are included mostly as filling.

12. Korvin
13. Nathan Jameson
14. James Arget

After logging in and going through the procedure of arranging candidates once and casting my vote I relogged with another account and the page had remembered my voting order. So voting the same order for multiple accounts is pretty easy.

Information I failed to locate was just exactly when the voting window closes.

CSM Match vote 2.0

To help you in your choice of deciding whom to vote for during the CSM (pre-)elections you can visit http://match.eve-csm.com/. I saw this link at http://throughnewbeyes.wordpress.com.

My first reaction is that there are lots of WH questions, of course they have to find a way to differ between the WH candidates.

The two candidates with the highest match at first are Steve Ronuken and Mangala Solaris for me.
Both candidates that I haven't even taken a loot at so far!

Player-built Outposts should be destroyable
Limiting this only to player-built outposts is a step but it would simply mean I'd be forced to limit myself to living in conquerable stations to reduce the odds of having lost all my assets after a two week vacation. I want the POS to be a destructable station.

Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Grand Admiral Shimo-Haya and DaeHan-Minhyok for saying destructable outposts should be mandatory.

CREST (the new API) should allow players to update or create their markets orders from outside the game client.
No. I don't need even more competition from bots or players imitating one.
Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Corebloodbrothers
 
Delayed local chat should be present in
WH space only if up to me. This is what makes WH space so unique.
Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Fon Revedhort

Suicide ganking in high sec
Only 2 candidates think it should be easier to gank someone. That said I do not want to make the game safer for anyone. Undocking means you run the risk of losing your ship.
Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Psychotic Monk and Malcanis

CCP should support secure player-run banks.
No government interference from CCP! Will they take my isk to save a bank that put money into risky investments?
Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Awol Aurix, Apricot Baby, Korvin, Greene Lee, Ali Aras.

The cost of using NPC owned manufacturing slots should be changed
Right now slot rental has barely any impact on production prices.
Candidates eliminated for their answer:
Mangala Solaris

Candidates going up in ranking for their answers:
Mynna mostly even though we disagree on some answers. Of course I am biased in this case because his comment to decouple local from intelligence mirrors my Blog Banter 44 post for a part.

Some other candidates also gave the correct answers but they won't get any attention until they make it to the real election.
A matchmaking list really only serves to eliminate candidates so Mike Azariah and Roc Wieler don't lose much by not appearing on this list. On the other hand it reduces their visibility a bit so might have a negative impact.

EVE online: Solving my isk problems

For a while I have been active on the local market, hauling in tech2 modules from high sec and putting them up for sale. Since I started this blog that has been put on hold for the most part while I switched more to local production of T1 items.

The biggest reason is that I don't want to tie up liquid isk on the market. Another is that I feel that with a blockade runner I can't compete with people using jump freighters and while I could pay someone to move my goods for me it would most likely mean I'd have to move goods in bigger quantities to make it worthwile for someone else. Which in turn ties up more isk at once.

I am still producing ships, modules and rigs locally. Salvage takes up almost no space at all so it easy to move in large quantities with a cloaky, triple stabbed and nullified T3 strategic cruiser.
Right now I mostly produce ammo since it has a quick turnaround and good profit margins for a low investment cost.

Since there is a limit to how much time I can spent playing eve I switched from mining myself to buying minerals locally already as well. That frees up my miner to move back to high sec for afk mining if needed. Mining in null while shooting rats on a second account and running a salvager on a third account, especially when in different systems, is just asking to lose a ship sooner rather than later. It is how I lost my then shiny new vargur.  http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15565026

The mony I made last month was immediately spent on a Gistum C-type medium shield booster to give my tengu a big cap stable tank. Although in reality my tank is getting smaller as I lose two shield modules to a codebreaker and analyzer.

[Tengu - no salvager]
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System II
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Afterburner II
Gistum C-type Medium Shield Booster
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Codebreaker I
Analyzer I

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Expanded probe launcher

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I

Accelerated Ejection Bay
Adaptive Shielding
Fuel Catalyst
Emergent Locus Analyzer
Augmented Capacitor Reservoir

Three rigs is more as what is required to be cap stable. I just never got around to replacing them.
If I need more tank for an escalation I can always replace the codebreaker/analyzer with an EM and adaptive field hardener for omnitank or a kinetic hardener and shield boost amplifier vs guristas.
If I don't need the probe launcher I can always replace the adaptive shielding subsystem with the amplification node for an even bigger tank. (And the scanning subsystem with the sensor strength one to reduce the odds of getting jammed by gurista rats a little.)

With a tengu and vargur together I still don't earn as much isk per hour as with a carrier or a solo vincicator but I would say I end up with about 60 million isk per hour in bounties plus all the loot and salvage. This allows me to plex two accounts a month if I don't pvp, one if I do.

BB 45: Marketing

Through Seismic Stan of Freebooted we are asked the following question:

"In a socially-driven game environment such as EVE Online's, everyone has an agenda. CCP promotes its products and has an army of volunteers to do the same; corporations and alliances deliver entertaining recruitment drives, CSM election candidates solicit for voter favour, bloggers and podcasters opine to their audiences.

In this intricate web of communication, influence and control, what part does propaganda play in your game?"

Propaganda, a word with negative connotations. Mostly because of its association with nazi Germany. (Just as Hitler ruined the 'tootbrush' mustache made famous by Charlie Chaplin. Not even Michael Jordan can get away with it 60 years after date without sparking outrage.)

In the original meaning propaganda was a neutral word, these days marketing, advertising and public relations are more common terms. The goal however is the same, to change public perception.

While propaganda surrounds us on every side in the real world, eve has no shortage of people or groups handing out one-sided others either. A lot of articles over at the Mittani have their source in propaganda mails from alliances. And are most blogs not about promoting a certain lifestyle or at least telling us about the good stuff that happens in their space? Eveoaganda as the name already implies is nothing but promotion of Rixx's pro-Eve stance.

And anyone following the news has probably heard the 'Test is pro', '-A- is shit' or 'You don't talk back to -A-'. Although by the end I was tired of the -A- bashing and was hoping they wouldn't fail completely.

After the release of this video I had a positive view of Test Alliance (even though I knew TEST was just a blob that batphoned in a bigger blob when they couldn't run over a loose coalition of small alliances), until the Madness of Montolio painted them a bit more negative. It helps they were blue before and have a nice orange color now.

I am easily swayed on some matters while I will stubbornly cling to my beliefs on others.
News that is biased yet claims to be 'fair and balanced' (hello Fox) will be met with suspicion, news that is biased and makes not claims otherwise wil be met with eyes open to other viewpoints and might get the benefit of the doubt. (hello Daily Show/Colbert Report)

Just remember to be critical of any onesided message. And while eve might seem like a second job for a lot of people it is still a game that is played for entertainment. Both by you and the target of (your) propaganda, be it your ally or your adversary. The entity presented as an ally today might be demonized tomorrow.

CSM 8 pre-elections

The CSM 8 pre-elections are live. A full list comprising of 35 candidates can be found at http://community.eveonline.com/community/csm/candidates/.

I browsed through the list and initially clicked open 8 candidates based on their name or the few lines visible. With a long list I am less likely to open candidates later on the list but the order is randomized each time you open the page so it evens out for candidates.

The 8 candidates I opened are:

Trebor Daehdoow
Last election I was tempted to vote for him but in the end didn't due to an email I received from him when visiting Jita in which he asked me to support him. At the time I thought of it as spam and it made me vote for another candidate instead.
This time there's a different system and I have no doubt he will end up near the top of my list, in no small part because this time I know better what he has done while on the CSM.
Time to start reading his blog.

progodlegend
His page refers to the forums where his post says:
This is a placeholder until my midterms are done tomorrow... as I am too busy to do it tonight. 
Yes I know this seems bad.
Yes, you just got scrapped. If you don't have time to get your platform in order you won't have time to go to Iceland and make yourself useful.

Malcanis
Clicked him open because of the name. Not impressed with what I see.

Ripard Teg
He gets a vote just because of his blog. Right now he would be at second place after Trebor but that might still change.

Mike Azariah
Last year he didn't get my vote, like Trebor this year he will end up on my list but a bit lower. While his mention of the casual player gets my attention I am still not sure why he would be be better candidate for my vote as for example Roc Wieler.
I follow his blog as well.

Roc Wieler
Another Canadian like Mike. I think last time he ran on the issue of 'the community'?
No strong agenda of himself although I understand what he wants to do, represent the interests of community. Right now I would rank him about the same as Mike because I occasionally follow his blog.

Unforgiven Storm
Clicked on his name because he mentions the word POS in the first line. Beyond that at first I don't see why I should endorse him. After a quick look at his blog it seems he at least has some ideas.
Let's see if he makes it to the final 14.

Ayeson
No idea why I clicked on this name, probably because of the word POS as well. Does not impress me.

Mynna
will end up on my list but not high, my assumption is he will get in anyway.

Kesper North
Gets my attention for having a familiar name and being in the same coalition. Will probably end up on my list.

The rest of the candidates will get a look when they make it to the final 14.
Most WH candidates didn't get a look because unlike Two Step (who got one of the two votes I had last year) I think of them more as wormhole candidates and not as representing the whole of eve.

No James 315 on the list! Obviously I haven't been keeping up with the news.

For the pre-election you simply log in and press the big yellow ENDORSE button for the candidate you wish to endorse. After this you can cancel the endorsement or click the endorse button to change your endorsement to another candidate.

I endorsed Trebor, Ripard, Mike and Roc.

In the full election we fill in a 14-person preference list that gets tallied using a single transferable vote system. Just remember that if you really want a non-bloc candidate on the CSM putting him second place on your list might not do him any good if he is the candidate with the lowest value on the first count.