Forward Planning

I am stuck in an oil rig in the North Sea at the moment and will be for the next week. Internet access is limited to pokey wee computer rooms and a patchy connection – very ‘Internet Cafe circa 2003’ type thing going on.

I put a shout out on twitter a couple of days ago asking for some ideas for quick and easy future blog posts on the site and received two standout ideas. The first was from from SunSeer who came up with the following suggestion:

@midi2304 how about how skill point level, effects a players ability to be effective in solo pvp and or fleets? #tweetfleet

Which is frankly, a brilliant idea. The problem with this topic though is that it is pretty much the polar opposite of ‘quick and easy’. There is so much potential depth here to this subject that the mind boggles but I have huge sympathy for new players struggling to find their path in New Eden, particularly in null. As such, this is definitely a series of articles you can expect in the coming future once I have sat down and did a bit of studying and planning. There are so many ways a new player with relatively low experience and XP (not always the same thing) can be effective and useful in a fleet and anything which gets this info out to them can only make the game better for the rest of us.

The second idea came from the wonderful Rhianna Kurosawa (who it transpires I went to Naval College in Dartmouth with). He took a slightly different approach:

@midi2304 tactics for the re-rolled frigates? Potential fits/rolls for small gang roams?

@midi2304 hmm, start with the merlin, then once a fortnight do one of the others, for your own mini series #CrossingZebras FTW

Which is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. This idea works on many levels for me personally. It gives me the opportunity to write a regular, hopefully weekly article on CZ, both giving and I’m sure receiving advice on how to fly the newly tweaked frigates in game. It also gives me a chance to expand my EVE repertoire of ship knowledge and experience. Up to now, I’ve pretty much only flown Rifters because, hey, I love flying them things. This gives me an excuse to dabble in some different frigates and see what works for me as well as interact with the community to find out what they think. My aim is to get the first one of these done next week starting with the Rifter seeing as I’m not going to have many opportunities to log in between now and then! However Rhianna, I promise week two to cover the Merlin and give you the feedback of my (in)experience.

Catch you all when I get back from the middle of the North Sea!

Until then, fly safe

Xander