In The News Vol. #2

In The News
Vol. #2

Busy work. I think that pretty much defines most of our real lives at the moment. As the fall season kick starts, a lot of us are having to let that old cardinal rule, RL > EVE, take precedence.

However, things keep moving in game, and while we have this prolonged lull in activity overall, the officers and leadership in the corporation and alliance are brainstorming the winter expansion, with all kinds of entertaining notions of becoming dominant enough to control our own little nook of space someday soon.

Here are some notable events in the past week, and some still to come:

• Dante Fateor leaves legacy.

Dante Fateor, though not as active as some of us, made his presence known through dedicated service, participation, and commitment whenever he had the opportunity to do so. He has, however, decided that EVE is not the game for him. Much to my surprise, and gratitude, he has left the AU-F with a sizable dowry, assortment of ships, and materials. All these donated materials and liquid assets have either been placed in savings, converted into four new laboratories for research, or tossed into the corporate hangar, save the Raven. The ship, originally named Purgatory, has been newly christened Dante's Inferno, and will remain so as one of the flagships of the AU-F fleet, flown by yours truly.

Good tidings to you Dante Fateor, and good luck.

• Fogwlker: Inactive.

Our friend Fogwlker appears to have given into real life pressures and left the world of EVE behind as was expected in the long run, though I wish it could have been any other way. Having lost their respective jobs, Fog and his roommate both slowly dwindled from the spotlight in our entertainment world. Fog hung in there, after I encouraged him to farm for GTCs so he could continue playing, but in the end, grinding for game currency when you are watching your real bank account dwindle is not really that entertaining I imagine. Sadly, I have no idea if this is merely an extended break while he gets his financial situation under control, or if he has given up on the game itself after working tirelessly to research various ship BPOs from his POS. The last word I had was he was closing one of his accounts, and wanted to sell or hand over control of his existing POS in space.

Best of luck to you Fogwlker, if we do not see you again somewhere down the line. This corporation would not be as far along as it is if you had not propelled us into the game with your sizable donation of time and effort to encourage and provide us with the opportunity to place our first POS in space. You will be remembered!

• Providence getting crowded.

Well, in light of recent announcements concerning null security space, I am apt to believe that this problem is only an interim situation, and that once the winter expansion is released it will no longer factor in as it does now. Suffice it to say, every other system in Providence is inhabited by half a dozen or more ratters at all times of day, and it is really putting a crimp in the style of many members of the AU-F. Not only do these ratters often deliberately sabotage the belts in order to drive others away, but they are rarely the kind you see within fleets in space defending the very land which they are milking dry. Neutrals. When I came to Providence they were plentiful and often times very generous and giving when it came to defending the land they lived off. Now all I see half the time are farmers who take their ISK and run; nameless corporations and alliances you never see representation of either in the security channels or in defense of Providence. Sad.

• Bill's RL takes center stage.

Bill's father is signing over one of his restaurants to his son. In the coming weeks Bill is going to be inundated with paperwork, red tape, and new responsibilities. Hopefully somewhere in the mix there will be some entertaining times and stories which will provide him with the opportunity to enjoy himself. However, he has graciously stepped down from his role as a Manufacturing manager for the corporation, or at least, it seems, offered to let someone else fill his position until he has a handle on his real life. I will be filling his position for now, until we know more about whether he will have more free time in the near future or not.

• Mithos' long incubation period over.

Mithos enters the record books within the corporation, as far as I know, for the longest incubation period as a PvP pilot. Some twelve months ago I rolled him, intending to go straight down the battleship tree, and I have succeeded in this endeavor, although he may not be maximized, he has certainly earned his stripes in my mind as a pilot to contend with. Sporting a +900DPS Geddon, and maximum drone damage Dominix build, he can certainly hold his own in the world of battleships. However, this past weekend I took him for a spin, finally, to actually shoot at something! Imagine that. Twelve months old and he gets his first real combat experience. And what an experience! I have to say, I have been more than impressed with how well a Sniper Cane performs and will be using them frequently in the future. Now it's onwards to Thanatos training. Only 110 more days to go!

• Mendolus trains Basilisk/Vulture.

Surprise! I just switched my training. It will be another three months until I even touch Basilisk or Vulture. Why? Well, besides the Nighthawk, which is really king of PvE, but doubles nicely as a meat shield and bait in PvP, I have done nothing but train fleet oriented skills on Mendolus since day one. That was a year and a half ago. It is time for me to take a slice for myself and be selfish with my CEO account. So I am training Golem, which will be a seriously delicious guilty pleasure once I perfect the build at the beginning of January. Sporting variable DPS from 700-950 at a range of 0-45km, with a +1200 permatank, two tractors with 40km range and 1 km/s velocity, and a salvager, and a 1,225 m3 cargo bay, this boat pretty much leaks ISK out of every orifice. Why train it when I have a Nighthawk already? Well the Nighthawk may be king, but the Golem is the Prime Minister, and we all know in most monarchies today, who's boss. The Nighthawk's only flaw is that it does it too well. And while it will punch through nearly any mission, I am still left with that nagging problem of how to mop up the mess I make while I work, as those of us who occasionally do L4s know, the ninja salvagers are only getting worse, as Empire becomes more and more bloated with carebears. Now, while I really should be ratting, I cannot, and there is no telling how long after the winter expansion it will be until the solar systems in Providence have been progressed to the point that they can financially support not only us but the other residents. So I need a money machine, and the Golem is just that. Plus, it's about damn sexy, so why not? We will just ignore the 1,000,000,000.00 ISK price tag for now, okay? Hehe.

• Kai flies it old school.

Kaijusan has come into the corporation like a cowboy through the saloon doors, with a grin on his face, a shot of whiskey in his hand from the last saloon, and a six shooter still smoking in his belt. I have been very impressed with his energy, positive attitude, humor, and initiative. Showing up in a T1 frigate for tackle on our null roam, and hearing him yell out "Point!" numerous times, and then making it through the night without being popped, is what it is all about. I always laud the fact that we have free frigates for all members who want them, and no one uses them (which is fine), but Kai rolls in with a T1 frigate like a champ, so here's to Kai! May he take the small army of frigates I have produced, and turn them into angry hornets, ready to wail on some hostiles!

• Lindsey goes native.

Lindsey has decided to take on a project of his own and turn pirate and has thus left the corporation. His highwayman aspirations are often entertained by many of us, but at the end of the day, we all choose to build things up, rather than tear them down. However, there is much to be said about pursuing one's goals of being a pure gunslinger, and dashing around space solo, picking fights at will. Good luck to Lindsey in his endeavors to define himself within the game as an independent force! Maybe one day he shall return to us, with grit in his teeth, and a glint in his eye, and show our enemies what a real pirate can do!

• DPhentum rejoins AU-F.

Denis returns after a short absence from the game, Myrmidon in hand, hoping to take a slice for himself out of Providence hostiles. Always one for a good time, Denis is a steady presence in null security and is not afraid to mix it up with the hostiles should they bear down on him. Many good times to be had in the future I am sure. Welcome back bro!

• Jay returns soon from harvest.

Jay (Mia), the pilot formerly known as Staigor, has been furiously harvesting his rice crops out in California, and says that soon he shall return triumphant from one of the hardest seasons on record, with nothing but free time until April of next year. That is almost six months straight of nothing but PvP loving from our master combat pilot! Look for him in a fleet near you, guns blazing, tearing into the hulls of every hostile ship in sight, laughing in joy as he watches the shiny explosions and cataclysms.

• A good night.

Varian Knight is back with pizazz. Taking the fleet out for a roam this past Saturday, he shows us all what it means to be a combat pilot in EVE, and gave us the opportunity to rearrange the faces of a few reds in Providence, sometimes in most humorous ways. The fleet was a great success with no losses and multiple kills, and everyone was grateful to have our old FC back at the helm. We who are about to die, salute you!

• Upcoming vacation for Mendolus.

I will be going to Colorado on the 2nd of October and not returning until Sunday the 10th. My grandfather is 93 years old this year and my family and I would like to see him while we still have him in our lives. He is a WWII veteran of Iwo Jima among other notable engagements, and I am very proud of his legacy. Before it was popular to cite the fact that the Iwo Jima flag raising was staged after the fact in order to snap a more photogenic picture he was telling me all about how the real guys raised a flag on a stick when the hill was first captured. Who in their right mind would lug a twelve foot metal pole up the side of a hill during an active engagement anyways, just to put a flag up?

• Providence space cools, relatively.

Well. This is all relative of course, as it comes and goes for no apparent reason these days, but low security space and Providence in general have cooled in the past week. From multiple hostile gangs of more than twenty a piece to a few small roaming gangs every other night or so, it seems our hostile friends are getting bored with staring at bubbled outposts and being chased out by the inevitable bevy of blues bent on their annihilation. I could say more on this, but suffice it to say I believe the real root of the problem is that the game has been divided equally in parts between West and East since the fall of BOB and the only thing keeping these halfwits entertained is taking large fleets into regions like Providence where they will not face greater repercussions for bloodying some noses. If it were up to me, I would lead gangs every other night of more than a hundred, to stamp out these opportunists, and give them something to think about. But that's just me.

• New corporate schedule active!

Although not a pressing matter, and certainly not enforced as much as it could be, we have now implemented the new format for corporate scheduling. As a reminder, here are the basic guidelines.

1) On casual days, the officers and managers get the day off, and everyone is left pretty much to their own devices, although gangs for this and that should and can form for whatever reasons people desire. No, this is not necessarily for them to sit back and sip gin and juice while getting a curious massage from some scantily clad lady, but more so they can get business done. A lot of us in the leadership have responsibilities that simply cannot get done unless we have free time. Hauling, administrating, refueling, planning, discussing, debating, and brainstorming are part of what goes on for us on casual nights. And yes, a little lining of our wallets will go on as well. I myself have about 7.2bil worth of skillsheets and ships on my docket for the next three month period, so I will be sitting down and carebearing pretty hardcore now that we have Varian back to help with the PvP aspect, and Jay coming back soon as well.

2) On corporate days, you guessed it, you are expected to team up with people in the corporation in order to further our interests as a whole. Whether this is by joining mining, combat, carebear, exploratory, or hauling and logistics fleets, you help yourself out by helping everyone else. This is not a hard and fast rule, and some nights we have may events planned, and others we may just all log on and ask ourselves, "What we we wanna do tonight?" but the general idea is that these nights, you should be working together. Those who are found to regularly participate in these corporate activities may also conveniently find themselves eligible for public research access, priority in manufacturing when resources are stretched thin, or even Senate membership.

3) On alliance days, you can pretty much expect much of the same, except at the alliance level. Everyone knows what usually occurs on alliance days already, so there is no need for further examination.

• Merth announces ore program

Covered last week and thus far extremely successful. Once again, Merth proves why he is the goto guy in his boss' restaurant empire, and why he was recently given ownership of multiple restaurants and a big promotion! Go Merth!

• Public recruitment closed.

This is going to be discussed at length, but the basic idea is we have a new recruitment platform and it will be implemented shortly. We have had a problem so far getting the numbers we have always wanted, but this will change. We no longer have the luxury of waiting for members to find us, and we must seek them out more than ever to prepare for the winter expansion. New members like GRIEV, Kai, Blurtie, BJ, and more (you know who you are) are hard to come by and I intend to find them all!

• AU-F Senate sets 3mil SP limit.

This is more important now than it ever has been. We need to recruit only those who are ready, capable, able, and relatively experienced enough to come straight out to low and null and live there with us. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of allowing people to linger around in Empire, if we are going to make a stand in null and become a player in the political arena, and also claim a slice for ourselves, which I believe is a notable goal for a null sec Alliance such as ours, we need to gather about us only those who are ready to undock at a moment's notice and fly our banner in combat.





So, that wraps up this past week, and a majority of this week's business. I wish that I could elaborate more like I have in the past, but I'm feeling pretty drained this week, as I am sure some of you noticed I have been less vocal for a few days. This stuff while extremely satisfying is tireless and I am only human, so please excuse me while I try to lay low for a bit, to catch my breath. Plus, I go on vacation soon, so I need to wind down a bit like I did before my eye surgery, and let you guys run the show (which you do better than I do, honestly) while I am absent for an entire week straight.