A blatant plug

Yes yes a crass usage of my deep and inspiring blog platform to promote a corp. But I'm the Recruitment Director what do you expect eh?

Actually my reason for posting something on here is far more selfish than that. It gives me a place to show off the above artwork. I spent 4 hours on it, getting it just right. Our corp logo was re-imagined and created from scratch. I trawled screenshots to get ones that would go just right. The strap lines at the bottom giving a lighthearted Gallente Federation RP edge to the scene. I proudly showcased my work on our forum, hoping it would be approved by the other directors to use in our official Eve forum recruitment post - only to have it likened to a tampon advert... bleh.

So I started again, stripped it all down to the bare bones and created a new piece of "art" in less than 5mins which, I think, says a lot about our corp. It also stars our very own CEO.

Want to see how it looks? >>Well here is the final advert<<

A record of the journey

Inspired by a recent post on Diary of a Bored Spaceman I decided to take a peek at this map function, which I too had not previously been aware of. It's a statistic highlighting option that lets you see all the systems you have previously visited. If you hover over the results in-game it also throws up the date of your last visit and how many times you passed through. Here are my results:

>>See larger full image<<

Every dot tells a story. The great blob of my high-sec mission running years makes my new life in Black Rise look rather slim. I see evidence of time spent on the cosmos missions and various evenings out probing. My pilgrimage to the Eve Gate is clearly visible which made me smile. My first trip to 0.0 also shows up, reminding me of a great night with friends many years ago on the trail of a combat site escalation (we made it home with a rather tasty Type-A mod). But what stands out the most is how far I have not been!

So, what does your map show?

If I knew then what I know now…

This post is in response to the EVE Blog Banter #16 question from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera Eve Blog. He asked: What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you'd like to share with the wider Eve community?"

Read more >>

Screenietastic

Have finally sat down and set up a flickr account for my Eve screenies which are now scrolling nicely in a little slideshow down on the right hand side. If you would like to have a nose at all the sets here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eelis/

The joy of Overview

One of the most important things to have in place for any kind of pvp in Eve is a decent overview setup. It's pretty much an essential tool to have in place and getting it right should be as high on the “to do” list as fitting ships.

Out in the land of Faction Wars things can get pretty confusing at times. Individual militia corps have + or - standings to each other as well as with corps and alliances outside of the militia and of course the local pirate groups. Pilots in your militia (or even your sister militia for that matter) may have low security standings yet be a friendly part of your fleet. War decs are numerous and relationships can change overnight. This can all prove to be a bit of a headache at times, especially for CEOs and diplomats when things go wrong. War and peace are often just an accidental missile apart.

Read more >>

Intermission

Wow! Have had some lovely initial feedback, from friends and strangers alike. So thank you very much everyone, I shall endeavour to continue as I have started.

I have quite a stack of posts developing (does anyone else wake up in the night with new ideas and have to write things down?!) though I am wary of burning myself out. I think an update a week is a good start unless say I get the killing blow on a Titan and feel the need to brag about it...

My PC is crying out for an upgrade so I'm tied up with that for a few days. In the mean time I thought I would share some exclusive top secret artwork related to DUST 514...

Enjoy! ;-)

The meaning of Faction War

So the endless debate on plexing rages on…

For me Faction War is all about the pilots & corps who fly in it. That is all that really matters.

Many people assume that FW is a bunch of newbies flying around in T1 frigates and destroyers - OK sure that’s how a lot get started however it is seriously short sighted to believe that this is all that FW is all about.

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Capsuleer Log Entry: 050310:05

Last week I get a convo from an old mate, Q’ui, informing me she’s been inventing t2 rigs. She’s teetotal, and I can’t normally stand a sober capsuleer, but she does happen to know her stuff when it comes to invention. So when she offers me some of her wares at mates rates I jump at the chance. “Well I’ve not lost an Ares for ages now, so sure why not, I’ll pimp a few up” I justified.

I really have improved on my inty flying in the last few months, so it made sense to start upping my gear. Of course it did cross my mind that saying this out loud was going to jinx my survivability, but what the crap.

Read more >>

phew

Have had a hectic few days in the real world but this page is already starting to look like I know what I am doing. Some "propa" articles are in the pipeline but until they are ready for publishing heres a little taste of Eelis "artwork" know your carebears...

Enjoy!

( . )( . )

So... yes there are boobs in this blog.

I am a girlfriend, sister, daughter, and most recently a mother too. I also happen to play a hell of a lot of Eve.

As far as anyone that knows me in-game is concerned I am no different to one of the guys. They scratch, I adjust. They get man-flu, I have periods. They drool over the female cast of Firefly. I stalk Jamie Bamber on Facebook. It's really all the same round here.

Of course, there are certain pitfalls and challenges for any female embarking on a journey through the Eve gate. Such as trying to read the map without getting a headache, going to Jita and not spending a fortune on a load of crap you didn't actually set out for, and attempting to keep a level head when the painters & decorators are due in. Now that one can be tough at times, I really don't know how Hellcats manage. I've also learned that "the shiney gold one" doesn't cut it when giving intel for a fleet. Who knew?

There are indeed a lot of women playing Eve, many seem to have taken to it like a duck to water. Others, like myself, take longer to get to grips with everything. "Pregnancy brain" made things even harder at times and I confess I've sat at my keyboard trying to work something out with a thumping headache and mustered all the will in the world to not throw my PC out of the window.

But even so it is worth it. I knew this even in the early days of my journey when I really had no clue about anything. The depth and immense possibility that is on offer here far outweighs that of any other type of MMO that I've come across (and I've been through a few).

Eve is a cruel, harsh environment and relentlessly unforgiving. Every action can have a consquenece. Every decision can affect someone else in New Eden.

And of course, when your ship pops the explosion is just the same, no matter what your sex, race, religion or taste in Internet pron may be. And that's just how I like it.

o/

Well, here we are.

Now I never thought I would have the time, effort or energy to write a blog about anything let alone Eve but here I am practicing some self discipline.

I confess I find blogging a self indulgent hobby and really don't know why anyone would wish to spend their time reading the musings of an average fish in a very big pond but it's an idea I've had for a while. Since I first undocked back in 2006 I have grown considerably in dedication to the game and skill as a player. I finally began to feel I had something to give back to the community. And I confess the first glimpse of Spring outside is making me all excited and adding to my motivation.

In Eve you will mostly find me scouting round Black Rise as I hunt Caldari war targets or pirates. I am a Gallente FW pilot and at the time of writting also in the middle of a few war decs. I hope to make this blog a journal of my time in Eve, with some light RP, my usual sense of humour and a few tidbits of information I have discovered along the way.

Hope you enjoy reading o7