ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??!!

 "'E's fighting in there!" he stuttered, grabbing the captain's arm.
"All by himself?" said the captain.
"No, with everyone!" shouted Nobby, hopping from one foot to the other.
-- Making Friends and Hitting People
(Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)

I have never supported the idea of Arenas in EVE, I never had a need to, as the 1/10 and 2/10 plexes always supplied what I thought were Arenas, but made so by the players themselves.

So now that CCP have taken away player made arenas without a proper explanation, even though we, the arena Gladiators, have specifically asked for one and been ignored.
I propose Combat Arenas be introduced into the systems  that were home to the 2/10s that allow only frigates and destroyer hulls inside, anything outside, but no cloaks... At all.

Not sure how to make them worthwhile, the 2/10s, whilst not massive ISK printers, could always lure players who wanted to try their hand at some lowsec shenanigans without risking their shiny big ships, which is why they were perfect meeting spots for rascally types to violence each other.
Don't know about the highsec plexes but the lowsec plexes were policed by the players, even with the limited resources we had available to us to do so, but anybody who tried to run the 2/10 in Gus whilst I was online knows exactly what can happen.

I even have a name for these Arenas, [Insert System Name] Coliseum, Maybe have a point system whereby you score a single point for each gladiatorial kill and lose a point foe each death made inside the coliseum, with a built in ranking system.

Or scratch the ranking system, not sure I like that idea, but anyways, this is just something I've been thinking about.

I'm still out there, in space, doing my thing, having some fun with some rather unconventional ships, and I'm loving the new gate gun mechanics.

The wheel never stops turning...

- "What're quantum mechanics?"
- "I don't know. People who repair quantums, I suppose."

-- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)

I haven't met with a great deal of success since my return to Gusandall , certain miscalculations and general combat rustiness making me seem less than competent. I have bitten off more than I can chew on occasion and made great errors in judgement on others. Recent redesigns of favourite ships has made them slightly less stellar than they have been in the past and made others more potent than I remember but that just makes me more determined to make them work.

My lack of intel seems to be a quite large factor in my failures. The 1v1s I've lost were mainly down to me misjudging my opponents and failure to pilot properly, seems my long break had a greater impact than I first thought.

Or could it be that my heart just isn't in it anymore? Maybe I've lost that passion that drove me all these years to be a name, a force to be reckoned with, not just another in a long line of faces that nobody remembers.

Kane needs his mojo back.

The wheel never stops turning...

That only matters to the people on the rim.

Pride and Extreme Prejudice, a Pirates Perspective Gank Night

"It's going to look pretty good, then, isn't it," said War testily, "the One Horseman and Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse."
-- The Four Horsemen of the Apocralypse encounter unexpected difficulties
(Terry Pratchett, Sourcery)

I've been thinking about doing something special for those of you who have been reading a Pirates Perspective, reading the lunacy and sometimes lucid thoughts of one who flies alone for the most part.

One of the things I'm pondering, other than total domination of the universe, is a Gank Night, first pioneered by the denizens of the Scrapheap Challenge forums (Now known as Failheap Challenge) then German and Russian EVE forums and RvB.

I have an idea, the idea being I take a bunch of readers out on a roam and then promptly die to the guys with more ECM than DPS, but above all I want to have fun.

I have three themes:

Cruisers of a Lesser Evil™

Something different, maybe an AHAC style gang using the lesser knwon tech 1 cruisers

Alpha Thrasher Army

Does exactly what it says on the tin, Arty Thrashers, in a group, fuck most everything up, will have one or two Sabres along for tackle.

And BUBBLES!!!!!

LOT'S OF FUCKING BUBBLES!!!!! aka Interdictor Fleet.
Any interdictor, as long as when we warp on grid and everyone drops bubble, the hostile fleet goes:


It's only an idea at the moment, I'll need to take a weekend off work to accomplish said task so a date isn't available and see what kind of interest there is and what numbers would be involved, but it's a totally awesome wicked idea that will involve serious fun times for everyone.
Join ingame chat channel 'NovaKane' or reply here if this interests you in some way

Garmonation 9

I've never made a PvP video, even though I've always had dreams of making the bestest, most well edited, awesomest soundtrack with most unbelievably tense and exciting fights. But if I did, it would almost be something like this:


Fakes and Posers

A few weeks back y'all may recall my epic solo of a carrier, well, there wasn't a killmail and as such, there is no record of me ever killing said carrier, other than my word , game logs (Which never show anything according to the powers that be) and a screenshot.

Some folk however, purporting to be paragons of virtue, slayers of the unjust and all round goody two shoes have gone and posted a fake carrier killmail.

Altaen > Well, if I'm mad, it's because my buddy Dame is stirring up shit over a fake carrier mail that I had nothing to do with other than the fact that I cause the carrier in question to self-destruct

EM be mad cause they are now tarred with the same brush of the Coalition they work with, FC for and are now trying to distance themselves from. Should have taken the Purple Koolaid when I offered it.

Destruction and Democracy

I must confess the the activities of the UK governments for the past couple of years have been watched with frank admiration and amazement by Lord Vetinari. Outright theft as a policy had never occured to him.

-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

Seems I was able to kill a Dramiel and a Daredevil last night in quick succession, don't remember much about it except I was hunting a Claw I think. It was late, I was tired but the killmails are here and the loot was in my cargo this afternoon when I got in. I apologise to my opponents, I really wish I could remember more about the fight, it looks like it was epic. (I wasn't drunk or high by the by, I've been Straight Edge for almost nine months now \o/)

In other news, voting has opened for the CSM and I cast my vote and got my associates and family to do the same. The votes were split between Prometheus Exenthal and Seleene.

Edit: Dragon Age II is out, I may be missing for a few days ;)

[OOC] Can it be done?

"Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time."
-- Bursar 1 - Hex 0
(Terry Pratchett, Hogfather)

Someone over at Ars Technica's gaming forum aka Gaming, Extra Strength Caplets' EVE online thread asked this question

What I'm trying to ask is if a mostly solo PVPer can enjoy Eve?

This was my reply:

Solo PvP/Piracy is very viable but you have to be dumb as me to enjoy it

Edit: To expand a bit, solo PvP/Piracy has been the single most challenging and rewarding gaming I have ever taken part in. It takes a lot of skill to be successful and a fuck ton of luck, you also rely on your opponents being dumber than you are (Which is not actually that difficult)

Starting out you are going to spend a lot of ISK, to the point of bankruptcy, you will get frustrated at the lack of targets and the fact when you do find a target, you'll get blobbed, more times than Oprah's been to the buffet table.

You'll roam countless systems for days, sometimes weeks, without nought to show but a pretty light show when you click 'systems visited' on the IG Map.

You'll eventually find someone, go through the mantra "Lock, scram, web and unleash hell" only for him to warp away, get used to it, also get used to screaming "STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABS" like Kirk shouts "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN"

You'll find a lone frigate in a belt, you'll engage him, he'll engage back, you think you have a fight only for him to decloak his Falcon alt and jam you, till you die, he'll then type GF in local as you warp your pod away.

You'll find a fight, a good fight, where every thing goes perfectly... And it fades to black.

Solo PvP/Piracy whilst frustrating and difficult is the pinnacle of EVE PvP, in my very humble opinion. It's ALL about the hunt, being able to use your scanner effectively, being able to narrow down a target sharply is one of the key skills you'll need to learn and it can't be taught, you need to practice, practice, practice.

The other key skill is patience, patience, patience and just when you thought it was over, more patience.

There's a reason I've been so successful, there's a reason that even though I've been out of game for extended periods this year my BC rank is still under 230.

The reason...

After almost four years of soloing in EVE Online...

I'm still an idiot

Kane Rizzel > you know it's bait, everybody know's it's bait, even the bait knows you know but he still wonders why the fuck you're attacking... and that my friends is when you have the upper hand

Also, it is good sometimes to have friends, just saying

I apologise for my absence recently but I've been out enjoying my hard earned leave with flashes of Real Life™ and Black Ops.

The upper hand

Kane Rizzel > you know it's bait, everybody knows it's bait, even the bait knows you know but he still wonders why the fuck you're attacking... and that my friends is when you have the upper hand

One Beeeellion ISK

"Not a man to mince words. People, yes. But not words."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

So what's cracking? Fill me in on what's happening in the world of EVE... Please.
Reading various websites about the goings on of CCP and EVE Online is enough to give an aspirin a headache, so I turn to you, the players of EVE to educate me.

Three optional patches to fix a patch? Micro-transactions? Rocket boost? (Rocket Spec IV represent)
Is this all just an elaborate troll?

I miss EVE, I truly do. There's nothing quite like the social aspect of the game to be found anywhere. Sure you can have fun with other games but EVE is about people and while from my point of view, CCP doesn't really care about the people that pay them to play their game, it's the people that make the game what it is.

Kane Rizzel has been running around Battlefield Bad Company 2 stabbing wookies and reviving fallen comrades with shock paddles, but I don't know any of these comrades. He has also been enjoying the Medal of Honor open beta but again doesn't know any of these people.

Now you'll ask yourself why I care? Why a solo pirate who shied away from flying with others in an MMO would seek the company of others?

Well, I like to talk, I never shut up, unless you're an attractive woman then I clam up and can't get a word out. But EVE was probably the best chat client, ever. You got to shoot stuff and talk with other people shooting stuff, fucking brilliant.

Here I am, on the raggedy edge, undecided. I turn to my readers, what's left of them for help, but this help will not go unrewarded.

One Billion ISK to the person who presents the most compelling reason/s for me to return.
It can be anything from art, poetry, threats or fiction. Be creative but also informative, like you're trying to sell the game to the most discerning of Pirates.
Deadline for entries will be when I have some leave in a few weeks time (Can't remember when I booked it for but I know I booked some leave... I think)

Will the Rizzels and associates make a return to New Eden?
Will Kane ever find happiness?
Will Justin Bieber ever hit puberty?

It's up to you :)

Oh, bee tea double you, I've been clean and clear for 16 weeks \o/

Huggs and kisses

Kane

Stay strong and never surrender

Real Life: An MMO without boundaries

Hello there :)

I... Am... Still... Alive.
And stronger than ever.

Almost two months since CCP gave me the opportunity to kick yet another nasty habit, I thought I'd give an update.

I am now eleven weeks Clean and Clear. I quit smoking, drinking and drugs. At the time I also needed to get rid of other disruptive crutches in my life and EVE had to go. I still miss the game, the friends I had made and especially chatting to the guys from Mean Coalition.

I am however not coming back... Not just yet :) I won't say never but real life has become more interesting to me than games.

In this time away I've started running again, gone on dates, braved nightclubs sober and not punched anybody, failed at the dating :) hung out with friends and watched a ton of movies.
I started playing other games and learnt I really suck at FPS although I giggle like a motherfucker every time I stab a sniper aka wookie in Bad Company 2.
I have in general just enjoyed life.

Y'all stay strong and never surrender :)
Hugs and Kisses

Kane

[OOC] Back and how the loot gods have smiled

"Not a man to mince words. People, yes. But not words."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

I'm back from my adventure to Geneva, have finally gotten all my stuff moved to the new place, hooked up the computers and got the internet running. Have also got a PS3 for the new place so I've been kinda distracted but logged in this evening to be greeted by a Navy Scorpion fighting some Mean Coalition in Gus.

The tank was epic and was easily handling the assembled posse but then a few more of us landed on the gate with Neuts and exploded him. The loot gods smiled. The guy had killed two Abaddons so was no mug and he was quite graceful in defeat. Kudos to him for bringing that plaything to our home. Also caught a Loki jumping into Gus but he logged and paid the price.

Bad news is that I won't be as active as I have been in the past but I won't be quitting EVE or anything that daft, just I have a lot to do and to get sorted in my life, plus the PS3 will probably take me on new gaming adventures.

Y'all stay classy and till I see you again I leave you with a tune I'm really liking.

[OOC] The Lost Art

"If we find a cat I'm going to kick it!"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Only You Can Save Mankind)

I offered a 1v1 to a Dramiel pilot, my Jaguar against his Dramiel, which he declined stating "I don't trust you"
Something about having friends in system and a command ship pilot in the next system.

Well, I was rather insulted.

1v1 to me is sacred, I have never and will never dishonour them. This is something taken very seriously by Mean Coalition too.
I take great pains to put my opponents at ease, letting them form gang, choosing the safe spot etc.

The fact that dishonoured 1v1s have become such common place that even those that follow the unwritten rules of 1v1 are left being ridiculed as untrustworthy, is in my opinion a sad state of the universe and the game in general.

When I say unwritten rules of 1v1, it means those often agreed to before the fight, such as: To the ship, to the pod, no ECM etc.

I quite often offer 1v1s, as I find them a good test of my abilities and skill. I have in the past had some epic fights in such situations.

Now, the other nights insult got me a bit riled up and I had a small outburst in local chat, something about the Dramiel pilot lacking balls. On reflection this was not how I should act, even as a pirate I hold myself to a higher standard.

1v1s, much like ransoms have been spoiled by others, to the detriment of those that feel honour, even amongst thieves is something to keep.

(Highsec ransoms then gank are a different kettle of fish, I understand the reasons of these kinds of actions)

1v1s may be a lost art, but there are those out there who will honour them and I salute you and I for one will always hold them sacred.

Disclaimer: Well, the art isn't really lost, we know exactly where it is, now just to convince others to enjoy it.

[OOC] The Rocket Witchcraft

I'm a big fan of EVE PvP videos and as such have quite a large collection of various pilots doing there thing. I've always wanted to do one of my own but lack the the brains to remember to hit record and the kung fu of editing.

However there are plenty of quality videos out there and I thought I'd take the time to promote a fantastic video by Fon Revedhort called The Rocket Witchcraft which I discovered last night.

It showcases some amazing piloting and a certain bravado which is lacking recently in EVE and is well worth the download.

The eve-o thread is here.

The long dark

I think that sick people in Ankh-Morpork generally go to a vet. It's generally a better bet. There's more pressure on a vet to get it right. People say "it was god's will" when granny dies, but they get *angry* when they lose a cow.

-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

Upgrades to services cause a black out, when no pod pilot dare venture outside, it's these times when we reflect on what has gone before and live in hope for what is to come.



Much has changed, I've taken to flying the Abaddon a lot recently and I'm really enjoying it, sure it's slow but damn, it packs one helluva punch. I've started to fly with the Gusandall mob a lot more too and it's always a good laugh.

I've lost touch with friends in the Bastards but through no fault of theirs, their home in Evati not on my places to visit regularly. I don't roam as far as I used to, with limited time it is far easier to stay close to home.

It has been too long since I flew Interceptors and I desperately need to get back to them, same goes for the Rupture.

Keira can fly Carriers and Dreadnoughts, can shoot lasers, hybrids and projectiles but really needs to put her skills to use in combat.

Kenny, over a year as a pod pilot has become a devastating Tengu pilot and is responsible for running the Mended Drum, as well as production of rigs for me and vital research projects.

Our Covops friend is still doing her thing but has taken to doing some exploration on the side to fund her activities.

The Rizzel family is still going strong.

There have been times I've considered throwing the towel in but then the universe has so much to offer and there's so much to still do.

Where to from here, I don't know, all I know is, as Tessa Vaako would say, the future is exciting.

A sliver between me and the black

Had a close call in Nanny Ogg earlier this evening, news of a Maelstrom and Hyperion in Ingunn tiring the hornet's nest, the Gusandall locals all a buzz for a kill or two.

A small gang descends upon the Ingunn gate, all eager to engage either ship, Maelstrom had already jumped in and warped to the Eifer gate, Asss and I had landed on the Ingunn gate, a scout reports the Hyperion on the other side, we jump through as the Hyperion warps away to a planet, some follow but Nanny Ogg as I have mentioned is slow, just as I am about to enter warp it is reported the Hyperion has warped back to the gate, I cancel warp and approach the gate.

Hyperion lands, shortly followed by Assassin X in his Armageddon, Asss engages and forces the Hyperion through, I follow, once on the other side the Hyperion uncloaks almost instantly, as do I, engaging the instant the gate cloak wears off. The Maelstrom has entered Gusandall and warps in to help his friend, both decide Nanny Ogg to be the best choice of target.

Hyperion is primary, it goes down rather quickly, my armour creeping deep into the red, we all switch to the Maelstrom and it melts, just in time, only 4% armour between me and the cold embrace of space. Nanny Ogg stood firm as only she can, imperious.

A good if one sided fight, props to both pilots for engaging and especially to the Maelstrom pilot who came back to help his buddy even with the odds stacked against them.

Much thanks to Asssassin X who jumped into a Guardian to repair Nanny Ogg, saving me a whole bunch of ISK in station repair costs.

Stay Classy and catch you when the lights come back on.

[OOC] Winds of change

"Just because someone's a member of an ethnic minority doesn't mean they're not a nasty small-minded little jerk [...]"

-- (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

Needless to say, thinking about a lot of the stuff in my previous posts, I'm pretty much wrong about most all of it. I need a change to re invigorate my love of EVE, don't know when and if I'll find it but I have some Ideas.

The Ideas are just that at the moment and there's nothing concrete, I might fly in different parts of the universe, might join a corp and maybe, just maybe, do something so different it scares me.

I made a recruitment post on Scrapheap Challenge and there are one or two corps that interest me and as soon as my work schedule eases slightly I'll take the time to try and fly with one or two of them before making any decisions on that Idea. It is just an Idea and if one or two others come about I may just stay in NovaKane.

One Idea that intrigues me is one that will take quite some time and a whole lot of planning but it will be epic if I can pull it off. I will probably need one or more wingmen/women to actually make it work but I'm still toying with it.

That's all for now folks, just thought I'd update and write some stuff down to see how it looks.

Stay Classy

[OOC] The Zombie that is Solo Piracy

"Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time."

-- Bursar 1 - Hex 0 (Terry Pratchett, Hogfather)

I'd like to take a moment to respond to a comment on my last blog post. In the post I said:

I've become a dinosaur in EVE, the last of my kind. Solo Piracy may well and truly finally be dead.

It's been bothering me ever since I said it. Now I should probably explain what solo Piracy means to me.

Solo Piracy is one man against the universe, keep what you kill and have the freedom to do anything. Now I have been doing this for over two and a half years, in that time I have made a fuck load of ISK. I scoop every bit of loot, very rarely does anything really shiny drop but it does really add up, I estimate in this time I have made over 4 billion ISK purely off Piracy (Including Ransoms, ship hijacking and the rare shiny faction/deadspace drops)

At the end of the day it's just me. I have had the opportunity to fly with many other pilots, the like of flashfresh, Lucius Caine and Nozarro. I have flown in gangs with Mean Corp, The Bastards and others but when flying with them I have always declined any share of the loot as I'm a guest. Through all this I have remained in NovaKane, in this time I have turned down many offers to join other corps, for one reason, I would lose my freedom. "But you'll be ale to still fly solo" While true I'm going to say something now that will probably make me unpopular. If you're in a corp/alliance with other players, no matter how much you solo, YOU ARE NOT A SOLO PIRATE.

Now that is my opinion and I'm fucking entitled to it.

Sard Caid said...

Solo piracy doesn't die with Kane's dwindling interest in it, ha.

Hope your vacation from solo lowsec PvP works out for you.

Well, there aren't many like me, I suppose it's vain of me but I've done this a very long time, very few EVE players can make that claim. Two and a half years out of three and a half years in EVE I've been in NovaKane, causing havoc around Heimatar, a fucking long time in a game. I've done some awesome things but also made some stupendous mistakes, all without the luxury of calling for backup, Three members of NovaKane: Kane, Keira and an honorary spot for my friend Walter Tull (Who hasn't logged in for almost a year) that's it. Now people may say solo Piracy isn't dead, well, it's fucking close.

Solo PvP is still viable, I will always defend that. It's a hard road to travel but it can be done. Solo Piracy is still viable but don't fool yourself by thinking you're a solo Pirate if you're in a corp/alliance with other players. There is a difference between solo PvP and being a solo Pirate, I just hope people can understand this.

I probably should have clarified my statement in the previous blog to add that it's my opinion.

My previous blog was a ramble, just putting thoughts into text, but Sard did raise an interesting point and thank you for your well wishes, I do hope to find what I'm looking for and you never know, I may just yet drag the zombie corpse of solo Piracy around with me yet.

[OOC] Crossroads

PEOPLE'S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE. THE PROCESS IS CALLED 'LIVING'.

-- (Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent)

Yes, I'm still alive, no, I'm not fully back to EVE.

Yet again I'm at a crossroads in this marvellous universe, not really sure what I want to do. I've accomplished much in my time, much of which I've written about at one point or another, but you need goals to really keep you interested and to be brutally honest, I have none.

I set out two and a half years ago to forge a name for myself as a solo PvPer/Pirate and to a degree I have. Sure I've stuck to mainly flying small ships but that's my style, I'd much rather fly a Rifter than any other ship in the game.

The game has changed.

Two and a half years ago being a solo pilot in lowsec/nullsec was nigh impossible, yet I managed to do it. I made friends and enemies as I went about my business but there's only so much casual friendships can help you achieve in the game.

Many times I've found myself in situations where I was outnumbered many times over, the mighty Rifter no match for the assorted fire power and ECM availed against it. It was times like that I wish I had a gang of my own, a gang of like-minded individuals out for a suicidal attack, win or lose, good times.

Now I'm pretty gung ho about going into fights, but my suicidal nature has been tempered with the painfull reality that whilst I may be enjoying the moment, it's still a loss. Again, the reality of losses to a solo Pirate matter more than anything else, they affect the bottom line, profit.

I have many investments, enough ISK to last me a lifetime but one thing I've always maintained is that my lifestyle as a Pirate should fund itself and as such I'm loathe to dip into the corporate wallet. My time in EVE has seen me invest in Capital ship building projects, T2 invention & high end market manipulation. I own a T2 BPO, one particularly suited to my favourite class of ships, through this BPO I've been able to fund many of my interests over the years and with my investments in Capital programmes I have friends who have researched and manufactured for me. In the end it's not what you know but who you know.

I'm particularly interested in each of my characters being able to fund themselves, Keira has R&D as a major source of income, of course to get the R&D she had to grind missions, which was painful but paid off. A year or so ago I started her towards an Archon carrier, not touching any corp ISK, she ground out mission after mission to make the 2 Billion ISK for the skillbooks, hull and fittings. Again, missions are boring as all hell but they take very little effort and as such after a long day at work I can mindlessly grind them out. Skill wise, Keira is proficient in flying every ship Kane can although she is specced more towards larger ships. She has Battleship V in three races, maxed in Commandships, exceptional probing skills, all in all a very rounded character, not as focussed towards PvP as Kane but still very, very capable.

The special friend in her covops is absolutely maxed for probing, started specifically for that role but has branched out into transport ships. She flies a mean Prowler. Exploration in lowsec has interested me and this character has been pivotal in this role. She can salvage, hack, analyse and harvest gas, with that in mind she has been known to partake in Ninja Salvaging operations. She is also skilled for PvP and is just a few days away from Interdictors V with Assault Ships V thrown in for good measure. At 30million SP she's a useful character with very good base skills.

There are a few other characters floating around but they will for very obvious reasons remain unknown to anyone but myself.

The latest member of the family was started to be a bait Drake pilot but has evolved into his own. Kenny @ 15million SP is focussed towards flying a max skilled Drake and with that you just know he's being used to grind missions, not for ISK but for Loyalty Points. His latest project is what is taking much of my EVE time when I can be bothered to log in, but the pay-off in the end is huge. Thus far on this little project he has been able to fund a Tengu strategic cruiser which I must say is a very interesting ship.

Now you're probably thinking, Kane, what the fuck? Missions?

Well, uhm yeah, my work schedule has been severe, I have just finished a 22 day straight stint at work, I'm physically and mentally burnt out and as such I have found missions to be rather relaxing. I get to log in, chat with old friends and still play internet spaceships.
I love PvP but it takes a lot of energy, physical and mental to really be successful.

Work though is unrelenting and as such my Piracy and PvP will be virtually nil for the foreseeable future.

So what now?

I've debated a few times closing this blog, but then I've started writing a fictional short story involving some of my characters (I do actually hope to get this done and published on here but I only really write when I'm inspired)

I'm unsure what my future in EVE is. Solo Piracy has always been difficult, taking the most selfish, mentally unstable attitude to being successful but like I said before, the game has changed. Very few people are confident in their skills to take someone like me on solo, they always bring friends (more friends than I can handle), or just happen to be with a boatload of friends whilst I attempt to explode them.

I've become a dinosaur in EVE, the last of my kind. Solo Piracy may well and truly finally be dead.

Nullsec? I really enjoyed my trip to nullsec and my old corps HQ for the Frigate Thunderdome but their membership in Goonswarm doesn't endear that choice to me, they did however recently reveal their first Titan, an Erebus that was involved in a rather successful dual doomsday and with that a massive congratulations from me. Which brings me to another problem I have with nullsec, the blobs are bigger and have bigger toys. The option to join another corp or nullsec alliance does nothing for me, I'm just not going to be another cog in the machine.

Wormhole exploration? An option but a one man operation, even with multiple characters is going to be time consuming. Wormhole Piracy? Again, a time commitment I'm not too keen on.

Faction Warfare? Heh

Open recruitment to NovaKane? An option I've thought about on numerous occasions but one ultimately destined to fail. I just don't have the time and I already run a busy Kitchen, in which I have no time for drama, doing so in a game just doesn't seem to be a productive use of my time off.

Join a small corp of like minded individuals? Shit, I just don't know. Two corps who I have friends in are red to each other, seems like I'll always have mixed loyalties. Again, being a small part of a corp is not for me, my ego wouldn't be able to take it down a notch and I fear I may never fit in. I wouldn't be able to offer much to any corp that would make the corp stronger as a unit, I've been solo too long, preferring to do my own thing, at my own pace in my own time.

It might be that I need to change my perspective on things to find the next challenge, the next big step, to finally achieve something after having done so much in this game to little or no consequence.

So what does the future hold? Well, to be honest I don't know, what I can tell you is I'll still be around, on different characters, but still around. I may actually do some writing from Kenny's perspective as a change of pace cause let me tell you, PvE needs a kick in its ass.

So that's it, an update from me.

Edit: Blogger seems to have been the victim of further DOS attacks and as such I've only just been able to correct some of the many spelling mistakes made, probably more to get but I will try and rectify them ASAP

[OOC] I always thought I wanted a career... Turns out I just want the paychecks

"Dock-a-loodle-fod!"

-- Dyslexic roosters are a sad sight (Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)

As is always the case this time of year I am flat out at work so have very little time or energy to actually log Kane in and hunt. As such updates become few and far between.

I'm under no delusion that it matters very little in the grand scheme of things and while there are a few regular readers, it's not like if this blog was never updated again that anyone would lose any sleep over it.

Recently this blog received it's 25,ooo hit, that's a lot for a very niche market but is nowhere near as many as some of the pro EVE bloggers. Does this bother me? Not in the slightest.

As I've stated before this blog is and always will be a place for me to write down my thoughts and experiences while improving my writing. Not many people are aware that I am Dyslexic, or that English is not my first language. I can speak it fine but have always struggled with writing.

I do have help though, my good friend Soup Spoon, the man who got me into EVE in the first place does a lot of proof reading for me and for that he has my thanks.

So, I'm extremely busy with work but Kane will still be around, Keira more so as she does some high sec work with family and friends.

Stay Classy

[OOC] A friend of my friend is my enemy, or something like that.

Blues, that which is an inevitable consequence of life in space. You need friends in the black, not always to watch your back but sometimes just a voice on the other side helps keep you sane.

It took me a very long time to establish myself in the Evannatar constellation, Gusandall being my home system with the neighbouring Eifer presenting fertile hunting grounds. I initially moved out with just a few Rifters and soon was engaging in combat with whomever came along, amongst others flashfresh (who invited me to his Independence channel) and Lucius Caine. Active corps in the area included The Black Fleet and Mean Corp. I quickly became friends with the guys in The Black Fleet which automatically made me red to Mean Corp but as time went on The Black Fleet and Mean corp became friends and with that so did I.

The Black Fleet eventually dissolved and left Mean Corp as the premier corp in Gusandall. Mean are very efficient with some very good pilots and I've always respected their ruthlesness. Along with Hellequin The Tempered Steel Legion and the up and coming Black Flag, Gusandall and surrounds was awash with blood. It was a good time for me as flying with others was becoming fun again. Carrier kills will do that, it gets the blood flowing and is something one can not do on their own... But I'll continue to push the boundaries until I do.

As is the way of the universe, things never stay the same and egos tend to get in the way of harmonious destruction. Mean Corp and Black Flag had a small disagreement with regards to blues and as is the way with arguments in lowsec it normally ends in gun fire... With me stuck in the middle.

Black Flag eventually went inactive and many of her pilots joined The Bastards, based in Evati, they were constantly roaming through the area and I'm not sure how they became friends with Mean Corp but I was one day minding my own business whilst relieving people of their hard earned spaceships when an invitation to an intel channel appeared and lo and behold, Bastards and Mean were present. Gangs regularily contained mixed corps again and things were going swimmingly until once again egos landed.

Mean Corp and The Bastards were no longer friends and open hostilities ensued. I kept well out the way, choosing instead to purely solo at any opportunity. My only tether to sanity being Independence channel where many of my friends hang out.

I have friends in both corps and as such both are set blue to NovaKane Incorporated, along with my friend Realzonk and his crew in Hellequin, old corpmates Alpha and co in Flipmode Industries (Who do POS piracy in high security space, a very lucrative profession from what I can see) and old corpmates in Discrete Solutions Ltd.

58 Alliances are set red with 87 corporations making my shitlist. Now you may ask why I would need a red list, well it's an easy way for me to tell how badly I'm about to be blobbed, it's a handy intel tool.

Now while my blue list is very small there are others out there who I have flown with who I will not shoot unless shot at first. A sort of respect I show to those people I've gotten to know in Independence and other channels, many of whom I've shot at in the past.

Everything else is fair game and If I happen to shoot at you, it's nothing personal, it's just Piracy and after we can chit chat.

Not sure why I felt the need to clarify my position on blues or as is evident, my lack of blues but I felt it needed saying. I've gotten to know these guys well and through people like Laneth (aka Crusty), Waycharles, Asssassin X, Realzonk, Nozaro and flashfresh I am never ever really alone.

A shout out to Soup Spoon and Estar who keep me entertained on IRC and are the reason I started playing this wonderful game. The rest of the #eve crew at Ars Technica also keep me entertained and are subjected to my mad ramblings and rants on a regular basis (The Ars Technica community has pilots in Goonswarm, Kenzoku, Privateers and many other corporations and alliances but as a community we all enjoy each others company... Well most of the time, we do tend to troll each other and hate each other in internet spaceships)

Be a voice, not an echo

"Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That's why they're called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes."

-- (Terry Pratchett, Night Watch)

It's been a while, the inspiration to chronicle my adventures has been slim, besides, I haven't really been up to much.

Wormhole space has opened new doors so to speak and I've spent a bit of time exploring these new and exciting anomalies. However, two things make it difficult for a solo Pirate, there's either no targets or there are massive gangs rolling about. The Sleepers found in these wormholes are tenacious, more so than many capsuleers I've encountered and present another obstacle to me.

So Wormhole space for the solo Pirate is difficult, not impossible but it requires slightly more effort than I'm willing to invest at this point.

The new probing systems however are very nice and my covops friend has spent a lot of time testing them on simulators and is enjoying the new strength and accuracy with which she can find targets in New Eden. We'll be paying a visit to our ISK farming friends in Ingunn Soon™

As far as combat goes, not much to report, a few fights here and there when I could be bothered to undock, eventually lost a two year old Wolf assault frigate to another Wolf pilot. We had three good fights over the course of the day. First was him running from my Ishkur, Second saw him burn his guns out against my Jaguar and the Third saw his Wolf at 40% hull when I exploded. A Damage Control saving him long enough to destroy my Wolf. Don't laugh at the fit, it's an old Wolf that came with me from 0.0 almost two years ago.

So that's about it from me.

If you want to see some great Frigate action, check out General Coochie's video, some amazing Tech 1 frigate madness, inspiring stuff. Cooch is a corpmate of my friend flashfresh who's blog I highly recommend you read.

I leave you with a bit of chat from one of my regular hangouts:

Ogogov > o/
Lei Marginale > o/ Og
Ogogov > anything up this morning?
Lei Marginale > not much, losing ship
Ogogov > uhoh, WH again?
Lei Marginale > no, russians :)
Lei Marginale > those little buggers are almost as intelligent as sleepers
Ogogov > LOL

Kane shuffles his feet

A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'

- Douglas Adams

The voices in my head no longer talk to me, they just talk amongst themselves but I can still hear them.

It's not always easy flying alone in the dark. There's danger around every planet, death lurking in every asteroid belt and that's just me. Now imagine everyone else.

Every now and again I question if what I'm doing is the right course for me, whether being a solo Pirate is right for me. It's times like this I have to weigh the Pros and Cons of my particular brand of violence. Now I will state first and foremost I will remain a solo Pirate, it's just that the voices in my head sometimes argue that I could achieve so much more. Unfortunately I doubt that will happen and I'll just keep harassing the locals and interlopers to my little corner of the universe.

I've seen what my friend flashfresh has been achieving with the Bastards and it leaves me in awe, he recounts the most recent awesomeness here, bringing you right into the fight. That's some hot action right there as a fleet of frigates decimates battleships and support. That's the kind of action I'm looking for.

Anything can be achieved with numbers and the right mindset. Not every corp is like the Bastards though and flash did well joining their ranks, in fact I think it's the Bastards who did well by recruiting him more than anything else.

Me? Well, I prefer the freedom of being solo, not having to commit to anything I don't want to, able to determine my path amongst the stars as an independent pilot. Like I said it gets lonely but I have Independence chat channel where I can shoot the breeze with like minded individuals. The channel was created by flash when he still operated solo, what a long time ago that seems but it has become a sort of home for me and others who have at one time or another lived in the Gusandall pocket.

Time is the worst place, so to speak, to get lost in...

The loot hangar has been cleared and the ISK from my endeavours has helped the wallet along. Keira has been busy moving things to market hubs. There's a spring in her step, the massive Archon carrier that now dominates our hangar a huge achievement for her and I'm proud of her determination to train and earn it. She made all the ISK for it herself, none of it was taken from my wallet or that of NovaKane Inc. When she first approached me with the notion of getting a capital ship I said "YOU WANT WHAT?" But to her credit she knuckled down and earned the ISK, studied rellentlessly and now I can't stop her grinning.

For me personally there's nothing new on the horizon, I've spent my time studying to perfect certain skills. Many changes have occured whilst I've been on my sabbatical and it'll take me a bit of time to adapt even with the amount of testing I'd done on the Singularity and Multiplicity simulation servers. Not so much to the speed changes, while I held a few speed records, I never used speed as my main tactical advantage but the suicidal ability to get eye to eye with my opponents and slug it out.

The times they are a changing and we need to change with them.

The EVE universe is a harsh mistress and I look forward to introducing people to just how harsh she can be.

I leave you with some local chat flavour

Halkdaff > Hey, Kane Rizzel, soon I shall come for you!
pvp god > mwhahahaha
Aiko Shinjiro > uhoh we are in panic
Kane Rizzel > planet 1, 5 minutes... OK?
Halkdaff > Not so it is fast, but time will come.
Kane Rizzel > ok, well I'll be here, come back soon
Kane Rizzel > bring cookies

Upon entering C9N w/3 Vigils and a shuttle during the BoB/ASCN war 2006:
Mobile Oak > you're going down!
Jonathan Xavier > 100M or pod
MrDetermination > drones are cheating, man
Theris Elistriter > wait...aren't we using drones?
Mobile Oak > economically I think we still win
Hey You > rofl
Hey You > how so?
Mobile Oak > you wasted tech 2 torps to shoot us
Tovar Milendis > In the game of life we are all winners.
Jonathan Xavier > each precision cruise cost more than my
shuttle :)
Mobile Oak > bye now!
Mobile Oak > fly safe!
Theris Elistriter > o/
Hey You > lol
Hey You > laters
Tovar Milendis > Keep this up and we'll bleed BoB dry!

Has priacy died out?

Zoe: "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?

Book: "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

Don't look at me, that's how it was spelt, I bet you clicked on the link saying to yourself "What an idiot, Kane can't spell Piracy, watch how I pwn him with my leet spelling skillz".

Well I don't know about priacy but Piracy is still about, just different than it used to be. As the EVE universe changes so must the Pirates to adapt or die.

Belt Piracy, gatecamping, can flipping, ninja salvaging, mission jacking, high security suicide ganking, war dec griefing, POS ransoming, random acts of violence for ISK and pleasure are all what I consider Piracy. Any endeavour that sees you profiting from the misfortune of others is piracy.

I'm a traditionalist, sticking mostly to belt piracy, which is not the most profitable but is by far the most interesting to me, the thrill of the hunt so to speak. The mission jack is another favourite past time, where teamwork is important. I have a tight knit crew that assists me but the violence is all down to me.

The old school Pirates lament how things have changed. To be quite honest, most older pilots wax nostalgic about how things were. The universe keeps moving forward, new technologies and tactics emerge all the time, pilots quick to latch on to anything that will give them the edge in combat. Some of these tactics are despised by those that are unwilling to adapt but it doesn't make them any less viable.

I too have my pet hates...

Electronic Counter Measures... ECM... I FUCKING HATE ECM... how much, a whole fucking lot!!!

If it's one thing that gets under my skin, it's the prevalence of Falcon pilots. They are the biggest force multiplier in the universe with the ability to shut down multiple ships at a range which makes it difficult to engage them. Many evenings I've spent talking to friends in our local bar about how to best deal with these ships. The most common answer is to bring a Falcon pilot of your own but that makes you part of the problem.

It's become so that if you are in a roaming gang and you don't have ECM support then your roam is going to be very short or not very succesful. You can just imagine the Falcon pilot sitting 150 odd clicks away, rubbing his hands together like a fat kid at a cake stand. "Oh look, I press this button and that dude over there can't do jack and shit, I press this button and that other dude is going to swear like a sailor at a whorehouse."

Where's the fun in that?

It takes a sick individual to be an ECM pilot, seriously. I'm not sure how it started to be honest but I imagine it went something like this:

Combat Ace > Hey guys, let's go out looking for a fight
ECM Muppet > I have a Falcon, can give them the Raspberry
Combat Ace > Awesome idea, will be an epic battle, they won't be able to shoot back
Voice'o'Reasun > Uhm, but it won't be much of a fight then
Combat Ace > Shut up you, we are uber combat pilots, they won't stand a chance, our superior skills will pwn them
Voice'o'Reasun > but they won't be able to shoot back, how are you supposed to prove you are better than them if they can't fight back, that's like punching a quadriplegic and claiming you're the greatest boxer in the world.
ECM Muppet > They won't be able to even shoot me, I'll be way over there and if they come close I'll just cloak or run away like a little girl
Combat Ace > dude, you're so awesome I want to have your man babies
Voice'o'Reasun > you guys are lame
Combat Ace > your mom is lame

Keira once asked me if we should recruit a Falcon pilot. I think it's the only time she's ever been truly scared of me. I've used ECM in the past, in the shape of ECM drones and they have never worked for me, seriously, these things are useless in my hands yet whenever I go up against someone with them I always get jammed... ALWAYS. So I ditched them, of course this is dumb but I'm making a stand against ECM.

I could of course fit Electronic Counter Counter Measures but that would dilute some tried and tested setups that I use and to be fucking honest, I don't want to, sure I'm going to lose a lot of fights but damn, at least I'll respect myself in the morning.

It's a BLOB

How many pilots are required to win an engagement? Well, it's not an easy answer, it requires a degree in Quantum Physics and a Doctorate in Advanced Matematica, neither of which I posses but I can say for certain that it's definitely more than me.

Rule number one of Piracy: IT'S ALWAYS A TRAP, YES ALWAYS... NO REALLY, ALWAYS!!!

I'm not afraid to go in outnumbered, in fact it's a prospect I relish, a 2 vs me are good odds, unfortunately it's never just two, 10 of their buddies are sitting waiting in the next system, waiting for the signal to jump in and blob out the sun and my ship.

It's an epidemic in EVE, people have no faith in there abilities to fight that they rely on superior numbers to overpower the prey, it's not just something peculiar to anti-Pirates or 0.0 alliances, the Pirates do it too. It's just too easy to form up a gang and go gank some helpless sod out of his hard earned ship.

I've been guilty of it too, flying in mixed gangs and to be honest, sometimes it feels soooo good but it dulls my senses, muzzles my skills and experience... point and shoot, like a zombie, following orders of the hive mind.

The art of solo combat is being drowned by the majesty of the blob and I for one will not go gently into that good night.

Of course this means a reduced pool of targets, having to choose with more discretion, avoiding the over obvious traps but it also means more satisfaction in the kill, marvelling at your artistry as you delicately remove the pilot from his ship... and it is art.

Where am I going with all this, I don't really know, sometimes you just have to write things down to see what they look like.

Oh yeah, I FUCKING HATE ECM!!!! not sure if I mentioned that