EVE Uni’s Curious Expeditions: Swarming Nullsec with F.U.N. Inc. Interceptors

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Originally posted on our public AAR forum by Arin Mara, newly adapted for the blog.

Consume the World! Alliances of New Eden, hide your Pods, hide your Ships for the Interceptor swarm has come to devour you all!

Get Your Fleet On! by Razorien EVE

The goal of this report is to showcase the F.U.N. Inc. community, prepare prospective capsuleers and set expectations for their events, lavishly praise, thank and show gratitude towards others’ hard work and analyze the Event and its Fleet Commander in hopes of replicating and improving the same.

If you want to try out the Event for yourself, check their NPSI calendar, where you can also find fleets by various other NPSI groups.

Background

Every month or so I go out into the wild carrying the Torch of the University in an attempt to shake hands with different communities in New Eden. Fellow Unistas Marek Holmberg and Tolerin Escipion told me about the ShrinkWrapped Event, where everyone flies an Interceptor, run by Fleet Commander keacte of F.U.N. Inc.. Marek had nothing but praise for the Event and its Fleet Commander. He described keacte as “one of the best”, “professional and pleasant” and “fearless and relentless”. 

I approached F.U.N. Inc. via Discord about attending the ShrinkWrapped Event and was immediately warmly welcomed.

F.U.N. Inc. is well organized. I had no problem finding all the necessary information about the Event: goal, duration, Ship Fittings, form-up location, how to connect to F.U.N. Inc. Mumble. They had everything from an in-game channel “EBWF public” to a Forum post on our own EVE Uni Forums. 🙂

All the loot belongs to F.U.N. Inc. and is given away during festivities. There is no Ship Replacement Program.

Ship Fittings are designed for full fitting skills Level V skilled capsuleers and the ShrinkWrapped Interceptor costs about 70M ISK. I struggled to board the Ship because I didn’t have enough Powergrid to support all the Modules. I had to buy an Implant and turn off a Module to get the Ship to work.

Form-up

As we were fitting our Ships, the Fleet Commander told us to quickly fill out two forms, lest we wanted to be kicked from the Fleet. One of them had a table titled “EWAR” that lists “… Track, Paint, Logi, Probes” in rows and a scale of 0-3 in columns. I had no idea what that meant. Marek pointed out it was asking “How many EWAR Modules of each type do you have fitted?”.

The Fleet Commander explained to me that the purpose of the forms is to expedite form up and balance EWAR. The hurry was meant for the capsuleers who already had a Ship, not for those who are yet to board one. By filling out the forms, the Fleet Commander was able to better allocate EWAR to capsuleers who still didn’t have a ship.

A very verbose capsuleer in Mumble couldn’t fill out the forms because, to them, they appeared in Czech. We had a good laugh as, according to the Fleet Commander, this was the first time that happened in more than fifty Fleets. 😀

Travel

When we undocked the Fleet Commander set the destination over Mumble as “Nourv on the Tama Gate”, but posted “Oinasiken” as destination in Fleet Chat. Because the Fleet Commander pronounced only the first five letters of an unpronounceable Caldari State System, because I was taking notes for this Report and because it was my first time attending the Fleet, I got lost. Thankfully, another fleet member wrote what was said over Mumble in Fleet Chat and I recovered my bearings. 🙂

As we travelled to the Wormhole leading to Thera in Oinasiken, with the intention of jumping into Null Security Regions, the Fleet Commander instructed us on who to include on the Watchlist, delegated intelligence gathering tasks, forbade the premature destruction of enemy Capsules and reiterated the dangers of not adhering to Standing Orders.

From then on, we consumed every single Ship that failed to run away…

Timeline 

  • 18:30 – Discord ping reminds everyone the Fleet will form in an hour in Jita
  • 19:30 – Fleet forms, Xs go up in “EBWF public” in-game Chat Channel
  • 20:05 – Destination set as Thera Wormhole in Oinasiken
  • 20:10 – Watchlist and Message of the Day set, D-Scan and Local Chat intelligence gatherers assigned
  • 20:20 – Two Wormholes inside Thera collapse after Scouts went inside them, but before the Fleet could enter; Scouts recalled
  • 20:23 – First kill was a Bustard inside Thera; due to the Gala Event, it dropped 90% of the loot
  • 20:30 – Took the third Wormhole from Thera into Null Security Region of Catch, loot has been stashed away successfully
  • 20:46 – Contact made with a hostile Battleship, but it aligned, used the Micro Jump Drive and warped away
  • 20:48 – Fleet Commander authorized the use of a Micro Jump Field Generator to prevent a Battleship from escaping, but the target jumped through the Stargate; Fleet movement orders around the pair of Stargates were confusing; we did destroy the Apocalypse in the end
  • 20:50 – Fleet Commander immediately acted and divided the Fleet into three equal Damage Dealing Wings, assigned Wing Commanders and ask the Fleet to remember their Wing number 
  • 21:00 – In GE-8JV System I’ve found a Level 1 HZO Refinery, Amarr Empire, COSMOS Mission Agent Galhar Lahara flying an Impel 😀
  • 21:05 – Fleet of fifty three members failed to overwhelm a Saber’s spatial distortion field
  • 21:15 – pulverized an Orthrus and their expensive Capsule before it could jump through the Stargate
  • 21:20 – Criminal Gnosis, Sabre and Oracle escape through the Stargate; Fleet Commander relentlessly pursued the Oracle; I thought our engines would give up 😀
  • 21:27 – Smashed a Cerberus, but their Hugins and Sabre companions escaped
  • 21:28 – Moved from the Catch to the Providence Region
  • 21:30 – Dismantled a Jaguar who dared approach us
  • 21:32 – Atomized a Drake and their expensive Capsule for fun
  • 21:44 – Set a Cerberus ablaze, but not before they retaliated against Otto Deitrich, killing them instantly
  • 21:48 – Fleet Commander asks how we are liking the Event; I state that the only thing that could make it better is a break; Fleet Commander responds to me directly and grants me my wish, yaaaaay 🙂 🙂
  • 22:03 – Break over, Fleet undocks 
  • 22:16 – Vanquished a Malediction that was slightly too brave
  • 22:20 – Took apart two Exploration Asteros because they gave us the evil eye
  • 22:30 – Hostile capsuleer ejected from their Jaguar and escaped in a Capsule possibly because they had expensive Implants
  • 22:41 – Landed on a large Fleet and scared to death two Exequrors and a Manticore as at least six other ships escaped because we failed to scramble their Warp Engines
  • 22:50 – Sunk two smartbombing Typhoons without a single casualty; Fleet Commander thought the Fleet was splitting damage, but the Typhoons were smartbombing each other 😀 Fleet Commander apologized for criticizing the Fleet
  • 22:53 – Cruor send into the oblivion from whence it came
  • 22:56 – Fleet Commander offered Fleet Members to leave the Fleet through the Stargate to an adjacent High Security System; I left, but not before thanking the Fleet Commander, the Logisticians, Scouts and the Fleet for a great night 🙂 

And as soon as I left a multi-billion ISK Marauder appeared in the System. For Yto and Marek’s Nullbear Hunt regulars, this occurrence will be par for the course. 😛

Assessing the FC and Fleet experience

keacte of F.U.N. Inc. came highly recommended. They swore twice and no more than ten bad words were uttered during three hours of intense combat; the Fleet Commander assures me that they are seldom PG18. They insisted, twice, that there are no dumb questions and encouraged Fleet Members to speak their mind. 

D-Scan and Local Chat intelligence gathering, Scouting and making a novice Logistician speech to Fleet Members were all delegated. Align, Jump, Warp and Kill command were repeated thrice.

They withheld the ultimate Null Security destination until we jumped into the Catch Region from Thera.

Letters were spelled out in English, rather than phonetically.

The fleet used many tactical bookmarks the FC had prepared around Null Security Stargates to catch idling ships.

They were relentlessly bloodthirsty and wanted to kill everything from exploration Frigates to smartbombing Battleships.

The FC regularly reminded Fleet Members to repair their Modules and reload Charges, generally emphasizing the importance of tight, precise and clear communication and made a habit of praising Combat Probers, Scouts, Logisticians and other Specialists Fleet Members.

F.U.N. Inc’s keacte organized a public 50+ Interceptor Null Security Fleet and made it run like clockwork: form-up took 30 minutes +-5 minutes, commands were given precisely and predictably, issues were calmly dealt with on the fly within minutes. We warped to and shot at every ship. When our guns were empty, we took a ten minute break to buy more ammo. There was no bait too big to swallow, no vessel too small to catch.

Being able to join a fleet with keacte as an FC, with fellow Unistas Marek and Tolerin by my side, was exceptionally enjoyable and their corporation, F.U.N. Inc., is truly worthy of the name. 🙂

My experience with EVE University’s 17th anniversary

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Originally posted on Hideo Date’s personal blog

Poster by Marcel en Distel

This was the craziest week for me yet in EVE…

EVE University had it’s 17th anniversary on the 15th of March. I really enjoyed taking part and even being able to contribute in some way to the celebration.

Fellow Unistas Auron Delarnu and Psychotic Fickity did a great job getting a week of amazing events off the ground. They involved all our different campuses and those really came through and created a week packed with events and activities.

Sometime during the planning phase, I suggested doing at least one public event for the birthday itself. As I had some memories of Chribba attending the 14th anniversary and wanted to get some celebrity to rouse the crowd, I volunteered to reach out. Chribba obliged gladly to our set time for the event. I was thrilled, but then discovered that many younger players seemed to not even know who he was. So we thought about how we could get some teasers and info out in advance to create a bit of hype. A few weeks before the anniversary, information about a new EVE monument in Amarr dedicated to Chribba leaked and I was even more excited, hoping it would be there for our party. As it turned out, it would go live about a week before.

Celebrating the beauty of New Eden

My first entry to Fudsters competition and one of my favourites todate

For the week of the anniversary, I was planning to attend only a couple events if time allowed. I would be sure to support everything else that was going on with regular Twitter posts and getting people to share pictures of the events, so we had stuff to get out to #tweetfleet via our EVE University account. If nothing else, I was banking on fellow Unista Fudster to take a few of his absolutely bonkers shots…well he came through, but in a very different way than I was expecting: he actually started a screenshot contest revolving around our public eve-in-pictures Discord channel. We were able to hook him up with nice prizes to give out for the winning pictures. He was so inundated, that it was actually hard to decide on how to distribute them. The competition sparked an onslaught of awesome pictures in the Discord channel and will hopefully lead to more competitions and a huge collage by Fudster.

The entry that got me a prize in Fudsters competition

As Razorien (CCP Aperture) is active in our pictures channel as well, Auron got the idea to have him involved in our festivities. So I reached out to him less than a week before the Birthday, thinking he would probably not be able to make time on such short notice. But lo and behold, he agreed to be our Birthday photographer from start to finish on the 15th. That had me even more excited for the celebration!

Two of my entries that Razorien discussed during our celebration fleet

Plans shattered, plans adjusted

Poster for the final celebration by Marcel en Distel

In the meantime my plans of just being a bystander were crushed as all the wonderful moderators I asked to do the talk with Chribba (and now with Razorien as well) weren’t able to make the time. That left me hatching plans with Auron of how to make the travel fleet and celebrations interesting – I was so worried it would be boring for people and I wouldn’t be able to moderate the talks well. Auron had the original idea of doing the Uni internal fireworks celebration at the Bonfire in Munory. A neat place with a surprisingly dark history, as it was a ritual place for the Blood Raiders. Munory is very close to Amarr, so that was perfect to combine both the more private party and the public event seamlessly.

My anxiety spiked when the official EVE Online twitter account shared the info about the celebration I had put out. At that point, I was thinking this could become much bigger than I originally anticipated. I shared my troubled thoughts with Razorien and Chribba who were both very nice and chill about it. I was really worried to be responsible for enabling the destruction of the Veldnaught. But Chribba just said that that would be an epic event.

So I toned down my expectations on the Sunday before the celebration to not go completely crazy. Which was very good, as we didn’t end up having a huge crowd.

Then I was hit in the guts with our ex-CEO Laura Karpinski announcing her departure from EVE Uni after nine(!) years of dedicated service to our community! That was quite the downer for me the weekend before the party. Nevertheless, I wish her an awesome time in Horde and hope to get to shoot her at some point 😉

The day of the festivities

Finally, the 15th March 2021 rolls around and everything is set. We are starting with a travel fleet from our Highsec Campus to go to Munory. Apart from the travel-ready frigates we would eventually pick up a couple Typhoons as well, which you’ll see making an appearance later on.

When our first guest joined us, as we were forming up, we got to feast our eyes on a rare little ship, enigmatic and kinda unassuming, but more powerful than even the mighty Titans: CCP Aperture appeared out of nowhere in his Dev-ship.

CCP Aperture’s (Razorien) Enigma Shuttle Dev-Ship

We went on our way to Munory, trying out the new formations, talking about the Blood Raiders and getting to see some favourite pics Razorien chose out of our competition entries.

As I do actually play with game sounds *gasp* going through gates while fireworks were going off was often deafening.

Fireworks around a gate while about to jump

Once we reached Munory we were treated with fireworks by some Unistas that had already travelled there beforehand.

Fireworks set off by Unistas while we where landing on The Bonfire

We stayed a while and enjoyed the site and many fireworks, using the dark ritual place for more enjoyable festivities.

Impressions from the fireworks at the Bonfire

Afterwards, we moved on to Amarr, made the fleet public and were greeted by a few people already gathered around Chribba’s Monument. The Veldnaught came in as Chribba joined our public Mumble and CCP Convict also joined our fleet and on my Twitch stream.

Chribbas Veldnaught at his Monument getting blasted with fireworks

Talking to Chribba about his exploits and the (g)old(en) times of EVE Online was thoroughly enjoyable. It is amazing that he has been in the game continuously and such an institution in and of himself for so long – in a way similar to EVE University.

Chribbas Monument under a rain of fireworks

We talked about his obsession with Veldspar – and tried to get some details on the vastness of his wealth, which he understandably was a bit vague about.

Of course we talked about the history of his Veldnaught and I, as a player who hasn’t been around since the dawn of New Eden, was astonished at how back in the day even affording a single Cruiser would have been a huge undertaking. Chribba talked about how he had to work hard for weeks to even just get the few million needed together. The mighty Revelation that was still standing before us was an entirely different beast of course. At the time he had poured pretty much all his accumulated wealth into it and still cherishes it to this day.

He still regularly mines with his Revelation in Amarr and describes it as a subpar mining ship, but a great social miner.

Even before the event started he was around and made a little fashion show, which one of our Unistas was able to capture beautifully:

Chribbas fashion show, by Hikaru Sakai

Most of Chribba’s fame and fortune stems from his brokering of Supercapital trades, and he gladly shared stories from his golden days before the advent of Citadels. I was again astounded at the actual amount of trades he did, as I couldn’t have imagined the volume of Supercapitals being handed around before it was more convenient and safe to do so. He was easily able to do five to ten trades every day, each netting him a commission of 300M ISK. And this was when Titans and Supercarriers were not as much of a commodity as they are today.

We also had loads of great questions from many Unistas coming up and Chribba gladly obliged and happily told his tales of yore.

I was actually planning to do some formation warping around the Monument, but as the talk had me captivated, I only tried a couple of warps at the end. Nevertheless, there were loads of great photo opportunities and a near endless amount of fireworks – though some Unistas ran out halfway through and had to get more from the tradehub. Our two beautiful Typhoons also danced around the Veldnaught in loving embrace and with matching SKINs:

To culminate the celebration, Psychotic Fickity recited her version of “Goodnight Moon”, which I had never heard of, but I guess most people from the US would know.

I was able to snatch a few pictures of her Stratios while she recited.

Psychotic Fickity in her Stratios and the text of her recitation

It was truly heart-warming and a perfect ending of the event for me personally. It was late and my family was waiting, so I had to drop out quite abruptly. Some Unistas still stayed and jokingly attempted to “gank” the Veldnaught with Corvettes to end the celebration on a more explosive note. I won’t have to tell you that they did not manage to kill it:

I’d like to thank every Unista who helped to make the festivities throughout the birthday week a reality and everyone who showed up for the Birthday party as well. Thanks to the wider community for showing your appreciation for what we do and celebrating with us!

A special thanks goes out to our esteemed guests Chribba and Razorien. See you next year again 😉

Razoriens beautiful pictures of EVE University’s birthday can be found on his Flickr:

EVE University 17th birthday

EVE University at the A Band Apart Frigate FFA 2021

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This year’s historic FFA in Ouelletta was attended by many pilots of EVE University. Three of them share their own stories and impressions of the event as well as screenshots of pretty explosions (all embedded pictures done by the respective pilots, if not otherwise stated).

Fudster’s story

Low Security space in EVE is dangerous: death awaits you in many ways. Pirates and well trained pilots await your entrance into their protected lairs. The flashing yellow skull of a suspected pirate on a pilot’s name is a badge of honour. You live by the pirate code or you die.

Promotional Graphic by Rixx Javix

There is a myth that many living pirates in EVE become worshiped icons. The gods of Amarr are secondary to these monolithic leaders of looters and vagabonds, and none more so than A Band Apart’s central figure of low security piracy, Rixx Javix. The nicknamed “King of low Sec,” Rixx rules with a gentlemanly efficiency of killing any pilot that ventures into unprotected space without protection. You’ve been warned!

Every now and again, King Javix shows mercy on his subjects. He toys with his fortune and feeds us poor mere mortal capsuleers with events in his honour. To mark the year YC 123 of his rule, Rixx Javix announced his annual frigate free for all in Ouelletta and welcomed New Eden in for spoils and kills. Each pilot would be fed copious free ships for use on the battlefield, where everyone was a primary target until none remained. At 16:00 the lawless feast would begin with fireworks, but end in death.

So here I was, a high security pilot with little solo pvp experience, navigating through copious wrecks and discarded drones, targeting anyone that was untethered and in range. We’d only been at it for 2 minutes and already the battlefield was filling up with aspiring pirates. Many had died already and reshipped while Ouelletta had swelled to over 600 pilots in the system, growing as the word had got out over New Eden. The gates into Ouelletta were flashing with bursts of new and veteran players entering, including the prestigious CCP, looking for targets and killmails.

Within those quick minutes, I managed to get my first target in my Punisher. Brawling them, I swung in underneath, manually twisting and diving to keep range, but also trying not to get hit. I broke my victim’s shields and armour very quickly, but then it became apparent, I wasn’t fighting them alone and I was also now being targeted… by many pilots! As soon as my target went down, I too became fodder and was stripped of my victory dance and left naked on the battlefield in my pod. After having to wait out my naughty pirate person timer, I docked up and was promptly handed another free ship. Like a gazelle, I leaped back out into space and… died before I could even get a reasonable hit on an enemy. Confused and bewildered at how quickly I had died was soon explained when I looked at my screen to see a little circle ⭕️ appear. TiDi (Time dilation – a server slow down mechanism to prevent server crashes) had appeared to curb the pilots in the system and my ability to fight back. Docking back up and receiving a new free ship, I promptly found this event was like no other and I was having one helluva time.

Punisher tethered up at the beginning of the event, ready to engage

With Ouelletta swelling to 900+ pilots, it was time for the King to announce his presence in system. Flying out into the middle of Ouelletta in a Naglfar dreadnought class ship, Rixx Javix ushered in his minions of admirers and objectors to shoot their webs and many weapons at him in his honour. We appeased with gusto, however, our meager weapons were only scratching away at his shields. After a few more pilots arrived, including many from Eve University, Rixx succumbed to Bob and lit up the system with a beautiful orange explosive salute. The first big capital ship in Ouelletta in the event had been taken.

An overview look at the carnage of debris lying on the battlefield within the first two hours.
Rixx Javix’s Naglfar begins to explode after defeat

Meanwhile, CCP members were playing their own part of sacrificial duties by enticing the event’s participants to come and play. Many obliged, including our own Unistas. The glorifying kill of a CCP pilot is one thing, but to scoop their dirty unwashed corpse from the clutch of the void for exclusive bragging rights. Eve Uni’s own Hikaru Sakai was eager to the cause and scooped the CCP corpse from the many other pilots burning to get their cargo bays filled with this prize. Hikaru’s excitement was hard to contain on mumble comms, justified and commended by his fellow envious Unistas. Hikaru had joined the illustrious group of owners of a CCP corpse. The trophy cabinet had its coveted prize.

Even though TiDi was still prevalent in the system, many more capital ships were taken to the slaughter. A sacrificial Revelation capital and Kronos marauder fell in the carnage while almost 6000+ frigate ships had been handed to eager capsuleers. The seismic destruction was relentless in the 4 hour event. The death toll of ships sinking in the seas of piracy kept rising, eventually topping 10,000. Wrecks and abandoned drones littered the battlegrounds in front of the Astrahus Toothpaste Fish like offerings to the monolithic leader.

As the event closed and ship supply ran thin, the seas of piracy still ran thick with the explosive sounds of battle. Rixx announcing the end of the event was endorsed with the salutes of over a hundred pilots and victims alike. The beautiful destruction was a complete success and will be discussed at length in many a corporation’s comms channel for weeks. As a pilot with limited experience in low security, I have a reignited confidence and respect for entering low security. Pirates are dangerous and destructive, but united with chivalry and respect to their enemies; the pirate code seems both welcoming and terrifying in paradox. Rixx Javix proved this within his wonderfully crafted event and I can’t wait to be a part of it again next year.

A Test Alliance Revelation receives damage as it is sacrificed in aid of the event.

Hikaru Sakai’s Story

The Frigate FFA on March 6th was my first FFA and the first time I experienced time dilation. It was a struggle to move around – but I actually enjoyed it. It gave me ample time to pick my targets and maneuver, preventing me from tunnel visioning. Throughout the chaos, I was able to get myself on 35 killmails and only lost 14 ships while also having a 0.5 drop in my security status. 

Rixx’s Naglfar from a distance

It was nice to see so many people in one system, as lowsec tends to be a ghost town. Many Unistas attended the event, and were having fun as well – Mumble was always lively. I arrived in Ouelletta 2 hours early, but there already were more than 100 people in local. It was heartwarming to see new players asking questions on the details of the event, and other players answering them to the best of their capabilities. 

When I first undocked in a Tristan, my client lagged. It was trying to load hundreds of frigates, drones, and wrecks – and I could feel my frames going down. My overview felt like a mess because so many neutrals had clogged up the “combat” tab. While tethered to the Astrahus, I took a look around my ship to find who was close by – and found a Merlin to shoot. After destroying the first Merlin, I found another – but was blown up soon after. The next ship I flew was an Atron, and killed two Kestrels in it. 

Local was an important tool during the event, as intel of ship traders and locations of valuable ships were given. Without that intel, I may not have realized there was a Naglfar or a Providence in system. Somehow the Providence made itself more expensive than the Naglfar by having more than 3 million copies of the Amarrian bible.

Hikaru’s Kestrel engaging Rixx Javix Naglfar

The Naglfar was piloted by none other than Rixx Javix, the organizer of the FFA. The first time I attempted to engage, I warped in about 90km away from the dread – with my prop mod on, I burned as fast as I could hoping that I wouldn’t be shot on the way. There were many others who made the same mistake I did, and we all zoomed in a straight line to Rixx. Unfortunately, my frigate was blown up – but with a quick reship into a Tormentor, I returned to the fight and was able to take some sweet screenshots of the dread explosion. 

Boom!
Boom #2!

Once the Naglfar went down, a Revelation became the new primary target. I shot the dread for a little bit in my Rifter, while dealing with a pesky Punisher that made an attempt to take me out. However, I decided to leave the area for a much more valuable target – CCP. After shooting CCP Convict’s Nergal, I was close enough to take out the pod and snatch the corpse. My hands were trembling as I spammed the warp button. I knew my cargo was valuable and was lucky that nobody scrammed me before leaving the grid. I quickly docked up and stored the corpse in an NPC station before yeeting the Rifter into PvP once more.

Hello there, CCP Convict 🙂

I don’t remember much about what happened after that – according to zkill I had reshipped into a Merlin and blasted a Rifter out of space – but the FFA soon came to an end. I learned later that there were an Orca and Moros that I had missed out on shooting at. There was so much going on, my brain needed a break from constant PvP and I relaxed inside a station. 

I’m so glad that I was able to participate in this event and get to say that “I was there”. The community is what brought me back in 2020, and ties me down to the game. Once again, thanks to Rixx and all of Stay Frosty for the production of all of these ships – from hulls to ammunition – and hope to participate again in 2022. 

Hideo Date’s story

What an event!

I was pretty hyped when Rixx Javix of A Band Apart announced the 7th Annual Frigate Free For All to take place in Ouelletta, just two jumps away from the EVE University Highsec Campus. As more details were published in the week leading up to the FFA, I got more and more pumped. I prepared a stash of ships in the freeported Astrahus as I had loads gathering dust anyway.

When the day came I knew I would only be able to jump in for a little bit at the start and maybe some more towards the end. So the plan was to quickly get all my little frigates killed first and maybe undock a few meme ships later. My first choice was the Atron.

The undock of the Astrahus Toothpaste Fish early in the event

I undocked and marveled at the astonishing amount of ships all over the Astrahus and observed the TiDi kicking in – which never was too bad throughout my time at the event.

Then I scanned around for flashy or criminal targets as I wanted to avoid tanking my sec status too much. I shot at a bunch of other frigates but nobody shot back. For a solid five minutes I was able to basically sit at the undock and kill with impunity. Didn’t get much in the way of last hits, but got on a few killmails. Only after going on to ten minutes was I finally killed. Shame, I was really hoping to burn through my ships faster 😉

Punisher Vs Revelation

After dinner and family time I came back and undocked the Punisher. A Revelation was getting tickled to death on the Astrahus and I joined in. As it seemed to hold for now I decided to try my luck at a couple plexes. Surprisingly there wasn’t much going on. I had really expected there to be more fighting throughout the whole system but it seemed heavily concentrated on the Astrahus and 5-5 station.

But in the end I managed to die. As I reshipped I decided to go directly for my cruisers to get back to tickling the Revelation. A Moros had joined in as well and I was able to see both Dreads break apart. Lost my first Rupture just as the Moros spiraled out of control.

Revelation exploding with Moros in the background

Looking around the huge mess I decided it was time to help with the cleanup, so I undocked my shiny salvaging Magnate and looked around for valuable wrecks to vacuum up. I was mostly ignored – again to my surprise – and seemed to also be amazingly safe within the tether even when salvaging. The only thing worthwhile I was able to get was an elite battleship wreck, otherwise a few elite frigates. All in all I managed to salvage about 10M… sadly no one blew me up in the process.

After tidying up the place for a little bit I undocked a Griffin which I used to annoy a Hecate gang and a few others. Again to my surprise, I was ignored for quite a while until some random frigate finally put me out of my misery of flying a despicable ECM ship.

Smartbombing Thanatos

My second Rupture was used on two Thanatos’s, one of Rixx – who cowardly docked back up, running away from the might of the rust – and one of WER4, our good ol’ wardeccers. After I was able to do the obligatory “cool kids don’t look at explosions” shot I was really expecting to be immediately focused on, as I had the slowest and biggest ship on grid at the time. But I had to beg a Flycatcher to take notice of me and show my dusty arty Rupture how to clean up.

Rupture giving the Thanatos the cold shoulder

To round out the evening I took out a Rifter, a Tristan and ultimately a Thrasher. I was again looking for fights around the system.

My Rifter found a few people engaged around a Plex and there was a lot of flinging of ammunition in all directions.

I generally find the Tristan to be overpowered, but in my hands – as someone helpless with droneboats – I found another pilot who showed me how to dispatch this mighty little ship.

My Thrasher was heavily outclassed by kitey ships, so that I couldn’t actually fight back.

At this point, the local and general activity had died down significantly, and looking at local chat there weren’t any more ships available to give out. So I was expecting most pilots to not be able to continue fighting.

It was a shame I didn’t get my neuting Maller into action or my arty Claw…now I have to find some other way to blow them up gloriously.

It was a great change of pace and a wonderful event, I deeply enjoyed taking out so many ships one after another and experiencing so many different engagements. Though I really expected to die a lot quicker than I did. Maybe I overestimated the bloodlust of my fellow capsuleers 😉

Huge thanks to Rixx and the wonderful ABA crew for organising and preparing this FFA! Looking forward to next year! o7

Starting at EVE University

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Written by: Felix Othello Moradius

Ok, so please have patience since this is the first time I have ever written anything like this since leaving school. Which was a while ago!

Let us not ‘beat about the bush’… EVE is HUGE! There is so much to do and see and just when you think that you might have seen it all, the various communities blow your mind and the game opens up even more in amazing and entertaining ways!

I am sure you will have read or heard the comment of  ‘EVE has a learning cliff rather than curve’.

Yep, it’s a fair point!

So when jumping head first into this pool of confusion, excitement, harsh realities, real time trading floor and scams (There are a lot!), what better first tentative steps could you take than finding a mentor or tutor? A helpful guide to steer you in the abyss you no doubt feel you face!

This, dearest reader; is where EVE UNI, (queue the fanfares) steps up to the plate.

A welcoming beacon of light, through the mist of perplexity. As I first started playing EVE, I very quickly was told about the University from multiple people in chat suggesting me to join it. Quite the reputation I thought. I set about trawling the web for details of them and was very pleased how quickly I had a WEALTH of info at my fingertips!

EVE UNI is extremely good at setting up the newest of players with detailed instructions, general info and guidance. They make it easier to just ‘get it’ from the beginning.

I promptly decided “I’m having a bit of this” and dived in with both feet and put in an application.

After a brief wait (they must get lots of people to apply) and a short; “hi, how are you? Tell us a bit about yourself. Are you an axe wielding maniac?” and that’s it….  I was a part of something great.  I could feel it in my waters.

There are more ways to stay in touch with fellow UNI chums than I could shake a stick at if I needed anything.

(I haven’t tried shaking a stick, some are bigger than me…and hairy…and own dogs…)

The community offered me mentoring, written guidance and in-game support. There are even actual lessons and talks for crying out loud…  Visuals and everything *Excitedly waving hands around*

I think I would have to physically try not to absorb and learn from this lot!

I made some great tentative connections with people right away and they reach out to me often, which I love. Hey, we all like a little attention sometimes right 😉

But also, the nice thing is; if you’re having a bit of “a day” and want to fly around running missions and not talk at all that’s cool too.

There are no stern, “you have to be here and do this and contribute this that and the other” etc.

I have made, what I think will be the makings of great, slightly unstable, gloriously varied friendships. Which is normally by no means easy for me!

I have checked out shared musical tastes, seen people’s great pictures, real life and in-game!

I have checked in with people I do not know just to say hi and chat. I have been given a ‘leg up’ by a couple of amazing complete strangers and made to feel welcome in an inclusive, diverse universe which, in so many ways, emulates the real world almost exactly and yet manages to be a million miles from real in other ways!

If you are interest in applying for EVE University, have a look here: https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Applying_to_EVE_University

Faces of EVE University: Jilokari Kurvora, CEO

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Hideo Date:
Last time we sat down for an interview it was 2018 and you were EVE University’s Director of Human Resources. Back then we talked about your journey to get to that position. Now you have moved up the ladder even more, becoming Director of Operations earlier this year and just recently taking over the reins from Laura Karpinski as CEO of EVE University. 

Q: What were your feelings when Laura first came to you with her proposal to give over the reins of EVE University?

Jilokari Kurvora:
Honestly, a little terrified! It’s a scary concept to become the guardian of an institution with 16 years of history in EVE. When I joined the Uni a little over 6 years ago I certainly didn’t expect to be a Director someday, let alone CEO. I remember being speechless when Laura asked me, and then the terror haha. 

Hideo Date:
Yeah I can imagine that it made you shake a bit in your shoes. But who could pass up the chance to get a new pair as shiny as the ones a CEO wears 😉 

I would think it was not an easy decision though to take on the role. So as long as it’s not too private could you talk a bit about what you had to consider when you thought about Laura’s idea? She mentioned you had to think a while before agreeing.

Jilokari Kurvora:
That’s an interesting one, there are lots of things to consider. For starters as CEO the Uni becomes an ever present consideration in your life, and it’s not really just the Alliance and Corp itself, but the infrastructure also, taking on the role of CEO means becoming the custodian of the Wiki, a resource used by the wider EVE community.    I had to give real consideration if I had the capacity to step into that and do it justice. But that’s just a few of many considerations, I won’t go into everything but needless to say it’s a decision that takes time 🙂

Hideo Date:
Q: In the recent interview with Laura we talked about her perspective on the process of giving up her position. Could you give us your side of the story?

Jilokari Kurvora:
The process was very smooth from my perspective, becoming Director of Ops allowed me to slowly build my understanding of leading the alliance and start to get involved in making the decisions on a day to day basis. Laura and I worked well together and our relationship meant that we were able to begin making changes to how the Uni operates and complete some others.

Hideo Date:
Q: So as you were already acquainted with making CEO level decisions by the time you took over, I assume the day one as CEO didn’t really change that much for you? Or was there a sudden rush of power you felt? 😉

Jilokari Kurvora:
Really there wasn’t much change,  it was much more transactional and making sure that I had everything I needed. It was very odd seeing my name as CEO of EVE University though, very odd indeed.

Hideo Date:
Q: Oh yeah, I am sure it was a strange thing to see that badge on yourself for the first time. 

In our last interview you said you were “a massive people person” would you say that is an advantage, or even a necessity, in your position? And to further dive into this, are there any other qualities you think a CEO should have?

Jilokari Kurvora:
I still consider myself a people person, I think it’s important that you get on with people in this type of role. One of the biggest challenges is balancing that with the inevitable conclusion that decisions I make will not please everyone, and that’s tough for me.  I do have to hope that in the end I make the right calls, and if I don’t, it’s really important for me that I take time to understand how I learn and grow from them and most importantly I think it’s crucial that I am willing to admit when I have goofed up.

Hideo Date:
Being in such a position and able to admit fault, must be quite a challenge indeed.

Another tidbit you mentioned in our interview in 2018 was that you had a ton of spreadsheets as Director of HR. I would assume that amount has only increased with being CEO? I wonder what kinds of spreadsheets an Alliance leader uses day to day. Is there anything you could share with us?

Jilokari Kurvora:
Oh my word, the spreadsheets,  there are so many, but not that many that I need to use Day to Day thankfully. I do like to know what’s happening across the Alliance so I will dip in and out of them as I need to, but luckily I have a great group of Directors and Managers who are closer to the day to day sheets.  Ideally I only really need to step in where there is an issue. My most used sheet at the moment would be **Redacted** 

Hideo Date:
Always upholding OPsec…fair enough 🙂 

Could you enlighten us then about your plans for the future of EVE University? Are you planning to continue the trajectory Laura has set over the years, or do you want to change course? Do you have any specific plans or ideas for your time as CEO you could talk about?

Jilokari Kurvora:
I think you’ve already seen a little of that. Over the past year I’ve been working very closely with Laura on the transformation of EVE University. I’m passionate about reconnecting with our roots of being a beacon of knowledge and learning for any player in New Eden, modernising how we educate and inform and continue to provide a safe space for all those who wish to learn. I also think that it’s easy to overcomplicate a system over time, so I’m keen on continuing to simplify as much as possible so that we have enough structure to operate but not so much that we prevent people getting out and enjoying the game.

Hideo Date:
Any closing statement? Maybe some wisdom for the people out there that are striving to be a CEO as well?

Jilokari Kurvora:
As I said when I stepped up I have an awesome team of Directors, Managers and Officers as well as an amazing membership to help keep me honest and true, bring levity or provide perspective when needed. If I was giving any advice to someone who wanted to become a CEO it would be this:  you don’t need to know everything,  you don’t need to do everything, but you do need a great team to help fill the gaps and provide counsel to help you understand.   

Faces of EVE University: Laura Karpinski, former CEO

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Hideo Date:
It has been a few years since our last interview. Thank you for taking the time again!
As it stands you just stepped down from your position as CEO of EVE University. May I ask what made you decide to do that, and why now?

Laura Karpinski:
Being CEO is a wonderful, rewarding but taxing job, and not one I had ever planned to do forever. To me, one of the biggest challenges involved in being a leader is ultimately replacing yourself. At the start of this year I had been CEO for 3 years and I had a great potential replacement in Jilokari Kurvora. So I figured this year would be a good time to focus on tying up loose ends for my period of leadership and transferring CEO over to Jilo. It just seemed like the best possible time to start that process of change.

Hideo Date:
Q: So tying into that could you maybe enlighten us a bit about the process of transferring the power of CEO in such a huge organisation? I am sure most of the details are opsec, but maybe you can give a general outline?

Laura Karpinski:
To start with I spoke with Jilo around March to get his thoughts on taking over as CEO. After some serious consideration he agreed he would be up for the massive challenge. Like Azmo before me, I figured that appointing Jilo initially as a second in command would enable me to gradually bring him up to speed on the various aspects of the alliance. There was a huge amount for him to get familiar with, and I know that I personally found it very useful before I took over when Azmo bounced ideas off me and took me through his thought process on making decisions, so I involved Jilo in making the CEO level decisions from when he became Director of Operations in April. Once we were both comfortable that he could step into my shoes we agreed a timescale together for me to step down and for him to take over. We get along really well so it was honestly a pleasure to work together on the transition. I will be there for Jilo as his biggest supporter and to answer questions or give a second opinion for as long as he needs.

Hideo Date:
Q: Seems like that process went quite smooth and natural. I guess having a good personal relationship helped a lot in that.

I am curious how these past years as CEO have treated you. Did you enjoy being in that position? Were there things you didn’t like about it?

Laura Karpinski:
Being CEO was a massive honour, and most of the time I loved it. Having the opportunity to make decisions for, and guide the direction of, a community and resource I love was fantastic. It was also a struggle sometimes; it can get pretty lonely being the person in charge, even in a community as lovely as this. The ultimate decision is yours to make and there can be a constant worry of whether you are doing the right thing, or doing enough. There will always be people who disagree with the decisions you make, and at times the criticism can get quite brutal. That was difficult to deal with, especially given my own mental health struggles. I’ve been upfront with EVE Uni management and members about the times I have struggled with depression, because I think it’s important to normalise talking honestly about mental health and the resources that we have out there, like the fantastic Broadcast 4 Reps. But mostly being CEO has been wonderful and I consider myself very lucky to have held that position.

Hideo Date:
I personally find it really important and impressive that you talk openly about your mental health. Especially as the (former) head of an integral organisation in the cruel Universe of New Eden. But even more as a guide for the real-life-people that make up our wonderful community. 

(EVE University specifically has done a number of events with Broadcast4Reps. The recording of the last event we did with them can be found here. Check out their in-game channel and Discord.)

Onto the next topic: Last time we talked about how you became CEO. This time could you enlighten us about how you solidified your position? Were there any struggles or pushback to overcome and if there were any, how did you deal with them?

Laura Karpinski:
There wasn’t a lot of pushback, generally people were very welcoming and willing to give me a shot. Some people were (and are still) surprised to find out I’m female. EVE is certainly a game with fewer female players, though there are a lot of corps and groups with strong female leadership and I love to see it. It’s tough sometimes to find the balance between being “the Boss”, but being seen as unapproachable and being a friendly leader but not taken seriously. At times I’ve gone too far either way, but I like to think I got the balance right mostly, particularly towards the end of my time as CEO when I was more confident in my decisions and had great backup and support.

Hideo Date:
Q: Honestly coming back to EVE Uni after a two year break felt a bit like coming home for me. But I also noticed that lots had changed – White 0rchid hinted at a few things in our interview as well. I see that we heightened our efforts to push back against war targets and do structure bashes regularly. I also noticed some changes to the rules. But the biggest thing I noticed is that the directorate and management seem to have found their undock buttons again and are way more out and about. What happened? 

Laura Karpinski:
There have been a lot of changes while I have been CEO. There has been a cultural shift really in terms of what is expected from Uni leadership. Jilo and I cut the management team numbers in half, and have set expectations in terms of activity. It’s an old joke that Directors have their undock button confiscated here, but that’s out of date. All our Directors are active in game, myself included, and I think that is actually very important. You can’t make good management decisions if you do not play the game. We’ve had a lot of previous members come back to EVE Uni over the last few months, I think partially because of the way the corp has changed. Their support and knowledge have been really invaluable.

Hideo Date:
I fully agree with it being important and love that the non-functioning undock button is now an old trope. 

To further elaborate on the developments over the years: what do you think were the biggest changes in EVE University during your tenure?

Laura Karpinski:
I have tried as much as possible to remove red tape and bureaucracy, including loosening a lot of rules and entry requirements (such as allowing people to join with alts). I have also focused on taking the Uni back to its roots, as a neutral training organisation, by reassessing and redefining our relationship with third parties and bringing the focus back to education. Finally, I’ve tried to bring things more up to date, with things like moving to Discord, building up more of a social media presence and facilitating things like teaching classes through Twitch and Discord.

Hideo Date:
I think the more modern face of the Uni really shines bright and gets us ready for the third decade!

To round out our talk I would like to hear what your plans are for the future. I take it you will still be around for a while as you just took on a newly created position in the Uni. Could you maybe tell us a little about that?

Laura Karpinski:
Jilo asked me to take on a position as a Director after I stepped down. I was of course happy to do that, on the condition that my new role was something where I could really be useful to him and the community. We settled on creating the Director of Alliance Services, which covers several departments doing alliance level work – Diplomacy, Communications, Finance and the FC Team. I think this is a good match for my experience running the Alliance and something where I can really put my knowledge to good use. I already have so much more time on my hands, which is great. In terms of the game more generally – over the past few months, with Jilo taking on some of the CEO burden, I have personally undocked more than I ever have. I love playing the game right now – joining fleets, mining, learning new things after all these years. It’s really exciting. 

Hideo Date:
Q: Any closing words, former Overlady? 

Laura Karpinski:
I could not have chosen a better successor than Jilo, I’m delighted that the Uni is in safe hands and I firmly believe he will continue to make awesome changes to make the Uni a better place to be as a member and a better resource for the EVE community. It’s always going to be bittersweet handing over the reigns of a group I have been involved with for so long, but I’m really excited about what the future will bring and spending my newly increased free time playing this game.

Faces of EVE University: Santa Kingswell

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Gather round Unistas and settle in, as tonight we have a Christmas tale like no other.

I was lucky enough to be granted an interview with EVE’s very own Santa Kingswell!

Auron Delarnu:
Santa, it’s an honour to get the chance to interview you and thank you for taking time out of your schedule, especially at what I imagine is your busiest time of year!

Q: When reading the History of Earth, It is stated that Santa lived at the North pole, wore lots of red and had a white beard. Given the new looks; are you the same Santa or a relative? And where do you operate from nowadays?

Santa Kingswell:
Oh well, those were the old days. Very old days indeed…before the jump through the Wormhole to New Eden. Before the Collapse of the Edengate. I was around back then on old Earth!

But with mankind reaching for the stars, I had to evolve my operation as well. In today’s day and age my operation – or shall I say corporation – is located in Polaris.

And in regard to my appearance – let’s just say that Mrs. Clause had a few discreet words with me, and changes were made. 

Auron Delarnu:
Q: Obviously you have a fantastic ride that must have been upgraded to reach incredible speeds, to be able to deliver all the presents in one night, to thousands of planets. If you had to trade it in for something from the ship tree what would you pick and why?

Santa Kingswell:
Well nowadays a Sleigh drawn by Reindeer just won’t do. I can not share the secret of my upgraded Sleigh – or should I say Sleighs. But If I had to pick an ordinary ship, I would probably choose a fleet of Cranes, piloted by myself and my trusty elves.

Auron Delarnu
Q: Regarding the need for speed, is that why you have reached out to the University, to help make sure everyone gets something for Christmas?

Santa Kingswell:
Oh, it was an easy choice for me. I do deliver my gifts all over the universe and I wanted to make sure to also reach Capsuleers and not just ordinary planetary citizens of all nations. And where would it be easier to reach a high number of deserving Capsuleers from my ‘nice-list’ than Eve Uni?

Auron Delarnu:
Q: Presumably manufacturing is a big part of your EVE life but when you do have some down time what do you like to do in game?

Santa Kingswell:
Yes indeed, manufacturing and research play a big role. But to round it all off I and my elves like to explore in our special cloaked ships. This allows us to make up our naughty and nice lists throughout the year!

Auron Delarnu:
Q: With you being witness to all of EVE’s history, you have seen everything from the birth of EVE Uni all the way through to its current day. What are your thoughts on how the Uni and the wider game itself have evolved?

Santa Kingswell:
Oh, I mostly keep to myself and my operation but just from my numbers I can see that Eve Uni is thriving with good and wholesome Capsuleers. With every year my ‘nice’-list gets longer and longer and my ‘naughty’-list shorter and shorter, with this year reaching peak numbers! This is a happy development for me. 

As for the entirety of New Eden? I would not dare to offer judgment on it all but there are many good Capsuleers out there that spread joy and cheer, that look out for each other and offer help where it’s needed. 

Just to name two concrete examples: 
A person stranded in a dark Wormhole might find a container left by others to Signal the way back into known space. 

Someone struggling can literally ‘Broadcast for Reps’ and find others willing to help.

It is examples like these that show me that – even in dark times – there is light in New Eden.

Auron Delarnu:
Q: Further to that, with the changing of the guard (so to speak) in a new CEO for the Uni, what do you predict for the coming year of the Uni, and are both Jilokari Kurvora and Laura Karpinski on your naughty or nice list?

Santa Kingswell:
I am unable to predict the future, but as I said my numbers are looking good. So, if the trend continues as it has the past few years, I see some bright and cheery Christmases ahead of EVE University.

As for young Laura and Jilo, well I can tell you that both of them do write to me each year and, whilst they both have a little bit of a naughty streak – especially that Laura -, so far, I have visited them every year.

Auron Delarnu:
Q: In my historical readings, it mentioned that traditional offerings were left out as last-minute bribes for you. What sort of offerings are left out for you now?

Santa Kingswell:
Oh, I do distance myself from the word ‘bribes’! I see it more as goodhearted little gifts in the spirit of Christmas! This tradition has not changed much over the years, I still get cookies and milk left out to strengthen me during my long working night and a few young ones try to write especially convincing letters.

Auron Delarnu:
If I may, I would like to do a quickfire round with you? 

Q: Let’s start easy, what’s your favourite colour?
– The bright blue of the nebulas of Polaris. 

Q: Are you magical or technologically advanced?
– A little bit of both. One has to move with the times.

Q: True or false – the Elves are really vat clones?
– False.

Q: Which is better – speed or cargo space?
– The right combination of both.

Q: True or false – you’re not delivering to the Triglavians?
– I cannot divulge this information.

Q: Are you a Graduate of the Uni?
– I have graduated from several universities back in my younger days on Old Earth.

Q: What has been your favourite event this year?
– EVE Uni’s secret Santa, but I might be a bit biased.

Q: And finally, if you could receive any gift what would it be?
– The nice letters I receive are my personal gifts.

Auron Delarnu:
Q: With this year’s Secret Santa well under way, are there any messages from our members that have particularly stood out to you and why?

Santa Kingswell:
Several. Whilst I cannot share specific insights into the event, I take my greatest joy in reading the messages people send to me and their secret Santa’s after receiving their gift.

To give you some anonymous quotes from some of these:

“(…) For Bob’s sake! Why did you make it so wonderful!?”

“(…) It is so beautiful. I don’t know who you are secret Santa…but it brought tears to my eyes.”

“(…) You succeeded in making me laugh, a lot.”

Messages like these spread that warm and wholesome wintery spirit I do so cherish.

Auron Delarnu:
Q: Any final message for all the Unistas at this festive time?

Santa Kingswell:
Wherever you are I hope you find cheer and joy in the coming days. Especially with a turbulent past year do not forget that there are people out there who you can count as your friends (even if they sometimes shoot at you :)), people who are here for you and accept you the way you are. Fly safe. 

Auron Delarnu:
Thank you, Santa, and good luck on Christmas eve (and EVE ;))