Last days of Apocrypha

Mustafar?

Here we are, only a few days to go before Dominion hits, with the brand-spankin' new planet graphics, the long awaited changes to the user interface, namely the new fleet finder, the much improved eve-mail window, and a completely new in-game web browser codenamed Moondoggie. No longer will surfing to in-game sites feel like being back in 1998 in the days of the 56kbps V90 fax-modem, and viewing external sites will work more often than not, as long as no pluggins are involved; at launch these will not be activated but only time will tell what will happen. Apparently the new browser allows for some new and improved in-game sites but as my web programming skills are about as good as my dad's drumming skills (ha!) I'll have to wait to see them.

The biggest change in Dominion will be the new sovereignty system which will put an end to the ridiculous POS warfare. This may be the most important change to the game mechanics in this patch but it will only directly affect the sov-holding alliances in deeper Null-sec. It may cause the roaming gangs to find more ratters and miners in the upgraded systems though, and I can think of a bunch of people who will be more than happy about that! But the changes that will affect me most as a Minmatar character will be the revamp of the projectile weapons. Something tells me I'll be flying Hurricanes a lot! Also, after I've finished polishing up my exploration skills I will be completing the training of the T2 Large Artillery, and some time in early 2010 I'll be able to field a true Sniper BS which will now possess a fearsome alpha-strike. I've heard somewhere that stationary ships don't react well to 1400's, well they will react even less well >:)

Speaking of flying Hurricanes, I've been flying one of mine a lot lately. It's based on a fit Letrange gave me when I was still in AMC and wanted to solo some of the lower class W-space anomalies, but now that rigs are almost given away I was able to improve on the design and it now has a faster rate of fire, better tracking on the 425mm AC's, and better repair amount from the twin repping modules. So effectively this Hurricane is a damage sponge. If it helps anyone, here's the fit from EFT:

[Hurricane, Damage sponge]

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

Capacitor Power Relay II

Damage Control II

Medium Armor Repairer II

Medium Armor Repairer II

Y-S8 Hydrocarbon I Afterburners

Cap Recharger II

Cap Recharger II

Cap Recharger II

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

Salvager I

Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Medium Projectile Burst Aerator I

Medium Projectile Metastasis Adjuster I

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Warrior II x5

Some people may see some improvements to be made (and if you do, by all means post a comment) but so far it's been working great for me. I guess you could say it's proof that I needed a bit of a PvP break if I've been flying it so much, and yes, the change of pace is good. Making ISK is good too! You see, I've been boosting standings for another new feature that will arrive in Dominion: enter the Pirate Speed Boat missions :)

In an effort to bring missions closer to actual PvP, there will now be some missions to be flown in fast frigates through some dangerous territory; Syndicate and Venal on one side of the map, Curse and Great Wildlands on the other. So in short, in order to complete some of the missions a pilot will have to fly through Cry Havoc blobs or systems filled with cock-swinging BOZOs, not to mention all the other alliances looking for ways to frag you! I already have one of my Claws sitting in Molden Heath; I debated bringing a Taranis for this (and I still might) but in the term "speed boat" is a word that the Taranis is not too familiar with. The Claw isn't a slouch on damage when used right, but anyway the goal seems to be to get from Point A to Point B fast and alive. If there's only a slight chance to get a PvP kill while in the middle of a mission, count me in!

On the corp front, I've apparently recruited a second newbie as my buddy Si Gong has convinced one of his friends to get a trial account. I wasn't around very long because all this happened as I was getting ready to log last night, but it was long enough to have him in Rens to drop his application, have his Velator take a few pot shots at my 'Cane (biggest shot was 4 hp :)), and then blowing the crap out of ship just to show him that it's no big deal. I also gave him the obligatory ISK boost, but it was Si Gong who was going to make sure the money got well spent on the correct skill books, and maybe a slightly better ship. Now that I can do them I may take 'em on an L4 mission or two.

So here we are, finally the last leg of the pre-patch slow-down, and next Tuesday will probably see a rush of action that hasn't been seen since last March. Just remember to set a long skill just in case CCP has to fight the computer gods. I'm on the longest of my exploration skills (Salvaging V) so I'm cool :)

Fly like Gilles Villeneuve

o7