N968 appreciation day

Will I see explosions tonight, Mr W-space? Not at home, unless I take a frigate in to one of our gas pockets, and that is more of a last resort. So it's resolving and jumping through our static wormhole for me, where once in our neighbouring class 3 system I see bugger all. I can't blame my directional scanner for the lack of information, not when one planet is in range, the star is 70 AU away, and it's 90 AU to the other side of the system. Poor d-scan, with its meagre but perfectly acceptable 14 AU reach.

My combat scanning probes extend further than d-scan. Launching them and blanketing the system doesn't reveal any ships, though, just fifty anomalies and twelve signatures. 'Just', right. The lack of ships and abundance of anomalies points to no occupation, and exploring finds none, so I call my probes in to scan. I almost hope I find no more than the static wormhole, what with all of this latent ISK waiting to be released. But there are two more, and I really ought to check them.

The first wormhole is a K162 from class 4 w-space, the second the static exit to low-sec—a mix of Cloud Ring and Verge Vendor suggests it leads to Placid—and the last is an N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space. That one's pretty useless, the discovery scanning popping the signature in C3b already. I'll hit the K162. But jumping to C4a spits me over eight kilometres from the wormhole, with a tower and no ships visible on d-scan. I think it's safe to say nothing is happening. This C4 could be a bridging system to activity, though. I launch probes to find out.

Scanning C4a is quick, with fourteen anomalies but only two signatures. I identify the gas pocket within seconds, ignore it with as much a look of disgust on my face as I can muster, and jump back the way I came to head through the N968, instantly regretting not saving a little reserve of disgust for having to do so. And relax. D-scan is clear, and my notes from a recent visit put me in an unoccupied system with a static exit to null-sec. Let me find that.

I find the null-sec exit, along with a newly erected tower. Occupation and inactivity isn't much different from a lack of occupation and inactivity apart from opportunity, and that opportunity presents itself when an Anathema covert operations boat warps in to the tower. I hide my probes, having resolved the wormhole, and watch what the cov-ops does. He warps to a position two hundred kilometres above the tower to launch probes, that's what.

I consider scanning the Anathema to surprise him, but the cov-ops cloaks—can they do that?—without even caring to reload his launcher. Whatever, dude. Be a rebel. I'll get back to scanning. All the remaining signatures are chubby, it will be quick. Wormhole, wormhole, gas, wormhole. I think I can ignore the tiny, agile ship in favour of more exploration.

The K346 exits to Fountain, where being alone means I can't resist ratting and scanning, but I identify the one extra signature as a combat site before I find a suitable rat, so abandon that plan to reconnoitre the other wormholes in C3b. N968, N968, and a dying K162 from null-sec. Is there a class 3 w-space system convention happening? I dunno, but pinging d-scan before leaving the system now sees a Noctis in the system. What's a salvager doing with nothing to salvage? Floating in the tower appears to be the answer.

Yes, floating in the tower. I confirm my suspicion by watching the Noctis float in the tower's force field for longer than I really ought before realising I have more systems to explore. I pick the first of the N968s I warped to, destination system designated as C3c, and warp there and jump through. D-scan shows me a tower and no ships, and my overview highlights a customs office in reinforced mode. A bit of exploring gets my hopes up when I see on d-scan a tower and Orca industrial command ship, Mammoth hauler, and Rupture cruiser, but they all turn out to be in the same place, the ships lacking pilots. A second tower elsewhere holds a Bustard, also without a pilot, leaving me scanning for wormholes again.

No anomalies, seven signatures. Three wormholes, some data sites. The static exit to low-sec clearly leads to Lonetrek but is at the end of its life. More interesting is the Helios appearing far above the wormhole to launch probes, but there isn't really much I can do about that except ignore his presence and move on. The Helios has probably come through the K162 from high-sec Verge Vendor, but what the bloody hell is this N968 doing here? Is there one free in every class 3 system this evening? Well, I've found it, I may as well use it. A tower and no ships. Thanks, C3e, you're making a difference.

W-space had better perk up or I'm taking my toys and going home. I have another class 3 system to check, so try to retain some kind of optimism, but what are the odds it's going to be better than any of the other class 3 systems I've found so far? I jump back to C3c, C3a, and across to C3b to find out. Two towers with no ships this time. Is that a step up? Maybe not, but exploring finds another tower with a Noctis and a Tengu strategic cruiser, and both are piloted. That's almost exciting.

The presence of pilots is less exciting when I can't see traces of Sleeper combat, when I am reminded that the dumbscovery scanner announced my potential arrival some time ago, and when the Noctis is swapped for a Loki. I watch the two ships for a minute, but I doubt anything more will happen, if anything was happening to start with. I turn around and head home, pausing to see that the Anathema in C3b has turned in to a Drake battlecruiser and is snuggling with the Noctis in their tower. But, despite the promise the pairing holds, all that happens during the time I spend watching is the two of them going off-line. That must have been a fun evening for them. About as fun as mine, I suppose. I'm going home.

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Tags: anathema, bustard, drake, eve online, helios, mammoth, mmorpg, noctis, orca, penny ibramovic, rupture, scanning, tengu, w-space

Missing a Venture's a minor adventure

There's nothing to update at home, just a refresh of our static wormhole. It's straightforward to resolve, and I jump to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system to start today's adventure. My directional scanner is clear from the K162, and my last visit being only three weeks earlier gives me some notes that should be current, disappointingly telling me that the system is unoccupied. I don't feel like I'm having an adventure yet.

Scanning the system reveals four anomalies and eight signatures, holding nothing of interest but the one wormhole. Even that's not terribly interesting, being the typical exit to low-sec that looks like it leads just as typically to Aridia. But I only have one way to go, so I jump out to, yes, Aridia, where I launch probes to look for more wormholes. At least there are five additional signatures to look through.

The first signature I choose to resolve is a wormhole, as are the second and third. The remaining two signatures are relic sites, but three wormholes is a good result. One is a K162 from class 2 w-space, the second a K162 from class 3 w-space, and the third a K162 from null-sec that's throbbing from having a fair bit of mass thrust in to it. I know the feeling. The destabilised wormhole, despite not connecting w-space, is also the more interesting.

What's caused the mass destabilisation of this K162? Ships, obviously. But what ships? I poke through to find out, appearing in a system in Insmother, but alone. Maybe the one other signature in the system is another wormhole, also destabilised, holding the answer to who's been this way. But scanning the signature, whilst ratting to pass the time, resolves only a combat site. Who knows what's been happening here? Not me, and I doubt I'll find out. I'm heading back to w-space.

A return to Aridia and across to the C3 K162, which is more likely a dead end than the C2 K162. Entering C3b and updating d-scan sees a tower with no ships, and a blanket scan sees a pretty bare system, with just one anomaly and two signatures. That gives a good chance that the other signature is also a wormhole, but scanning resolves it to be a pocket of gas. Well, it is a dead end, and knowing so gives me more time to see where C2a can take me.

It all looks a bit bleak in C2a. A black hole is immediately obvious, d-scan is clear, and a blanket scan reveals twenty-three anomalies and thirteen signatures. If it weren't for the ship also under my combat scanning probes I'd be sure the system was unoccupied. Then again, the ship disappears from a subsequent scan and probes that almost certainly aren't mine are visible in space, so I still need to explore. And at least someone else is out there, even if it is likely to be in a covert operations boat.

C2a is occupied. There are two towers on opposite sides of the system, so the abundance of signatures just means the locals are lazy. Or the presence of silos shows they are making ISK from running reactions. Or, you know, both. And in preference to waiting for no pilots to arrive to check on their passive income, I sit my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser on the exit to low-sec as I scan.

Gas. Gas, gas, gas. I could go on, but it's nearly all gas, plus two wormholes. The other static connection leads to more class 2 w-space, but the K162 from class 4 w-space is more interesting. I hope the still-scanning scout is floating outside a tower right now, so that he doesn't see me decloak and jump to C4a, but it probably doesn't matter. D-scan shows me a tower and lone mining drone, and that's all. Perhaps the scout isn't from here, though, so I launch probes to scan.

Four anomalies and three signatures will be quick to check, and I resolve gas and balls—a wormhole is under my probes along with a Retriever, the mining barge appearing on my overview too, as it warps in to the local tower. But did he come from the wormhole, or is the result from the probes just a bit fuzzy? I watch for a bit, having hidden my probes, but the miner doesn't do anything. I assume he's seen my probes, but he could be like too many other pilots and just have come on-line for some peace and quiet.

I finish resolving the wormhole and reconnoitre it, seeing a K162 from class 2 w-space. As it's definitely not the one I came through I take a look at the other side, seeing a two towers and a Procurer mining barge. This second barge is interesting, for the five seconds it stays on d-scan, and exploring the system and finding all the towers has the Procurer definitely gone. I don't think I'll gain from scanning further, so turn my Loki around to head back the way I came.

The Retriever in C4a now has a two-frigate escort of a Daredevil and Magnate, although I'm dubious as to the need of such an escort whilst floating passively inside the security of a tower's force field. But the pilots are taking their duty seriously, sticking by the Procurer's side for as long as they are needed, which means I'm watching nothing happening again. I can do that elsewhere just as easily, so leave them to it.

It's not really been much of an adventure yet. Even exploring C2b, through C2a's static wormhole, finds only empty ships. I'm about to give up, when passing through low-sec sees only two pilots in the system and a Venture mining frigate on d-scan. That may be worth looking for, just for kicks. The Venture seems to be in a standard asteroid belt too, and warping in at range sees him chomping on a rock. Yeah, what the hell, I'll have a crack at him.

I check that the two pilots in the system aren't allied, and they don't seem to be, and start my approach on the Venture. Even better, the other pilot leaves the system as I line up the frigate, making this an almost risk-free opportunity. I have to react sooner than I want to, thanks to a rock decloaking me, but it shouldn't be a problem. I light my micro warp drive, activate my sensor booster, and watch the Venture disappear. How rum.

He's cloaked, of course. Nothing gets past me. It's a bit sneaky, but I know where he was so just keep burning in that direction, hoping to bump in to him and force his cloak to drop. I even try to be smart and deactivate my MWD after the one pulse, not wanting to overshoot my target, and it all seems to work. I get close enough to reveal the Venture, don't zoom right past him, and, well, almost gain a positive lock. The agile bugger warps off a split-second before I can stop him, all the way to a stargate and out of the system. Still, it was a tiny bit of excitement to end the evening.

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Tags: daredevil, eve online, loki, low-sec, magnate, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, procurer, pvp, retriever, scanning, venture, w-space

Some ships are inadvertently slippery

I leave the sieged tower and the class 1 w-space system it is in behind me. I can't disrupt the fleet, and they probably wouldn't want me to join in, so instead head back the way I came, through a null-sec system in Perrigen Falls, to our neighbouring class 3 system. I have more wormholes to explore through, notably a T405 connection to class 4 w-space. Of course, it's an outbound connection that the discovery scanner has already pinged to the C4 locals since I resolved it earlier, but it's more w-space. In I go.

Updating my directional scanner on the K162 in C4a sees two towers and four ships. The Hound and Manticore are failing to be stealth bombers, so are probably in one of the towers, the Chimera carrier is unlikely to be active or piloted, but the Epithal hauler could be planning to collect planet goo. If he's careless or ignorant, that is, or just confident in being able to escape in his disposable industrial ship. It makes me sad.

Not only does the Epithal have specialised cargo space to hold more goo than was possible before, the low fitting slots remain when they are no longer required for expanding the available cargo space. Now the low slots can be stuffed with warp core stabilisers with no drawbacks, making the haulers almost immune to anything but a bubble. Stalkers like me will have to rely on high-alpha ambushes, or ramming the target ship to keep them around long enough.

No longer do gooers need to decide between ships that are vulnerable but cheap enough to be considered disposable, or expensive ships that can warp cloaked or have inherent added warp core strength. They have the best of both worlds with the Epithal. On top of that, the discovery scanner is keeping many gooers safe. Lock up your system, and you can goo in peace without needing any further interaction. It's a sorry state of affairs.

Bitterness aside, I don't even know if the hauler is piloted yet. I need to locate the towers too, as a visit from three months ago has the system listed as unoccupied. The black hole probably helped with that. Sweeping d-scan around the system sees the two stealth bombers and carrier at one tower, the hauler at the other. I warp to the other, finding the Epithal piloted but not long for the tower. As I am orientating myself the hauler warps away.

Luckily, I just about catch where the Epithal heads, and urge my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser to follow at best speed, fighting against the draw of the black hole. I am in warp to a customs office, not quite believing my luck either with the timing or a pilot apparently still ignorant of the discovery scanner's significance. Dropping out of warp next to a customs office lacking an Epithal reaffirms my beliefs, even if it doesn't explain where the hauler is.

D-scan says the Epithal isn't at the planet itself, not moved on to collect goo elsewhere, and I finally find it when checking the moons around this planet. Remember that first tower? I didn't, but I do now. I warp across to see the Epithal nestled safely inside a force field, the pilot ejecting his pod and going off-line within the minute. That's probably that, I suppose. Well, except a second Epithal has appeared on d-scan.

It's a lot to hope that the other hauler will do anything other than follow the first. But you've got to have hope, so I warp back to the second tower to watch the Epithal for movement, only to see the hauler blink off-line. That was fun. There's not much left to watch, the Manticore gone, the Hound piloted but inactive, and I don't really care to scan deeper in to the constellation in this direction. I'd rather find some K162s through the low-sec exit in C3a.

Back I go, and out to Aridia, where I launch probes to poke the signatures. Wormhole, combat site, data site, relic site. I would be happy with that one wormhole, but it turns out to be an outbound X702 connection to class 3 w-space. I'll take a look anyway, and jump to the underwhelming d-scan result of an Nidhoggur carrier, Orca, and tower. But my notes indicate the system holds a static exit to null-sec, and that's got to be worth a look.

Four anomalies and six signatures are picked up by my probes, the first signature giving me a K162 to investigate as I poke the others. Gas, skinny wormhole that's probably the K346, and the K162 from more class 3 w-space I'm approaching crackles with a transit just as I start another scanning cycle. Nuts. Whoever has jumped in to the system—a Buzzard covert operations boat, as it turns out—will already have implied my presence. I'm not having much luck tonight.

The Buzzard burns away from the wormhole, cloaks, and reappears over fifty kilometres away to launch probes. No doubt he's going to investigate the new signature in the system, clearly shown to him by the dumbscovery scanner through no interaction of his own, and he'll find the wormhole I came through. Well, my probes suggested as much, but it's not like there's much mystery as to my route in to his system. And it's his system, the Buzzard painted orange.

I think that's it for me tonight. The Buzzard has scouted through the C3 K162, so I doubt I will find or surprise anyone there, and he's seen my probes, so I won't surprise anyone here. I have the null-sec exit resolved, though, and warp across to grab some good images of a connection to Feythabolis, but that's as productive as I'm going to get.

Even having the same Buzzard warping on to the wormhole as I jump to low-sec is nothing more than an idle coincidence. I won't catch the Buzzard before he jumps, and am almost certainly not going to catch it jinking from the wormhole in C3b. Why polarise my ship for nothing? I simply head home and go off-line.

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Tags: buzzard, chimera, epithal, eve online, hound, loki, manticore, mmorpg, nidhoggur, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Seeing a siege start up

It's all quiet in w-space. I can't hear anyone screaming at all. I don't know if that's good or bad. But I can see two new signatures in the home system, which I resolve to be two exciting new gas sites. Brilliant. I'll be leaving through our static wormhole, which takes me to a class 3 system with a tower, Orca industrial command ship, and Abaddon battleship visible on my directional scanner. The battleship could be interesting. It would be more immediately interesting if I could see Sleeper wrecks in the system, but as I can't I will assume that he's up to nothing. I doubt the dumbscovery scanner has thwarted me today, at least not yet, precisely because of the lack of wrecks. Nothing has been abandoned, as far as I can tell.

A previous visit from eleven months ago recalls nothing of note. A tower, static exit to low-sec. That's about it. But the tower I see today is different, as the one I knew about should be out of d-scan range. The new one is trivial to find, being at a planet with a single moon, where I find the Orca empty and Abaddon piloted, not that a pilot seems to make much difference between the two ships. They're both floating inertly.

The rest of the system holds nothing else to see, so I sit and watch the Abaddon for a while. It's not particularly interesting, but that turns out to be good. Aii comes on-line and would like to chomp on some rocks in the home system, asking me to keep him safe. Well, it looks pretty safe so far. No other wormholes at home, not a whisker of movement here, and I can scan too. If the Abaddon pilot is paying attention it may prevent him doing anything, and if he's not, well, nothing's going to happen anyway.

So I scan. The four anomalies and seven signatures are reduced to two pockets of gas and four wormholes, plus our K162 home, giving me options and the Abaddon good cause to float in the tower's force field. Reconnoitring the wormholes finds a K162 from null-sec, a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space, a second null-sec K162, and the static exit to low-sec. The second K162 has the distinctive Malpais 'A' indicative of a wormhole from Perrigen Falls, and, typically, that looks just like Aridia through the U210. The first K162 I need to take a closer look at.

Checking the exits has the low-sec system in Aridia holding more signatures, which could be good; the undetermined null-sec region turns out to be Fountain, with one pilot and one extra signature in the system; and the connection from Perrigen Falls has no one around. I'll stay here and pop a rat. And I may as well scan as I do that. There is one extra signature, a wormhole. A weak wormhole. I'm not a fan of outbound connections currently, but I scanned it, I may as well take a look.

The wormhole leads to class 1 w-space. Maybe something is happening there, something innocent and easy to disrupt. The tower and half-dozen ships suggest maybe there is, with four battlecruisers, a destroyer, and mining frigate on d-scan, but a lack of wrecks says otherwise. But never mind, maybe the Venture is chewing rocks or sucking gas. Or maybe something is happening after all, as an update to d-scan sees nine more ships appear, all but one a combat ship, and the apparent fleet including a logistics wing.

Maybe the wormhole popping on the discovery scanner was spotted and the ships have returned to the tower from a distant anomaly. That's a lot of ships to commit to class 1 w-space sites, though. Too many, in fact. And the numbers are growing, with five more Tornado battlecruisers and a Proteus strategic cruiser appearing on d-scan as I nervously hold near the wormhole.

I point d-scan at the tower to see the fleet isn't there, so maybe they are blasting through the system's sites. But they aren't in an anomaly either. And now they are coincident with the tower. If I didn't know any better I'd say I'm sensing a siege in progress. that could be interesting to watch for a minute or two, particularly as they probably aren't interested in me.

Yep, that's a siege. The tower is active too, the fleet here to first incapacitate the defences before attacking the tower itself. I don't know who is attacking who and why, and I don't really care, to be honest. But I see more ships inside the tower than I first detected, and it looks like the local corporation is actually partially active. It seems that they are ejecting ships from their hangars to keep them available when their tower inevitably is forced in to reinforced mode.

But the locals aren't just being defensive. Granted, a single Manticore stealth bomber taking a poke at a Scimitar logistics ship, trailing at the back of the sieging fleet, isn't much of a counter-attack, but it's not nothing. It's also the only ship I've seen that I could reasonably take a pop at myself. The sieging fleet is configured to endure a tower's defences, mostly with the help of the Scimitar and Osprey logistic ships, but even if I could pull one of the battlecruisers in to single combat, unaided by the logistics, I could end up a target of the tower and in serious trouble.

There isn't much I can do here. I manoeuvre to be near the Scimitar, still at the back of the fleet, roughly where the Manticore was, wondering both if the stealth bomber will try again and if I could feasibly catch him if he did, but give up on the idea shortly. The bomber won't try to same tactic twice, not if he's smart, and a Tengu strategic cruiser decloaking and warping away makes me wonder what other ships are hidden nearby, also waiting for the Manticore to reappear. As much as I am drawn to the lure of the fleet, seeing pilots working together, I should move on.

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Tags: abaddon, eve online, manticore, mmorpg, orca, osprey, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, scimitar, tengu, tornado, venture, w-space

Abaddonded

I'm scanning. One signature of the four in this second class 3 w-space system is a relic site. I know this not because Tyler knows this, but because I successfully hunted a Gnosis battlecruiser there. I can ignore that signature. I can also ignore the K162 from C3a that I entered the system through. That leaves two more signatures, one of which I know to be the static exit to high-sec even if I haven't found it yet, leaving one to be determined. Spoiler alert: it's a K162 from null-sec.

The static exit obviously leads out to Verge Vendor, which is just typical. I wait three months to grab an image of these wormhole colours and then get two opportunities in as many days. But never mind that. I exit w-space to see if there is any sign of the Gnosis pilot but I don't see him. He must be a tourist, and high-sec is the most likely source of the pilot, but I suppose he was hopping systems looking for sites before diving through this wormhole. I can ignore high-sec and instead check the other wormhole in C3b.

Look at that, it's a K162 from null-sec. It's a K162 from null-sec whose colours I don't quite recognise, and as I jump through to see where it leads the wormhole crackles. Well, of course it crackles, as I'm jumping. What actually happens is the wormhole crackles a moment before I initiate my transit, which means someone has just entered w-space from null-sec. That's unfortunate timing on my part, as my Loki strategic cruiser will have been spotted by him, but I have no idea what ship is now behind me. Then again, I think I'll find out soon enough.

I appear in the Immensea region, with a Rupture cruiser and Manticore stealth bomber both on the wormhole, and thirty other pilots hopefully elsewhere in the system. If all I'm facing are these two ships, and one more behind me, I may as well take a shot at them. The Manticore may not last long, after all, but I think he knows that too. He's already moving away from the wormhole as I shed my session change cloak, and has activated his module cloak as I try to gain a positive target lock on the stealth bomber. No doubt whoever saw me on the wormhole mentioned what I was flying to his colleagues.

I'm decloaked, I may as well see what I can do. Which apparently is chicken out when the wormhole crackles to bring back in to null-sec what turns out to be a Hurricane. I see the battlecruiser and fling my Loki through the wormhole to C3b, disengaging from my decidedly short fight with the Rupture. Silly Penny, I could easily have stayed a bit longer, just to see what would happen, even if it probably wouldn't have gone well for me. Still, equilibrium is restored, null-sec pilots in null-sec, w-space pilot in w-space, and my no longer unduly concerned about thirty assorted heavy assault ships, carriers, and dreadnoughts dropping on top of me.

Backing away from the wormhole has no one follow me, which offers little surprise but gives me the opportunity to grab some images of the wormhole. I can add Immensea to my collection now. And, with this system and its exits more ignored than explored, I can see what's through the low-sec connections in C3a. I jump back a system and poke through the class 3 system's static exit to appear in a system in Metropolis, five additional signatures to resolve. Wormhole, combat site, data, relics, and a second wormhole. I make the easy choice between a K162 from class 2 w-space and a dying K162 from class 3 w-space, and jump to C2a.

My directional scanner shows me a tower, too many warp bubbles, and four ships, but being spat almost seven kilometres from the wormhole doesn't have my expecting much from the Abaddon and Dominix battleships, Orca industrial command ship, or Occator transport. Then again, pointing d-scan at the planets to locate the tower sees the Abaddon is elsewhere, the elsewhere looking to be another planet. Is the ship in the middle of taking down a customs office?

I warp to the tower first, wanting to know the status of the other ships, and find no capsuleer presence. Now to find the Abaddon, but he's not at the customs office, or the planet itself, nor at any of its moons. But he's close. 1,200 kilometres is close in a solar system, even if I'm still not going to spend the twenty minutes at full burn to get in to visual range. This is why I have combat scanning probes.

Disappearing to the edge of the system finds no other occupation or signs of activity, so I launch my probes, hide them just in case, and warp back cloaked to be near the Abaddon. Resolving his position is trivial. A single scan of a tight probe cluster on top of the planet does the job, and I am in and out of warp within seconds. I don't know what I'm going to find when I get in range of the Abaddon, but what I don't expect to see is an abandoned ship. But what else was I going to see if not an Abaddon?

I'm having that. The system looks inactive, there are no pilots that I can see, and the ship is clearly there for the taking. For the second time this evening I take my Loki home, stow it in a hangar, and return the way I came in my naked pod, hoping to jump in to someone else's ship. I just hope this isn't some overly elaborate ruse by a freakishly patient pilot.

Nope, it's just what it looks like. Someone dumped the Abaddon in space. It's fully fit too, albeit rather underwhelmingly, but I can't bring myself to complain about a free battleship. And now it's time to head back to revisit those punks in Immensea and lay down the pain in a real ship! Or, you know, I could just go home, happy in my stolen ship, and hit the sack richer after tonight's adventure.

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Tags: abaddon, dominix, eve online, hurricane, manticore, mmorpg, null-sec, occator, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, rupture, scanning, w-space

Gnawing on a Gnosis

The home system is clean once again. Sure, we still have anomalies floating around, but it's easy to tell at a glance that we only have our static wormhole as a route in and out of the system. It's even been scanned, resolved, and opened by Aii already. That's nice and convenient, even if it leads me to a neighbouring class 3 w-space system that may be occupied but is definitely inactive. Our last visit had us popping a Navy Megathron battleship in a gas harvesting site. Great days, but where are the pilots now?

No one's home, so I scan the five anomalies and six signatures. A data site, wormhole, data site, data site—the wicked, red-headed stepchildren of w-space—wormhole, and wormhole. Um, with our K162 that makes seven signatures. Something new has popped up. A K162 from class 3 w-space is interesting, and as the other two wormholes are the static exit to low-sec Metropolis and a K162 from low-sec Kor-Azor it is my natural choice of direction to go.

Whether the C3 K162 is the new connection or not I have no idea. Waiting for a couple of minutes sees nothing come through the wormhole and no ships or probes appearing on my directional scanner in C3a, so through I go to C3b. D-scan shows me a tower, Reaper frigate, and Gnosis battlecruiser. An adjustment to d-scan also shows me wrecks, one of a rookie frigate and a handful of Sleeper wrecks. The wrecks aren't in one of the three anomalies in the system, and the Gnosis is not at the tower. Coincidence?

My notes don't help me locate the tower quickly—my previous visit had us break up a fleet performing a hostile takeover, and all has changed again since then—but its being around a planet with a single moon does. I find the Reaper inside the force field unpiloted, so I tag the corporation and warp away to, well, not launch scanning probes. The system is small, and although I can get out of d-scan range of the tower I can't do the same for the battlecruiser. That's frustrating.

I'm planning to wait for the Gnosis to clear the site of Sleepers, warp to wherever he wants to warp to—the local tower, a different w-space system, whatever—and launch probes when he drops off d-scan. But watching my scanner suggests this won't work. The Sleeper wrecks aren't increasing, which isn't a positive sign, but they also aren't decreasing, which at least means he's not salvaging as he goes. But maybe he's taking a break. Or sucking gas. Or something else.

I launch probes quickly, quietly. I don't bother waiting for the launcher to reload, I just throw the combat scanning probes up and out of the system, far out of d-scan range, and cloak again. It's time to hunt the battlecruiser. I already have him pegged at 12·3 AU away from me, so I move closer, and then start looking for him using narrower d-scan beams. I get his bearing down to a five-degree beam, and adjust the range gate once more. He's about 1·9 AU away. That's nice and simple.

I arrange my probes around where I place the Gnosis, and whatever site he's in, double-checking with d-scan with every movement. He's still there, the rest of the system looks unchanged. It's time to scan. Ah, nuts, my maths has let me down a little, or perhaps the d-scan interface, as my conversion between hundreds of millions of kilometres to astronomical units went awry. The Gnosis is only 1·6 AU away. But I know this because my probes tell me, having locked on to the battlecruiser in a single scan. It's all good.

Bookmarking the position of the Gnosis for reference, I recall my probes and warp in at range to what turns out to be a relic site, making a perch on my way in. Ah, I see. The pilot has popped the first wave of Sleepers and is letting the last one take futile shots at him whilst he hacks open the artefacts for the loot inside. That's not a bad strategy, I suppose. As long as you keep an eye on d-scan. Which I don't think he is. But I doubt I can crack the Gnosis with my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser. Still, there are more artefacts to analyse. I think I have time to change in to something a little more dangerous.

Back to C3a, home, swap in to a Legion strategic cruiser at our tower, in and across C3a again, and return to C3b. Nothing looks different, and I move from the wormhole, cloak, and warp to my perch in the relic site. The Gnosis has hacked open another artefact or two but he's not finished. But how can I get close? There isn't much my warp drive can lock on to, not without having to crawl cloaked a fair distance afterwards. Well, nothing except the bookmark of the Gnosis from the scan result. I think that'll do.

Yep, that will do nicely. I drop a little short, not wanting to be decloaked early, and am in a good position. The Gnosis is concentrating on an artefact and ignoring the Sleeper, right until I get close enough to spring the ambush. I decloak, get a positive target lock, and get all my offensive systems working. And I think I startle the Gnosis, as the pilot abandons ship almost immediately. It's like the battlecruiser pooed itself.

The pod warps clear seconds after I decloak. Huh. Now what do I do? I don't want to just leave the Gnosis there, just in case it's a fake-out and the pod returns to sneak it away. I also don't want to simply blow up a decent, unpiloted ship. But it's just me out here at the moment, so I'm not quite sure I can both guard it against repossession and fly it back home myself. But I do know I probably shouldn't make my own ship more vulnerable than it needs to be. I warp back to my perch and cloak whilst I ponder.

What the hell. I'll dump the Legion and try to recover the Gnosis. It's possible I could make a safe spot either in this system or C3a and leave the Legion there temporarily, but doing so here would be potentially risky and in C3a not much of a time saver. I'll just go home, stow the Legion, and come back in my pod. So I do, and, sadly, see a lack of Gnosis on d-scan from the wormhole.

No, I don't think the pilot sneaked back in to the site to collect it. I'm pretty sure he's a tourist anyway. Adjusting d-scan confirms my suspicions, and I warp my pod to the perch in the relic site to see that the Sleeper finished off the Gnosis in my absence. That's disappointing. I don't even get the kill mail. But there is loot. So, once more, back through C3a, home, in to my Loki, through C3a, and in to C3b. Across to the perch, check nothing looks different, and warp in to grab what I can.

I loot the wreck of the Gnosis with the Sleeper shooting me, bump in to the structure with the Sleeper shooting me, and warp back to my perch. I get some relics and what is left of the Gnosis, which I suppose is pretty much what the result would have been had the captain stayed with his ship. I can comfortably call this my kill. It was a good hunt, and a good catch.

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Tags: eve online, gnosis, legion, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, reaper, scanning, w-space

Wormholes or nothing

No change at home has my ignoring what I already know about, resolving our static wormhole, and jumping to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system to see what's shaking. Nothing within range of my directional scanner, and perhaps nothing at all with only two planets out of range. Launching probes to perform a blanket scan of the system reveals a whopping zero anomalies and five signatures, and although exploring finds a tower there are no ships to be seen. It's not the most exciting start to an evening I've ever had.

I don't suppose the lack of ships matters too much, not with so few signatures and a dumbscovery scanner popping new ones up as they appear, like when wormholes open. Besides, scanning resolves four wormholes, giving a complete lack of sites. That's actually not too surprising. The system is already as empty as a bachelor's fridge, and I imagine the locals would get rid of the wormholes too, if they could. But it means I have almost no hope of catching anyone here, as there is nowhere to catch them. I'll reconnoitre the wormholes.

The static exit to low-sec takes me to a system in Kor-Azor, close to nowhere, with no one around, and holding one extra signature. It's a K162 from more class 3 w-space, which I can't resist jumping through, where, yep, that looks like combat happening. But what kind of combat? D-scan is showing me four Tengu strategic cruisers, an Armageddon and Megathron battleship, Prophecy battlecruiser, Manticore stealth bomber, Scimitar logistics ship, and a Viator transport, all without the force field of an active tower.

I can't see any wrecks, and the ships aren't in any of the anomalies. Sweeping d-scan around clarifies matters when I see all the of ships coincident with a planet. They must be shooting an off-line tower, which would explain the mix of ships, including the transport, which is probably hauling ammunition for the combat ships. I find the fleet, confirm they are shooting an off-line tower, and explore the rest of the system to look for current occupation. Nothing.

The fleet isn't local, so the response time will be low, but I'm not convinced I can do anything anyway. The one ship that is perhaps vulnerable to my lone Loki strategic cruiser is the Manticore, but even that could be protected by the Scimitar, and that's not taking in to account whether these ships are fit only for shooting a tower. Even if only a couple have warp disruptors fitted I would be taking a serious risk trying to pop the stealth bomber, and it's not worth losing my Loki over what is really only a minor kill.

I watch the fleet a little longer, if only because it's the most activity I've felt I've seen in a while, before heading back to low-sec and C3a to pick another wormhole. A K162 from high-sec connects in from The Citadel, where there are signatures to scan but I want to see what the other wormholes are in C3a. A K162 from class 2 w-space looks good to me, and almost as good is the I182 outbound connection to class 2 w-space. But the K162 is the clearly better option, as arse-backwards as that sounds.

Jumping to C2a has nothing visible on d-scan but a territorial control unit anchored somewhere. I launch probes, perform a blanket scan, and warp towards the TCU. I drop out of warp next to a tower, my probes showing me one anomaly, five signatures, and the two ships I can now see: an empty Orca industrial command ship and a piloted but inactive Heron frigate. I'll scan. Going with the all-or-nothing theme for tonight, one gas site sits amongst three wormholes. I leave the unmoving Heron to see what they are.

The static exit to high-sec is a good sight, as it clearly leads to Verge Vendor, giving me another destination region for my collection. But that's just one wormhole, the others are, oh, K162s from null-sec and high-sec, which is pretty crappy after all. But never mind, as a Helios appears on d-scan as I am warping around, and the covert operations boat looks to be local and at the tower. But will it do anything, or has it returned from somewhere? Returned, I would guess, if going off-line within a minute is any gauge. Back to the wormholes.

I get another good sight when inspecting the K162 from null-sec, as it doesn't match any wormholes I've so far captured images from. Jumping out takes me to The Kalevala Expanse, letting me cross that region off my list, and I'm even alone in the system with one additional signature. I can rat and scan, resulting in some pocket ISK for the rat's bounty and an N432 wormhole leading to class 5 w-space. Well, it's an okay result, I suppose.

Entering C5a has d-scan clear and a black hole tugging at my ship, and although a blanket scan revealing twenty-eight anomalies and nineteen signatures looks bleak there is a ship somewhere too. It's a Prorator transport, in an otherwise bare tower, probably just here to collect planet goo. The transport is empty, so I'm left scanning again, a previous visit identifying the static wormhole as an H296 to further class 5 w-space. I think that's all I'm going to find too, until the last two signatures after all the gas gives me the static connection and one more wormhole. It also leads to class 5 w-space, but through a K162. There's hope for this evening yet.

And my hopes are dashed. D-scan is clear, and I'm spat in to the system over six kilometres from the wormhole. Exploring and scanning finds a tower, thirteen anomalies, and ten signatures, and although I start poking for wormholes I fear I'm starting to lose my optimistic attitude. One wormhole appears under my probes, but it's only a K162 from null-sec, and from Perrigen Falls, judging by the A-shape view of Malpais. I ignore it, head back to C5a and through the H296 to C5c, where I perk up again on seeing a tower, Retriever mining barge, and Augoror cruiser on d-scan.

Ah, I remember the days when I'd get a thrill jumping in to a system through a newly opened wormhole and seeing a mining barge on d-scan. That's the only reason I perk up, because once I remember the discovery scanner I realise that the Retriever pilot has probably already scuttled back to his tower. At least my bitterness subsides when I notice that there aren't actually any ore sites in this system, so I probably haven't been thwarted by the discovery scanner this time, maybe just bad timing, as the mining barge is at the tower, piloted, and staring at a running refinery. Still, that just leaves me with little to do but scan further, and I think I can leave that until tomorrow. Maybe there will be other pilots I can actually interrupt around then.

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Tags: armageddon, augoror, eve online, helios, heron, loki, manticore, megathron, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, prophecy, prorator, retriever, scanning, scimitar, tengu, viator, w-space

Catching the uncatchable

Also posted on the EVE Online forums.

It seems reasonably clear that, in EVE Online, the rewards for certain activities are intended to get higher the more risk those activities entail. The level of reward also reflects the security status of the system the activity is performed in. A little reflection shows that the risk/reward structure coming from a system's security status is based on the risk of unscheduled capsuleer interaction, or PvP if you prefer. To show how this is the case consider planetary interaction, where there are richer resources under less competition in the lower security spaces, but where the only risk to reaping that reward is being caught by another capsuleer.

Before the industrial ship rebalance, a planet gooer pilot needed to make compromises: fit for survivability, or fit for capacity. Do you fit warp core stabilisers to help your ship escape an attacker, or expanded cargoholds to make fewer trips? On top of that was the choice of ship. Basic Tech 1 variants are cheap but liable to explode; you can afford to lose them, but you almost certainly will lose a few. Or a gooer could opt for the sturdier, cloakable, and inherently safer Tech 2 transports at the cost of two orders of magnitude more ISK. You're less likely to lose one, but it will sting if you do.

Now, with the introduction of the Epithal, there is no compromise to be made. Gooers have a ship with a vast bay, specific to the task and unmodifiable by fitted modules, leaving spare slots for a tank and room for four warp core stabilisers, all in a ship that is cheap enough to be disposable anyway. Carry more goo and get it home safely, in all classes of space where you should, by definition, be at risk from other capsuleers but no longer are.

I appreciate the desire to create tailored ship classes. I also appreciate that well-flown ships should be able to survive. And I am not decrying my lack of targets just because I see less explosions. My opening remarks hopefully show that planet gooers should be at risk from other pilots, precisely because they are the only risk planet gooers see for their increased reward. The design of the Epithal flouts this principle.

A simple fix, to restore the risk/reward structure that seems integral to the EVE Online, would be to reduce the number of low fitting slots on the Epithal. Strip the low fitting slots available down to two as a maximum, or perhaps just the one. After all, it probably doesn't need them anyway. The ship does what it is designed to do without any fitting, boosted now by skill training instead.

An alternative, if an extension to the meta game is preferred, is to introduce a new module, one that could even benefit more than the haulers-versus-gankers struggle I've outlined. Create a mid-slot module that acts as an infini-point against ships with warp core stabilisers fit, however many are on the ship, but does nothing against ships that have don't have any fit. Such a module would determine fitting choices for both gankers and haulers alike—as well as those faction warfare pilots frustrated by button-pushers—prompting questions and compromises for both.

Do you fit warp core stabilisers to the brim of your low slots, hoping that a ship with a standard disruptor or scrambler is waiting? Or do you gamble on someone hoping to catch you with WCS and go naked, fitting for agility? And does the attacker fit the WCS infini-pointer with a view to catching gooers, or other sneaky ships that don't intend to fight, or fit standard disruption for more standard encounters? Or fit both, relinquishing valuable utility fitting slots to ensure you catch your prey?

Of course, 'otherwise doing nothing' is not a great design for any module, so perhaps the WCS infini-pointer could act as a sub-standard webifier module if WCS are not fit, having maybe 50% the effect of the standard Tech 1 variant. This would make the module useful in conjunction with fitting a normal warp disruptor, but still not as efficient. And if the WCS infini-pointer is given the shortened range of a warp scrambler but without the ability to cut off micro warp drives then the chance of the target ship's capture is still not guaranteed, particularly when bearing in mind a non-WCS ship could be boosted in to warp sooner if webbed instead of warp-disrupted.

The WCS infini-pointer module may seem unbalanced, and may well actually be unbalanced, probably with some unintended consequences waiting to be found. It is just a first pass at an idea to keep space dangerous. But I don't think it breaks more than it fixes. Fitting both the new module and a standard scrambler isn't as good as combining a scrambler with a webifier, and not as expensive—in ISK or fitting compromise—as needing to fit two three-point faction scramblers to catch a basic Tech 1 industrial ship, which, frankly, seems perverse. Being caught by multiple ships with a spread of fitting would be no different from being caught by multiple ships with multiple points of warp disruption. And there always remains the option for a planet gooer to fit an ECM module or carry ECM drones to escape a lone ambusher. Or, you know, forget the module and just strip the Epithal of some low fitting slots.

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Tags: comment, eve online, mmorpg

Stale constellations

There is no change in the home system beyond the standard wormhole churn. I say hello to people, delete and move bookmarks, and scan and resolve the new static wormhole. Jumping through to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system and updating my directional scanner sees the pretty normal sight of a tower and Orca. I pay it little mind, expecting the industrial command ship to be empty and simply stored inside the tower's force field. But d-scan also shows me four Basilisks. That's distinctly abnormal, and positively weird.

Maybe the logistics ships are repairing the tower's defences or force field but, even if they are, if they are doing it together they could just switch to repairing each other. It would take a lot more firepower than just me to break through a chain of four logistic ships. So I suppose it's not so disappointing for my notes from eight months earlier to point me directly to the tower and to find none of the ships piloted. It's still weird that the four Basilisks are just left floating there, though.

Weirdness uncovered, I scan. My notes also tell me that the system holds a static exit to null-sec, which could be good. On top of that, the two anomalies and ten signatures give me gas, a data site, and two chubby wormholes. The K346 connection has some background radiation visible and a yellow-green Jovian splotch, and takes me out to a system in the Venal region, where there are other pilots around but no other signatures. That's okay, I don't want to be here anyway.

The second wormhole in C3a is a K162 that's almost C2-like, but the deceptive blue band is actually empire colouring. It is also a null-sec connection, with the flying lizard version of the Malpais nebula that can only mean it comes from Oasa. A system in Oasa, specifically, with no other pilots and a couple of extra signatures. Scanning here can be Plan B. Back to C3a to check the third wormhole and I see another K162 from null-sec, this one with a mixture of Stain and Immensea. What can it be? Ah, Tenerifis, a new one for me, that's good.

There are even Hulks mining in the system in Tenerifis. Well, the exhumers were mining. They're not any more. The transparent local communication channel alerts those in the system to my presence this time, the dumbscovery scanner merely strongly hinting that I entered through a wormhole. I take a look around for the Hulks, just in case they are not paying attention, but all I find are abandoned canisters of ore in a field of rocks. No doubt they'll be returned to once I've gone, and I see no reason to stay.

Plan B. Back to the system in Oasa to scan. One signature is a combat site, the other a wormhole. But where's my K162, null-sec? This is a useless N432 outbound connection to class 5 w-space. Bah, it'll have to do. In I jump to C5a, to a clear d-scan and some recent notes. Two towers were present three weeks ago, both currently out of range of my position. Exploring finds that, yes and yes, they both remain, but they lack a hauler making trips through a K162 from low-sec for me to surprise. Well, as far as I know. Maybe I should scan for one, just in case.

Twelve anomalies and fifteen signatures are whittled down to what looks like just the H296 being of interest, until the final signature also resolves to be a wormhole. And warping to the second wormholes sees it to be a K162 from null-sec—with the dancing-man version of the Malpais nebula, and so coming from Outer Passage—at the end of its life, so the H296 wormhole to further w-space is indeed the only signature of interest. And not even that, as it turns out. My glorious leader has appeared and has started to collapse our static wormhole.

I think Fin's killing our connection to give her something to do, not to finally get me out of the system, and I head back so that we can explore a new constellation together. I return in time to do nothing but circle lazily around the wormhole as Fin waits for polarisation effects to dissipate before throwing the final massive ship through and back again. The wormhole implodes, a new one pops up, and we soon have a replacement neighbouring system to appear in with no element of surprise.

A tower with an Iteron looks good on d-scan in C3a, but even if the discovery scanner hadn't announced our imminent arrival I don't think the hauler was going to collect planet goo without a pilot. We're back to scanning, the fourteen anomalies and eight signatures quickly reduced to the static exit to low-sec and a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space. Fin sticks with w-space, I head out to, of course, Aridia, where three extra signatures give me gas, a combat site, and a wormhole. It's a K162 from another class 3 system, the poor buggers. Maybe I can put them out of their misery.

My first thought in jumping in to a large warp bubble encapsulating the wormhole to low-sec in C3b is that it is rather suggestive of activity occurring. My second thought is that it is perhaps suggestive of a desire to hinder activity. Either way, I ignore it, partly because I only see a tower on d-scan, and partly because it's only a warp bubble. I warp away, bumping in to a second tower on d-scan that I would have known about had I paid attention to my notes from a previous visit, but there are still no ships.

Scanning the system has little to reveal, with a mere three anomalies and two signatures. In such a clean system I would expect the errant signature to be another wormhole, but today the constellation stops with an unwanted relic site. Okay, game over. Two dull constellations already, and I don't want to bang my prow in to stale wormholes more tonight. There's always tomorrow! For now, I find a clone soldier in low-sec to pop for his tag—dunno what to do with it still, I should research this—before heading home to slink quietly in to a corner.

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Tags: basilisk, eve online, hulk, iteron, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Making use of actual skill in scanning

There's nothing unknown at home. The static wormhole used to be 'unknown', but now it's definitely a wormhole. Besides, I know it's there, so I suppose it's a known unknown. Except it's not unknown; I've just been over this. Well, it leads to space that's classified as 'unknown', so there's that, but that doesn't make the wormhole unknown, or even a known unknown. But I still have to scan to find it. That would make the wormhole a known known whose position is unknown that leads to the unknown.

A bit of scanning has the wormhole as known as it can be, and jumping through to the unknown space of a class 3 w-space system has more uncovering to do, as if I need that right now. My directional scanner is clear, so I update my head to get the same result, and launch probes, perform a blanket scan, and warp away to explore. Not much changes. The system holds eighteen anomalies, twelve signatures, and no ships and no occupation. Maybe there's a static exit to null-sec to look forwards to. What do my notes say? It's my fifth visit to the system, the last being ten weeks ago, since when the occupiers have moved on, and the static wormhole exits to low-sec. Okay, thanks, notes.

I'd best scan for the exit if I want to do anything, and hopefully stumble over another wormhole or two in the process. And, yes, there are others. I also resolve a K162 from class 6 w-space, a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space, and a K162 from low-sec. That's not a bad result. Before hitting the other w-space systems I bookmark the empire side of the exits, starting with the static wormhole, which takes me to low-sec Derelik. And an empty system in Derelik, which encourages me to look for a training rat to pop for mega-ISK.

From belt to belt to belt, by the tenth rock field I get the feeling that perhaps looking for rats is not getting me anywhere after all, so I ignore what should be an subsidiary task and return to w-space to check the other exit. This one comes from Metropolis, where an orange is visible in the local communications channel. That's kinda meaningless when the only currently scouted system in the w-space constellation is unoccupied, and interrogating the pilot's information shows that our alliance has a general gripe with her alliance. I shall make her the subject of today's two minutes of hate, but otherwise ignore the pilot, and this low-sec system.

Back to C3a and further backwards through the K162 to C6a. Deadly w-space maybe, but with far better potential for finding activity than the T405. Oh look at that black hole in C6a, propelling my Loki to insane speeds for a strategic cruiser, just don't ask me to turn. Argh, I'm careering towards a planet! Reverse thrust, hard-a-starboard! Phew, that was close. A few more AU and I may have needed to eject. But enough frivolity. The system looks clear, at least from the point of view of occupation and activity, given that I can already see forty-nine anomalies. A blanket scan revealing two ships says otherwise, though.

Warping across to where the two ships are sees a naked tower, a Zephyr exploration boat, and a Venture mining frigate. No wonder the combat anomalies aren't being depleted. The ships aren't even piloted. Still, there are only nine signatures, so it's worth a look for K162s. It would be more worth it were I to find any, but at least a negative result means I know no one's creeping up behind me. On to C4a. D-scan is clear again, the system is unoccupied, and nothing tickles my interest, so I'm drily scanning. Very drily. Just the static wormhole continues the constellation, but it leads to class 2 w-space, which is perhaps the best option right now.

Jumping to C2a doesn't improve my situation beyond giving me two wormholes to resolve as a minimum, given the two towers and lack of ships visible in the system. Considering all eight anomalies are all ore sites, making the system rather tidy, it's no surprise that there are only three signatures: the two static wormholes and the K162 I entered through. Hoping to pass through the system smoothly is disrupted when the wormhole to class 5 w-space is found to be at the end of its natural lifetime. That would make the other wormhole an exit to null-sec, but how healthy is it? Looks okay to me, even if I can't identify where it leads.

I mostly don't know where the exit leads because it is a new image to add to my collection, not having visited the Cache region since starting my project. That's good, at least, and is some personal progress for the evening. And not only am I alone in the system but I can find a rat in a rock field, letting me gain some pocket ISK and a bit of security status. Now what? I don't quite fancy scanning through more empty w-space systems, but I never know if a system will be occupied or not until I find it, so I may as well head to low-sec through C3a and scan for further wormholes.

But wait; a new signature is in C3a when I return. Damn the dumbscovery scanner for showing me this. Why can't it just be quiet and let people hunt me in peace? Why must it announce the entrance of capsuleers like they are attending a fancy ball, instead of letting us be the sneaky assassins we once were in w-space? And although the dumbscovery scanner is showing me what is almost inevitably a new wormhole, and therefore a sign of activity, I would much rather everyone have the benefits of stealth when opening a wormhole, just as I want it. Keep w-space dangerous, get rid of the discovery scanner!

I would be stupidly stubborn not to resolve the new signature, and I'm not stupid. Of course, it's a new wormhole, a K162 from class 4 w-space, and now I see probes on d-scan. I'll loiter on the K162 for now, see what happens, even if the scout is taking forever resolving a few simple signatures. And, holy crap, another signature pops whilst I wait. This one at least turns out to be a second T405, but outbound connections are bloody useless with the discovery scanner, so I ignore that. Back to the K162, see that the probes have all gone, and jump through to C4b to see where the scout came from.

A tower and lack of ships waits for me in C4b, which is boring. I scan the thirteen anomalies and five signatures to see if the scout came from further back, and with a C4 K162 resolved perhaps he did. And although d-scan is clear from the wormhole in C4d a blanket scan reveals two ships along with the one anomaly and four signatures. Warping across the system finds the Dominix battleship and Venture mining frigate inside a tower's force field, and both piloted. Pilots! Will there also be activity?

There is almost activity. Just as there looks like none, and I am about to call it a night, the Venture is swapped for a Typhoon battleship. That's not quite the step I was looking for, but it's something. It's enough to keep me watching to see the ships swapped back again, at which point the Venture warps away. But where? Not to the wormhole, but nearby. The frigate lingers on d-scan too, so he's clearly doing something, and that something is likely sucking gas. It's good that I have probes launched and hidden, and that I am good at hunting. Well, used to be. There's not been much call for advanced scanning skills since Odyssey. It's a little ironic.

Let's see how much I've forgotten, and how much the 'simplified' interface frustrates me. Not much, and a little. Thankfully, the Venture being about 3·5 AU distant makes for relatively easy positioning of my probe cluster, although it's more fiddly than it used to be. I think I've got a good bearing on the ship though, and, after one more check with a tight, gated d-scan beam, I call my probes in to scan. One scan, a perfect hit, on both the ship and the site. I recall my probes and throw my pre-aligned ship in to warp within a couple of seconds. Let's see how alert the Venture pilot has been.

I drop out of warp in to a gas cloud with the Venture still there, and close enough for me to engage immediately. Excellent. I get my systems hot and lock on to the Venture, warp scrambler and guns engaging automatically on a positive lock. My first volley of autocannon fire misses for some reason, the second doesn't fire. The Venture warps clear, too late to have seen my probes but just quickly enough to save his bacon. That's a real shame. My Loki has obliterated Ventures with a single volley before, so that the first missed is more of a disappointment than the ship having a warp core stabiliser fit.

The result wasn't there but the hunt was good. Better than good, really. The discovery scanner and moving rock fields to be anomalies has all but suppressed actual w-space hunting, which was difficult but by far the most fulfilling aspect of life in unknown space. It was great to have that feeling back again, to feel skilled and stealthy. Maybe I only got in to this system because the discovery scanner showed me the way, but how many other wormholes I must have opened only to have the same scanner alert pilots of imminent danger. Maybe one day w-space will be dangerous again. Until that day, then, because tonight's fun is over, and I'm going home.

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Tags: dominix, eve online, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, typhoon, venture, w-space, zephyr