Shuffling

Since parking my Orca Mobile home a couple weeks ago I haven’t done a great deal in EVE. Since no one is relying on me in game, I can do that without guilt.

I have already gone through several large asset decluttering and consolidation phases over the last year, and I figured it was time for another round. It should only have taken me a couple of days, but I have rarely been in the right frame of mind.

The right frame of mind can be elusive. On the first day I looked at my Corporation’s POS hanger and saw nothing to sell. It was the same on the second, third and fourth days. On the fifth day however I suddenly wondered why I was storing 3 complete POS setups, along with a years’ worth of fuel for each of them. Now I am down to one Hi-Sec research POS with fitting options and 3 months of fuel for it. On day six I might decide I don’t even need that.

As I have said, I am doing this in part as I have found it difficult to manage such a large collection of assets with all the regular game balance changes. I am also however finding it somewhat liberating. I hadn’t realised just how much I had become shackled to my inventory.

Now I find myself going through the laborious process of hauling and selling. My Industry Alt has been kept busy. While doing this I have been reading a lot on EVE.

There was an interesting article from CSMX member Manfred Sideous on EN24.

http://evenews24.com/2015/08/29/csm-x-manfred-sideous-let-me-hurf-about-eve-csm-x/

He reminds us of the passion many DEV’s have for the game, flags the increasing aggression the player base has towards them, and gives some interesting insights on the CSM and CCP interaction. I particularly liked this quote: “The CSM can advocate for anything; how CCP acts is never a sure thing. Even when we can be sure they’ll take some action, the means they choose are often impossible to predict”. It was worth a read.

There have been plenty of interesting thoughts on the Imperium’s short Burn Providence campaign.

Talvorian Dex commented on his disquiet for the reasons behind it. A worthwhile read – particularly when you take in comments from people involved on both sides:

http://targetcaller.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/goon-providence-war.html

Kasken wrote a piece from an FC perspective. He gives an almost visceral view to the back and forth struggle. Again the comments add to the article, and are worth reading.

https://kaskenkronicles.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/burning-providence-lessons-learned-while-fcing-in-a-smaller-alliance/

Rixx Javix reports on his Alliance (A Band Apart) securing its first system in Null, and while he thinks FozzieSov can be improved, he said “in general I strongly believe that it is the best thing that has happened in Eve for a long, long time.”

http://eveoganda.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/dad-lost-keys.html

Meanwhile Black Legion said they were pulling out of the Sov game due to how horrible FozzieSov is:

http://evenews24.com/2015/08/29/black-legion-abandon-fountain/

 

From what I have read so far about FozzieSov:

. It has reduced the land holdings of the old guard Sov players
. It has allowed smaller groups to consider getting involved in Sov
. There is not enough consequence or cost for attackers
. Defenders have to do a lot of work for possibly not enough benefit having Sov
. It can generate engaging game play between active PVP focused players
. It needs continued iteration

So it has more promise than it might have first appeared, but the change over from old to new will likely come at a painful cost.

What does stand out for me at the moment is that it is not at all friendly towards the casual player, and possibly too negative for the more carebear player who likes the idea of building a home instead of just wrecking other people’s homes.

Not a patch on me

What a strange experience the Galatea update patch was.

The first time I started the launcher it didn’t seem to successfully identify the game client needed patching.

The second time it started a 25MB download, but stopped on 17MB for a very long time before giving me a long error text. I’ve never seen that before.

The third time told me I needed to run the repair tool, which I did without issue.

The fourth time it again started a 25MB download – stopping and starting as it went. A little later while I was looking at the forums I noticed the launcher was no longer running. This is not uncommon for launcher updates though.

The firth time I started the launcher it again downloaded a patch file, a couple hundred MB if I remember. This process also had long pauses at various times. I went away and did something else, and by the time I came back the game was patched and I was able to log in.

Other people were having similar issues – and were complaining about them in the forums. Again – the level of vitriol directed at CCP seemed to be all out of proportion to the situation. Surely it must be aggravating CCP staff.

(As if to add weight to my thoughts, we just had an earth tremor here.)

I am having to make a conscious effort at the moment not to be dragged down by the melancholy that seems to hang over portions of the EVE community.

The back story takes a turn

The death of Empress Jamyl I was announced today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46aRYr0IZi0

http://community.eveonline.com/news/news-channels/world-news/court-chamberlain-confirms-death-of-empress-jamyl-I/

If the Drifters are going for an Amarrian headshot, I wonder if they will attack Dam Torsad in Amarr Prime when the heads of the armed forces and government arrive for their meeting.

An interesting development of the back story.

A sandpit doesn’t entertain you, you entertain yourself in a sandpit.

My six year old daughter comes home from school most days with dirty clothes and shoes filled with sand.

She loves spending a lot of her free time playing in the Sandpit. She has no compunction to play there alone if her friends happen to be doing something else. With a bit of effort (often collaborative), imagination, plus some twigs, leaves and rocks thrown in for good measure, she finds a world of seemingly endless entertainment.

I asked her this week why she didn’t use the playground equipment more. I was quietly thinking it would save me a lot of washing. She remarked that it was boring because it was always the same.

I think she will like EVE when she gets older, and have the right mindset for it.

Bits and bobs

A small collection of links I found interesting over the last day or three.

. http://nosygamer.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/a-new-protest-in-jita.html

The Nosy Gamer mentioned some Russian Alliances were protesting in Jita over the Sovereignty changes. That is useful to know if you are planning a shopping trip. Ironically they seem to be protesting that the changes are having the impact they were designed to – making it harder for Alliances to hold huge sways of space that they do not actively use.  CCP Goal achieved?

 

. https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5964850#post5964850

CCP Nullarbor mentioned the capital rebalancing has gained some momentum. They may have a role around controlling a grid, impacting the Entosis link mechanism.

 

. https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5966867#post5966867
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5965199#post5965199

CCP Ytterbium suggests Cyno Beacons might be put in space near Structures, while CCP Nullarbor suggested they might be moved to Gates.

 

. https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5965058#post5965058

CCP Nullarbor indicated the medium structures should take around a week to destroy, the larger structures longer.

 

. http://denofiniquity.net/?p=70

I first noticed this linked to on Sand Cider and Spaceships.  While I don’t agree with every comment, it is a very reasonable overview of a lot of issues flagged around Fozziesov and suggested solutions.  I will say one thing – a lot of these were flagged by players well before the mechanism was introduced.

 

** EDIT

The first set of changes to Null Sov have been announced.  A step towards what some players have been asking for.

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=441365

Caravanning

I’m back in my home station with my travelling Orca. I have several hundred million ISK worth of loot to sell and some ship fittings and spares to fine tune and update. I also need to continue with my general asset reduction.

My Orca roam was a success, and I plan on moving out again in it shortly. I’ll start with visiting the Bleak Lands. The only issue I’ve really had was the discomfort I felt hauling all those ships through Niarja or Uedama. Every time I relocated I passed through one, the other, or both of them.

A follow up on something I mentioned at the end of June. I am still employed. I listened to middle managements ideas on generating more work, but could see they would accomplish little. (Why do so many people in that position take inspiration instead of irony from Dilbert?) I then went to the MD and had a candid conversation about the future prospects of my job. There is unlikely to be much work for me in the medium term, but they consider the service I work in to be strategically important to maintain.

While their reasoning is valid, I do quietly wonder if that strategy includes having me on the books as a sacrificial lamb the next time the International Accountants come demanding head count. Come what may, the job is convenient while it lasts. I’m just not sure if it will be for a week or a year.

Too much to ask?

Without trying to add to the drama, and mindful of the solo focused way I play EVE, I did want to remark on a concern I have about the Entosis mechanism.

It expects pilots to be consistently available to play EVE in certain windows of time. Step outside of Empire or want to use larger structures, and those windows grow in size.

It puts casual players defending at a distinct disadvantage.

In 2014 the average age of the EVE player was around 32. That is a prime time to be managing a career, marriage, kids, mortgage, and all the responsibilities of adulthood. I have a suspicion that many EVE players are actually more casual in nature, with limited free time and flexibility.

I currently only have one semi-reliable window to play EVE each week, between 10 am and Noon on Sunday. I manage to play then maybe 50% of the time. The rest of my EVE sessions are a sporadic 30 minutes here, 60 minutes there. I commonly only spend a few hours a week undocked. There is no way I can cover even the most basic of vulnerability windows.

Boohoo, it’s tough to be me.

What if the 4 or 5 real life friends I’ve historically played EVE with returned? They are busy like me. What sort of vulnerability window would we be able to reliably cover as a group? A medium structure in High-Sec should be fine, but we wouldn’t manage a large structure in a wormhole.

How many casual players would I need to get together to do something in Null-Sec?

The Entosis mechanism should work ok for a large, well organised group of defenders – even if mostly casual. They will have their procedures documented and down pat, suitable doctrine ships available on contract, and a critical mass of pilots. Even if only a couple percent of them are online during vulnerable periods, they can put up a suitable defence and not burn out.

But these same groups were able to exist comfortably enough under the Dominion Sovereignty system. I didn’t want to join them then, and I don’t want to join them now.

For defending groups without that critical mass, I can see a situation where their pilots quickly tired of having to align their play time and in game focus just on the Entosis Mechanism.

Thinking at the smaller end of the scale, I don’t think there should be such a focus on pilots being online. A POS can currently automatically defend itself – so should sovereignty and player structures. Make a player have to configure them appropriately, and accept a loss of utility for this defence. Obviously also make such a defence more effective if manned, like POS are now.

I don’t like the idea of being trolled out of assets because I don’t have hours of free time to sit around, not having fun, babysitting them. I am far more likely to put the time and expense into using mechanisms like this when I feel attackers have to make some non-trivial risk and effort to remove them.

It is hard to say all this without looking like a tool with a large sense of self entitlement. I don’t expect EVE to cater to my unique circumstance. Hopefully I am wrong and casual players are in fact in the minority. If I am right however, I’m not sure the current mechanism as is will be healthy long term.

Is CCP asking too much of its players?

Looking for excuses

The removal of all NPC stations was raised in some recent comments. While it is not something I expect is on the drawing board, it got me thinking – how would I play EVE in that sort of environment?

A scenario I could imagine it might happen in is during the twilight years of the game – when it was just being played by a small niche group of hard core capsuleers.

I expect there would be player own destructible structures you could use instead. I would not however use them to store assets.

I would sell the vast majority of my ships, supplies, collectibles, loot, BPO etc, and retain most of my worth in liquid ISK.

I would have three Alts on my second account logged off in space. One in an Orca carrying supplies, assets and a small collection of fitted ships, another in a Bowhead with more ships, and the last in a Carrier. I would use those as mobile hangers, although I suspect I would not move them around much.

I would have to find my inner minimalist.

I don’t relish the idea, but I think I could work with it.

Without meaning to be preachy, I think when it comes to EVE it is important to look for excuses to play, instead of reasons not to. I’m not suggesting you become a doormat and accept whatever you are given. Just that you take your bat and ball and go only after you have considered all your options and found none workable.

This thought has been brought to you by me reflecting upon my approaching 9th year anniversary in game, and wondering how the hell I have managed that.

Here, but it wasn’t the here I wanted

So to recap, I was focusing on two things in the game. The first was flying around in my mobile home Orca testing the Confessor out against different Faction Exploration sites. The second was repairing my Minmatar Faction standings so that I could run through some of their COSMOS missions.

After running several hundred Hi-Sec exploration sites across Sansha, Serpentis, Guristas and Angel space, I have had enough of doing that. I will go visit Blood Raider space, but won’t be particularly scientific about it. Instead I just plan to visit some of the other Hi-Sec regions I’ve never really spent time in, to get a feel for them.

My opinion of the Confessor remains the same – a fun and very effective ship, with not enough of an EHP buffer to be entirely relaxed when flying it.

I was still a little short on my Minmatar standings to run the next level of COSMOS missions – but had three options to increase them. Run general missions (each 16 would give me a storyline mission which would impact my faction standings), run the Minmatar Career Agents (which could also impact faction standings), or run the last Minmatar Tag agent I had not used yet.

I decided to finish my first lot of level 2 missions. My biggest issue, aside growing boredom, was the frequency at which I had to decline missions against other factions. I should have been able to  run 16 level 2 missions across a couple sittings, but it took 5 or 6 before I was able to complete them. The Confessor handled them all without issue, aside The Recon, which I had to pull the Gila out for. My Storyline mission was unfortunately a courier one – Data Delivery.  That had the following impact:

Increased Minmatar Standing from 0.15 to +0.22
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.12 to 6.05

With my skills I had a Minmatar Faction standing of 1.79 – and I needed 2.0 to run the next COSMOS missions.

I took the easy option and went back and saw Frie Tasmulo in the Emolgranlan Republic Data Center. It cost me 85M ISK for the 20 Angel Brass Tags they required, which had the following impact:

Increased Minmatar Standing from 0.22 to +0.65
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.05 to 5.70

That left my skill adjusted Minmatar standing at 2.15. Sure enough I could now access the COSMOS missions I was previously locked out of. I ran one of them which was an interesting enough 3 stage with a security site, courier mission, and finally collecting a certain drop from a COSMOS static site. The faction standing hit was noticeable when I finished it:

Increased Minmatar Standing from 0.65 to +1.06
Decreased Amarr Empire from 5.70 to 5.36

And here I’ve come to a stop. If I continue with the COSMOS sites I will hit my Amarr and Caldari standings harder than I wish too.

This process has increased my Minmatar standing by 3.22, and decreased my Amarr standing by approximately 2.44.  It is now down to a storyline mission or two from the minimum 5.0 I wanted to maintain.

My other main faction standings (without skill adjustment) are at reasonable levels of:

4.13 Caldari

1.97 Gallente Federation

4.00 Sister of EVE

I don’t want to get into a position of running one Minmatar Storyline line, then one Amarr Storyline, and then continuing to swap between them.  I’ve also previously used up most of my Amarr Tag Agent and COSMOS mission options, so getting to their storyline missions will be more problematic.  I am going to have to ponder that one.

Nice to be flying the Cormorant again, even if just to salvage.

 

Podded while you sleep

CCP has released more specific information about the Citadel structures.

http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/i-feel-safe-in-citadel-city/

http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/citadels-sieges-and-you/

The CSM FAQ document has additional information.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mEbMx9xUXje3KH4AppvcjSSoALUVtVEaK6ZZ-zy2Lrs/edit

 

There is both a hell of a lot of information there, and nowhere near enough information.

I mustn’t have been paying attention, but it seems like Titian and Supercarriers will be able to dock in the XL versions of these. I think that is a good thing.

Of particular note is that l will have to use the large versions if I want to dock an Orca or Freighter.

Those will have 6 hours of vulnerability across the week in Hi-Sec.

While you can arm them, which is interesting, the defenses are not automated. If you are not online to fire them they are just inoperable ornaments. I’m not a fan of that. I am happy for the defenses to be more effective if someone is manning them, but I’d have preferred some basic automation to reduce the impact of solo Entosis link trolling.

It was good to read that you could in effect have individual citadels while being a member of a larger Corporation, although you would have to place your trust in the people controlling roles.

The structure loss mechanism is curious. The 10% asset recovery fee and delayed delivery will hit younger players who might only have a handful of useful ships and no ISK in the bank. The suggested length of delays also seems possibly excessive. Does CCP want situations where people can’t play the game for weeks?

I imagine it could be more problematic and expensive trying to defend a full Null-Sec region which is being burned down.

I might have missed it, but I wonder what happens to assets if the owners unanchor the structures?

The problem I still have though is that there are so many facets to these things that I am struggling to get a clear picture on just how I might use them as a solo player. I can’t really make an informed decision on the capture process and asset safety until I understand just how useful they will be.

Historically I have used POS as bolt holes in Low Sec and for Industrial applications in Hi-Sec. Will these new structures encourage me to do that again? Will they give me brand new things to try in game?

The one thing I have not liked, and I would go as far as saying irks me, is that any docked pilot gets podded when the structure is lost. This is a big thing for casual players or those who unexpectedly can’t play for a while due to financial, internet access or computer hardware reasons.*

*Edit*

Noticed this comment from CCP CCP Nullarbor

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5965440#post5965440

“you can unanchor them provided they are not under attack. They will immediately enter a vulnerable state and at the end will eject the personal assets to safety, kickout the docked pilots into space and the unanchor to be scooped”

So docked pilots will find themselves in space if a citadel is unanchored.  Their assets will be “safe”.  I wonder if that means they are moved without cost and time delay?

$100

Each year at around this time I spend $100 on the blog. I renew WordPress updates that allow me to somewhat customise the blog layout and I stop ads from being shown. I also renew the evehermit.com domain.

Before opening my wallet I always take the opportunity to reflect on what value for money I am getting. Is the blog achieving its goals? Is it still encouraging me to explore the game, contemplate its many changes, and give a quiet voice to the risk adverse, time poor solo player? As it is still accomplishing that, I handed over my cash again.

A handful of stats I looked up for my own interest – I’ve been writing the blog for a bit over four and a half years now, with this being my 691st post. Through that time I’ve uploaded approximately 475 EVE related screen captures. Funny what can be accomplished one small step at a time.

Thank you to the old and new readers. Through your comments, links and occasional EVE Mails, you have given me a sense of being a small part of the greater EVE community.

What do I deserve?

Sugar Kyle recently asked the interesting question on what do you expect or deserve when you log into the game.

http://www.lowseclifestyle.com/2015/08/deserving.html

My answer –

. A stable and responsive game client

. An environment where everyone operates under the same set of rules

. Freedom to play in many different ways

. Variable rewards tiered roughly to the level of risk taken

. Success impacted by skilfulness, knowledge and effort

. Interactions with other players that stay within the EULA *

I know some people have the view that unless you are playing EVE a certain way (invariably their way), that the game shouldn’t be fun for you. I guess the narcissistic don’t really get the idea of a Sandpit game.

 

(* This is the bit of the EULA I was thinking about – “You may not submit any content to any chat room or other public forum within the Game that is harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, libelous or defamatory, encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense or give rise to civil liabilities, or is unlawful in any other way..”)

Stumbles

The mission running is going slowly.

I use the following web site to remind me what I am up against for each mission.

http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=missionreports

If a mission requires me to shoot any of the main Empire Factions (Amarr or Caldari in this case), I decline it *. I don’t want to unnecessarily erode my standings with them.

You can decline a mission without any sort of negative impact, but if you do it again with that same agent within the next four hours, you will take a small standing hit for the Agent, their Corporation, and most importantly their Faction. I want to avoid that as well.

Let me describe my mission attempts the other day.

Sit down in the morning for a long EVE session.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against the Amarr. Decline.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against mercenaries that I complete.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against the Caldari. Click Delay.

Come back after 4+ hours and decline the mission against the Caldari.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against EoM that I complete.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against the Caldari. Click Delay.

Come back after 4+ hours and decline the mission against the Caladri.

I ask the Agent for a mission, get one against the Amarr.

Give up for the day, writing a note to ensure I decline that mission the following morning.

The solution is to run missions with multiple agents, although that is not always available to you. Instead I just went back to exploration.

Of the level 2 missions I have run, the Confessor has handled them all fine. The only problem is one I have mentioned before; the ship doesn’t have enough of an EHP buffer. The volley damage from one of the mercenary missions I’ve run takes half my armor in one hit. While that was in sharpshooter mode, and I rep back to full armor before the next volley hits, it is a reminder about how easy it would be to lose the ship.

(* You can run some missions against empire factions. Deadly Arrival for example can be done without shooting the faction rats.)

F U W10

I was doing some PC housecleaning this evening and removing applications I don’t use.  Included in this process were a number of EVE related tools, of which EVE Probe was one.  In its infinite wisdom, Windows 10 included the 20GB of data in the EVE Shared Cache when it removed EVE Probe…

(Edit – it took a while, but I copied the C:\ProgramData\CCP\EVE\SharedCache\ResFiles directory (93,000 files / 20GB) from my laptop to my desktop, saving me the need to download them again.)

 

Data Centers

There were two reasons I wanted to run the Minmatar COSMOS sites – first for the interest of it, and second to help repair my Minmatar standings. If you are not familiar with it, you can read about the Standings mechanics on the EVE wiki:

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Standings_mechanics

I traditionally maintained a high Amarr standing so that I could anchor POS in their Hi-Sec regions. This left me with very low Minmatar Standings, and locked me out of most of their Agents. With the changes to where you can anchor your POS, I’ve been thinking I should rectify that.

I started the process with an Amarr Empire standing of around 8, and Minmatar Republic standing of -2. (All references in this post are the unmodified values, not adjusted by the Connections or Diplomacy skills.) If I could maintain standings for both above 5, I would have access to all their Level 4 Agents.

The EVE Wiki provides an overview of the Agent system here:

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Agent

Now, (I think) outside of faction warfare, faction standings are only positively modified by Event or Storyline Missions. Every 16 normal missions you run for a Faction (all of the same level) will trigger a Storyline mission. The higher the level of mission, generally the higher average standing increase you will get per storyline. As you can imagine, making noticeable changes to your Faction standing can require a very large number of missions to be run, particularly if you have to start off with low level agents as I would with a negative Minmatar standing.

Again the EVE Wiki gives a good overview of Storyline missions:

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Storyline_mission

There are thankfully quicker ways to increase your Faction standing (again, outside of Faction Warfare), but they tend to be one off options. The more interesting method is to run COSMOS missions – hence why I am in Minmatar space. Most COSMOS missions give a Faction Standing increase.

I used the EVE Wiki COSMOS entry to get a list of Minmatar Agents and their locations – which saw me move to near the Ani Constellation in Metropolis.

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/COSMOS

That page also lists the standings required to run each mission. While I had a poor standing with the Minmatar, I did have positive standings with Republic Fleet and Sisters of EVE, so I figured I would be able to make some headway with missions, which would hopefully open up access to a few more, and so on.

I hit my first stumbling block when I found I had – sometime in the distance past, run some of the missions. They were not available to me (remember they normally can only ever be run once), and I had a small standing value against the agent, indicating I must have used them before.

I then hit my second issue when I found, even with Corporation standings high enough, agents would not give me their missions. Reading the COSMOS wiki page over again I found this little bit of information “COSMOS Agents only accept Faction standing for access”. So I needed at least a +2.0 for the Minmatar Faction, but I had -2.

As I flagged above though, there is a second method to quickly increase your Faction standings, and those are Event Agents found in Data Centers. Once again the Wiki covers these:

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Data_Centers

These are basically in space agents that you can use once each, hand over a number of NPC tags (in this case Angel), and get an instance boost in your Faction Standings.

I used the wiki to get a shopping list of tags, and used eve-central to check their prices and availability. You need between 3 and 20 of the various types. I ended up buying them all from Rens.

I made my way to the Republic Data Center beacon in the Arlulf System, and ran the two agent event missions. (I’ve noted the standing changes just as an indication of the sort of impact they have. I forgot to follow the Amarr standing decrease for the first couple.)

Albedur Vatzako – 1 jump to pick up a Minmatar Graduation Certificate
Increased Minmatar Standing from -2.15 to -2.09
Increased Sebiestor Tribe from 0.00 to 0.17

Jackael Menson – 3 Angel Copper Tags (1.5M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -2.09 to -1.87
Republic Fleet Standing to 1.43
Amarr Empire Standings decreased to 7.68

 

I then made my way to the Republic Data Center beacon in the Engosi System, and ran the two agent event missions there:

West Ludorim – 1 jump to pick up a Minmatar Graduation Certificate
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.87 to -1.81
Increased Sebiestor Tribe from 0.17 to 0.33
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.68 to 7.64

Apheta Zenakon – 3 Angel Copper Tags (1.5M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.81 to -1.58
Increased Republic Fleet Standing from 1.43 to 1.89
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.64 to 7.47

 

Last I made my way to the Republic Data Center beacon in the Emolgranlan System, and ran ten of the elven agent event missions there:

Rilbedur Tjar – 1 jump to pick up a Minmatar Graduation Certificate
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.58 to -1.52
Increased Sebiestor Tribe from 0.33 to 0.50
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.47 to 7.43

Hakno Lekan – 3 Angel Copper Tags (1.5M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.52 to -1.31
Increased Republic Fleet Standing from 1.89 to 2.32
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.43 to 7.26

Altan Uigot – 20 Angel Bronze Tags (7M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.31 to -1.19
Increased Republic Security Services from 2.86 to 3.08
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.26 to 7.17

Frera Elgas – 20 Angel Silver Tags (5M ISK(
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.19 to -1.03
Increased Republic Security Services from 3.08 to 3.36
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.17 to 7.05

Adari Jammalgen – 20 Angel Palladium Tags (1M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -1.03 to -0.88
Increased Republic Security Services from 3.36 to 3.62
Decreased Amarr Empire from 7.05 to 6.93

Sanderi Ualmun – 20 Angel Gold Tags (2M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -0.88 to -0.54
Increased Republic Security Services from 3.62 to 4.18
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.93 to 6.67

Habad Rokusten – 20 Angel Electrum Tags
Increased Minmatar Standing from -0.54 to -0.45
Increased Republic Security Services from 4.18 to 4.32
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.67 to 6.60

Skia Alfota – 20 Angel Crystal Tags (2M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -0.45 to -0.33
Increased Republic Security Services from 4.32 to 4.51
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.60 to 6.50

Eget Skovilen – 20 Angel Platinum Tags (2M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -0.33 to -0.13
Increased Republic Security Services from 4.51 to 4.82
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.50 to 6.34

Osidei Esama – 20 Angel Diamond Tags (1M ISK)
Increased Minmatar Standing from -0.13 to +0.15
Increased Republic Security Services from 4.82 to 5.22
Decreased Amarr Empire from 6.34 to 6.12

 

I started at the lowest level agents and worked my way up – gaining access to the higher level agents as I went.  So the end result was that for less than 25M ISK and about an hour effort:

. I took my Minmatar Standings from -2.15 to +0.15.
. I dropped my Amarr Empire standing from around 8 down to 6.12.

It also impacted my Caldari Standings negatively, but my Gallente Federation and Sisters of EVE Standings positively.  I believe the drop in Amarr standings should slow a little, as the negative changes at the higher scale are more dramatic, the same as with your security status.

Now if you remember, my goal was to get my Minmatar standings to 2.0 to give me access to the second tier of COMOS missions. With my skills, I got up to 1.72.  Damn.

I still have one more Tag agent available to me – Frie Tasmulo. He wanted 20 Angel Brass Tags – but at the moment that would have cost around 140M ISK in Rens, or 96M ISK in Jita. I will probably resort to that, but I couldn’t be bothered running to and from Jita. In the meanwhile I am trying to zerg 16 level 2 missions to see what impact the resulting storyline mission will have.

Funny the sort of tangents EVE can send you on, and how complicated simple ideas can turn out.

 

Edit – as was pointed out by Foo in the comments, you can also gain Faction standing by running the starter missions.  It is also an option to run Events or Storyline Agents for Allied Factions for a smaller standings gain, such as Gallente or Sister of EVE agents to boost Minmatar.  His comment also jogged a memory – I forgot about the EPIC Arcs which also give Faction gain.  These can be repeated – the documentation suggested every 3 months, although I thought it was longer.

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Career_Agents

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Epic_mission_arcs

 

Jumping

A couple days late, but CCP has now announced that you no longer need a faction standing of 8.0 to create jump clones in a NPC station. You can just create them.

http://community.eveonline.com/news/news-channels/eve-online-news/clarification-regarding-jump-clones-standings/

Sort of a wow moment, at least to my old player sensibilities.

I did pack up the Orca and move – to Minmatar / Angel space, near their Cosmos constellation. First impression is that it is noticeably quieter – more conducive to just undocking and getting things done. There also seem to be a hell of a lot of Russian Capsuleers in the area – I’ve had to make use of Google Translator a number of times.

I’ve started the initial research into the Cosmos Missions. I am not following a walk through guide, so am trying to piece the basics together myself. There might be a handful of scenarios where I could use a Nestor. It wouldn’t be necessary, but it might pass as an excuse.

The Gila has already had some use. Not sure the Cosmos rats have a weakness for Explosive damage. The ship puts out some serious DPS, but isn’t being as effective as I would have thought.  Tanks fine though.

I’ve got Windows 10 to be a bit more stable with a couple driver updates and avoiding certain apps. I spent some time soon after installing going through all the privacy options I could find. I was disturbed by the sort of information the default settings allowed Microsoft to gather. Sort of – well do a Facebook, raise you a Google, and go a mile further while we are at it.  I might have to look into the Professional version which allows you to stop automatic updates. I am not sure how smart it would be to in effect hand over full control of your PC to Microsoft.