Musings of a pirate; part 9 'Too Much Isk Ruin A Pirate?'

This post was actually just some random scribblings I had and I decided to collect them together and blog about it..just been sitting in the drafts folder for a while. Might as well give it some sunshine.

It was originally put together around May 2009...

While I have been absent from piloting a starship, I have been working with other Bastards recruitment officers in sifting through our applications. We've received a fair number of very good (and not so good) potential recruits. As I have been fielding the various questions from the applicants, I noticed that there were certain strands of conversation that we all followed and this lead to a refresh of our FAQ. My intention is to keep this document as a living document. I do apologise for the (current) horrible formatting on the website. It will be fixed and for a less eye-straining version, check out this post here.

As I was putting together the FAQ, I noticed my wallet was flashing and eagerly I opened it up and was delighted to more isk trickle in. I was now hovering at 650million isk. My loot share from ransoms and kills was paid out, albeit late and my own sales orders (from solo kills and trades) was also selling. So isk wasn't an issue. In fact, I felt quite secure financially, though a capital ship or a marauder was still out of reach. Even though I have the skills to fly them, I don't have the wallet to cover them. I want to though and like most other pirates, I like shiny kit and strive hard to attain the financial means to get them. Or steal it from someone. At gun point if required.

This led me to think if my desire for isk was one of the main reason for my love of piracy and why I am, who I am here in New Eden.

What drives me and others like me to piracy? For me it is partly about isk - I want to earn isk through ransoms and loot drops. Running missions isn't my thing, trading (apart from selling salvaged loot) is a no-no for me. Character trading, R&D, moon mining and exploration is not appealing either, unless it involves a ransom or loot. It is through piracy where I make my money. Most of my skill books and implants, likewise. I have never scammed (because I am too impatient) or stolen from my corp mates. Then there's the challenge of piracy and low-sec space in general.

I am actually quite proud of myself when I look at my bank balance and I believe that this attitude exists with majority of The Bastards and The Hellcats too. Piracy largely works for me and my compatriots despite the fact that it is feast or famine type of scenario.

I tell you one thing: it's hard. Loot drops don't always guarantee a massive pay out nor does a ransom. Most people refuse to pay a ransom either out of principle or from a bad experience where a ransom was accepted, monies paid and they still got podded. Pirates who do this are bad for business and need to be hunted down.

The Bastards and The Hellcats however, have proved that it is possible, indeed likely that over time one can make enough isk to afford better and better ships and other shiny items of kit. We have an innovative loot handling programme that ensures all loot is shared out equitably. See this post for more details. We also ransom as often as we can, with a new shiny ransom board in the cooker and we have a system where pilots and corporations buy 'passes' from us for week long periods.

Now isk is quite hard to come by from pirate work alone and for the casual observer of our kill board, one can see that we fly a lot of the more basic hull types when compared to the age and experience of the pilot, be they Bastard or Hellcat. As an example: I still fly the rifter and rupture class ships on a regular basis. I consider my hurricane and jaguar hulls as my bling ships and use my maelstrom class ship for very specific jobs. I have been a pod pilot since 2004 with maxed out auto canon expertise and support skills.

So yes, we do fly a lot of T1 hulls but also why kill or ransom in your faction-fitted vagabond when your stabber would do fine? T1 hulls are cost effective and keeps in character with us pirates, cutting down the sting of losses and making do with what we have. We're here to make isk through piracy after all and this is a matter of great pride to us: nearly everyone makes most of their isk through piracy and rarely through alts or markets or trading or GTCs. We do have alts but they're there to support the pirate mains. Piracy isn't merely an outlet for us in New Eden, it is the SOLE reason why we play.

It is a matter of great honour and pride for us that we can prove to others that piracy is a viable lifestyle and one can thrive in this environment through team-work, dedication and a bit of luck.

Flying T1 hulls means that individually, we need to fit our ships optimally and have experience in these hulls. If you can kill a T2 fitted inty in your incursus, time and time again (as does one of our best pirates, Coochie) - then you are the right fit for he Bastards.

Flying bling-bling ships has its place, don't get me wrong but it's a syndrome that we have seen in many a player with too much isk. We are sure that too much isk rots a players brain, addles their appetite, dulls their senses and reduces overall excitement. If you have nothing to lose each time you go into a roam, what is the point? We know many a pilot who, having reached cap pilot or multi-multi-billion isk status, does nothing but want to undock a carrier to kill a rifter or some such. Why we ask? It's because they can and they rarely see (or desire) any other action. 'T1 battle ships are SO BORING!' they say. I can't begin to say how depressing it becomes when all a cap pilot wants to do is to undock his ship and 'blow shit up' or screaming for a cyno-sural field.

Cap ships have their place and use and a good example is when an enemy carrier is tackled, you need some serious DPS and fast. Similarly insisting on using a faction fitted vulture to kill a stabber in a belt, when one single competent pilot in a rifter can do it so much more efficiently and in style makes you look like an EBay moron.

This leads me to killboard statistics: we do NOT worship the K/B stats. We have been accused in the past of deliberately using cheaper hulls to minimise the isk loss on our board. Utter bollocks. However, the kb is usually the first view of who we are and how 'good' people think we are. Losing T2/T3 ships left, right and centre needlessly, does us no favours. We've slowly built up a reputation as pirates and part of that is our ability to fight and fight hard and efficiently.

Therefore, am sure one can see that keeping mainly in T1 hulls or their equivalent enables us to maximise our loot gains and gives us a certain identity, verve and style. Most of the more senior pirates are all T2/T3 qualified mind and no pirate will complain when a sleipnir comes out with gang mods and the shield tanking gank hurricane gang go on a rampage! As sometimes, only T2 will do.

However, what happens when a pirate does get enough isk? Not just enough to survive and cover the losses but I mean, a lot more? Say billions more? There are ways to short cut this journey from penury to financial comfort and the easiest method is through the purchase and subsequent trade of GTC or plex-codes. Real life money can be turned into ingame isk, legally and easily. I have already alluded that pirates who just want a 'good fight' are actually gladiators and boxers, wanting pure combat for combat's sake.

So, instead of pirating and ransoming people the length and breadth of metropolis for half a year, one can purchase a 60-day GTC or plex and sell it for anywhere between 600-800million isk and in one transaction, one has enough isk for a yummy faction fitted battle ship or capital ship or even a T3 ship.

However, I have come to the conclusion that too much isk might be bad for you, changing your play style and removing the sense of risk whenever you undock. Controversial? Discuss.

Musings of a Pirate - Part 8 - Pushing the envelope.

Being a pirate means you need to be very isk efficient. Am in this business to get rich at the expense of others, thus I need to fly something that is relatively cheap and easy to replace. Forget faction mods or a ship dripping in tech two goodies. However, expensive mods and rigs can give a pilot the crucial split-second advantage to win a contest, so it's always a balance. After bagging that freighter and machaerial, my luck changed appallingly.

While I view uneven odds as a given and challenge, I recently pushed my ship and my skills too far and in the last few days have lost a rifter, a wolf and a rupture.

My Rifter versus Rupture and Stiletto: Loss of Rifter but gain of a rupture.
This was an interesting hunt as my intelligence sources told me that they were both working together. The rupture and stiletto were playing the station hugging game and I decided to bring them out into a belt. With a gang of three, I jumped into Hrondredir. Surely a lone rifter was too obviously shouting 'bait' to them? The stiletto arrived and engaged me, I did not have the speed to kill him but he didn't have the damage output to make much of a difference. I informed the situation to some local pirates and waited for a response while I danced the complicated dance with Sahonen, the stiletto pilot. I was ready to take advantage of any mistake.

Then his friend in the rupture arrived.

The game was up. I switched my attention to the more dangerous threat of the rupture and the rifter gave a good account of itself but when it was down to armour, I knew that I was in trouble. I could repair the damage from the stiletto but not that and the rupture. DJ and Daplat (I think) now entered into local. The interceptor scampered off while the rupture smelling blood, managed to clip my port side engine nacelle and my rifter blew up. He stayed too long however, a flashing thorax entered into the belt and tackled the rupture. It was DJ in his thorax. Something very funny happened soon thereafter. The rupture pilot, fearing a podkill, ejected from his rupture and got away. I re-entered the belt and boarded the still smouldering rupture and piloted it away! I tasked one of my camera drones to take a picture of the still-on-fire rupture.

Details of the rifter kill.

My Wolf versus Deimos
Still chuckling from getting a 'new' rupture I docked in Gusandall. One of my contacts informed me that there was a ship inside the Angel plex. Now, normally, it is Kane Rizzel who patrols these plexes; ensuring them that it is clean of all interlopers. He wasn't around so I took the job. The wolf would be perfect, with it's formidable armament it will shred any other frigate or assault frigate into scrap. Feeling confident, I undocked and engaged the warp engines. It was a pity that I bounced off the warp gate into the plex and even worse luck that i fell into the embrace of a waiting deimos. Too big to go in, the heavy assault cruiser was sitting there with the sole purpose of snagging anyone trying to get into the complex. Fair play to him, I would do the same. My bad luck he snared me. My wolf did not last long as the hybrid blasters punched into it's frame and his five drones screaming all over it, buzz-sawing it to death. I was too close, in fact, I was inside the deimos' optimal kill-zone. Mercifully, it was over quick and here's the details for everyone's amusement.

My Rupture versus Cyclone, Crusader and Incursus
Still smarting from the loss of the wolf, I wanted revenge and Gusandall was proving to be most active. Even though the systems from Gusandall to Evati had pirate HQs and roaming gangs and solo operators; we still get many, many pilots and corporations going through it. Providing a constant source of combat but more importantly, isk. So, it was with interest that I spotted some new faces in local and undocked in my rupture (no, it wasn't the one I liberated) and proceeded to do what all pirates do: scan and get a closer, more accurate location of the prey. I picked up a cyclone, a rifter, a crusader, an incursus and another rupture. I had no idea if all the ships were in a pos or in a safe or running a mission. Not many pirates were active today, probably sleeping off the night before.

I managed to scan and pin down the crusader it to the top belt but the rupture, without sensor boosters, was woefully in-adequate for tackling the speedy interceptor.

Sitting in my scanning perch, high above the system plane, I managed to pin down the crusader a second time but no, I was too slow. I whipped into the top-most belt. Like most systems, the top belt (usually designated as 1-1) was the main area that people visited first. It's also the most obvious location for baits and traps and counter-traps.

I thought I was being smart and laying down the trap. Little did I know I was the bait and kill.

A cyclone came into the belt, plasma streaming off it's bludgeon-like hull. Excellent, I thought - time to chew into a battle cruiser then. I readied myself and locked him, reloading EMP into my auto canons. Then the crusader came back in, eagerness evident in it's hostile attack pattern and to add to my woes, a fanged incursus joined them. My ECM drones screeched out and attempted to do their work on the cyclone.

OK, not too bad but I better get some hits in I thought and I volleyed the cyclone. The cyclone replied with it's own volley, this time from it's much larger 425mm auto canons. My shields were ripped off in one salvo.

I wasn't expecting that. The cyclone pilot quite clearly knew what he was doing and I was past the point of being worried.

The Crusader was buzzing around me and the incursus was blasting at me as well. At least I wasn't jammed but the plated Ruppie couldn't cope with the DPS and the cyclone was FAST. I hit my own micro warp drive to get some distance and managed to get away from the incursus but the cyclone was on me and maintained it's range. It had a micro warp drive too.

I died very quickly.

Fair play to the other pilots but losing three ships was a blow and humbling. Hope my luck changes soon!

Musings of a pirate - part 7 - The Hurricane

A return!

It's great to be back and I love the tickle on the back of the neck when you hear the sweet voice of Aurora welcoming you back into the pod. I took a leave of absence and went traveling (in cognito of course) to the fleshpots of Luminaire for a recharge of my batteries and creative juces. It also allowed me to think about some subjects in a little bit of depth as well as respond to the new challenges in Black-Flag.


A roam to 0.0 - let's do it!

First off is the addition of new routes into 0.0 for Black-Flag. We are low-sec pirates but we also move where there's new, fresh prey. Who wouldn't want to get involved in killing 0.0 alliance pilots? This addition of a 0.0 region to our roaming route has meant a temporary cutting down of active forays as the Black-Flag pilots get the logistic chain set up to move ships, ammo and supplies to a staging area closer to this new 0.0 operating area. Since many of us are 'criminals' we have to utilise friends and third parties to move our gear through high security space as required. All this movement of goods takes time. Am sure that the success of any roaming gang depends largely on it's logistics and how well it's going to be managed. We'll probably be seeding ammunition dumps around selected systems to facilitate easy re-supply as there are no stations for us to dock in. I suppose this is where capital ships would be useful - an area that Black-Flag is not too interested (except trying to take them down....) at the moment.

I have no information on how long Viper Sam, the CEO, wants us to roam in this 0.0 region but I guess, so long as we can kick somebody's nuts in and rob him of his modules and ransom his pod; we shall remain. Oh, due to the power of cloning, Viper Sam got a face-lift and now looks like thus -->


The Hurricane - my thoughts

The force with which this ship hits is more than sufficient to leave a trail of shattered enemies, floating around like so much lifeless debris. An adaptable vessel, it has enough turret hardpoints for a full-scale assault while remaining versatile enough to allow for plenty of missile fire, and has both sufficient speed to outrun its enemies and sufficient capacitor charge to outlast them.

Ah, how I love the hurricane and how I am so happy that Black-Flag has a variant of the Hurricane as its standard line-of-battle-ship. While Black-Flag has other ships types available, all Black-Flag pilots are expected to fly the hurricane not just competently but expertly utilising the 'canes speed and firepower. While the maelstrom-class battleship has made it's appearance in the order of battle for Black-Flag, the core is still the hurricane-class battle cruiser. I actually dropped down from the typhoon-class battleship to a hurricane when it came out as I was very dis-satisfied with using a battleship-class ship for roaming and solo low-sec work. The 'cane proved to be ideal. Been flying the 'cane now for well over a year and since joining Black-Flag, the use of a fleet of hurricanes has been a revelation. With five or six of these ships - am confident of taking on most fleets of equal size and coming out on top. The use 425mm auto canon, the gun by which the hurricane was designed for and the presence of some top-notch gyrostabilisers, mean that the hurricane can pour out a tremendous amount of lethal fire in a concentrated burst. Not many ships can survive this onslaught and when you have five of these ships each with a full complement of 425mm auto canons pointing at you, the chance of surviving it is slim.

Finally, the ship looks damn sexy.

The next few weeks...and The Bastards

For me, the next few weeks will see me moving a portion of my ships to the new 0.0 staging area - we hope to be causing maximum havoc and destruction and this requires some patience and planning on our part. Am also sorry to see founding Black-Flag member, Grunanca, depart from Black-Flag due to RL issues but I wish him well and that Black-Flag would not be here without his efforts. Having said that, we've have had a rush of new applications from pirates and others. The largest contingent has been from 'The Bastards'


A pirating bunch based a few jumps from us in Gusandall and I know them from reputation, especially General Coochie a most excellent pirate and pilot. They have submitted their applications and it's being looked at carefully by Muelac and others. They all have the skills (or close to it) and low-sec experience and I wish them luck as well as a patience in waiting forthe application to process especially with the refocusing of corp energies into prepping for the extended 0.0 tour. However, I support their applications and extend our courtesy and thanks to them. Of course, they are still red to us until their application is successful and I will not hesitate to fire nor should they.

We're pirates after all.

Right, now where's my hauler?

Musings of a Pirate - Part 6 - Piracy and New Eden

There are no benefits to hunting pirates in this game. Bounty hunting is dead. It's too easy being a pirate!

A disgruntled Empire 'CareBear' had the the above and the following to say on the GalNet forums, I had to change some poor grammer and spelling but the argument is as follows:

There is no benefit to hunting pirates in this game.
Why? The bounty system is borked, factions don't seem to care if a pilot has -10 security rating or not. In New Eden it says you can be a bounty hunter, but due to current rules and mechanics its unworkable and unprofitable to be one. Maybe bounty hunters should get a bonus to +standings and access to a great ship, make good pod pilots be able to be seconded officers in concord or factions. A special skill or ability to call concord backup once a day or something. Not uber of course. There must be many more incentives that I have not thought of to make New Eden more balanced between pirates and defenders of the Empire and law and order. Being a pirate is too easy. Being a bounty hunter is too hard.

I decided to try and address this but in parts:

Piracy is a robbery committed in space, at sea or sometimes on the shore of a sea, without a commission from a recognised sovereign nation or entity. Robbery, with a sovereign commission is known as 'privateering', and distinct from piracy.


1. Who is a pirate?

In New Eden, a pirate is someone like me. A pod pilot who chose to live a certain way.

Pirates like me almost always exclusively kill other Pod Captains (or PCs), we rob 'em and ransom them and generally cause havoc and try to get rich in the process through the endeavours of these PCs. We ask no sovereign entity of either of the four empires or null-sec alliances for their permission to do what we do. We tend to avoid the Non Pod Captains (or NPCs) as the monies isn't worth it and there is little excitment.

Some pod pilots become pirates due to boredom, others see it as the only way to live yet others see it as an easy way to kill people and piss them off. There are as many pirates as there are reasons for becoming one.

There isn't a defined career path as such; one doesn't roll some dice and choose a pirate profession based on some clone template grown in a vat. You become a pirate through choice. You become a pirate through your actions. You live it.

I have been asked by many how to become a Pirate and what is a good pirate ship and what skills you need. All in an effort for a pod pilot to knock up a cheap clone, a fascimile of a pirate, so they can attempt to step into this dark and dangerous world.

Some young pilots, fresh from academies come and ask, before they undergo their advanced training and augmentation, what should they concentrate their training on? Perception? Memory? Intelligence? Specialise in Minmater ships? Avoid Caldari ships? Go for auto canon specialisms?

I tell them that they're all missing the point.

Being a pod pilot in New Eden, there isn't a certain level of intellience or memory or charisma that automatically makes you a pirate, just like there isn't a template that suddenly means that you are CONCORD material or a hauler or a researcher or a trader. A pod pilot in New Eden is a free to choose what ever path they want. He or she is the embodiment of ultimate expression of freedom in an increasingly controlled and regulated world.

Similiarily, this goes for bounty hunting and the bounty hunter. If you exclusively chase outlaws with a bounty on their heads, then in definition you are a bounty hunter. Certain skills and ships will make this role easier, but there isn't a template clone being grown somewhere in a vat that is geared for the bounty hunting role, at least, I hope not.

I see so many PC pilots want to become a pirate, to tread this dark path but are waiting for the right ship or the right clone or the right amount of isk. Well, brothers and sisters, it's a fast fall to criminality and noteriety and all you have to do is to fly in your ship, go to low security space, find another PC in his ship and try and ransom or destroy it. If you're in high-security Empire space, CONCORD will render your ship to scrap within seconds. So avoid this. Go to low-sec.


2. So pirates are criminals?

Absolutely inasmuch that we break most of the established empire rules. Most pirates should have negative security rating as viewed by Concord though there are honourable exceptions such as Nexa Necis who through careful play, forces his opponents to fight him. He also war-decs Empire corps, thus legalising wars.

3. Is it easy being a pirate?

I find it easy and other's find it hard. Piracy is not a well-defined career in New Eden, there isn't really a school for it, a job plan and description and certainly no pension at the end of it. Certainly, it's easy to break the rules and drop in security status by being careless.

A pirate, and one classed as an 'outlaw' (flashing red) has a number of issues to contend with:

1. No access to high-sec space except in a pod.
2. Kill On Sight by anyone in Empire, Low-Sec or Null Sec.
3. No protection from sentry guns.
4. No protection from station guns.
5. Non-outlaws can not help you unless they accept a security status penalty.


4. Bounty Hunting and their tools

With all this against a pirate, should it get easier for the intrepid bounty hunter? The bounty system in New Eden is borked, I am not defending it. Due to the unique capabilities of pod pilots, we are effectively immortal in that death is merely an inconvenience. A bounty is placed on the corpse but if one can reclone after the death of the body, is there a need for a bounty? What does it really mean? There are plenty of pilots out there with huge bounties on them. I don't see that many podding themselves via an friend to collect the monies but still - it doesn't seem effective to me.

For bounty hunters though - a bounty is still a bounty. One can use a locator agent and find these pirates and have a go. Track us down, patiently. Find Us. Trap Us. Kill our ships. Pray you can catch our pods. I am not saying the system is perfect.. Some possible improvements for those intrepid bounty hunters include:

1. Would be for an outlaw with a bounty on their heads not being able to stay perma-docked in certain systems, based on the size of their bounty or if someone has taken up the bounty on them (see point 2 below). Means we will need to keep moving as there are no safe havens except in 0.0 stations or 0.1 space or a POS. Just an idea. Don't flame me - just a half-formed ideas.

2. Anyone can 'take a contract' out on an outlaw with an existing bounty. A bit like agreeing to a mission from an agent but the BH needs to ante up some isk (collateral). Not sure what this contract might confer but a possible location of the bounty and limited kill rights?

Musings of a Pirate - Part 5

No matter what ship I get into and fly, I always end up coming back to using the rifter. This is still the best T1 frigate in New Eden; bar none. Throw me your rocket kestrels, your tri-ion neutron incursus and the bleeder punisher. The rifter can take them all, hands down.

I base this on experience as I have flown all T1 frigates and while there are some nice ships out there, effective in their own way - nothing gives me the thrill, joy and firepower of the rifter. The Bleeder Punisher is probably the next best but the lack of the third mid slot weakens it.

So the rifter and her variants (the jaguar and wolf) are ideal pirate ships. They are fast and hit hard though of the three, the wolf is the more specialised and only useful in a frigate gangs due to it's two mid-slots. The more versatile Jaguar is a better solo machine with four mid-slots. I tend to use the fourth slot as my utility slot and fit either a cap booster, tracking disruptor hell, even a shield extender.

Love it.

Musings of a pirate part 4 - Loot and more loot.

Piracy does pay and in the last three weeks I have had full sell orders for a lot of mods that I acquired through pirating and thuggery.

Glancing at the sales, I have made a pretty penny and my current sell orders are still quite full.

I have sold the mods at 75% empire price so this should bring more customers. Small shield booster II have been turning up in a lot of my kills and selling them has been easy.

Have a few implants too to sell and even a few million here and there will mean that I can get a second hurricane with rigs soon.

Lovely.


Who said crime doesn't pay?

Musings of a pirate - Part 3 - Ransoms and making money.

An acquittance asked me whether I could make money pirating and if not, what could one do if high-sec was locked out?

Well, this prompted me to think; I love piracy - the thrill of the hunt and the eventual tackling of the prey. I usually kill the ship and ransom the pod but most peeps are too pissed at me to care after their lovely little ship is reduced to scrap and want to get podded. Also, I have had two suicide on me while we have been negotiating. A final 'fuck you' which I applaud.

However, I love isk too - and I decided to check out my 'loot' tin I have in one of my bases. One thing I have noticed is that even very young pilots are now packing tech II gear and some very tasty ones at that. Just cracking open the can revealed some nice goodies, all destined for the market:



This is my main haul of tech II and named modules from about five months of belt and complex piracy. This does not include the salvage components and the recycled minerals from T1 junk. I have not done any gate camping or high-sec piracy; it has all been low-sec belt and complex piracy. The can is already missing some mods - as I have already put it onto the market. It was only after a few of them where on sale that I decided it would be a good idea to take a screenshot. Not bad though, I admit - it isn't the billions that some gate camps get but not too shabby either and certainly, the sales have been keeping me in ships and mods without need to run missions.

Some of the best mods have sold for 10s of millions, enough for dozens of rifters or an assault frigate.


As you can see, my sell orders are nearly always fully stocked and even one or two 750K module is enough to supply me with a ship.

So looking at the last five months; most of my isk has come from the following sources:

80% - loot from wrecks of prey in belts.
5% - loot from wreck of prey in complexes.
5% - ransoms.
5% - ratting (mainly Domi spawns).
5% - mineral and salvage sales.

I can definitely do better with the ransoms but like I said, most peeps are not happy having their ships shot out from underneath them.