Accidental profit

There is a curious feature of EVE Online's market. Occasionally a capsuleer will buy a product and instead of the seller getting the ISK it will go to to a different industrialist selling the same item in the same station. This stock switching only seems to occur when cheaper stock is sold in place of an identical item selling at a higher price, and may have something to do with synchronisation times when near-simultaneous buys are made, but I don't know.

The curious situation happens to me occasionally, where I'll find some of my modules have sold for a little more than their listed price. Because when it happens I am always credited with more ISK than the modules would normally sell for I really don't mind, generally appreciating the extra pocket money to save up for an Orca a few hundred ISK at a time, and as it is an entirely passive process I hardly think I can be accused of taking advantage of an exploit.

However, when the extra ISK I inadvertently acquire runs in to the millions sweat starts forming on my brow as my eyes bulge in sympathy with my wallet. Logging on to find a bug jump in the ISK in my wallet I naturally assume that I have been given my share of profits from the current wormhole operation, particularly as loot has recently been shipped out to high-sec to be sold. But my wallet's journal doesn't show any corporation payouts, although there is a suspiciously large market transaction in my favour to shed light on my gain.

When I put my last batch of missiles on the market there were some already listed that obviously had an error in their price. Instead of listing the missiles at, for example, 43.98 ISK each the decimal point had been carelessly omitted and they had been put up for sale at 4,398 ISK each. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly worried about these missiles encroaching on my business and paid them no mind.

It is then a little unfortunate that when a capsuleer tries to buy some missiles the higher price gets credited to my account, presumably also meaning he gets charged that amount for the purchase. This is how I end up making twenty million ISK from the sale of five hundred missiles. It is a splendid little windfall but I hope I don't get in to trouble because of this. I didn't do anything!

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Securing a new w-space system

Ever since the corporation's first excursion in to and return from w-space there have been eager scouts scanning down systems looking for the next potential wormhole system in which to set up base. Ideally, the wormhole will lead to a certain class of w-space system, one that is challenging without being deadly, and offer a reliable entrance and exit in to high-sec known space, so that the exotic loot can be shipped back out safely. And now a suitable w-space system is declared found.

The corporation's wormhole division makes preparations, moving quickly thanks to the first adventure providing experience and organisation. The POS tower is shipped to w-space, along with defences and support structures, with combat, survey and transport ships moved in whilst taking care not to over-stress the tenuous fabric of the wormhole, which could cause the wormhole to collapse.

Although there have been initial scans of the w-space system, to determine its suitability for profit, it is vital to get the POS anchored and defended before we head off to engage the sleepers or mine the rich asteroid fields. We need a relatively safe haven in w-space, as well as facilities to store ships, modules and loot. It may not take too long to anchor the POS in position but its shields are only at half-strength when installed, so anything we can do to accelerate the process will get us out blowing up Sleepers more quickly.

It is possible for ships to help transfer shield energy to the POS tower, but as the tower cannot be targeted whilst inside the shields a specific set-up is required in order to be able to use standard modules at a much increased range. Finding out I can help I jump in to the White Cat and refit it with as many shield transfer modules that the systems can handle, the ship itself providing them with the necessary 500% range boost. With the White Cat ready I make the trip to Gallente space, where the wormhole entrance sits, all thirty two jumps away. A fleet guide gets me safely through the wormhole and to our POS.

The drawback to my fitting nothing but shield transfer modules is that my capacitor is about as stable as Minmatar stargate, draining in ten seconds flat. But this is where working as a fleet has its advantages. Other ships may not have the ability to boost shields at the same range as mine but they can transfer their excess capacitor energy to me, effectively powering the transfer modules indefinitely. One ship cannot hope to have awesome capabilities on its own, but when combined with fleet support a much more effective platform can be conceived.

Now we're getting somewhere! I am sure many capsuleers are aware of the amazing sights available when fleets form. Whether it is a fleet to attack an enemy or for a logistic operation it is always impressive when a large number of ships amass, taking advantage of the synergistic opportunies afforded when working together as a fleet. And, believe me, the glamour is not lost in the translation from action in space to the written word.

My Osprey cruiser is using three shield transfer modules to help boost the POS shields, my capacitor being fed by a Dominix battleship. There we sit, watching the half-red shield status bar of the tower, um, not actually increase very much at all. I call up the information screen on the tower and note its shield strength, determine from my module information screens how much shield power I am transferring as a function of time, and estimate with a few rough calculations that with our constant boosting the shields will be at full power in about, oh, twelve hours.

Hmm, twelve hours is a long time, particularly when it is already close to midnight. Oh well. I leave my Osprey transferring shield power, the Dominix feeding my capacitor, as I tend to some late-night activities, with a note that if trouble arises my attention can be caught by someone exploding violently. Everything thankfully remains peaceful, but it is time to sleep, so I warp back out to known space and dock. I will be returning as soon as I can, but with my Drake battlecruiser for firepower to use against Sleepers.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, osprey, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

If you price it, they will come

I knew I should have kept more, but I panicked! Buying over five times as much mexallon as I need for a manufacturing run, hoping to sell the mineral back to the market to offset its rising price, gets me quite worried that I have been hasty in my spending, causing me to try to sell as much back as possible. I need not have worried, as all the excess minerals sell out quickly and I effectively get some cheap minerals from the deal, and I could have kept more aside for myself. But good hindsight still leaves me needing more mexallon for later manufacturing runs, and the price of the mineral is still rising.

When trying to buy some more mexallon I see some for sale that is obviously cheaper than elsewhere in the region and with my initial experience of buying low and selling high being successful I buy the whole stock, hoping again to sell the excess on. However, I may have overcompensated from my previous panic, as I hardly blink when I end up spending fifty million ISK on this one purchase, a quarter of my current wallet balance. Realisation sets in and I soon find myself under my desk breathing in to a paper bag.

The multi-million ISK mexallon purchase isn't quite as impulsive as it seems, though. I am flying around my small corner of the region as I browse the market and find myself close to a regional border, so I take the opportunity to cross the boundary and check the prices in a different regional market. It turns out that mexallon is even more expensive in the bordering region, making my purchase a little more prudent, if the scale is ignored. Making the purchase so close to the border of more expensive stock also presents me with an opportunity.

I travel to pick up my new, very expensive rocks and this time keep a good portion for myself, still leaving a massive stockpile to try to sell on. I place a quarter of the mexallon for sale in the original station, adding a small profit margin. So that I am not placing all my eggs in one basket I take the rest one jump across regional border, where I dock in the closest station and add a larger profit margin, which seems to be suitable for the regional market.

Neither station is a particular regional sales hub, which may seem like an error in judgement, particularly as the major trade route is one more system across in the second region. However, I believe capsuleers can essentially be broken down in to two groups for the purposes of market activity. There are industrialists and combat pilots, the former looking to maximise profits and the latter minimising down-time. An industrialist will make a trip of several jumps to pick up cheaper materials without thinking about it, as it directly affects their ability to undercut competition in the future.

Combat pilots, on the other hand, will sacrifice ISK for convenience, happy to spend even a significant amount of ISK over the market price for the ability to fit the module immediately. A single jump to another system can often be considered too much hassle when compared to spending a measly hundred thousand extra ISK to have everything dropped directly in to their current hangar. It seems to me that location is most important when listing modules, placing them for sale in stations with mission agents, whereas price is more important for manufacturing components, which can be listed whereever is most convenient for the seller.

With a useful amount of mexallon remaining in my hold I return to my manufacturing base and start several new production runs. If my experience and intuition hasn't let me down I should see most of the fifty million ISK return to my wallet, as the large orders of minerals begin to sell, with the balance and more made when my manufacturing plant turns the mexallon in to something more useful for combat capsuleers.

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Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Doing the agent shuffle

It turns out that my recent loss of access to a Lai Dai R&D agent is owing to a change in the way the connections skill works in conjunction with an actual negligible standing, so regaining access to the agent is not a simple matter of running a couple of missions with the Caldari Navy. Even so, it is not wasted time, as I make a few million ISK and get some decent refinable loot from the missions. And at least my research continues to run with the agent, so my datacores continue to accumulate even if I cannot buy them from the agent. Highlighting my complete lack of standing with Lai Dai also finally reveals why the company doesn't yet appear as a discrete entity in my standings pane, I have been wondering about that for a while.

Performing a bit of maths, taking the number of datacores the now-unavailable agent has accumulated along with the estimated rate of daily research points the high-quality level four Core Complexion, Inc. R&D agent will generate, it looks like cancelling the research with the Lai Dai agent will only make sense if I am not able to regain access to buy the datacores within eight days or so. Any sooner than eight days and the cores I can buy from the Lai Dai agent will be greater than the cores the new level four agent could have accumulated in the same time. I intend to need only a quarter of that time, as long as I can find a suitable Lai Dai agent to work with to improve my standings.

I don't want to return to level one missions, which would mean having to pilot a frigate again or learn how to use guns so that a more powerful destroyer can be flown, so it's lucky that there are a few low-quality level two Lai Dai agents who will talk to me. Unfortunately, they are mostly quite remote. There is one suitable agent within a handful of jumps in my current region, but working in a department that leaves me running courier missions again. Oh well, hopefully it won't be for long, and at least I won't need to move all my ships at once.

After a few courier missions I thankfully get another storyline mission. Although completing it seems to boost my standings with the Navy more than Lai Dai it is never the less enough to grant me access to the R&D agent I have been working with. Of course, I don't actually want to be working with this agent any more, I just want the datacores owed to me instead of letting them go to waste. A quick trip to visit the Lai Dai agent gets me the datacores and then I'm programming my auto-pilot to head to the second high-quality level four Core Complexion, Inc. agent who specialises in mechanical engineering.

It only takes a brief conversation to begin the new research, but to boost my datacore accumulation further takes a couple of days finally to finish training the mechanical engineering skill up to level four, an activity I've been distracted from completing for too long. With the training complete I am gaining around three mechanical engineering datacores a day, across the two agents. With a third agent specialising in electronic engineering and a stockpile of those datacores already built up I should be able to install invention jobs for small modules more regularly, whilst I look to training skills and researching BPOs for future opportunties.

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Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Rolling a druid to stave off the boredom

I'm bored at 80th level in World of Warcraft, hardly entering Azeroth in the past couple of weeks. My warrior effectively completes the Argent Tournament, but quickly becomes frustrated at also needing to be exalted with the Argent Crusade to be awarded the Crusader title. My death knight manages to get her 100th victory in the battle for Lake Wintergrasp to get the Wintergrasp Veteran achievement and now not even the heated PvP battles there hold much interest. I have run through all of the Northrend five-man instances with both characters, with my guild or otherwise, and it seems that all that is left is taking on greater challenges or grinding reputation.

I certainly do not relish trying to run heroic instances with PuGs, nor do I want to commit large amounts of time to raiding. I can't find it within myself to grind faction reputation, even if it lets me quest within little-explored regions. I am already quite capable as a tank and solo destroyer that getting incremental upgrades in gear from quest rewards or faction quartermasters seems like too much effort for the minimal gain, and running quests for the sake of running quests is surprisingly vacuous.

I could play an alt, with a 63rd level rogue still waiting in Zangarmarsh for me to get bored with my death knight. I can't get excited by returning to the rogue, though, even if I still consider the Outlands content to be the best in the game, because I'm not bored with the death knight class, just the lack of compelling content. In order to keep logging in to World of Warcraft, at least to keep in contact with my Azerothian friends, I need to find something new to do.

I could start a shaman, which would be completely new to me as well as allowing me to play another Draenei, but I am a little concerned that I may at some point be expected to heal, and I tend towards being at the pointier end of the fighting. However, the druid class appeals to me somewhat, being capable of taking on the rôle of melee DPS, spellcaster DPS, tank and healer, depending on talent choices. I have a Tauren druid somewhere, sitting at 12th level or so, but maybe I can take advantage of the current swifter levelling speeds to find out how fun a druid is to play.

My only problem will be motivating myself. I tend to find a class I enjoy playing and latch on to the character, relishing each new level and opportunity to encounter new quests and mobs. My alts are generally left to flounder in obscurity as the unchosen ones. Alts to me have been a way to remain in the same game as guild members and friends whilst I wait for opportunities to play my main characters, and as external games, like EVE Online and Guitar Hero, currently have plenty of opportunties to keep me entertained without needing to load World of Warcraft I may need to make a conscious effort to continue my druid adventures.

As a start, I wake Hélène from the Emerald Dream and run her through the introductory quests in the Elf-lands. As soon as I am presented with the opportunity to leave the starting zone I flee Elf-land completely, praising Elune for the patch that now routes the ship from Auberdine directly to Stormwind Harbour, allowing me to reach Elwynn Forest without needing to make the deadly run through Wetlands. At least with hellish Darkshore far behind me and the fun of Westfall and Duskwood ahead I may be able to get past the most basic levels of the druid class before another character falls to the grind.

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Tags: druid, helene, mmorpg, world of warcraft

Getting more agents, losing some others

An EVE-mail flashes at me. Another storyline mission so soon? I must really be burning through these encounter missions, enjoying the explosions and smouldering wrecks. I definitely won't complain either, as I am getting close to being able to work with all the Core Complexion, Inc. level four R&D agents, which will increase my opportunities for invention.

My mission agent wants me to blow up some Amarrian targets, which sounds good to me. He mentions some reason being involved, but it's not terribly important if I get to destroy oppressors of a free galaxy. The mission is a fairly straightforwards affair, warping in to deadspace to defeat any hostile craft there and rescue some stranded miners, and the reward is rather bland for a storyline mission. Instead of a nifty implant I only get a relatively normal ISK reward for my troubles.

However, when checking my standings after completing the mission I find that I have jumped from 6.26 up to 6.82 with Core Complexion, Inc., which is more than enough to gain access too all of the corporation's R&D agents! That is a good mission reward. What I need to do now is reshuffle my current R&D agents to make best use of my options. Only a single R&D agent can be worked with initially, improved by training in research project management, which gives access to an additional agent with each level of skill. I only have access to four agents currently, so I need to be mindful of how best to use them.

I have more electronic engineering datacores than I can use at present, so I won't add a second level four agent working on them. However, I can swap the low quality level four agent for the high quality one, increasing the production of datacores whilst still only having a single agent working on that discipline. What I really want is faster accumulation of mechanical engineering datacores, and now I have potential access to a second level four agent with the requisite skills. All I need to do is buy the datacores from my current low level agent, cancel the research and then start a new line of research with the new agent.

There is a hitch to my plan, though. The current low level mechanical engineering agent works for Lai Dai, the Caldari starship engineers, an agent I serendipitously found I could work with a little while back. Whilst the rate of datacore accumulation is low I consider getting any to be better than none. However, when I go to speak to her I find I cannot request to buy any of the datacores available, and I think I know why. Core Complexion, Inc. is a Minmatar corporation and has recently sent me to protect one of their stargates against interlopers, Caldari interlopers to be specific.

It seems that Caldari State frowns upon my acting aggressively towards my own race and my standing with the state has dropped*. The standing loss is only a little, but enough to have the Lai Dai R&D agent now spurn me. This is frustrating, but not insurmountable. Rather than abandon the datacores potentially available, by cancelling the research to start work with the level four Core Complexion, Inc. agent, I leave the Lai Dai agent to be as snooty as she likes. It should be a simple matter of running a couple of encounter missions with the Caldari Navy, with whom I have an exemplary rating, to boost my standing with Caldari State back to a position where the Lai Dai agent will again talk to me.

Being unable to buy the datacores is a temporary frustration. Cancelling the research out of spite to start working with the level four agent would end up costing me datacores, as the higher rate of accumulation would not offset the lost cores quicker than I can boost my standing with Caldari State. Besides which, I plan to work with Lai Dai to gain access to their high level R&D agents next, now that I have finished with Core Complexion, Inc., so regaining access to the level two agent will be an incidental result anyway. And in the next couple of weeks I will train the next level of research project management to be able to work with a fifth R&D agent, better to optimise datacore accumulation.

*It is later brought to my attention that a recent change affected standings that were negligible excepting increases owing to the connections skill, which describes my relationship with Lai Dai Corporation. I'll need to work with Lai Dai directly to account for this change and regain access to the agent.
Return to post.

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Tags: agents, eve online, invention, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

A new way to level

There is an understandable buzz about Cataclysm being the next World of Warcraft expansion and what regions and new content it may include. It is assumed that the level cap will be raised another ten levels, as it has in both previous expansions, pushing all the old content still further away from the focus of the game. XP gains, and thus levelling, can be sped up further, but it will still take time for characters not at the current level cap to get past all the old content. And even if new characters could be created within reach of the new level cap, akin to death knights, there is an awful lot of the world that would simply be passed by.

Instead of making even more of the World of Warcraft redundant by raising the level cap, perhaps an alternative idea would be to lower the cap. Or, rather, have the next expansion cause players to progress towards a lower level, quests and kills removing XP, and eventually levels, from the character. The cataclysm could be that Azeroth has been split in to two parallel realities, one filled with positive energy and one with negative. The 'negative' Azeroth could be a phased version of the 'positive', or current, Azeroth, with all the geography still in place but with the potential for different NPCs and quests, and where XP 'gains' would be negative.

Performing certain rituals or passing through certain portals transitions a character from one world to the next, where all the changes will be seen in full. The more time spent in the cataclysm the lower level a character would become. The loss of level could mean players need to decide which powers and talents to remove and play in a more limited setting, new NPC-trained powers replace older ones rather than adding to a full spellbook, or perhaps just a simple regression to earlier levels.

There would be new regions and instances in the cataclysm for players and raiders to explore and challenges to overcome, but the model would be changed so that you no longer need to reach the previous level cap before being able to experience the new content. It would also mean that there is no standard linear progression, with the level of an instance not being a direct indication of its comparitive difficulty. Players would be free to explore the content with far fewer restrictions than before, with the added option of being able to revisit content, from any epoch of the game, at their discretion.

It is, of course, highly unlikely that the above will be implemented, as there are likely massive complications with level-restricted items; balancing player abilities, particularly with those levelling up against those levelling down; creating alternative content to cover a few tens of levels downwards; making the current level-based combat system viable; allowing for crafting to be feasible; and reviewing the restrictions on flight and other travel or sanctuary conditions. However, for a game that defines the character primarily by level it would make sense to allow the player to determine her character's level more dynamically. I believe the opportunities would be fantastic.

Characters would be still be concentrated within an optimal level band but the overall spread of levels would be much higher than currently seen with having a fixed cap. There would be more possibilities to play with friends, as older characters could enjoy levelling down in the content of the expansion as new characters level up, before all joining to pass through Outlands or Northrend together, with the option at any point to experience the new content by phasing to the parallel Azeroth.

Old instances could be revitalised as new players get to experience them for the first time at the level they were designed to be played. Nostalgic players also get to relive their glory days in Blackwing Lair and Ahn'Qiraj, along with opportunities for new ten- and twenty five-man raids also available as part of the expansion. Rather than having to create streams of alts to enjoy favourite content, characters can level up and down almost on a whim, always balancing time spent levelling upwards in the old content with time spend levelling downwards in the new content.

There is a potential problem of players entering instances being overpowered, as they have more influence of their level. But instead of having strict level requirements in order to enter the instances, it would be a simple matter of having achievements in place that are awarded only when conquered by characters of the appropriate level and wearing appropriate gear. And, of course, completing the the instances will continue to reward, or remove, XP from each character and so eventually everyone will have to return to the pre-cataclysmic Azeroth, at least for a while. Perhaps there could be both positive and negative versions of all the new instances, so that players only wanting to experience the new content can do so.

Levelling speed could be kept fast, intentionally speeding players past content to give motivation for levelling in both directions. New players zoom past early content to reach the busier zones whilst allowing for the missed content to be visited later with their favourite character, taking time to level back downwards instead of needing to create an alt. Old players will race past some of the new content but will retain the chance of enjoying it in the future. Even players who enjoy creating many alts would find new opportunities, as the speed of levelling means that each alt could effectively play different content, whilst none of them would need to grind as far to get to the new content.

If it were possible to balance powers and items, characters and zones, dungeons and world content I think it would be fabulous to see a game where the possibility existed to level in any direction, particularly in a mature game where there is plenty of polished content that is otherwise ignored by every player at the level cap. With end-game content available at several tiers, and methods available to experience the content as it was designed, the game world would be a richer environment for everyone.

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Tags: mmorpg, world of warcraft

Buying cheap ore by selling it

I need to restock a couple of items on the market, but trying to install the BPOs for manufacturing highlights deficiencies in my depleting mineral pile. I only need to get hold of a fair quantity of one mineral at the moment to keep my production lines running, so instead of waiting to get enough mission loot to refine I call up the market interface to find some mexallon at a decent price.

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Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Star Wars theatrical release on DVD

Blue Harvest, the Star Wars parody episode of Family Guy was on TV recently and, having enjoyed it so much before, I feel compelled to watch it. Once again it is a brilliant and humorous reminder of how great the original Star Wars film is, such is the warmth and reverence Family Guy shows it along with all the of fabulous light-hearted comedy injected in to the episode. Seeing the programme makes me want to watch the original films again, but I have lent my Star Wars DVDs to my young nephew. They are also the updated and tweaked films, revised by Lucas with his ham-fisted approach to CGI, and I wince at many of the terrible changes.

I have known for a while that the theatrical releases of the Star Wars films have been available on DVD, ostensibly included as an 'extra' in special releases of the revised films. Essentially, you cannot buy the theatrical releases without getting Lucas's supposed vision of what Star Wars should be. As I understand it, these theatrical versions are just a repackaged release of the laserdisc version, with no updates to the video or audio and so I rejected them as worth buying. But getting the itch to watch Star Wars again I know that what I want is to watch what I remember as Star Wars, not a bastardised version, so I get on-line and order the theatrical release DVDs.

I think I should offer a couple of quick disclaimers. I don't much care that I am giving Lucas more money, it's not like he can use his fortune to massively change the original films or create a new trilogy to massage his ego, as he's done both of those already. I also doubt my additional twenty quid is the push he requires to make a Yoda spin-off series, as he can do anything he wants anyway. And I am not trying to influence anyone in to thinking that the prequel trilogy or revised versions of the films have ruined my childhood or the memory of Star Wars. I am sure many children and adults enjoy the new versions and films and that's great. Personally, it's not for me, and that's the only reason I am interested in the theatrical releases.

When I pop the Star Wars DVD in the player I get the familiar thrill of the John Williams theme and scrolling text, soon replaced by the freighter being attacked by an imposing Star Destroyer, and I am thrown from space to Tatooine with the droids. I am once again utterly enthralled by the space opera, loving the interplay between Threepio and Artoo, Tarkin and Vader, the introduction of the characters and the wonders of interplanetary space travel. Even better, I am not distracted by moments that I don't remember, no silly slapstick action in the background, no gratuitous CGI shots of creatures' saliva-flecked mouths filling the screen, no unnecessary additional scenes of foreshadowing later films. I am merely treated to one of the most memorable and exciting films I saw when growing up.

All I heard about the quality of the transfer is true. The video is terribly grainy and, as it is not an anamorphic transfer, stretching the picture to fill my screen cuts off half the subtitles for alien creatures. The audio is a basic stereo mix. But the quality is in the story and action, not the transfer, and although the grainy video can be distracting in quiet moments it is quickly forgiven for the film being thoroughly enjoyable. Everything is as I remember it and I am never distracted by stupid background action of no value or being asked to appreciate CGI for the sake of it being CGI.

At least, everything is as I want to remember it. I have been conditioned, as have many others, by the revised version of Han shooting Greedo and the chant that 'Han shoots first!' that my memory of the original scene was not as I recalled it at all. To say that I remember Han shooting first is to propagate the misunderstanding, as there is no 'first' when Greedo doesn't even shoot. Han shoots Greedo, that there can be any embellishment to that simple statement shows just how misguided Lucas was to change that scene.

I watch all three films with increasing glee. Despite the obvious decline in quality that comes with Return of the Jedi I find my memories are returning to their proper state, the questions and uncertainties insidiously inserted in to my consciousness by the various revisions can now be removed, the films reverted to the original editions. I don't mind that there are revised versions of the films or that people enjoy them, I am merely happy that the theatrical versions are still available to be enjoyed if that's how people want to watch them. And despite the poor quality of the transfer I urge anyone who remembers and loves the original films to buy these DVDs, because the joy of watching the Star Wars films as they were once shown in the cinema is thoroughly worth it.

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Tags: dvd, family guy, star wars

Delivery mission to low-sec

Even though courier missions are a little tedious, their quick nature means that storyline missions crop up more often, which offer significant faction gains. I think this is why I have been content to tolerate so many courier missions so far. But the standings gains I am now getting from the encounter missions are certainly enough to give me a decent sense of progress, and I will still get storyline missions eventually. Indeed, one crops up shortly after I move to the Core Complexion, Inc. personnel agent, so I open my journal to see what simple task I am asked to complete for some easy standing gain.

Hmm, the mission may not be quite so easy. Even though it is an otherwise simple courier mission the destination is a low-sec system. The sytem is only one jump in to low-sec but the cargo is bulky enough to require my Badger to move it, and the fragile and slow industrial vessel is hardly a ship to pilot in to low-sec. I know that a while back I was thinking about buying a Crane blockade runner, the perfect ship for this kind of task, but the high cost of the skill training and Tech II ship put me off, and it's probably not worth buying a Crane just for this job. But this is a storyline mission and I could really use the standing gain.

Although low-sec space can be dangerous, where anyone is fair game, particularly someone in an undefended industrial ship, it is only really as dangerous as you make it. If you know the risks and account for them I believe you can stay fairly safe. I only have one hop to make in and out to complete the mission, and plenty of time to do it, so I start by scouting the area in a ship a little more manoeuvrable. A simple shuttle will do the trick, entirely vulnerable but highly agile and fast. I only want to make sure there is a clear path in and out of the low-sec system after all.

I am lucky in that there are two high-sec systems connecting to the low-sec destination, offering an alternative stargate should one route appear to be camped, and maybe even deterring capsuleers from camping a gate because of the second route. I make a safe-spot, in both high-sec systems, sitting within scanning distance of the stargate in to low-sec, which is perhaps being a bit too cautious but I would rather not show my intention of heading in to the system until I am definitely going to do so.

My initial scouting trip shows small craft sitting on both gates, neither particularly menacing in themselves but either could be relaying intelligence to capsuleers on the other side of the gate, waiting in ambush, about approaching and jumping ships. I head back to base to wait for a better opportunity, which comes the next day. Again, I take my shuttle out to scout and this time find the gates to be clear on the high-sec side. Rather than make a run for it with my Badger I know that I really need to make safe-spots on the low-sec side of the gates, as getting out of the system is just as important to do safely as getting in.

I jump through to low-sec and immediately warp away from the gate, setting about getting safe-spots set up for both the exits to high-sec. After another quick check that the gates are clear I head back to my mission base, pick up my Badger and visit the storyline agent, accepting his mission. With the initial work completed earlier it is now a simple matter of using my bookmarked safe-spots in conjunction with my scanner to ensure my path is clear and I make it in and out of low-sec safely, completing the storyline mission for great profit and standing gain.

It may seem like I spent a lot of time worrying over an inconsequential event, but I would suggest that it was only inconsequential precisely because I showed the initial concern. Staying safe is all about preparation and maintaining proper vigilance. Now I must be close to working with another level four R&D agent.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Delivery mission to low-sec
Tags: eve online, low-sec, mmorpg, penny ibramovic