Reconstruction Complete...

Final update:

Well, all my original Blog-posts have now been edited and resubmitted. It's taken so long due to events in EvE, which are taking up a lot of my time at the moment (War-Dec's, Alliance struggles, etc). I hope they are easier reading.

Anyway, postings will now continue as normal.

Losing to Low-Sec...

Blog # 4

I don't wander into low-sec that often. Mainly, because I haven't had that much luck out there. I mentioned my first experience in a previous Blog-post with the Caracal, but my greatest loss in low-sec to date was with my Bustard.

The ship was full of high-value cargo, which I was trading between Hi and Low-Sec. I had been running a 0.4 gate without trouble, although I was fully aware of the risks of taking a sluggish ship through such a system.

On one of the jumps a ship was camping the other side (can't remember what it was). The Bustard's mighty tank held up and I was actually shredding his defences with smart-bombs. When the guy realised what was happening he apparently called in his chums to assist when the gate was suddenly alive with movement. I was going to lose my ship and the haul after all. Fine. I had made an awesome profit already (perhaps not enough to cover the cost of the Bustard, though), and this is EvE. And a lot of crap happens in EvE. The Bustard eventually popped and my pod screamed back to High-Sec.

After that incident I changed my tactics. I abandoned the idea of a Bustard and now do all my low-sec trading in a Crane, fitted with Covert-Ops cloak. And it's a fine ship. Next to my Rokh it is easily my most-used vessel. Although the cargo hold really does stand in the shade of the Bustard's, the cloak and fast-align means I no longer get blown-up (well, until I meet a  well-organised gate-camp). I now venture deep into Low-Sec systems and I can make just as much per-hour from Low-Sec trading as I can from a decent level-4 mission. Except, it really isn't as fun. Apart from when I'm jabbing the air with the double V-signs at gate-campers as I slip past them - that's tremendous fun.

I know CCP are trying to get folks out into low-sec because I am suddenly getting more and more missions in 0.4. The problem is, ships fitted for PvE aren't very clever against PvP-fitted vessels. So even though I use a Drake for Low-Sec, I'm very aware of the danger that puts me in. To help my situation, I buddy-up with a Corp mate. They watch the jump gates and keep a vivid eye on the directional scanner for me so I can concentrate on the task.

As with a lot of people I am planning to move to null-sec eventually. But at the moment I'm more than content with where I am and what I'm doing. However, I've been following Star Defender and his posts on EVE Online Wormholes. He's been having a great time in Wormhole space, made a move to Null-Sec and now the game has totally transformed for him. It seems that the move has increased his EvE enjoyment ten-fold. After one particular post 'LightTraveler grows fangs', I feel that I'm missing out on what EvE is really about by dwelling in High-Sec.

'r7av7en7' has literally just made the jump out there, too - so I will be following his Blog, 'The Less than Dramatic Journey of a Tech Geek', very intently. I already like the sound of the bounties awarded by ratting! So maybe I will do it sooner rather than later.

However, it seems a lot more dedication to your Corp and Alliance is required when operating out there. At the moment, I cannot give enough time to the game. That is probably the biggest reason why I'm not making the move just yet. In High-Sec, casual playing is very achievable.

So for now, I will carry on CareBear-ing.